416 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book IX. 



foot and a half above the surface of the water. The sea- 

 dragon, 16 again, if caught and thrown on the sand, works out 

 a hole for itself with its muzzle, with the most wonderful 

 celerity. 



CHAP. 44. (28.) FISHES WHICH HATE NO BLOOD. PISHES ZFOWH" 



AS SOFT FISH. 



The varieties of fish which we shall now mention are those 

 which have no blood : they are of three kinds 17 first, those 

 which are known as " soft;' 1 next, those which have thin crusts ; 

 and, lastly, those which are enclosed in hard shells. The soft 

 fish are the loligo, 18 the ssepia, 19 the polypus, 20 and others of a 

 similar nature. These last have the head between the feet 

 and the belly, and have, all of them, eight feet : in the saepia 

 and the loligo two of these feet are very long 21 and rough, 

 and by means of these they lift the food to their mouth, and 

 attach themselves to places in the sea, as though with an 

 anchor ; the others act as so many arms, by means of which 

 they seize their prey. 22 



therefore, that it is the great horned ray, now known as the cephalopterus, 

 which, being often fifteen feet and more in diameter, answers much better 

 to the description of its size implied by Pliny from the length of its horns. 

 It is also mentioned under the name of cornuta in B. xxxii. c. 53, in com- 

 pany with the saw-fish, the sword-fish, the dog-fish, and other large fishes. 



16 Cuvier is of opinion, that Rondelet is correct in his suggestion that 

 this is the sea-spider, called the " vive " in France, the viver or weever 

 with us, and the Trachinus draco of Linnaeus, which fish is still called 

 dpdieaiva by the modern Greeks. Pliny, in c. 48 of the present Book, 

 charges the sea-spider with doing much mischief, by means of the spines or 

 stickles on its back. Now -/Elian, B. ii. c. 50, and Oppian, Halieut. 1. 458, 

 say the same of the sea-dragon ; and this is a well-known property of the 

 modern vive, the Trachinus draco of Linnaeus. Pliny speaks more especially, 

 in B. xxxii. c. 53, of the wounds which it makes with the spines or stickles 

 of its opercules,' which the vive is also able to inflict; and in addition to 

 this, it has the power of burrowing into the sand in a most incredibly short 

 space of time. 



17 Cuvier remarks, that this division of the bloodless fish by Aristotle into 

 the mollusca, testacea, and Crustacea, has been followed by naturalists almost 

 down to the present day. 



18 The Seepia loligo of Linnseus ; the calmar of the French, or ink-fish. 



19 The Seepia officinalis of Linnseus ; the sieche of the French ; our cuttle- 

 fish. 



20 The Seepia octopodia of Linnasus, or eight-footed cuttle-fish. 



21 Cuvier remarks, that this account of the arms or feelers of the saepia 

 and loligo is very exact. 



22 " Quibus venantur." Hardouin suggests that the proper reading 



