FISHES. 547 



a word, those fish which are large, fat, and have few fins, are 

 found to be the least bony ; those which are small, lean, and have 

 many fins, are the most bony of all others. Thus, for instance, 

 a roach appears more bony than a carp, because it is leaner and 

 smaller ; and it is actually more bony than an eel, because it has 

 a greater number of fins. 



As the spinous fish partake less of the quadruped in their for- 

 mation than any others, so they can bear to live out of their own 

 element a shorter time. In general, when taken out of the water 

 they testify their change by panting more violently and at closer 

 intervals, the thin air not furnishing their gills the proper play ; 

 and in a few minutes they expire. Some indeed are more viva- 

 cious in air than others ; the eel will live several hours out of 

 water •, and the carp has been known to be fattened in a damp 

 cellar. The method is by placing it in a net well wrapped up 

 in wet moss, the mouth only out, and then hung up in a vault. 

 The fish is fed with white bread and milk ; and the net now 

 and then i)]iiiiged into the water. The animal, thus managed, 

 has been known not only to lis'e for a fortnight, but to grow ex- 

 ceedingly fat, and of a superior flavour. From this it would 

 seem that the want of a moisture in the gills is the chief cause 

 of the death of these animals ; and could that be supplied, their 

 lives might be prolonged in the air, almost as well as in their 

 own element. 



Yet it is impossible to account for the difl!"erent operations of 

 the same element, upon animals that, to appearance, have the 

 same conformation. To some fishes, bred in the sea, fresh 

 water is immediate destruction : on the other hand, some fishes, 

 that live in our lakes and ponds, cannot bear the salt water. 

 Whence this difference can arise, is not easily to be accounted 

 for. The saline quality of the water cannot iM0])prly be given 

 Hs the cause ; since no fishes imbibe any of the sea's saltness 

 with their food, or in respiration. The flesh of all fishes is 

 equally fresh, both in the river, and in the saltest depths of the 

 ocean ; the salt of the clement in which they live no way mix- 

 ing with their constitution. Whence then is it that animals 

 nil! live only there, and will quickly expire when carried into 

 fresh water ? It may probably arise from the superior weight 

 of the sea-water ; as from the great quantity of salt dissolved in 

 its composition, it is much heavier than fresh water, so it is pro- 



