 Book 6 Chapter 11 of the Boys and Girls Pliny by Pliny the Elder This liperfox recording is in the public domain, recording by phone. Pearls The very highest position among all valuables belongs to the pearl. It is principally the Indian Ocean that sends them to us. Across many a sea, and over many a lengthened tract of land, scorched by the ardent rays of a burning sun, must the pearl-seeker pass amid those monsters so frightful and so huge which we have already described. The places most productive of pearls are the islands of Taprobana and Stoidas, and Perimula, a premontery of India. But those most highly valued are found in the vicinity of Arabia in the Persian Gulf, which forms a part of the Red Sea. The origin and production of the shellfish is not very different from that of the shell of the oyster. When the genial season of the year exercises its influence on the animal, it is said that yawning, as it were, it opens its shell, and so receives a kind of dew by means of which it becomes permeated, and at length, a small hard bunch is formed in its shell, in the shape of pearls, which vary according to the quality of the dew. If this has been in a perfectly pure state when it flowed into the shell, then the pearl produced is white and brilliant. But if it was turbid, the pearl is of a clouded color also. If the sky should happen to have been lowering when it was generated, the pearl will be of a palette color, from all which it is quite evident that the quality of the pearl depends much more upon a calm state of the heavens than of the sea, and contracts a cloudy hue or a limpid appearance according to the degree of serenity of the sky in the morning. Footnote. All this theory is, of course, totally imaginary. The pearl itself is nothing else but a diversion, so to speak, of the juices, whose duty it is to line the interior of the shell to thicken and so amplify it, and consequently the pearl is the result of some malady. It is possible for them to be found in all shellfish, but they have no beauty in them, unless the interior of the shell, or as we call it, the mother of pearl, is lustrous and beautiful itself. Hence, the finest of them come from the east, and are furnished by the kind of bivalve, called by Linnaeus, Mytilus margaritiferous, which has the most beautiful mother of pearl in the interior that is known. The parts of the indian sea, which are mentioned by Pliny, are those in which the pearl oyster is still found in the greatest abundance. End of footnote. If, again, the fish is satiated in a reasonable time, then the pearl produced increases rapidly in size. If it should happen to lighten at the time, the animal shuts its shell, and the pearl is diminished in size in proportion to the fast that the animal has to endure. But if, in addition to this, it should thunder as well, then it becomes alarmed, and closing the shell in an instant produces what is known as a fysema, or pearl bubble, filled with air, and bearing a resemblance to a pearl, but in appearance only, as it is quite empty and devoid of body. Those which are produced in a perfectly healthy state consist of numerous layers. It is wonderful, however, that they should be influenced, thus pleasurably, by the state of the heavens, seeing that by the action of the sun the pearls are turned of a red colour, and lose all their whiteness, just like the human body. Those which keep their whiteness the best are the pelagiae, or main sea pearls, which lie at two great depths to be reached by the sun's rays. Those pearls which have one surface flat, and the other spherical, opposite to the plain side, are for that reason called timpania, or timbre pearls. I have seen pearls still adhering to the shell, for which reason the shells were used as boxes for anjuance. As soon as the fish perceives the hand, it shuts its shell, and covers up its treasures, being well aware what is salt. If it happens to catch the fingers, it cuts them off at the sharp edge of the shell. No punishment could be more justly inflicted. There are other penalties as well, for while the greater part of the pearls are only to be found among rocks and crags, the others which lie out in the main sea are generally accompanied by sea dogs. Footnote. Procopius tells a wonderful story in relation to this subject. He says that the sea dogs are wonderful admirers of the pearl fish, and follow them out to sea. That when the sea dogs are pressed by hunger, they go in quest of prey, and then return to the shellfish, and gaze upon it. A certain fisherman, having watched for the moment when the shellfish was deprived of the protection of its attendant sea dog, which was seeking its prey, seized the shellfish and made for the shore. The sea dog, however, was soon aware of the theft, and making straight for the fisherman seized him. Finding himself thus cold, he made a last effort and threw the pearlfish on shore, upon which he was immediately torn to pieces by its protector. End of footnote. And yet, for all this, the women will not benefit these gems from their ears. Some writers say that these animals live in communities, or swarms like bees, each of them being governed by one remarkable for its size and venerable age, while at the same time it is possessed of marvellous skill in taking all due precautions against danger. The divers take special care to find these, because when once they are taken, the others stray to and fro, and are easily caught in their nets. When the pearlfish are taken, they are placed under a thick layer of salt in earthenware vessels. As the flesh is gradually consumed, the pearls are disengaged and fall to the bottom of the vessel. There is no doubt that pearls wear out with use, and will change their colour if neglected. All their merit consists in their whiteness, large size, roundness, polish, and weight, qualities which are not easily to be found united in the same. Indeed, no two pearls are ever found perfectly alike, and it was from this circumstance, no doubt, that our Roman luxury first gave them the name of Unio, or the unique gem. For a similar name is not given them by the Greeks, nor among the barbarians by whom they are found, or they called anything else but margarite. Even in the very whiteness of the pearl, there is a great difference to be observed. Those are often much clearer water that are found in the Red Sea, while the Indian pearl resembles in tint the scales of the mirror stone, but exceeds all the others in size. The colour that is most highly prized of all is that of