An account of the Ophidium barbatum Linnei / by P.M. Augustus Broussonet ; communicated by Sir Joseph Banks.

  • Pierre Marie Auguste Broussonet
Date:
1781
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An account of the Ophidium barbatum Linnei / by P.M. Augustus Broussonet ; communicated by Sir Joseph Banks. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    been mentioned by willoughbÿ, but without ^ny particular defcription. They are very different from thofe on the fkin of the Ophidium imberbe^ which are fhortly defcribed by grono- vius. Their pofition, as may be feen in the figure, is irre- gular. They are difperfed over the whole body. Their form is fometimes round, fometimes nearly oval. They are larger near the head, and in the lower part of the body ; but are hardly to be diftinguifhed near the tail. They adhéré to the body by means of a particular tranfparent Ikin, which is in general very thin, but fomewhat thicker near the neck, and extended loofely over the whole head : this Ikin is very eafily deftroyed, after which the fcales falling, the body appears fpotted (fig. i.), Thefe fcales are of the famé fort as thofe that leeuwenhoek bas defcribed on the èel, like thofe I hâve feen on the Anarrhî- chas lupuSy the Blennîus viviparus, and many other fifhes, which- are commonly thought to be without fcales. When you look at them with the nakcd eye (fig. 2.); they appear as covered with very fmall grains ; but viewed through a microfcope (fig. ^.y themiddleof them appears more elevated than the margin ; and from the center to the margin, clofe by each other, there are many lines or rays, formed by fmall fcales placed one upon- another, like tiles upon a roof, the fuperior bcing always the nearer to the center. This fort of fcales, which may be called umbonata^ are faftened to the body by very fmall veffels which are inferted in their middle ; they are to be feen oii the body only, not on the head nor the fins. 1 fhall now proceed to the anatomy of this fiïh, which certainty comprehends fome very remarkable circumftances,, which, I believe, hâve not yet been obferved iii any other fpecies, When we bave drawn off the ikin there appears a, thiii membrane of a lilver colour, which covers the mufdes. The- mufclcs
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