B. IX.] THE HISTOKY OF ANIMALS 255 



mud, and captures as they swim over it any fish that it can 

 take and stupefy; of this circumstance many persons have 

 been witnesses ; the trygon also hides itself, but not in the 

 same manner ; the following is a proof of their mode of 

 life, for they are often taken with the cestreus in their 

 stomach, which is the swiftest of fishes, and they are the 

 slowest ; and the batrachus, when nothing is left on the 

 hair-like appendages, is taken in an emaciated condition. 

 The narce also has plainly caused stupefaction in men. 



3. The onus, batus, psetta, and rhine also bury themselves 

 in the sand, and when they have hidden themselves, the ap- 

 pendage which is in their mouth stands up, this the 

 fishermen call their staff, and the small fish approach it 

 as if it was the sea-weed, on which they usually live. 

 Wherever the anthias is found there are no obnoxious crea- 

 tures ; when this sign is observed, those who collect sponges 

 dive for them there, and call the anthias the sacred fish ; 

 this is only a coincidence, just as the pig and partridge 

 are never found where there are snails, for they eat them 

 all. 



4. The marine-serpent, in colour and in the form of its 

 body, resembles the conger, but it is darker, and more power- 

 ful. If it is captured and allowed to escape, it buries itself 

 in the sand, which it pierces with its snout, for its snout 

 is sharper than that of a serpent. The creature called 

 scolopendra when it has swallowed the hook turns itself 

 inside out, till the hook is ejected, when it turns to its 

 original form. The scolopendra, like that which inhabits 

 the land, is attracted by the smell of cooked meat ; it does 

 not bite with the mouth, but stings with the contact of 

 the whole body, like the creatures called sea-nettles. 



5. The fish called alopex, when one of them has swal- 

 lowed the hook, assist each other in this matter, as the 

 scolopendra also does, for they collect together round 

 the line and bite it off; in some places, where the water is 

 swift and deep, they are taken with many hooks in them. 

 The amia3 also collect together when they see any obnoxious 

 creature near them, and the largest swim round them in 

 a circle; when attacked, they defend themselves; they 

 have strong teeth, and the lamia and other creatures when 

 attacking them have been seen to be repulsed with wounds. 



