12 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Croesus gave to L. Domitius, who laughingly expressed his astonishment 

 that any one could weep over a dead muraena; it might, perhaps, be 

 thought strange, he said, that he, Croesus, shed tears over a dead niurae- 

 na,but it was far more strange that he, Domitius, did not shed any tears 

 over his three dead wives. (Domitius had three wives, whom he is re- 

 ported to have poisoned in order to obtain their property.) 



Certain ladies showed great affection for mursenas ; thus Antonia, the 

 daughter of Drusus, adorned a tame rnuraena with gold rings and brace- 

 lets. 



Muraenas eat human flesh, and the cruelty of Vedius Pollio in this 

 respect seems well established. He placed those of his slaves who had 

 been condemned to death in his fish-pond, in such a manner that they 

 could not be eaten at once, but were gradually torn to pieces by the 

 teeth of the inursenas. It is said that the muraena breathes through its 

 tail, and therefore dies sooner when struck on the tail than when struck 

 on the head. 



D. Ambrosias and several other ancient writers assert that snakes 

 mate with niuraenas, and that the latter entice the snakes to the seaside 

 by a certain peculiar whistling sound. Athenaeus does not believe this, 

 and in corroboration of his opinion quotes from a work on popular su- 

 perstitions, written by Andreas. Muraenas spawn all the year round, and 

 of this kind, the Mums, the largest and strongest is of a uniform color, 

 very much resembling that of the larch; so at least, Aristotle affirms: 

 Pliny calls this kind Myrinus. There is also a river Muraena, which is 

 much smaller and has only one point; and which according toDorianus 

 is the same that Athenaeus calls gallaria, and I think that Athenaeus 

 must have meant by this smaller kind what we call lamprey and not 

 the sea-fish. Iresius assures us that the flesh of the muraena is not less 

 nourishing than that of the eel, but on account of a certain hardness and 

 moisture it is very indigestible. It is, however, much prized on account 

 of its delicious entrails, with which, as Lampridius tells us in his history, 

 Heliogabalus, while far from any sea, regaled his court and the whole 

 rural population. 



THE COD FAMILY. 



Of the cod family, our northern codfish was certainly not known 

 to the ancients. The kind best known and most highly prized was the 

 Asellus, which, in all probability, is our Gadus merluccius. At all events, 

 Jovius tells us that the fish which the Ligurians call asellus was named by 

 the Romans squamus, or merluza. Pliny informs us how highly this fish 

 was prized. There were two kinds. The larger one is named, by Jovius, 

 banchus, and reaches a length of two feet. The smaller kind he calls 

 callarius. Pliny says that they have a small stone in their head, and 

 praises their delicate flavor. Galenus maintains that its flavor strongly 

 resembles that of the codfish. Aristotle relates that during the great 

 heat of summer they hide themselves, and he is unable to tell how often 



