The Bird- and Bear-men being dismissed, the Empress called both the Syrens- or Fish-men, and the Worm-men, to deliver their Observations which they had made, both within the Seas, and the Earth. First, she enquired of the Fish-men whence the saltness of the Sea did proceed? To which they answered, That there was a volatile salt in those parts of the Earth, which as a bosom contain the Waters of the Sea, which Salt being imbibed by the Sea, became fixt; and this imbibing motion was that they call'd the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea; for, said they, the rising and swelling of the Water, is caused by those parts of the volatile Salt as are not so easily imbibed, which striving to ascend above the Water, bear it up with such a motion, as Man, or some other Animal Creature, in a violent exercise uses to take breath. This they affirmed to be the true cause both of the saltness, and the ebbing and flowing-motion of the Sea, and not the jogging of the Earth, or the secret influence of the Moon, as some others had made the World believe. After this, the Empress enquired, Whether they had observed, that all Animal Creatures within the Seas and other waters, had blood? They answered, That some had blood, more or less, but some had none. In Crea-fishes and Lobsters, said they, we perceive but little blood; but in Crabs, Oysters, Cockles, &c. none at all. Then the Empress asked them, in what part of their Bodies that little blood did reside? They answered, in a small vein, which in Lobsters went through the middle of their tails, but in Crea-fishes was found in their backs: as for other sorts of Fishes, some, said they, had onely blood about their Gills, and others in some other places of their Bodies; but they had not as yet observed any whose veins did spread all over their Bodies. The Empress wondring that there could be living Animals without Blood, to be better satisfied, desired the Worm-men to inform her, whether they had observed Blood in all sorts of Worms? They answered, That, as much as they could perceive, some had Blood, and some not; a Moth, said they, had no Blood at all, and a Lowse had, but like a Lobster, a little Vein along her back: Also Nits, Snails, and Maggots, as well as those that are generated out of Cheese and Fruits, as those that are produced out of Flesh, had no blood: But, replied the Empress, If those mentioned creatures have no blood, how is it possible they can live? for it is commonly said, That the life of an Animal consists in the blood, which is the seat of the Animal spirits. They answered, That blood was not a necessary propriety to the life of an Animal; and that that which was commonly called Animal spirits, was nothing else but corporeal motions proper to the nature and figure of an Animal. Then she asked both the Fish- and Worm-men, whether all those Creatures that have blood, had a circulation of blood in their veins and arteries? But they answered,