THE FEELERS OF THE BARBED MULLET 



are cooked and served, and we do not ask to regale 

 ourselves in addition with the spectacle of their agony, 

 no matter how brilliant the colour -effects it may 

 produce. 



However, the spectacle can still be seen. It occurs 

 every time the fish is caught, as it is taken out of the 

 net and dies. The fishermen turn it to their advantage ; 

 they scale the mullet to brighten up their scarlet 

 colouring, and to make them more attractive when they 

 are offered for sale. I myself have seen it several times 

 when I have been catching this fish; and, when I have 

 seen and thought about it, I have understood the 

 attraction it had for those Romans of the empire, 

 whose luxury and sensuality have never been surpassed 

 and seldom equalled. 



In the morning when the nets put out the night 

 before near the rocks of the coast are taken up, 

 mullet, still alive and full of vigour, are often found 

 in them, especially in the Mediterranean. It is easy 

 to pick out a few and put them aside for examination, 

 laying them on a white cloth or a light-coloured dish. 

 They die there, as they died on the table of the ancient 

 Romans; they leap about in their struggles, periods 

 of quietness alternating with their leapings; until at 

 last they die, and then they show the changes of colour 

 which made them famous. 



They have two colouring substances, or two pigments, 

 in their skin, one a brownish grey that is fairly dark, 

 the other a pure and brilliant pink. Both are dis- 

 seminated in fine granules throughout cellular elements 

 which are capable, according to the stimulation they 

 receive, of expansion or contraction. According to 

 the phases of these expansions or contractions, the 

 hues are altered, not by changing shade but by changing 

 vigour. The purple tones can vary from the brightest 

 carmine to the palest rose, almost to white. Again, 

 the brown tones may go down through every shade of 

 grey until they almost fade out completely. These 

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