15tf 
SUCKING-FISH. 
noticed by the antients ; and accordingly we find 
them ascribing to the fish a power which equals en- 
chantment. They supposed that if once the re- 
mora adhered to the bottom of a vessel its progress 
would be immediately stopped, notwithstanding it 
might be sailing with the utmost velocity. Thus 
Pliny was led away by this ridiculous notion, and 
very gravely tells us, that the ship in which the 
emperor Caius Caligula embarked was detained in 
its passage from Astura to Antium by this little 
fish; and, not content with giving it this extra- 
ordinary power, he likewise enables it to presage 
an unfortunate event, no less than the death of the 
emperor, whose soldiers mutinied upon his return 
to Rome, where he was murdered in his twenty- 
ninth year. 
The true reason why this fish takes the advan- 
tage of other bodies to assist its motion appears 
evident, if we attend to the observation of Com- 
merson, who says that the remora, from the weak- 
ness of its fins, is very badly calculated for sup- 
porting a long and laborious course in the water, 
insomuch that when left to itself it generally swims 
on its back, in a very feeble and unsteady man- 
ner. Nature has, therefore, intended that it should 
occasionally avail itself of the assistance of others; 
and for this purpose has constructed the upper part 
of the head in a wonderful manner. This con- 
sists of an oval shield surrounded by a narrow 
margin, and strengthened by a longitudinal division, 
from whence branch numerous transverse partitions. 
