but To coated over by a mucous tegument as to require 

 the moft attentive inveftigation in order to difcover 

 them. In others, on the contrary, they are as remark- 

 able for their extreme largenefs, as in the peculiar va- 

 riety (if not diftinct fpecies) of Cyprinus or Carp, 

 known by the title of the King-Carp, in which the 

 fcales are equal to a fourth part of the diameter of the 

 fifh. Laftly, there are not wanting fome inftances of 

 fiih belonging to very different genera, which are coated 

 with fcales of a iize fo very large, of a ftru&urc fo un- 

 commonly ftrong, and of a difpofition fo unlike that 

 which appears in the fcales of other fifh, that they feem 

 at firft glance to belong to the cruftaceous tribe. Fifties 

 of this peculiar caft are termed by Linnaeus cataphraffei 

 or mailed fifh, as if in fuits of armour. Of thefe the 

 moft remarkable are the Silurus cataphra&us, SilurUs 

 Cal'iichthys, Cottus cataphraCtus, Trigla cataphracta, 

 and Loricaria cataphracta. The Silurus Callichthys^ 

 here reprefenfed, is a native both of Europe and Ame- 

 rica, but is more common in South America than in 

 Europe, being principally found in Brafil. It inhabits 

 rivulets, and when thefe during a dry feafon grow ex- 

 tremely fhallow, it has the extraordinary faculty of 

 creeping out and traverfing over the dry ground in 

 order to feek deeper water. It has alfo been known to 

 make its efcape from fifhponds in which it has been 

 confined, by piercing through the banks. This terref- 

 trial locomotion of fiihes is not however confined to 

 the Cal'iichthys, but is known to take place in fome 

 others, and particularly in the common eel, which fre- 

 quently creeps about meadows by night, in quell per* 

 haps of Hugs, &c, and has been known during the 

 frofts of a feverc winter to take refuge under hay-ricks 



and 



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