150 
SWORDFISH. 
displayed a minute acquaintance with the hahits of this fish. 
A bait was employed, but it was fastened with a sliding noose 
to the line at a distance above a naked hook; and the whole 
was so contrived that when the Swordfish seized the bait with 
its mouth, it should glide along, until, by the force of its 
motion, it was thrust upon the hook below, the sudden shock 
of which was a signal to the fisherman of the success of his 
skill. The Swordfish is said to be fond of the society of its 
fellows, and not to wander without some one to accompany 
him; and this again formed the foundation of a stratagem to 
entice it to its destruction. An artificial imitation was made of 
its own form, and when, in obedience to the attraction, it was 
brought near the boats that closed around it, the dart was 
thrown; and when, in spite of its struggles, it was dragged 
within reach, a blow upon the head deprived it of the power of 
further resistance. 
A usual length of this fish is from eight to ten feet, but 
Willoughby, as well as Rondeletius, have known it to reach 
to fifteen fcet. An example which measured seven feet and a 
half, was, in its greatest depth, one foot, and in thickness 
nine inches. In a fish ten feet in length, the girth was three 
feet. The comparative length of the snout or sword appears 
to vary, since in some it is described as equal to the length 
of the body, and in others to one third. At its origin the 
breadth of this organ is about the fifth part of its length, 
from whence it proceeds flat and tapering to a point. The 
under jaw is short, pointed, and about a fourth part of the 
length of the upper; but there is reason to suppose that the 
relative length of the two is more equal in young examples. 
The head slopes from the front of the dorsal fin to the begin- 
ning of the snout. Eye large and prominent. Body thick near 
the head, a little compressed further hack, becoming more 
slender near the tail, and, at the root of this organ, above and 
below, a depression. On the sides, behind, a raised border or 
keel, as in the Tunny. The scales hid in the skin. 
The dorsal fin begins very high, opposite the edge of the 
hindmost gill-cover, and it passes on, narrower, to near the 
tail, where the last rays are again lengthened; and, in old 
examples, the middle rays of this fin have altogether disappeared. 
T'he vent is behind the middle of the body; and the anal 
