BOOK IX. XV. 42-xvn. 46 



of the tides, and always to bristle when the tide is 

 going out ; and it is also said that the right fin 

 possesses a soporific influence, and when placed 

 under the head attracts sleep. 



Two only of the hairless animals are viviparous, the 

 dolphin and the viper. 



XVI. There are 74 species of fishes, not including vanetiea of 

 those that have a hard covering, of which there are "' ' 

 thirty. We will speak of them severally in another 



place, for now we are deaHng with the natures of 

 specially remarkable species. 



XVII. The tunny is of exceptional size ; we are ExcepHon- 

 told of a specimen weighing a third of a ton and fpiJlZ^ 

 having a tail 3 ft. 4 in. broad. Fish of no less size /'«''• 

 also occur in certain rivers, the catfish in the Nile," 



the pike in the Rhine, the sturgeon in the Po, a fish 

 that grows so fat from sloth that it sometimes reaches 

 a thousand pounds ; it is caught with a hook on a 

 chain and only drawn out of the water by teams of 

 oxen. And this monster is killed by the bite of a 

 very small fish called the anchovy which goes for a 

 particular vein in its throat with remarkable voracity. 

 The catfish ranges about and goes for every living 

 creature wherever it is, often dragging down horses 

 when swimming. A fish very like a sea-pig is drawn 

 out with teams of oxen, especially in the river Main 

 in Germany, and in the Danube with weeding-hooks ; 

 an exceptionally large species with no internal frame- 

 work of bones or vertebrae and very sweet flesh is 

 recorded in the Dnieper. In the Ganges in India 

 there is a fish called the platanista* with a doIphin's 

 beak and tail, but 24 ft. long. Statius Sebosus gives 

 an extremely marvellous account of worms in the 



* So called to-day ; a variety of dolphin. 



