NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ORDER. 5 



great variation in the flavour of fishes^ as in that of 

 other animals ; but nearly all the acanthopterygious tribes 

 appear edible^ although many are vastly superior to 

 others.* The whole of the mackerel (Scomberidcs), the 

 tunnies, the dories (^ZeidcB), together with the perches, 

 mullets, gurnards (^Triglidce), chsetodons (ChcBtodonidce), 

 and some others, are the finest flavoured in the order ; 

 and many of them may even rank with the most esteemed 

 of the soft-rayed division : or the salmon, herring, flat 

 fish, &c. The flavour of the tunny, indeed, has nearly 

 as much resemblance to that of flesh as to fish ; and to 

 those who have tasted it, we need not expatiate upon its 

 excellence: when fried in the form of cutlets, it has the 

 strongest resemblance to veal, having the same compact 

 firmness, and the same delicate whiteness. The Gym- 

 neres, or riband-fish, are so exceedingly thin, that they 

 afford no substance for food, except indeed the CepolcB, 

 which, at certain seasons, are abundant in some parts of 

 the Mediterranean, and are by no means ill-flavoured. 

 The sandlances {Ammodytes), by some singular pre- 

 judice, are seldom, if ever, eaten in this country ; but we 

 can give our testimony to the good taste of the SiciHans, 

 who reckon them, when fried, among their most deli- 

 cious fishes. Among the CantMleptes there are only the 

 gurnards which are held in any esteem, exceptby the poor j 

 for they are in general somewhat coarse. The whole 

 of the gobies and blennies, on the other hand, are much 

 too small for cooking, except in messes for the poorer 

 people in Italy, where they are found in abundance. It 

 is very remarkable that all the most esteemed fish for 

 the table, in the order before us, should belong only to 

 its two typical divisions, hereafter characterised under 

 the names of Macroleptes and Microleptes ; the first 

 including the perches, the second the mackerel : in 

 none of the aberrant tribes are there any species of im- 

 portance as food, either in point of numbers, size, or 



* The fishes of the genus Synanchi'a, v/h'ich represent the Chironectida^ 

 are said to be as disgusting for food, as they are in their aspect. 



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