Latin Texts & Translations

There is a very small fish ^[Note] that is in the habit of living among the rocks, and is known as the echeneis. ^[Note] It is believed that when this has attached itself to the keel of a ship its pro-

gress is impeded, and that it is from this circumstance that it takes its name. ^[Note] For this reason, also, it has a disgraceful repute, as being employed in love philtres, ^[Note] and for the purpose of retarding judgments and legal proceedings—evil properties, which are only compensated by a single merit that it possesses—it is good for staying fluxes of the womb in pregnant women, and preserves the fœtus up to birth: it is never used, however, for food. ^[Note] Aristotle ^[Note] is of opinion that this fish has feet, so strong is the resemblance, by reason of the form and position of the fins.

Mucianus speaks of a murex ^[Note] of larger size than the purple, with a head that is neither rough nor round; and the shell of which is single, and falls in folds on either side. ^[Note] He tells us, also, that some of these creatures once attached themselves to a ship freighted with children ^[Note] of noble birth, who were being sent by Periander for the purpose of being castrated, and that they stopped its course in full sail; and he further

says, that the shell-fish which did this service are duly honoured in the temple of Venus, ^[Note] at Cnidos. Trebius Niger says that this fish is a foot in length, and that it can retard the course of vessels, five fingers in thickness; besides which, it has another peculiar property-when preserved in salt, and applied, it is able to draw up gold which has fallen into a well, however deep it may happen to be. ^[Note]