the alum-coloured pearls. Long pearls have their peculiar value, especially those called elenchi, which are of a long tapering shape resembling our alabaster boxes in form and ending in a full bulb. Footnote. These alabaster boxes for Unduans mentioned elsewhere by Pliny were usually pear-shaped, and as they were held with difficulty in the hand, on account of their extreme smoothness, they were called alabastre from A, naught, and labastre to be held. Such was the offer made to our saviour of an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious. Seneca says that the Roman matrons were not satisfied unless they had two or three patrimonies suspended from each ear. End of footnote. Our ladies quite glory in having these suspended from their fingers, or two or three of them dangling from their ears. For the purpose of ministering to these luxurious tastes, there are various names and worrisome refinements which have been devised by profuseness and prodigality. For, after inventing these earrings, they have given them the name of Crotalia, or Castagnet pendants, as though quite delighted, even with the rattling of the pearls, as they knock against each other. And that the present day the poorer classes are affecting them, as people are in the habit of saying, that a pearl worn by a woman in public is as good as a lichter walking before her. Footnote. The pearls as fully bespoke the importance of the wearer as the lichter did of the magistrate whom he was preceding. The honour of being escorted by one or two lichters was usually granted to the wives and other members of the imperial family. End of footnote. Nay, even more than this, they put them on their feet, and that not only on the laces of their sandals, but all over the shoes. It is not enough to wear pearls, but they must tread upon them, and walk with them underfoot as well. Pearls used formerly to be found in our sea, but more frequently about Dothraecian Bosporus. They were of a red colour and small, and enclosed in a shellfish known by the name of Myse. In Achanania there is a shellfish called Pina, which produces pearls, and Juba states that on the shores of Arabia a shellfish is found which resembles a notched comb covered all over with hair like a sea urchin, and the pearl lies embedded in its flesh, bearing a strong resemblance to a hailstone. No such shellfish, however, as these are ever brought to Rome. The Achananian pearl is shapeless, rough, and of a marble hue. Those are better which are found in the vicinity of Actium. It is quite clear that the interior of the pearl is solid, as no full is able to break it. Pearls are found in various places in the body of the animal. Indeed, I have seen some which lay at the edge of the shell, just as though in the very act of coming forth, and in some fishes as many is four or five. Up to the present time very few have been found which exceeded half an ounce in weight by more than one scruple. Footnote. Gavurnier speaks of a remarkable pearl that was found at Catifa in Arabia, the fishery alluded to by Pliny, and which he bought for the sum of five hundred thousand dollars of our money. It is pear-shaped, the alencus of the ancients, regular and without blemish. The diameter is .63 of an inch at the largest part, and the length from two to three inches. It is now in the possession of the Shah of Persia. End of footnote. It is a well ascertained fact that in Britannia pearls are found, though small and of bad colour, for the deified Julius Caesar wished it to be distinctly understood that the breastplate which he dedicated to Venus genetics in her temple was made of British pearls. I once saw Lola Paulina, the wife of the Emperor Caligula. It was not at any public festival or any solemn ceremonial, but only in ordinary wedding entertainment, covered with emeralds and pearls which shown in alternate layers upon her head, in her hair, in her reeds, in her ear, upon her neck, in her bracelets and on her fingers, and the value of which amounted in all to forty millions of cisterces, one million five hundred twenty five thousand dollars. Indeed she was prepared at once to prove the fact by showing her receipts and equitances, nor were these any presents made by a prodigal potentate, but treasures which had descended to her from her grandfather and obtained by the spoliation of the provinces. Such are the fruits of blunder and extortion. It was for this reason that Marcus Lolius was held so infamous all over the east for the presents which he extorted from the kings, as a result of which he was finally denied the friendship of Caia Caesar and took poison, and all this was done, I say, that his granddaughter might be seen by the glare of lamps covered all over with jewels to the amount of forty millions of cisterces. Now let a person only picture to himself on the one hand what was the value of the habits worn by curious or fibritious in their triumphs. Let him picture to himself the objects displayed to the public on their triumphal letters, and then on the other hand let him think upon this Lolia, this one bit of a woman, the head of an empire taking her place at table thus attired. Would he not much rather that the conquerors had been torn from their very chariots than that they had conquered for such a result as this? Yet even these are not the most supreme evidences of luxury. There were formerly two pearls, the largest that had been ever seen in the whole world. Cleopatra, the last of the queens of Egypt, came into possession of them both by descent from the kings of the east. When Antony had been sated by her day after day with the most exquisite banquets, this queenly woman inflated with vanity and disdainful arrogance affected to treat all this sumptuousness and all these vast preparations with the greatest contempt upon which Antony inquired what there was that could possibly be added to such extraordinary magnificence. To this she made answer that on a single entertainment she would expend ten millions of cisterces. Antony was extremely desirous to learn how that could be done, but looked upon it as a thing quite impossible, and a wager was the result. On the following day upon which the matter was to be decided, in order that she might not lose the wager, she had an entertainment set before Antony, magnificent in every respect, though no better than its usual repost. Upon this Antony joked her and inquired what was the amount expended upon it, to which she made answer that the banquet which she then beheld was only a trifling