82 
room xi. length of their pectoral fin, which enables them 
to suspend themselves in the air till their fins 
are dry. They are found in the seas of warm 
and temperate climates. They leave the water 
to escape from voracious fishes, and in the air 
they are pursued by the water-birds. The Mor- 
myri ( Mormyrus ) are fresh water fish of Africa, 
which have a small mouth, and the gill-flap hid 
under the skin. 
The Siluroid Fish ( Siluridce ) have a naked 
skin, in which large bony plates are frequently 
imbedded. They have often a soft dorsal fin, and 
their intermaxiliaries edge the jaws, their max- 
illaries forming only beards. 
Many of these have the first ray of the pec¬ 
toral fin very strong and bony, and the animal 
has the power of fixing it immoveably, so that 
it forms a dangerous w T eapon, and the wound 
inflicted by it is said to be venomous; but this, 
perhaps, greatly depends on the liability of per¬ 
sons in w T arm climates to tetanus or locked jaw 
from punctured wmunds. They mostly live on 
vegetable food, especially seeds. Their flesh is 
very fat, and much used as food ; but that of 
some species, as the Shals of Senegal, is reput¬ 
ed to be dangerous. The skin of some of the 
genera, as the Callichtes ( Callichtys), is covered 
with four rows of large imbricate scales, which 
protect the body, like scale-armour; and others, 
as the Loricaria ( Loricaria ), have the body 
entirely 
