FISHES AND FISHING. 233 



of the nacre, and the above Greek poet treats the 

 connexion as a sort of partnership for obtaining food. 

 These mussels were called by the Greeks pinnae, and 

 the small fish that lived in the same domicile pin- 

 natores and pinnophylax. The nacre, to prevent 

 itself from being driven about by the motion of the 

 sea, spins a quantity of long silken fibres, which it 

 attaches to rocks, or any substance, even the sand. 

 These fish are about a foot long, but have sometimes 

 attained the length of two feet ; they were formerly 

 much sought after, in order to obtain the silky fibres, 

 which being spun into threads, were manufactured 

 into a variety of articles of dress. The common mussel 

 sends out a number of filaments, and by the observa- 

 tions of Eeaumur, those filaments are for the same 

 purpose of fixing itself to some solid substance. On 

 opening mussels a little bunch of green fibres are 

 discovered, these are the parts produced by the fish, 

 whereby it keeps itself upright ; and these fibres, if 

 not extracted before the fish be eaten, are very dan- 

 gerous to the health, because the other portions of the 

 fish easily digest, leaving a mass of these fibrous sub- 

 stances, being indigestible, to accumulate together by 

 the motion of the stomach, producing in a strong con- 

 stitution considerable disturbance, and in a person of 

 very delicate habit of body, dangerous and even fatal 

 conse(juencee. For some of this information I aui 



