Our readers may perhaps recollect that one divifion of the animals, ufually confidered as filhes, on account of their shape and aquatic life, were defcribed by Dr. Shaw in the fecond volume of his Zoology, under the name of FISH-FORMED MAMMALIA; being confidered as quadrupeds in disguise*. In this divifion was comprised the whole order CETE or whales, with the genera, Monodon, Balæna, Phyfeter, and Delphinus. This arrangement we noticed and approved in our account of the fecond volume. That the Seals, (Phoca) and the Walrus, (Trichechus) fhould be claffed with quadrupeds, will appear lefs extraordinary to the common reader.

To the remaining tribes of fishes, properly fo called, two complete volumes, of 632 and 463 pages are allotted, with a proportionable number of plates. The laudable attachment. of the philofopher to method has, however, produced a small inconvenience. To keep the orders diftinétly together, the firft part of vol. iv. ends at p. 186, where the orders APODES and JUGULARES are concluded. The order THORACICI extends from thence to end of vol. iv. This makes a very unequal divifion of fo large a volume, and is fo far inconvenient: yet the reason fairly outweighs the objection. The fourth order, ABDOMINALES, commences with the fifth volume, and the fifth, CARTILAGINEI, at page 251. This divifion happens to be convenient also, as well as right. Of the contents of thefe volumes we fhall, as in former cafes, give a general view. Order, 1. APODES.-Genera. 1. Anguilla. 2. Muræna.

3. Synbranchus. 4. Sphagebranchus.

5. Monopterus. 6. Gymnotus. 7. Ophidium. 8. Odontognathus. 9. Comephorus. 10. Triurus. 11. Am-* modytes. 12. Leptocephalus. 13. Stylephorus. 14. Trichiurus. 15. Anarhichas. 16. Xiphias. 17. Stromateus. 18. Sternoptyx.

2. JUGULARES. Genera. I. Callionymus. 2. Uranof copus. 3. Trachinus. 4. Gadus. 5. Blennius. 6. Kurtus.

3. THORACICI.

Genera. 1. Cepola. 2. Gymnetrus. 3. Vandellius. 4. Echeneis. 5. Coryphæna. 6. Macrourus. 7. Gobius. 8. Gobiomorus. 9. Cottus. 10. Scorpæna. 11. Zeus. 12. Pleuronecies. 13. Chaetodon. 14, Acanthurus. 15. Eques. 16. Trichopus.

* Gen. Zoology, vol. ii. p. 471.

17. Scarus.

26.

17. Scarus. 18. Sparus. 19. Gomphofus. 20. Labrus. 21. Ophicephalus. 22. Lonchurus. 23. Sciena. 24. Perca. 25. Holocentrus. Bodianus. 27. Scomber. 28. Gafterolleus. 29. Mullus. 30. Trigla 31. Trachichthys.

The intelligent naturalift will perceive that in admitting fome of thefe genera Dr. Shaw has followed Bloch, in preference to Linnæus; and that fome, as Stylephorus and Trachichthys, have been inftituted by himfelf, to admit certain fishes not before defcribed. We proceed with the two remaining orders. 4. ABDOMINALES. Genera. 1. Cobitis. 2. Anableps. 3.

Amia. 4. Silurus. 5. Platy flacus. 6. Loricaria. 7. Salmo. 8. Acanthonotus. 9. Fiftularia. 10. Efox. 11. Polypterus. 12. Elops. 13. Argenti14. Atherina. 15. Mugil. 16. Exocetus. 17. Polynemus. 18. Clupea. 19. Cyprinus. 20. Mormyrus.

nd.

5. CARTILAGINEI. Genera. 1. Petromyzon. 2. Gastrobranchus. 3. Raja. 4. Squalus. 5. Spatularia. 6. Chimæra. 7. Acipenser. 8. Lophius. 9. Cyclopterus. io. Balifles. 11. Oftracion. 12. Diodon. 13. Cephalus. 14. Tetrodon. 15. Syngnathus. 16. Centrifcus. 17. Pegafus.

Thus the Genera amount altogether to 92, fome of which contain under them a vast number of fpecies. It remains, out of fo large an affemblage of curious and entertaining matter, to felect one or two fpecimens for the amufement of our readers.

