[1415]. Dioscor. v. 138.
[1416]. In the heads of certain fish, jewels are said to have been sometimes found. Athen. iii. 70.
[1417]. Strabo relates an excellent anecdote in illustration of this passion of his countrymen. Speaking of the city of Iasos, situated in an island of the same name on the coast of Caria, whose inhabitants drew their chief subsistence from their maritime pursuits, and were abundantly supplied with fish, he adds,—that once upon a time a celebrated musician was performing in public before the inhabitants of this city: suddenly the bell which announced the opening of the fish-market was heard to sound. Away, in an instant, scampered the Iasians, eager to secure their favourite dainty, all except a single individual, who appeared to enjoy the performance of the citharador. Flattered by this mark of his taste or politeness, the musician approached the man, and said, “I am greatly obliged by the attention you have shown me, and have to congratulate you on your love of the art; for all the rest, as soon as they heard the bell ring, ran away.”—“What then! has the bell rung?” inquired the apparent listener, who happened to be deaf. “Yes,” answered the musician. “Then good luck be with you!” cried the man, and rising hastily from his seat, he rushed after his townsmen. Strab. xiv. 2. t. iii. p. 203, seq.
[1418]. The observations made by Spallanzani on the eel and lamprey fisheries of Stromboli, may, with equal propriety perhaps, be applied to those which are found along the roots of Ætna: “The fish here,” he says, “are very plentiful and large, especially the sea-eels and murænas; and, during my short stay in this island, I saw a greater quantity taken than during the whole time of my continuance in all the Eolian isles. They are, likewise, of an excellent taste. This abundance, I am inclined to attribute to the volcano, which has continued incessantly burning from time immemorial; and which, extending to an immense depth, must necessarily communicate a part of its heat to the submarine base of the mountain, and to the waters that surround it, in the gentle warmth of which the fish find a more agreeable place of resort, and perhaps propagate in greater numbers than elsewhere.” Travels in the Two Sicilies, iv. 125.
[1419]. Plut. Timol. § 20. In catching this fish it was customary to disturb the waters. Schol. Aristoph. Eq. 862. In the polypus fisheries, besides the difficulty of detaching the animal from its place, there was supposed to be another, arising from the power it possesses of assuming, like the chameleon, the colour of the surrounding rocks. Lucian. Dial. Deor. Marin. iv. § 3.
[1420]. This fish served for food as well as a dye. Luc. Cynic. § 11. The cuttle-fish also was eaten as now. Catapl. § 7.
[1421]. Theoph. Hist. Plant. iv. 6. 5. Poll. i. 97.
[1422]. Aristot. Hist. Animal. ix. 37. p. 279. 20. Bekk.
[1423]. Dutens, Origine des Découvertes, 145.
[1424]. Aristot. Problem. xxxii. 5.