184 M U L 
ventrals, 7 in the anal, 22 in the tail, 7 in the firft dorfal, 
and 9 in the fecond. The head of this fifh is large, orna¬ 
mented with yellow (tripes on a white ground inclining 
to red. The mouth is (mail, and the upper jaw is a little 
longer than the lower 5 from the lower fide of the fnout 
hang two barbies, about two inches long. The eyes, 
which are near the top of the head, are large, pupil blue, 
iris fdvery. The aperture of the gills is wide, the mem¬ 
brane narrow. The trunk, which is broad'in front, be¬ 
comes narrow towards the extremity of the tail; it is 
round at the back and tail; on the back is a furrow to 
receive and hide the dorfal fin when the fifli would with¬ 
draw' it. The lateral line is parallel with the back; but 
goes off from it towards the tail, in the middle of which 
it is loft. The body is red; and the ftripes,.which are of 
a gold-yellow, are loft when the fcales. fall off, becaufe 
the ftripes are on the furface of the fcales; but the red 
colour, which is feen.through the tranfparent fcales, ap¬ 
pears more beautiful after the fcales are fallen. In China, 
this fifli is red, white, and blue; and the head is of a beau¬ 
tiful red. All the fins are yellow', the rays inclining to 
red, except thofe of the back; the rays of the firft dorfal 
are hard and Angle, the others foft and' branched. See the 
annexed Plate, fig. 1. 
This fifli is found in the Northern Ocean, the Baltic, 
the Mediterranean, at the Antilles, and'in China ; but 
of various fizes. In the Baltic, it is feldom more than fix 
inches long; in the Northern Sea, fourteen inches; but 
larger in the Mediterranean ; Juvenal (peaks of one which 
weighed 6lbs. Pliny fpeaks of a fifh found in the Red 
Sea, weighing ioolbs. which he regards as a furmullet: 
but Cepede fuppofed this mull have been a Silurus, as 
they grow very large, are furnifhed with barbies, and are 
common in the waters of Egypt. 
The furmullet, befides its-beautiful colours, is recom¬ 
mended by the whitenefs, firmne/s, and delicacy, of its 
fiefh; and, when not too fat, is excellent food, and of 
eafy digeftion. They were in fuch requeft among the 
Romans, as to be bought by the private citizens for their 
weight in filver. It was in the purchafe of this fifh, above 
all others, that the wealthy fenators (bowed their extra¬ 
vagance and fenfuality. Juvenal and Pliny afford ample 
teftimony of the luxury of their age, which, happily for 
mankind, has never been equalled in any other period 
of human fociety. An inftance of 64I. being paid for a 
fifh of three pounds weight, is recorded by Pliny. But 
the manner of dreffing and eating thefe fifli, ftill more 
than the extravagance of the price, evinced the epicurifm 
of the ancient entertainments. The mullet was not reck¬ 
oned worth a farthing if it did not die in the iiand of 
your gueft. There was water kept in the eating-room 
into which the living anjmal was put, and from thence 
conveyed immediately to the ftew, where it was dreffed, 
which was alfo in the fame apartment, and under the ta¬ 
ble; from thence the fifh was placed upon it. It was cuf- 
tomary to put the mullets into glafs vafes, that the com¬ 
pany might be entertained with the various changes of 
their rich colours as they lay expiring. It was Apicius, 
that prince of gluttons, that firft hit upon the ingenious 
invention of fuffocating 'them in the exquifite Carthagi¬ 
nian pickle, and afterwards procuring a rich fauce from 
their livers. They were alfo regarded as a great orna¬ 
ment in fifh-ponds, on account of their beautiful colours. 
The Greeks confecrated it to Diana, becaule, if we may 
believe Plutarch, it purfues and kills the fea-wolf, which 
is one of the greateft enemies to man. The furmullet is 
eertainly one of the voracious tribe; according to -Elian, 
it devours every thing it comes nigh, and is particularly 
fond of the fiefh of man and of animals; but it commonly 
lives on little fifties, crabs, and fnails. Pliny fays the 
fnails give it a difagreeable fmell; the fame fays Galen of 
the crabs on which it feeds; that great phyfician feems 
not to have been fond of the furmullet, for he fays it is 
not well-tafted, and that the large ones are hard and dif¬ 
ficult of digeftion ; Ariftotle, oa the contrary, fays it is 
L U S. 
tender and delicate, efpecially in autumn. They aftemble 
in the fpring in lhoals, leaving the bottom of the fea, and 
depofit their fpawn at the mouths of rivers. According - 
to Ariftotle, they fpawn the lateft of any fifh, and three 
•times a-year; but this opinion can only arife from fifh of 
•different ages fpawning at different parts of the year. 
