 Book 5, Chapter 1 of The Boys and Girls Pliny, Volume 3. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by phone. The Boys and Girls Pliny, Volume 3 by Pliny the Elder. Book 5, Domestic Animals, Chapter 1. The Dog, Examples of its Attachment to its Master. Among the animals that are domesticated with mankind have occurred many circumstances that deserve to be known. Among these animals are more particularly those faithful friends of man, the dog and the horse. We have an account of a dog that fought against a band of robbers in defending its master. And although it was pierced with wounds, still it would not leave the body from which it drove away all birds and beasts. Another dog, in a pierce, recognized the murderer of its master in the midst of an assemblage of people, and by biting and barking at him, extorted from him a confession of his crime. A king of the Garamantes was brought back from exile by two hundred dogs who maintained the combat against all his opponents. The people of Colophon and Castaballa kept troops of dogs for the purposes of war, and these used to fight in the front rank and never retreat. They were the most faithful of auxiliaries, and yet required no pay. After the defeat of December, their dogs defended their movable houses, which were carried upon wagons. When Jason, the Lycian, had been slain, his dog refused to take food, and died of famine. When the funeral pile of King Lysimacus was lightened, his dog, to which Darius gives the name of Hercanus, threw itself into the flames, and the dog of King Hiro did the same. Philistus gives a similar account of Pyrrhus, the dog of the Tyrant Galon. Among ourselves, Volcaeus, a man of rank, who instructed Cascaleus in the civil law, as he was riding on his Asturian genet towards evening from his country house, was attacked by a robber, and was only saved by his dog. The senator Caleus, too, while lying sick at Placentia, was surprised by armed men, but received not a wound from them until they had first killed his dog. But a more extraordinary fact than all took place in our own times, and this testified to by the public register of the Roman people. In the consulship of Junius Ancilius, when Titchius Sabinus was put to death together with his slaves for the affair of Nero, the son of Germanicus, it was found impossible to drive away a dog which belonged to one of them from the prison, nor could it be forced away from the body, which had been cast down the gematorian steps. But there it stood, howling, in the presence of vast multitudes of people, and when someone threw a piece of bread to it, the animal carried it to the mouth of its master. Afterwards, when the body was thrown into the tiber, the dog swam into the river, and endeavored to raise it out of the water, quite as strong of people gathered to witness this instance of an animal's fidelity. Dogs are the only animals that are sure to know their masters, and if they suddenly meet him as a stranger they will instantly recognise him. They are the only animals that will answer to their names and recognise the voices of the family. They recollect a road along which they have passed, however long it may be. Next to man there is no living creature whose memory is so retentive. By sitting down on the ground we may arrest their most impetuous attack, even when prompted by the most violent rage. In daily life we have discovered many other valuable qualities in this animal, but its intelligence and sagacity are more especially shown in the chase. It discovers and traces out the tracks of the animal, leading by the leash the sportsman who accompanies it straight up to the prey, and as soon as it has perceived it, how silent it is, and how secret but significant is the indication which it gives, first by the tail, and afterwards by the nose. Oftentimes, even when worn out with old age, blind and feeble, they are carried by the huntsman in his arms, being still able to point out the coverts where the game is concealed, by snuffing with their muzzles at the wind. Among the goals, their packs of hounds have each of them one dog who acts as the guide and leader. This dog they follow in the chase, and him they carefully obey. For these animals have even a notion of subordination among themselves. It is asserted that the dogs keep running when they drink at the Nile, for fear of becoming a prey to the veracity of the crocodile. When Alexander the Great was on his Indian expedition, he was presented by the King of Albania with a dog of unusual size. Being greatly delighted with its noble appearance, he ordered bears, and after them wild boars, and then dare to be let loose before it, but the dog lay down and regarded them with contempt. The noble spirit of the general became irritated by the sluggishness thus manifested by an animal of such vast bulk, and he ordered it to be killed. The report of this reached the King, who accordingly sent another dog, and at the same time sent word that its powers were to be tried, not upon small animals, but upon the lion or the elephant, adding that he had had originally but two, and that if this one were put to death, the race would be extinct. Alexander, without delay, procured a lion, which in his presence was instantly torn to pieces. He then ordered an elephant to be brought, and never was he more delighted with any spectacle. For the dog, bristling up its hair all over the body, began by thundering forth a loud barking, and then attacked the animal, leaping at it first on one side, and then on the other, attacking it in the most skillful manner, and then again retreating at the opportune moment, until at last the elephant, being rendered quite giddy by turning round and round, fell to the earth, and made it quite re-echo with his full. End of Book Five, Chapter One. Book Five, Chapter Two, of the Boys and Girls Pliny by Pliny the Elder. This Liverpoolx recording is in the public domain. Recording by phone. The Horse. King Alexander had a very remarkable horse, which was called Buccephalus, either on account of the fierceness of its aspect, or because it had the figure of a bull's head marked on its shoulder. It is said that he was struck with its beauty when it was only a boy, and that it was purchased from the stud of Philonicus, the Pharsalian, for thirteen talents. When it was equipped with the royal trappings, it would suffer no one except Alexander to mount it, although at other times it would allow anyone to do so. A memorable circumstance connected with it in battle is recorded of this horse. It is said that when it was wounded in the attack upon Thebes it would not allow Alexander to mount any other horse. Many other circumstances of a similar nature occurred respecting it, so that when it died the king duly performed its obsequious and built around its tomb a city which he named after it. Caesar the Dictator, it is said, had a horse which would allow no one to mount him but himself, and its four feet were like those of a man. Footnote. This account is given by Suetonius, Life of Julius Caesar, chapter 61. Cuvier suggests that the hoofs may have been notched and that the sculptor probably exaggerated the peculiarity so as to produce the resemblance to a human foot, and the footnote. Indeed it is thus represented in the statue before the Temple of Venus. The late Emperor Augustus also erected a tomb to his horse, on which occasion Germanicus Caesar wrote a poem which still exists. There are at aggregantum many tombs of horses in the form of pyramids. The Scythian horsemen make loud boasts of the fame of their cavalry. On one occasion one of their chiefs was slain in single combat, and when the conqueror came to take the spoils of the enemy he was set upon by the horse of his opponent, and trampled on and bitten to death. Their docility too is so great that we find it stated that the whole of the cavalry of the Sibyroite army were accustomed to perform a kind of dance through the sound of musical instruments. These animals also foresee battles. They lament over their masters when they have lost them, and sometimes shed tears of regret for them. Footnote. We here find Pliny tripping, for he has previously said that man is the only animated being that sheds tears. In this book also he represents the lion as shedding tears. End the footnote. When King Nicomedes was slain, his horse put an end to its life by fasting. Philarcus relates that after Centuritas, the Galatian, had slain Antiochus in battle, he took possession of his horse and mounted it in triumph, upon which the animal, inflamed with indignation, became quite ungovernable and threw himself headlong down a precipice, so that they both perished together. Philistus relates that a horse of Dionysus once stuck fast in a morass, but as soon as he disengaged himself, he followed the steps of his master with a swarm of bees which had settled on his mane, and that it was in consequence of this portent that Dionysus gained possession of the kingdom. These animals possess an intelligence which exceeds all description. Those who have to use the javelin are well aware how the horse, by its exertions and the supple movements of its body, aids the rider in any difficulty he may have in throwing his weapon. They will even present to their master the weapons collected on the ground. The horses too that are yoked to the chariots in the circus beyond the doubt display remarkable proofs how sensible they are to encouragement and to glory. In the secular games which were celebrated in the circus under the emperor Claudius, when the charioteer Corax, who belonged to the white party, footnote, there were four parties or factions of the charioteers who were named from the color of their dress, and the footnote. Was thrown from his place at the starting post, his horses took the lead and kept it, opposing the other chariots, overturning them, and doing everything against the other competitors that could have been done, had to be guided by the most skillful charioteer. And while we quite blushed to behold the skill of man excelled by that of the horse, they arrived the winners at the goal, after going over the whole of the prescribed course. Our ancestors considered it as a still more remarkable portent that when a charioteer had been thrown from his place in the plebeian games of the circus, the horses ran to the capital, just as if he had been standing in the car, and went three times round the temple there. But the greatest prodigy of all is the fact that the horses of Ratumena came from Vey to Rome, with the palm branch and chaplet, he himself having fallen from his chariot after having gained the victory, from which circumstance the Ratumena gate derived its name. When the Sarmate are about to undertake a long