CuAr. IV.J FISHES OX DEY LAND. 229 



authorities, the story was either a delusion or a fraud. ^ Juvenal 

 has a sneer for the rustic — 



" mii'auti sub aratro 

 riscibiis inveutis." — Sat. xiii. 63, 



And Seneca, whilst he quotes Theophrastus, adds ironically, that 

 now we must go to fish with a hatchet instead of a hook ; "' non 

 cum hamis, sed cum dolabra ire piscatum." ^ Pliny, who devotes 

 the 35th chapter of his 9th book to this subject, uses the narra- 

 tive of Theophrastus, but with obvious caution, and universally 

 the Latin writers treated the story as a fable. 



In later times the subject received more enlightened attention, 

 and Beckmann, who in 1736 published his commentary on the 

 collection Uspl Qav/xaaicov aKovaixdrwv, ascribed to Aristotle, has 

 given a list of the authorities about his own times, — Georgius 

 Agricola, Gresner, Rondelet, Dalechamp, Bomare, and Gronovius, 

 who not only gave credence to the assertions of Theophrastus, 

 but adduced modern instances in corroboration of his Indian 

 authorities. 



NOTE (C.) 



CEYLON FISHES. 



(^Memorandum, by Professor Huxley.) 

 See p. 205. 



The large series of beautifully coloured drawings of the fishes 

 of Ceylon, which has been submitted to my inspection, possesses 

 an unusual value for several reasons. 



The fishes, it appears, were all captured at Colombo, and 

 even had those from other parts of Ceylon been added, the 

 geographical area would not have been very extended. Never- 

 theless there are more than 600 drawings, and though it is 

 possible that some of these represent varieties in different 

 stages of growth of the same species, I have not been able to 

 find definite evidence of the fact in any of those groups which 

 I have particularly tested. If, however, these drawings repre- 

 sent six hundred distinct species of fish, they constitute, so far 

 as I know, the largest collection of fish from one locality in 

 existence. 



1 Lib. ii. ch. 5. "- Nat. Qucest. vii. 10. 



q3 



