194 Rumination in Fish. 



should be returned to the sea, but since then they have been 

 always found in great abundance off the shores of Italy, where 

 formerly there were none to be taken " (ix., 30). The scarus 

 was of various hues (ttolkiXov) . Nicander says there are two 

 kinds of scari — one was called avian, the other aloXos, " with 

 changeful hues."* Now it happens that a species of scarus of 

 modern ichthyologists is still found in the Carpathian and* 

 iEgean Seas • it was noticed by Spratt and Forbes, who thus 

 speak of it : — " Another fish frequently mentioned by ancient 

 writers is the scarus ; it was supposed to ruminate its food, a 

 fancy to which the peculiar aspect of its' teeth may have given 

 rise. This was, doubtless, the Scarus cretius of modern ichthy- 

 ologists, a fish abundant on the Lycian shores, and still called 

 by its ancient name. It is remarkable for the variations of 

 colour it presents at different seasons ; at one time being of 

 the most livid crimson, at another of a dull bluish-grey, and 

 sometimes piebald of the two colours" {Travels in Lucia, 

 ii., 86). 



Aldrovandus identifies the ancient scarus with a fish he 

 calls Scarus cretensis, and Cuvier says, ' c The Archipelago 

 contains one species, of a blue or red colour according to the 

 season, which is the Scarus creticus of Aldrovandus, and which, 

 after new investigations, I believe is the true scarus so cele- 

 brated among the ancients. It is still eaten in Greece, and its 

 intestines are used for seasoning" (Animal Kingdom, p. 311, 

 edition Carpenter and Westwood). Now the structure of the 

 jaws in the genus Scarus, which has given the name of 

 f 'parrot-fish " to the different species' comprised .in it, is very 

 remarkable; and if the ancient scarus is identical with the 

 scarus of modern naturalists, it is strange that, amongst the 

 numerous notices of the scarus in classical authors, there is 

 nothing like a description of its teeth, nor, indeed, is there 

 any clue at all that would be sufficient to enable us to speak 

 with certainty about its identification. The sharp, parrot- 

 faced mouth of the modern scarus is used by the fish for the 

 purpose of biting off the stony corallines, nullepores, etc., which 

 form the chief proportion of its food.f As Professor Owen has 

 said, its mouth " is peculiarly adapted to the habits and exi- 



* bvias is derived from uvos " an ass," and is applied to the scarus on account 

 of its grey colour. There is little doubt that both albkos and bvias denote the 

 same fisli according to its colour at different seasons, bvias being well represented 

 by the " dull bluish-grey " of Spratt and Forbes. 



t The teeth of the scarus are figured in Professor Owen's Anatomy of 

 Vertebrates, vol. i. ; also in the Odontography of the same author, and in the 

 Cyclopedia of Anatomy and Physiology by Todd and Bowman (Art. Teeth). 

 Professor Owen draws attention to the close analogy between the dental mass of 

 the scarus, and the complicated grinders of the elephant, both in form, structure, 

 and in the reproduction of the component denticles in horizontal succession. 

 Anatomy of Verlefo-ales, vol. i., p. 381. 



