2£8 Mr. E. W. GiKloev on the 



the larger fish_, such as, Tunny, Dolphins, etc., give me 

 ground to suspect, that if all that the ancients wrote con- 

 cerning the Remora be not just literally true, it is not alto- 

 gether false. It certainly is a thing worthy of some reflection, 

 that Pliny speaks so diffusely concerning this phenomenon, 

 as a known fact that could not be called in question. The 

 Greeks adopted the. notion of this extravagant faculty, by 

 superstitiously hanging the Remora about women with child, 

 to prevent abortion. I am not, however, so ready to credit 

 these extravagances or in the least persuaded of the wonderful 

 retarding force of this little fish ■ and think it sufficient to 

 believe that the force of the Paklara may be felt at the 

 rudder of a small bark, without troubling myself further 

 about the Remora. 



5< The Remora of the ancients, and the Paklara of our 

 days, have this remarkable difference, that the first is almost 

 always of the testaceous kind, and the second is of the 

 genus Murena." 



From this we see that the Abbe was half convinced of the 

 correctness of the sailor's belief as to the power of the 

 Paklara. However, he thinks this fish to be a lamprey eel, 

 while the Remora of Pliny is in his opinion a shellfish. This 

 is confirmed by a further reference on page 325, which reads 

 as follows: — "Among the curious fishes found in those 

 waters [of Lissa] the Paklara is the most remarkable : I did 

 not see it, but the description given me by the fishermen, 

 agrees with the Echeneis of Artedi, and Gouan, though, in 

 my opinion, not with the Echeneis or Remora of the 

 ancients." 



Before going into an explanation of the Myth of the 

 Ship-holder, it may be of interest to show that the term 

 Remora has attained a place in literature. Among the 

 Romans we find Lucilius saying "A certain voice sounding 

 forth made for you a Remora in your progress.'" Again, 

 Plautus says " Those things are distasteful which obstruct 

 many undertakings and they make for a Remora both in 

 public and private affairs." However, since the word Remora 

 is a common Latin term for a delayer or retarder, we cannot 

 be sure that its use above is a reference to the fish ; more 

 probably it is a use of the term in its original and ordinary 

 sense. 



Probably not such, however, is the use of the term by 

 St. Basil (329-379). He affirms that " Life is a voyage and 

 in our life's ways, countries, courts, towns, and rocks are 

 remoras." 



In English literature, however, more direct allusions are 



