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men catch them in fuch quantities, as to be able to fupply all the maritime places in the neighbourhood with [hem at a miall price. The falmon, a fifth bred in river*., yet going at certain times to the fea, is another of thole fijb which come up at times in vaft fhoals. The feafon of their coming is as well known as that of other fijbes, and the caufe of" it is, the other great principle of nature, befide the prefervation of the individual, that is, the propagation of the fpecies. The falmoris always depofit their (pawn in {hallow frefh waters. For this purpofe they go up into rivers at certain proper feafons, the females hrft, the males following ; and when they have done this lie- ceflary office, they go back into the fea in the fame order. Thefe are the plain caufes of the appearance of fhoals of certain fifty at cerrain times in thefe places, and in all probability, the 'iame fort of caufes would appear to influence all the reft, were they fufficiently enquired into.
The falmons when they are going up a river out of the fea, are always obferved to fwim as deep or as near the bottom as they can ; and on the contrary, when they are going down the fame river into the fea, they are always feen fwimming near the iurface. The reafon of this is, that in going up, they are to fwim againft the current, which always runs much fwifter at the furface than deeper ; and when they are going down, they get to the furface, when the force of the current alone is fuf- ficient to carry them, and they have little or no trouble in pufhing themlelves on.
Small fifh may very well be kept in glafs jars with frefh water ; and thofe of prey are very fit to be tamed by this means, fiome of thefe creatures often have no other fuftenance, than the animalcula of the water they are put in. Phil. Tranf. N°. 478. p. 26. See Dac and Ruff.
Mr. Boyle fpeaks of a kind of fifh in the coaft of Ireland, the hearts of which are found inverted. Works Abridg. vol, 1. p. 27.
In the Philofophical Transitions N 9 . 463, Seer. 1. we have a method of preparing fpecimens of fifh, by drying their skins, as praftifed by Dr. Gronovius. Generation of Fishes. The general opinion of the world as to the generation of fijbes, is, that the female depofits her fpawn or eggs, and that the male after this ejects the fperm or male fe- men upon it in the water. The want of the organs of genera- tion in fijbes, gives an apparent probability to this ; but Linnams is greatly againft it. He affirms that there can be no poffibility of the impregnation of the eggs of any animal out of its body.
To confirm this, the general courfe of nature not only in birds, quadrupeds and in lefts, but even the vegetable world has been called in to his affiftance, as proving, that all impreg- nation is performed, whilft the ova are in the body of the pa- rent ; and he fupplies the want of the organs of generation by a very ftrange procefs, affirming that the males eject their fe- men always fome days before the females depofit their ova or fpawn, and that the females fwallow this, and have their eggs by that means impregnated by it. Jrtedfs Ichthyogr. He fays, that he has often feen three or four females at this time frequently gathered about the male, and greedily fnatch- in<* up into their mouths, the femen he ejefts : he mentions fome of the efoces, fome pearch, and fome of the cyprini, in which he had feen this procefs. It is worthy farther en-
q uir y-
Hearing of Fishes. When the lapilli or bones in the heads of fifties, which are truly their organs of hearing, are exami- ned in the heads of the feveral kinds; it appears, that they differ from one another both in their ftrufture and fub- ftance. For in the cetaceous fifties whofe skeletons are truly bony, and which in certain refpefts may be compared to tru- ly ligneous trees, both the os petrofum, and the auditory or- gans are in thefe as in other animals perfectly ofleous or bony; whereas the cartilaginous fifh, whofe skeletons are elaftic, and are cartilaginous rather than bony, may be compared to the keratophyta, or tough horny fea plants : and thefe fifh, in- ftead of an os petrofum, have fomething analogous; but it is cartilaginous not bony, and the auditory bones are of a tar- tareous kind of fubftance, being friable and eafily crumbled to pieces. Klein's Hift. Pile. See Ear.
It has been a difputed point among the naturalifts of many ages, whether fifties hear or not ; it is plain that the cetaceous fijbes have all of them auditory paffages or ear holes, but it has not been found, that any other fijbes have any appearance of them. Many authors have been fond of believing that all fjhes have hearing, but their arguments in general are incon- clufive.
Among the antients, many authors appear to have been pofi- tive in the opinion, that fijbes had hearing, tho' they were by no means fatihfied about the ways or paffages by which they heard. Placentlni afterwards difcovered fome bones in the head of the pike, which had very much the appearance of be- ing organs of hearing, but lie could never difcover any exter- nal paffages to them. Klein items to be the only author who has improved upon this hint to any purpofe ; and he affirms and proves from experiments and obfervations, that ail fifties have the organs of hearing and have alfo pallages from with-
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out to thofe organs, tho' in many fpecies they art: difficult B be feen, and that even the moil: minute and obfeure of thefe, are capable of communicating a tremulous motion tc thofe organs from founds ifTuing from without; nor does the water appear on ferious confidcration to be any impediment, but rather a proper medium for the conveying the founds to fuch organs ; and it appears no way more ftrange, that they ftiould hear thro' the water, than that a man fhould hear in one room, the words pronounced in another, tho* there is a partition between them.
