Chapter 398

2676Cuvier says that the buccini, properly so called, have at the bottom of the orifice of the shell an incision, which is the characteristic of the genus. Our whelks are the best known specimen of the buccinum that we have. They received their name, he says, from the buccinum, or buccina, the conch-shell, (with which Triton is commonly painted), and that in its turn was so called from its resemblance to a buccina, trumpet or herdsman’s horn.

2677It is not the tongue, Cuvier says, that occupies this passage, but a prolongation of the skin or coat that envelopes the animal, and its office is to conduct to the branchiæ the water necessary for the purposes of respiration.

2678This description, Cuvier says, is applicable to the Murex brandaris, the Murex tribulus of Linnæus, and other species that denote their growth by the increase of the spirals furnished with spines.

2679Or “deep sea” purples. Dalechamps remarks, that Pliny here unwittingly gives to the purples in general, a name which only belonged to one species; there being some that only frequent the shore, and are not found out at sea.

2680“Lutensis.”

2681“Algensis.”

2682“Tæniensis.”

2683“Calculensis.”

2684From the Greekδιαλυτὸς, “free,” or “roving;” in consequence of its peculiar mode of life.

2685Nassis. See Note2547in p. 421.

2686“Quum cerificavere.” Cuvier remarks that Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 14, says, that these shell-fish make “waxen combs,” meaning thereby collections of cells, similar to those formed by the bee; and it is to this notion that Pliny refers in the use of the word “cerificavere.” It is the fact, Cuvier says, that the univalve sea shell-fish, and more particularly the buccini and the murices, envelope their eggs with glutinous vesicles of varied forms, according to the respective species; which, when massed together, may be not inappropriately termed “combs.”

2687In c. 60. As Cuvier remarks, with considerable justice, this description by Pliny of the process of dyeing in purple, is very difficult to explain, seeing that the art is now entirely lost. Reaumur, he says, made some attempts at dyeing with a small buccinum found off the French coasts, the Buccinum lapillus of Linnæus; but without any result.

2688About twenty ounces.

2689Because iron or brazen vessels might impart a tinge to the colour. The same would probably be the case if the word “plumbo” were to be considered as signifying “lead.” As, however, Pliny uses this word in the signification of “tin,” it is most probable that that is his meaning. Littré, however, translates the word “plombe,” “lead.”

2690Hardouin says, that the weight of the contents of the amphora would be about eighty pounds: it would therefore take eight thousand pounds of material to make five hundred pounds of dye. The passage, however, which runs as follows, “Fervere in plumbo, singulasque amphoras centenas ad quingentenas medicaminis libras æquari,” may be rendered, “It is then set to boil in vessels of tin, and every hundred amphoræ of water ought to be proportioned to five hundred pounds of the material;” indeed, this is probably the correct translation, though Littré, who is generally very exact, adopts that given in the text.

2691“Alligatur:” which word may also mean, that mixed with the buccinum, it will hold fast, and not speedily fade or wash out.

2692So called from the gem of that name; see B. xxxvii. c. 40.

2693Aἵματι πορφυρέῳ. Il. Ρ. l. 360, for instance.

2694The “trabea” was similar in cut to the toga, but was ornamented with purple horizontal stripes. Servius mentions three kinds of trabea; one wholly of purple, which was sacred to the gods, another of purple and white, and another of purple and saffron, which belonged to the augurs. The purple and white trabea was the royal robe, worn by the early kings, and the introduction of which was assigned to Romulus. The trabea was worn by the consuls in public solemnities, such as opening the temple of Janus. The equites also wore it on particular occasions; and it is sometimes spoken of as the badge of the equestrian order.

2695The latus clavus, or laticlave, was originally worn on the tunic, and was a distinctive badge of the senatorian order. It consisted of a single broad band of purple colour, extending perpendicularly from the neck down the centre of the tunic. The right of wearing the laticlave was given to children of the equestrian order, at least, as we learn from Ovid, in the reign of Augustus.

2696Hardouin says, that in his time there were still to be seen the remains of the ancient dyeing houses at Tarentum, the modern Otranto, and that vast heaps of the shells of the murex had been discovered there.

2697Cloths doubly dyed, or twice dipped: from the Greekδὶς, twice, andβάπτω, to dip.

2698“Triclinaria.” This word probably signified not only the hangings of the table couches, but the coverings, and the coverlets which were spread over the guests while at the meal.

2699“Pro indiviso.”

