Chapter 393

2218Lisbon. See B. iv. c. 35.

2219One of the Scholiasts on Homer says, that before the discovery of the brazen trumpet by the Tyrrhenians, the conch-shell was in general use for that purpose. Hardouin, with considerable credulity, remarks here, that it is no fable, that the nereids and tritons had a human face; and says that no less than fifteen instances, ancient and modern, had been adduced, in proof that such was the fact. He says that this was the belief of Scaliger, and quotes the book of Aldrovandus on Monsters, p. 36. But, as Cuvier remarks, it is impossible to explain these stories of nereids and tritons, on any other grounds than the fraudulent pretences of those who have exhibited them, or asserted that they have seen them. “It was only last year,” he says, “that all London was resorting to see a wonderful sight in what is commonly called a mermaid. I myself had the opportunity of examining a very similar object: it was the body of a child, in the mouth of which they had introduced the jaws of a sparus [probably our “gilt-head],” while for the legs was substituted the body of a lizard. The body of the London mermaid,” he says, “was that of an ape, and a fish attached to it supplied the place of the hind legs.”

2220Primarily the nereids were sea-nymphs, the daughters of Nereus and Doris. Dalechamps informs us, that Alexander ab Alexandro states that he once saw a nereid that had been thrown ashore on the coasts of the Peloponnesus, that Trapezuntius saw one as it was swimming, and that Draconetus Bonifacius, the Neapolitan, saw a triton that had been preserved in honey, and which many had seen when taken alive on the coast of Epirus. We may here remark, that the triton is the same as our “mer-man,” and the nereid is our “mermaid.”

2221Of Gallia Lugdunensis, namely. The legatus was also called “rector,” and “proprætor.”

2222Or “mer-man,” as we call it. Dalechamps, in his note, with all the credulity of his time, states that a similar sea-man had been captured, it was said, in the preceding age in Norway, and that another had been seen in Poland, dressed like a bishop, in the year 1531. Juvenal, in his 14th Satire, makes mention of the “monsters of the ocean, and the youths of the sea.”

2223See B. iv. c. 31, 32.

2224See B. iv. c. 33.

2225Dalechamps says that this elephant is the same as the “rosmarus” of Olaus Magnus, B. xxxii. c. 11. It is remarked by Cuvier, that cetaceous animals have at all times received the names of those belonging to the land. The sea-ram, he thinks, may have been the great dolphin, which is called the “bootskopf,” and which has above the eye a white spot, curved in nearly a similar manner to the horn of a ram. The “elephant,” again, he suggests, may have been the Trichechus rosmarus of Linnæus, or the morse, which has large tusks projecting from its mouth, similar to those of the elephant. This animal, however, as he says, is confined to the northern seas, and does not appear ever to have come so far south as our coasts. Juba and Pausanias, however, speak of these horns of the sea-ram as being really teeth or tusks.

2226Judging from the account of it here given, and especially in relation to the teeth, Cuvier is inclined to think that the cachelot whale, the Physeter macrocephalus of Linnæus, is the animal here alluded to.

2227Solinus, generally a faithful mimic of Pliny, makes the measure only half a foot. Cuvier says that there can be little doubt that the bones represented to have been those of the monster to which Andromeda was exposed, were the bones, and more especially the lower jaws, of the whale. Ajasson certainly appears to have mistaken the sense of this passage. He says that it must not be supposed that Pliny means the identical bones of the animal which was about to devour Andromeda, but of one of the animals of that kind; and he exercises his wit at the expense of those who would construe the passage differently, in saying that these bones ought to have been sent to those who show in their collections such articles as the knife with which Cain slew Abel. Now, there can be no doubt that these bones werenotthose of the monster which the poets tell us was about to devour Andromeda; but the Romans certainly supposed that they were, and Pliny evidently thought so too, for in B. v. c. 14, he speaks of the chains by which she was fastened to the rock, at Joppa, as still to be seen there. M. Æmilius Scaurus, the younger, is here referred to.

