Natural History*— ‘Zoology. 
399 
III. NATURAL HISTORY. 
ZOOLOGY. 
16. Sword-fish cast ashore at Kirlcbean. — The present sum- 
mer has been remarkable for the number of large and strange 
fishes which have been thrown upon our coasts, particularly those 
washed by the Irish Sea. Perhaps the most remarkable of these 
is a sword-fish, the Xiphias gladius of Linnaeus, which was 
thrown on the coast of Kirkbean, a small maritime tract situated 
immediately behind that formidable barrier of shallows and sand- 
banks which protect the western alluvial border of the Solway 
Frith from the incursions of its ancient possessor, the ocean. 
This fish measured 10 feet in length, and 4^ feet round the 
thicker part of the body. The sword, or rostrum, which is 
the most interesting part of this singular animal, measures 3 feet 
3 inches in length ; and, different from those specimens com- 
monly exhibited or described, resembles in a most remarkable 
manner the common diamond sword worn by the serjeants of 
infantry, only its proportions at the root are more uniform, the 
whole figure being that of a very acute isosceles triangle, whose 
vertical angle is 4° 42'; — for its greater section is nearly a rhom- 
boid, whose respective sides are 17.5, 33 : which last number is 
its transverse dimension or breadth at the same place in T ^ths of 
an inch. Its thickness there is 3.1 inches : its greatest breadth 
3.3 inches ; and it weighs 25 ounces, or 1 lb. 9 oz. avoirdupois. 
The part where the rostrum has been attached to the frontal 
bone is somewhat softer than the rest, though approaching more 
nearly to the colour and surface of bone. Internally, however, 
the appearance is splintery, with parallel fibres, and colour much 
resembling hiccory. Towards the apex, it becomes more and 
more solid, and its edges are almost perfectly transparent, and 
might pass for a deposition of calcareous-spar. They are, indeed, 
easily scratched with a knife, and yield a white streak, but do not 
effervesce with acids. The point, which does not exceed ^th of 
an inch in breadth, is likewise, though less perfectly, transparent. 
It is penetrated for at least 18 inches of its length by four canals. 
These are half an inch wide at their commencement, and gra- 
dually disappear in solid bone. Their use is probably to re- 
ceive nerves for the purpose of sensation, as the whole mass 
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