A Letter from Mr. James Sherwood, Surgeon, to Martin Folkes, Esq; President of the RoyalSociety, concerning the Minute Eels in Paste Being ViviparousAuthor(s): James SherwoodSource: Philosophical Transactions (1683-1775), Vol. 44 (1746 - 1747), pp. 67-69Published by: The Royal SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/104780 .

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L 67 ]

XIIt iC Leter frotz Mr. Jalnes Sherwood, S>E^geooz to Martirl Folkes, Mq; Prefident of the lloyal Svciety, coneccrzZzg the sxi-Z;tgte Eels it Pafie beiowg vivipaewWs.

S I R2 R4dFeb I3* ^ LTHO' thc mict¢aicoplcal Oojedsv 174)^ Lw xvllich I 11ave tlle Holwour to infrn you of at preScllt, 11ave been already vcry comnlotlly fcen and obServed by xllany of the Catious; yct X flatter lnyfelf tlle ObSersZations I 11aste 11ad tize Happi- ncEs to make on tllcm, atld whicll yotl wcrc pleasfeel to be a \Alitllefs of, will be nv lefs cntertaining tc} the Roal Society, than extL4aordinary in thc FJvcntF

Tlle Ecls in Sour Paffe are the Animalcules i} Quellion; in wllicll, Acs:ident (whicll has oftell in- tlsodtlced amazillg ViScoverics) Ilas opened tlle followU ing Scctle to aze.

Examining onc Day a NumlJer of rllefe EelsX atld llaving a Mind to viesv a fillglc one, I placed the largefl I could filld in a flllall Drop of\vater, ullder tlle Mi- cloScope; ill doin2, of nvhicll I found I Ilad xrollnded Ilim in the Belly; a long ncnder Tube proceeded from the 57Vound, dotlbled in tllc Form of an Inte(tine, wllicll I then took it for.

Tlle next Day I commulaicated this to Mr. Egrbe- fville Needhar; and) laavillg a Milld to fee the K/*- aera, as nvc tllc1l tllou^,ht? Ile cut onc in twoX near tlle Middlc; wlcll, tO our grcat Surprizeb we found tluis Part 11ad {hog OUt from cacll of the divitled Ends,

I 2 ated

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E 68] and a Nllulber of fceming 0Ua iilued from tileto > but sare Coon found, that there were really live Eels} stlcluded in tl:weir proper Memlaranes, tlaougll of dif- ferent Degl6es of Maturity. Sonze tnov'd but nonvly their Head alld Tail, otlaers coiltd and uncoil'd tlletn-- felses pretty briskly; and illdeed it was pleafalzt tO

behold the tnoA mature nzaking many E6orts to dif- enga ,e ttllemfelves frono tlleir invelopillg Metnblancs, frequently Jalying theit Pofition, being fonzetimes Mpiral, then like a Figure of 8, till at laPc they werc intirely at Liberty, and fwam about like the Parene Eel.

By this it appears, that what I at firR took for the InteRine, we now found to be the Utergs, which {hexvs, ill the large Eels, tO be full of dark Spots, and are the youllg Eels. TheSe dark Spots are alfo obEerveZ able in the yotlng ones, as foon as delivfer'd from theil: Parent.

To be fure of tllis Expersment, I repeated the Ope- ratiotz on Numbels of thefe Eels in PreSence of Dr. iParfosso and feveral other Gentlemen, and always found young ones; fome fO mature (siz. theSe to- wards the Middle of the Parent) as to diSengage themrelves bctore I could get them under the Micro- Scope.

In cutting one of thefe Eels) I happen'd to dtvide a yotlwU, one exaEtly in two ; but, notwithRanding the globular Appearallccs, as in the Parent, there iEued nothing from the wourlded Extremity of either Part; which muLt be osving to thc Inlmaturity of the young oncs.

From this it iS plain, tlwat thcSc Ecls are viv;parous; and confeqtlcatly cannot favour the common Opinion

among

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[ 69 ] .anzong Ns1turalilis, That all Kinds of Allinalcules arc produc'd by minute Eggs flonting in the Air? alld fall ing into tile differcnt Alatrfres and P4b?la, tilat Isufn tain eaclu luind.

Ill ordcr to arrisre at fome lkllonvlcdge of this, I havc tnade fone freM PaAe, and 11ave cover'd Solue with a Piece of Laxnrll, forne with a Bladder, and expoSed tlle reR as urual. I have alSo nzade a Mixture of Flonver and Water without boiling, and tied down fotlle of that, alld left the re opell ; wllereby it may appear how fi1 the Air may or tnay not be cotlcertl'd in the Conveying of vlleSe Allimalcules: For vloere is no Mean to l)e ialagill'd, loy whicll thcSe Creatures can get into the PaRe, if we do llot fuppofe Nature has decreed two Ways tor their ProduEtiotl, tllat is, from Eggs in the AKir, lveEldes the Alanner that apZ pears before us: But this? together with the Refult of Solue other Experiments, lhall be hllmbly offer'd to your Confideration, in a future Papcr, by

SIRz

roxr moJ? obedient Sersant7

J. Sherwood.

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