appendage to the real banquet, and that she alone would consume at the meal to the ascertain value of that amount, she herself would swallow the ten millions of cisterces, and so ordered the second course to be served. In obedience to her instructions the servants placed before her a single vessel, which was filled with vinegar, a liquid, the sharpness and strength of which is able to dissolve pearls. At this moment she was wearing in her ears those choicest and most unique productions of nature, and while Antony was waiting to see what she was going to do, taking one of them from out of her ear, she threw it into the vinegar, and as soon as it was melted swallowed it. Lucius Plancas, who had been named umpire in the wager, placed his hand upon the other at a very instant that she was making preparations to dissolve it in a similar manner, and declared that Antony had lost, an omen which in the result was fully confirmed. The fame of the second pearl is equal to that which attends its fellow. After the queen, who it does come of victorious on so important a question, had been seized, it was cut asunder in order that this, the other half of the entertainment, might serve as pendants for the ears of Venus in the pantheon at Rome. Antony and Cleopatra, however, will not bear away the palm of prodigality in this respect, and will be stripped of even this boast in the annals of luxury. For before their time, Claudius, the son of the tragic actor Isopas, had done the same at Rome, having been left by his father heir to his ample wealth and possessions. Let not Antony then be too proud for all his triumph irate, since he can hardly stand in comparison with an actor, one too who had no wager to induce him, a thing which adds to the regal munificence of the act, but was merely desirous of trying by way of glorification to his palate what was the taste of pearls, as he found it to be wonderfully pleasing that he might not be the only one to know it, he had a pearl set before each of his guests for him to swallow. After the surrender of Alexandria, pearls came into common and indeed universal use at Rome, but they first began to be used about a time of silla, though but of small size and of little value, Finestala says. In this, however, it is quite evident that he is mistaken, for Elius Stilo tells us that it was in a time of the Jugerthain War that the name of Unio was first given to pearls of remarkable size. End of Book 6, Chapter 11 Book 6, Chapter 12 of Du Bois and Girls Pliny but Pliny the Elder This Liberfox recording is in the public domain, recording by phone. The nature of the murex and the purple and yet pearls may be looked upon as pretty nearly a possession of everlasting duration. They descend from a man to his heir and they are alienated from one to another just like any landed estate, but the colours that are extracted from the murex and the purple fade from hour to hour and yet luxury which has similarly acted as a mother to them has set upon them prices almost equal to those of pearls. Purples commonly live seven years, like the murex they keep themselves in concealment for 30 days about the time of the rising of the dog star. In the spring season they unite in large bodies and by rubbing against each other produce a viscous saliva from which a kind of wax is formed. The murex does the same, but the purple has that exquisite juice which is so greatly sought after for the purpose of dyeing cloth situated in the middle of the throat. This secretion consists of a tiny drop contained in the white vein from which the precious liquid used for dyeing is distilled being of the tint of a rose somewhat inclining to black. The rest of the body is entirely destitute of this juice. It is a great point to take the fish alive for when it dies it ejects this juice. From the larger ones it is extracted after taking off the shell but the small fish are crushed alive together with the shells upon which they eject this secretion. In Asia the best purple is that of Tyre in Africa that of Manix and the parts of Gatulia that border on the ocean and in Europe that of Laconia. It is for this colour that the fassies and the axes of Rome make way in the crowd. It is this that asserts the majesty of childhood. Footnote. The Roman consuls were clothed with the toga pretexa the colour of which was Syrian purple. All children of free birth brought a pretexa edged with purple and the purple latter clave or broad hem of the senator's toga distinguished him from the equies who wore a toga with an angustic clave or narrow hem. End of footnote. It is this that distinguishes the senator from the man of equestrian rank. By persons arrayed in this colour are prayers addressed to propitiate the gods. On every garment it sheds a luster and in the triumphal vestment it is to be seen mingled with gold. Let us be prepared then to excuse this frantic passion for purple even though at the same time we are compelled to inquire why it is that such a high value has been set upon the produce of this shellfish seeing that while in the dye the smell of it is offensive and the colour then is harsh of a greenish hue and strongly resembling that of the sea when in a tempestuous state. The tongue of the purple is a finger in length and by means of this it finds subsistence by piercing other shellfish so hard is the point of it. They die in fresh water and in places where rivers discharge themselves into the sea. Otherwise when taken they will live as long as 50 days on their saliva. All shellfish grow very fast, purples especially, they come to their full size at the end of a year. Where I at this point to pass on to other subjects luxury no doubt would think itself defrauded of its due and so accuse me of negligence. I must therefore make my way into the very workshops so that just as among articles of food the various kinds and qualities of corn are known all those who place the enjoyment of life in these luxuries may have a still better acquaintance with the objects for which they live. There are two kinds of fish that produce the purple colour the elements in both are the same the combinations only are different. The smaller fish is that which is called the buccanum from its resemblance to the conch by which the sound of the buccanus or trumpet is produced and to this circumstance it owes its name. The opening in it is round with an incision in the margin the other fish is known as the purpura or purple and has a grooved and projecting muzzle which being tubulated on one side in the