2700“Dimidia et medicamina adduntur.” This, no doubt, is the sense of the passage, as it is evident that only a thinner dye was required for tint, though at first sight it would appear as though one-half more were required for the same quantity of wool. The quantity therefore would be 155½ pounds of dye to fifty pounds of wool.

2701“Tantoque dilutior, quanto magis vellera esuriunt.” This seems to be the meaning of the passage: some commentators would read “dilucidior” for “dilutior,” and it would appear to be preferable.

2702There can be little doubt that Salmasius is right in his conjecture that the reading here should be “quingentos,” “five hundred,” instead of “quinquagenos,” “fifty:” as it is evident from what Pliny has said in previous Chapters, that the juices of the pelagia were considerably more valuable than those of the buccinum.

2703He states this by way of warning to those who are in the habit of paying enormous prices for dyes, such as one hundred denarii for a pound, as mentioned in the last Chapter.

2704This is mentioned more fully in B. xvi. c. 84.

2705See B. xxxiii. c. 23. Electrum was an artificial metal, resembling amber in colour, and consisting of gold alloyed with one-fifth part of silver.

2706See B. xxxiv. c. 3. It was a mixture of gold, silver, and copper.

2707Described at the end of c. 62.

2708“Nomen improbum.”

2709From the Greekὕσγινος, after the herb hysge, which was used in dyeing. Judging from the present passage, it would almost appear to have been the colour now known as puce. See B. xxi. c. 36 and c. 97; and B. xxxv. c. 26.

2710See B. xvi. c. 8, and B. xxiv. c. 4.

2711See B. iv. c. 35.

2712This is in reality the Coccus ilicis of Linnæus, a small insect of the genus Coccus, the female of which, when impregnated, fastens itself to a tree from which they derive nourishment, and assumes the appearance of a small grain: on which account they were long taken for the seeds of the tree, and were hence called grains of kermes. They are used as a red and scarlet dye, but are very inferior to cochineal, which has almost entirely superseded the use of the kermes. The colour is of a deep red, and will stand better than that of cochineal, and is less liable to stain.

2713Or pina. The Pinna marina, Cuvier says, is a large bivalve shell-fish, which is remarkable for its fine silky hair, by means of which it fastens itself to the bottom of the sea.

2714The poet Oppian, Halieut. B. ii. l. 186, relates the same story about the pinna and its protector; which is also mentioned by Cicero, Plutarch, and Aristotle.

2715We have already had an account of one pinnotheres, in c. 51. Some of the editions, however, make a difference in the spelling of the name, and call the animal mentioned in the 51st Chapter, “pinnotheres,” and the one here spoken of, the “pinnoteres,” the “guardian of the pinna;” from the Greek verbτηρέω, “to keep,” or “guard.” “Pinnophylax” has the same meaning.

2716Cuvier says, that in the shell of the pinna, as, in fact, of all the bivalves, there are often found little crabs, which are, as it were, imprisoned there; and that it is this fact that has given rise to the story of the treaty of amity between these two animals, which appears in various authors, and is related in various forms, which only agree in being devoid of truth. Cuvier says that a careful distinction must be made between the pinnotheres of this Chapter, the one of which Aristotle makes mention, and that which is mentioned by Pliny in c. 51, the hermit-crab of the moderns. There can, however, be but little doubt that they are different accounts of the same animal.

2717The whole, nearly, of this Chapter is taken from Aristotle, B. v. c. 16.

2718Plutarch speaks of this fish, in his “Treatise on the Instincts of Animals;” also Oppian, Halieut. B. ii. l. 62. The Raia torpedo of Linnæus, Cuvier says, has on each side of the body a galvanic organ, which produces an electric shock, similar to that communicated by the use of the Leyden vial. By this means it baffles its enemies, and drives them away; or else, having stupefied them, devours them at its leisure.

2719Cuvier confirms this statement. The liver of the torpedo, he says, is very delicate eating, as, indeed, is that part in most of the ray genus.

2720Oppian, Halieut. B. ii. l. 86; Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. ix. c. 24; and Cicero, De Nat. Deor. make mention of this.

2721The Lophius piscatorius of Linnæus, the baudroie of the French. This is a fish, Cuvier says, with a large wide mouth, and having upon the top of the head moveable filaments, surmounted by a sort of membranous lashes. It seems that it is the fact that it buries itself in the sand, and then employs the artifice here mentioned by Pliny, for the purpose of attracting the fish that serve as its food.

