OPH 
of the order Thoracici; the head is coated with diffimilar 
{cales; body elongated. There are two fpecies defcribed 
by Dr. Shaw. 
Species. 
Puncratus. Pale beneath, with the head see by 
te fize; the ventral are fmaller; the fcales are rather 
re diffimilar ; viz. on the upper 
3 on the fides ovate or rounded ; 
It is a native of India, in- 
ce a and lakes, and is confidered as a delicate and 
wholefo 
os and fins ftriated with dufky 
and whitifh ends is about twelve inches long. 
i native ndia, inhabiting lakes, where it is fr 
quently found much larg an the fize ju ntioned ; it 
is in equal efteem 
been recommended a 
jaws and att : 
There are fou 
Species. 
. ATuM; Bearded Ophidium. Lower jaw with 
four cirri “— inhabits the Mediterranean and Adriatic feas, 
the lower 5 ie lips are thick; the teeth are very {mall; th 
d with a common fkin, the pupil is black, the 
ins is golden, with a Bless nictitant membrane ; the 
tongue is fmooth, narrow and fhort ; th 
e vent is nearer the head 
— 
rou es nearly oval, pee 
aa diftingsihable near the tail, adhering to the body by 
a thin tranfparent fkin. It is often taken by nets 
n feas, particu- 
rly the Mediterranean. The dorfal, anal, and caudal 
fins are unite 
of 
VIRIDE; Green Ophidium. Jaws without cirri; the tail 
is a little pointed. It inhabits the deep parts of the Green- 
land feas; is a very rare fifh, and is often found as large 
as a whiting; the body is long, comprefled, green; fiefh 
eatable. 
Acu ae Prickly Ophidium. The generic charaéter 
te. Tt is defcribed by Dr. Shaw under the 
this fith i : rufous —— above, filvery on “the fides and be- 
Vou, XXV. 
J 
Dr. Ruffel in his oes Hiftory of Aleppo. It 
a" ff. Ch. 
ranked {pike 
n tranfverfe 
e back is coneee and ri 
O'P H 
neath; the dorfal fin is variegated with iat dufky flreake, © 
and is marked with from two to five round, black {pots, 
ach {urrounded by a pale yellowihh cir oe 
MasrtacemBaLus; Ophidium with fharpifh-pointed equal 
aws. ‘This, acc ording to Dr. Shaw, was firft defcribed by 
has fo 
e eyes; the 
whole body is covered with {mall fcales, like thofe of an 
eel; the colour on the uppe 
pents. 
Its the e 
- brafs, = ee it was alsa called by the Greeks eee 
the bra/s-fly. 
8 
OPHIOGLO eee in Botany, from 01s, a ferpent, and 
n ancient name, admirably adapted to the 
neu 
Swartz Syn. Fil. t69. Brown Prod. Nov 
—Clafs aA order, Cas Fikes. 
spicata. 
a at. O id. "F eer 
 Capfules naked, united into a jointed two- 
ach of one cell and two valves, burfting 
Common ae s-Tongue. 
- Bolt. Fil. t. 3. 
. w. or. 44. t. 4. £ 
ae rage ee 577- Math. Valgr. 
04.)—Spike from the ftem. Leaf ovate, 
coe Sp. 
terminated by the lanceolate, narrow, ipemienr Spike, sien 
confifts of numerous cap/ules, full of minute chaffy feeds, 
and is fometimes divided. The nature of the flowers,, or 
impregnation, is aes as abfolutely in the dark as in any 
other known plant 
2. O. ovatum.— ‘Swen 
(O.fimplex ; Rumph. Amb. 
v.6. 192. t. 68.7 ajas nike from the ftem. pe aedd 
acute, nee ae —Native of the ifle of Bour 
bon, near ogi Volcano ; ady moift at paftures 
in Amboi c. Much like the laft, with which moft people 
have pontonndeds it, but the rc characters may Cee be 
fi 
