VOL. XX.] PHILOSOPHICAL rRANSACTIONS. 253 



tic. lib. 1. ver. 132) in bis excellent poem of fishes: for in his Halieutics, de- 

 scribing the philostorgia of fishes, he comes to the dog-fish, and says, that on 

 any storm or danger, if pursued, the young ones run into the mother's belly ; 

 and when the fright or danger is over, they come out again. His verses were 

 so admired by Antoninus, at that time Emperor of Rome, to whom he made 

 the dedication, that he not only revoked the banishment of his father, but pre- 

 sented him likewise with a golden statera for each verse ; whence they are called 

 golden verses : which, according to Suidas's computation, came to 20,000. 



I would not expect in a poet, that exactness of natural history, as in a philo- 

 sopher, who is truly to relate matter of fact. But this particular of the dog- 

 fish bears the more resemblance of truth, as formerly dissecting a fish of this 

 kind, which was a female, I was surprised to observe the gradual formation of 

 several foetus, some just beginning to be formed, others an inch or 2 long; 

 others 4 or 5 ; some Q or 10, and fit for birth ; but what nearest concerns us 

 was, that near the exit of the pudendum on each side, I observed a foramen or 

 hole, capable of distension, and readily enough would admit my finger, which 

 led into the cavity of the abdomen or belly itself; and not in any bag, or the 

 uterus, or any other part. Besides, in the abdomen I found a quantity of 

 water, which I could not but think was let in this way. So that if upon ob- 

 servation at any time, there should be found loose in the cavity of the belly of 

 this fish a young one, there would be no reason to mistrust the relation, since 

 here are 1 doors to let them in and out. 



^lian (Hist. Animal. 1. 1, c. 18) relates the same story of the dog-fish ; his 

 words, as they are translated by P. Gillius, are these; si quis eorum (speaking 

 of the young ones) timeat, ingreditur rursus per genitalia in ventrem matris ; 

 ubi timor abierit, is prodit tanquam rursus editus. And in the preceding 

 chapter he tells the same (as our poet does) of the Glaucus. Nay, Aristotle 

 (Hist. Animal. 1. 6, c. 8) himself acknowledges the same thing of the galeus, 

 which is of the dog kind. And the like he (1. 6, c. lO) affirms of the dolphin 

 and porpus. But if what is thus related of these fishes should prove but a vul- 

 gar error, it is a very ancient one, and it is high time it was removed : and if 

 there should be any truth in these stories, it is requisite that it be supported by 

 some more evident proof, and confirmed by later observation. 



Concerning the parts in the thorax, I only observed, that the lungs had 3 

 lobes on one side ; and but 1 on the other : but this 1 was as large as the other 

 3. They were soft and spongy, and easily dilated, and large in proportion to 

 the animal. The heart was included in a pericardium, as usual, but larger in 

 respect to the bulk of the body, than is common ; nor was its cone so sharp, 

 but rather more obtuse ; it had 2 auricles, and 2 ventricles. About the throat 