2722Or turbot. This fish, the Pleuronectes maximus of Linnæus, and the Squalus squatina of Linnæus, presents no sufficiently distinct filaments at the extremity of the fins to justify what Pliny says. But the word “rhombus,” Cuvier says, which ordinarily means the common turbot, here means the psetta of the Greeks, the Pleuronectes rhombus of Linnæus, which has the anterior radii of the dorsal fin separated, and forming small filaments. For an account of the psetta, see c. 24, p.396.

2723The sting-ray, the Raia pastinaca of Linnæus. This fish, Cuvier says, has upon the tail a pointed spine, compressed and notched like a saw, which forms a most dangerous weapon. It is again mentioned in c. 72 of the present Book, under its Greek name of “trigon.”

2724Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. ii. c. 17, and B. ix. c. 51; Oppian, Halieut. B. ii. l. 424; and Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. vii. c. 35, make a similar statement as to the scolopendra.

2725The animal, Cuvier says, which is here mentioned as the scolopendra, is in reality of the class of worms that have red blood, or annelides, such, for instance, as the Nereides of larger size. These having on the sides tentacles, which bear a strong resemblance to feet, and sharp jaws, might, he says, be very easily taken for scolopendræ. They have also a fleshy trunk, often very voluminous, and so flexible that it can be extended or withdrawn, according to the necessities of the animal. It is this trunk, Cuvier thinks, that gave occasion to the story that it could disgorge its entrails, and then swallow them again.

2726This fish, Cuvier says, was doubtless a species of squalus; which have the power, in consequence of the sharpness of their saw-like teeth, of cutting a line with the greatest ease. It is mentioned by Aristotle, B. ix. c. 52; Ælian, Var. Hist. B. i. c. 43; and Oppian, Halieut. B. iii. l. 144.

2727The fish that has been previously mentioned in c. 17 of this Book, under the name of silurus.

2728“Aries.” The Delphinus orca of Linnæus. See c.4of the present Book.

2729The zoöphytes, or the zoödendra.

2730The wandering urticæ, or sea-nettles, are the Medusæ of Linnæus, the stationary nettle is the Actinia of the same naturalist.

2731“Carnosæ frondis his natura.”

2732Many species of the medusæ, Cuvier says, and other animals of the same class, the physalus more especially, cause an itching sensation in the skin when they are touched. This is noticed also by Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. vii. c. 35; and by Diphilus of Siphnos, in Athenæus, B. iii.

2733This is true, Cuvier says, and more especially with reference to the actiniæ. They have the mouth provided with numerous fleshy tentacles, by means of which they can seize very small animals which come within their reach, which they instantly swallow.

2734Cuvier says, that this is the case more especially with the medusæ and the physali.

2735“Ora ei in radice.” Aristotle, however, says, Hist. Anim. B. iv. c. 5, and B. viii. c. 3, that the sea-nettle has the mouth situateἐν μέσῳ, “in the middle of the body.” Hardouin attempts to explain the passage on the ground that Pliny has made a mistake, in an endeavour to suit his similitude of a tree to the language of Aristotle. Cuvier says, that there exists one genus or species of the medusæ, which appears to feed itself by the aid of an apparatus of branches, and is divided into such a multitude of filaments, almost innumerable, that it bears a strong resemblance to the roots of a tree or vegetable. It is this kind, he says, that he has called by the name of “Rhizostomos.”

2736Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 3, says the same; though, on the other hand, in the Fourth Book, he says that the animal has no excrements, although it has a mouth, and feeds.

2737Cuvier remarks, that there are a great many more than three kinds of sponges, but that Pliny here is only enumerating those which were employed for domestic use.

2738In the singular, “tragus,” from the Greekτραγὸς, a goat, on account of their strong smell, which they contract from the mud and slime in which they are found.

2739Probably from the Greekμάνος, “rare,” “in small quantities;” in allusion to the comparative rarity of this kind of sponge.

2740A term merely used, as Cælius Rhodiginus says, to denote the strength of its texture.

2741Cuvier says, that though sometimes shells and small animals are found lodged in the sponge, they do not afford it any nourishment. Having no mouth, it can only live and increase by the inhalation of substances dissolved in the water of the sea.

