At the breast are the sternum or breastbone, clavicles or
collar-bones, and the scapulae or shoulder-blades, on which the
pectoral or breast fins are placed. The bones which support the ventral
or belly fins are called the _ossa pelvis_. Besides these principal
bones, there are often other smaller ones, placed between the muscles to
assist their motion.
206. SOME OF THE ORGANS OF SENSE IN FISHES are supposed to be possessed
by them in a high degree, and others much more imperfectly. Of the
latter kind are the senses of touch and taste, which are believed to be
very slightly developed. On the other hand, those of hearing, seeing,
and smelling, are ascertained to be acute, but the first in a lesser
degree than both the second and third. Their possession of an auditory
organ was long doubted, and even denied by some physiologists; but it
has been found placed on the sides of the skull, or in the cavity which
contains the brain. It occupies a position entirely distinct and
detached from the skull, and, in this respect, differs in the local
disposition of the same sense in birds and quadrupeds.
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