OF NATURE. 85 



Many nmphibious animals bring forth live 

 fcetufes. As the viper^ and the toad^ &c. But 

 the fpecies that lay eggs, lay them in places, 

 where the heat of the fun fupplies the warmth 

 of the parent. 



Thus the reft of the/r^^ kind and the lizard 

 kind, lay theiF eggs in warm waters ; the com- 

 mon fnake in dunghills, and fuch-like warm 

 places, and give them up to nature, as a pro- 

 vident nurfe, to take care of them.^ The cro- 

 codile^ ^nd fea tortoifes go afliore to lay their 

 eggs under the fand, where the heat of the 

 fun hatches them. 



Moft of the infen kind neither bear young 

 nor hatch eggs ; yet their tribes are the moft 

 numerous of all living creatures \ infomuch 

 that if the bulk of their bodies were propor- 

 tionate to their quantity, they would fcarce 

 leave room for any other kinds of animals. Let 

 us fee therefore with what wifdom the Creator 

 has managed about the propagation of thefe 

 minute creatures. The females by natural in- 

 ftindt meet and copulate with the males •, and 

 afterwards lay their eggs, but not indifcrimi- 

 nately in every place ; for they all know how 

 to choofe fuch places as may fupply their off- 

 spring in its tender age with nourilhment, and 

 G 3 other 



