FOOTNOTES:

1It is in the last six Books of Pliny, and those only, we regret to say, that we are enabled to avail ourselves of the new readings of the Bamberg MS., which has been so admirably collated by M. Ian. In a vast number of passages previously looked upon as hopelessly corrupt, or else not at all suspected of being in a mutilated state, this MS. supplies words and clauses, the existence of which in the original was hitherto unknown; indeed by its aid the indefatigable Sillig has been enabled, if we may be allowed the term, almost torewritethe last six Books of Pliny. From a perusal of these new readings, as Dr. Smith has justly remarked, we have reason to infer “that the text of the earlier Books is still in a very defective state, and that much of the obscurity of Pliny may be traced to this cause.”

2The Echeneis remora of Linnæus. See B. ix. c. 41.

3He alludes to the “rostra,” or metal beaks, with which the prows of the ships of war were furnished.

4An absurd tradition, no doubt, invented, probably, to palliate the disgrace of his defeat.

5From the delay caused by the stoppage of the prætorian ship.

6Caligula.

7For Astura and Antium, see B. iii. c. 9.

8And well it might surprise him. If there was any foundation at all for the story, there can be little doubt that a trick was played for the purpose of imposing upon Caligula’s superstitious credulity, and that the rowers as well as the diving sailors were privy to it.

9“Limax.” A singular comparison, apparently.

10In B. ix. c. 41.

11See B. ix. c. 41, where he is speaking of a murex, a fish which bears no such affinity to the remora as to warrant our author’s expression, “Idem valere omnia ea genera.”

12Properly meaning “delay.” “Remora” is another reading, and perhaps a better one, as the word is found in Plautus.

13In B. ix. c. 41.

14Fromλύειν τὰς ὠδίνας, “to release from the pains of childbirth.”

15See B. ix. c. 67.

16Ajasson remarks that it was owing probably to this opinion that it was formerly the belief, that by holding the breath a person could render himself proof against the shock of the torpedo; a precaution recommended by Kæmpfer, in his “Amenitates Exoticæ,” p. 514. Ed. 1712.

17“Quâdam aurâ sui corporis adficiat membra” seems a preferable reading to “Quâdam aurâ corporis sui adficiat membra,” as given by the Bamberg MS., and adopted by Sillig.

18See B. ix. c. 72, and the Note.

19A fabulous story, Ajasson remarks, but one that was commonly believed in the 16th and 17th centuries. Gessner, however, a conscientious enquirer into the mysteries of Nature, asserts (de Aquatilibus, p. 563) that, to his own knowledge, the sight of this fish was productive of the symptoms here mentioned. Beckmann reckons the Aplysia depilans (with which the Sea-hare of the ancients is identified) in the number of the animal poisons, and remarks that (as we find stated by Cœlius Rhodiginus, B. xxvi. c. 30) the Emperor Titus was dispatched by the agency of this poison, administered to him by the direction of his brother Domitian.Hist. Inv.vol. I. p. 51.Bohn’s Ed.

20Athenæus says, B. viii., that the Scarus pursues it and devours it.

21“Quibus impactus est.” A curious expression; if indeed it is the correct reading.

22See B. ix. c. 72.

23Mituli. See B. ix. c. 74.

24“Cetos.”

25Ajasson remarks, in confutation of this story, that there are few rivers in Arabia of such a breadth.

26See B. xi. c. 34.

27Of this work, began by Ovid during his banishment in Pontus, and probably never completed, only a fragment of one hundred and thirty-two lines has come down to us. Pliny again makes reference to it, in the last Chapter of the presentBook.

28Or “Treatise on Fishes.”

29See B. ix. c. 69, and B. xi. c. 61.

30Quoted from the Halieuticon.

31The wolf fish. The Perca labrax of Linnæus. See B. ix. cc. 24, 28, 74, 79, and B. x. c. 89.

32From the Halieuticon of Ovid.

33See B. ix. cc. 14, 35, 39, 48, 74, 79, 81.

34From the Halieuticon.

35From the Halieuticon.

36See B. ix. cc. 21, 26, 67.

37From the Halieuticon.

38From the Halieuticon. See Note31above, if indeed the same fish is meant. See also B. xxxi. c. 44, and the Note.

39From the Halieuticon.

40See B. ix. c. 85.

41In B. ix. c. 39. Aristotle, however, as there stated, was not of the same opinion.

42See B. xx. c. 98.

43“Novacula piscis.” Pliny is the only ancient author that mentions this fish. There are numerous varieties of it, among which the best known are the Coryphæna novacula of Linnæus, the Rason of the Mediterranean, highly esteemed as an article of food, and the Coryphæna pentedactyle of Bloch, identical with theHemiptéronote à cinq taches, of Lacépède.