interior forms a passage for the tongue besides which the shell is studded with points up to the very apex which are ordinarily seven in number and disposed in a circle. These are not found on the buccanum though both of them have as many spirals as they are years old. The buccanum attaches itself only to crags and is gathered about rocky places. Purples are of numerous kinds differing only in their element and place of abode there is the mud purple the seaweed purple both of which are held in the very lowest esteem the reef purple which is collected on the reefs or out at sea the colour from which is still too light and thin then there is the variety known as the pebble purple wonderfully well adapted for dying and better than any of them that known by the name of dialutensis because of the various natures of the soil on which it feeds. Purples are taken with a kind of osier type of small size and with large meshes these are cast into the sea baited with cockles which snap at an object just as we see mussels do and close the shells instantaneously though half dead when they are returned to the sea these animals come to life again and open their shells with avidity upon which the purples seek them and commence the attack by protruding their tongues the cockles on the other hand the moment they feel themselves pricked shut their shells and hold fast the object that has wounded them in this way victims to their greediness they are drawn up to the surface hanging by the tongue the most favourable season for taking these fish is after the rising of the dog star or else before spring for when they have once discharged their waxy secretion their juices have no consistency this however is a fact unknown in the dire's workshop although it is a point of primary importance after it is taken the vein is extracted of which we have previously spoken to which it is requisite to add salt 20 ounces to every hundred pounds of juice they are then left to steep for a period not exceeding three days for the fresher they are the greater virtue there is in the liquor it is then set to boil in vessels of tin and every 8 000 pounds ought to be boiled down to 500 pounds of dye by the application of a moderate heat for which purpose the vessel is placed at the end of a long funnel communicating with the furnace while thus boiling the liquor is skimmed from time to time and with it the flesh which necessarily adheres to the veins about the 10th day generally the whole contents of the cauldron are in a liquefied state upon which a fleece from which the grease has been cleansed is plunged into it by way of making trial but until such time as the caller is found to satisfy the wishes of those preparing it the liquor is still kept on the boil the tint that inclines to red is looked upon as inferior to that which is of a blackish hue the wool is left to lie in soak for five hours and then after carding it it is thrown in again until it has fully imbibed the colour of that bright luster which approaches the shining crimson hue of the kermis berry a tint that is particularly valued end of book six chapter 12 book six chapter 13 of Du Bois and Girls Pliny by Pliny the Elder this liberal books recording is in the public domain recording by phone bodies which have a third nature that of the animal and vegetable combined for my own part I am strongly of opinion that there is sense existing in those bodies which have the nature of neither animals nor vegetables but a third which partakes of them both sea nettles and sponges I mean the sea nettle wanders to and fro by night and at night changes its locality these creatures are by nature a sort of fleshy branch and are nurtured upon flesh they have the power of producing a smarting pain just like that caused by the nettle found on land for the purpose of seeking its prey it contracts and stiffens itself to the utmost possible extent and then as a small fish swims past it will suddenly spread out its branches and so seize and devour it at another time it will assume the appearance of being quite withered away and let itself be tossed to and fro by the waves like a piece of seaweed until it happens to touch a fish the moment it does so the fish goes to rub itself against the rock to get rid of the itching immediately upon which the nettle pounces upon it by night also it is on the lookout for scallops and sea urchins when it perceives a hand approaching it it instantly changes its color and contracts itself when touched it produces a burning sensation and if ever so short a time is afforded makes its escape sponges grow on rocks and feed upon shell and other fish and slime it would appear that these creatures too have some intelligence for as soon as they feel the hand about to tear them off they contract themselves and are separated with much greater difficulty they do the same also when the waves buffet them to and fro about tarone it is said that they will survive after they have been detached and that they grow again from the roots which have been left adhering to the rock they'll leave a color like blood upon the rock from which they have been detached especially those which are produced in the 30s of africa the manos is the one that grows the largest size but the softest of all are those found in the vicinity of liscia where the sea is deep and calm they are more particularly soft while those which are found in the helispond are rough and those in a vicinity of malia course when lying in places exposed to the sun they become putrid hence those which are found in deep water are the best while they are alive they are of the same blackish color that they are when saturated with water they adhere to the rock not by one part only nor yet by the whole body and within them there are a number of empty tubes generally four or five in number by means of which it is thought they take their food there are other tubes also but these are closed at the upper extremity and the sort of membrane is supposed to be spread beneath the roots by which they adhere it is well known that sponges are very long lived end of book six chapter 13 book six chapter 14 of the boys and girls pliny by plenty the elder this liberalx recording is in the public domain recording by phone the shark vast numbers of sharks infest the seas in the vicinity of the sponges to the great peril of those who die for them these persons say that the sort of dense cloud gradually thickens over their heads bearing a resemblance to some kind of animal like a flatfish and that pressing