9^ on the generation of fijbes. Sept. i^. 



rain began to fall, and of such a size as to be fit fo>r 

 the use of man, thej differed as to the kind of 

 fifhes caught, though each of them seemed to know of 

 only one sort. The first said it was a long and small 

 fiih, though not of the nature of an eel, yet approach- 

 ing towards it in fhape. The other two described 

 them as above, and the others had not paid such par- 

 ticular attention to them as to be able to speak with 

 any degree of certainty. This, and other circum- 

 stances, convinced me that none of the gentlemen had 

 remarked this phenomenon with the precision of na- 

 turalists. None of them even seemed to know if the 

 fi/h thus caught were to be found in that country at 

 other times in the tanks or rivers ; or if they were 

 caught only in the partitular situation above dte- 

 scribed, though they all seemed inclined to be of this 

 last opinion, as they never remembered to have seen 

 them at any other season. An inquirer is often sub- 

 jected to great inconveniencies from the inaccuracy 

 of the observers who furnifh him with information. 



They were all, however, quite positive that these 

 fifhes were found in abundance, in pools that were 

 formed entirely oi rain water, without any communi- 

 cation with tanks or rivers. If this fact fhould be 

 clearly proved, it would open up a field for cu- 

 rious speculation to the naturalist. Even on the sup- 

 position that the kinds of filb thus caught were found 

 in Indian tanks or rivers, the elevating the spawn of 

 such fifh into the air, by means of the vapours exha- 

 led by tha sun, would be a phenomenon of which we 

 are acquainted with no other parallel in nature. If 

 we could suppose the spawn thus carried into the at- 



