21 



any otherwise than by turning the whole body. Were 

 I to consider their figure only, I should think they 

 were destitute of all (hat was necessary for the preser- 

 vation of theirlife. But with these few outward organs 

 they are more nimble and dexterous than if they had 

 several hands and feet; and by the use they make 

 of their tail and fins, they are carried along like ar- 

 rows. 



But as almost all fishes prey upon each other, and 

 cannot sustain their own lives, any otherwise than by 

 continually destroying those of their own species, how 

 can the inhabitants of the water subsist ? HQW can 

 siany species escape utter destruction ? God has guard- 

 ed against this, by multiplying them in so prodigious 

 a. manner. More than three hundred thousand eggs 

 have been counted in the roe of a single salmon. Bj 

 this means, let them be destroyed ever so fast, still 

 their increase is equal to their consumption. 



But who can explain how the inhabitants of the sea 

 enjoy their perfect health in the midst of water so 

 loaded with salt ? And by what art is it that they 

 preserve even there, a flesh that has not the least taste 

 of it? 



Why do those which are fittest for the use of man, 

 come and offer themselves on our coasts ? While so 

 many that would bo useless, if not pernicious, affect 

 remoteness from us. 



Why do several of them, in their stated seasons, 

 run up into our rivers, and communicate the advan- 

 tages of the sea to such countries as are far distant 

 from it? What hand conducts them with so much care 

 and goodness, but thine^ O thou preserver of men ! 



