SKATE. 



white, marked with numerous, distant, black specks: 

 in the male the pectoral fms are beset towards their 

 tips or edges with numerous small spines : on each 

 side the tail, at some distance from •the base, is a 

 sharp spine : several very strong ones run down 

 the back of the tail, and in some specimens a row 

 of smaller ones is visible on each side. As an edible 

 fish the Skate is considered as one of the best of its 

 tribe, and is an established article in the European 

 markets, being found in great plenty in the adjoin- 

 ing seas, where it usually frequents the shores in 

 the manner of flat-fish : it breeds in the month 

 of March and April, and deposits its ova from 

 May to September. We are informed by Mr. Wil- 

 lughby that a Skate of two hundred pounds weight 

 was sold in the fish-market at Cambridge to the 

 cook of St. John's College in that university, and 

 was found sufiicient to dine the whole society, 

 consisting of more than 120 persons. In October 

 the Skate is usually poor and thin ; begins to im- 

 prove in November ; and grows gradually better 

 till May, when it is considered as in its highest 

 perfection* 



V. V. p. 11. 



19 



