glassy substance, branching from a central one like the veins of a leaf; these lines correspond with indentations in the outline.
When alive in the water, the Gurnards are described as being very beautiful; the gay hues with which they are generally adorned possessing a glittering brilliancy heightened by the transparency of the element through which they are seen; more particularly in the rays of the sun, when every motion and every turn brings out some new play of colour or flash of radiance.
Family V. Sciænadæ.
(Maigres.)
The Maigres are an extensive Family, including, according to the Prince of Canino's estimate in 1831, two hundred and thirty one species; but now considered by the same Zoologist to contain but one hundred and sixty five. Of this large number, four only are found in the European seas, and two are British. The tropical parts of the Atlantic, including the West Indian Seas, are the great home of the Family; some are found in the Indian Ocean, but scarcely a single species in the Pacific.
In many respects the Maigres resemble the Perches; the operculum is armed with spines, and the pre-operculum is cut into notches like the teeth of a saw: they have strong teeth, but none in either the vomer or the palate, where the Perches are furnished with them; the muzzle is thickened and obtuse; the mouth comparatively small; the back much arched; the tail
