HIPPOCAMPUS EASTMAN. 351 



passed through a number of editions and translations beginning 

 with the Italian editio princeps of 1544. This work appears to be 

 the source of the illustrations given by Thomas Mouffet in his " Thea- 

 trum Insectorum'' (London, 1634), which are copied by Prof. Os- 

 burn; and the description therein given of the Hippocampus is by 

 far the best found among sixteenth century w^riters. 



Next in order of time after the w^oodcuts of Matthioli, shown in 

 our plate 1, figure 1 is the figure of Hippocampus given by Pierre 

 Belon in his small folio entitled " De Aquatilibus," published at 

 Paris in Latin in 1553, and in French two j^ears later under the title 

 of " La Nature et Diversite des Poissons." A copy of Belon's illus- 

 tration is reproduced in our plate 1, figure 2, and his description of 

 the creature may be rendered into English as follows: 



The name Hippocampus is derived from the Greek woi'ds Jiippus, signifying 

 horse, and campus, a caterpillar. And in verity the head and necli are shaped 

 lilie those of a horse, and the body (i. e., tail) like that of a caterpillar. The 

 term hippns is employed by Pliny, hippidium by Athenaeus to designate this 

 animal. Venetian fisherfolk call it " falopa," and among those of Marseilles 

 and Genoa it is known as the " caballo marino." 



Its size does not exceed a finger's length ; it has a tough and rugose skin, 

 and neither men nor fish of other kind esteem it as food. In color it is some- 

 times dark ; in other cases white. The gills are laterally situated, and the 

 neck is arched like that of a horse. [This sentence follows the Latin version. 

 The French of 1555 reads : " The gills are uncovered as in other fishes, notwith- 

 standing it is a bloodless creature."] It bears a small fin, a little elevated, 

 along the back, and another small one on the neck where it joins the head. 

 The mouth is small and tubiform. Dead or dried specimens have the tail 

 coiled inward, like that of a chameleon ; it is furnished with small, blunt 

 prickles, and is of quadrangular section. The spinous projections arise from 

 transverse folds which cross the tail. 



Certain authors profess that the ashes of Hippocampus, when commingled 

 with liquid pitch, tallow, or oil of sweet marjoram, cure baldness and pain in 

 the sides. Partaken of when roasted, it prevents retention of urine. An 

 application of oil of roses into which the live animal has been dipped and 

 killed is an efficacious remedy for chills and fever. 



The alleged medicinal properties of Hippocampus, which are 

 gravely set forth by Matthioli, Belon, Rondelet, Gesner, and others, 

 are traceable to a number of late Greek and Eoman writers, the more 

 important of whom are Menander, Strabo, Philostratus, Dioscorides, 

 ^lian (N. A. 14; 20) and Pliny (N. H. 32 and 36). Aristotle does 

 not mention the Hippocampus, and this word was used by the poets 

 of classical antiquity as the name of a sea monster, half horse and 

 half fish, on which sea divinities rode.^ It is probably in this char- 

 acter that conventionalized representations of the creature appear in 



^ See Hoffman, H. A., and Jordan, D, S., "A Catalogue of the Fishes of Greece." Proc. 

 Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1802, vol. 44, p. 250. It is there stated that " as the name of 

 a fish it seems to occur only in late writings, * * * and the references in Pliny 

 refer to the use of the Hippocampus and its ashes in medicine." 