downward upon them it prevents them from returning to the surface it is for this reason that they carry stilettos with them very sharp at the point and attach to them by strings for if they did not pierce the object with the help of these it could not be got rid of this however is entirely the result in my opinion of the darkness and their own fears for no person has ever yet been able to find among living creatures the fish cloud or the fish fog the name which they give to this enemy of theirs the divers however have terrible combats with the sharks which attack with avidity the groin the heels and all the whiter parts of the body the only means of ensuring safety is to go boldly to meet them and so by taking the initiative strike them with alarm for in fact this animal is just as much frightened at man as man is at it and they are on quite an equal footing when beneath the water but the moment the diver has reached the surface the danger is much more imminent for he loses the power of boldly meeting his adversary while he is endeavoring to make his way out of the water and his only chance of safety is in his companions who draw him along by a cord that is fastened under his shoulders while he is engaging with the enemy he keeps pulling this cord with his left hand according as there may be any sign of immediate peril while with the right he wields the stiletto which he is using in this defense at first they draw him along at a moderate pace but as soon as they have got him close to the ship if they do not whip him out in an instant with the greatest possible celerity they see him snapped asunder and many a time too the diver even when already drawn out is dragged from their hands through neglecting to aid the efforts of those who are assisting him by rolling up his body in the shape of a bowl the others it is true are in the meantime brandishing their pronged fishbears but the monster has the craftiness to place himself beneath the ship and so wage the warfare in safety consequently every possible care is taken by the divers to look out for the approach of this enemy the surest sign of safety is to see flatfish which never frequent the spots where these noxious monsters are found and for this reason the divers call them sacred end of book six chapter 14 book six chapter 15 of the boys and girls planning by planning the elder this liberalx according is in the public domain recording by phone oyster beds and fish preserves the first person who formed artificial oyster beds was circus orata who established them at baye in the time of lucius crosses the orator just before the marsic war this was done by him not for the gratification of gluttony but as a commercial venture and he can try to make a large income by this exercise of his ingenuity he was the first to invent hanging baths overheating furnaces and after buying villas and trimming them up he would every now and then sell them again he too was the first to a judge to preeminence for delicacy of flavor to the oysters of lake lucrinus for every kind of aquatic animal is superior in one place to what it is in another thus for instance the wolfish of the river tiber is the best that is called between the two bridges and the turbot of ravenna is the most esteemed the murina of sicily the elopes of roads the same too as the other kinds not to go through all the items of the culinary catalogue the british shores had not as yet send their supplies at a time when orata thus anewelt the lucrine oysters at a later period however it was thought worthwhile to fetch oysters all the way from brandisium at a very extremity of italy and in order that there might exist no rivalry between the two flavors a plan has been more recently hit upon of feeding the oysters of brandisium in lake lucrinus famished as they must naturally be after so long a journey in the same age the sinious marina was the first to form preserves for other fish and his example was soon followed by the noble families of the filipi and the hortensii lookalus had a mountain pierced near naples at the greater outlay even than that which had been expended on his villa in order to admit the sea to his preserves for this reason pompe gave him the name of xerxes in a toga footnote xerxes and toga to or the roman xerxes in allusion to xerxes cutting a canal through the isthmus which connected the peninsula of mount athos with chalcedes and the footnote after his death the fish in his preserves were sold for the sum of four million cisterces one hundred and fifty thousand dollars sea heroes was the first person who formed preserves for the marina he lent six thousand of these fishes for the triumphal banquets of seas or the dictator on which occasion he had them duly weighed as he declined to receive the value of them in money or any other commodity his villa which was of a very humble character in the interior sold for four millions of cisterces in consequence of the valuable nature of the slug pond stair next after this there arose a passion for individual fish at bauli in the territory of baye the orator hortensius had some fish preserves in which there was a marina to which he became so much attached as to be supposed to have wept on hearing of its death it was at the same villa that antonia the wife of drusas placed earrings upon a marina which he had become fond of the report of which singular circumstance attracted many visitors to the place fulvius lupinus first formed preserves for seas snails in a territory of tarquinii shortly before the civil war between caesar and pompe he also carefully distinguished them by their several species separating them from one another the white ones were those that are produced in a district of riyate those of alluria were remarkable for the largeness of their size while those from africa were the most prolific those however from the promontory of the sun were the most esteemed of all for the purpose of fattening them he invented a mixture of boiled wine spelt meal and other substances so that fattened periwinkles became quite an object of gastronomy and the art of breeding them was brought to such a pitch of perfection that the shell of a single animal would hold as much as 80 quadrantes 15 quarts this we learn from marcus vero end of book six chapter 15 book six chapter 16 of the boys and girls pliny by pliny the elder this libra books recording is in the public domain recording by phone land fishes there are still some wonderful kinds of fishes which we find mentioned by theo frostas he says that when