journey, they prepare their horses for it by making them fast a day before, during which they give them but little to drink. By these means they are enabled to travel on horseback without stopping for one hundred and fifty miles. Some horses are known to live fifty years. The poet Virgil has very beautifully described the points which ought more especially to be looked for, as constituting the perfection of a horse. I myself have also treated of the same subject in my work on the use of the javelin by cavalry, and I find that pretty nearly all writers are agreed respecting them. The points requisite for the circus are somewhat different however, and while horses are put in training for other purposes at only two years old, they are not admitted to the contests of the circus before their fifth year. We have an account of a horse having lived to its seventy fifth year. If a foal has lost its mother, the other mares in the herd that have young will take charge of the orphan. The more spirited a horse is, the deeper does it plunge its nose into the water while drinking. Galicia and Asturia, countries of Spain, produce a species of horse which have a peculiar pace of their own, very easy for the rider, which arises from the two legs of the same side being moved together. By studying the nature of this step, our horses have been taught the movement, which we call ambling. Marcus Ferro informs us that Quintus Axius, the senator, paid for an ass the sum of four hundred thousand cesterces, or nearly sixteen thousand dollars. I am not sure whether this did not exceed the price ever given for any other animal. It is certainly a species of animal singularly useful for plowing and other farm labour. The attachment of asses to their young is great in the extreme, but their aversion to water is still greater. They will pass through fire to get at their foals, while the very same animal, if the smallest stream intervenes, will tremble and not dare so much as to wet even its feet. In their pastures they never drink at any but the usual watering place, and make it their care to find some dry path by which to get at it. They will not pass over a bridge either, when the water can be seen between the planks beneath. Wonderful to relate to, if their watering places are changed, though they should be ever so thirsty, they will not drink without being either beaten or caressed. They ought always to have plenty of room for sleeping, for they are subject to various disturbances in their sleep, when they repeatedly throw out their feet, and would immediately lame themselves by coming in contact with any hard substance, so that it is necessary that they should be provided with an empty space. Masenas was the first person who had the young of the ass served up at his table. Footnote. The famous Bologna sausages are made, it is said, of asses flesh, and the footnote. They were in those times much preferred to the onager or wild ass, but since his time, the taste has gone out of fashion. The best wild asses are those of Phrygia and Lecaonia. Africa glories in the wild foals which he produces, as excelling all others in the flavour of their flesh. It appears from some Athenian records that a mule once lived to the age of 80 years. The people were greatly delighted with this animal, because on one occasion, when on the building of a temple in the citadel, the Parthenon, it had been left behind on account of its age, it persisted in promoting the work by accompanying and assisting them, in consequence of which a decree was passed that the dealers in corn were not to drive it away from their sieves. End of Book 5, Chapter 2. Book 5, Chapter 3 of the Boys and Girls Pliny by Pliny the Elder. This Liberfox recording is in the public domain. The Ox. We find it stated that the oxen of India are of the height of camels and that the extremities of their horns are four feet apart. In our part of the world, the most valuable oxen are those of a Pyrrhus, owing, it is said, to the attention paid to their breed by King Pyrrhus. He brought them to a very large size and descendants of this breed are to be seen at the present day. The ox is the only animal that walks backwards while it is feeding. Among the Garamantes, they feed in no other manner. Footnote. This peculiarity in their mode of taking their food is mentioned by Herodotus, who ascribed it to the extraordinary length of the horns. End of Footnote. Cattle that are bred in the Alps, although very small of body, give a great quantity of milk and are capable of enduring much labour. They are yoked by the horns and not by the neck. The oxen of Syria have no do-lap but have a hump on the back. Those of Keria in Asia are unsightly in appearance, having a hump hanging over the shoulders from the neck, and their horns are movable. They are said, however, to be excellent workers, though those which are either black or white are condemned as worthless for labour. Oxen must be broken when they are three years old, after that it is too late and before too early. The ox is most easily broken by yoking it with a trained animal. The ox is our closest companion, both in labour generally and in the operations of agriculture. Our ancestors considered it of so much value that there is an instant sighted of a man being brought before the Roman people on a day appointed, and condemned for having killed an ox in order to humour the whim of his wife, who said that she had never tasted the tribe, and he was driven into exile, just as though he had killed one of his own peasants. The bull has a proud air, a stern forehead, shaggy ears, and horns which appear always ready and challenging to the combat, but it is by his forefeet that he manifests his threatening anger, as his rage increases he stands, lashing back his tail every now and then, and throwing up the sand against his belly, being the only animal that excites himself by these means. We have seen them fight at the word of command, and shown as a public spectacle. These bulls whirled about and then fell upon their horns, and at once were up again. Then at other times they would lie upon the ground and let themselves be lifted up. They would even stand in a two-horse chariot, while moving at a rapid rate, like so many charioteers. The people of Thessaly invented a method of killing bulls by means of a man on horseback who would ride up to them and seize one of the horns and so twist their neck. Caesar the dictator was the first person who exhibited this spectacle at Rome. Bulls are selected as the very choices of victims, and are offered up as the most approved sacrifice for appeasing the gods. Of all the animals that have long tails, this is the only one whose tail is not of proportionate length at birth, and in this animal alone it continues to grow until it reaches its heels. It is on this account that in making choice of a calf for a victim, due care is taken that its tail reaches to the posturing joint. If it is shorter than this, the sacrifice is not deemed acceptable to the gods. This fact has also been remarked that calves which have been carried to the altar on men's shoulders are not generally acceptable to the gods, and also if they are lame or of a species which is not appropriate or if they struggle to get away from the altar. It was not an uncommon prodigy among the ancients for an ox to speak. Upon such a fact being announced to the Senate, they were in the habit of holding a meeting in the open air. End of Book 5, Chapter 3. Book 5, Chapter 4 of the Boys and Girls Pliny by Pliny the Elder. This Liberfox recording is in the public domain, recording by phone. The Egyptian apes. In Egypt, an ox is even worshipped as a deity. They call it apes. It is distinguished by a conspicuous white spot on the right side in the form of a crescent. There is a knot also under the tongue which is called cantherus. This ox is not allowed to live beyond a certain number of years, but is then destroyed by being drowned in the fountain of the priests. They then go amid general mourning and seek another ox to replace it, and the mourning is continued with their heads shaved until such time as they have found one. It is not long, however, at any time before they meet with a successor. When one has been found, it is brought by the priests to Memphis. There are two temples appropriated to it, which are called Thalamai, and to these the people resort to learn the auguries. According as the ox enters the one or the other of these places, the augury is deemed favorable or unfavorable. It gives answers to individuals by taking food from the hand of those who consult it. It turned away from the hand of Germanicus Caesar, who died not long after. It commonly lives in secret, but when it comes forth in public, the multitudes make way for it, and it is attended by a crowd of boys singing hymns in honor of it. It appears to be sensible of the adoration thus paid to it, and to court it. These crowds too suddenly become inspired and predict future events. There was a spot in the Nile near Memphis which from its figure they call Fayela, the goblet. Here they throw into the water a dish of gold and another of silver every year upon the days on which they celebrate the birth of apes. These days are seven in number, and it is a remarkable thing that during this time no one is ever attacked by the crocodile. On the eighth day, however, after the sixth hour, these beasts resume all their former ferocity. End of Book 5, Chapter 4. Book 5, Chapter 5 of the Boys and Girls Pliny by Pliny the Elder. