330 PROSE HALIETITICS. 



abnormally conceived and clandestinely born* ^Elian's 

 account of the anchovy is briefj but correct ; they are, 

 he says, a diminutive, prolific, and very white little fish ;t 

 'they sveim in immense banks, called by the Greeks 

 ^okoi; each ^oKo<s containing individuals enough, m 

 <^aaiv ol OaXaTTovpyol, on the .credit of seafaring men, 

 to fill fifty fishing-smacks {aKidSa<s) ; the mass is more- 

 over so dense and serried, that ships plough through 

 without permanently breaking or dispersing them. The 

 injuries sustained by the shoal from this close packing 

 are very great : on inspectiag a sample, it will be foimd 

 there are as many heads without tails, tails without 

 heads, and bodies without either, as perfect fish.' 



The fresh anchovy was not esteemed a luxury by either 

 Greeks or Romans. 



Cui portat gaudens ancilla paropside rubra 

 Alecem, sed quam ilia vorat, 



says Martial of some half-starved girl, who was glad in 

 her straits to devour anything, even down to an anchovy ; 

 Columella also mentions them as little good-for-nothings, 

 fit only as bait for stock-ponds. This species is not con- 

 fined to the Mediterranean. John CoUins, in his trea- 

 tise upon ' Salt and Salted Fish,' says it is often taken 

 off" the coast of Wales, and is scarcely inferior to the 

 Italian : which is meagre praise. Like all the tribe, it 

 is very strong-scented, requiring, after eating it, a weU- 

 ventUated room, with open doors and windows. In 



* This Greek epithet, aplma, ' unborn,' translated into tbe 

 Italian equivalent non-nati, is tbat employed by the lazzaroni of 

 Naples to designate young anchovies, and a variety of other 

 piccoli pesci of whose origin and parentage they are uncertain, 



i" MiKpa i^diSia TroKvyova (^utret XEVKorara ISeiv. The exceeding 

 whiteness of surface here mentioned makes one wish for autho- 

 rization to change XuKooro/ia, the ' wolf-mouth,' into \(VK6<r(ofia, 

 ' the white body,' especially as anchovies do not gape at all like 

 wolves. 