2228As already mentioned, there is considerable doubt what fish of the whale species is meant under this name. Cuvier says, that even at the present day whales are occasionally found in the Mediterranean, and says that there is the head of one in the Museum of Natural History, that was thrown ashore at Martigues. He also observes, that in the year 1829, one had been cast upon the coasts of Languedoc. Ajasson suggests, that not improbably whales once frequented the Mediterranean in great numbers, but that as commerce increased, they gradually retreated to the open ocean.

2229Rondelet, B. xvi. c. 13, says that this animal was called “espaular” by the people of Saintonge. Cuvier is of opinion, also, that it is the same animal, which is also known by the name of “bootskopf,” the Delphinus orca of Linnæus. (See N.2225.) This cetaceous animal, he says, is a most dangerous enemy to the whale, which it boldly attacks, devouring its tongue, which is of a tender quality and enormous size. He thinks, however, that the orca taken at the port of Ostia was no other than a cachelot.

2230The Liburna, or Liburnica, was usually a bireme, or two-oared galley, with the mast in the middle, though sometimes of larger bulk. From the description given of these by Varro, as quoted by Aulus Gellius, B. xvii. c. 3, they seem, as it has been remarked, somewhat similar to the light Indian massooliah boats, which are used to cross the surf? in Madras roads. Pliny tells us, in B. xvi. c. 17, that the material of which they were constructed was pine timber, as free from resin as it could possibly be obtained. The beak of these vessels was of great comparative weight, and its sharpness is evidently alluded to in the present passage, as also in B. x. c. 32. The term “Liburna” was adopted from the assistance rendered to Augustus by the Liburni at the battle of Actium.

2231These works were completed by Nero the successor of Claudius, and consisted of a new and more capacious harbour on the right arm of the Tiber. It was afterwards enlarged and improved by Trajan. This harbour was simply called “Portus Romanus,” or “Portus Augusti;” and around it there sprang up a town known as “Portus,” the inhabitants of which were called “Portuenses.”

2232“Naufragiis tergorum.” This may probably mean a shipwreck, in which some hides had fallen into the sea.

2233It is remarked by Rezzonico, that Palermus, in the account of this story given by him in B. i. c. 1, has mistaken Pliny’s meaning, and evidently thinks that “unum” refers to the soldiers, and not the boats engaged in the attack.

2234“Ora.” Cuvier remarks, that it is not the “mouth of the animal but the nostrils, that are situate on the top of the head, and that through these it sends forth vast columns of water.” Aristotle, in his Hist. Anim. B. i. c. 3, has a similar passage, from which Pliny copied this assertion of his.

2235Cuvier remarks, that these are the animals of the cetaceous class, which resemble the quadrupeds in the formation of the viscera, their respiration, and the mammæ; and which, in fact, only differ from them in their general form, which more nearly resembles that of fishes.

2236Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 2.

2237“Doctrinæ indaginibus.” This certainly seems a better reading than “doctrina indignis,” which has been adopted by Sillig, and which would make complete nonsense of the passage.

2238Dalechamps states that Cælius Rhodiginus, B. iv. c. 15, has entered very fully into this subject.

2239Cuvier remarks, on this passage, that the mollusca have, instead of blood, a kind of azure or colourless liquid. He observes also, that insects respire by means of tracheæ, or elastic tubes, which penetrate into every part of the body; and that the gills of fish are as essentially an organ of respiration as the lungs. All, he says, that Pliny adds as to the introduction of air into water, is equally conformable to truth; and that it is by means of the air mingled with the water, or of the atmosphere which they inhale at the surface, that fishes respire.

2240In the shape of vapour raised by the action of the sun. In accordance with this opinion, Cicero says, De Nat. Deor. B. ii. s. 27, “The air arises from the respiration of the waters, and must be looked upon as a sort of vapour coming from them.”

