318 SEASIDE DIVINITY. 



mentioned, which comprehends all the varieties 

 of fishes, properly so called, and regarding which 

 some considerations occur as suitable before 

 giving attention to any particular specimens of 

 the finny tribes. 



Fishes exhibit great variety of form, but not- 

 withstanding such special differences of shape as 

 exist in different examples of the class, the ge- 

 neral form which they all possess in common is 

 in all instances such as to fit them for rapid and 

 easy motion in their native element. Those whose 

 motion is swiftest, such as the salmon, having 

 precisely such a figure as may be shown, on the 

 strictest principles of physics, to be that which 

 presents the least resistance to the fluid through 

 which they swim. Their centre of gravity too 

 is so placed, and their specific gravity, or the 

 weight of the fishes' body compared with an 

 equal bulk of water, is such as to adapt them 

 with the nicest accuracy to the fluid in which 

 they exist. The unity of purpose and design 

 which these considerations clearly exhibit can be 

 referred to nothing else than that Infinite Intel- 

 ligence to whom every physical law is known, 

 and that Infinite Skill by which those laws can 

 be directed and employed. 



The external covering and the colours of fishes 

 present to us many striking lessons to the same 

 purpose. One of the distinctive characters of 

 fishes is their scales, which constitute a covering 

 peculiarly adapted to the element in which they 

 live. These organs differ in form in various 



