SCOMBER. 
820 
joint, scalloped and indented; the borders of these are thinner 
than the other parts, and are armed all the way with very 
sharp spines; at each joint are stiffleaves, which are jagged 
and armed with strong spines; they are pale-green and sessile. 
The flowers are produced at the top of the stalks, inclosed in 
leafy involucres, longer than the flowers, and armed with 
very strong spines: within these the calyxes are armed with 
short spines. The flowers are composed of many golden 
flowrets.—Native of the south of Europe, and of Barbary. 
2. Scolymus Hispanicus, or perennial golden thistle.— 
Flowers heaped; involucres leafy, tooth-spiny ; stalks rise 
about three feet high, branching out on the sides the whole 
length ; in other respects much like the foregoing. This 
flowers the second year, and has a fusiform root.—-Native of 
the south of Europe, and of Barbary. 
3. Scolymus grandiflorus, or great-flowered golden thistle. 
—Flowers solitary, the upper ones approximating, involu¬ 
cres coriaceous, nerved, lanceolate, acute. Root perennial, 
fusiform, white, the thickness of a finger. The whole plant 
milky. Stem simple or very sparingly branched, winged: 
wings unequally tooth-sinuate: teeth spiny at the end. 
This is a very beautiful species, flowering early in spring, 
and now cultivated in the European gardens.—Native of 
Egypt, and very common in the fallows of Barbary. The 
Arabs eat the stalks both raw and boiled. 
Propagation and Culture .—Sow the seeds in March or 
April, on a bed of fresh undunged earth, in an open situa¬ 
tion ; when the plants come up, keep them clear from weeds, 
and thin them so as to leave them about two feet asunder. 
As they send forth tap-roots, they do not bear transplanting 
well. If the season should prove warm and dry, they will 
perfect their seeds in autumn ; but in wet seasons they rarely 
perfect their seeds in England. In that case fresh seeds 
must be procured from abroad: or the second and third may 
be increased by offsets. 
• SCOLYMUS, in Natural History, a species of Murex ; 
which see. 
SCOLYTES, in Entomology, a species of Bostrichus, 
which lodges under the bark of the elm, and is very destruc¬ 
tive. 
SCOMBER, the Mackarel, in Ichthyology, a genus of 
fishes of the order Thoracici, of which the Generic Character 
is—head compressed and smooth; body smooth; the lateral 
line carinate behind; between the dorsal fin and tail are 
frequently several spurious fins. There are twenty-two 
species, in three divisions, which are distinguished either by 
having or not having spurious fins; and those that have 
spurious fins are divided into those that have them distinct 
and connected. 
I.—Spurious fins distinct. 
1. Scomber, or common mackarel.—This has five spurious 
fins; is marked with numerous transverse black lines; and 
has a silvery abdomen.—This very beautiful fish is a native 
of the American seas, generally appearing at stated seasons, 
and swarming, in vast shoals, round particular coasts; but 
its great resort is within the arctic circle, where it resides in 
innumerable troops, grows to a larger size than elsewhere, 
and is supposed to find its favourite food, consisting chiefly 
of marine insects, in far greater plenty than in the wanner 
latitudes. In the severity of winter it is said to be imbedded 
in the soft mud, beneath the vast crusts of ice surrounding 
the polar coasts, being thus sufficiently protected from the 
effects of the frost; and on the return of spring, it is gene¬ 
rally believed to migrate in enormous shoals, of many miles 
in length and breadth, and to visit the coasts of more 
temperate climates, in order to deposit the spawn. Its route 
has been described as similar to that of the herring, passing 
between Iceland and Norway, and proceeding towards the 
northern part of our island, where a part throws itself off 
into the Baltic, while the grand column passes downwards, 
and enters the Mediterranean through the straits of Gibraltar. 
