98 OfFifhes. Part!. 
Meat, or defcending as a Hawk when fhe ftoops. With 
the broad Fore-Fins, faith Oppian, the Female fhelters her 
Young, as a Hen her Chickens with her Wings. But 
Ariftotle affirms, That fhe gives them protection as doth 
the Dogfifh, by receiving them into her mouth. He alfo 
faith, That of the Cartilaginous kind the Scate only beareth 
twice in a year,/*: . Spring and Fall. 
(a) Hiftor. Salvianm (a) faith, That the Skin of his Back is fmooth 5 
deceived by the Authorities of Ariftotle, Epic ar mus, Athenxus, 
and Pliny : witneffes enough to prove an Error. The Skin 
of thisFifh is ufed for the polifhing of Wooden and Ivory 
Works. He is taken,faith Mr.ifo^fometimes near Cornwall. 
Another SCATE. 'Tis a young one, but in lhape altoge- 
ther like the former , faving that the Shoulder-Fins are 
here produced, more like a Wing, into a fharp Angle 
before. 
The HEAD of a SCATE , about the bignefs of that 
above defcribed. Sometimes they grow to the weight of 
a hundred and fixty pounds. 
The HEAD of the GREAT MAID. Caput Raj* 
Oxyrrhy?ichdt majom. See the Defcription of this and the 
other Kinds in Rondeletius, and Bellonius. They all differ 
from other Fifties, in having a broad and fquat Body, with 
a long {lender Tail appendent, but not fo {lender, as in the 
Cat-Fifh. The end of the Snout in this, is all befet with 
little fharp Hooks pointing backward. And with the fame 
Hooks, both the Jaws : but far bigger, and {landing in fe- 
veral Rows, eight, ten, or twelve in a Row. 
The Skin of the Raja, being artificially reduced to a 
monftrous fhape , is by fome fhewed, and is commonly 
taken, for a Bafilisk. 
The EGG of a THORNBACK. Ovum Raj* Clavat*. 
Or rather the Bag or Cafe of the Egg. Hereof fee Ron- 
deletius. 'Tis very fmooth, and ( now ) black and horny. 
Seven inches long, and four over. From each of the four 
Corners is ftretched a fharpe ended Membrane two inches 
long. In the middle it fwelleth up on both fides : fo 
that 111 fhape 'tis juft like a Pulpit-Cuihion. There are fome 
other leffer ones of the fame ihape and colour. 
In the upper part of the Womb, faith Rondeletius, are 
a great number of Eggs of feveral fizes, confifting only 
of 
