612 



A HISTORY OF 



discovery. Gesner brings us an instance of 

 one of the same age; and Albertus of one 

 more than double that period. 



The age of the skate and the ray, that want 

 scales, may be known by the other method ; 

 which is, by separating the joints of the back- 

 bone, and then minutely observing the num- 

 ber of rings, which the surface where it has 

 joined exhibits. By this the fish's age is said 

 to be known ; and perhaps with as much cer- 

 tainty as in the former instance. 



But how unsatisfactory soever these marks 

 may be, we have no reason to doubt the great 

 age of some fishes. Those that have ponds, 

 often know the oldest by their superior size. 

 But the longevity of these animals is nothing 

 when compared to their fecundity. All sorts, 

 a few of the larger ones excepted, multiply 

 their kind, some by hundreds, and some by 

 millions. There are some that bring forth 

 their young alive, and some that only produce 

 eggs: the former are rather the least fruitful; 

 yet even these are seen to produce in great 

 abundance. The viviparous blenny, for in- 

 stance, brings forth two or three hundred at 

 a time, all alive and playing round the parent 

 together. Those who exclude their progeny 

 in a more imperfect state, and produce eggs, 

 which they are obliged to leave to chance, 

 either on the bottom at the edge of the wa- 

 ter, or floating on the surface where it is deep- 

 er, are all much more prolific ; and seem to 

 proportion their stock to the danger there is 

 of its consumption. Of these eggs thus de- 

 posited, scarcely one in a hundred brings 

 forth an animal ; they are devoured by all the 

 lesser fry that frequent the shores ; by aqua- 

 tic birds near the margin; and by the larger 

 fish in deep water. Still, however, there are 

 enough for supplying the deep with inhabi- 

 tants; and, notwithstanding their own rapa- 

 city, and that of the fowls of various tribes, 

 the numbers that escape are sufficient to re- 

 lieve the wants of a very considerable part of 

 mankind. Indeed, when we consider the num- 

 bers that a single fish is capable of producing, 

 the amount will seem astonishing. If, for 

 instance, we should be told of a being so 

 very prolific, that in a single season it could 

 bring forth as many of its kind as there are 

 inhabitants in England, it would strike us with 

 surprise ; yet a single cod produces full that 



number. The cod spawns in one season, as 

 Lewenhoeck assures us, above nine million 

 of eggs or peas, contained in one single roe. 

 The flounder is commonly known to produce 

 above one million ; and the mackarel above 

 five hundred thousand. Such an amazing in- 

 crease, if permitted to come to maturity, 

 would overstock nature, and even the ocean 

 itself would not be able to contain, much less 

 to provide for, the half of its inhabitants. But 

 two wise purposes are answered by this ama- 

 zing increase ; it preserves the species in the 

 midst of numberless enemies, and serves to 

 furnish the rest with a sustenance adapted to 

 their nature. 



Fishes seem, all except the whale kind, en- 

 tirely divested of tho^e parental solicitudes 

 which so strongly mark the manners of the 

 more perfect terrestrial animals. How far 

 they copulate, remains as yet a doubt; for 

 though they seem to join, yet the male is not 

 furnished with any external instrument of ge- 

 neration. It is said, by some, that his only 

 end in that action is to emit his impregnating 

 milk upon the eggs that at that time fall from 

 the female. He is said to be seen pursuing 

 them as they float down the stream, and care- 

 fully impregnating them one after another. 

 On some occasions also the females dig holes 

 in the bottom of rivers and ponds, and there 

 deposit their spawn, which is impregnated by 

 the male in the same manner. All this, how- 

 ever, is very doubtful; what we know with 

 certainty of the matter, and that not discover- 

 ed till very lately, is, that the male has two 

 organs of generation that open into the blad- 

 der of urine, and that these organs do not 

 open into the rectum as in birds, but have a 

 particular aperture of their own." These or- 

 gans of generation in the male are empty at 

 some seasons of the year ; but before t he time 

 of spawning they are turgid with what is call- 

 ed the milt, and emit the fluid proper for im- 

 pregnation. 



Fish have different seasons for depositing 

 their spawn: some, that live in the depths of 

 the ocean, are said to choose the winter 

 months; but, in general, those with which 

 we are acquainted, choose the hottest months 

 in summer, and prefer such water as is some- 



Vide Gaman de Generatione Piscium. 