2241But, as Hardouin remarks, this act on the part of the fish is caused as much by the water as the air.

2242As Hardouin remarks, this is a somewhat singular notion that sleep is produced by the action of the lungs.

2243Hardouin asks, what this has to do with the question about the air which Pliny is here discussing? and then suggests that his meaning may possibly be, that the moon has an influence on bodies through the medium of the air, in accordance with the notion of the ancients that the respiration was more free during the time of full moon. Littré says, that Pliny’s meaning is, that since the influence of the moon is able to penetrate the waters, the air and the vital breath can of course penetrate them also.

2244See B. x. c.89, where this subject is further discussed.

2245“Infectum aera.”

2246See Aristotle, De Part. Anim. B. iv. c. 13, and Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 2.

2247Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. i. c. 5.

2248Cuvier remarks, that these nostrils, or vent-holes, are placed somewhat further back on the head in the dolphin than in the whale; but at the same time they cannot be said to be situate on the back of the animal.

2249Or “seals.” They will be further mentioned in c. 15 of the present Book.

2250Or “turtles,” which are more fully described in c. 21 of this Book.

2251Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. i. c. 74.

2252Cuvier remarks, that in the present Chapter there is a confusion of the peculiarities of two different animals, and refers the reader to his Note on B. viii. c. 38, which, so far as it has not been set forth, is to the following effect:—“I may here remark, that Pliny speaks on several occasions of dolphins with spines or stings on the back, although at other times he is found to give that name to the same cetaceous animal which is so denominated by us. Thus, in his story in B. ix. c. 8, of the friendship conceived by a dolphin in Lake Lucrinus for a child at Baiæ, he takes care to remark that the dolphin, when taking the child on his back, concealed his spines beneath his dorsal fin. I am of opinion, however, that I have recognized the fish which Seneca, Pliny, and even Aristotle have sometimes confounded with the real dolphin, apparently because it had received that name from certain fishermen, and these are my reasons for forming this conclusion. In c. 7 of the Ninth Book, Pliny mingles with many facts that really do belong to the real dolphin, one trait which is quite foreign to it. ‘It is so swift,’ says he, ‘that were it not for the fact that its mouth is situate much beneath its muzzle, almost, indeed, in the middle of its belly, not a fish would be able to escape its pursuit: in consequence of this, it can only seize its prey by turning on its back.’ This, it must be observed, is not one of those mistakes which we are to put down to Pliny’s own account, and of which he has so many; for we find Aristotle as well, who has so perfectly known and described the ordinary dolphin, attributing a mouth similarly situate to the dolphin and the cartilaginous animals. This fact, which is totally false as regards the real dolphin, is, in all probability, applicable to the alleged dolphin, whose back is mentioned as being armed with spines. These three characteristics, a mouth situate very far beneath the nose, spines on the back, and power and swiftness sufficient to enable it to fight the crocodile, are only to be found united in certain of the genus ‘Squalus,’ such as the ‘Squalus centrina,’ and the ‘Squalus spinax’ of Linnæus.”

2253Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 5. From this description Hardouin is induced to think that Rondelet and Aldrovandus are wrong in their conclusions that it is the sea-hog, or porpoise, that is meant. Cuvier also says, that this description will not apply to the real dolphin, though it is strictly applicable to the Squalus acanthias, Squalus ricinus, and others; to the former of which also the spines or stings mentioned by Pliny appropriately belong; all the other characteristics, he says, which are here mentioned by Pliny, are applicable to the real dolphin, though in modern times it has never been brought to such a degree of tameness. Hence it is that some writers have supposed that Pliny is here speaking of the Trichechus manatus of Linnæus, by the French called “lamentin,” by us the “sea-cow.” Cuvier says, that he should be inclined to be of the same opinion, were it not for the fact that that animal does not frequent the coasts of the Mediterranean.

2254Copied literally from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 5, and De Part. Anim. B. iv. c. 13.

2255Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. ix. c. 74.

