Myth of the Ship-holder. 295 



myths concerning the " ship-holder," the French ichthyolo- 

 gist goes on to say : — 



" In the midst of these ridiculous suppositions, one truth 

 however stands out ; that is that on the instant when the 

 keel of the vessel has adhere to it, so to speak, a great 

 number of echeneises, it would experience in moving through 

 the water a resistance comparable to that which a great 

 number of shelled animals [barnacles?] would make if 

 attached equally on its surface, when it glides with less speed 

 through a fluid which grating on the asperities brings it 

 about that the vessel does not possess the same ' liveliness/ 

 But one does not fail to think that the circumstances under 

 which the echeneises would find themselves thus accumulated 

 [in such numbers] against the timbers and exterior of a ship 

 would be extremely rare in all latitudes." 



On this matter Lowe, in his ' Fishes of Madeira ' (184-3), 

 after reviewing many of the Greek and Roman legends, 

 makes the following conservative statement : — 



" . . . . there is much doubtless of mere fiction or exag- 

 gerated fancy ; yet, on the other hand, it would be rash 

 altogether to deny the truth. Like most popular accounts 

 or vulgar errors, they may probably be founded on some 

 real circumstances, or natural occurrence, distorted by 

 exaggeration into the wonderful. There would be nothing- 

 marvelous, that a Lamprey, of even ordinary size, fixed to 

 the keel or rudder of a boat, suspended by one end and 

 struggling in the water should, as related by Rondelet upon 

 his own experience, greatly retard such vessel's progress, 

 render its course unsteady, and baffle the exertions of the 

 rowers. 



"Again it is remarkable that the Dalmatians at this day, 

 as Schneider in his note on Aelian, II. 17, mentions on the 

 authority of the Abbe Fortis, possess the same idea regarding 

 a fish they call Paklara, which the ancients held regarding 

 their Echeneis or Remora. So strange a notion is not likely 

 to have originated from communication with others amongst 

 a wild and illiterate population; or, again, to have sprung 

 up spontaneously and independently without some real 

 ground. Without recourse, therefore, to the marvelous or 

 extraordinary on the one hand, or to mere fiction on the 

 other, it does not seem unreasonable to suppose that the 

 accidental attachment to the rudder of a small sized vessel 

 of some fish like Rondelet's Lamprey may have originated an 

 impression, which has subsequently been generalized and 

 transferred to other sucking-fishes, in themselves incapable 

 of producing like effects." 