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by phone. Sheep and their wool Many thanks do we owe to the sheep, both for appeasing the gods and for giving us the use of its fleas. As oxen cultivate the fields which yield food for men, so to sheep are we indebted for the defense of our bodies. There are two principal kinds of sheep, the covered and the colonic or common sheep. The former is the more tender animal, but the latter is more nice about its pastures, for the covered sheep will feed even on brambles. The best coverings for sheep are brought from Arabia. The most esteemed wool of all is that of Apulia, and that which in Italy is called Grecian wool in other countries Italian. The fleeces of Miletus hold the third rank. The Apulian wool is shorter in the hair and owes its high character to the cloaks that are made of it. That which comes from the vicinity of Tarentum and Canusium is the most celebrated, and there is a wool from Laodicea in Asia of a similar quality. There is no white wool superior to that of the country's bordering on the paddows, nor up to the present day, nor up to the present day has any wool exceeded the price of 100 cisterces, or about four dollars per pound. The sheep are not shorn in all countries. In some places it is still the custom to pull off the wool. There are so many various colors of wool that we lack terms to express them all. Polencia, in the vicinity of the Alps, produces black fleeces of the best quality. Asia, the red fleeces. Those of Canusium are of a tawny color, and those of Tarentum have a peculiar dark tint. The wool of Istria is much more like hair than wool, and is not suitable for the fabrication of stuffs upon which a long nap is required. The thick, flocky wool has been esteemed for the manufacture of carpets from the very earliest times. It is quite clear from what we read in Homer that they were in use in his time. Some kinds of wool are compressed for making a felt, which, if soaked in vinegar, is capable of resisting iron even. Footnote. I have macerated unbleached flax in vinegar saturated with salt, and after compression have obtained a felt, with a power of resistance quite comparable with that of the famous armour of Conrad of Manfarad, for neither the point of a sword, nor even bowls discharged from firearms were able to penetrate it. Memoir on the substance called Pelina by Papadopoulos Fritos. End of footnote. And what is still more, after having gone through the last process, wool will even resist fire. The refuse too, when taken out of the fat of the scourer, is used for making mattresses, an invention I fancy of the Gauls. At all events it is by Gallic names that we distinguish the various sorts of mattresses at the present day, but I am not well able to say at what period wool began to be employed for this purpose. Our ancestors make use of straw for the purpose of sleeping upon, just as they do at present when in camp. The Gausapa, footnote. The Gausapa, or Gausapum, was a kind of thick cloth, very woolly on one side, and used especially for covering tables and beds, and making cloaks to keep out the wet and cold. The wealthier Romans had it made of the finest wool, and usually of a purple colour. It seems also to have been sometimes made of linen, but still with a rough surface. End of footnote. The Gausapa has been brought into use in my father's memory, and I myself recollect the Amphimala, footnote, from Amphimala, napped on both sides. They probably resemble our bases or druggits, or perhaps the modern blanket. End of footnote. And the long shaggy apron being introduced, but at present day the latter clave tunic is began to be manufactured in imitation of the Gausapa. Footnote. About the time of Augustus, the Romans began to exchange the toga, which had previously been their ordinary garment, for the more convenient placerna and penula, which were less encumbered with folds, and better adapted for the usual occupations of life. And the footnote. Black wool will take no colour. End of book five, chapter five. Book five, chapter six, of the Boys and Girls Pliny by Pliny the Elder. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Different kinds of cloths. Varro informs us, as an eyewitness, that in the temple of Sancas the wool was still preserved on the dysteth and spindle of Tanaquil, who was also called Caya Quicilia. Footnote. According to the commonly received account, Tanaquil was the wife of Tarquinius Prescus and a native of Etruria. When she removed to Rome, and her husband became king, her name was changed to Caya Quicilia. End of footnote. And he says that the royal waved, or watered toga, formerly worn by Servius Tullius, and now in the temple of Fortune, was made by her. Hence was derived the custom, on the marriage of a young woman, of carrying in the procession a dressed dysteth and spindle, with the thread arranged upon it. Tanaquil was the first who wove the straight tunic, such as our young people and newly married women wear with the white toga. Waved garments were at first the most esteemed of all, after which those composed of various colours came into vogue. Fenestella informs us that togas with a smooth surface, as well as the Frixian togas of crisp and crinkly wool, began to be used in the latter part of the reign of Augustus. To pretexta. Footnote. The pretexta is described by Vero as a white toga with a purple band or border. It was worn by boys until their 17th year, and by young women until their marriage. End of footnote. The pretexta had its origin among the Aturians. I find that the trabeia was first worn by the kings. Footnote. The trabeia differed from the pretexta in being ornamented with stripes, trabes of purple, whence its name. End of footnote. Embroidered garments are mentioned by Homer. Footnote. Helen is introduced, Iliad Book III, 1125, wearing an embroidered garment in which were figured the battles of the Greeks and Trojans. It was probably somewhat of the nature of modern tapestry. End of footnote. And in this class originated the triumphal robes. The Frixians first used the needle for this purpose, and hence this kind of garment obtained the name of Frixian. King Attilaus, who also lived in Asia, invented the art of embroidering with gold from which these garments have been called Attalic. Babylon was very famous for making embroidery in different colours, so that stuffs of this kind have obtained the name of Babylonian. The method of weaving cloth with more than two threads was invented at Alexandria, and in gold, cloths were first woven into checkered plans. Metellus Scipio, in the accusation which he brought against Cato, stated that even in his time Babylonian covers for couches were selling for 800,000 cesterces, and these of late, in the time of the Emperor Nero, and risen to four millions. Footnote. The first sum amounts to about $23,000, the latter to $115,000. End of footnote. The pretexte of Servius Tullius, with which the statue of Fortune, dedicated by him, was covered, lost it until the death of Sajanas, and it is a remarkable fact that during a period of 560 years they had never faded or received injury from moths. I myself have seen the fleece upon the living animal died in strips of three colors, purple, scarlet and violet, a pound and a half of dye being used for each, just as though they have been produced by nature in this form to meet the demands of luxury. In the sheep it is considered a proof of its being a very fair breed when the legs are short and the belly is covered with wool. When this part is bare they are looked upon as worthless. The tail of the Syrian sheep is a cubit in length and upon that part most of the wool is found. End of book 5 chapter 6. Book 5 chapter 7 of The Boys and Girls Pliny by Pliny the Elder. This Libervox recording is in the public domain. Recording by phone. Goats. Some of these animals have no horns, but where there are horns the age of the animal is denoted by the number of knots on them. In Cilicia and in the vicinity of the Certes the inhabitants shear the goat for the purpose of clothing themselves. It is said that the she-goats in the pastures will never look at each other at sunset but lie with their backs towards one another, while at other times of the day they lie facing each other and in family groups. They all have long hair hanging down from the chin. If any one of the flock is taken hold of and dragged by this hair all the rest gaze on in stupid astonishment. Mutianus relates an instance of the intelligence of this animal of which he himself was an eyewitness. Two goats coming from opposite directions met on a very narrow bridge which would not admit of either of them turning round and in consequence of its great length they could not safely go backwards there being no sure footing on account of its narrowness while at the same time an impetuous torrent was rapidly rushing beneath. Accordingly one of the animals lay down flat while the other walked over it. End of book five chapter seven. Book six chapter one of The Boys and Girls Pliny by Pliny the Elder. This liberalx recording is in a public domain recording by phone. Book six the natural history of fishes. Chapter one why the largest animals are found in the sea. We have now given an account of the animals which we call terrestrial and which live as it were in a sort of society with man. Among the remaining ones it is well known that the birds are the smallest. We shall therefore first describe those which inhabit the seas, rivers and standing waters. Among these there are many to be found that exceed in size any of the terrestrial animals. The evident cause of which is the superabundance of moisture with which they are supplied. Very different is the lot of the winged animals whose life is past soaring aloft in the air. But in the seas spread out as they are far and wide, forming an element at once so delicate and so vivifying. Many animals are to be found of monstrous form. Hence it is that the vulgar notion may very possibly be true that whatever is produced in any other department of nature is to be found in the sea as well. While at the same time many other productions are there to be found which nowhere else exist. That there are to be found in the sea deforms not only of terrestrial animals but of inanimate objects is easy to be understood by all who will take the trouble to examine the grapefish, the swordfish, the sawfish and the cucumber fish which last so strongly resembles the real cucumber both in colour and in smell. We shall find the less reason then to be surprised to find that in so small an object as a shellfish the head of the horse is to be seen protruding from the shell. But the largest and most numerous of all these animals are those found in the Indian seas, among which there are Baleenay, Fordugara in extent, and Depristi's, 200 cubits long. Here also are found crayfish, four cubits in length, and in the river Ganges there are to be seen eels 300 feet long. Footnote. These are all of course excessive exaggerations and a footnote. But at sea more especially about the time of the solstices these monsters are to be seen. For them in these regions the whirlwinds blow, the rains descend, the hurricane comes rushing down hurled from the mountain heights while the sea is stirred up from the very bottom and the monsters are driven from their depths and rolled upwards on the crest of the billow. Once upon a time the fleet of Alexander the Great met with such vast multitudes of tunnies that he was able to make head against them only by facing them in order of battle just as he would have done an enemy's fleet. Had the ships not done this but proceeded in a straggling manner they could not possibly have made their escape. No noises, no sounds, no blows had any effect on these fish. By nothing short of the clash of battle were they to be terrified and by nothing less than their utter destruction were they overpowered. There is a large peninsula in the Red Sea