. fl? 
Of Fijhes. Part L 
Meat, or defcending as a Hawk when fhe {loops. 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 State only beareth 
twice in a year,/?. Spring and Fall. 
00 Hiftor. Salvianus (a) faith, That the Skin of his Back is fmooth 5 
5 °' deceived by theAuthorities of Ariftotle,Epicarmm 7 Athen<zus, 
and Pliny : witneffes enough to prove an Error. The Skin 
of this Fifh is ufed for the polifhing of Wooden and Ivory 
Works. He is taken,faith Mr.i?^,fometimes near Cornwall. 
Another SCATE. 'Tis a young one, but in fhape 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 Raja 
Oxyrrbynchce majom. See the Defcription of this and the 
other Kinds in Rondeletiws, and Bellonius. They all differ 
from other Fifhes, in having a broad and fquat Body, with 
a long llender Tail appendent, but not fo {lender, as in the 
Cat-Fijh. 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 
monflrous fhape , is by fome fhewed, and is commonly 
taken, for a Bafilisk. 
The EGG of a THORNBACK. Ovum Raja 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 flretched 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-Cufhion. There are fome 
other leffer ones of the fame fhape and colour. 
In the upper part of the Womb, faith Rondeletius, are 
a great number of Eggs of feveral fizes, confining only 
of 
9 8 