44An absurdity, owing, no doubt, to its name.

45Or “globe-fish.” The Mola, orbis marinus, or sun-fish of modern Natural History, theLune de mer, orpoisson-luneof the French. Though the skin is harsh and tough, there is no firmness in its flesh, which is of a gluey consistency.

46In reality ithasscales, but they are almost imperceptible, from their minuteness.

47Or rather, as Dalechamps observes, “all belly.”

48See B. ix. cc. 44, 45, and B. xviii. c. 87.

49See B. ix. cc. 1, 21 and c.53of the present Book. There are two varieties of it, the Xiphias gladius of Bloch and Lacépède, and the Xiphias machæra of Shaw.

50See B. v. c. 1.

51Martial, B. iv. Ep. 30, speaks of this being the case at the fishponds of Baiæ, where the Emperor’s fish were in the habit of making their appearance when called by name.

52A village of Caria, celebrated for its sanctuary of Zeus Stratios. Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xii. c. 30, says that there was a spring of clear water, within the sanctuary, which contained fish with golden necklaces and rings.

53“Inaures.” He probably means ornaments suspended from the gills, a thing which, in the case of eels, might be done.

54“Senum delubrum.” Ælian speaks of tame fish in the Old Men’s Harbour (λιμὴν) at Chios.

55In B. xxxi. c. 22.

56The seat of the worship of the half-fish goddess Addirga, Atergatis, Astarte, or Derceto. See B. v. c. 19. The original names of Hierapolis (the Holy City) were Bambyce and Mabog.

57See B. iii. c. 9.

58A Greek name signifying “black-tails.” See c.53of this Book. Holland translates it “the black-tailed ruffe” or “sea-bream.”

59See B. v. c. 38.

60See B. v. c. 31, and B. xxxi. c. 43.

61See B. iii. c. 14.

62See B. v. cc. 3, 4.

63See B. iii. cc. 16, 26.

64Ajasson thinks that this may possibly be true to some small extent.

65Identical with the fish called “orbis,” already mentioned in c.5of this Book. Ajasson remarks that though these fish have been known to weigh as much as three hundred pounds, there are many others which grow to a larger size, the sturgeon, and the silurus, for instance.

66Ajasson thinks that this notion may possibly have been derived from the name, which not improbably was given to it from the spongy and oleaginous nature of the flesh.

67See B. iii. c. 16.

68Owing, perhaps, to the moisture of the atmosphere.

69We learn from Festus, that he prohibited the use also of the scarus, a fishwithscales.

70“Ad pulvinaria.” Literally, “At the cushions;” in reference to the practice of placing the statues of the gods upon pillows at the Lectisternia, which were sacrifices in the nature of feasts, at which images of the gods were placed reclining on couches, with tables and food before them, as if they were really partaking of the things offered in sacrifice. Livy, B. v. c. 13. gives an account of a Lectisternium celebrated with great pomp, which he asserts to have been the first instance of the practice.

71In B. ix. c. 54.

72See B. iii. c. 11.

73Theophrastus reckons coral among the precious stones, and the Pseudo-Orpheus among the minerals. Pliny would seem to be at a loss whether to consider it as an animal or a vegetable. In reality it is the production of marine organized bodies of an arborescent habit, known as Corallina, with jointed stems, supported on a kind of root divided into branches, which are likewise jointed.

74Becauseκειρεῖται, it is “cut short” in the sea, a far-fetched derivation, apparently.

75Solinus informs us that Zoroaster attributed certain mysterious properties to coral.

76A practice still retained, though the original intention of it has been lost sight of. As to the form of the coral now used by infants, see Note 2171 to B. xxviii. c. 7.

77In reality, the Pastinaca or Sting-ray isnotvenomous; but the wounds inflicted by the sting in its tail are highly dangerous, from their tendency to gangrene.

78In B. ix. c. 72. As Ajasson remarks, it is quite possible that the sting of the Pastinaca might penetrate to the heart of a young tree, and so kill it; but that is no proof of its being poisonous. See also B. ix. cc. 40, 67.

79Or Mustela, the sea-weasel, mentioned in B. ix. c. 29, and in c.37of the present Book. See also Note 2407 to B. ix. c. 29. Ajasson is of opinion that under the names of “Galeos” and “Mustela,” the ancients confounded the Squalus galeus and the Squalus mustelus of Linnæus.

80See B. xix. c. 15, and B. xxii. c. 49.

81As water, and are consequently amphibious.

82The Castoreum of the ancients, the “castor” of our Materia Medica, isnotin reality produced from the testes of the beaver, as was supposed by the ancients, but from two oval pouches situate near the anus of the animal of either sex. There are four of these pouches in all, two containing a species of fat, and two larger ones including in their membranous cells a viscous fetid substance, which forms the castor of medicine. It is considered to be an antispasmodic.

