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they find room. Its beautiful snake-like motions, splendid co- 

 lour, high dorsal-fins, and the expression of its head, with 

 glassy eyes and wide-stretched jaws, give the Muraena a very 

 peculiar appearance, which involuntarily attracts the attention 

 of the spectator. It is well known that the Romans considered 

 these fish a great luxury , and built large tanks in the sea 

 for them, so as to have a supply always on hand. Pliny relates 

 that a certain Hirius , on the occasion of Caesar* s triumphal 

 entry, laid before his guests 6000 of these fish. Crassus pos- 

 sessed a large muraena, of which he was very fond; he put 

 a golden collar round its neck, and is even said to have wept 

 when it died. It is told of Vedius Pollio that he punished 

 several guilty slaves by throwing them as food to his muraenae, 

 having heard that human flesh made those fish very delicate 

 eating. At present the Muraena is highly valued, and there is a 

 large market for the fish at Pozzuoli. They are caught iu baskets 

 or with the line. At such times they offer violent resistance, 

 biting savagely, and, being very slippery, are difficult to hold. 

 Fishermen are afraid of their bite and think it poisonous, but 

 no doubt it is only the shape of their sharp and crooked teeth 

 that produces wounds difficult to heal. They endure confine- 

 ment in the tanks of the Aquarium for years together , and 

 like the eels, can be tamed to a certain degree. 



Very curious little animals, not only among ground-fish, but 

 any fish, are the Sea-horses and its relations, which under the 

 name of LopJwlrancJiii are classed in a particular division. 

 Almost everyone who has visited a marine town is acquainted 

 with the common Sea-horse (Hippocampus) which is found 

 dried in the fish- markets, for its case or coat is so hard that 

 the shape remains almost unchanged. The habits of this little 

 creature, which is common in the Gulf of Naples, are extremely 

 attractive; everything about it is strange, even its shape, which 

 closely resembles that of a chess-knight. They are best off when 

 kept in a tank where branches of corals or tube-dwelling 

 .worms afford points of support around which they can cling, 

 according to their habit, with their finless , prehensile tails. 

 The tank containing the worms is therefore appointed for their 

 habitation. Here they may be seen in all possible positions ; 

 swinging on the stems of the worm-tubes, and looking about 

 with their small qnick eyes for the minute animals that people 

 the outside of the tubes. When they swim they rapidly move 

 their little fins , and float up and down with graceful move- 

 ments, turning and bending in all directions, either pursuing 



