BOOK IX. Lxxiv. 157-159 



not allow us to postpone the consideration of these 

 animals' method of reproduction. Fish couple by 

 rubbing their belUes together so quickly as to escape 

 the sight ; dolphins and the rest of the large marine 

 species couple in a similar manner, but with rather 

 longer contact. At the coupHng season the female 

 fish pursues the male, nudging his belly with her nose, 

 but directly after the eggs are born the males similarlj^ 

 pursue the females and eat their eggs. Copulation 

 is not enough in itself to cause the birth of oiFspring, 

 unless when the esss are laid the males swim to and 

 fro sprinkhng them with hfe-giving milt. This is 

 not achieved with all the eggs in so great a multitude 

 — otherwise the seas and marshes would be com- 

 pletely filled, since the uterus of a single fish holds 

 a countless number of eggs. 



Fishes' eggs in the sea grow in size, some with 

 extreme rapidity, for instance those of the murena, 

 some a httle more slowly. Flat fish not possessing 

 a tail, and sting-ray and tortoises, cover the 

 female in mating, polyps couple by attaching a single 

 feeler to the female's nostrils, the two varieties of 

 cuttle-fish with their tongues, hnking their arms 

 together and swimming in opposite directions ; they 

 also spawn through the mouth. But polyps couple 

 with their head turned towards the ground, all the 

 other soft fishes with their backs — for instance sea- 

 dogs, and also langoustes and prawns ; crabs with their 

 mouth. Frogs cover the female, the male grasping 

 her shoulder-bL-ides with his fore-feet and her but- 

 tocks with his hind feet. They spawn very small 

 lumps of dark flesh that are called tadpoles, possessing 

 only eyes and a tail ; but soon feet are formed by 

 the tail dividing into two hind legs. And strange 



271 



