512 ACCCJU- GF SOME FISHES „ - 
length, and v/hen the ie-CulIi is open project beyond the 
SOOLlt. 
The tongue is cordifcrm, firm, and armed with extreme- 
ly minute scattered teeth. There are also a few teeth on 
the jaws, boi they are seen with difficulty, and are too 
slender to be felt. The palate is quite smooth. 
The brancMostegous membranes are thick, from the 
quantity of muscle, and a shining membrane, which line 
.their eight flat curved rays, and at their union with each 
other, on the throat, they form a few plicae. The rays are 
narrower and smaller, the nearer they are to the msesial 
ventral line. The innermost are very slender. The branchial 
arches almost encircle the oesophagus, their posterior ends 
being nearly in contact with each other, at their insertion 
into the basilary process. Each arch has a single row of 
erect subulate processes, about one-fourth of an inch long, 
which are rough on their inner surfaces. There are no 
pharyngeal bones. 
On opening the abdomen, a multitude of caeca present 
themselves, involved in the folds of a membrane which is 
generally loaded with fat. This membrane is a production 
of the peritonaeum, and bears a strong resemblance to an 
omentum. It descends about half-way down the abdomen, 
and conceals the stomach and liver, being closely attached 
to the former viscus by numerous vessels. A long spleen 
is attached to its right border. 
The alimentary canal descends from the pharynx for 
about five inches, in form of a straight wide tube. The 
lining in this tube is disposed in six longitudinal rugae, and 
is of a red colour, except an inch at its commencement, 
which is white, presents the appearance of a glandular 
structure, and may be considered as oesophagus. The 
red part of the tube, which may be named the upper part 
of the stomach, makes a sudden turn to cross the liver, 
