MYTHS AND LEGENDS 427 



to devour him though he be never so hungry." As a matter 

 of actual fact, a small Tench is regarded by many anglers as 

 an excellent bait for Pike in certain locaUties. Its heahng 

 powers were also supposed to extend to man: apphed to the 

 hands or feet of a sick person it cured him of fever, and jaundice, 

 headache, toothache, and other complaints were treated m a 

 similar manner. In ancient times fish played an important 

 part in the pharmacopeia of the physician, and Mr. Radclitte 

 tells us that, in one book alone of PHny, fish are recommended 

 as remedies, internal or external, no less than (according to 

 his reckoning) three hundred and forty-two times. Many ot 

 these curious remedies have been collected together by Mr. 

 Radchffe, and may be found in his book. Fishing from the Earliest 

 Times. Among other medicinal uses offish at the present time, 

 mention may be made of cod-liver oil; the flesh of the Escolar 

 or Castor-oil-fish (Ruvettus), which acts as a purgative; and the 

 insulin obtainable from the pancreas of certain species. In 

 certain parts of the world the otoUths or ear-stones of fishes are 

 used as a prevention or cure of colic, as well as a tahsman to 

 avert the evil eye. 



There is an extremely ancient legend concerning the Remora 

 or Shark-sucker {Echeneis) to the effect that it is able to impede 

 the progress of sailing vessels or even to stop them altogether. 

 It occurs repeatedly in classical and mediaeval Hterature, and 

 is illustrated on Greek and Roman vases and other pottery. 

 Pliny tells us that the death of the Emperor CaUgula was due 

 to his great galley being held up by a Remora while the 

 remainder of the fleet escaped. The earhest known pubhshed 

 figure of this fish in the act of staying the progress of a ship 

 is to be found in J. von Cube's Hortus sanitatis, a curious work 

 published in 1479. The method of fishing for turdes with the 

 Remora, witnessed by Christopher Columbus in 1494 and 

 described by his son, Ferdinand Columbus, has been dealt 

 with in a previous chapter {cf. p. 389). The scientific name of 

 the fish, Echeneis, signifies "holding back," and the older writers 

 consequently refer to it as the Reversus or "Ship-holder." The 

 name Reversus was also appHed to the Porcupine-fish {Diodon), 

 a species which seems to have been confused with the Remora, 

 one author, Aldrovandis, describing and figuring it as the 

 spinous variety of the Reversus. It has been suggested that this 

 name was appUed to the Porcupine-fish on account of its curious 

 antics when hooked. 



Among the grotesque and entirely mythical fishes described 



