some small canoe, in the earlier ages of mankind, 
might in some degree have been impeded in its pro¬ 
gress, or made to incline unequally by several of 
these fishes adhering to one side; and the tale, once 
related, might have gradually grown into the ex¬ 
aggerated power afterwards ascribed to the animal. 
The usual length of this fish is about fifteen inches : 
it is a native of the Mediterranean and Atlantic 
seas. 
