that's it : 



doree, which refers to the golden 

 yellow colour ofthe fish whenfresh. 



The sword-fish {Xiphias gla- 

 dius), 1, has no teeth, but is pro- 

 vided with a formidable weapon, 

 2, from which it 

 takes its familiar 

 name. The dor- 

 sal fin is elevated 

 at its commence- 

 ment, but be- 

 comes suddenly 

 depressed, and 

 extends along 

 the back, a mere 

 line. The pec- 

 toral and anal 

 fins, 6, 7, are 

 small, ventral 

 fins are ab- 

 sent, and the 

 tail assumes the 

 bilobate form, 8, 

 art* 18-341. This 

 fish sometimes 

 measures twenty 

 feet long, of 

 which its beak, 2, 

 measures about 

 one-third. We 

 contrast every part of this fish 

 with the previous examples. 



The sword-fish is a native of 

 the Mediterranean ; but it passes 

 through the Straits of Gibraltar, 

 and generally takes its course 

 along either the northern or 

 southern coasts. A man, bathing 

 in the Severn, near Worcester, 

 was killed by a sword-fish. Among 

 other fishes it is a sort of wolf; 

 it pursues them with great perti- 

 nacity, and transfixes them upon 

 its spear. It will frequently at- 

 tack individuals of the whale- 

 tribe. Such is the extraordinary 



power of this fish, that it has been 

 known to materially injure a ship 

 by darting its beak through the 

 coppering of the ship's bottom 

 deep into the planks. 



Captain Crow gives the following description 

 oi a fish and whale fight, witnessed at sea, 

 sword-fish being: among the combatants : — 

 "One morning, during a calm, when near'the 

 Hebrides, all hands were called up at 3 a.m. 

 to witness a battle between several of the fish 

 called threshers, or fox-sharks (Carcharias 

 vulpes), and some sword-fish on one side, and 

 an enormous whale on the other. It was in the 

 middle of summer, and the weather being cle.ir, 

 and the fish close to the vessel, we had a fine 

 opportunity of witnessing the contest. As soon 

 as the whale's back appeared above the water, 

 the threshers, 10, springing several yards into 

 the air, descended with great violence on the 

 object of their rancour, and inflicted upon him 

 the most severe slaps with their long tails, the 

 sound of which resembled the reports of mus- 

 kets heard at a distance. The sword-fish, 11, 

 stabbed the distressed whale, 12, from below ; 

 and, thus bese t on all sides and wounded, when 

 the poor creature appeared, the water around 

 it was dyed with blood. In this manner they 

 continued tormenting and wounding him for 

 many hours, until we.lost sight of him ; and I 

 have no doubt they, in the end, completed his 

 destruction." 



The various tribes of fiat fish, 

 such ^flounders, dabs, soles, brill, 

 turbot, etc., with which we are 

 familiar, present forms which con- 

 trast strongly with any we have 

 yet seen. Let us examine the 

 common sole (Solea vulgaris), 13. 



350 



Here we find the pectoral fin, 14, 

 very small ; the dorsal fin, 15, ex- 

 tends in an unbroken line from 

 the head to the tail ; the ventral 

 fin, 16, extends in like manner 

 along the opposite border. The 

 two eyes, 17, are on the same side 



