Of all Animals. 79

Furthermore, Charles Clusius, in his *Exotica*, presents other illustrations of fish of this genus. The first species was entirely devoid of scales but covered in a tough skin, reinforced with spines so sturdy that it could not be grasped without injury. These spines were longer and larger on the back and sides, but smaller and shorter on the chest. He conjectured that the fish had been brought from the Northern Ocean.

He also offers for inspection an image of another prickly Globe-fish, which measured eleven inches from the tip of the mouth to the tail, with a circumference of sixteen inches. Its color was dusky on the back, sprinkled with black spots, and ash-gray around the belly. It possessed two fins on its sides, as well as two others, one of which was located at the end of the back above the tail, and the other, dusky in color, behind the vent.

ON THE REMAINING SPINY FISH.

The history of the prickly Globe-fish brings to mind several other types of fish armed with spines. Clusius mentions one under the name "porcupine fish." From the tip of its mouth to the start of its tail, this fish was twenty inches long and twenty-nine inches thick. It lacked scales and was covered in a whitish hide set everywhere with firm, sharp spines; the base of each spine branched into two other short parts hidden beneath the skin. Its lips were wrinkled, and two bones served as teeth. It had large eyes and prominent brows made fearsome by four spines. It bore a fin on each side and was also equipped with two others at the end of the back.

The shorter spines were an inch long, the longest three inches, and those of medium length were two inches. The longest spines armed the sides, while the rest covered the whole body in a certain orderly sequence, though they were sparser around the tail. The spines atop the head were erect, and those near the mouth were turned forward. Consequently, based on this description, this fish seems to correspond somewhat to a certain species of prickly Globe-fish already illustrated by the same Clusius, except that the opening of its mouth appeared to mimic that of a porcupine.

Similarly, André Thevet, as reported by Ambroise Paré, writes that in the Persian Gulf toward Arabia, a fish is found that is somewhat equal in size to a carp and surrounded by long spines, which it uses to do battle against all kinds of fish. If a human is even lightly wounded by these "teeth," they will perish within twenty-four hours unless medical aid is immediately available. He seems to call such a creature the "sea hedgehog." It is depicted, therefore, in this illustration, or at least one not unlike it.