17. Scarus. 18. Sparus. 19. Gomphofus. 20. Labrus. 21. Ophicephalus. 22. Lonchurus. 23. Sciena. 24. Perca. 25. Holocentrus. 26. Bodianus. 27. Scomber. 28. Galterofteus. 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 inflituted 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. Argentina. 14. Atherina. 15. Mugil. 16. Exocetus. 17. Polynemus. 18. Clupea. 19. Cyprinus. 20. Mormyrus.

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

15.

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 fishes. 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 fish, like the Blennius fuperciliofus, is diftinguished by a particularity which takes place in but very few fishes, 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 thefe have fometimes been obferved in a fingle fish. One might be apt to imagine that so great a number of young confined in so small 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 fish, and is found about the coafts of the Mediterranean, the Baltic, and the Northern feas, and fometimes enters the mouths of rivers. It feems to vary as to the pe riod 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 fifhes, infects, &c. It is taken by the line and net, but is in very small esteem as a food; though perhaps fome degree of prejudice may operate in this refpect, the bones, like thofe of the Gar-fish, 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 sharp and protracted fnout. It is often feen in our fish markets in the mackarel season, 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 fhores, 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 most remarkable circumftance in its appearance was the fhape and magnitude of the pectoral fins, which the exhibitor called legs, and which had, in fact, the afpect 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.

Balking Shark. Penn. Brit. Zool.

66

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-feven feet, four inches: first 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 Anglesea in the fummers of 1756, and a few fucceeding years; continuing there only during the hot 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 almoft within contact, when it is ufual for the harpooner to flrike his weapon into them as near the gills as poffible; but that they are often so infenfible as not to move till the united strength of two men have forced in the harpoon deeper: as foon as they perceive themselves wounded, they fling up their tail, and plunge beadlong 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 vetfel 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 filhers 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 veffel'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 thefe fharks 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 skin.

"A male of this fpecies was taken in the year 1801 at Abbotsbury in Dorfetfhire, entangled in a fishing-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 difcovered, which Dr. Shaw has firft figured and defcribed, under the name of the Foliated Pipe-fifh. See plate 180, vol. v. The defcription is thus given.

"FOLIATED PIPE-FISH.

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

"Blackish-olive Pipe-fish, with white fpecks, and leaf-fhaped 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 furnifhed: 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 tranfparent. 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 fimilar appearance, but of rather small size, to the Right Honourable Sir Jofeph Banks, Baronet, President of the Royal Society, through whole polite permiflion it was engraved for the prefent work. Nothing particular feems to be known relative to its habits or natural hiftory."

We fee no reason 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 fhould 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 measures, 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;

(See p. 75, and 105, vol. iv. &c.) and the explanations might perhaps have been useful to the author as well as to his purchafers. Dr. Shaw is proceeding, we understand, with the fubject of infects, which will include fome other animals, ufually confidered as fishes; namely, crabs and lobfters. We cannot but with fuccefs to his laborious and useful undertaking; nor ought we to refufe to Mr. Kcarfley, the praife moft juflly due to his fpirit, in commencing and carrying on a work of fuch magnitude and expence.

ART. XV. An Effay on Chemical Statics; with copious explanatory Notes, and an Appendix on vegetable and animal Subftances. Faithfully tranflated from the original French of C. L. Berthollet, Member of the Infiitute, &c. By B. Lambert. In Two Volumes. 472 and 499 pp. 8vo. 16s. Mawman. 1804.

THE

HE object of this work is clearly stated in the introduction. The leading propofition is, that the phænomena of chemistry are the effects of the mutual action, or affinity, of the particles of bodies. This affinity is diftinguifhed from the general gravitation of matter (which this author calls aftronomical attraction) by its acting at fmall diftances; whereas the general gravitation of matter acts at all diftances. The former likewife differs in degree according to the peculiar na tures of the bodies concerned, befides a variety of other concurring circumftances. The difficulty of determining those circumftances, as well as the proportion of their actions, is what in great meafure prevents the poflibility of foretelling the refults, which are likely to arife from a variety of chemical combinations; and it is, therefore, from obfervation alone, that the chemical properties of bodies, or thofe affinities by means of which they exert a reciprocal action in a determinate fituation, can be estimated.

"The immediate effect" this author fays, " of the affinity which a body exerts is always a combination; hence all the effects produced by chemical action are the confequence of the formation of fome combination.

"Every fubftance which has a tendency to enter into combination, acts in the ratio of its affinity and of its quantity. Thefe facts are the ultimate end of every chemical observation.

"But, ft. The different tendencies to combination may be con fidered as fo many forces which contribute to a result, or which partly

deftroy