STK'ucTtJRE. FISHES. Extinct Species. ccxxv 
Fossil. Extinct Fishes. 
Mediten’iineaii Sea and our Atlantic waters. Tlie 
work of Belon, published in 1545, from which we have ; 
extracted some items, contains figures of many familiar 
Fishes. 'I'he illustrations are excellent in drawing, 
and the engraving is passably executed on wood. 
Eondelet’s L'Histoire Entiere Des Poissons, 1548, is 
a more serious and pretentious work, with crude, 
though tolei ably accurate wood-cuts. After treati ng 
the Fishes very fairly in one group, the same title 
covers chapters on the Cetaceans, Seals and Sea-'l'ur- 
tles. Among the Cetaceans he places a form wil h 
the snout of a Saw-fish, and body and tail of a Whale ; 
then there are scaled Lions and scaled Mermen ; 
and, after describing the Shell-fish and Radiates, 
with many very good figures, he gives two separate 
chapters for the Fishes of lakes and rivers, respec- 
tively. A description with an illustration of a SeJi 
Serpent [Dii Serpent d’eau) is given, ending with some 
exceedingly uncouth figures of Reptiles. 'I'he first 
of three eras which Baron Cuvier recognizes in the 
science of Ichthyology, embraces the experience and 
teachings of Aristotle. 'I'he second dates from the 
time of the authors noticed above — al)out the mid- 
dle of the sixteenth century — Salviani, Belon and 
Rondelet, iis well as Gesner, Aldrovandi, and a few 
others of less note. From the illustrated works of 
these old authors we have introduced, in the proper 
places, such of the quaint matter we have found 
referring to American species, and thus given a his- 
tory of our Fishes from the earliest times. 
'I’he tyi)ical Fishes, called Teleosts, from the Greek, 
“perfect bone” — bony Fishes — include the largest 
number of familiar forms. 'I'he Ganoids are not now 
numerous, though they were largely represented in 
early times. 'I'he Gar-fish, or Alligator-gai-, is an ex- 
ample of this group. 'I'he Dipnoans are represented 
by the Lepidosiren of South America. 'I'he Stur- 
geons are of the same group. 
'I'here are now about nine thousand s[)eeies of Fishes 
known to science; the larger number being found in 
tropical waters. Numerous families are wholly rep- 
resented in fresh water. Seven families are peculiar 
to North America. 'I'en families are exclusively 
known in tropical America. 'J'he present state of 
the science is exhibited in the following distribution : 
Class— PICES oe FISHES. 
Sub-class — Telkosxei. 
Sub-class — Ganoidei. 
Class -SELACHIANS or ELASMOBKANCHIATES. 
Class— MAESIPOBRANCHIATES. 
Class— LEPIDOCABDII. 
Our account of the Fishes of North America will 
be in two parts. ’V\iQ v&\\inh\6 List of the Fhthe.'i of 
the East Coast of North America, by Dr. Gill, has 
been followed as to the arrangement of families. 
'I'he Fishes of the lakes and rivers are recorded after 
the arrangement in Dr. Jordon’s Manual of Verte- 
hrates. 'J’he exhibition in that work of the numerous 
trivial names is especially interesting and valuable 
for a popular treatise. 
VOL. I.— /• 
In the upper portion of the Upper Silurian de- 
posits, fossil extinct Fishes are found to a certaiii 
extent in Europe. None of this formation has been 
discovered in America. Fishes being the lowest of 
vertebrates, they are also first to appear in geological 
history. 'I'heir earliest appearance in America is in 
the Devonian strata. 'I’he Amphibians, the next 
higher group, appear in the Lower Carboniferous. 
'J'he oldest-known Fishes are of the Shark groups 
and an extinct group, the Buckler- headed Fishes. 
'I’he earliest Fishes found in America are not nu- 
merous, but are very large in size. 'I’he 'I'riassic 
deposits of New Jersey and Connecticut River 
valley abound in remains of small Ganoids. Among 
the Elasmobranchiates, the extinct genus Rhyn- 
codus has been found in the Corjiiferous Limestone 
ot Ohio. 'I'his is allied to the singular Ghimmra 
of the present day. 'I’he Ganoids are represented by 
genus Amia, with several species, which lived ii< the 
great lakes ; one species, only, exists at present. Re- 
mains of Lepidosteus are found in 'I'ertiary rocks. 
Giant Fishes, called Dinichthys and Aspidichthys, 
are found in the Devonian rocks of Ohio. 'J'hese be- 
long to the Placoderms, and had the anterior portion 
of the body covered with thick bony plates, which 
are in some instances studded like a coat-of-mail, 
with excessively hard enamelled projections; behind, 
the body was usually either naked or covered with 
angular enamelled scales. In Dinichthys, the largest 
Placoderm yet discovered, the defensive and offensive 
armor is most formidable. “Its size,” says Dr. New- 
berry — who is identified with the discovery and sci- 
entific presentation of these wonderftd forms — “may 
be conjectured from the fact that a single plate, oc- 
cupying the centre of the back, was more than two 
feet long and broad. 'J’he head was about three feet 
in diameter and length. 'I'he mandibles were two 
feet in length by six inches in depth, solid bone 
throughout.” Of the Pycnodontidee a few have 
been found. 'J’he genus l^latysomus has been ob- 
tained from the coal measures of Illinois, and Pycu- 
odus from the greensand of New Jersey. 'J’he Dipno- 
ans are represented Oiily by three living forms, the 
Lepidosirens and Ceratodus, and closely allied to the 
Amphibia. 
F AMiLY— M AL'J'HE [DiE. 
BAT-FISH {Malthe vespertiHo {Linn.), Cuv .) — 
Called, also. Nose-fish, Bat-mai.thea and Diablo. 
Dr. Mitchill has described several species of this 
genus, all from the Bahamas. A specimen was early 
obtained on the banks of Newfoundland, from which 
circumstance DeKay says we may introduce it as 
occurring on our shores. It has a place in the list 
of the Fishery Commission, as inhabiting from New- 
loundland to Florida. 'I’he appaiatus by which it 
lures its prey is placed just over the mouth, and 
consists of an erectile club-shaped body, about an 
inch in length, situated within a cavity. 
BOX-HEADED SEA-BAT {M. cuhifrons, Eich.)— 
J his is the M. nasuta ol Cuvier, and Short-nosed 
