Volume 1
The history of British fishes / [Robert Hamilton].
- Hamilton, Robert, M.D.
- Date:
- [1876]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The history of British fishes / [Robert Hamilton]. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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!['in the great expansion of its tail and fins. Tlie head is osseous like that of a tortoise, quadrate, hard, and rougli, the hinder part ending in two long spines turned towards the tail. The opercula of the bran- ehiip are osseous, likewise ending in two long spines, which nearly extend to the fin pkced beside the brancliije. On each side of tlie extremity of the o])ening of the mouth, two globular bodies rcsem- Itling pearls may be seen. The eyes are large, round, red, or rufescent, like those of an owl. The whole body is covered with rough osseous scales, each row of wliich forms a line, and they render the body angular or rigid. About the head and tail, the body is quadrate ; about the belly, round and white ; but the back is reddish, with a dark ground colour. The branchial fins are very long and broad, almost reaching to the tail, rather dark-coloured, sprinkled with stellated and variously formed spots, like the wings of butterflies. Before these fins are placed what may be called their appendages, which are found in nearly all the fishes treated of in this book ; these are, as it were, cartilaginous pili situate before the branchial fins. There are other two erect fins on the back, ornamented with the same colours and marks as the branchial fins. The tail terminates in a single fin, very like the tail of a swallow. The greater part of the body is of a reddish colour with a dark ground f ex nigro I'uhescit). Sometimes in- dividuals wholly red are met with at Romo; but those of our neighbourhood are rather dark, and of larger size. The ijiucr parts oi the mouth are](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29002151_0001_0045.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