2742“Sensere.” Cuvier says, that many observers have stated that this is the only sign of animal life that the sponge affords; but that Grant assures us that it does not even afford that. The fact is, however, that “the sponge itself is a cellular, fibrous tissue, produced by small animals, almost imperceptible, called polypi, and living in the sea. This tissue is said to be covered in its native state with a sort of semifluid thin coat of animal jelly, susceptible of a slight contraction or trembling on being touched; which, in fact, is the only symptom of vitality displayed by the sponge. After death, this gelatinous substance disappears, and leaves only the skeleton or sponge, formed by the combination of a multitude of small capillary tubes, capable of receiving water in the interior, and of becoming thereby distended. Though different in their nature, sponges are analogous in their formation to coral. On being examined with a power of about 500 linear, the fleshy matter of the living sponge is to be distinctly observed, having in its interior gemmæ, which are considered to be the young. These are occasionally given off from the mass of living matter. The greater portion of the mass of sponge consists of small cylindrical threads or fibres, varying in size. The spiculæ are not found within these, but in the large and flattened fibres, and varying in number from one to three or more, imbedded in their substance.”From Brande’s Dictionary.

2743See B. iv. c. 17.

2744This, to the end of the Chapter, is almost verbatim from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. iv. c. 17.

2745See B. iv. cc. 8, 10.

2746Ἀπλυσίαι, fromἀ, “not,” andπλύνω, “to wash.” These aplysiæ or halcyones, Cuvier says, are a kind of sponge, of too thick and compact a nature to admit of their being washed. It is arbitrarily, he says, that Linnæus has applied this name to a species of the molluscæ, which is, in reality, the sea-hare of the ancients.

2747It is pretty clear that under the name of “canicula,” “dog-fish,” or “canis marinus,” “sea-dog,” Pliny includes the whole genus of sharks.

2748Rondelet and Dalechamps absolutely interpret this passage as though it were the dog-fish and flat-fish over whose eyes this cloud comes, and the latter proceeds to describe it as a malady which hinders the fish from taking its own part in the combat. Hardouin, however, detects this absurdity, and justly reprehends it; though it must be confessed that there is some obscurity in the passage, arising from the way in which it is worded.

2749Cuvier thinks it not improbable that it may have been some of the large rays that were seen by the divers, and more especially, the largest of them all, the Cephalopterus.

2750“Stilos.”

2751Cælius Rhodigonus, B. xxv. c. 16, states that the divers for sponges were in the habit of pouring forth oil at the bottom of the sea, for the purpose of increasing the light there; and Pliny states the same in B. ii. c. 106.

2752Cuvier says, that the name of “sacred fish” has been given to several fish of very different character; such as the anthias, or aulopias of Aristotle, B. ix. c. 37, the pompilus and the dolphin (Athenæus, B. vii.), because it was thought that their presence was a guarantee against the vicinity of dangerous fish. The authors, however, that were consulted by Pliny, seem to have given this name to the flat-fish, the Pleuronectes of Linnæus; and in fact, unprovided as they are with any means of defence, their presence is not unlikely to prove, in a very great degree, the absence of the voracious class of fishes.

2753It is singular that Pliny, after his numerous stories as to the sensitiveness of numerous bivalves, should make this statement in reference to the oyster; for, on the contrary, as Cuvier says, the oyster, in common with the other bivalves, is extremely sensitive to the touch.

2754Cuvier says, that the different zoöphytes, the sea-star, at least, are far from having the life of vegetables only; for that they are real animals, which have the sense of touch, a voluntary power of motion more or less complete, and seize and devour their prey. It is not, however, very well known, he says, what was the “holothurium” of the ancients. Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. i. c. 1, ranks it, as well as the oyster, among the animals which, without being attached to any object, have not the faculty of moving; and in his work, De Part. Anim. B. iv. c. 5, he adds, that the holothurium and the pulmo only differ from the sponge in being detached. Cuvier is of opinion, however, that they both belong to the halcyones, the round kinds of which easily detach themselves from the places upon which they have grown.

2755Pulmo, “the sea-lungs.”

2756Or, as we call it, the star-fish.

2757“Adeoque nihil non gignitur in mari.”

2758“Cauponarum.” “Caupona” had two significations; that of an inn where travellers obtained food and lodging, and that of a shop where wine and ready-dressed meat were sold. A lower kind of inn was the popina, which was principally frequented by the slaves and lower classes, and was mostly used as a brothel as well.

2759He alludes to various kinds of sea-animals, called sea-lice and sea-fleas. Cuvier says, that there are some crustacea which have been called sea-fleas and sea-lice, some of which kinds are parasites, and are attached to various fishes and cetacea. Thus, he says, a pycnogonum is commonly named “pediculus balænæ,” or the “whale-louse;” one of the calygæ is called the “fish-flea,” another the “mackerel-flea.” The name of sea-flea, he observes, has been given more especially to a very diminutive kind of shrimp, in consequence of its power of leaping from place to place.

