38 PROSE HALIETTTICS. 



conspicuous for their whiteness j another for the lUy- 

 rian hrood, distinguished by their size ; a third for the 

 African variety, the most prohfic of all ; and a fourth 

 for the Solitanes, commendable above the rest for their 

 flavour; 'aU these were lodged by themselves, and fed 

 on such fattening pastes/ says Varro, ' that at length 

 this proprietor succeeded in producing shells capable 

 of containing four -wine-gallons of liquid.'* M. and L. 

 LucuUus are both set down by Hortensius as large arti- 

 ficers of stews, with this difference, that the former did 

 not provide a suitable retreat for his fish in warm wea- 

 ther, a parsimony which brought his stews into general 

 discredit ; whereas L. LucuUus, who, after he had exca- 

 vated noble ponds, in the matrix of the rock, judiciously 

 gave the architect an unlimited command of his purse, 

 vnth liberty to beggar him, if necessary, provided he 

 took care to secure a shady grotto, to the refreshing 

 coolness of which his beloved fish might always retire, 

 for repose, whilst the dog-star raged, or whenever their 

 instincts might see fit, succeeded perfectly in his under- 

 taking, and even made Neptune jealous of his vivaria. 

 The same liberal patron of architects, to feed a single 

 fish-pond, cut through a mountain near Naples, to let 

 in an arm of the sea, an operation which cost more than 

 the Ardla reared beside it, and procured for him, says 

 PUny, from Pompey the Great, the nickname of Xerxes 



* Men took a great pride, lie adds, ia fattening their different 

 coquillages, not so mucli, it seems, witli a view to tlie increase of 

 the malacology within, as to produce enormous shells ; he men- 

 tions some very large ones ; hut it may be doubted whether all 

 their pains and pastes succeeded in producing such bivalves as are 

 found nowadays in India. The largest of these yet discovered 

 is, we beUeve, a live shell tridacna gigas (to be seen at a small 

 oyster-shop in Maiden-lane), the sides of which, more than a 

 yard long, weigh not far short oi four hundredioeigJit ! We re- 

 commend all our readers living near the Strand to go and see it. 



