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THE 
1 S T O R Y 
O F 
ANIMALS. 
PART IV. 
FISHES. 
IS HE S are animals which have no feet, but have always fins . 
Fijh rejpire either by means of their branchiae or gills, or by lungs , like thofe 
of land animals ; they inhabit the waters, and perform their motions, either by 
means of their fins, or by the flexuous agitation and turning of their bodies . 
There are fome fpecies which will occafionally quit the water, and come on land; and fome 
which fly for a time , by means of their peBoral fins, which are large, and formed for 
that purpofe. 
The fever al kinds of fijh have certain obvious and invariable charaBers, according to 
which they may be arranged into certain feries, and under thefe into feparate clajfes, com- 
pofed of the different genera which agree in their general charaBers, though they differ 
in fuch as are fufficient to diflinguifh them, under thefe, into the ultimate arrangement. 
Fhe firft divifion into feries is eflablijhed on the difference in the fituation of the tail\ 
and in the ftruBure of the fins, and of the parts about the gills. 
‘The generality of fijh have their tails placed in a vertical direction, but fome have 
them horizontal, as all the cetaceous kind ; thefe lajl form only a Jingle feries. Of the 
others, or thofe which have the tail placed perpendicularly, fome have the rays or parts 
which fupport the fins of a bony flruBure j others have them only cartilaginous j the lajl of 
thefe make only one feries, comprehending the ray-fijh, the fturgeon, and the like. Of thofe 
which have the rays of the fins bony, fome have the branchice ofjiculated, arid others have 
none of thefe ojflcles about them. The fijh of the latter kind form alfo only one feries j but 
thofe which have the branchice ofjiculated, have the rays of the fins alfo inoffenfive, and 
others have them pungent or prickly. 
On thefe dijlinBions, the whole body of fijhes are divided into five feries. 
The firft , under the name of Malacopterygii, contains thofe which have perpendicular 
tails , the rays of the fins bony and not pungent , a?zd the branchice ofjiculated. 
The fecoizd, under the name Acanthopterygii, comprehends thofe which have the tail 
perpendicular , and have the rays of the fins bony, andfharp or prickly, and the branchice 
ofjiculated. 
I he third, under the name of Branchioftegi, comprehends thofe which have perpendi¬ 
cular tails, and have the rays of the fins bony, and the branchiae not ofiiculated. 
The fourth, under the name of Chondropterygii, comprehends thofe which have per¬ 
pendicular tails, and have the rays of the fins not bony but cartilaginous. 
■ f The 
Fff 
