i ©6 B L E 
fervices by him performed for the public; and for the 
building of which houfe the fum of 500,0001. was granted 
by parliament. The tenure by which his grace holds the 
manor of Woodftock is the prefenting at the caftle of 
Windfor, annually, on the day in which the battle of 
Blenheim was fought, a flag, embroidered with flowers- 
de-lis; which flag is fhown to all ftrangers who vilit the 
caftle. 
BLEN'NA, or BLENA,y. A thick phlegm defcending 
from the brain, through the noftrils ; which fliews a be¬ 
ginning concoftion. 
BLEN'NIUS, f. in ichthyology, a genus of fiflies be¬ 
longing to the order of jugulares ; the characters of which 
are thefe : the ventral fin has two rays. The head is 
Email, fmooth, comprelfed on both Tides, and, in Tome 
fpecies, furniflied with prickles in the (hape of a comb. 
The opening of the mouth is fmall, the throat large. The 
eyes are placed on the top of the head ; fmall, jutting out, 
and covered with a fliining membrane. The coverings of 
the gills are thick, and confifl: of two fmall lamina ; the 
membrane of the gills is diftinft, and reds upon from 
four to fix rays. The body has feven fins, and is com- 
prefled on both fides ; in mod fpecies, the lateral line is 
bent. The back is flrait, fometimes with one fin, fome- 
times two. The anus is almofl in the middle of the body. 
The belly-fins are round ; the anal fin narrow and long; 
the tail-fin is rounded off. Thefe fiflies do not grow very 
large ; their food is the (pawn or young of other fifli, fea- 
infeCfs, and worms. The names given to this genus by 
didinguifhed authors are as follow : Blennius, Linn. Art. 
Gron. Klein. Pierce-pierre, ou coquillade, Gronov. Blen- 
ny, Pennant. Rotzfifche, Muller. Schleimfifche, Lejk. 
There are feventeen fpecies in this genus, the mod cu¬ 
rious of which we (hall particularly deferibe. 
Blennius pholis, or fmooth blenny. This fpecies is dif- 
tinguifhed by its nodrils turned back, cylindric, and den- 
tated ; it has feven rays at the membrane of the gills, 
fourteen at the belly fin, two at the ventral, nineteen at 
the anal, fix at the tail-fin, and twenty-eight at the dor- 
fal. The head is large, diminifliing in front ; the aper¬ 
ture of the mouth large ; and the jaws, of which the up¬ 
per advances beyond the lower, are furniflied with teeth ; 
the lips are large ; the nodrils round, ending cylindrically 
behind four prickles. The tongue is fmooth ; the palate 
rough. The eyes are large, with a black pupil, fur- 
rounded by an iris of a pale-red colour. The body is 
fmooth, and covered with glutinous matter; it is of an olive 
colour, with black and white fpots. This fpecies, which 
was known to Aridotle, is an inhabitant of the North Sea 
and the Mediterranean. Their haunts are near the fliores 
and at the mouths of rivers, among the fiones and weeds. 
They grow to the length of fix or feven inches ; living 
chiefly upon cray-fifli. They move brifkly, and are very 
tenacious of life ; according to Ray, they will live four- 
and-twenty hours out of the water. It is little eaten, 
being hard and dry. The fynonymes of different authors 
are as follow : Blennius pholis, &c. Linn. Blenniuscapite 
fummo acuminato, maxilla fuperiore longiore, Art. and 
Gronov. H’ k, Arift. Malgranoc, buleard, Ray and 
Will. Pierce-pierre, Rond, and Bloch. Spitzkopf, Muller. 
Gunellus, or fpotted blenny, or butter-fifh. The dorfal 
fin ftrew’ed with round black fpots, furrounded with a 
white ring, diftinguifhes this fpecies from others of the 
fame genus. Thefe fpots are from nine to twelve in num¬ 
ber. There are fix rays in the membrane of the gills; 
ten in the peftoral fin; forty-one in the anal, of which 
the two firft are fharp ; eighteen in the tail-fin, and fixty- 
eight in the dorfal. The head in this fpecies is very fmall, 
as are the pefloral and ventral fins ; and the whole body 
is much drawn in at the fides. The mouth, which opens 
above, is fmall; the under jaw is bent and juts out; each 
jaw is furniflied with a row of fmall fharp teeth. The 
eyes are fmall ; the pupil is black, the iris white; behind 
the eye is a black ray. The body, which is covered with 
.little feales, in fome is of a yellow grey on the back and 
B L E 
fides, witli many pale fpots ; in others it is brown or olive- 
coloured, with fpots of a deep clear colour; but the belly 
is always white. The back is black ; the rays of its fins 
are long, narrow, and pointed ; and, from the circum- 
flance of their advancing beyond the intermediate mem¬ 
brane, they give the fifh the form of a faw. The fins of 
the anus and breaft are of an orange colour ; the bottom 
of the anal fin is fpotted with brown ; the back and tail 
fins are yellow ; thofe of the belly are fcarcely vilible. 
