On ihe Petromyzon Marinu84 79 



power of suction ; while the circumstance of its circular jaws 

 coming in close contact with the surface of the body excludes 

 the external air within the cavity of the mouth, and so adhereg 

 like the hand placed on the cup of an air-pump. It is from 

 this remarkable property, that its scientific name has been im- 

 posed*. Its vulgar name, lamprey, from lampetra, has a simi- 

 lar derivation. By the Romans it was named muraena. As 

 this fish was well known and highly prized by the ancients, there 

 is none that has been so frequently described and alluded to* 

 Aristotle, PUny, Tacitus, Columella, iElian, Seneca, and Oppian, 

 have mentioned its properties and habits, which correspond 

 exactly with those I have described above. Pliny says, in the 

 northern parts of France, and consequently contiguous to the 

 British Isles, the lampreys have seven spots in the jaws, re- 

 sembling the constellation of the plough, evidently the same as 

 the eyes, which vulgar opinion assigns to the fishf. Their ex- 

 treme voracity was such, that criminals were thrown among 

 them to be devoured. Seneca relates, that Vedius Pollio, a 

 Roman knight, ordered his seryant, who had broken u crystal 

 vase, to be thrown into a large pond of lampreys J ; and Colu- 

 mella writes, that they were sometimes seized with a rabid fury; 

 that resembled canine madness ; in the access of which, they 

 seized upon other fish, so that it was impossible to keep them 

 in the same pond § ; and to account for this extraordinary fero- 

 city, Oppian and others assert, that the lamprey is impregnated 

 by a serpent ; the one issuing from the sea, and the other rush- 

 ing down to the rocks, inflamed with madness, to consummate 

 the impregnation ; and adds, that the extraordinary intercourse 

 was effected by the lamprey seizing the serpent's head in its 



* Petromyzon, a tst^ov, saxura, and /^v^eta, sugere. 



t In Gallia septentrionale mursenis omnibus dextra in maxilla septenae 

 maculae ad formam septentrionis aureo colore fulgent. 



Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. ix. cap. 39. 



X Fregerat unus ex servis crystallinum ejus ; rapi eum Vedius jussit, 

 nee vulgari quadam morte periturum, muraenis objici jubebatur quas 

 ingens piscina continebat. — Seneca de Ira, lib. ii. cap. 40. 



§ Commisceri eas cum alterius notae piscibus non placet, quasi rabie 

 vexantur quod huic generi velut canino solet accidere. Saevitia perse- 

 quuntur squamosos plurimosque mandendo consumunt. 



Columella de Me Busticdj lib. ix. cap. 1 7. 



