OF CORNWALL. 261 
with tubular cups of the fame flefliy fubftance as the Rem ; they 
end in certain nipples or tubercles : the other tentacula are more 
flat and wide ; they have one edge alfo full of thefe nipples, with 
a few cups in the middle of them ; of thefe cups I apprehend the 
fifh expands, and contracts the brim for the reception or emiffion 
of the air, and fixing itfelf by fudtion to rocks or plants, as well 
as for laying faft hold of its prey : the tentacula are both arms 
and feelers, and by the membranous and tender firudture of their 
tubes, doubtlefs of moffc acute fenfe ; by the recurve figure in which 
they ftifien as the animal dies, they appear alfo to quicken the 
motion of fwimming by their alternate extenfion and contraction. 
This fifh contains inwardly a certain juice fo black in fome of the 
kind, that it may be ufed fopf ink c . Pliny thinks it the blood of 
the animal, but by later difcoveries it appears to be an excremen- 
titious fecretion from the aliment, which from its own repofitory 
the animal fheds when under the apprehenfion of any imminent 
danger, and thereby difcolouring the water, frequently conceals 
himfelf from his enemy. The Athenians held this fifh very cheap, 
but now the fmaller fort efpecially is much coveted, and by fome 
placed among the greatefi delicacies of the table, when feafoned 
Ikilfully with oil or butter, pepper and wine ; but Rondeletius 
thinks them hard of digeftion, lib. xvn. chap. v. This fpecimen 
had one bone in the middle like the blade of a dagger (therefore 
called its gladiolus ) ; its ufe is to ftifien the foft and lax flefh of the 
body ; it had plenty of ink, and was found on the fands of Mount’s 
Bay 1756. 
CHAP. XXIII. 
Of Fifh. 
F ROM the leaft and feemingly molt imperfedt fea-animals, but 
equally necefiary in their degree, we are gradually arrived to 
the moft perfedt inhabitants of the ocean. 
And if I were here to fet forth an orderly arrangement of fifhes 
in general, I fhould trace them through the feveral clafles into 
which nature has forted them, by lungs and gills, by bones and 
cartilages, by the number, fhape and place of fins and teeth, by 
the fcaly armour of fome, and by the mucilaginous fmooth coating 
of others ; but as my plan is local and more confined, I find myfelf 
only engaged to purfue the finny race through the waters of this 
c Rondeletius, page 50 1. 
X x x 
county, 
