BONY fISHES 
165 
the gills ; they live by rapine, each devouring such animals 
as Us "Wntli is capable of admitting: and they propao-ate, 
not by bringing forth their young alive, as in the cetaceous 
!, e ?> nor b ,y distinct eggs, as in the generality of the car- 
tilaginous tribes, but by spawn, or peas, as they are gene- 
laUy called which they produce by hundreds of thousands. 
i he bones of this order of fishes, when examined but 
slightly, appeared to be entirely solid ; yet, when viewed 
more closely, every bone will be found hollow, and filled 
with a substance less rancid and oily than marrow. These 
"ones are very numerous, and pointed ; and, as in quadru- 
peds, are the props or stays to which the muscles are fixed, 
winch move the different parts of the body. 
. The number of bones in all spinous fishes of the same kind 
is always the same. It is a vulgar way of speaking, to say, 
"U fishes are, at some seasons, more bony than at others ; 
"it this scarce requires contradiction. It is true, indeed, 
"U fish are at some seasons much fatter than at others; so 
J the quantity of the flesh being diminished, and that of 
the bones remaining the same, they appear to increase in 
dumber, as they actually bear a greater proportion. 
As the spinous fish partake less of thequadruped in their 
‘ormation than any others, so they can bear to live out of 
their own element a shorter time. ' Some, indeed, are more 
'ivacious in air than others ; the eel will live several hours 
out of water ; and the carp has been known to be fattened 
h a damp cellar. The method is, by placing it in a net 
i e 1 wrapped up in wet moss, the mouth only "out, and then 
lrfuT ' n a vau ^‘ 1 he fish is fed with white bread and 
"k, and die net now and then plunged into the water. 
1 ls impossible to account for the different operations of 
'e same element upon animals, that, to appearance have 
fp' 6 , satne conformation. To some fishes, bred in the sea, 
s es " water is immediate destruction; on the other hand, 
^oine fishes, that live in our lakes and ponds, cannot bear 
le salt water. This circumstance may possibly arise from 
le Su perior weight of the sea water. As, from the great 
quantity of salt dissolved in its composition, it is much 
eavier than fresh water, so it is probable it lies with greater 
rce upon the organs of respiration, and gives them their 
WhM ' and "pessary play : on the other hand, those fish 
°f tl U 'v usetl 011 to fresh water, cannot bear the weight 
tile / e Sa ^' ne an( l expire in a manner suffocated in 
l'o vv n'°*™ of the strange element. There are some tribes, 
p ( . vei ’ that spend a part of their season in one, and a 
ln the other. Thus the salmon, the shad, the smelt, 
