306 
The Hiftory of ANIMALS. 
the roftrum itfelf, in fine, on it’s under part, at the fides, and in the middle, is rough 
with innumerable very minute fpines; all thefe are very like the prickles of the ftalks of 
the rofe-bufh in form and direction. 
The belly, or under part of the fifh, is divided, as it were, into two parts, each of 
a femiciicular figure; one of thefe is the region of the breaft, the other of the belly or 
abdomen, and the edges of thefe two circles are often befet with fmall fpines, but it is 
not fo in all the fifih; between thefe two regions there is placed a tranfverfe cartilage ; 
this divides the breaft from the belly, and is very confpicuous externally: the anus 
flands between the ventral fins, a little above the beginning of the tail; it is of an oval 
figuie, and is placed longitudinally ; there are two fmall foramina or apertures immedi^ 
ately at the lower part of the anus; thefe in the males communicate with the veficil- 
la3 feminales, and in the females with the ovaries. 
The gills are five on each fide ; and their apertures, on the external part of the bo¬ 
dy, are fmaller, and communicate with much larger apertures within; thefe are ob¬ 
long and tranfverfe : the heart of this fifh is fmall, and of a flatted figure; it is fima¬ 
ted in the lower part of the breaft: the diaphragm is robuft and firong / the liver is 
large, and is fituated in the upper part of the abdomen, and is divided into'three lobes; 
the ftomach is large and oblong. 
. This is very frequent about our own coafls. Rondelet calls it Raia clavata ; Bello- 
nius, fimply, Raia; Gefner, Raia proprie ditfta. We, in Englifti, call it the Thorn- 
back and the Maid. Many of the writers on fifli have figured and defcribed it alfo a 
fecond time, as if another fpecies, under the names of Raia clavata altera, Rai$ cla- 
vatas fpecies altera, and Raia clavata altera Rondeletii. 
Raia corpore glabro, aculeo longo anterius 
ferrato in cauda apterygia. 
The fmooth Raia , with a longfpine ferrated 
before in the tail . 
This is a moderately large fpecies, very broad and thin, and the tail is remarkably 
long : the head is as fiat and deprefied as the body ; the eyes ftand on the upper fide 
of the body, the mouth on the lower; there are two apertures or holes behind the 
eyes, one to each ; the eyes themfelves are large : their iris is of a firong yellow : the 
pupil is blackifh ; the mouth is large and tranfverfe the teeth are firong, fiiort, nume¬ 
rous, and granulous; the rofirum is long, and very acute ; the apertures of the gills 
are five on each fide, and they are fituated on the breaft, beginning a little below the 
mouth : the fides are all the way terminated by a broad fin: the whole body is very 
thin, and the tail is remarkably long, and is rounded ; it has no fin on it, but termi¬ 
nates in a fine fmall point : there is a large fpine about it’s middle ; this is ferrated on 
the anterior part, and is long, bony, and fharp at the point : the back of the fifli is 
fomewhat gibbofe, but the belly is fiat. 
We have this fpecies in our own and fome other of the Northern Seas, but it is 
more frequent in the Mediterranean : the antients were well acquainted with it. Arif* 
totle calls it T^yuv ; fElian, Athemeus, and Oppian, Tfauv ■ Rondelet and Salvian, 
Paftinacha; Gefner and Jonfton, Paftinacha marina; Aldrovand, Paftinacha marina 
altera; Schoneveldt, Pafiinacha marina Gxyrynchos; Belionius, Pafiinacha marina 
laevis. The Italians call it Brucho or Bruco; and we the Fire-flaire, Fire-flaw, or 
Fierce-flaw: it gives a very fevere and invenomed wound, with the ferrated fpine in 
the tail. 
Raia cor pore glabro 3 aculeis fcepe duobus poftice 
ferratis in cauda apterygia . DOUtlfc SlEgti 
The fmooth-bodied Raia> with two fpines on the Jf ffit'fl&tXt-*. 
tail , ferrated behind. 
This is a moderately large fpecies: the roftrum is long and acute ; the head is de- 
preffed; the back is fomewhat gibbofe, and the belly is fiat : the eyes are large, and 
fomewhat prominent; their iris is yellow, and their pupil black; the mouth is large 
and tranfverfe; the teeth are numerous, fiiort, and obtufe ; there are two large aper- 
i tores 
