Olaus Magnus writes of “The cruelty of some Fish, and the kindness of others. There is a fish of the kind of Sea-Dogfish, called Boloma, in Italian, and in Norway, Haafisck, that will set upon a man swimming in the Salt-Waters, so greedily, in Troops, unawares, that he will sink a man to the bottome, not only by his biting, but also by his weight; and he will eat his more tender parts, as his nostrils, fingers, &c., until such time as the Ray come to revenge these injuries; which runs thorow the Waters armed with her natural fins, and with some violence drives away these fish that set upon the drown’d man, and doth what he can to urge him to swim out. And he also keeps the man, until such time as his spirit being quite gone; and after some days, as the Sea naturally purgeth itself, he is cast up. This miserable spectacle is seen on the Coasts of Norway when men go to wash themselves, namely, strangers and Marriners that are ignorant of the dangers, leap out of their ships into the sea. For these Dogfish, or Boloma, lie hid under the ships riding at Anchor as Water Rams, that they may catch men, their malicious natures stirring them to it.”
The Sea Dragon.
Of the Ray tribe of fishes, the Sea Dragon is the most frightful-looking, but we know next to nothing about it. Pliny only cursorily mentions it thus:—“The Sea Dragon again, if caught, and thrown on the sand, works out a hole for itself with its muzzle, with the most wonderful celerity.” Olaus Magnus simply copies Pliny almost word for word. Gesner, from whom I have taken this illustration, merely classes it among the Rays, and gives no further information about it; neither does Aldrovandus, from whom I have taken another picture.
The Sting Ray.
Pliny mentions the Sting Ray, and ascribes to it marvellous powers, which it does not possess:—“There is nothing more to be dreaded than the sting which protrudes from the tail of the Trygon, by our people known as the Pastinaca, a weapon five inches in length. Fixing this in the root of a tree, the fish is able to kill it; it can pierce armour, too, just as though with an arrow, and to the strength of iron it adds all the corrosive qualities of poison.”
Senses of Fishes.
He also tells us about the senses of fishes, and first of their hearing:—“Among the marine animals, it is not probable that Oysters enjoy the sense of hearing, but it is said that immediately a noise is made, the Solen (razor-sheath) will sink to the bottom; it is for this reason, too, that silence is observed by persons while fishing at sea. Fishes have neither organs of hearing, nor yet the exterior orifice. And yet it is quite certain that they do hear, for it is a well-known fact, that in some fish-ponds they are in the habit of being assembled to be fed by the clapping of the hands. In the fish-ponds, too, that belong to the Emperor, the fish are in the habit of coming, each kind, as it hears