320 
The Hijtory of A N I. M A L S. 
fometimes twelve, rays 5 the ventral fins have eight rays each ; the pinna ani has feven- 
teen rays 5 and the tail, which is of a dufky greyifh colour, and very forked, has nine¬ 
teen long rays: the whole body, efpecially toward the back, is very bright, and in 
ibrne degree pellucid • and the fith, when frefh taken, has an extreamly agreeable 
fmell: the vertebras are fifty-nine ; the ribs are thirty-five on a fide; the air-bladder 
is Ample, and largeft in the middle. 
We have this valuable fifii in the Thames, and in other of our rivers, which com¬ 
municate with the fea. Ray, Willughby, and the reft of the Ichthyologifts call it 
Eperlanus ; fome, as Jonfton and Schonveldt, Spirinchus and Stinchus; it varies in 
fize in different places, and has been hence, by fome, defcribed under two names, as 
if two diftindt fpecies. 
Qfmerus radiis pinna ani undecim . 
The Ofmerus , with eleven rays in the pinna ani . tofl-ftll)* 
This is of the fize of the fmelt, or larger : the body is rounded, and the belly fiat; 
it 5 s thicknefs is about that of a man’s thumb, when it’s length is feven inches: the 
belly is white; the head is flatted on the upper part, and there is a little furrow be¬ 
tween the eyes: the opening of the mouth is very large, and the roftrum is acute: 
there is in each jaw a Angle feries of long teeth on each fide of the palate; there is alfo 
a Angle feries difpofed in a right line 5 there are two feries on the tongue, and the aper¬ 
tures of the branchiae are very large: the back fin has twelve rays, and there is, to¬ 
ward the extremity of the back, a membranous appendage of the appearance of a 
fin, but without any rays: the pedoral fins have each thirteen rays 5 the ventral fins 
are longer by much than the pedtoral ones; they ftand a little below thofe, and have 
eight rays: the pinna ani has ten rays : the tail is very forked: the fcales are large, 
and are placed in an imbricated manner 5 they are of a roundifh figure, and adhere to¬ 
lerably firmly. 
This fpecies is frequent in the Mediterranean ; it is brought to market in Rome and 
elfewhere under the name of the Tarantola. It was well known to the antients $ 
Ariftotle and .Elian have mentioned it under the name of z^vp©* ; Athensus calls it 
Sauris Speucippi j Salvian and others call it Saurus j others, as Rondelet and Gefner, 
Lacertus peregrinus, and Lacertus maris Rubri, 
S A L M O. 
H E Salmo has large, fbarp, and ftrong teeth in both jaws, and on the palate, 
tongue, and fauces: the back fin is placed nearer the head of the fifh than 
the ventral ones; the body is,* in moft of the fpecies, variegated with fpots, and the 
branchioftege membrane contains ten, eleven, or twelve bones. 
Salmo roflro ultra maxillam inferiorem fcepe prominente . 
The Salmo, with the roftrum extending beyond the lower 
jaw . 
The Salmon is an inhabitant both of the fea and rivers: the head is final!, in pro¬ 
portion to the body, and, when the mouth is fhut, is of a conic figure; the opening 
of the mouth, however, is large : the roftrum is evidently prominent, when the mouth 
is fhut, beyond the lower jaw : the noftrils have each a double aperture, and are fitua- 
ted a little nearer to the eyes than to the roftrum; the eyes are round, and their iris of 
a filvery colour, with a faint admixture of green : the pupil is black, and is rounded 
on the hinder part, and protended on the anterior part into a fubacute angle: the 
coverings of the gills are of a filvery colour, and are compofed of two, or rather of 
four, bony laminae, and of twelve broad and fomewhat crooked bones, conne&ed by 
a membrane, and there are fome irregular black fpots on them: the lateral line is 
very ftraight, and runs fomewhat nearer the back than the belly ; and there are fome 
black fpots about the line, both above and below it, but they do not ftand clofe : the 
fcales are moderately large, and are placed in an imbricated manner ; they are largeft 
on the back, and are there black ; on the hides and belly they are fmaller, and of a 
filvery colour: the back is convex, and the belly fomewhat broad and flatted. 
There 
