The Blackfish 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- 
premz. 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 /A¢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 
