792 Mr. brown's Account of 
reft gradually fhortening to the bottom, are connected 
by thin membranous pellucid films or webs from their 
roots which fpring near the gills to the very lummit, 
where they lofe themfelves in {lender points : at their 
thickeft ends approaching each other, they unite in a 
line, which, in correfpondence with the form of the gills, 
is nearly the fegment of a circle ; though there they are 
connected, it is in fuch a manner as to allow of being 
drawn a little afunder, which reparation is confiderable 
at the other extremity. The united ends are grooved or 
hollowed, to receive a ridge or protuberance of the fca- 
pula, to be afterwards mentioned, forming a joint capable 
of little motion, excepting backward and forward ; in 
the one cafe, the wing lies clofe to the fide; in the other, 
it is moved from the fide forward, forming an acute or 
redtangle with the body of the fifli ; but neither at this 
time expanded. Thefe two motions are performed, I 
prefume, in common fwimming. 
The fore-part of its body, from near the back bone 
downward to the bottom, where it terminates in a point, 
is fortified juft behind the gills by a flat bone on each 
fide, which anfwer all the purpoies both of clavicles and 
fcapulae in land animals : they are firmly' united before, 
o-r at the inferior part where they are narrower, and run- 
ning upward, widening as they approach the back, they 
become 
