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NATURAL HISTORY. 
The Sword-Fish is very common in the Mediterranean, 
and is much esteemed for food by the Sicilians. It grows to 
a very large size, sometimes to the weight of 100 pounds. 
It is of a long and rounded body, largest near the head, and 
tapering by degrees to the tail. The skin is rough, tile back 
black, and the belly white. It has one fin on the back, 
running almost its whole length. It has one pair of fins also 
at the gills. But the most remarkable part of this fish is the 
snout, which, in the upper jaw, runs out in the figure of a 
sword, sometimes to the length of three feet, the under jaw 
is much shorter. 
The second division consistsof the Jugular Fishes, or 
those which have ventral Jins before the pectoral, or nearer 
to the gills. 
The Dragonet is the first genus which naturalists have 
remarked in this division. Its general characters are the 
upper lip doubled, the eyes very near each other, two breath- 
ing apertures on the hind part of the head, and the first 
rays of the dorsal fin extremely long. There are two species 
described by Mr. Pennant. 
The Gemmeous Dragonet , which is about ten or twelve 
inches long, with a large head, and a body slender, round, 
and smooth. The colours of this fish are extremely beauti- 
ful ; when it is just taken, they are yellow, blue, and white 
The blue has all the splendour of the most beautiful gems. 
The throat is black; and the membranes of the fins are very 
thin and delicate. The old English writers have called this 
fish the yellow gurnard, but in reality it has no one charac- 
ter of that genus. 
The Sordcd Dragonet resembles the preceding, but its 
first dorsal fin is not so long, nor are its colours so brilliant 
and lively. 
The Weever is known sometimes to grow to the length 
of twelve inches, though it is commonly found much smaller. 
The lower jaw slopes down very abruptly, and its back is 
armed with strong spines. It buries itself in the sand, leav- 
ing only its nose out, and when trod upon strikes forcibly 
with its spines, which are said to be venomous, though pro- 
bably the pain and inflammation attending the wounds 
which it inflicts, depend on the habit of the person or the 
part which is struck. It is good food. 
The Cod is a most extensive genus, including a number 
