84 
room xi. and several of them ascend the rivers to deposit 
their spawn. With the Herrings are placed 
the Gar-Fish, or Bony Pike ( Lepisosteus ), 
which has many of the characters of the Pike, 
with the structure of the head of the Herring. 
Their body is covered with a case formed of 
square scales, of the hardness of stone, and the 
two outer rays of the tail, and of the other fins, 
are fringed with similar scales. They live in 
the warm parts of South America, and afford 
good food. 
The second division of this order contains 
those fishes which have their ventral fins imme¬ 
diately under the pectorals. It contains three 
families, distinguished by the shape of the body. 
The Cod-Fish family ( Gadidce ) have a lance¬ 
shaped body, covered with small scales. The 
head is without scales, and the back has generally 
two or three dorsal fins; the ventral fins are 
always slender. They generally live in the seas 
of cold and temperate climates, and by their 
abundance are important as objects of com¬ 
merce. Their flesh is white, readily separated 
into layers, easy of digestion, and very palat¬ 
able. They are divided into several genera, ac¬ 
cording to the number of the fins. The true Cod 
{Morrhud) has three dorsal fins and a small 
beard ; the Coal-Fish ( Merlangus ) has the same 
fins, but no beard ; while the Stock-Fish ( Merluc - 
cius) has only two dorsal and one anal fin. The 
Ling 