known by the name of Kadara. As it projects into the deep it forms a vast gulf which it took the fleet of King Ptolemy twelve whole days and nights to traverse by dint of rowing for not a breath of wind was to be perceived. In the recesses of this becalmed spot more particularly the sea monsters attain so vast a size that they are quite unable to move. The commanders of the fleets of Alexander the Great have related that the Gadrosi who dwell upon the banks of the river Erebus are in the habit of making the doors of their houses with the jaw bones of fish and raftering the roofs with their bones many of which were found as much as forty cubits in length. Footnote. Hardouin remarks that the basks of his day were in the habit of fencing their gardens with the ribs of the whale which sometimes exceeded twenty feet in length and Cuvier says that at the present time the jaw bone of the whale is used in Norway for the purpose of making beams or posts for buildings. End of footnote. At this place too the sea monsters just like so many cattle were in the habit of coming on shore and after feeding on the roots of shrubs they would return. Some of them which had the heads of horses, asses and bulls found a pasture in the crops of grain. The largest animals found in the Indian Sea are the Pistrix and the Bellina while of the Gallic Ocean the Phiceter or Blower is the most bulky inhabitant raising itself aloft like some vast column and as it towers above the sails of ships belching forth as it were a deluge of water. In the ocean of Gades there is a tree with outspread branches so vast that it is supposed that it is for that reason it has never yet entered the streets. There are fish also found there which are called sea wheels in consequence of their singular conformation. They are divided by four spokes the nave being guarded on every side by a couple of eyes. End of book six chapter one. Book six chapter two of the Boys and Girls Pliny by Pliny the Elder. This Libervox recording is in the public domain recording by phone. The forms of the Tritons and Narrates. A deputation of persons from Olysipo, Lisbon that had been sent for the purpose brought word to the Emperor Tiberius that a Triton had been both seen and heard in a certain cavern blowing a conch shell and of the form under which they are usually represented. Footnote. Hard to win with excessive credulity says that it is no fable that the Narrates and Tritons had a human face and says that no less than 15 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. But as Cuvier remarks it is impossible to explain these stories of Narrates and Tritons on any other grounds than the fraudulent pretenses 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 asperus or guilt-hent, 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. End the footnote. Nor is the figure generally attributed to the Narrates at all a fiction. Only in them the portion of the body that resembles the human figure is still rough all over with scales, for one of these creatures was seen upon the same shores, and as it died its plaintive murmurs were heard by the inhabitants at a distance. The Legatus of Gaul, too, wrote word to the late Emperor Augustus that a considerable number of Narrates had been found dead upon the seashore. I have, too, some distinguished informants of equestrian rank who state that they themselves once saw in the ocean of Gades a sea-man which bore in every part of his body a perfect resemblance to a human being, and that during the night he would climb up into ships upon which the side of the vessel where he seated himself would instantly sink downward, and if he remained there any considerable time even go underwater. In the rain of the Emperor Tiberius, a subsidence of the ocean left exposed on the shores of an island which faces the province of Lutinum as many as three hundred animals or more, all at once, quite marvellous for their very shapes and enormous size, and no less a number upon the shores of the Santonnes. Among the rest there were elephants and rams, which last, however, had only a white spot to represent horns. Tyranius had also left accounts of several Narrates, and he speaks of a monster that was thrown up on the shore at Gades, the distance between the two fins at the end of the tail of which was sixteen cubits, and its teeth one hundred and twenty in number, the largest being nine, and the smallest six inches in length. Marcus Scorus, in his Edile ship, exhibited at Rome, among other wonderful things, the bones of the monster to which Andromeda was said to have been exposed, and which he had brought from Joppa, a city of Judea. These bones exceeded forty feet in length, and the ribs were higher than those of the Indian elephant, while the backbone was a foot and a half in thickness. And of book six, chapter two. Book six, chapter three, of the Boys and Girls Pliny by Pliny the Elder. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by phone. The Balena and the Orca. The Balena penetrates even to our seas. It is said that they are not to be seen in the oceans of Gades before the winter solstice, and that at periodical seasons they retire and conceal themselves in some calm, capacious bay. This fact, however, is known to the Orca, an animal which is peculiarly hostile to the Balena, and a form of which cannot be in any way adequately described, but as an enormous mass of flesh armed with teeth. This animal attacks the Balena with its young in its places of retirement, and as they turn to defend themselves, it pierces them just as though they have been attacked by the beak of a Libernian galley. The Balena, the void of all flexibility, without energy to defend themselves, are well aware that their only resource is to take to flight in the open sea and to range over the whole face of the ocean, while the Orca, on the other hand, do all in their power to meet them in their flight, throw themselves in their way, and either kill them cooped up in a narrow passage, or else drive them on a shoal, or dash them to pieces against the rocks. When these battles are witnessed, it appears just as though the sea were infuriated against itself, not a breath of wind may be felt in the bay, and yet the waves by their pantings and their repeated blows will be heave the loft in a way which no whirlwind could affect. An Orca has been seen even in the port of Ostia, where it was attacked by the Emperor Claudius. While he was constructing the harbour there, an Orca came, attracted by some hides, brought from Gaul, which had happened to fall overboard there. Feeding upon these for several days it had quite gluttered itself, and hollowed out a channel in the shoal water. Here the sand was thrown up by the action of the wind to such an extent that the creature found it quite impossible to turn round, and while in the act of pursuing its prey it was propelled by the waves towards the shore, so that its back came to be perceived above the level of the water, very much resembling an appearance to keel of a vessel turned bottom upwards. Upon this Caesar ordered a great number of nets to be extended across the mouth of the harbour from shore to shore, while he himself went there with the Praetorian cohorts, affording a spectacle to the Roman people. For boats assailed the once while the soldiers on board showered lances upon it. I myself saw one of the boats sunk by the water, which the animal, as it respired, showered down upon it. End of Book Six, Chapter Three. Book Six, Chapter Four of the Boys and Girls Pliny by Pliny the Elder. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, recording by phone. Dolphins. The swiftest, not only of the sea animals, but of all animals whatever, is the dolphin. Footnote. In his description of the dolphin, Pliny has confused the peculiarities of the seal, the porpoise, the flying fish, and the squalas with those of the dolphin. End the footnote. He is more rapid in his movement than a bird, more swift than the flight of an arrow, and were it not for the fact that his mouth is much below his muzzle, almost indeed in the middle of the belly, not a fish would be able to escape his pursuit. But nature in her prudence has thrown certain impediments in his way. For unless he turns and throws himself on his back, he can seize nothing, and it is this circumstance more especially that gives proof of his extraordinary swiftness. For if pressed by hunger, he will follow a fish as it flies down to the very bottom of the water, and then after holding his breath thus long, will dart again to the surface to breathe, with the speed of an arrow discharged from a bow. And often, on such occasions, he is known to leap out of the water with such a bound as to fly right over the sails of a ship. Dolphins generally go in couples. They suckle their young like the ballina, and even carry them during the weakness of infancy, in addition to which they accompany them long after they are grown up, so great is their affection for their progeny. The young ones grow very speedily, and in ten years arrive at their full size. The dolphin lives thirty years, a fact that has been ascertained from cutting marks on the tail by way of experiment. It conceals itself for thirty days at about the rising of the dog-star, so effectually that it is not known whether it goes, a thing the more surprising as it is unable to breathe underwater. Dolphins are in the habit of darting upon the shore for some unknown reason. The tongue, contrary to the nature of aquatic animals in general, is movable, being short and broad, not much unlike that of the pig. Instead of a voice, they emit a moaning sound similar to that made by a human being. The back is arched, and the nose turned up. For this reason, they all recognise in a most surprising manner the name of Symo, and prefer to be called by that rather than by any other. Footnote. He implies that the dolphin knows that it is Simus, or flat-nosed, for which reason it is particularly fond of being called Symo, or flat-nose, a piece of good taste and intelligence remarkable even in a dolphin. End of footnote. The dolphin is an animal not only friendly to man, but a lover of music as well. He is charmed by melodious concerts, especially by the notes of the water organ. He does not dread man as though a stranger to him, but comes to meet ships, leaps and bound to and fro, vies with them in swiftness, and passes them when in full sail. In the rain of the late Emperor Augustus, a dolphin which had been carried to the Lucrine Lake conceived the most wonderful affection for the child of a certain poor man, who was in the habit of going that way from Baye to Putioli to school, and who used to stop there in the middle of the day, call him by his name of Symo, and