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1 He has already said, in B. ii. c. 3, that "the seeds of all bodies fall down from the heavens, principally into the ocean, and being mixed together, we find that a variety of monstrous forms are in this way fre- quently produced."
2 Hardouin has the following remark on this passage. "Rondelet and Aldrovandus only waste their time and pains in making their minute inquiries into the present names of these fish, which took their names from grapes, the wood, the saw, and the cucumber; for by no other writer do we find them mentioned even." Cuvier, however, does not seem to be of Hardouin's opinion, that such investigations are a waste of time, and has suggested that the eggs of the Sepia officinalis may be alluded to, the eggs of which are in clusters of a dark colour, and bearing a strong resemblance to black grapes. This resemblance to a bunch of grapes is noticed by Pliny himself, in c. 74 of the present Book.
3 He alludes, most probably, to what we call the "sword-fish," the "Xiphias gladius" of Linnæus.
4 Probably, in allusion to the "Squalus pristis" of Linnæus.
5 Cuvier suggests that he probably alludes to the "Holothuria pentactes" of Linnæus, or the sea-priapus; and remarks, that when the animal contracts itself, it bears a very strong resemblance to a cucumber.
6 Cuvier says, that he most probably alludes to the "Syngnathus hippocampus" of Linnæus. This little fish, he says, is also called the seahorse, and having the body armed with a hard coat, might very easily have been taken for a shell-fish. Its head, in miniature, bears a very strong resemblance to that of a horse.
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(2):
- Lewis & Short, accrēmentum
- Lewis & Short, consortĭo