Baron Cuvier on the Mullets of Europe. 61 



made on metal or on transparent bodies, diminishes the refrac- 

 tive power of the intermediate spaces. On the hypothesis of 

 emission, this abstraction of the reflecting matter may be re- 

 garded as equivalent to a diminution of the density of the sur- 

 face ; while on the undulatory hypothesis, the effect may be 

 ascribed to the condition of the ether arising from a variation 

 in its density or elasticity towards the extremities of a number 

 of salient points. 



Art. VII. — On the Mullets of Europe. By Baron Cuvier.* 



The fishes named r^iyXri by the Greeks and Mullus by the 

 Romans, are without contradiction those which have been 

 most celebrated in the writings of the ancients for their excel- 

 lence as food and for the beauty of their colours ; and it was 

 with regard to these fishes that Roman luxury occupied itself 

 with the greatest solicitude. 



The name Triglia, which is applied to the mullet in many 

 parts of Italy, is not the only reason for supposing that the 

 mullet was the r^i^Xri of the Greeks. Pliny translates this 

 term by Mullus^ quoting a passage from Aristotle, where it is 

 said that the Trigla spawns thrice in the year. The mullus 

 of the Romans may be safely regarded as the rouget-harhet 

 of the French {Mullus harbatus^ Lin.) ; for Pliny characte- 

 rizes it distinctly by the double beard or cirri of the under jaw, 

 and by its red colour. This beard is also mentioned in two 

 places by Athenaeus. 



The name r^iyM has been derived from the triple spawning 

 attributed to these fishes, and this name in its turn occasioned 

 the species to be dedicated to the triple Hecate or to Diana, 

 surnamed r^iyXrimg^ (triple-eyed) ; from whence, by another of 

 the inductions too habitual with the Greeks, the Trigla have 

 acquired the reputation of being anti-aphrodisiac. 



The name Mullus has, however, been referred to another ori« 

 gin. It is derived, say some, from the colour of the fish re- 

 sembling that of the sandals worn by the Alban kings, called 



^ From VHistoire Naiurelk des Poissons, par Baron Cuvier et M. Valen- 

 ciennes, vol. iii. Paris, 1829. 