2256Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. ix. c. 48, says not thesails, but themastsof ships; and Pintianus remarks, that Pliny has been deceived by the resemblance of the words,ἱστὸςandἱστίον. Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xii. c. 12, has a similar statement also.

2257Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 9. Oppian, Halieut. B. i. l. 660.

2258Fishermen having notched the tail of the animal when young, and recognized it by these marks thirty years afterwards.

2259“Incertâ de causâ.” Pintianus, following the similar account given by Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. ix. c. 48, takes the words to mean “temere,” “hap-hazard,” “without any motive whatever.” Ajasson says that it is their eager pursuit of small fishes which sometimes betrays them into leaping on shore, and occasionally, the pain caused by attacks of parasitical sea-insects and other animals.

2260Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. iv. c. 49, says that the dolphin makes this noise when it comes to the air.

2261He would seem to imply that the dolphin knows that it is “simus,” or “flat-nosed,” for which reason it is particularly fond of being called “Simo,” or “flat-nose,” a piece of good taste and intelligence remarkable even in a dolphin. Hardouin undertakes to explain their remarkable liking for this name on other grounds, and says that when a song was sung, they were charmed by the pronunciation of the word “Simo” every now and then, the last syllable being drawn out at great length. Ajasson suggests that the only reason for which this name delighted them, was probably the sibilant or hissing sound made when it is frequently repeated.

2262“Symphoniæ cantu.” Hardouin is of opinion that this means the music of the “symphonia,” that being some kind of musical instrument. But, as Ajasson remarks, the meaning is much more likely to be, “singing in concert,” where there are several performers, and each takes his own part in the symphony. It might, however, possibly mean singing and music combined, similar to the performance of Arion, mentioned at the end of the Chapter.

2263The organ was so called by the ancients, from the resemblance borne by its pipes to “hydraula,” or water-pipes, and from the fact of the bellows being acted on by the pressure of water. According to an author quoted by Athenæus, B. iv. c. 75, the first organist was Ctesibius of Alexandria, who lived aboutB.C.200. It is not improbable that Pliny refers to this invention in B. vii. c. 38. The pipes of the organ of Ctesibius were partly of bronze and partly of reed, and Tertullian describes it as a very complicated instrument.

2264Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 15, tells this story as well, and Aulus Gellius, B. vii. c. 8, relates it from the fifth Book of the Ægyptiaca of Apion, who stated that he himself had witnessed the fact.

2265The Lucrine Lake originally communicated with the sea, but was afterwards separated from the Bay of Cumæ by a dyke eight stadia in length. In the time of Augustus, however, Agrippa opened a communication between the Lake and the Bay, for the purpose of forming the Julian harbour. If the circumstance here mentioned by Pliny happened before this period, “invectus” must mean “carried by human agency;” but if after, it is possible that the fish may have been carried into the lake by the tide. For an account of the lake, see B. iii. c. 9.

2266See B. iii. c. 9.

2267“Pinnarum aculeas.” See the remarks of Cuvier on this passage, and his conclusion as to the fish meant, in his Note in p. 369.

2268Oppian, in his Halieutica, B. v. l. 453, mentions this story also, and of course Solinus does.

2269See B. v. c. 3.

2270The island and city of Caria. See B. v. c. 29.

2271Being alarmed by the pursuit of the fish while he was swimming.

2272Athenæus, B. xiii., tells this story more at large, and states that the name of the child was Dionysius. Hardouin remarks, that Solinus, the ape of Pliny, has absolutely read this passage as though the child’s name had been Babylon; upon the strength of which, Saumaise had proposed to alter the reading in Pliny, not remembering at the time that the boy’s name had been given by Athenæus.

2273This story is also told by Plutarch, in his work on the Instincts of Animals.

2274Aulus Gellius, B. vii. c. 8, mentions this story, borrowing it probably from Theophrastus.

2275The people of the territory in which Amphilochian Argos was situate, and lying to the south of Ambracia. See B. iv. c. 2.

