THE THUNNY. 239 



Opinions of various writers General food. 



ference, and weighed four hundred and sixty 

 pounds. Schoneveld mentions another taken on 

 the coast of Holstein eight feet and a half long. 

 Aristotle speaks of a thunny that weighed fifteen 

 talents, equal to six hundred and fifty-two of our 

 pounds ; and Cetti asserts that it is not rare to 

 catch them of one thousand or even eighteen 

 hundred pounds. The former erroneously asserts 

 that this fish grows so fast, that its daily increase 

 in magnitude is perceptible to the eye : he is 

 also mistaken in fixing the duration of its life at 

 two years. This fish is probably the largest in- 

 habitant of the deep that is used as food by man. 

 Its extraordinary magnitude has caused some 

 writers to consider it as a species of whale. 



The thunny, according lo Rechler, was, among 

 the ancients, an emblem of conjugal fidelity, and 

 usually formed a part of repast at the celebration 

 of a wedding. The Greeks consecrated it to 

 Diana. 



The male of this species is thought to attain a 

 greater size than the female, as M. Cetti assures 

 us. that soft roes are always found in the largest 

 taken on the coast of Sardinia. Their ordinary 

 food is herrings; but they likewise pursue mack- 

 rel, and watch for the herrings that escape from 

 the nets of the fishermen. Their greatest enemy 

 is the shark. 



Aristotle and Pliny tell us, that the thunny, 

 in the clog-days, is tormented by an insect of the 

 size of a spider, and the figure of a scorpion, 