2760Aristotle says, that the chalcis is greatly tormented by sea-fleas, which attach themselves to its gills. Cuvier remarks, that a great number of fish are subject to have the gills attacked by parasitical animals of the genus Lernæa or that of the monoculi of Linnæus, which have been divided into many classes since. They have nothing in common, he says, with the land-flea, except the name and the property of living at the expense of other animals.

2761The ancients, Cuvier says, speak of their chalcis as being of a similar nature to the thryssa and the sardine (Athenæus, B. vii.), gregarious fishes, which live both in the sea and in fresh water, and the flesh of which was salted. Hence he concludes that it was the same as the Clupea ficta of Lacepède, the “finte” of the French, and the agone of Lombardy, which unites all these characteristics, and is sometimes called the “sardine” of the Lago di Garda.

2762It is mentioned again in B. xxiii. c. 3. Cuvier says, that the sea-hare of the ancients is the mollusc to which Linnæus has injudiciously given the name of aplysia, which Pliny gives to certain of the sponge genus, and to which nomenclature of Linnæus the modern naturalists have assented. (See N.2746, p. 456.) Its tentacles and its muzzle, he says, resemble the muzzle and ears of the hare, closely enough to have caused this appellation. As its smell is disagreeable, and its figure repulsive, a multitude of marvellous, and indeed fatal qualities, he says, have been ascribed to this animal, which fishermen still speak of, but which, nevertheless, are not confirmed by actual experience. The only true fact that can be alleged against it is, that it secretes from an organ, situate in its body, a kind of acrid liquid. As to the Indian sea-hare, the body of which was covered with hair, Cuvier professes himself quite at a loss to know what it might be; but he thinks that this name must have been given to some tetrodon, which may have received the name from the cleft in the jaw and the skin, bristling with fine and minute spines. The sailors, he says, attribute to the tetrodon certain venomous properties.

2763Cuvier says, that there is reason to believe that this is the same as the vive of the French (probably our weever), the Trachinus draco of Linnæus. This creature, with the spiny projections of its first dorsal fin, is able to inflict wounds that are extremely difficult to cure; not because they are venomous in any degree, but because the extremities being very minute, sharp, and pointed, penetrate deep into the flesh. See c.43of this Book.

2764Or sting-ray, mentioned in c. 40 and c. 67 of this Book; so called from the Greekτρυγὼν. Cuvier says, that this sting, or spine, is sharp, like a saw; and that when it has penetrated the flesh, it cannot be got out without enlarging the wound. This it is, and not its fancied poisonous qualities, that renders its wound so dangerous; and as for its action upon trees and iron, they are entirely fabulous.

2765Νοσήματα λοιμώδη, as Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 25, calls them.

2766Cuvier says, that there are some maladies by which individuals are attacked; but that it is not uncommonly the case that certain species are attacked universally, as it were, by a sort of epidemic. There was an instance of this, he says, in the lake of the valley of Montmorency, where numbers of the fish were suddenly to be seen floating dead on the surface, the skin of which was covered with red spots, while at the same time their flesh had become disagreeable to the taste, and unwholesome.

2767Cuvier says, that this is not the case in general; but that some, more especially those which are viviparous, actually do couple; while, on the other hand, in most, the male does nothing else but besprinkle with the milt the eggs which the female has deposited, as is stated by Pliny a little further on.

2768These belong to the cetacea; which, as Cuvier says, are now universally placed among the mammifera, and not among the fishes. They couple, he says, in the same manner as quadrupeds do in general.

2769As Aristotle says, “from those that are left the fishes are produced.”

2770Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 12.

2771It has been calculated, Cuvier says, that a female cod, or sturgeon, produces in a year more than one hundred thousand eggs.

2772Cuvier says, that the eggs of the common fishes, of toads, frogs, &c., have no shells, but only a membranous tunic; and when they have been once fecundated, they imbibe the surrounding moisture, and increase till they produce the animal.

2773It is probable, Cuvier thinks, that this passage relates more especially to the ray genus, but that there is no very positive knowledge as to the mode in which they do couple. It is probable, he suggests, that they may do it in the manner above mentioned, by the attrition of the belly. As to the turtle genus, he says, it is certain that the male mounts the back of the female; and in some species the sternum of the male is concave, the better to adapt itself to the convex callipash of the female.

2774More properly, the physeter, passage, or orifice.

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