THE OX-HORN—HOW USED? 81 
But all the preceding points dwarf in interest before the 
term xépac Bode aypavAoo, “ the horn of a field ox, or ox of 
the homestead.” ! How does the horn of an ox find itself in 
this galley? What was its exact use? Where and how was 
it employed ? 
Many scholars and fishermen, ancient and modern, have 
essayed the problem. The reason for the use of the horn 
passed early out of common knowledge and afforded matter 
for conjecture from Aristotle downwards. 
To enumerate all the theories would necessitate a list almost 
as long as Homer’s catalogue of the ships. The following, the 
most important, must suffice for our purpose. 
(1) Kéoac was a little pipe or collar of horn protecting the 
line (which passed through it) just at its junction with the hook, 
and served the same purpose as a “ gimp ’”’ on a trolling line.? 
“This precaution (according to Arnold) was taken so that 
the fish might not gnaw through the line ’’—a precaution very 
similar to our use of wire between the line and the hook, when 
fishing for tigerfish, tarpon, shark, etc.3 
A similar interpretation of the word occurred to Aristotle, 
who 4 held that the lower piece of the line was fortified by a 
little hollow piece of horn, lest the fish should come at the 
line itself and bite it off. But the use of «épac in the second 
(Od.) passage appears to rule out Aristotle’s and Arnold’s 
interpretations. The fish here are admittedly, not vaw-flesh 
devouring, which might imply size, but small. Why then this 
elaborate contrivance as precaution against severance of the 
line ? 
The above explanation of the use of xépac derives strong 
support from the method even now employed in the Nile.® 
The native sportsman, as protection against its being bitten 
1 Tl., 24. 81, and Od., 12. 253. 
2 See Merry and Riddell on Od., XII. 251. Déderlein (I/., XXIV. 80), 
following the Scholiast, also gives this same explanation. 
3 T. K. Arnold, Iliad (1852), 20. 80. According to Dugas-Montbel, as 
quoted here, ‘‘ To this little tube of horn they attached also a piece of lead to 
sink the bait, and the horn, being the colour of the sea, had also the advantage 
of deceiving the fish.” 
* Plutarch, De Sol. Anim, 24. 
5 The Field, of January 2nd, 1904, 
