61 
but the body is covered with regular scales. They 
principally ascend rivers to spawn. They are voracious, 
eating insects and small animals, and their flesh fur¬ 
nishes some of the greatest delicacies of the table. 
This family has been divided into several genera, ac¬ 
cording to the form and presence of the teeth, and the 
position of the fins. The species of true Salmons 
(Salmo), which have usually a spotted body, are most es¬ 
teemed in Europe, and fish taken from particular 
streams or lakes are often preferred. 
Some species, as the Capelan (Salmo groenlandicus ), 
are so abundant as to be used as bait in the Cod Fish¬ 
eries. In one genus ( Saurus ), the mouth is very large, 
and the edge of the jaws, the palate, and tongue is co¬ 
vered with large, very long and flexible barbed teeth. 
Cases 5 and 6. The family of Herrings ( Clupeidce ) 
have the same scaly body as the Salmons, but they 
have no soft dorsal fin, and their upper jaw is formed 
in the middle by the intermaxillaries, and on the sides 
by the maxillary bones. 
Many of these fishes live in large shoals, which period¬ 
ically visit particular parts of the coast, 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. 
The body is covered with a case formed of square 
scales, almost as hard as 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 immediately 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 gene¬ 
rally 
ROOM XI. 
Nat. Hist. 