2276The people of Tarentum. See B. iii. c. 16.

2277Ovid tells the story of Arion more fully, and in beautiful language, in the Fasti, B. ii. l. 92,et seq.

2278A promontory in the south of Laconia, now Cape Matapan. See B. iv. c. 7. Solinus, c. 7, tells us that there was a temple of Arion of Methymna, situate on this spot, in which there was a figure of him seated on a dolphin’s back, and made of bronze; with an inscription stating that this wonderful circumstance took place in the 29th Olympiad, in which year Arion had been victorious in the Sicilian games. Philostorgius, in B. i. of his Ecclesiastical History, tells us also of a martyr who was saved by a dolphin, which bore him to Helenopolis, a city of Nicomedia.

2279Now Nismes. See B. iii. c. 5.

2280Still known as the Lake of Lattes, in the department of Narbonne. Cuvier says that the mullet-fishing is still carried on in this lake, which is on the shores of Languedoc, and refers to D’Astruc’s Memoirs on the Natural History of that province. The dolphins, however, he says, no longer take part in the sport; and he observes that the same story is told by Ælian, B. ii. c. 8, and Albertus Magnus, De Anim. B. xxiv., with reference to other places. Oppian, in his Halieutica, B. v., makes Eubœa the scene of these adventures, while Albertus Magnus speaks of the shores of Italy. Rondelet, in his Book on Fishes, says that it used to take place on the coasts of Spain, near Palamos. Cuvier suggests, with Belon and D’Astruc, that the story arose from the fact that the dolphins, while pursuing the shoals of mullets, sometimes drove them into the creeks and salt-water lakes on the coast; a fact which has been sometimes found to cause the fish to be caught in greater abundance.

2281Dalechamps tells us that the people of Montpellier call this outlet “La Crau,” and that it is in the vicinity of Mangueil.

2282Were it not for the word “nihilominus” here, it would look as if the meaning were, that although the ends of the nets are hoisted up, the fish are so active that they jump over the side, and thus get enclosed. By the use of that word, however, it would seem to mean, that although the sides are hoisted up, the fish are so nimble, that they clear the nets altogether. If the latter is the meaning, Pliny probably intends to speak only of what some of them are able to do: otherwise it is hard to see of what utility the nets were in the operation.

2283“Quos interemere.” Pintianus suggests “æquo interim jure”—“with equal rights,” instead of these words, and Pelicier does not disapprove of the suggestion; for Ælian states, in B. ii. c. 8, Hist. Anim., that the dolphins used to share the fish equally with the fishermen of Eubœa. But, as Hardouin says, the words “quos interemere” have reference to the statement above, that “they content themselves for the present with killing them only.” And besides, if the fishermen gave them an equal share, it is not likely that they would give them still more of the fish on the following day.

2284Ælian also mentions this, Hist. Anim. B. ii. c. 8.

2285The same is stated in Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. ix. c. 74, and Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 6.

2286This is also mentioned by Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. ix. c. 74.

2287Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xii. c. 6.

2288Cuvier remarks, that there is some confusion here between an animal of the dolphin kind, and another of the genus Squalus. He suggests that the Delphinus tursio of Linnæus (our porpoise) is meant; but then there would be no ground for comparing its teeth with those of the dog-fish or shark. He remarks also, that Athenæus, B. vii. p. 310, speaks of pieces of salted flesh from the dog-fish, as being called by the name of tursio.

2289Under this name he probably means the shark as well as the dog-fish. This passage is curiously rendered by Holland. “But especially they are snouted like dogges, when they snarle, grin, and are readie to do a shrewd turne.”

2290We may here remark, that Pliny throughout calls these animals “testudines,”—“tortoises.” It has been thought better, in the translation, in order to avoid confusion, to give them their distinctive name of “turtle.”

2291This passage, down to the words “to the fishermen,” is found in Agatharchides, as quoted by Photius.

2292See B. xxxii. c. 4.