It must, however, be noticed, that this theory is subject to 
dispute, and by some writers it is thought more probable 
that the shoals which appear in such abundance round 
the. more temperate European coasts, in reality reside 
during the winter at no very great distance; immersing 
themselves in the soft bottom, and remaining in a state of 
torpidity, from which they are awakened by the warmth of 
the returning spring, and gradually recover their former 
activity. In proof of this theory, it is said that at their first 
appearance their eyes are observed to appear remarkably 
dim, as if covered with a kind of film, which passes off as 
the season advances, when they are seen in their full per¬ 
fection of colour and vigour. The length of the mackarel is 
from ten to fifteen inches; but in the northern seas it is still 
larger: the colour of this fish, on the upper parts, as far as 
the lateral line, is a rich deep blue, accompanied by a varying 
tinge of green, and marked by numerous black, transverse 
streaks, which in the male are,nearly straight, but in the 
female beautifully undulated ; the jaws, the gill-covers, and 
abdomen, are of a bright silver-colour, with a slight varying 
cast of gold-green along the sides, which are generally 
marked by a row of long dusky spots; the scales are very 
small, oval, and transparent; the spurious fins are small, and 
five in number, both above and below. The shape of the 
mackarel is so elegant, as to be regarded as one of the most 
beautiful of European fishes. As an article of food, its 
value has been maintained through a long succession of ages. 
It was highly esteemed by the ancients, who prepared from 
it the particular sauce known to the Romans by the name of 
garum and which was made by salting the fish, and after a 
certain period straining the liquor from it. This preparation 
is now, and has been for a long time, superseded by the 
introduction of the anchovy for similar purposes. The 
garum is, however, still in fashion at Constantinople; it was 
formerly prepared from various kinds of fishes, but that pro¬ 
cured from the mackarel was always deemed preferable: the 
best was said to be manufactured at Carthagena, vast quan¬ 
tities of mackarel being taken near an adjacent isle, called 
from that circumstance scombraria. The mackarel is easily 
snared by a variety of baits; but the capture is said to suc¬ 
ceed best in a gentle gale of wind. 
2. Scomber colias.—The body of this species is varied 
with fine green and blue.—It inhabits about the coasts of 
Sardinia. It is nearly allied to the common mackarel, but is 
smaller. 
3. Scomber Japonicus, or blueish mackarel, with five spu¬ 
rious fins. It is also nearly allied to the common mackarel, 
so much so as to lead authors to doubt if it be a distinct 
species.—It inhabits near the Japan islands; is shaped more 
like a herring, and is not above eight inches long; the scales 
are very small; each jaw is ciliate with teeth, and the head is 
silvery. 
4. Scomber auratus.—This is denominated the gold-co¬ 
loured mackarel, with five spurious fins. It is very like the 
common mackarel, but differs in colour, as well as in the 
number of rays in the anal fin, which amounts to six only. 
—It is a native of the Japanese seas. 
5. Scomber alatunga.—The pectoral fins are very small; 
it has seven spurious fins.—It inhabits the Mediterranean, 
appearing in considerable shoals, and is in high estimation as 
an article of food : it is periodical and migratory. 
6 . Scomber pelamis.—The spurious fins in this species are 
seven; the body has four black lines on each side.—It inha¬ 
bits between the Tropics and the Atlantic. 
7. Scomber thynnus, thunny, or tunny.—In this the spu¬ 
rious fins are from eight to eleven.—It is found in most seas, 
and is from two to ten feet long; the body is spindle-shaped 
and silvery; above it is of a steel-blue colour, and a little 
convex; it is extremely voracious, and swims with great 
velocity; it spawns in May or June, and periodically fre¬ 
quents the shores of the Mediterranean in vast shoals, swim¬ 
ming in a regular parallelogram, and making a prodigious 
hissing noise. It is an animal of great strength and fierce¬ 
ness, preying on all kinds of smaller fishes, and is said to be 
the peculiar persecutor of the mackarel and the flying-fish. 
Its flesh is coarse, but was much esteemed by the ancient 
Greeks 