would often entice him to the banks of the lake with pieces of bread which he carried for the purpose. I should really have felt ashamed to mention this, had not the incident been stated in writing in the works of Messinas, Fabianus, Flavius Alpheus, and many others. At whatever hour of the day he might happen to be cold by the boy, and although hidden and out of sight at the bottom of the water, he would instantly fly to the surface, and after feeding from his hand would present his back for him to mount, taking care to conceal the spiny projection of his fins in their sheath as it were, and so sportively taking him up on his back he would carry him over a wide expanse of sea to the school at Putioli, and in a similar manner bring him back again. This happened for several years, until at last the boy happened to fall ill of some malady, and died. The dolphin came again and again to the spot as usual, with a sorrowful air, and manifesting every sign of deep affliction, until at last, a thing of which no one felt the slightest doubt, he died purely of sorrow and regret. Within a few years another dolphin at Hippo diaritis on the coast of Africa, in a similar manner used to receive his food from the hands of various persons, present himself for their caresses, sport about among the swimmers, and carry them on his back. On being rubbed with unguents by Flavianus, the proconsul of Africa, he was lulled to sleep, as it appeared, by the sensation of an odour so new to him, and floated about just as though he had been dead. For some months after this he carefully avoided all intercourse with man, as though he had received some affront or other, but at the end of that time he returned, and afforded the same wonderful scenes as before. At last the vexations that were caused by having to entertain so many influential men who came to see this sight, compelled the people of Hippo to put the animal to death. Before this there was a similar story told of a child at the city of Iasis, for whom a dolphin was long observed to have conceived a most ardent affection, until one day the animal eagerly following him, as he was making for the shore, was carried by the tide on the sands, and there expired. Alexander the Great appointed this boy High Priest of Neptune at Babylon, interpreting this extraordinary attachment as a convincing proof of the favour of that divinity. Hadesidamus informs us that in the same city of Iasis there was a boy, Hermius by name, who in a similar manner used to traverse the sea on a dolphin's back, but that on one occasion a tempest suddenly arising he lost his life and was brought back dead, upon which the dolphin, who thus admitted that he had been the cause of his death, would not return to the sea, but lay down upon the dry land, and there expired. Therophrastus tells us that the very same thing happened at Nopactus, nor in fact is there any limit to similar instances. The Amphilokians and the Terentines have similar stories about children and dolphins, and all these give an air of credibility to the one that is told of Arion, the famous performer on the lyre. The mariners being on the point of throwing him into the sea, for the purpose of taking possession of the money he had earned, he prevailed upon them to allow him one more song accompanied with the music of his lyre. The melody attracted numbers of dolphins around the ship, and upon throwing himself into the sea, he was taken up by one of them, and born in safety to the shore of the Permanentary of Tenerum. Footnote. Ovid tells the story of Arion more fully, and in beautiful language, in the Fastai Book 2, 192. End of footnote. There is in the province of Galea Nurbunensis, and in the territory of Nemouses, a lake known by the name of Lotera, where dolphins fish in company with men. At the narrow outlet of this lake, at stated seasons of the year, innumerable multitudes of mullets make their way into the sea, taking advantage of the turn of the tide. Hence it is quite impossible to employ nets sufficiently strong to bear so vast a weight, even though the fish had not the instinctive shrewdness to watch their opportunity. By a similar instinct, the fish immediately make with all speed towards the deep water, which is found in a gulf in that vicinity, and hasten to escape from the only spot that is at all convenient for spreading the nets. As soon as the fisherman perceived this, all the people, for great multitudes resort didder, being well aware of proper time, and especially desirous of sharing in the amusement, shout out as loud as they can, and summon Simeo to the scene of action. The dolphins very quickly understand that they are in requisition, as a north-east wind spaterally carries the sound to their retreats, though a south one was somewhat retarded by carrying it in an opposite direction. Even then, however, sooner than you could have possibly supposed, there are the dolphins in all readiness to assist. They are seen approaching in haste in battle array, and immediately taking up their position when the engagement is about to take place, they cut off all escape to the open sea, and drive the terrified fish into shallow water. The fishermen then throw their nets, holding them up at the sides with forks, though the mullets with inconceivable agility instantly leap over them, while the dolphins, on the other hand, are waiting in readiness to receive them, and content themselves for the present with killing them only, postponing all thoughts of eating till after they have secured the victory. The battle waxes hot apace, and the dolphins, pressing on with the greatest vigor, readily allow themselves to be enclosed in the nets. But in order that the fact of their being thus enclosed may not urge the enemy to find additional means of flight, they glide along so stealthily among the boats and nets, or else the swimmers, as not to leave them any opening for escape. Not one among them attempts to make its escape by leaping, which at other times is their favorite amusement, except when the nets are purposely lowered for it, and even after it has come out, it continues the battle, as it were, up to the very ramparts. At last, when the capture is now completed, they devour those among the fish which they have killed, but being well aware that they have given too active an assistance to be repaid with only one day's reward, they take care to wait there till the following day, when they are filled not only with fish, but breadcrumbs soaked in wine. The account which Musianus gives of a similar mode of fishing in the Iacian Gulf differs from the preceding one, in the fact that there the dolphins make their appearance of their own accord, and do not require to be cold. They receive their share from the hands of the people, each boat having its own particular associate among the dolphins, and this although the fishing is carried on at night time by the light of torches. Dolphins also form among themselves a sort of general community. Once, when one of them had been captured by a king of Keria, and chained up in the harbor, great multitudes of dolphins assembled at the spot, and with signs of sorrow which could not be misunderstood, appealed to the sympathies of the people, until at last the king ordered it to be released. The young dolphins are always attended by a larger one, who acts as a guardian to them, and before now they have been seen carrying off the body of one which had died, that it might not be devoured by the sea monsters. End of Book 6, Chapter 4 Book 6, Chapter 5 Of the Boys and Girls Pliny by Pliny the Elder This Liverpool's recording is in the public domain. Recording by phone. The Various Kinds of Turtles The Indian Sea produces turtles of such vast size that with the shell of a single animal they are able to roof a habitable cottage, and among the islands of the Red Sea the navigation is mostly carried on in boats formed of these shells. They are to be caught in many ways, but they are generally taken when they have come up to the surface of the water just before midday, a season at which they experience great delight in floating on the calm surface with the back entirely out of the water. Here the delightful sensations which attend a free respiration beguile them to such a degree and render them so utterly regardless of their safety that their shell becomes so dried up by the heat of the sun that they are unable to descend and having to float against their will become an easy prey to the fishermen. It is said also that they leave the water at night for the purpose of feeding and eat with such avidity as to glut themselves upon which they become weary and on their return in the morning to the sea they fall asleep on the surface of the water. The noise of their snoring betrays them upon which the fishermen stealthily swim towards the animals, three to each turtle, two of them in a moment throw it on its back while a third slings a noose around it as it lies face upwards and then more men who are ready on shore draw it to land. In the Phoenician sea they are taken without the slightest difficulty and at stated periods of the year come of their own accord to the river Eleutheros in immense numbers. The turtle has no teeth but the edge of the mouth is sharp, the upper part shutting down over the lower like the lid of a box. In the sea it lives upon shellfish and such is the strength of its jaws that it is able to break stones when on shore it feeds upon herbage. The female turtle lays eggs like those of birds, one hundred in number. These she buries on the dry land, covers them over with earth, pats it down with her breast and sits on them during the night. The young are hatched in the course of a year. Some persons are of opinion that they hatched our eggs by means of the eyes by merely looking at them. The troglodyte have turtles with horns which resemble the branches of a lyre. Footnote. According to Cuvier the four feet were here taken for horns being in the turtle long narrow and pointed and the footnote. They are large but movable and assist the animal like so many oars while swimming. The name of this fine but rarely found turtle is Callillon. For the rocks from the sharpness of their points frighten away the Callonophagi while the troglodyte whose shores these animals frequent worship them as secret. There are some land turtles the shells of which are used for the purposes of art. They are found in the deserts of Africa in the part where the scorched sands are more especially destitute of water and subsist it is believed upon the moisture of the do's. No other animal is to be found there. Carvelius polio a man of prodigal habits and ingenious in inventing the refinements of luxury was the first to cut the shell of the tortoise into