CHAPTER IX 



THE POISON OF THE MURRY AND OTHER 

 MARINE ANIMALS 



For many years the murry has been credited with 

 unpleasant characteristics; it has been notorious rather 

 than famous. You may remember the story of Pollio, 

 that extravagant and cruel Roman, who threw his 

 slaves to feed the murry in his fishponds. Fish that feed 

 on human flesh they have been considered ever since, 

 and to most people that is all they mean today. The 

 species to which they belong is none too common, at 

 any rate in our part of the world and in temperate 

 seas, and consequently is not often seen in the fish 

 markets. If we are determined to find them, we must 

 go to the Mediterranean. In warmer waters they 

 are, however, much more common. To us, their 

 very rarity, the mystery of that rarity, add to the tragic 

 element that shrouds their name. So, in an aquarium, 

 their tank has always many visitors. As soon as the 

 label attached to it is noticed, there is a rush to see what 

 these mysterious fish are really like. 



There is indeed something about them which 

 justifies the interest they arouse. In the soft light of 

 the water, appearing from holes in the rocks, there 

 emerge several delicately shaped brownish heads set 

 on thick necks, with yellow markings. There is 

 nothing more to be seen: the rest is invisible, hidden 

 beneath the rock. These are the murry. Frequently, 

 several of them live together in the same hollow, and 

 their heads and necks all appear at the same time, 

 some showing more than others. 



They are all alike. A pointed, ferrety snout; a 

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