The Blackfisb 275 



ture, it is of aristocratic lineage. The scarus of 

 Europe is its foreign representative, and the 

 ancient Romans gave it many high-sounding 

 names, one of which was Cerebrum Jovis Su- 

 premi. Aristotle claimed that it slept. He 

 wrote : 



" Scarus alone their folded eyelids close 

 In grateful intervals of soft repose 

 In some sequestered cell, removed from sight 

 They doze away the dangers of the night." 



Pliny repeats this interesting statement, add- 

 ing that it is the chief of all fishes. Ovid and 

 Oppian sang its praises in verse, while ^lian 

 claimed for it a surpassing love for its young. 

 Elipertius expended vast sums in securing the 

 fish for the wealthy epicures of Rome. Mar- 

 tial was so fond of it that he described it in 

 verse, while Xenocrates writes of the viscera 

 of the scarus brought directly from the sea. 

 His favorite dish was the liver, which, with the 

 milt of murries, the brains of peacocks and 

 pheasants, and the tongues of flamingoes, was 

 served under the high-sounding title of " The 

 shield of Minerva," given it by Vitellius, the 

 famous epicure. At a Roman dinner it was 

 the custom to exhibit the living scarus to the 



