84 
SKATES. 
corners; and the only use of these tendrils seems to he by 
meeting in an arch to open the way for the free passage of 
the case itself in the process of exclusion. They appear to 
he cast at random, with little attention to security, and, in 
consequence, when the parent fish reside in shallow water they 
are frequently washed on shore by the turbulence of the waves. 
They are safe, however, from the devourers of the deep, for 
I have never found them in the stomachs of fishes. 
There seems to be some grounds for doubt as regards the 
etymology and meaning of the names of the Skate and Ray; 
of which the former have been sought in the Latin word 
Squatina, which, however, has never been applied to any of 
the fishes known to us by the name of Skate. The name of 
Ray is equally uncertain, and although it is employed by Pliny 
to signify some fish of probably this genus, it is not referred 
to any known root in the Latin language; and in Greek, from 
which its meaning is more probably to be sought, it was not 
known as applied to any known species. If at all derived 
from that language, the explanation of an author (Hermolaus) 
quoted in Stevens’ “Thesaurus,” affords the only interpretation 
we are able to assign to it. It obtained its name, says he, 
from a likeness of its spines to a bramble, which the Greeks 
called Batos, because it has sharp hooks on its back. The 
Pastinaca has the like, but besides this the latter has a very 
dreadful and poisonous dart. There is also a larger Ray, which 
the Latins called a Smooth Ray, and the Greeks ( Liobatos ) 
by a word of the same meaning, but which has no crooked 
spines. The word Ray of course is to be supposed a trans- 
lation of the original meaning of Batos, This etymology 
appears sufficiently far-fetched, and it should not be forgotten 
that as far as regards the English names of these fishes, the 
Saxon language affords a more plausible derivation; and I 
give it the rather that I have thus an opportunity of ex- 
plaining some circumstances connected with the English 
fisheries, which may be considered as a portion of the history 
of those species. 
An adventure in the fisheries, at least in the West of 
England, is usually set on foot by some practical fisherman, 
who provides the boat and her outfit, and who himself acts 
as the principal fisherman; and who seeks his profit as owner 
