78 PETROMYZON. 



fishermen, by extending pits, communicating with 

 the ocean, into which blood is thrown, entice 

 them into the spots where they stand in readiness 

 to capture them. 



Some suppose the lamprey of Rome was of an- 

 other genus, the murenophis.* Pliny informs us 

 that Lucullus had fish ponds in the vicinity of Na- 

 ples, of such vast extent, that after the death of 

 the owner, the fish in them sold for 4,000,000 ses- 

 terces, — equal the sum of § 170,000. One Hir- 

 rius had a pond exclusively for his lampreys, — 

 and so ample was his stock, that on a certain occa- 

 sion, when Caesar made a grand entertainment, he 

 furnished him with six thousand. The celebrated 

 orator, Hortensius, owned one, which seems to 

 have been a particular favorite, for it is said " that 

 he wept bitterly, ^^ when it was dead. Antonia, the 

 wife of Drusus, exhibited her affection for one of 

 them, by ornamenting it with jewels, but we are not 

 informed how they were put on. Its bite was, in 

 those days, considered poisonous, but no such opin- 

 ions are entertained in this age ; or if they are, 

 they are unfounded. 



Annually, the city of Gloucester, we are told, 

 but for what reason, we have not been able to as- 



* Several writers refer to the Gymnothorax, which was in 

 such estimation with the Romans. History relates the curi- 

 ous circumstance of a Roman lady going into mourning on ac 

 count of the death of a favorite murjena. 



