BESTS 

 ART OF ANGLING. 



CHAP. I. 



,4 Description of Fishes, according to Natural 

 History, with the best methods of Breeding, 

 Feeding, fyc. 



MANY assert that fishes have not that part 

 called the meatus auditorius, and are quite 

 deaf. Others are quite of a contrary opinion. 

 However by the first proposition of the second 

 book of Newton's 'Principia, it is proved that 

 water is a non-conductor of sound ; if so, why 

 should animals be provided with organs of hear- 

 ing, when they live in a medium where sounds 

 cannot be heard ? 



Fishes in natural history are animals that live 

 in the water, as their proper place of abode. 

 Naturalists observe a world of wisdom and de- 

 sign in the structure of fishes, and their con- 

 formation to the element they reside in. 



Their bodies are cloathed and guarded in the 

 best manner, with scales or shells, suitable to 

 their respective circumstances, the dangers they 

 are exposed to, and the motion and business 

 they are to perform. 



