THE MURJENA. 
°The Muntna *. 
J HIS fpecies, we are told, obtained its name from its con-i 
ti rurally floating upon the furface of the water, by reafon, 
as was fuppofed, of its extraordinary fatnefsf. In fiiape 
it refembles an eel ; the fnout more protuberant, lharp 
and comprefled : Its colour variegated with Ihades of yel- 
low, brown, and black. The head is fmall, but the o? 
pening of the mouth capacious. The margin of each 
jaw is furrounded with a Angle row of very fmall teeth : 
upon the fnout there are two apertures, and above the 
eyes other two ; the former, as is fuppofed, are the organs 
of fmell, and the latter of hearing J. The ancients be- 
lieved that this animal was endowed with a very acute 
fenfe of hearing, and that the filhermen could allure it to 
the brink of the water by hilling, and by that means 
take it §. 
Like the other fillies of this genus, it wants the pe&oral 
and ventral fins ; but a little beyond the head there ari- 
fes a fin, which ftretches along the back to the tail, and 
turns round to the belly, terminating at the anus : This 
fin is covered with the common legument of the body, 
and is eafily laid bare by flaying the animal. 
The bite of the mursena was deemed fo poifonous by 
the filhermen, that in taking the animal, they ufed every 
precaution to prevent its effefis : They tumbled them im- 
mediately 
* Mursena omnium audlorum. Will. Ichthyol. 
t Tizgx ro fwauv. Vide Macrob. 
| Will. p. 103. § Plinii. Hift. Nat. 
