And then, besides, even if we had not this illustration by the agency of the echeneïs, would it not have been quite sufficient only to cite the instance of the torpedo,[15] another inhabitant also of the sea, 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 staff, this fish has the property of benumbing even the most vigorous arm, and of rivetting the feet of the runner, however swift he may be in the race. If, upon considering this fresh illustration, we find ourselves compelled to admit that there is in existence a certain power which, by the very exhalations[16] and, as it were, emanations therefrom, is enabled to affect the members of the human body,[17] what are we not to hope for from the remedial influences which Nature has centred in all animated beings?
CHAP. 3.—THE SEA HARE: FIVE REMEDIES.
No less wonderful, too, are the particulars which we find stated relative to the sea-hare.[18] Taken with the food or drink, it is a poison to some persons; while to others, again, the very sight of it is venomous.[19] Indeed, if a woman in a state of pregnancy so much as looks upon one of these fishes, she is immediately seized with nausea and vomiting—a proof that the injury has reached the stomach—and abortion is the ultimate result. The proper preservative against these baneful effects is the male fish, which is kept dried for the purpose in salt, and worn in a bracelet upon the arm. And yet this same fish, while in the sea, is not injurious, by its contact even. The only animal that eats it without fatal consequences, is the mullet;[20] the sole perceptible result being that its flesh is rendered more tender thereby, but deteriorated in flavour, and consequently not so highly esteemed.
Persons when poisoned[21] by the sea-hare smell strongly of the fish—the first sign, indeed, by which the fact of their having been so poisoned is detected. Death also ensues at the end of as many days as the fish has lived: hence it is that, as Licinius Macer informs us, this is one of those poisons which have no definite time for their operation. In India,[22] we are assured, the sea-hare is never taken alive; and, we are told that, in those parts of the world, man, in his turn, acts as a poison upon the fish, which dies instantly in the sea, if it is only touched with the human finger. There, like the rest of the animals, it attains a much larger size than it does with us.
CHAP. 4.—MARVELS OF THE RED SEA.
Juba, in those books descriptive of Arabia, which he has dedicated to Caius Cæsar, the son of Augustus, informs us that there are mussels[23] on those coasts, the shells of which are capable of holding three semisextarii; and that, on one occasion, a whale,[24] six hundred feet in length and three hundred and sixty feet broad,[25] made its way up a river of Arabia, the blubber of which was bought up by the merchants there. He tells us, too, that in those parts they anoint their camels with the grease of all kinds of fish, for the purpose of keeping off the gad-flies[26] by the smell.
CHAP. 5. (2.)—THE INSTINCTS OF FISHES.
The statements which Ovid has made as to the instincts of fish, in the work[27] of his known as the “Halieuticon,”[28] appear to me truly marvellous. The scarus,[29] for instance, when enclosed in the wicker kype, makes no effort to escape with its head, nor does it attempt to thrust its muzzle between the oziers; but turning its tail towards them, it enlarges the orifices with repeated blows therefrom, and so makes its escape backwards. Should,[30] too, another scarus, from without, chance to see it thus struggling within the kype, it will take the tail of the other in its mouth, and so aid it in its efforts to escape. The lupus,[31] again, when surrounded with the net, furrows[32] the sand with its tail, and so conceals itself, until the net has passed over it. The muræna,[33] trusting in the slippery smoothness[34] of its rounded back, boldly faces the meshes of the net, and by repeatedly wriggling its body, makes its escape. The polyp[35] makes for the hooks, and, without swallowing the bait, 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,[36] too, is aware[37] that within the bait there is a hook concealed, and is on its guard against the ambush; still however, so great is its voracity, that it beats the hook with its tail, and strikes away from it the bait. The lupus,[38] again, shows less foresight and address, but repentance at its imprudence arms it with mighty strength; for, when caught 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 muræna[39] not only swallows the hook, but catches at the line with its teeth, and so gnaws it asunder. The anthias,[40] Ovid says, the moment it finds itself caught by the hook, turns its body with its back downwards, upon which there is a sharp knife-like fin, and so cuts the line asunder.
According to Licinius Macer, the muræna is of the female sex only, and is impregnated by serpents, as already[41] mentioned; and hence it is that the fishermen, to entice it from its retreat, and catch it, make a hissing noise in imitation of the hissing of a serpent. He states, also, that by frequently beating the water it is made to grow fat, that a blow with a stout stick will not kill it, but that a touch with a stalk of fennel-giant[42] is instantly fatal. That in the case of this animal, the life is centred in the tail, there can be no doubt, as also that it dies immediately on that part of the body being struck; while, on the other hand, there is considerable difficulty in killing it with a blow upon the head. Persons who have come in contact with the razor-fish[43] smell of iron.[44] The hardest of all fishes, beyond a doubt, is that known as the “orbis:”[45] it is spherical, destitute[46] of scales, and all head.[47]