FISH IN MEDICINE. 77 



gether ; others, like the Greek physicians, Philotimus, 

 Mnesitheus, and Diphilus, while they speak disparagingly 

 of some species as unwholesome, recommend others for 

 food, as will sufficiently appear by the citation of one or 

 two sentences from their different treatises on dietetics. 

 ' Those fish which live both in salt and fresh water are 

 generally heavy and indigestible;* of river fish, those 

 called pyr antes (trout ?), which swim only in the coldest 

 and most rapid streams, excel aU others in digestibility.f 

 Diphilus, in his treatise ' on what to set before' the sick 

 and soundj'J says, ' saxatile kinds will not keep, and 

 though they yield wholesome chyle, being ei5%i/Xot, are not 

 very nutritious, oXir/orpocjjoi elcn. The pelagians, or deep 

 swimmers, on the other hand, keep longer and are highly 

 nutritious, though somewhat hard of digestion, and 

 Sva-oiKovofirjToi, trying to the economy. Of some species 

 the flesh excites, of others, impedes the peristaltic action 

 of the intestines. The ' flats' generally sit easy on the 

 stomach, evoyKoi elatv, yield much nutriment, are not 

 flatulent, and leave little excrementitious matter behind 

 them ; § cartilaginous fish again are carnose in fibre and 

 difficult to digest ; the same may be said of scombers, 

 which, being very rich, should be grilled over a slow fire 

 to allow the grease to drip away. Of parts, the head is 

 in prime fish the best, and in some, as the narke, the 

 only portion fit for food, k. t. X. Whilst there were dif- 

 ferences of opinion among the ancients in regard to the 

 digestibility of a fish diet, there was perfect unanimity as 

 to the advantages to be derived from fish in physic; 

 and they were accordingly prescribed in every form, 

 fresh, salt, raw, cooked, and calcined; and every part 

 and tissue, flesh, bones, skin, trail, brain, gUls, viscera, 



* Auo'TTCTrrot koX ^apvTarot. 



■y ALacl)epov<n twv woTajilav lx6vav aXXav evTre^ta. 



t Uepl TQiv 7rpo(r(j)€p6[iev<ov tols vocovo't /cat rois vyLatvovat. 



§ OvK iyKaraXeiirct irepi.TTmp.aTa. 