This fifli likewife inhabits the North Sea and the Baltic, 
and grows to the length of feven or eight inches; it re¬ 
mains near the fliores among the weeds, where it feems to 
fubfift on infedfs and the fpawn of other fifli. As the flefh 
is hard, it is little ufed for food ; though the Greenland¬ 
ers dry it, and eat it with their falmon. It fwfims very 
quick, and is as flippery as an eel. Synonymes. Blennius 
gunellus, Linn. Pholis maculis annulatis ad pinnam dor- 
lalem, &c. Gronov. Gunellus, butterfifli, Ray, Will, and 
Seba. Spotted blenny, Penn. Papillon de mer, Block. 
Butterfifch, Muller. Skeria, fteinbitr, fpret-fifh, Ola/s. 
Viviparous blenny. The fmall cylinders which appear in 
the outer noflrils form the diftinftive characters of this fifh. 
The membrane of the gills has feven rays, the ftomach fin 
20, the ventral two, the anal, tail, and dorfal, which are 
joined, confifl of 148 rays. The head and mouth are 
fmall; the upper jaw comes out beyond the under one, 
and both are furniflied with fmall teeth. At the cefopha- 
gus, or gullet, are two hard bones, which ferve to retain 
the prey. The eyes are long, with a black pupil, filver- 
coloured iris, covered with a fliining membrane. The 
throat and anal fin are orange-colour ; the reft of the body 
yellow, fpotted with black ; on the dorfal fin, which rs 
of a pale yellow, are ten or twelve black fpots. The 
belly is Ihort, jutting out; the anus large.. The rays of 
all the fins are foft. The lateral line, though hardly vifi- 
ble, goes in a flrait direction through the middle of the 
body. They are found in the Weftern Ocean, as well as 
in the North Sea and the Baltic. This fifli, which is re- 
prefented in the annexed engraving, was fifteen inches 
long when taken, and contained 200 young in its belly. 
It is doubtful whether they bring forth feveral times in 
the year; for Schonefelt fays the young fall in fummer, 
Pennant in winter, and Beck affirms that he has feen the 
young in the body in autumn. The eggs, which begin to 
unfold themfelves in the fpring, are by Eafter about the 
fize of hemp-feed. When the female is ready to bring 
forth, which is about June, the belly is fo fwelled, that, 
on being touched, the young come out one after another, 
and prefently move about with great celerity. It might 
be fuppofed that fo many young in one womb would bruife 
each other by their motions ; but it muff; be remembered-,, 
that each is confined in- a feparate egg, where it is fur- 
rounded with a humid matter, in which it fwims. But 
what a tumult muft it occafion in the belly of the female, 
where from 200 to 300 are in continual motion, and en¬ 
deavouring to efcape from their confinement. The new¬ 
born young are expreifed in the plate as juft efeaped from 
the uterus. This fpecies remains at the bottom of the flea* 
where it feeds on fmall ftielf-fifti, which are often found in 
the ftomach. They will bite at a hook, but are fometimes. 
taken with a net. They are common in the mouth of the 
river Elk, at Whitby in Yorkftiire, where they are taken, 
frequently from off the bridge. The flefh is far, white, 
and has but few bones; the common people eat it. Lin¬ 
naeus fays the bones emit light in the dark, like rotten 
wood. The voracious- aquatic animals are its conftant 
enemies. This fifh, in its interior conftruCtion, is very dif-. 
ferent from mod others. The inteftinal canal is not placed 
lengthwife, but acrofs ; it runs in an undulating form, 
making many finuofities. The ftomach, and the^veficle 
of the gall and bladder, are fmall and tranfparenu The 
duodenum, which begins at the middle of the ftomach, 
finks down an inch, and then rifes again. The lobes of 
the liver are not long, but the fpleen is as long as the 
cavity of the belly. The kidneys are only an inch long, 
and 