laminae or thin slices and to veneer beds and cabinets with it. End of book six chapter five. Book six chapter six of Du Bois and Girls Pliny by Pliny the Elder. This LibriFox recording is in a public domain recording by phone. Distribution of aquatic animals into various species. The integuments of the aquatic animals are many in number. Some are covered with the hide and hair as the sea cough and hippopotamus for instance. Others again with the hide only as the dolphin. Others again with a shell as the turtle. Others with a coat as hard as a stone like the oyster and other shellfish. Others with a crust such as the crayfish. Others with a crust and spines like the sea urchin. Others with scales as fishes in general. Others with a rough skin as the squatuna the skin of which is used for polishing wood and ivory. Others with a soft skin like the marina and others with none at all like the polypus. Of all aquatic animals the sea cough is killed with the greatest difficulty unless the head is cut off at once. It makes a noise which sounds like lowing when it's the name of sea cough. The animals are susceptible however of training and with their voice as well as by gestures can be taught to salute the public. When called by their name they answer with a discordant kind of grunt. Footnote. Frémitude. From their lowing noise the French have also called these animals vo de mer and we call them sea coughs. Lopez de Gomera one of the more recent writers on Mexico in his day gave an account of an Indian sea cough or manatee as it was called by the natives that had become quite tame and answered readily to its name and although not very large it was able to bear 10 men on its back. He also tells us of a much more extraordinary one which Aldruvandes says he himself had seen Apollonia which would give a cheer for the Christian princes when asked but would refuse to do so for the Turks. End of footnote. No animal has a deeper sleep than this. On dry land it creeps along as though on feet by the aid of what it uses as fins when in the sea. Its skin even when separated from the body is said to retain a certain sensitive sympathy with the sea and at the reflux of the tide the hair on it always rises upright in addition to which it is said that there is in the right fin a certain superiferous influence and that if placed under the head it induces sleep. There are 174 species of fishes exclusive of the Christacea of which there are 30 kinds. Footnote. There are specimens of about 6,000 kinds of fishes in the cabinet du roi in Paris and the footnote. Tunnies are among the most remarkable for their size. We have found one weighing as much as 15 talons, 1200 pounds, the breasts of its tail being five cubits and a palm. In some of the rivers also there are fish of no less size such for instance as the Silurus of Denial, the Isox of the Rhine and the Acelus of the Poe which naturally of an inactive nature sometimes grows so fat as the way a thousand pounds and when taken with a hook attached to a chain requires a yoke of oxen to draw it on land. An extremely small fish which is known as the clopea attaches itself with a wonderful tenacity to a certain vein in the throat of the Acelus and destroys it by its bite. The Silurus carries devastation with it wherever it goes, attacks every living creature and often drags beneath the water horses as they swim. It is also remarkable that in the river Main of Germany a fish that bears a very strong resemblance to the sea pig requires to be drawn out of the water by a yoke of oxen and in the Danubi it is taken with large hooks of iron. In the Borristinis also there is said to be a fish of enormous size the flesh of which has no bones or spines in it and is remarkable for its sweetness. In the Ganges a river in India there is a fish found which they call the Platanista. It has the muzzle and the tail of a dolphin and measures 16 cubits in length. Stitius Cebozaus says, a thing that is marvelous in no small degree, that in the same river there are fishes found called worms. These have two gills and are 60 cubits in length. They are of an azure color and have perceived their name from their peculiar confirmation. These fish, he says, are of such enormous strength that with their teeth they seize hold of the trunks of elephants that come to drink and so drag them into the water. The black sea is never entered by any animal that is noxious to fish with the exception of the sea calf and the small dolphin. On entering the tunnies range along the shores to the right and on departing keep to those on the left. This is supposed to arise from the fact that they have better sight with the right eye, their powers of vision with either being naturally very limited. In the channel of the Thracian Bosporus by which the propontis is connected with the black sea at the narrowest part of the straits which separate Europe from Asia there is near Chalcedon on the Asiatic side a rock of remarkable whiteness the hull of which can be seen from the bottom of the sea. Alarmed at the sudden appearance of this rock the tunnies always hasten in great numbers and with headlong impetuosity towards the promontory of Byzantium which stands exactly opposite to it and from this circumstance has received the name of the golden horn. Footnote. He means that in consequence of the lucrative nature of this fishery it then obtained the name of the golden horn and the footnote. Hence it is that all the fishing is at Byzantium to the great loss of Chalcedon although it is only separated from it by a channel a mile in width. They wait however for the blowing of the north wind to leave the black sea with a favourable tide and are never taken until they have entered the harbour of Byzantium. These fish do not move about in winter in whatever place they may happen to be surprised by it there they pass the winter till the time of the equinox. Manifesting a wonderful degree of the light they will often accompany a vessel in full sail and may be seen from the deck following it for hours over a distance of several miles. If a fish spare is thrown at them never so many times they are not in the slightest degree alarmed at it. Some writers call the tunnies which follow ships in this manner by the name of Pompili or pilot fish. End of book 6 chapter 6. Book 6 chapter 7 of Du Bois and Girls Pliny by Pliny the Elder. This Liberfox recording is in the public domain recording by phone. Fishes valued for the table. At the present day the first place in point of delicacy is given to the Skerus the only fish that is said to ruminate and to feed on grass and not on other fish. It is mostly found in the Carpathian Sea and never of its own accord passes Lectum a promontory of Troas. Optatus Ellipercius the commander of the fleet under the emperor Claudius had this fish brought from that locality and dispersed in various places off the coast between Ostia and the districts of Campania. During five years the greatest care was taken that those which were caught should be returned to the sea but since then they have been always found in great abundance off the shores of Italy where formerly there were none to be taken. Thus Hasgluttony introduced these fish to be a dainty within its reach and added a new inhabitant to the seas so that we ought to feel no surprise that foreign birds breed at Rome. The fish that is next in estimation for the table is the Mustola but that is valued only for its liver a singular thing to tell off the lake of Brigantia the modern lake Constans in Rhaetia lying in the midst of the Alps produces them to rival even those of the sea. Of the remaining fish that are held in any degree of esteem the mullet is the most highly valued as well as the most abundant of all. It is of only a moderate size rarely exceeds two pounds in weight and will never grow beyond that weight in preserves or fish ponds. These fish are only to be found in the northern ocean exceeding two pounds in weight and even there in none but the most westerly parts as for the other kinds the various species are numerous some live upon seaweed while others feed on the oyster slime and the flesh of other fish. The more distinctive mark is a forked beard that projects beneath the lower lip the Lotterias or mud mullet is held in the lowest esteem of all this last is always accompanied by another fish known as the Sargus and where the mullet stirs up the mud the other finds element for its own sustenance. The mullet most esteemed of all has a strong flavor of shellfish the masters in gastronomy inform us that the mullet while dying assumes a variety of colors and the succession of shades and that the hue of the red scales growing paler and paler gradually changes more especially if it is looked at enclosed in glass footnote Seneca has two passages on this subject which strongly bespeak the barbarous tastes of the Romans he says a mullet even if just called is thought little of unless it is allowed to die in the hand of your guest they are carried about enclosed in globes of glass and their color is watched as they die ever changing by the struggles of death into various shades and hues and again there is nothing you say more beautiful than the colors of the dying mullet as it struggles and breeds forth its life it is first purple and then a paleness gradually comes over it and then placed as it is between life and death an uncertain hue comes over it and the footnote marcus apicas a man who displayed a remarkable degree of ingenuity in everything relating to luxury was of opinion that it was a most excellent plan to let the mother die in the pickle known as the garum of the allies footnote Seneca speaks of this cruel custom of pickling fish alive other fish again they kill in sauces and pickle them alive there are some persons who look upon it as quite incredible that a fish should be able to live underground how much more so would it appear to them if they were to hear of a fish swimming in sauce and that the chief dish of the banquet was killed at the banquet feeding the eye before it does the gullet and the footnote for we find that even this has found a surname and he proposed a prize for anyone who should invent a new sauce made from the liver of this fish i find it much easier to relate this fact than to state who it was that gained the prize as any a sailor a man of consular rank and remarkable for his prodigal expenditure on this fish bought one at Rome during the reign of the emperor Caligula at the price of 8000 cesterces footnote juvenile sat for 115 speaks of a mullet being bought for 6000 cesterces a thousand for every pound and Suetonius tells us that in the reign of Tiberius three mullets were sold for 30 000 cesterces it is an allusion to this kind of extravagance