the water subside which have been admitted for the purposes of irrigation in the vicinity of Babylon there are certain fish which remain in such holes as may contain water from these they come forth for the purpose of feeding moving along by their fins by the aid of a rapid movement of the tail if pursued he says they retreat to their holes and when they have reached them will turn round and make a stand the head is like that of the seafrog while the other parts are similar to those of the gobyo and they have gills like other fish he says also that in the vicinity of Heraclea and Cromla and about the river like us as well as in many parts of the black sea there is one kind of fish which frequents the waters near the banks of the rivers and makes holes for itself in which it lives even when the water retires and the bed of the river is dry for which reason these fishes have to be dug out of the ground and only show by the movement of the body that they are still alive he says also that in the vicinity of the same Heraclea when the river like us ebbs the eggs are left in the mud and that the fish on being produced from these go forth to seek their food by means of a sort of fluttering motion their gills being but very small in consequence of which they are not in need of water it is in this way that eels also can live so long out of water and that their eggs come to maturity on dry land like those of the sea tortoise in the same regions of the black sea he says various kinds of fishes are overtaken by the ice the gobyo more particularly and they only betray signs of life by moving when they have warmth applied by the saucepan all these things however they're very remarkable still admit of some explanation end of book six chapter sixteen book six chapter seventeen of the boys and girls planning by planning the elder this liberalx recording is in the public domain recording by phone how the fish called the anthias is taken it would not be right to omit what is said about the fish called anthias and which i find is looked upon as true by most writers i have already mentioned the caledonia certain islands off the coast of asia in the midst of a sea full of crags and reefs these parts are much frequented by this fish which is very speedily taken by the employment of a single method of catching it a fisherman pushes out in a little boat dressed in a color resembling that of his boat and every day for several days together at the same hour he sails over the same space while doing which he throws a quantity of bait into the sea whatever is thrown from the boat is an object of suspicion to the fish who keep at distance from what causes them so much alarm but often this has been repeated to consider a world number of times one of the fish reassured by coming habituated to the scene at last snaps at the bait the movements of this one are watched with the greatest care and attention for in it are centered all the hopes of the fishermen as it is to be the means of securing them their prey nor is it difficult to recognize it seeing that for some days it is the only one that ventures to come near debate at last however it finds some others to follow its example and by degrees it is better and better attended till at last it brings with it shawls enumerable the older ones at length becoming quite accustomed to the fisherman easily recognize him and will even take food from his hands upon this the man throws out a little way beyond the tips of his fingers a hook concealed in a bait and smuggles them out one by one standing in the shadow of the boat and whipping them out of the water with a slight jerk that the others may not perceive it meantime another fisherman is ready inside to receive them upon pieces of cloth in order that no floundering about or other noise may scare the others away it is of importance to know which has been the betrayer of the others and not to take it otherwise the shawl will take to flight and appear no more for the future there is a story that a fisherman who quarreled once with his mate throughout a hook to one of these leading fishes which he easily recognized and so captured it with a malicious intent but the fish was recognized in the market by the other fisherman against whom he had conceived this malice who accordingly brought an action against him for damages and as musianus adds he was condemned to pay them on the hearing of the case these anthea it is said when they see one of their number taken with a hook cut the line with the serrated spines which they have on the back the one that is held fast stretching it out as much as it can to enable them to cut it end of book six chapter 17 book six chapter 18 of The Boys and Girls Pliny by Pliny the Elder this liver fox recording is in the public domain recording by phone the echinacea and the torpedo following the proper order of things we have now arrived at a culminating point of the wonders manifested to us by the operations of nature for what is there more unruly than the sea with its winds its tornadoes and its tempests and yet in what department of her works has nature been more seconded by the ingenuity of man than in this by his inventions of sales and of oars in addition to this we are struck with the ineffable might displayed by the oceans tides as they constantly ebb and flow and so regulate the currents of the sea as though they were the waters of one vast river and yet all these forces though acting in unison and impelling in the same direction a single fish and that of a very diminutive size the fish known as the echinacea possesses the power of counteracting winds may blow and storms may rage and yet the echinacea controls their fury restrains their mighty force and bids ships stand still in their career a result which no cables no anchors from their ponderousness quite incapable of being weighed could ever have produced a fish bridles the impetuous violence of the deep and subdues the frantic rage of the universe and all this by no effort of its own no act of resistance on its part no act at all in fact but that of adhering to the bark trifling as this object would appear it suffices to counteract all these forces combined and to forbid the ship to pass onward in its way fleets armed for war pile up towers and bull works on their decks in order that upon the deep even men may fight from behind ramparts as it were but alas for human vanity when their prowess beaked as they are with bronze and with iron and armed for the onset can thus be arrested and riveted to the