4726 Tue ZooLocist—DEcEMBER, 1875. 
the courtesy of Mr. Charles, fishmonger, Arabella Row, Pimlico, of inspecting 
a fine specimen of the maigre (Sci@na Aquila). The fish is four feet nine 
inches long, and weighs seventy-five pounds. It was caught a few miles off 
Great Yarmouth, and is in fine condition. The maigre has been very care- 
fully described by Yarrell (vol. ii. p. 104, ed. 1859) and by other writers. It 
is a Mediterranean fish, and is very rarely found on the English coast. 
A specimen, of which Mr. Charles became the possessor, was caught in the 
North Sea in 1873; but the fish is so seldom met with off the English coast 
that it will certainly be interesting to Londoners to know that they may 
have the rare opportunity of this day inspecting a handsome specimen.— 
Mr. Tregellas, of Brompton, in the ‘ Times’ of November 1, 1875. 
[The fish is so rare in English waters that it has never received an 
English name. In France it is more abundant, and seems to have been 
a favourite article of food both in France and Italy from very remote times. 
Cuvier gives it several French names, and also informs us it was the 
umbrina of the Romans. He says it is a good fish, and attains a great size, 
six feet or more in length. It is remarkable for the curious appendages 
which fringe both sides of the swim-bladder; these are very numerous and 
much divided, and one feels at a loss to conceive their use. It was in great 
request among Roman epicures, and Rondeletius calls it a royal fish. Indeed 
the maigre enjoys quite a classical celebrity, and we learn from Yarrell that 
in Rome it used to be sold in pieces, and that the Roman fishermen were in 
the habit of presenting the head, which was considered the finest part, as a 
sort of tribute to the three local magistrates who acted for the time as con- 
servators of the city. The following anecdote is extracted from Yarrell :— 
“Paulus Jovius relates a curious history of a head of one of these fishes 
presented as usual to the conservators in the reign of Pope Sextus X.; given 
by them to the Pope’s nephew; by him to one of the cardinals; from whom 
it passed as a noble donation to his banker, to whom he was deeply indebted ; 
and from the banker to his courtesan. It was followed through all its migra- 
tions by a parasite, whose industry was rewarded by at length partaking of 
the feast.” ‘his story, says Yarrell, “forms much of the under-plot of 
Beaumont and Fletcher’s ‘ Woman-Hater,’ where, as the condition of his 
becoming a sharer in the exquisite morsel, the parasite is made to marry 
the courtesan with whom the head finally rested. The ear-bones of the 
maigre, according to Belen, were formerly supposed to possess medicinal 
virtues. They were called colick-stones, and were worn on the neck, 
mounted in gold, to secure the possessor against this painful malady: in 
order that they might be quite effectual it was said the wearer must have 
received them as a gift; if they had been purchased they had neither 
preventive nor curative power.”—Edward Newman.] 
Large Roach in the Lea.—I have great pleasure to inform you that a 
youth residing at Hoddesdon, while angling in the free water of the Lea at 
