seem in view of the extravagance of which 

 the fish pond became the object in later 

 times, no measures were taken to secure 

 the reproduction and free development of 

 staple food fishes. 



It is well known that the ancients had 

 .a remarkable predilection for fish as a 

 food. The principal luxury of the Ro- 

 man banquets consisted of fish, and the 

 poets speak of sumptuous tables spread 

 with them exclusively. In the period be- 

 tween the taking of Carthage and the 

 reign of Vespasian, this taste became a 

 perfect passion, and for its gratification 

 the senators and patricians, enriched by 

 the spoils of Asia and Africa, incurred the 

 most foolish expense. Thus Licinius 

 Murena, Quintus Hortensius and Lucius 

 Philippus, spent millions on their fish 

 ponds and in stocking them with rare 

 species. Lucullus was by far the most 

 extravagant of these fish fanciers. A fish 

 pond was to him very much what the 

 yacht is to the modern millionaire. It is 

 his name that we find so frequently in 

 •Cicero's letters, when he and his set come 

 in for several cleverly-framed rebukes. 

 "No matter," says Cicero, "about the 

 state, if only their fish-ponds escape 

 harm." It was Lucullus who had a chan- 

 nel cut through a mountain at an im- 

 mense outlay of money, in order to let 

 salt water into his fish-ponds. We are 

 told by Varro that one Hirrius had an 

 income of nearly $700,000 from his 

 Roman real estate, and spent the 

 whole amount on his fish-ponds. Some 

 of these fish-ponds were very elaborate. 

 They were constructed with many com- 



partments, in which they kept the differ- 

 ent varieties. The care of these ponds, 

 and the feeding of the animals, required a 

 large force of trained men and assistants 

 who, we can infer, learned a great deal 

 about the habits of fishes, their favorite 

 food, and how to propagate them, but 

 their information was never reduced to 

 anything like a science. 



That foolish extravagance of the Ro- 

 man nobles produced but two results, the 

 less of which was the impoverishment of 

 some of Rome's wealthiest families ; the 

 other and more unfortunate result was 

 the destruction of the fishes along the 

 Mediterranean Sea. 



Probably the sole contribution to fish- 

 culture resulting from all this extrava- 

 gance, was the introduction of gold-fish 

 into an artificial habitat and providing 

 them shell-fish for nourishment. 



In conclusion, I will note some of the 

 forms that were most popular among the 

 Romans, either for table use or for the 

 aquarium. For these we are indebted to 

 a mosaic discovered in Pompeii. They 

 are formed as they were seen by the artist 

 in an aquarium, but in the mosaic they 

 are supposed to be seen as if in the sea. 

 The varieties found are : They grey mul- 

 let, electric ray, gilt-head, muraena, scor- 

 pion fish, crawfish, devil-fish, dog-fish, 

 red-mullet, bass, spinola, red gumara, 

 nautis prawn, and from another mosaic 

 may be added the soft prawn, squid and 

 some other species whose English names 

 I do not know. 



T. Louis Comparette. 



92 