spot by a little fish no more than half a foot in length at the battle of actium it is said a fish of this kind stopped the praetorian ship of antonius in its course at the moment that he was hastening from ship to ship to encourage and exhort his men and so compelled him to leave it and go on board another footnote an absurd tradition invented to palliate the disgrace of his defeat and the footnote so that the fleet of Caesar gained the advantage in the onset and charged with the redoubled impetuosity in our own time too one of these fish arrested the ship of the emperor Caius Caligula in its course when he was returning from astura to antonium and thus as the result proved that an insignificant fish give presage of great events for no sooner had the emperor returned to Rome than he was pierced by the weapons of his own soldiers nor did the sudden stoppage of the ship long remain a mystery the cause being perceived upon finding that out of the whole fleet the emperor's five banked galley was the only one that was making no way the moment this was discovered some of the sailors plunged into the sea and on making search about the ship's sides they found an echinace adhering to the rudder upon its being shown to the emperor he strongly expressed his indignation that such an obstacle as this should have impeded his progress and rendered powerless the hearty endeavors of 400 men particularly as the fish had no such power when brought on board footnote 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 superstitious credulity and that the rowers as well as the diving sailors were in the secret and the footnote according to the persons who examined it on that occasion and who have seen it since the echinace bears a strong resemblance to a large slug some of our own authors have given this fish the later name of mora footnote delay and the footnote if we had not this illustration by the agency of the echinace would it not have been quite sufficient only decide the instance of the torpedo another inhabitant also of to see as a manifestation of the mighty powers of nature from a considerable distance even and if only touched with the end of a spear or a staff this fish has the property of benumbing even the most vigorous arm and of riveting the feet of the runner however swift he may be in the race end of book six chapter eighteen book six chapter nineteen of the boys and girls plenty by plenty the elder this libra fox recording is in the public domain the instincts and peculiarities of fishes the statements which all that has made us to the instincts of fish in the work of his known as the treaties on fishes appears to me truly marvelous footnote of this work begun by all that during his banishment in pontes and probably never completed only a fragment of one hundred and thirty two lines has come down to us and the footnote the scarce for instance when enclosed in the wicker pipe makes no effort to escape with its hand nor does it attempt to thrust its muscle between the osuers but turning its tail towards them it enlarges the orifices with repeated blows there from and so makes its escape backwards should too another scarce from without chance to see it does struggling within the kite it will take the tail of the other in its mouth and so aid it in its efforts to escape the lupus again when surrounded with the net furrows the sand with its tail and so conceals itself until the net has passed over it the murana trusting in the slippery smoothness of its rounded back boldly faces the meshes of the net and by repeatedly wriggling its body makes its escape the polyp makes for the hooks and without swallowing debate clasps it with its feelers nor does it quit its hold until it has eaten off the bait or perceives itself being drawn out of the water by the rod the mullet too is aware that within the bait there is a hook concealed and is on its guard against the ambush still however so great is its ferocity that it beats the hook with its tail and strikes away from it debate the lupus again shows less foresight and address but repentance at its imprudence arms it with mighty strength for when called by the hook it flounders from side to side and so widens the wound till at last the insidious hook falls from its mouth the murana not only swallows the hook but catches at the line with its teeth and so gnaws it asunder the anthias ovid says the moment it finds itself caught by the hook turns its body with its back downwards upon which there was a sharp knife-like fin and so cuts the line asunder trivious Niger informs us that whenever the lulligo is seen darting above the surface of the water it pretends a change of weather that the sypheus or in other words the swordfish has a sharp pointed muzzle with which it is able to pierce the sides of a ship and send it to the bottom instances of which have been known near court a place in moritania not far from the river lixus he says too that the lulligo sometimes starts above the surface in such fast numbers as to sink the ships upon which they fall at many of the country seats belonging to the emperor the fish eat from the hand footnote marshal book four epistle 30 speaks of this being the case at the fish bonds of bayet where the emperor's fish were in the habit of making their appearance when called by name and the footnote in the fountain of jupiter at labranda there are eels which eat from the hand and wear earrings footnote in oars he probably means ornaments suspended from the gills a thing which in the case of eels might be done and the footnote at myra too in lycia the fish in the fountain of apollo known as syrium appear and give oracular presages when thrice summoned by the sound of a flute if they seize the flesh thrown to them with avidity it is a good omen for the person who consults them but if on the other hand they flap at it with their tails it is considered an evil presage at hyrapolis in syria footnote the seat of the worship of the half fish goddess adirga a tergates astarte or darsito and the footnote the fish in the lake of venus obey the voice of the officers of the temple bedecked with ornaments of gold they come at their call fall upon them while they are scratched and open their mouths so wide as to admit of the insertion of the hand end of book six chapter nineteen book six chapter 20 of the boys and girls pliny by the pliny the elder this libra fox recording is in the public domain recording by phone coral in the same degree that people in our part of the world set a value upon the