“THE PLATTER-LICKER "—ASELLUS ?—COD 261 
6. The Asellus has been identified as the Gadus merlangus, 
the “Cod;”’ and as the Merluccius vulgaris, the ‘“‘ Hake,”’ 
by Scaliger and Rondolet, and by Hardouin with some 
doubt. 
It cannot be the Cod (although Dorion speaks! of “ the 
évo¢g which some call the yéSoc’), because hardly any of the 
Gadid@, except the Hake, frequent the Mediterranean on 
account of the temperature of the water. Nor can the Asellus 
be the Hake, because, while the latter is taken all the year round, 
Pliny 2 and Ailian 2 distinctly state that the Asellus hides in 
the heat of summer. 
This assertion, if the 6voc be the same as the Asellus, 
tallies with, probably indeed derives from, Aristotle’s remark 
that it is the only fish that hides itself in a hole in the ground 
in the hot weather, when the Dogstar rages. The fish, Varro 
informs us, is called Asedlus from the ashen colour of its scales, 
resembling that of the coat of an ass.4 
If there be doubt as to its classification scientifically, 
there is none gastronomically. Laberius and Cornelius Nepos 
ranked it only second to the Acipenser. Ovid (Hal. 131) 
enters a demurrer against the name given in: 
‘* Et tam deformi non dignus nomine asellus.” 
Galen warmly commends the fish for its quality of flesh, 
and great nutritive power ; in these respects, indeed, he places 
the Mullet, the Lupus, and Sole far below. Xenocrates, whose 
dictum usually differs from his successor, depreciates it, as 
does “nobilis ille helluo’’ Archestratus, whose palate pro- 
nounced the flesh “ spongy.” 
A sovereign remedy for fever and ague are “‘ the small stones 
found in the head of the Asellus, when the moon is full, and 
attached in linen to the patient’s body! ’’ 5 
7. The Murena—M. serpens or helena—(frequently but 
quite erroneously called the “‘ Lamprey ’’), with whose taming, 
1 Dorion, ap. Athen., VII. 99. Dorion was the author of a treatise much 
used by Athenzus. 
2 1X. 25; N. H., IX. 36. 
5 Athen., VII. 99. Cf. Oppian, I. 151 
4 De Ling. Lat., 5. 
& Pliny, XXXII. 38. 