The organs of hearing in fifties are indifputably thefe little bones commonly called lapilli, and found in the heads of all fifti ; thefe are conftituent and elTential parts in the heads of fijbes, and are generated with- the brain itfelf ; not an accidental thing as fome have believed them to be. They are always found to differ in magnitude, according to the fize of the fijb they belong to ; and they are more eafily diftmgulfhed in the heads of the fpinofe fi/bes, than in any other kind. There are irl all kinds of fijb three pair of them ; the firft are the two larg- eft bones, and are eafily enough found; but the greateft dif- ficulty lies in difcovering the other two pair, which are fmall, and lie enveloped in diftinft little bags compofed of a fine membrane, Thefe feem to be the auditory organs, and to an- fwer to the incus, malleus, and trapes in other animals; and' by a diligent and careful infpeftion, the age of a fijb may- be determined by the number and thicknels of the lamrase and fibres of thefe bones, in the fame manner as the a<re of a tree is known by the number of circles of the wood. The paffages by which a tremulous motion is conveyed from with- out to thefe internal organs are to be difcovered with care in moft fifties, and in particular in the pike; tho 5 Plactntlni could not dilcover them there. A dole examination of the head of this^j, will fhew feveral holes into which hog's briftles may be thruft, and thefe will be found to go directly into the in- ternal auditory organs ; and in difTe&mg the head of a ftur- geon, the auditory duct is eafily traced as far as the membra- nous body, in which the three pair of little bones are placed. Curious figures of thefe auditory ducts, and of the great varie- ty of thefe officula or lapilli, are exhibited in Klein's hiftory of fifties, to which we refer as greatly more expreflive than any form of words can be. Klein's Hift. Pifc.
Ifland Fish. See Island fifth.
Ifinglafs Fish. See Accipenser.
Sbell-Fisn. See Shell.
Melt of Fishes. See Melt.
Teeth of Fish. See Teeth.
Feeding of Fish. See the article Feeding,
Eyes of Fish. See the article Eye.
Nofirils of Fish. See N ares pi/aum.
Swimming of Fishes, See the articles Swimming ef Fi/bes ani AlK-bladder.
Fishes, aboard a fhip, are pieces of timber ufed to ftrengthen the malts and yards, when they begin to fail in a ftrefs of weather. They both nail the fifties on with iron fpikes, and alfo would them, as they call it, that is, wind ropes hard round about them. There is alfo a tackle called the fijb, which hangs at the end of the davit by the ftrap of the block, in which is the runner of the fijb-hook ; by which means the fluke of the anchor is haled up to the Blip's bow or chainwmle. Perhaps this tackle was called a fijb, from that which the an- tients called a dolphin, which was a pointed and vaftly heavy piece of iron, which they ufed to heave up by a tackle to a good height, and then, when they came near enough io the enemies fhip, let it fall at once, to break or pierce a hole through the bottom of the enemies veiTel, and fink her.
Fisn-block, in a fhip, is the block which is hung in a notch at the end of the davit, and ferves to hale up the fluke of the anchor to the ftiip's bow.
Fisn-ponds, are not only a thing of convenience to great families,, but may be made a very profitable article with the farmer un- der due management. Watery and boggy lands are often fit for no other ufe, and thefe are then a great improvement on them. Ponds made in dry grounds in the flat bottoms be- tween hills, will alfo ferve not only to fupply the cattle with water, but the profit of the fifth that may be bred in them, is greater than many are aware of, and comes without any la- bour or expence. The head of a pond muft be placed at the loweft part of the ground, and the trench of the flood-gate or fluice, muft have a good fall, that it may not be too Jong in emptying. The heft way of making the head, is by driving three or four rows of ftakes about fix foot long, and at about four foot diftance from one another, the whole length of the pond-head ; the firft row of thefe is to be driven in four foot deep, that they may be very firm and fecure, and if the bot- tom be not good but be of a loofe fand, fome lime is to be ad- ded, which will harden into a fort of ftone. The earth dug out of the pond is to be laid between thefe ftakes and ram- med hard down. Other rows of ftakes muft be added behind and over thefe, and the fpaces filled up till the whole is as high and as thick as is neceflary. Tiie face of it muft be made even and flan ting, and there muft be a wafh left to carry off" the fuperflous water in floods, &c, Morthntr's Husb. p. 291.
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