Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK IX. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF FISHES., CHAP. 88. (62.)—THE ANTIPATHIES AND SYMPATHIES THAT EXIST BETWEEN AQUATIC ANIMALS.

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CHAP. 88. (62.)—THE ANTIPATHIES AND SYMPATHIES THAT EXIST BETWEEN AQUATIC ANIMALS.

There are also marvellous instances to be found of antipathies and sympathies existing between them. The mullet and the wolf-fish¹ are animated with a mutual hatred; and so too, the conger and the murena gnaw each other² tails. The crayfish has so great a dread of the polypus, that if it sees it near, it expires in an instant: the conger dreads the cray-fish; while, again, the conger tears the body of the polypus. Nigidius informs us that the wolf-fish gnaws the tail of the mullet, and yet that, during certain months, they are on terms of friendship; all those, however, which thus lose their tails, survive their misfortune. On the other hand, in addition to those which we have already mentioned as going in company together, an instance of friendship is found in the balæna and the musculus,³ for, as the eye—Brows of the former are very heavy, they sometimes fall over its eyes, and quite close them by their ponderousness, upon which the musculus swims before, and points out the shallow places which are likely to prove inconvenient to its vast bulk,⁴ thus serving it in the stead of eyes. We shall now have to speak of the nature of the birds.

SUMMARY.—Remarkable facts, narratives, and observations, 650.

ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Turranius Gracilis,⁵ Trogus,⁶ Mæcenas,⁷ Alfius Flavus,⁸ Cornelius Nepos,⁹ Laberius the Mimographer,¹⁰ Fabianus,¹¹ Fenestella,¹² Mucianus,¹³ Ælius Stilo,¹⁴ Statius Sebosus,¹⁵ Melissus,¹⁶ Seneca,¹⁷ Cicero,¹⁸ Æmilius Macer,¹⁹ Messala Corvinus,²⁰ Trebius Niger,²¹ Nigidius.²² FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Aristotle,²³ King Archelaus,²⁴ Callimachus,²⁵ Democritus,²⁶ Theophrastus,²⁷ Thrasyllus,²⁸ Hegesidemus,²⁹ Cythnius,³⁰ Alexander Polyhistor.³¹

1 Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. ix. c. 3. Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 48.

2 Aristotle says, that the tail of the conger is bitten by the murena, but not that of the murena by the conger. Hardouin suggests that Pliny may have learned this fact from the works of Nigidius Figulus.

3 Cuvier remarks, that in another passage, B. xi. c. 62, Pliny states that the "musculus qui balænam antecedit" has no teeth, but only bristles in its mouth. Now, in B. xxxii. c. 53, he speaks of the musculus as among the largest of animals; from which Cuvier concludes it to have been a species of whale, probably the "rorqual" of the Mediterranean. In confirmation of this, he thinks that the word "antecedit," in B. xi. c. 62, has not the meaning of "goes before," but "exceeds in size;" though here it is spoken of as leading the whale; and Oppian, Ælian, Plutarch, Claudian, speak of the conductor of the whale as a little fish. He is of opinion, in fine, that either Pliny or some of the authors from which he has borrowed, have made a mistake in the name, and probably given that of "musculus," which was really a large fish, to a small one, which was commonly supposed to attend on the movements of the whale.

4 It is evident from this passage, that Pliny is speaking of a little fish here, and not one to which he would assign such bulk as is ascribed to the musculus in B. xxxii. c. 53.

5 See end of B. iii.

6 See end of B. vii.

7 Caius Cilnius Mecænas, or rather Mæcenas, a descendant of the kings of Etruria, and of equestrian rank. He was the favourite minister of Augustus, and the friend and patron of Horace, Virgil, and most of the more deserving among the learned of his day. He is supposed to have written two tragedies, the Prometheus and Octavia; an epic poem, and a work on Natural History, to which Pliny frequently alludes, and which seems to have related, principally, to fishes and gems. He is also thought to have written some memoirs of the life of Augustus.

8 A rhetorician, who flourished in the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius. His school was attended by the elder Seneca, who had then recently removed to Rome from Corduba. He was regarded at Rome as a prodigy of learning, and gave lectures before he had assumed the toga virilis. He is supposed to have written poetry, and a history of the Carthaginian wars.

9 See end of B. ii.

10 Or " writer of Mimes." Laberius Decimus was of equestrian rank, born about B. C. 107, and died B. C. 43. Half compelled, and half induced by the offer of a reward by Cæsar, he appeared on the stage, in his old age, as an actor of mimes. A few verses, and a prologue still in existence, are attributed to him.

11 Fabianus Papirius. See end of B. ii.

12 See end of B. viii.

13 See end of B. ii.

14 L. Ælius Præconinus Stilo, a Roman of equestrian rank, one of the earliest grammarians, and also one of the most celebrated. He instructed Varro, and was one of Cæsar's instructors in rhetoric. He received the name of Preconinus, from the circumstance of his father having been a "præco," and that of Stilo, on account of his writings. He wrote commentaries on the songs of the Salii, and on the Twelve Tables, a work De Proloquiis, &c.

15 See end of B. ii.

16 See end of B. vii.

17 L. Annæus Seneca. See end of B. vi.

18 See end of B. vii.

19 A poet of Verona, who died B. C. 16. He wrote a poem upon birds, snakes, and medicinal plants, in imitation, probably, of the Theriaca of Nicander. There is a work, still extant, under his name, "On the Virtues of Herbs;" which, no doubt, belongs to the middle ages. He also wrote sixteen or more Books of Annals.

20 M. Valerius Messala Corvinus. He was born at Rome, B.C. 59. He joined the party of Cassius against Antony and Augustus, which last he defeated at the battle of Philippi. He afterwards served under Antony, and then Augustus; the centre of whose fleet he commanded at Actium. About two years before his death, which happened in the middle of the reign of Augustus, his memory failed him, and he was often unable to recollect his own name. He wrote a history, or rather, commentaries on the Civil wars after the death of Cæsar, and towards the close of his life composed a genealogical work "On the Families of Rome." He also wrote poems of a satirical, and sometimes licentious character; and works on grammar, the titles of only two of which have come down to us. He was especially famous for his eloquence.

21 See end of B. viii.

22 See end of B. vi.

23 See end of B. ii.

24 See end of B. viii.

25 See end of B. iv.

26 See end of B. ii.

27 See end of B. iii.

28 See end of B. iii.

29 See end of B. ii.

30 Nothing whatever is known of him.

31 See end of B. iii.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 88. (62.)—THE ANTIPATHIES AND SYMPATHIES THAT EXIST BETWEEN AQUATIC ANIMALS.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 88. (62.)—THE ANTIPATHIES AND SYMPATHIES THAT EXIST BETWEEN AQUATIC ANIMALS.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.