We paufe, for this purpofe, at the account of the viviparous Blenny, as defcribing a circumftance very uncommon in most of the orders of fifhes. The Blenny is here the fifth genus of the order Jugulares, and the fpecies now to be noticed grows to the length of about twelve inches. It is well figured in the 24th plate of vol. iv. We take only the part which relates to its peculiar properties.

"This fifh, like the Blennius fuperciliofus, is diftinguished by a particularity which takes place in but very few fifhes, except thofe of the cartilaginous tribe, being viviparous; the ova hatching internally, and the young acquiring their perfect form before the time of their birth. Not lefs than two or even three hundred of these have fometimes been obferved in a fingle fifh. One might be apt to imagine that fo great a number of young confined in fo fmall a space, might

3

injure

injure each other by the brifknefs of their motions: but this is prevented by the curious difpofition of fibres and cellules among which they are diftributed, as well as by the peculiar fluid with which they are furrounded. When the fish is thus advanced in its pregnancy, it is fcarcely poffible to touch the abdomen, without caufing the immediate exclufion of fome of the young; which are immediately capable of fwimming with great vivacity: their relative fize may be judged of by an inspection of the annexed plate.

"The Viviparous Blenny is a littoral fifh, and is found about the coafts of the Mediterranean, the Baltic, and the Northern feas, and fometimes enters the mouths of rivers. It seems to vary as to the period of producing its young, which, according to fome authors, takes place in the winter, or in the very early part of the fpring, and according to others in the fummer feafon.

"Like others of the genus, it feeds on the fmaller fishes, infects, &c. It is taken by the line and net, but is in very finall efteem as a food; though perhaps fome degree of prejudice may operate in this refpect, the bones, like thofe of the Gar-fifh, acquiring a greenish colour by boiling." Vol. iv. p. 182.

The Gar-Fish above mentioned is frequently taken with the mackarel, which in its general colours it in fome degree refembles, but is longer and thinner, and has a peculiarly fharp and protracted fnout. It is often feen in our fish markets in the mackarel feafon, but belongs to a very different tribe, being of the order abdominales, and the genus Efox or pike. It is defcribed by Dr. Shaw, under the name GAR PIKE, in his fifth volume, p. 114. The magnitude and formidable power of the fhark tribe making it an object of general curiofity, we fhall infert the defcription of a fpecies which accident lately threw on the British thores, and the fpoils of which we ourfelves faw exhibited in London. It is called the Squalus Maximus, though it does not appear to equal the occafional fize of the common or white fhark. The moft remarkable cir. cumftance in its appearance was the fhape and magnitude of the pectoral fins, which the exhibitor called legs, and which had, in fact, the aspect of large misfhapen boots. They are defcribed by Dr. Shaw as growing commonly to the length of four feet.

"BASKING SHARK.

Squalus Maximus. S. plumbeo-fufcus, fubtus albicans, dentibus parvulis conico fubulatis numerofiffimis.

Leaden brown Shark, whitish beneath, with fmall conic-fubulate very numerous teeth.

Squalus maximus. S. dentibus conicis, pinna dorfali anteriore majore. Lin. Syft. Nat.

Basking Shark. Penn. Brit. Zool.

This is a very large fpecies, fcarcely, if at all, inferior in fize to the white fhark; its length, according to Mr. Pennant, being from three to twelve yards, and even fometimes more. The measurements

of

of one obferved by that author on the fhore of Loch Ranza in the Ifle of Arran were as follow: viz. The whole length twenty-fiven feet, four inches: firft dorfal fin three feet: fecond one foot : pectoral fins four feet: ventral two feet: upper lobe of the tail five feet; lower three. Great numbers of this fpecies of fhark were observed to vifit the bays of Caernarvonshire and Anglefea in the fummers of 1756, and a few fucceeding years; continuing there only during the bot months, and quitting the coaft about Michaelmas. They appear in the Firth of Clyde, and among the Hebrides in the month of June, in fmall fhoals of feven or eight, but more frequently in pairs; and depart again in July." P. 327.

Dr. S. then copies part of the defcription given by Pennant, and concludes the article thus.

