but fo coated over by a mucous tegument as to require 
the moil attentive inveftigation in order to difcover 
them. In others, on the contrary, they are as remark¬ 
able for their extreme largenefs, as in the peculiar va¬ 
riety (if not diftind fpecies) of Cyprinus or Carp, 
known by the title of the King-Carp, in which the 
fcales are equal to a fourth part of the diameter of the 
filb. Laftly, there are not wanting fome inftances of 
fifh belonging to very different genera, which are coated 
with fcales of a fize fo very large, of a ftrudure fo un¬ 
commonly ftrong, and of a difpofition fo unlike that 
which appears in the fcales of other fifh, that theyfeem 
at firft glance to belong to the cruftaceous tribe. Fifhes 
of this peculiar call are termed by Linnteus cataphraBd 
or mailed fifh, as if in fuits of armour. Ofthefethe 
moft remarkable are the Silurus cataphradus, Silurus 
Callichthys, Cottus cataphradus, Trigla cataphrach, 
and Loricaria cataphrada. The Silurus Callichthys, 
here reprefented, is a native both of Europe and Ame¬ 
rica, but is more common in South America than in 
Europe, being principally found in Brafil. It inhabits 
rivulets, and when thefe during a dry feafon grow ex¬ 
tremely fhallow, it has the extraordinary faculty of 
creeping out and traverfing over the dry ground in 
order to feek deeper water. It has alfo been known to 
make its efcape from fifhponds in which it has been 
confined, by piercing through the banks. This terrel- 
trial locomotion of fifhes is not however confined to 
die Callichthys, but is known to take place in fome 
others, and particularly in the common eel, which fre¬ 
quently creeps about meadows by night, in quell per¬ 
haps of flugs, &c., and has been known during the 
frplts of a fevere winter to take refuge under hay-ricks 
and 
