. Elements of zoology, or, Natural history of animals / ed. by Reese. Zoology. 272 ZOOLOGY. more than two hundred yards in distance, and upwards of twenty feet in height. They are not unfrequently found upon the decks of large vessels, across which they had endeavoured to pass. This power appears to be conferred upon them to enable them to escape from the pursuit of the Coryphasna; but, in avoiding one enemy, they put themselves in the way of others, for voracious birds watch them and seize them as they rise into the air. They fur- nish an excellent article of food, and are very abundant
. Elements of zoology, or, Natural history of animals / ed. by Reese. Zoology. 272 ZOOLOGY. more than two hundred yards in distance, and upwards of twenty feet in height. They are not unfrequently found upon the decks of large vessels, across which they had endeavoured to pass. This power appears to be conferred upon them to enable them to escape from the pursuit of the Coryphasna; but, in avoiding one enemy, they put themselves in the way of others, for voracious birds watch them and seize them as they rise into the air. They fur- nish an excellent article of food, and are very abundant in the neighbourhood of some tropical islands ; individuals have occasionally appeared as stragglers on our own coasts. 434. (in.) The Silurid^e are distinguished from all the rest of the order by the want of true scales; having only a nalted skin, or large bony plates. The fishes of the genus silurus inhabit the rivers of warm countries : they have a strong spine in front of the dorsal fin, which can be laid flat on the shoulder, or perpendicularly erected so as to become a formidable weapon ; and the ragged wounds inflicted by it are reputed (but probably errone- ously) to be poisonous. One species, belonging to the sub-genus Malapterurus, an inhabitant of the Nile and of the rivers of Central Africa, has electric properties, simi- lar to those of the torpedo and gymnotus. 435. (iv.) The fishes of the order Salmonid^e, known as salmons and fronts, are very extensively, indeed al- most universally, diffused over the globe, some of them being confined to fresh water, and others passing a part of their lives in the sea, but resorting to rivers to deposil their eggs. They are distinguished by the fatty deposi- tion in the dorsal fin, from part of which the spines often disappear. All of this family are clouded with dusky patches when young, as occurs in all the species of Cats. Many remain permanently spot- ted. The flesh of most of them is esteemed as food. The sal- The Salmon.
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