30 OF FISHES IN GEMERAI-* 



the large fiili in the deep water. Such as flill furvlv^j- 

 are fufficient for fupplying the ocean with inhabitants ; 

 and of thefe, notwithftanding their own rapacity, and 

 that of the aquatic fowls and terreftrial animals, enough 

 is left to relieve the wants of a great portion of the hu- 

 man race. Thus, two important purpofes are anfwered 

 in the economy of Nature by the extraordinary fecundi- 

 ty of fiffces : it preferves the fpecies amidft numbei'lefs 

 enemies, and ferves to furnilli the reft with a fuftenance 

 adapted to their nature *. 



Among terreftrial animals, there are various degrees of 

 fertility, according to their chance of deftru6lion, from 

 the want of courage, bulk, or ftrength : The largeft are 

 always leaft produclive, and the fmaller are more proli- 

 fic, in proportion as the dangers increafe, to which they 

 are cxpofed f# The fame obfervation may be extended 

 to the inhabitants of the ocean : Among thefe, as the ce- 

 taceous fi(l» refemble quadrupeds in their habits and con- 

 formation, fo they are diilinguifhed by a iimilar degree 

 of flerility. All the whales, and even the cartilaginous 

 fifhes, are not, perhaps, fuperior to terreftrial animals in 

 their powers of produftion. Among the hungry and 

 heedlefs inhabitants of the fea, they are diftinguiflied by 

 finer orcans and higher fenfations. Their fiz,e and cou- 

 rage place them, in a great meafure, beyond the reach 

 of danger; they norfe their young with tendernefs and 

 affiduity, and they proteft them from injury with an ob- 

 ftinate intrepidity little inferior to that of the lion or the 

 eagle. Hence the number of their young is few, pro- 

 portioned to the dangers to which they are expofed : A- 



midlt 



♦ Goldfmlth's Nat. Hift. vol. VI. 



■\ BuiFon's Hift. generale et particulairc, tome i6, 