/3 M. maculatus, the fpotted furmullet, with three 
black fpots on the lateral line, is regarded by Gmelin as 
a variety of the foregoing, but made a feparate fpecies by 
Bloch and Cepede. The head is compreffed, with a de¬ 
clining roftrum, and fcaly. The jaws of equal length, 
with teeth like a file. The noftrils are Angle. The eyes 
near the top of the head; the pupil is black, in a yellow 
iris. The gills have a large aperture, the membrane is 
covered. The body is long, and covered with fcales; the 
lateral line is near the back; the anus in the middle of 
the body. The whole fifh is of the colour of blood, ex¬ 
cept the barbies and the edges of the tail-fin, which in¬ 
cline to yellow, fo that the black fpots on the back ap¬ 
pear very remarkable. This fifh is found in the fea at the 
Antilles, and in the lakes of Brafil. It grows to the fizo-- 
of a fmall falmon; and prince Maurice fays that thofe 
caught in ftill waters are fat and tender, but they will not 
keep. According to Pifo, this fifh has no gall-bladder. 
This variety is fhown at fig. 2. 
2. Mullus barbatus, the red furmullet, or fmaller red- 
beard: head rounded oft' or forefliortened; cirri 2; body 
red, without ftripes. There are 3 rays in the membrane 
of the gills, 15 in the pectoral fins, 6 in the ventrals, 7 in 
the anal, 17 in the tail, 7 in the firft dorfal, and 9 in the 
fecond. The head is broad, compreffed, and covered with 
fcales which eafily come off The jaws are of equal length, 
with a number of fmall teeth ; the front of the palate alfo 
is rough, and there are four bones like a file in the gul¬ 
let; the tongue however is fmooth. There are two long 
barbies at the chin; the noftrils are fingle, and midway 
between the bones of the lips (which are narrow) and the 
eyes. The aperture of the gills is large, the membrane 
concealed. The body is broad upwards, diminifhed and 
compreffed towards the tail, and covered with fcales. The 
lateral line runs near the back; the anus nearer the tail 
than the head. The back and fides are red, the belly (li¬ 
very, the fins yellow. The firft dorfal is compofed of ftiff 
rays; of the fecond dorfal, ventral, and anal, the firft is 
a lliff ray, the reft flexible, and four-branched. This fpe¬ 
cies is known on the coafl of Cornwall; in the Baltic, 
about Denmark; in the Mediterranean, near Rome, Sar¬ 
dinia, and Malta; in the Atlantic, on the-coafts of Spain, 
Portugal, and France, efpecially about Bourdeaux ; in the 
North Sea ? about Holland; and in the Eaft Indies at the 
Moluccas. Mr. John, of Tranquebar, defcribes it as a 
beautiful fifh with golden fpots on a red ground; it is 
fix to nine inches long, and very well tafted; it comes 
up into rivers, and is caught in every l'eafon, but not in 
abundance. The price is extremely high at Rome ; but 
at Conftantinople very low, becaufe they are brought to 
the markets in great plenty, and thereby become daily 
food. This was equally efteemed in ancient Rome with 
the firft fpecies. It lives on crabs and other cruftaceous 
fifh ; is caught either with a net or a line baited with a 
piece of crab. 
3. Mullus Japonicus, the Japan furmullet: body yellow, 
without ftripes ; tail forked; cirri two. The firft dorfal fin 
has 7 rays, the fecond 9. This is hardly to be diftin- 
guifhed from the preceding, except by the colour. It in¬ 
habits Japan, and is about fix inches long. There are no 
teeth in the mouth. It was firft defcribed by Houttuyn. 
4. Mullus auriflamraa, the gold-fpotted furmullet: 
white, with a tawny longitudinal ftripe on each fide; a 
round yellow fpot on the bafe of the tail; tail-fin yellow, 
cirri two. Seven fpiiies in the firft dorfal fin, 10 rays in 
the fecond, 17 in the peftorals, 6 in the ventrals, 9 in the 
anal, 15 in the tail. Obferved by Forfkael in the Red Sea 
in Arabia. In this fpecies the fcales are membranaceous 
at the edge. The head is fpotted with yellow at the fides; 
% teeth 
