CONTENTS. XI 



Cliapter XVII. 



MtTE^NiDa:. — The Eel — culiaary honours paid to, by ancients — 

 worship of — sites celebrated for — generation of, a vexed ques- 

 tion still— eels dislike cold — ^land-journeys of — modes of taking 

 — vary in quality according to site — Salernian monks' distich 

 against — similar passages from Oppian alid Juvenal — eels clean 

 feeders — formerly monopolized by the rich — now in general 

 use. — Christmas-eve at Naples — cooking eels, receipts for — ^te- 

 nacity of life in — slipperiness of — epigrams on . . 368 



• Chapter XVIII. 



MtTBiENiDiB [continued). — Conger — relished by the ancients — 

 anecdote of Antigonus — Italian congers best — formerly eaten 

 in England — ^large displays of, in French markets — ^principal 

 consumption of, confined to Spain, Portugal, and the Orkneys. 

 — Muraena. — Vedius PoUio — cruelty of, to servants — might, if 

 better known, improve the recklessness of modern housemaids. 

 — Size and appearance of mursena — supposed etymology of 

 name — ^mursena subject to hydrophobia — ^pugnacity of — cun- 

 ning of — held in high favour at Eome. — Gymnotus — passage 

 from Humboldt describing, electric powers of. — Poisonous fish 

 — several species of, amongst the plectognalheans, diodons, and 

 tetraodons — modern furube, flesh of, highly deleterious — se- 

 veral poisonous fish known to ancients . . . 391 



Cliapter XIX. 



Chondeopteetgians. — The shark and his cartilaginous cousins. 

 — Locomotive privileges of fish. — Canicula, dangerous to pearl- 

 fishers. — A few words on the saw and hammer-fish. — Scene in 

 Palermo market. — Eerocityand greediness of squali — anecdotes 

 illustrative of the early pugnacity displayed by — amours of — 

 swallow their young — ^recital corroborative of — female fiercer 

 than male sharks — cruelty of both perhaps increased by re- 

 dundancy of bile and parasites — fossil teeth of squali abundant 

 everywhere — circulation of, slow — flesh of, sometimes eaten — 



