Fishes. 83 



Fin-rays. — D. 12—10. P. 13. V. 4. A. 38. C. — 



The third ray of the pectoral fin longest, the second and first regu- 

 larly becoming shorter. 



The remarkable shortness of the head, the roundness and perpen- 

 dicularity of the front, equality of the jaws, interlocking of the teeth, 

 and singular chin, are sufficient to distinguish this species from any 

 one hitherto recognized as British; at the same time it so nearly 

 agrees with the figure and description of the Orphe of Rondeletius,* 

 that I have little hesitation in believing it to be the same fish. 



It is intimated by Rondeletius, that among the Greeks more than 

 one fish was known by the name of Orphus ; and we further learn 

 that the word Cemua, by which some Latin writers have rendered the 

 Greek O^^oj, has been applied to a still greater number of species, all 

 of them distinct from this, and even to the river Rud.f 



Ray,t who limits the name Orfus to the Rud, describes the fish 

 which he terms Orpheus veterum, from Rondeletius, in a manner to 

 show that he was altogether unacquainted with it ; and as the species 

 termed Orphus by Bellonius is the other and more common one known 

 by this name among the Greeks, we need not wonder at finding 

 Ruysch§ resigning all hope of extricating from such utter confusion 

 what he saw might still be a well-defined species. 



Nor does it appear that even the most industrious and able natu- 

 ralists of the present day have been more fortunate than their prede- 



* His account is this : — Op(p^ ou Op^cog. Les Latins ont retenu ce nom hors- 

 mis Gaze du quel est appelle Cernua. II est poisson marin de rivage, aucunement 

 semblable au Pagre rougeastre. II ha les jeux grands, les dens qui entrent les unes 

 entres les autres. De nombre, de situation d'aelles, d'eguillons semblable au Pagre. 

 II ha le trou de excremens fort petit ; car il ha seulement une petite fente, laquelle 

 vous ne verres sans presser le ventre, 11 n'ha point de vaisseaux spermatiques. Tel est 

 noster Orphe, au quel convient tout ce que Aristote e Athenee ont attribue. En peu 

 de tems il devient grand, il est mangechaire, solitaire, il ha des dens qui se serrent les 

 unes entre les autres, il est cache en hyver." — p. 139 of the French edition. 



f After stating this, Gesner, who copies the figure of Kondeletius, adds, — " Nos 

 (inquit Rondeletius) Orphum hie non depingimus eum, qui a Graecis quibusdam ho- 

 die vulgari lingua Orphi nomine dicitur. Est enim nostro longe major, utpote qui 

 pondere viginti libras aequet, nee sit litoralis. Sed Orphum depingimus ex Aristotele, 

 Athenaeo, Plinio. Is Piscis est litoralis magis quam pelagius, Pagro quodammodo si- 

 milis, colore ex purpureo rubescente, ideo rubentem appellavit Ovidius : (verum haec 

 apud Plinium ex Ovidio non recte citatae leguntur). Ovidius pelagium facit, Aristo- 

 teles vero ^lianus litoralem. Oppiano degit in petris cavemosis, quae plenae sunt 

 charais et patellis (quibus nimirum vescitur). Graeci hodie, ut dictum est, alium pis- 

 cem vulgo Orphum vel Rophum appellant; quern Bellonius Orphum facit.'' 

 J Synopsis, p. 133. § Theatrum Animalium, i. 24. 



g2 