2293Cuvier says that this is evidently a gross exaggeration on the part of some traveller; and Ajasson remarks, that the very largest turtle known does not exceed five feet in length, and four in breadth. In such a case, the superficies of the calapash or shell would be only from twenty to twenty-four feet, and this, be it remembered, in one of the very largest size.

2294Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 3, has a similar passage.

2295See B. v. c. 17.

2296Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 3, states to a similar effect.

2297Oppian, Halieut. B. i. l. 522, has a passage to a somewhat similar effect. Holland’s notion of the meaning of this passage is singular in the extreme. “The female fleeth from the male, and will not abide to engender, until such time as he pricke her behind, and sticke somewhat in her taile for running away from him so fast.”

2298Cuvier remarks, that it is evident that the fore-feet were here taken for horns, they being in the turtle long, narrow, and pointed.

2299From the Greekχέλυον, “tortoise-shell.” See B. vi. c.34.

2300Or “turtle eaters.” See B. vi. c.28.

2301Fromχερσιναὶ, “land turtles,” or “tortoises.”

2302“Repositorium” seems to have been the name for a large tray upon which viands were brought to table; and probably for stands similar to our sideboards, as well as cabinets or wardrobes. Carvilius Pollio, a Roman eques, lived in the time of the Dictator Sylla, and was celebrated for his luxury in ornamental furniture. He is again mentioned by Pliny in B. xxx. c. 51.

2303The Latin is “cortex,” which probably means a “bark,” or “rind.” Ajasson remarks upon the meagreness of the Latin language, in supplying appropriate words for scientific purposes, and congratulates himself upon adding the word, “carapax,” (signifying “callipash,” as we call it) to the Latin vocabulary.

2304By us known as the “angel-fish,” the “Squalus squatina” of Linnæus, a kind of shark. From this property of its skin, it was called by the Greeksῥίνηthe “file.” See B. xxxii. c. 53.

2305Probably the Muræna helena of Linnæus. See more on it in c.23of the present Book.

2306Spoken of more fully in c. 23 of this Book.

2307Cuvier remarks, how very inappropriately Pliny places the pristis (probably the saw-fish) and the balæna among the animals that are covered with hair. Aristotle, he says, in his Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 12, goes so far as to say that the pristis and the ox-fish (a kind of ray or thorn-back, probably) bring forth their young like the balæna and the dolphin, but does not go beyond that. Cuvier says also, that what is here stated of the sea-calf is in general correct, except the statements as to the properties of its skin and its right fin, the stories relative to which are, of course, neither more nor less than fabulous.

2308Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 11, states to the like effect.

2309“Fremitu.” From their lowing noise, the French have also called these animals “veaux de mer,” and we call them “sea-calves.” Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xii. c. 56, and Diodorus Siculus, B. iii., also speak of training the sea-calf. Hardouin says that Lopez de Gomara, one of the more recent writers on Mexico, in his day, had given an account of an Indian sea-calf, or manati, as it was called by the natives, that had become quite tame, and answered readily to its name; and that, although not very large, it was able to bear ten men on its back. He also tells us of a much more extraordinary one, which Aldrovandus says he himself had seen at Bologna, which would give a cheer (vocem ederet) for the Christian princes when asked, but would refuse to do so for the Turks; just, Hardouin says, as we see dogs bark, and monkeys grin and jump, at the mention of a particular name.

2310Oppian, Halieut. B. i. l. 408, mentions this fact, and Juvenal, Sat. iii. l. 238, alludes to it: “Would break the slumbers of Drusus and of sea-calves.”

2311This assertion, though untrue, no doubt, as to sympathy with the tides, is in some degree supported by the statement of Rondelet, B. xvi. c. 6, who says that he had often perceived changes in the wind and weather prognosticated by the hide of this animal; for that when a south wind was about to blow, the hair would stand erect, while when a north wind was on the point of arising, it would lie so flat that you would hardly know that there was any hair on the surface.

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