CHAP. 41. (25.)—THE ECHENEIS, AND ITS USES IN ENCHANTMENTS.
There is a very small fish[2495] that is in the habit of living among the rocks, and is known as the echeneis.[2496] It is believed that when this has attached itself to the keel of a ship its progress is impeded, and that it is from this circumstance that it takes its name.[2497] For this reason, also, it has a disgraceful repute, as being employed in love philtres,[2498] and for the purpose of retarding judgments and legal proceedings—evil properties, which are only compensated by a single merit that it possesses—it is good for staying fluxes of the womb in pregnant women, and preserves the fœtus up to birth: it is never used, however, for food.[2499] Aristotle[2500] is of opinion that this fish has feet, so strong is the resemblance, by reason of the form and position of the fins.
Mucianus speaks of a murex[2501] of larger size than the purple, with a head that is neither rough nor round; and the shell of which is single, and falls in folds on either side.[2502] He tells us, also, that some of these creatures once attached themselves to a ship freighted with children[2503] of noble birth, who were being sent by Periander for the purpose of being castrated, and that they stopped its course in full sail; and he further says, that the shell-fish which did this service are duly honoured in the temple of Venus,[2504] at Cnidos. Trebius 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 in salt, and applied, it is able to draw up gold which has fallen into a well, however deep it may happen to be.[2505]