TASTES VARY— WHY TAILS PREFERRED 255 



For these reasons, discount as we may the personal predilec- 

 tions of an author like Ennius, of a gourmet like Apicius, of a 

 bon vivant like Vitellius, any list is perforce approximate, not 

 absolute. It must be governed by the dictum of the great 

 Greek epicure, \mpu yap 6 /xtv tovtoiq, o oiKtivoig. 



But if our opsophagists disagreed as to which was the best 

 fish, they were fairly unanimous as to which part of a fish was 

 best. Setting aside the peculiar partiality of the Greeks for 

 the head of the Conger, the part near the tail afforded the most 

 savour, and found the most favour with ancient (and modern) 

 gourmets. 



Three reasons for this preference have been suggested : 



(A) That from Xenocrates. After laying down that fish 

 roasted are more nutritious than fish boiled, that sea fish are 

 easy of digestion and by their formation of blood impart a good 

 colour to the skin, that fish from lakes and rivers are generally 

 bad for the stomach, form thick juices, and are difficult of 

 evacuation, this great physician affirms emphatically that the 

 part near the tail of all kinds of fish (Nonnius excepts the 

 Tunny) are the most wholesome, on account of it being most 

 frequently exercised. 1 



(B) That from PHny. Writing of the Murcena, he says that 

 it is quite clear that in its tail abides its a?iinia {' life ' or 

 ' being '), because a blow on that part swiftly kills it, while one 

 on the head is more tedious in effect. 2 



(C) That alleged in Scandinavia. To the Norseman the 

 most deUcate part of the salmon was its tail. His choice, 

 now-a-days by no means exceptional, was explained by a 

 pretty piece of setiological tradition. Loki, fleeing from the 

 pursuit of the gods whose anger he had provoked, had the wit 

 and the time to transform himself into a salmon. Then and 

 in this guise would he have surely escaped, had not Thor caught 

 him by the tail, " and this is the reason why salmon have had 

 the tails so fine and so thin ever since." ^ 



' Cf. Blakey, op. cit., p. 73. 



2 N. H.. XXXII. 5. 



' In Krause, op. cit., i-^'j, Loki, originally god of Fire, changes into a salmon 

 from his predilection for the red colour of the fish ! The Icelandic Eddas 

 attribute the invention of the Net to Loki. 



