213 



PISCES. FISHES. 



u They that go down to the sea in ships, and occupy their business in 



great waters ; 

 " These men see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep." 



PSALMS. 



How widely different are the ideas suggested by the word 

 " Fish" to the minds of the angler, the epicure, the fisherman, 

 and the naturalist! The last is here to he our guide; and, 

 according to his definition, fishes are cold-blooded animals, 

 eminently and specially adapted for living as inhabitants of 

 the water. The body is, in most instances, covered with 

 scales; they have fins instead of feet; and respiration is 

 carried on by gills. The young are produced from eggs. 



DISTRIBUTION. Fishes arc found in rivers, lakes, and seas, 

 and, according to the laws of geographical distribution, have 

 certain limits within which they range, and beyond which they 

 seldom pass. Some live habitually in temperatures far above 

 that which we would have ventured to suppose. Thus, fishes 

 have been observed in a hot spring at Manilla, which raises 

 the thermometer to 187, and in another in Barbary, whose 

 usual temperature is 172;* and Humboldt mentions that, 

 during his researches in tropical America, he found them 

 thrown up alive from the bottom of an exploding volcano, 

 along with water at that time so hot as to raise the thermo- 

 meter to 210, or within two degrees of the boiling point. 

 An observation, made under such circumstances, does not, 

 however, furnish any evidence as to the temperature of the 

 water in which such fishes habitually lived. When the vital 

 actions are suspended by excess of cold, and the fish congealed 

 in a mass of ice, life does not appear to be permanently extin- 

 guished. With the gradual thawing of the ice, all the powers 

 of life return: hence, in the northern parts of Europe, Perch 

 and Eels are conveniently transported from one place to 

 another while in a frozen state. Even the same species seems 



* See Notes to Dr. W. F. Edward's work " On the Influence of 

 Physical Agents on Life." 



