70 CLASSIFICATION OF FISHES. 



dually to invest general truths with a sort of majesty^ as 

 well as of beauty ; so that^ at length, this new charm 

 rivals and prevails over the graces and attractions of ex- 

 ternal diversity, and imparts more and more force and 

 advantage to that which is occult, until it quite over- 

 powers that which is superficial. Thus it is, that in the 

 course of philosophical pursuits, abstract principles come 

 forth more and more into the light, stand out with greater 

 distinctness before the mind ; and, ere long, the laws which 

 at first were apprehended with some degree of painful 

 effort; occupy it as pleasant and facile matters in the 

 hour of relaxation, as well as engage it in the season 

 of strenuous exertion. At last, whatever is universal 

 prevails altogether over whatever is individual ; and the 

 rational faculty, getting released from the disturbance 

 of things external or trivial, contemplates with open eye 

 all that is great and permanent." — We now return to 

 our more immediate subject, 



(73.) The genus Apistes is succeeded by that of Ma- 

 crochirus Sw. of which Pterois Cuv. forms a part. The 

 great distinction of all these fishes lies in their enormous 

 pectoral fins and very high dorsals, both of which, in 

 the typical examples, have a number of their rays almost 

 free ; that is, unconnected by any membrane except to- 

 wards their base. They possess much of the strange 

 and grotesque form of some genera we shall presently 

 notice, without their excessive ugliness, while their rich 

 and varied colouring, disposed in zebra-like stripes on 

 the body, renders them highly elegant and interesting. 

 The whole are natives of the Indian seas ; but none grow 

 to a very large size. Having designated the types of form 

 of Cuvier's Apistes as sub-genera, we have done the 

 same with this, its corresponding group ; and although 

 the species yet known are much fewer, we feel per- 

 suaded that in a few years these new divisions will be 

 augmented to twice their present limits, and their ana- 

 logies more clearly determined than at present. Even 

 among those we now know of there is a gradiaal pro- 

 gression from Macrochirus to Pterois, where the pec- 

 torals are so much abbreviated as to be little more than 



