tion of the species. In comparison with other 

 oviparous animals, the eggs offish are very small ; 

 they are, however, far more numerous, and while 

 they furnish food to many of their own kind 

 even to the individuals from which they sprung, 

 arid to various kinds of fowl, yet still do we find 

 the waters abundantly supplied with inhabitants. 

 " Let the waters bring forth abundantly" said 

 the Lord ; and when we consider the astonish- 

 ing fecundity of a single fish, we shall find how 

 truly the Divine command has been obeyed. Ac- 

 cording to Lewenhoeck, the cod annually spawns 

 upwards of nine millions of eggs contained in a 

 single roe ; the flounder produces above a million ; 

 and the mackarel above five hundred thousand ; 

 a herring of a moderate size will yield at least 

 ten thousand ; a carp of fourteen inches in length 

 contained, according to Petit, two hundred and 

 sixty- two thousand, two hundred and twenty- 

 four ; a perch deposited three hundred and eighty 

 thousand, six hundred and forty ; and a female 

 sturgeon, seven millions and fifty-three thousand, 

 two hundred. 



Most fishes take no care of their offspring, 

 and some even cast their spawn indiscriminately 

 among the waters, and leave them to an uncertain 

 chance. This, however, is not the case with all ; 

 certain species of the genus doras, make a regu- 

 lar nest, in which they lay their eggs in a flat- 

 tened cluster, and cover them over most care- 

 fully. Nor does their care end here, as with 

 most others who cover their spawn, for they re- 



