6 flint's natural history. [Book XXXII. 



the blubber of which was bought up by the merchants there. 

 He tells us, too, that in those parts they anoint their camels 

 with the grease of all kinds of fish, for the purpose of keeping 

 off the gad-flies^® by the smell. 



CHAP. 5. (2.) — THE INSTINCTS OF FISHES. 



The statements which Ovid has made as to the instincts 

 of fish, in the work^^ of his known as the " Halieuticon,"^ 

 appear to me truly marvellous. The scarus,'^^ for instance, 

 when enclosed in the wicker kype, makes no effort to escape 

 with its head, nor does it attempt to thrust its muzzle between 

 the oziers ; but turning its tail towards them, it enlarges the 

 orifices with repeated blows therefrom, and so makes its escape 

 backwards. Should,^*^ too, another scarus, from without, chance 

 to see it thus struggling within the kype, it will take the tail 

 of the other in its mouth, and so aid it in its efforts to escape. 

 The lupus,^^ again, when surrounded with the net, furrows^^ 

 the sand with its tail, and so conceals itself, until the net has 

 passed over it. The muraena,^^ trusting in the slippery smooth- 

 ness^* of its rounded back, boldly faces the meshes of the net, 

 and by repeatedly wriggling its body, makes its escape. The 

 polyp^^ makes for the hooks, and, without swallowing the bait, 

 clasps it with its feelers ; nor does it quit its hold until it has 

 eaten off the bait, or perceives itself being drawn out of the 

 water by the rod. 



The mullet,^^ too, is aware^'' that within the bait there is a 

 hook concealed, and is on its guard against the ambush ; still 

 however, so great is its voracity, that it beats the hook with 

 its tail, and strikes away from it the bait. The lupus, ^^ again, 



26 See B. xi. c. 34. 



27 Of this work, begun by Ovid during his banishment in Pontus, and 

 ])robably never completed, only a fragment of one hundred and thirty-two 

 lines has come down to us. Pliny again makes reference to it, in the last 

 Chapter of the present Book. 



23 Or " Treatise on Fishes." 29 See B. ix. c. 69,' and B. xi. c. 61. 



30 Quoted fi-om the Halieuticon. 



31 The wolf fish. The Perca labrax of Linnaeus. See B. ix. cc. 24, 

 28, 74, 79, and B. x. c. 89. 



32 From the Halieuticon of Ovid. 



33 See B. ix. cc. 14, 35, 39, 48, 74, 79, 81. 



34 From the Halieuticon. 35 From the Halieuticon. 

 36 See B. ix. cc. 21, 26, 67. 37 -prom the Halieuticon. 



38 From the Halieuticon. See Note 31 above, if indeed the same fieh 

 is meant. See also B. xxxi. c. 44, aud the Note. 



