It was my intention to have continued my physiological inquiries on the phenomena of muscular motion, by a series of chemical experiments; and to have communicated the result, when duly matured, to the Royal Society. But an unexpected request, made at a late period, for the Lecture of the present year, obliges me to defer those researches, and to limit the investigation of the subject I have chosen.

The application of the motive organs of animals has already furnished examples of general utility by increasing our knowledge of mechanical powers; and the cultivation of this study promises still further improvement.

The muscles of fishes are of a very different construction from those of the other natural classes. The medium in which these animals reside, the form of their bodies, and the