OF FISHES IN GENERAL. 
3 a 
fimilar error, many of the moderns are guilty in aflertf 
ing, that the common falmon arrives at its full growth 
m a year. Our moil experienced fifliers diftinguifh them 
alfo by different names, till they arrive at their fixth 
year, when they are fuppofed to have reached their full 
fize : Thofe of the firft year they call fmelts ; of the fe- 
cond, fprods ; of the third, morts ; of the fourth, fork- 
tails ; of the fifth, lialf-fifh ; and of the fixth, falmons *. 
It is probable, however, notwithftanding the imtnenfe 
fize at which many of them arrive, that fifhes, in 
general, are of a quick growth, and that the period of 
their adolefcence is fmall, in proportion to that of their 
lives. There is another peculiarity attending the growth 
of fifh ; and that is, the cetaceous kinds, which are by far 
the laigefl, inhabit chiefly the colder regions of the 
ocean, adjoining the poles. The reverfe of this is the 
cafe with terreftial animals, who always diminifh in fize 
as they recede from the heat ; and by far the large!! of 
them, the elephant, the camel, and rhinoceros, are only 
found in the warm or intratropical latitudes. It is proba- 
ble, indeed, that the whales might prefer the more tem- 
perate regions of the ocean, and might even acquire a 
large fize there ; were they not compelled to avoid them 
by the frequent difturbance given by fhips, and to feek 
that tranquillity, of which they are fond, in the unhofpi- 
tal climes of the north f. 
Hitherto, we have been examining fifhes with regard 
to their external conformation, and have found them in- 
ferior to terreftrial animals in their organization, and in 
the number of their enjoyments. We are now to contem- 
plate 
* Vide Willoughby, lib. i. cap. If. 
^ Idem ibidem. 
