AMA> 



NOTE 23. 



The appearance of iish in waters which have no communication with other 

 waters has perplexed naturalists. It is extraordinary that perch should have 

 appeared in all the lakes of Ireland, and in the Shannon, at the same time, 

 about forty years ago. If a heron, (says Daniel's Rural Sports, vol. 2.) has 

 devoured the ova of a pike, and afterwards ejected them while feeding in a 

 pond where there were none before, it is highly probable they may be produced 

 from this origin, in the same way as the seeds "of plants are known to be disse- 

 minated. Gmelin observes, that the duck kind swallow the eggs of fishes, that 

 <;ome of these eggs go down and come out of their bodies unhurt, and so are 

 propagated. Adamson observed, in Africa, several small fishes in morasses 

 formed by rain water, which, by their lively red colour, appeared to be roaches. 

 The water drtfed up in a day or two and the Iish died. The next year new 

 ones appeared entirely like the preceding. The ponds here had no communica- 

 tion with the Niger, which is about three hundred fathoms off. How did these 

 fishes get there? they were not brought by aquatic birds, because this species 

 of fish is unknown to that river. Have they sprung from the ova of the pre- 

 ceding year ; but how .did they get there first ? are they drawn from distant 

 waters by the power of evaporation, and conveyed to those ponds ? if the 

 facts are truly stated, this is an unaccountable phenomenon. 



An occurrence of a somewhat similar nature took place on this island some 

 few years ago. Shortly after the first establishment of the Elgin Botanic Gar- 

 den it became necessary to obtain a permanent and plentiful supply of water, 

 for the various purposes of that institution, as well as to afford a place of growth 

 for aquatic plants. To this end the proprietor, dr. Hosack, in. a season of un- 

 common drought, had an artificial pond, of considerable extent, made on a por- 

 tion of the ground that had hitherto^been a merefmorass. Upon excavating this 

 morass, to the depth of from six to ten feet, a number of springs were opened, 

 which afforded the necessary supply of soft fresh water. To the astonishment 

 of all, at the ensuing summer, a considerable number of small fish appeared ; 

 nnd since that time this artificial pond, about a mileand a half distant from any 

 waters, has abounded in fish of considerable size : some of them being five, six, 

 and even seven inches in length. 



ID Lothrop's Philosophical Transactions, (zol. 2.) it is stated, that a pasture 

 field in Kent, containing two acres, and far from fishponds, or the sea, but a 

 scarcity of water, was all overspread with little fishes, conceived to be rained 

 down, there having been, at that time, a great tempest of thunder and rain 



