44 OF riSHKS IN GENERAX. 



to the three different modes of their generation. Among 

 thofe of the fiift order, fecundation is accoaiplilLed with- 

 in the body oi the female, by means ot a ptnis intrans^ 

 as in terreftiial animals. They are all viviparous ; that 

 is, the female, after having been fecundified by the male, 

 and after a certain period oi geitation, produces a living 

 and perfecl animal. 



The cartilaginous are alfo all, exc'=!pt fome fpecies of 

 the fturgeon, viviparous ; and among this order too, fe- 

 cundation feems to be performed within the body of the 

 female, who conceives two or more large eggs, diftinftly 

 containing red and white, like thofe of birds. In th«fe 

 eggs the fetus is fornried ; and, by the white of them^ 

 it is fed, wliile it is hatched within the body of the 

 mother, without being excluded in the egg Hate, as 

 is the cafe in birds. In this ftate, the eggs have 

 been found in the belly of a dogiifh, with the yaung 

 completely formed, and of a very conGderable fiz,e *. 

 The number of thefe eggs lodged at one time in the 

 uterus, is various, according to the fpecies to which 

 the animal belongs. One naturalifl f obferved in the 

 belly of it a dogfifh, fix that were arrived at their full 

 fize, befides many others, in which the fetus was fcarce- 

 ly formed ; another faw, in the eornua uteri of a tor- 

 pedo, fix eggs on one fide, and eight upon the other. 



The mode of generation that obtains among the vivi- 

 parous or fpinous fiflies, is, from their fituation and man- 

 ner of life, involved in great obfcurity. It is generally 

 fuppofed, that their eggs are not fecundified, till after 

 their exclufion from the matrix of the female. They 

 feem, indeed, amidft their evolutions in the deep, to co- 

 4 pulate : 



• Rains apud Willough. IJb. I. cap. Lc. | Ronddctius. 



i Francifc. Redi. Galei Spinacis. 



