APLYSIA. 187 



He explains that it should not be confused with other fishes, 

 because "it is very poisonous and would be fatal to anyone 

 who ate it." Kondelet makes the mistake of putting the 

 genital groove on the left side of the body instead of on the 

 right side. This mistake was copied by Aldrovandus, but 

 corrected by Gesner, both of whom reproduce Rondelet's 

 figures. Gesner removes Aplysia from the fishes and places 

 it amongst the soft-bodied animals. 



In 1684, Redi made the first recorded investigations of 

 the internal anatomy of Aplysia since the time of the unfortu- 

 nate Apuleius. He called it the marine Slug from its resem- 

 blance to the terrestrial Limax, and described the internal 

 anatomy of both animals. Nearly a century after Redi, 

 Bohadsch, a Bohemian fugitive who took up his residence in 

 Naples, wrote a book on marine animals, published in 1761. 

 In this book he describes two species of Aplysia, which he calls 

 Lemaea, gives good figures of them both, and a long and 

 fairly accurate description of the internal anatomy. He studied 

 their habits and observed the exudation of a milky as well as 

 a purple fluid. The opaline gland, which secretes the milky 

 fluid, has since been called by his name. He dissected the 

 alimentary canal, nervous system and sexual organs, and 

 came to the conclusion that Aplysia was related to the land 

 snail. 



The first authentic mention of Aplysia in British literature 

 is in Pennant's " British Zoology," Vol. 4, published in 

 1777. He figures a small specimen and classifies it amongst 

 the Worms. It is true that Borlase, in his " Natural 

 History of Cornwall " (Oxford, 1758), says that he was brought 

 a Sea-slug on March 24th, 1752. He states that the animal 

 had eyes on its antennae and exuded a purple dye. He 

 thought it was a Holothurian and compared it with the 

 undoubted Holothurian in Rondelet, Part 2, p. 125. The 

 purple suggests Aplysia, but it is strange that if his specimen 