that juvenile says in the same satire that it is not unlikely that the fisherman could be bought as a slave for a smaller sum than the fish itself at the above rate each of these mullets sold for nearly 400 dollars of our money and the footnote a reflection upon such a fact as this will at once lead us to turn our thoughts to those who making loud complaints against luxury have lamented that a single cook cost more money to buy than a horse while at the present day a cook is only to be obtained for the same sum that a triumph would cost and a fish is only to be purchased at what was formerly the price for a cook indeed there is hardly any living being held in higher esteem than the man who understands how in the most scientific fashion to get rid of his master's property Lysinius Musianus relates that in the Red Sea there was called a mullet 80 pounds in weight what a price would have been paid for it by our epicures if it had only been found of the shores in the vicinity of our city eels live eight years they are able to survive out of water as much as six days when a northeast wind blows but when the south wind prevails not so many in winter they cannot live if they are in very shallow water or if the water is troubled they are taken about the rising of the pliades when the rivers are turbid these animals seek their food at night they are the only fish the bodies of which when dead do not float upon the surface there is a lake called Benakus in the territory of Verona in Italy through which the river Mincius flows at the part of it once this river issues once a year and mostly in the month of october the lake is troubled evidently by the constellations of autumn and the eels are heaped together by the waves and rolled on by them in such astonishing multitudes that single masses of them containing more than a thousand in number are often taken in the chambers which are formed in the bed of the river for that purpose and of book six chapter seven book six chapter eight of the Boys and Girls Pliny by Pliny the Elder this Liberbox recording is in the public domain recording by phone peculiar fishes in northern gold the fish called Murena has on the right jaw seven spots which bear a resemblance to the constellation of the great dipper and are of a gold color shining as long as the animal is alive but disappearing as soon as it is dead vedius polio a roman of equestrian rank and one of the friends of the late emperor augustus found a method of exercising his cruelty by means of this animal for he caused such slaves as had been condemned by him to be thrown into preserves filled with murenai not that the land animals would not have fully suffice for this purpose but because he could not see a man so aptly torn to pieces all at once by any other kind of animal it is said that these fishes are driven to madness by the taste of vinegar their skin is exceedingly thin while that of the eel on the other hand is much thicker various informs us that formerly the children of the roman citizens while wearing the protector were flogged with eel skins there is a very small fish that is in the habit of living among the rocks and is known as the echinaeus footnote up oh to a cayenne neus from holding back ships and the footnote it is believed that when this has attached itself to the keel of a ship its progress is impeded and from this circumstance it takes its name museumis speaks of a murex of larger size than the purple murex with a head that is neither rough nor round and the shell of which is single and falls in folds on either side he tells us also that some of these creatures once attached themselves to a ship freighted with children of noble birth and that they stopped its course in full sail trapeous niger says that this fish is a foot in length and that it can retard the course of vessels five fingers in thickness besides which it has another peculiar property when preserved and sold and applied it is able to draw up gold which has fallen into a well however deep it may happen to be the only fish that builds itself a nest is the ficus it makes it a seaweed and there deposits its eggs which it defends from the attacks of enemies the sea swallow being able to fly bears a strong resemblance to the bird of that name the sea kite to flies as well there is a fish that comes up to the surface of the sea known from the following circumstance as the lantern fish thrusting from its mouth a tongue that shines like fire it emits a most brilliant light on calm nights another fish which from its horns has received its name raises them nearly a foot and a half above the surface of the water the sea dragon again if caught and if caught and thrown on the sand works out a hole for itself with its muzzle with the most wonderful celebrity and of book six chapter eight book six chapter nine of the boys and girls pliny by plenty the elder this liberalx recording is in a public domain recording by phone bloodless fishes the varieties of fish which we shall now mention are those which have no blood they are of three kinds first those which are known as soft next those which have thin crusts and lastly those which are enclosed in hard shells footnote this division of the bloodless fish made first by Aristotle into the maluska testesia and crustacea has been followed by naturalists almost down to the present day and the footnote the softfish are the loligo the sapia the polypus and others of a similar nature the last have the head between the feet and the belly and all of them have eight feet in the sapia and the loligo two of these feet are very long and rough and by means of these they'll lift the food to their mouths and attach themselves to places in the sea as though with an anchor the others act as so many arms by means of which they seize their prey the loligo is able to dart above the surface of the water and the scallop does the same like an arrow as it were in the sapia the male is party colored blacker than the female and more courageous if the female is struck with a fish spear the male comes to her aid but the female the instant the male is struck takes the flight both of them as soon as they find themselves in danger of being caught this charge a kind of ink and thus darkening the water take to flight there are numerous kinds of polypai the land polypus is larger than that of the sea they all of them use their arms as feet and hands the polypus has a sort of passage in the back by which it lets in and discharges the water and which it shifts from side to side sometimes carrying it on the right and sometimes on the left it swims obliquely with the head on one side which is of surprising hardness while the animal is alive being puffed out with air in addition to this they have cavities dispersed throughout the claws by means of which through suction they can adhere to objects with the head upwards so tightly that they cannot be torn away they cannot attach themselves however to the bottom of the sea and their attentive powers are weaker in the larger ones these are the only soft fish that come on dry land and then only where the surface is rugged a smooth surface they will not come near they feed upon the flesh of shellfish the shells of which they can easily break in the embrace of their arms their retreat may be easily detected by the pieces of shell which lie before it although in other respects this is looked upon as a remarkably stupid kind of animal so much so that it will swim toward the hand of a man in its own domestic matters it manifests considerable intelligence it carries its prey to its home and after eating all the flesh throws out the debris and then pursues such small fish as make chance to swim towards them it also changes its color according to the aspect of the place where it is and more especially when it is alarmed the notion is entirely unfounded but it gnaws on its own arms this mischance befalls it from the conjures but it is perfectly true that its arms shoot forth again like the tail in the colitis and the lizard among the most remarkable curiosities among all the inhabitants of the sea is the animal which has the name of nautilus or as some people call it the pompilus lying with the head upwards it rises to the surface of the water raising itself little by little while by means of a certain conduit in its body it discharges all the water and this being got rid of like so much bilge water as it were it finds no difficulty in sailing along the surface then extending backwards its two front arms it stretches out between them a membrane of marvellous thinness which acts as a sail spread out to the wind while with the rest of its arms it paddles along below steering itself with its tail in the middle which acts as a rudder thus does it make its way along the deep mimicking the appearance of a life-liburnian bark while if anything chances to cause it alarm in an instant it draws in the water and sinks out of sight belonging to the genus of polypi is the animal known as the ozina being so cold from the peculiarly strong smell exiled by the head in consequence of which the mureini pursue it with the greatest eagerness the polypi keep themselves concealed for two months in the year they do not live beyond two years and always die of consumption i must not omit here the observations which lecullus the proconsul of betica made with reference to the polypus and which trebius niger one of his sweet has published he says that it is remarkably fond of shellfish and that these the moment that they feel themselves touched by it close their valves and cut off the feelers of the polypus thus making a meal at the expense of the plunderer shellfish our destitute of sight as well as of all other sensations but those which warn them of hunger and the approach of danger hence the polypus lies in ambush till the fish opens its shell immediately upon which it places within it a small pebble taking care at the same time to keep it from touching the body of the animal lest by making some movement its huge chance to eject it having made itself thus secure it attacks its prey and draws out the flesh while the other tries to contract itself but all in vain in consequence of the separation of the shell thus affected by the insertion of the wedge so great is the instinctive shrewdness in animals that are otherwise quite remarkable for their lumpish stupidity in addition to the above the same author states that no animal in existence is more dangerous for its powers of destroying a human being when in the water embracing his body it counteracts his struggles and draws him under with its feelers and its numerous suckers when as often is the case it happens to make an attack upon a shipwrecked mariner or a child if however if however the animal