CHAP. 10.—WHEN SEA-FISH WERE FIRST EATEN BY THE PEOPLE OF ROME. THE ORDINANCE OF KING NUMA AS TO FISH.
Cassius Hemina informs us that sea-fish have been in use at Rome from the time of its foundation. I will give his own words, however, upon the subject:—“Numa ordained that fish without[69] scales should not be served up at the Festivals of the Gods; a piece of frugality, the intention of which was, that the banquets, both public and private, as well as the repasts laid before the couches[70] of the gods, might be provided at a smaller expense than formerly: it being also his wish to preclude the risk that the caterers for the sacred banquets would spare no expense in buying provisions, and so forestall the market.”
CHAP. 11.—CORAL: FORTY-THREE REMEDIES AND OBSERVATIONS.
In the same degree that people in our part of the world set a value upon the pearls of India—a subject on which we have already spoken[71] on the appropriate occasion at sufficient length—do the 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 swarthy hue than ours. It is to be found also in the Persian Gulf, where it is known by the name of “iace.” But the most highly-esteemed of all, is that produced in the vicinity of the islands called Stœchades,[72] in the Gallic Gulf, and near the Æolian Islands and the town of Drepana in the Sea of Sicily. Coral is to be found growing, too, at Graviscæ, and off the coast of Neapolis in Campania: as also at Erythræ, where it is intensely red, but soft, and consequently little valued.
Its form is that of a shrub,[73] and its colour green: its berries are white and soft while under water, but the moment they are removed from it, they become hard and red, resembling the berries of cultivated cornel 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 last circumstance it is generally supposed to have received its name of “curalium.”[74] 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 females among us: their soothsayers, too, and diviners look upon coral as an amulet endowed with sacred properties,[75] 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 Gauls were in the habit of adorning their swords, shields, and helmets with it; but at the present day, owing to the value 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,[76] are thought to act as a preservative against danger. Calcined, pulverized, and taken in water, coral gives relief to patients suffering from griping pains in the bowels, affections of the bladder, and urinary calculi. Similarly 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.
There is also a statement made that if this medicament is frequently taken internally, the spleen will be gradually consumed. Powdered coral, too, is on excellent remedy for patients who bring up or spit blood. Calcined coral is used as an ingredient in compositions for the eyes, being productive of certain astringent and cooling effects: it makes flesh, also, in the cavities left by ulcers, and effaces scars upon the skin.
CHAP. 12.—THE ANTIPATHIES AND SYMPATHIES WHICH EXIST BETWEEN CERTAIN OBJECTS. THE HATREDS MANIFESTED BY CERTAIN AQUATIC ANIMALS. THE PASTINACA: EIGHT REMEDIES. THE GALEOS: FIFTEEN REMEDIES. THE SUR-MULLET: FIFTEEN REMEDIES.
In reference to that repugnance which exists between certain things, known to the Greeks as “antipathia,” there is nothing more venomous[77] than the pastinaca, a sea-fish which kills trees even with its sting, as already[78] stated. And yet, poisonous as it is, the galeos[79] pursues it; a fish which, though it attacks other marine animals as well, manifests an enmity to the pastinaca in particular, just as on dry land the weasel does to serpents; with such avidity does it go in pursuit of what is poisonous even! Persons stung by the pustinaca find a remedy in the flesh of the galeos, as also in that of the sur-mullet and the vegetable production known as laser.[80]