83“Folliculos.” A very appropriate term, as Ajasson remarks.

84See B. xii. c. 49, and B. xxxiv. c.14.

85See B. xxv. c. 70.

86Castor is still given to females to inhale, when suffering from hysteria.

87See B. xx. c. 54.

88See B. xxiv. c. 38.

89See B. viii. c. 41, B. x. c. 95, and B. xi. cc. 24, 28.

90See B. xxix. c. 32.

91See B. viii. c. 35, and B. xvi. c. 80.

92See B. xx. c. 81; B. xxii. c. 13; B. xxiii. c. 23, and B. xxiv. c. 73.

93See B. xii. c. 57.

94Or Mistletoe; see B, xvi. c. 92.

95As to the identity of the “nitrum” of the ancients, see B. xxxi. c. 46 and the Notes.

96See B. xx. c. 76.

97Under the head of “testudines,” he includes the tortoises, terrapenes, and turtles, which form an order of reptiles, known in Natural History as Chelonia, and characterised by the body being enclosed between a double shield or shell, out of which protrude the head, tail, and four extremities.

98See B. ix. cc. 11, 12.

99Our tortoises so called.

100Our Chelonides, or turtles.

101The Emydes and Trionyches of Modern Natural History.

102Or turtle.

103See B. x. c. 86.

104To make it of a yellow or golden colour, Dalechamps says.

105Identified by Ajasson with the Emys lutaria of Modern Natural History.

106Our Houseleek. See B. xxv. c. 102.

107Because it is then powerless, and can make no effort to rise.

108An absurd story, founded, no doubt, on the extremely slow pace of the tortoise. Ajasson remarks that it is the fresh-water tortoise, more particularly, that is so slow in its movements.

109In B. xxi. c. 44.

110Or Gilt-head. “Aurata.” See B. ix. c. 25.

111In B. viii. c. 38. See also B. xxviii. c. 30.

112Among others, in B. vii. c. 13, and B. xxviii. c. 23.

113In B. xxviii. c. 23.

114As to this point, see c.12of this Book, and the Notes.

115He must mean the Sea-dragon, mentioned in B. ix. c. 43, and in c.53of the present Book; for he has already stated in B. xxix. c. 20, that the serpent called “draco” is destitute of venom. See also B. viii. cc. 13, 14, 22, 41, and B. x. cc. 5, 92, 95, 96.

116See B. viii. c. 41, B. x. c. 95, and B. xi. cc. 24, 28, 29.

117See B. ix. cc. 71, 86, and c.53of the present Book.

118See Note115above.

119Rondelet asserts, B. vi. c. 19, that he himself had cured the sting of the sea-dragon by an application of the liver of that fish.

120See B. xxix. c. 32.

121See B. viii. c. 35, B. xi. c. 43, and B. xvi. c. 80.

122See B. xxiii. c. 29.

123Nicander, in his Theriaca, classes the Elops among the innocuous serpents. In B. ix. c. 27, we are informed that one name given to the Acipenser was “Elops.” But see the remark made in c.54of this Book.

124See B. xxiii. c. 80.

125From c.53of the present Book, we learn that the Sarda was a kind of Pelamis, or young tunny, which was pickled, like our Anchovy.

126See Note115above.

127Tunny cut into slices, and pickled. See B. ix. c. 18.

128See B. ix. cc. 40, 67, 74, 83.

129See B. viii. c. 48, B. xi. cc. 19, 76, 116, B. xxv. c. 76.

130See B. x. c. 86.

131Under the name “magi,” he is probably speaking here, not of the ordinary magicians, but the Magi of the East, from whom Democritus largely borrowed.

132A piece of wit on the part of our author, in which he seldom indulges.

133See B. xi. c. 76.

134From “rubus,” a “bramble.”

135In B. viii. c. 48. It is not improbable that the “rubetæ” of the ancients were toads.

136Projections of the bones in which the eyes are set, as Dalechamps remarks.

137“Plenæ veneficiorum.” It was long a matter of doubt whether the toad is really poisonous, but it has been recently ascertained that the pustules on the skin contain a most active poison.

138“Solium” and “oleum” are the readings here, but we adopt the conjecture of M. Ian, and substitute “ollam.”

139“Averting dogs.”

140The Enhydris, probably. See B. xxx. c. 8.

141See B. xxvi. c. 33.

142“Cancri fluviatiles.” Our crawfish, the Potamobios of Leach.

143See B. xix. cc. 31, 36, 44, and B. xx. c. 48.

144It is difficult to say whether he means the shrew-mouse here, the bite of which was supposed to be poisonous, or the serpent called Scytale, mentioned by Lucan, B. ix. l. 717.

145See Note143above.

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