pearls of india due to people of india prize coral it being the prevailing taste in each nation respectively that constitutes the value of things coral is produced in the red sea also but of a more worthy you than ours it is to be found also in the persian gulf where it is known by the name of but the most highly esteemed of all is that produced in the vicinity of the islands called stocades in the gallic gulf and near the eolian islands and the town of drapana in the sea of sicily coral is to be found growing too at era three where it is intensely red but soft and consequently little valued its form is that of a shrub and its color green footnote the or freshness reckons coral among the precious stones and pliny would seem to be at a loss whether to consider it as an animal or a vegetable and the footnote its berries are white and soft while underwater but the moment they are removed from it they become hard and red resembling the berries of cultivated cornell in size and appearance they say that while alive if it is only touched by a person it will immediately become as hard as stone and hence it is that the greatest pains are taken to prevent this by tearing it up from the bottom with nets or else cutting it short with a sharp edged instrument of iron from which lost circumstance it is generally supposed to have received its name of corallium footnote from the greek curaitai cut short and the footnote the reddest coral and the most branchy is held in the highest esteem but at the same time it must not be rough or hard like stone nor yet on the other hand should it be full of holes or hollow the berries of coral are no less esteemed by the men in india than are the pearls of that country by the ladies among us their soothsayers too and diviners look upon coral as an amulet in doubt with sacred properties and a sure preservative against all dangers hence it is that they equally value it as an ornament and as an object of devotion before it was known in what estimation coral was held by the people of india the goals were in the habit of adorning their swords shields and helmets with it but at the present day owing to the values set upon it as an article of exportation it has become so extremely rare that it is seldom to be seen even in the regions that produce it branches of coral hung at the neck of infants are thought to act as a preservative against danger calcined pulverized and taken in wine or if there are symptoms of fever in water it acts as a soporific it resists the action of fire a considerable time before it is calcined end of book six chapter 20 book six chapter 21 of the boys and girls plany by planning the elder this liver folks recording is in the public domain recording by phone the various kinds of oysters the palm has been awarded to oysters at our tables as a most exquisite dish oysters love fresh water and spots where numerous rivers discharge themselves into the sea generally speaking they increase in size with the increase of the moon but it is at the beginning of summer more particularly and when the rays of the sun penetrate the shallow waters that they are swollen with an abundance of milk footnote it is at the spawning season that this milky liquid is found in the oyster a period at which the meat of the fish is considered unwholesome as food we have a saying that the oyster should never be eaten in the months without an hour that the same two was the opinion in the middle ages is proved by the leonine line that is in the odd months you may your oysters eat end of footnote oysters are of various colors in spain they are red in illyricum of a tawny hue and that sir say black both in meat and shell but in every country those oysters are the most highly esteemed that are compact without being slimy from their secretions and are remarkable more for their thickness than their breath they should never be taken in either muddy or sandy spots but from a firm hard bottom the meat should be compressed and not of a fleshy consistence and the oyster should be free from fringed edges and lying wholly in the cavity of the shell persons of experience in these matters add another characteristic a fine purple thread they say should run round the margins of the beard this being looked upon as a sign of superior quality and obtaining for them their name of calibre phara footnote literally having beautiful eyebrows and the footnote oysters are all the better for traveling and being removed to new waters thus for example the oysters of brandisium it is thought when fed in the waters of awareness both retain their own native juices and acquire the flavor of those of lake lucranus new sianus who is really a connoisseur says the oysters of sysicas are larger than those of lake lucranus fresher than those of the british coast footnote those of rutupe the present rich brie in kent were highly esteemed by the romans see juvenile sat for one 141 and the footnote sweeter than those of medulli more tasty than those of emphasis more plump than those of lucas less slimy than those of corifas more delicate than those of istria and whiter than those of cersei for all this however it is a fact well ascertained that there are no oysters fresher or more delicate than those of cersei last mentioned according to the historians of the expedition of alexander there were oysters found in the indian sea a foot in diameter footnote they probably gave the name of oyster to some other shellfish of large size in cook's voyages breed of cockles in the pacific which two men were unable to carry and the footnote among ourselves too the nomenclature of some spendthrift and gourmand has found for certain oysters the name of tridacna footnote from tris thrice and sukayo to bite and the footnote wishing it to be understood thereby that they are so large as to require three bites in eating them we will take the present opportunity of stating all the medicinal properties that are attributed to oysters they are singularly refreshing to the stomach and tend to restore the appetite footnote adgeson however remarks that many persons are unable to digest oysters in an uncooked state and the footnote luxury too has imparted to them an additional coolness by burying them in snow thus making a medley of the produce of the tops of mountains and the bottom of the sea calcined oyster shells mixed with honey are good sprinkled upon burns and are highly esteemed as a denti freeze and of book six chapter 21 recording by phone and of the boys and girls Pliny volume three by Pliny the Elder