is turned over it loses all its power for when it is thrown upon the back the arms open of themselves the other particulars which the same author has given appear still more closely to border upon the marvellous at cartea in the preserve stair a polypus was in the habit of coming from the sea to the pickling tubs that were left open and devouring the fish laid in the salt for it is quite astonishing how eagerly all sea animals follow the smell of salted condiments so that for this reason the fishermen take care to rub the inside of the wicker fish cipes with them at last by its repeated thefts and immoderate depredations it drew down upon itself to wrath of the keepers of the works palisades were placed before them but these the polypus managed to get over by the aid of a tree and it was only caught at last by calling in the assistance of trained dogs which surrounded it at night as it was returning to its prey upon which the keepers awakened by the noise were struck with alarm at the novelty of the site presented first of all the site of the polypus was enormous beyond all conception then it was covered all over with dried brine and exhaled a most dreadful stench who could have expected to find a polypus there or could have recognized it as such under these circumstances they really thought that they were joining battle with some monster for at one instant it would drive off the dogs by its horrible fumes and lash at them with the extremities of its feelers while at another it would strike them with its stronger arms giving blows with so many clubs as it were and it was only with the greatest difficulty that it could be dispatched with the aid of a considerable number of three pronged fish bears the head of this animal was shown to Lecullus it was in size as large as the cask of 15 amphorae and had a beard to use the expression of Trebius himself which could hardly be encircled with both arms full of knots like those upon a club and 30 feet in length the suckers or callicules as large as an urn resembled a bazin in shape while the teeth again were of a corresponding largeness its remains which were carefully preserved as a curiosity weighed 700 pounds the same author also informs us that specimens of the sapia and the lolligo have been thrown up on the same shores of a size fully as large in our own seas the lolligo is sometimes found five cubits in length and the sapia two these animals do not live beyond two years Musianus relates that he has seen in the propontus another curious resemblance to a ship in full sail there is a shellfish he says with a keel just like that of the vessel which we know by the name of a caesium with the stern curving inwards and the prow with the beak attached in this shellfish there lies concealed also an animal known as the noplius which bears a strong resemblance to the sapia and only adopts the shellfish as the companion of its pastimes there are two modes he says which it adopts in sailing when the sea is calm the voyager hangs down its arms and strikes the water as with a pair of ores but if the wind invites it extends them employing them by way of a helm and turning the mouth of the shell to the wind the pleasure experienced by the shellfish is that of carrying the other while the amusement of the noplius consists in steering and thus at the same moment is an instinctive joy felt by these two creatures devoid as they are of all sense unless a natural antipathy to man for it is a well-known fact that to see them thus sailing along is a bad omen and that it is portentous of misfortune to those who witness it footnote probably this is merely the reproduction of the story of the noplius with exaggerated details end of footnote the crayfish which belongs to the class of bloodless animals is protected by a brittle crust this creature like the crab keeps itself concealed for five months but at the beginning of spring both of them after the manner of snakes throw off old age and renewed their coverings while other animals swim on the water crayfish float with a kind of action like creeping they move onwards if there were nothing to alarm them in a straight line extending on each side their horns which are rounded at the point by a ball peculiar to them but when alarmed they straighten these horns and proceed with a side long motion they use these horns when fighting with each other the crayfish is the only animal that has the flesh in a pulpy state and not firm and solid unless it is cooked alive in boiling water the crayfish frequent rocky places the crab spots which present a soft surface in winter they both choose such parts of the shore as are exposed to the heat of the sun in summer they withdraw to the shady recesses of deep inlets of the sea all fish of this kind suffer from the cold of winter but become fat during autumn and spring particularly during the full moon for the warmth of that luminary as it shines in the night renders the temperature of the weather more moderate there are various kinds of crabs known as caribae, lobsters, mayae, pagurae, heracliotisai, lions, and others of less note the caribos differs from other crabs in having a tail in finicia they are called hippoi or horses being of such extraordinary swiftness that it is impossible to overtake them crabs are long-lived and have eight feet all of which are bent obliquely besides which the animal has two claws with indented pincers the upper part only of these four feet is movable the right claw is the largest in them all sometimes they assemble together in large bodies but as they are unable to cross the mouth of the black sea they turn back again and go round by land and the road by which they travel is to be seen all beaten down with their footmarks the smallest crab known is the pinot theories it is peculiarly exposed to danger but its fruitness is evinced by its concealing itself in the shell of the oyster removing as it grows larger to those of a larger size crabs when alarmed go backwards as swiftly as when moving forwards they fight like rams butting at each other with their horns they have a mode of curing themselves with the bites of serpents it is said that while the sun is passing through the sign of cancer the dead bodies of the crabs which are lying thrown up on the shore are transformed into serpents to the same class also belongs to sea urchin which has spines in place of feet its mode of moving along is to roll like a ball hence it is that these animals are often found with their prickles rubbed off those among them which have the longest spines of all are known by the name of echinometri while at the same time their body is the very smallest they are not all of them of the same glossy color in the vicinity of their white with very short spines the eggs of all of them are bitter and are five in number the mouth is situated in the middle of the body and faces the earth it is said that these creatures foreknow the approach of a storm at sea and that they take up little stones with which they cover themselves and so provide a sort of ballast against their volubility for they are very unwilling by rolling along to wear away their prickles as soon as seafaring persons observed is they at once more their ships with several anchors to the same genus also belong both land and water snails which thrust the body forth from their abode and extend or contract two horns they are without eyes and have therefore to feel their way by means of these horns footnote it is now known thanks to the research of swammerdom that the black points at the extremity of the great horns of the land snail and at the base of them in a water snail our eyes and the footnote to the same class belong the sea scallops which also conceal themselves during severe frosts and great heats as well as the onikes which shine in the dark like fire and in the mouth even while being eaten end of book six chapter nine book six chapter ten of the boys and girls pliny by plenty the elder this liverhooks recording is in the public domain recording by phone various kinds of shellfish let us now pass on to the murex and other kinds of shellfish which have a stronger shell and in which nature in our sportive mood has displayed a great variety so many are the hues of their tins so numerous are their shapes flat concave long crescent shaped grounded into a globe cut through into a semi-globe arched in the back smooth rough indented streaked the upper part spirally wreath the edge projecting in a sharp point the edge wreath outwards or else folding inwards and then two there are the various distinctions of ray shells long-haired shells wavy hair cells channeled shells vaccinated shells implicated shells articulated shells shells with lines oblique or rectilinear thick set shells expanded shells tortuous shells shells the valves of which are united by one small knot shells which are held together all along one side shells which are open as if in the very active applauding and shells which wind resembling a conch the fish of this class known as the shells of venus are able to navigate the surface of the deep and presenting to the wind their concave side catch debris and sail along on the surface of the sea scallops are also able to leap and fly above the surface of the water they sometimes employ their shell by way of a bark but why mention such trifles as these when i am sensible that no greater inroads have been made upon our morals and no more rapid advances have been made by luxury than those affected through the medium of shellfish of all the elements that exist the sea is the one that costs the dearest to the stomach seeing that it provides so many kinds of meat so many dishes so many exquisite flavors derived from fish all of which are valued in proportion to the danger undergone by those who have caught them but hell insignificant is all this when we come to think of our purple our azure and our pearls it was not enough for sooth for the spoils of the sea to be thrust down the gullet but they must be employed as well to adorn the hands the ears the head the whole body in fact and that of the men pretty nearly as much as the women what has the sea to do with our clothes what is there in common between waves and billows and the sheep's fleece this one element ought not to receive us according to ordinary notions except in a state of nakedness let there be ever so strong an alliance between it and the stomach on the score of gluttony still what can it possibly have to do with the back it is not enough for sooth that we are fed upon what is acquired by perils but we must be close to in a similar way so true it is that for all the wants of the body that which is sought at the expense of human life is sure to please us the most end of book six chapter 10