Magiae Naturalis by John Baptista Porta.pdf - Gnomicon

of Mullet, about the bigness of little Cackrels, which had neither seed nor egg in them. And in some parts of Asia, at
the mouth of the Rivers into the sea, some of a bigger size are generated. And as the Mullet-Groundlings comes of
mud, or a sandy loam, as Aristotle writes, so it is to be thought, that the Cackrel-groundling comes thereof also. It
seems too, that,
"A Carp is generated of Putrefaction,"
Especially of the putrefied mud of sweet water. For it is experienced, that in certain lakes, compassed about with hills,
where there is no well, nor river, to moisten it, but only the rain, after some few showers, there has been great store of
Fish, especially carp. But there are some of this kind generated by copulation. There are also in certain particular lakes,
particular kinds of Fishes, as in the Lemane, and the Benacian lakes, there be diverse kind of Carp, and other such
Fish. Likewise are certain,
"Earthly Fishes generated of Putrefaction."
Pliny reports, that in Paphlagonia, they dig out of deep ditches, certain earthly Fishes very good to be eaten, and it is
so in places where there is no standing water, and he wonders that they should be generated without copulation. But
surely it is by virtue of some moisture, which he ascribes to the wells, because in some of them Fishes are found.
Likewise,
"Shellfish are generated of the frothy mud,"
Or else merely of the Saltwater, for they have neither seed, nor male, nor female, the hardness and closeness of their
shells, hindering all things from touching or rubbing their inward parts, which might be fit for generation. Aristotle says,
they breed all of themselves, which appears by this, that often they breed in ships, of a frothy mud putrefied. And in
many places, where no such thing was before, many shellfishes have bred, when once the place waxed muddy, for lack
of moisture. And that these Fishes emit no seed or generative matter, it appears, because that when the men of Chios,
had brought out of Lesbos many oysters, and cast them into lakes near the sea, there were found no more then were
cast in. Only they were somewhat greater. So then Oysters are generated in the sea, in rivers and in lakes, and
therefore are called Limnoslrea, because they breed in muddy places. Oppianus writes also, that they have neither
male nor female, but are generated of themselves and their own accord, without the help of any copulation. So the Fish
called Ortica, and the Purple, and Muscles, and Scallops, and Perwincles, and Limpins, and all shellfish are
generated of mud. For they cannot couple together, but live only as plants live. And look how the mud differs, so does it
bring forth different kinds of Fishes. Dirty mud genders Oysters, sandy mud Perwincles, the mud in the rocks breeds
Holoturia, Lepades, and such-like. Limpins, as experience has shown, have bred of rotten hedges made to Fish by,
and as soon as the hedges are gone, there have been found no more Limpins.
PDFmyURL.com