72 



Oar. I suspect however thai there are more than ten spcc.c* 

 of these fishes i* the United Slates, and many oilier.; h\ South 

 America, Sec. The Gars of the Ohi« partake of the inclina- 

 tions and properties of the Pikes; but they are slill more dan- 

 gerous and vo.-aciotis. Their flesh may be eaten: but is often 

 rejected owing- to the difficulty of skinning them, the operation 

 may however be performed by splitting- the skin beneath in zig- 

 zag. Their scales are very singular, they are not embricatcd 

 at in all other fishes; but lay over the skin in oblique row*, and 

 are a* hard as bones. They have many other peculiarities in 

 common which hare been stated by Cuvier, or may be collec- 

 ted from the 4 following descriptions. 



1 Subgenus. Cylindrosteus. 



Body cylindrical, dorsal fin beginning behind the anal fin. 

 The name means bony cylinder. 



C6th Species. Duckhit.t. Garfish. Lefiisosteu* filutoato* 

 mua Lepisostc platostomc. 



Jaws nearly equal, as long as the head, about one ninth of to- 

 tal length, and flattened; body cylindrical olivaceous brown a- 

 bovc, white beneath: fins vellowish, dorsal and anal spotted with 

 eight rays, abdominal fins with seven rays, tail obtuse oboval 

 and spotted with brown: lateral line nearly obsolete. — -— — — — 



This species is not uncommon in the Ohio, Miami, Scioto? 

 Wabash, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Cumberland, 6cc. 

 and other tributary streams. It reaches the length of four feet. 

 It is taken with the seine, the hook, and even with the gig »r 

 harpoon. It is found as far as Pittsburgh and in the AHcghany 

 River. Its flesh is as good as that of the Streaked Pike; but is 

 erroneously thought poisonous by some persons. I shall give a 

 full description of it, which wiil preclude the necessity of repe- 

 titions in describing the others. The individuals which I ob- 

 served were 26 inches long, the head 5$, the jaws 2jf inches? 

 the dimension from the end of the jaws to the abdominal fins 

 wa& 12 inches, and to the vent 18. The body was 2 inches 

 harizsntally and 2-} vertically; nearly cylindrical, but slightly 

 flattened on the back and belly, with convex sides slightly yel- 

 lowish: the whole body is covered with hard bony scales, some 

 what unequal and obliquely rhomboiuai, but with the two inner 



