8 4 
THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
the prow, to prevent the sinking of his little boat, the doctor plunged his oar 
into the mouth of the infuriated creature, and presently succeeded in driving 
it away. The internal commotion which had been excited evidently made the 
_ fish lose its bearings for, 
thornback skate (Raia clavata). 
while none the less fero¬ 
cious, it failed to again hit 
the boat. The fisherman 
threw a noose over the saw 
and pulled most manfully 
for the shore, and when he 
reached it found his ex¬ 
haustion much greater than 
that of the saw-fish. It re¬ 
quired seven persons to drag 
it ashore, measured sixteen 
feet, and had a four-foot saw 
armed with twenty-two dag¬ 
ger-like teeth, which had not 
suffered from their exercise 
upon the boat. 
The Skate is a broad, 
flat ground fish, which is 
caught more frequently than 
is desirable for the pleasure 
or profit of the fisherman. 
The Tobacco-Box 
Skate ( Raia erinacea) is a 
very common fish in the 
Eastern Atlantic. 
The Brier Skate {Raia 
eglanteria) is distinguished 
by the possession of spines. 
The Smooth Skate, or Barn-Door Skate {Raia lews), is a sort of com¬ 
promise between the two species last named, for when young it is spinous, 
but grows bald with increasing age. 
The Raiadae are eaten by Europeans, but 
our wealth of natural provisions has led Ameri¬ 
cans to prefer fish of greater delicacy. 
The Sting Rays ( Trygonidce) include about 
fifty species, of which we illustrate Trygon pas- 
tinaca. The whole family bear at the base of 
the tail spines which can do very serious dam¬ 
age. These spines replace the dorsal fin, and 
attain a length of nine inches. As the teeth 
of the frontmost spine wear out it is succeeded 
by the spine immediately behind, and so on 
until the series has been completed. It is 
GEOBE FISH. 
found in shallow water which flows over a sandy bottom, and a wound from 
its spine has all the effect of a bite from a venomous serpent. 
