SURMULLETS. 
77 
i Messengers were sent at great expense to the 
i most distant shores of the Mediterranean to pro- 
ij cure these fishes, which^ when brought home, were 
kept alive in vivaria or tanks of sea-water. By 
I a refinement of luxury, the Mullets were even 
brought to table alive, that the guests might feast 
I their eyes upon the changes of hue which fiit 
, over the bodies of these fishes in the agonies of 
death. The fishes,” says Cicero, swim under 
the couches of the guests. A Mullet is not con- 
sidered fresh unless it actually die before their 
j eyes ; they gaze upon it exposed to view in glass 
bowls, and watch the various tints that play over 
it one after another as it passes from life to death.” 
j The species selected for this inhuman exhibition 
Ij appears to have been the smaller and more rara 
1 M, harhatusy which is destitute of yellow stripes, 
I and does not exceed six inches in length. The 
j| name of the genus Mullus is said to have been 
|| given to these fishes from their hue resembling 
that of the Mulleus or scarlet sandal worn by the 
Roman Consuls and Emperors. 
I The curious organs called beards {cirri) that are 
; attached to the chin in these and some other fishes 
are connected with the search after food. Mr. 
Yarrell has some interesting observations on this 
subject, which we shall here quote from his valu- 
able volume on British Fishes, These cirri are 
generally placed near the mouth, and they are 
I mostly found in those fishes that are known to 
! feed very near the bottom. On dissecting these 
appendages in the Mullet, the common Cod, and 
others, I found them to consist of an elongated 
I and slender fiexible cartilage, invested by nume- 
rous longitudinal muscular and nervous fibres, and 