"Mr. Pennant adds, that a fhoal of this fpecies will permit a boat to follow them, without accelerating their motion till almost within contact, when it is ufual for the harpooner to strike his weapon into them as near the gills as poffible; but that they are often fo infenfible as not to move till the united strength of two men have forced in the harpoon deeper: as foon as they perceive themfelves wounded, they fling up their tail, and plunge headlong to the bottom, and frequently coil the rope round them in their agonies, attempting to difengage the harpoon from them by rolling on the ground; for it is often found greatly bent. As foon as they difcover that their efforts are in vain, they fwim away with amazing rapidity, and with fuch violence, that there has been an inftance of a veffel of feventy tons having been towed away against a fresh gale: they fometimes run off with two hundred fathom of line, and with two harpoons in them, and will employ the fishers for twelve, and fometimes for twenty four hours before they are fubdued when killed, they are either hawled on fhore, or, if at a distance from land, to the vellel's fide: the liver (the only useful part) is taken out, and marked out, and melted into oil in kettles provided for the purpofe. A large fifh will yield eight barrels of oil, and two of ufelefs fediment. The fifhers obferved on these sharks a fort of leech, of a reddish colour, and about two feet long, but which fell off when the fish was brought to the furface of the water, and left a white mark on the fkin.

"A male of this fpecies was taken in the year 1801 at Abbotsbury in Dorfetshire, entangled in a fifhing-feine, and, after a violent refiftance, was dragged afhore. It is faid to have received feventeen mufket-balls before it expired: its length was twenty-eight feet, and its circumference in the thickest part about twenty feet; its tail, from point to point, near eight feet: the teeth, according to its proprietor, who took the pains to count them, amounted to the number of four thoufand." P. 329.

But one of the most curious productions of the fea is the Pipe-fifh or Hippocampus; often fhown in common collections, under the popular name of Sea-horfe, from a fanciful refemblance of the head, though the creature is very small: and, as if the common fpecies was not fingular enough, a new

one has lately been discovered, which Dr. Shaw has firft figured and defcribed, under the name of the Foliated Pipe-fifh. See plate 180, vol. v. The description is thus given.

"FOLIATED PIPE-FISH.

"Syngnathus Foliatus. S. olivaceo-nigricans, albido-punclatus, appendicibus foliaceis.

Blackish-olive Pipe-fifh, with white fpecks, and leaf-shaped appendages.

"A moft extraordinary fpecies; far exceeding all the rest of the genus in the fingularity of its appearance, which is fuch as at first view rather to fuggeft the idea of fome production of fancy than of any real existence. In its general fhape it is greatly allied to the preceding fpecies, but it is confiderably longer in proportion, or of a more flender habit: its great particularity however confifts in the large leafhaped appendages with which the back, tail, and abdomen, are furnished thefe appendages are fituated on very ftrong, rough, fquare fpines or proceffes, and were it not for the perfect regularity of their refpective proportions, might be mistaken for the leaves of fome kind of fucus adhering to the fpines. The colour of the whole animal is a dufky or blackish olive*, thickly fprinkled on all parts, except on the appendages, with fmall round whitifh fpecks, and accompanied by a kind of metallic glofs on the abdomen: the fins are foft, tender, and transparent. This curious fpecies is a native of the Indian feas. The fpecimen reprefented in its natural fize on the annexed plate was taken near the coafts of New Holland, and was fent, together with a fecond of exactly similar appearance, but of rather small fize, to the Right Honourable Sir Jofeph Banks, Baronet, Prefident of the Royal Society, through whole polite permiffion it was engraved for the prefent work. Nothing particular feems to be known relative to its habits or natural history."

We fee no reafon to find fault with any part of these volumes. The plan is the fame which we have already approved in the preceding, and the execution appears to be equally careful and judicious. We should have been glad of a plate of Triurus, vol. iv. p. 78, as a new genus; and we could much have wished that Dr. Shaw would have employed fome perfon to tranflate into English the gipfey jargon of the French meafures,which he has occafionally copied literally from Cepede, and other naturalifts. Decimetres, centimetres, and kiliogrammes, convey no ideas of fize or weight to and English reader;

"Perhaps greener in the living animal."

Z z

BRIT. CRIT. VOL. XXV. JUNE, 1805.

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