264 NATURAL HISTORY 
The porpefle, Porcus marinus feu Phoc&na vel Purfio ; Delphinus 
corpore fere conformi , dorjo lato , rofiro fubacuto , Artedi, page 104. 
I have given an icon of this fifh Plate xxvn. Fig. 11. from a draw- 
ing of that accurate Idthyologifi: the late Reverend Mr. Jago of Loo. 
It muft be acknowleged by the greateft admirers of Mr. Ray and 
Mr. Willughby, that the fifli in their work are very imperfe&ly 
engraved. What is remarkable in this icon here inferted is, that 
the dorfal-fin points forward to the head, and Hopes away back- 
ward ; a Angularity which I have never yet feen taken notice of in 
authors, and which fo accurate a defigner of fifh as I have reafon 
to think Mr. Jago ( from his drawings, as well as Mr. Ray’s cha- 
racter of him in his Synopfis Meth. Fife, page 162), could not, I 
fhould think, miftake ; yet is the direction contrary to nature, and 
I have no other authority as yet for placing it thus, but that of Mr. 
Jago 8 . It is called Porcus-pifcis , or porpeffe, from the copious 
quantity of lard with which all its body is fheathed, and underneath 
this lard the flefh is red like that of a hog : it alfo refembles the 
hog both in the ftrength of its fnout, and alfo in the manner of 
getting its food by rooting. Ray’s Creation, page 140. 
The dolphin, the Delphinus of the ancients. and moderns (Ray, 
page 1 2). Delphinus corpore oblongo , fubtereti , rofro longo acuto of 
Artedi, page 105. It is in many particulars like the porpeffe, but 
longer, more flender in body, more white in the belly-part, and 
fpotted ; not fo broad on the back ; its fnout more projected, and 
fharper, fomewhat like the beak of a goofe ; add to this that its 
dorfal fin (quite contrary to that of the porpeffe) Hopes forward to- 
wards the head, with its apex pointing backward, like the fins of 
other fifh. I have given an icon of this, Plate xxvn. Fig. 1. from 
a drawing found among the papers of the late' Mr. Jago above- 
mentioned \ Thefe four cetaceous fifh prey upon the pilchard and 
the mackrel, and in fair weather, when fuch large fifli can venture 
into {hallow water, the porpeffe purfues them near the fliore. 
sect. hi. Of long cartilaginous fifh, among others we have the blue-fhark 
deferibed by Mr. Ray, Willughby ICthy.ol. lib. 3, chap. 3. This 
fifh haunts the Cornifh coafts all pilchard-feafon, and though greatly 
inferior in bulk to the white fhark 1 , is fo great an enemy to the 
fifhing-nets, that the fifhermen have large hooks made by the 
8 This gentleman intended a hiftory of our 
Cornifh fifh, as Mr. Ray fays, ibid, but it is 
feared that his notes and obfervations arc loft, 
which the curious will always regret ; the few 
drawings which were found were kindly communi- 
cated to me by the Reverend Mr. Dyer, Vicar of 
St. Clare in Cornwall, and Chaplain of Eaft Loo ; 
and what are rare, and not already publifhed in 
the end of Mr. Ray’s Synopfis pifeium, are infert- 
ed in this work with proper acknowledgements. 
h From its high dorfal fin, this filh is fometimes 
in Cornwall, but very erroneoufly, called the 
Thorn-back. 
1 Can's carcharias feu Lamia Auth. 
country 
