92 HAUPT— TOBIT'S BLINDNESS AND SARA'S HYSTERIA. 



Some think that the fish caught hy Tobias was a callionymus or 

 dragonet, because Phny (32, 69) says that the gall of the callionymus 

 heals scars and consumes superfluous flesh about the eyes {callionymi 

 fcl cicatrices sanat et carncs oculormn supervacuas consuniit) . He 

 means, it may be supposed, a pterygium -■cen'jj'.ov, i.e., a more or less 

 triangular patch of hypertrophied conjunctiva and subconjunctival 

 tissue with its apex at the edge of the cornea or upon the cornea. 

 The gemmous dragonet or yellow gurnard (see cut CD 768'') is a 

 small fish which could not have swallowed Tobias. It is called 

 gemmous because it is covered with spots like gems. Perhaps in 

 allusion to its sparkling appearance it is called bridegroom in Banf- 

 shire in northeast Scotland, northwest of Aberdeen. Gurnard 

 means grunter. The German name is Knurrhahn, i.e., grunting 

 cock. The gurnard, when taken out of the water, makes a grunting 

 sound. Callionymus, having a beautiful name, seems to be a eu- 

 phemistic designation for dragon, just as the left side was called 

 suMW/xoc , well-named, and the Erinyes, the Greek Furies, Eumen- 

 ides, the gracious ones (JAOS 28. 116; BA 3, 557, 1. 31; ZDMG 



"65,52). 



Arabic authors say that the gall of the catfish was used in the 

 preparation of an eye-salve, and that it was employed also for the 

 expulsion of demons. The silurus is called cat-fish because, when 

 taken out of the water, it emits a sound like the purring of a cat. 

 The catfish in the Danube grows to ten feet with a weight of 400 

 lbs., so Tobias might have been under the impression that the fish 

 would swallow him up. Pliny (9, 45) says that the silurus pulls 

 down horses (eqnos innatantes dcmergit). The stories about chil- 

 dren having been found in the stomachs of very large individuals are 

 probably inventions. But Tobias would not have eaten catfish, be- 

 cause it has no scales. The Mosaic law forbade the Jews to eat 

 scaleless fishes (Lev. 11, 12)." 



^ It is said that in the rivers of New Zealand eels attain an immense 

 size and have been known to attack bathers, dragging them beneath the sur- 

 face of the water. Some years ago a giant conger, caught in the shallow 

 water off the shores of England, measured 8 feet 8 inches in length and 

 weighed 148 lbs. (Baltimore American, June 28, 1921, p. 4, col. 8). EBii- 

 9, g"' states that the largest conger recorded was 8 feet 3 inches long, and 

 weighed 128 lbs. 



