SPINOUS FISHES. 29? 



that they arc the young of some fish ; they are never seen but al this 

 time of the year, and never found to have any roe, a circumstance 

 that proves their not being come to maturity. The quantity is amaz- 

 ing ; and the fish that produces them in such numbers must be in 

 plenty, though it is not yet known what that fish is, as they corres- 

 pond with no other species whatever. They most resemble the 

 smelt in form ; and yet they want a fin, which that animal is never 

 without. They cannot be the bleak, as they are never found in 

 other rivers where the bleak breeds in great abundance. It is most 

 probable, therefore, that they are the young of some animal not yet 

 come to their perfect form, and therefore reducible to no present 

 syste,m. 



The time that spinous fishes continue in the pea is in proportion 

 to the size of the kind. It is a rule that chiefly holds through Nature, 

 that the larger the animals are, the longer they continue before ex- 

 clusion. This I say holds generally through all Nature, though it is 

 not easy to assign a cause for so well known a truth. It may proba- 

 bly be, that as all large bodies take a longer time to grow hot than 

 small ones, so the larger the egg, the longer influence of vital 

 warmth it requires to reach through all its recesses, and to unfold the 

 dormant springs that wait to be put into motion. 



The manner in which the eggs of fishes are impregnated is wholly 

 unknown. All that obviously offers is, that in ponds the sexes are 

 often seen together among the long grass at the edge of the water ; 

 that there they seem to struggle ; and that during this time they are 

 in a state of suffering ; they grow thin ; they lose their appetite, and 

 their flesh becomes flabby, the scales of some grow rough, and they 

 lose their lustre. On the contrary, when the time of coupling is over, 

 their appetite returns ; they reassume their natural agility, and their 

 scales become brilliant and beautiful. 



Although the usual way with spinous fishes is to produce by spawn ; 

 yet there are some, such as the eel and the blenny, that are known 

 to bring forth their young alive. Bowlker, who has written a treatise 

 upon fishing, seems to determine the question relative to the vivipa- 

 ous production of eels, upon the authority of one or two credible wit- 

 lesses. An eel, opened in the presence of several persons of credit, 

 was found to have an infinite number of little creatures, closely 

 wrapped up together in a lump, about the size of a nutmeg, which 

 being put into a basin of water, soon separated, and swam about : 

 yet still, whether these may not have been worms generated in the 

 Animal's body, remains a doubt ; for there are scarce any fishes that 

 are not infested with worms in that manner. 



With respect to the growth of fishes, it is observed, that among 

 sarps, particularly the first year, they grow to about the size of the 

 'eaf of a willow-tree ; at two years, they are about four inches long 

 They grow but one inch more the third season, which is five Inches. 

 Chose of four years old are about six inches ; and seven after the fifth, 

 from that to eight years old, they are found to be large in proportion 

 10 the goodness of the pond, from eight to twelve inches. VVith re- 

 gard to sea-fish, the fishermen assure us, that a fish must be six 

 /ears old before it is fit to be served up at a table. They instance it 

 m the growth of a mackarel. They assure us, that those of a year 



