Page:Natural History, Fishes.djvu/91

Rh Messengers were sent at great expense to the most distant shores of the Mediterranean to procure these fishes, which, when brought home, were kept alive in vivaria or tanks of sea-water. By a refinement of luxury, the Mullets were even brought to table alive, that the guests might feast their eyes upon the changes of hue which flit over the bodies of these fishes in the agonies of death. "The fishes," says Cicero, "swim under the couches of the guests. A Mullet is not considered fresh unless it actually die before their eyes; they gaze upon it exposed to view in glass bowls, and watch the various tints that play over it one after another as it passes from life to death." The species selected for this inhuman exhibition appears to have been the smaller and more rare M. barbatus, which is destitute of yellow stripes, and does not exceed six inches in length. The name of the genus Mullus is said to have been given to these fishes from their hue resembling that of the Mulleus or scarlet sandal worn by the Roman Consuls and Emperors.

The curious organs called beards (cirri) that are attached to the chin in these and some other fishes are connected with the search after food. Mr. Yarrell has some interesting observations on this subject, which we shall here quote from his valuable volume on British Fishes. "These cirri are generally placed near the mouth, and they are mostly found in those fishes that are known to feed very near the bottom. On dissecting these appendages in the Mullet, the common Cod, and others, I found them to consist of an elongated and slender flexible cartilage, invested by numerous longitudinal muscular and nervous fibres, and