168 POPULAR NOTIONS AND .ERRORS. 



that these natural causes have been on the, 

 whole most potential. How often do we meet 

 with rare species in situations where it is diffi- 

 cult to imagine that they owe their advent to 

 the hand of man ? Thus the charr is not only 

 found in the lakes of the Lake District within 

 sound of the abbey bell, but also in those of 

 some of the wildest parts of Connemara and of 

 the Scottish Highlands. A like remark applies 

 to some of the Coregoni, such as the Schelly 

 and Vendace. Popular notions I am disposed 

 to hold always in doubt. How rude are they 

 and often unfounded : the monks in many 

 instances have taken the place of the giants. 

 Think of the Fingalian roads, of the cave 

 named after the same mythical hero, of the 

 Giant's Causeway, and the like : natural effects 

 referred to superhuman or supernatural agency ! 

 AMICUS. You have just said that the ova are 

 capable of retaining their vitality under the 

 circumstances you described, provided they are 

 tolerably advanced. Do you mean by that, 

 their drawing near the time of being hatched ? 

 I should have supposed that it would have 

 been the contrary, that the simpler the 

 structure of the ovum, the less would be the 



