200 SALMOXIA. [seventh day. 



comparative anatomist will be able to confirm his views 

 by new dissections, and some chemical researches upon 

 the nature of the fringes and the supposed milt. If 

 viviparous, and the fringes contain the ova, one 

 mother must produce tens of thousands, the ova being 

 remarkably small ; but it appears more probable, that 

 they are oviparous, and that they deposit their ova in 

 parts of tae sea near deep basins, which remain warm 

 in winter. This might be ascertained by experiment, 

 particularly on the coasts of the Mediterranean. I 

 cannot find, that thev haunt the Arctic ocean, which is 

 probably of too low a temperature to suit their 

 feelings or habits ; and the Caspian and the Black Sea 

 are probably without them, from their not being found 

 in the Volga or Danube ; these, being shallow seas, 

 are perhaps too cold for them in winter. Prom the 

 time (April) that small eels begin to migrate, it is 

 probable that they are generated in winter; and the 

 pregnant eels ought to be looked for in November, 

 December, and January. I opened one in December, 

 in which the fringes were abundant, but I did not 

 examine them under the microscope, or chemically : 

 I trust this curious problem will not remain much 

 longer unsolved. 



E. Home is unfounded, and that that which the author considered as most 

 probably correct is true, — viz. that the sexes are distinct. — Sir E. 

 Home was led into error by the similarity of the ovaries and testes in 

 their form and structure as seen by the naked eye. — J. D.] 



