OF FISHES IN GENERAL. 25 



pulate ; but, as the male is furniflied with no external 

 organs of generation, his junftion with the female is 

 only to emit his irnpregnating milt upon the eggs, as 

 they fall from her body. For this purpofe, it is faid, he 

 purfues them along the ftream, carefully impregnating 

 them, one after another. 



Thefe fa£ls, however, are controverted by Llnticeus^ 

 who maintains, that no fecundation can take place, ex- 

 cept within the body of the female *, although the ge- 

 neration of frogs and lizards has always been regarded 

 as an example of the contrary. In fupport oF his hj'po- 

 thefis, he afferts that he oLferved, at fpawning feafon, 

 every male pike furrounded by feveral females ; and that, 

 as foon as the milt was ejected by him, it was immedi- 

 ately fwallowed by the females ; a procedure which he 

 had occafion to notice in feveral other kinds of filli. 



The experiments that have lately been made at Berlin 

 by a Ikilrul naturaliil f , feem totally to overthrow this 

 do6lrine of LinncEUs. It has been found, that of both 

 falmoa and trout, the roes, artiiicially extracted from the 

 body of the female, were capable of being fccundified by 

 an admixture with the milt of the male. Hence it is 

 probable, that, thcugfi both the male and the female 

 concur in the great work of impregnation, yet the acl 

 is performed without the body of the latter ; and that 

 the fpawner ejecls her eggs, while the milter fprinkles 

 them with fperm. 



The fcience of ichthyology is fllll in its infancy. Sup- 

 ported by few accurate obfervations, and Hill fewer ex- 

 periments, it has hitherto been regarded as a field for 



Vol. III. D theory, 



• Fide Syflcma Nature ad locunii 

 M- Jacobi, 



