The Biftory of ANIMALS. 263 
and of a bluifh-black; the iris is ufually yellow : the noftrils have each a double 
aperture, and fland a little below the eyes; the back is ridged; the belly is flat- 
tifh, but fomewhat prominent toward the lower part, and the fides are very 
rounded and prominent: the colour is a dufky brown, with an admixture of yellow- 
i£h, and on the fides there are longitudinal black lines: the back fin has thirty rays, 
eighteen of which are prickly : the pedtoral fins have fixteen rays each ; the belly fins 
have each fix rays, and the pinna ani has eight $ the two anterior ones prickly, the refl 
foft and weak. 
This fpecies is frequent in Germany, and fome other parts of Europe, but we have 
it not in England. Authors in general have defcribed it, but that fo varioufly, that the 
greater part of them feem not to have feen it. Ray, Willughby, and others call it 
Schraitfer Ratifbonenfibus. 
TRACHINUS. 
T H E head of the Trachinus has always certain rough tubercles on it, and there 
is either a fingle fpine, or more, at the upper angle of the coverings of the gills 1 
the eyes are placed near one another, in the upper part of the head : there are two 
back fins, and the firft of them is very fhort. When the fifh is opened, there are aP 
ways found eight, ten, or twelve appendiculas at the pylorus. 
Trachinus maxilla inferiore longiore cirris deftituta . 
The Trachinus, with the lower jaw longefi , and without beards . 2 K UttlOtt* 
This grows to fix or eight inches in length, fomefeim.es to confiderably more, and is 
moderately thick, in proportion : the head is large, and fomewhat compreffed 5 the 
eyes Hand near one another at the top of it, and the iris is of a gold yellow: the 
noftrils are confpicuous, and have each a double aperture : the body is compreffed, and 
the lateral line is ftraight j there is on each fide* at the opercula or coverings of 
the gills, a large and rebuff fpine * the tail is fcarce at all forked : the firfl back fin 
has five prickly rays, which inflidt an invenomed woundthe fecond has thirty-one 
rays: the pedtoral fins have each fixteen rays, and the pinna ani has thirty-two: the 
three anterior rays of the pedoral fins are ramofe. 
This fpecies is frequent in the Mediterranean, and in our own and other feas * 
the antients were very well acquainted with it. Ariftotle, fElian, and Oppian call it 
Ap; /Elian, Apdxwv QcaXccTTm j Pliny, Bellonius, Salvian, and others call it Draco 
marinus j Rondelet, Jonfton, and fome others, fimply, Draco 5 others, Araneus pif- 
cis; Gefner, Draco live Araneus Plinii j and Schoneveldt, Araneus vel Draco mari¬ 
nus ; Ifidore calls it Aranea; and Paulus Jovius, Trachurus, Trachina, and Trachid^ 
na. The Swedes and Danes call it Fjarfing ; the Italians, Pefce Ragno; the French, 
Viver j and we, the Weever. Gefner, Aldrovand, and others defcribe what they 
call other fpecies of this fifh, under the names of Draco major, Draco minor, and 
Aranei five Draconis marini fpecies altera ; but they have led one another into this mif- 
take : there is no other fpecies but this, and what they thus figure and defcribe are only 
rieties from the different periods of growth and other accidents* 
Trachinus cirris midtis in maxilla inferiore . 
The Trachinus , with numerous cirri on the under jaw. 
Xtyt fbtWC* 
This is a flit of an extreamly lingular figure; the body is rounded, or, if any thing, 
a little depreffed : the back is broad $ the fides are prominent, and the belly is fome¬ 
what flatted : the head is large and depreffed ; the mouth is wide, and of a very lingu¬ 
lar figure, being divided, as it were, into three fpines under the tongue, and the low¬ 
er jaw turning upwards: the eyes are large, and fland near one another, not on the 
fides, but on the top of the head, fo that the fifh naturally looks firaight upward j their 
iris is of a gold yellow ; the pupil is of a bluifh-black : the noflrils are confpicuous | 
they have each a double aperture, and are placed at fome diftance under the eyes: the 
whole head and the coverings of the gills are befet with a great number of rough and 
fharp tubercles: there are two back fins 5 the firfl has three prickly rays * the fecond 
