Chap. 36.] 
PISHES. 
407 
as well as the poljrpi^^ and the mursense/^ are in the habit of 
coming ashore — besides which, there is in the rivers of India 
one kind that does this, and then leaps back again into the 
water — for they are found to pass over into standing waters and 
streams. Most fishes have an evident instinct, which teaches 
them where to spawn in safety ; as in such places there are no 
enemies found to devour their young, while at the same time 
the waves are much less violent. It will be still more a matter 
of surprise, to find that they thus have an appreciation of cause 
and effect, and understand the regular recurrence of periods, 
when we reflect how few persons there are that know that the 
most favourable time for taking fish is while the sun is passing 
through the sign of Pisces.^^* 
CHAP. 36. (20.) — CLASSIFICATION OF FISHES, ACCOEDING TO THE 
SHAPE OF THE BODY. 
Some sea-fish are flat, such, for instance, as the rhombus, "^"^ 
the sole,^^ and the sea-sparrow which last only differs from 
Linnaeus, which is by no means uncommon in the Mediterranean. He 
suggests, however, that there are equal grounds for taking it to be the 
Fiasco psaro, or Tetrodon lineatus of Linnaeus. 
The Sepia octopodia of Linnaeus. 
50 The Muraena helena of Linnaeus. This animal, Cuvier says, like the 
eel, is able to live out of water, in consequence of the minute size of the 
branchial orifices, as Theophrastus very accurately explains. It is a com- 
mon opinion that they come out of the water in search of others of their 
kind ; but Spallanzani was informed by the fishermen of Comacchio, that 
this hardly ever is the case^ and that they will only leave the water when 
compelled. The polypus also crawls very briskly on the shore when it has 
been thrown up by the tide, and moves with considerable swiftness. 
51 This is also stated by the author of the treatise, De Mirab. Auscult. 
c. 72 ; and Theophrastus, in his work on the "Fishes that can live on land," 
says, that these Indian fishes resemble the mullet. Cuvier says, that these 
fish are those known as the various species of the genus Ophicephalus of 
Bloch, which bear a strong resemblance to the mullet in the head and 
body. 'Mr. Hamilton Buchanan, in his " History of the Fishes of Bengal,'' 
gays, that these fish crawl on the grass to so great a distance from their 
rivers, that the people absolutely believe that they must have fallen from, 
heaven. 
51 * Or the " Fishes." As if, indeed, Hardouin says, the resemblance of 
Bame given to the constellation could have any effect upon the fish ! 
52 The turbot, Pleuronectes maximus of Linnaeus. 
^ Pleuronectes solea of Linnaeus. 
5^ " Passer." Probably our " plaice" — the Pleuronectes platessa of 
Linn^us. 
