14.06.26: Comenius (1658) XXXV; Sea-fish and Shell-fish … and fish that ‘flie’ (4) from the authors; Pliny the Elder’s Natural History [4]

[v] Piscium sanguine carent dē quibus dicēmus. sunt autem tria genera: prīmum quae mollia appellantur, dein contēcta crustīs tenuibus, postrēmō testis conclūsa dūrīs. mollia sunt lollīgō, saepia (sēpia), polypus et cētera generis eius.

Piscium sanguine carent dē quibus dicēmus,│ There are some fish that lack blood, of which we will speak,

sunt autem tria genera: │ but there are three kinds: 

prīmum quae mollia appellantur, │ first, those which are called soft-bodied;

dein contēcta crustīs tenuibus │ next, those covered with thin crusts;

postrēmō testīs conclūsa dūrīs. │ and finally, those enclosed in hard shells.

mollia sunt │ The soft-bodied ones are

lollīgō, │ the squid

saepia (sēpia), │  the cuttlefish,

polypus │ the octopus,

et cētera generis eius. │ and others of that kind.”

[vi] ideō pinnārum quoque fīunt discrīmina, quae pedum vice sunt datae piscibus nūllīs suprā quaternās, quibusdam bīnae, aliquis nūllae. bīnae omnīnō longīs et lūbricīs, ut anguillīs et congrīs, aliīs nūllae, ut mūrēnīs, quibus nec branchiae. … et ē plānīs aliqua nōn habent pinnās, ut pastinācae … et quae mollia appellantur, ut polypī, quoniam pedēs illīs pinnārum vicem praestant.

ideō pinnārum quoque fīunt discrīmina, │ Therefore, distinctions are also made among fins,

pinna, -ae [1/f]: fin, although far more usually an alternative form of penna, -ae [1/f]: feather

quae pedum vice sunt datae piscibus nūllīs suprā quaternās, quibusdam bīnae, aliquis nūllae │ which in place of feet have been given to fish, none (have) more than four, some have two, some have none

vice [+ gen.]: in place (of)

bīnae omnīnō longīs et lūbricīs, ut anguillīs et congrīs, │ long and slippery (fish / ones), such as eels and conger eels, have two in all

conger, congrī [2/m]: conger eel

lūbricus, -a, -um: slippery; slimy 

aliīs nūllae, ut mūrēnīs, quibus nec branchiae. │ others, like moray eels, have none, and nor do they have gills

branchia, -ae [1/f] (usually plural branchiae) gills

et ē plānīs aliqua nōn habent pinnās, ut pastinācae │ and among flat (fishes), some have no fins such as the stingrays

et quae mollia appellantur, ut polypī, │ and those which are called soft, such as the octopuses,

quoniam pedēs illīs pinnārum vicem praestant. │ Literally: because the feet provide for them the the function of fins = because their feet serve them instead of fins.

vicis, -is [3/f]: (here) duty (of one person assumed by another)

[vii] Plūrima autem et maxima animālia in Indicō marī, ex quibus ballaenae quaternum iūgerum, … quippe ubi locustae quaterna cubita impleant, anguillae quoque in Gange amne trīcēnōs pedēs. │ But the greatest number and largest animals (are) in the Indian Ocean; among them are whales covering four iugera of space… where even lobsters reach four cubits in length, and eels in the river Ganges thirty feet.

iūgerum, -ī [2/n]: a juger / iuger, Roman measurement of land equalling approx. ¼ hectare

10.06.26: Comenius (1658) XXXV; Sea-fish and Shell-fish … and fish that ‘flie’ (4) from the authors; Pliny the Elder’s Natural History [3]

[iv]  Aquātilium tegumenta plūra sunt. alia coriō et pilō integuntur ut … hippopotamī, alia coriō tantum ut delphīnī, cortice ut testūdinēs, silicum dūritiā ut ostreae et conchae, crustīs ut locustae, crustīs et spīnīs ut echīnī, squāmīs ut piscēs, asperā cute ut squātina, … mollī ut mūrēnae, alia nūllā ut polypī.

Aquātilium tegumenta plūra sunt. │ The coverings of aquatic animals are of many kinds.

aquātilis, -e: living / growing in water > adjective used as noun: aquātilia i.e. things living in the water = aquatic animals 

alia coriō et pilō integuntur ut … hippopotamī │ Some are covered with skin and hair, like … hippopotamuses; note: this is unlikely to have been stated based upon his own observation but from earlier accounts i.e. Egyptian, or Greek e.g. Herodotus or Aristotle; a hippo does have short, coarse bristles scattered sparsely over the body, especially around the mouth, tail, and ears, but it isn’t a distinctive feature

corium, -ī [2/n]: (here) skin

pilus, -ī [2/m]: hair

alia coriō tantum ut delphīnī, │ others with skin only, like dolphins;

cortice ut testūdinēs │ with shell, like turtles,

cortex, corticis [3 m/f]: [i] bark (of a tree); [ii] shell

testūdō, -tūdinis [3/f]: tortoise; turtle

silicum dūritiā ut ostreae et conchae, │ with hardness of flint, like oysters and mussels;

silex, silicis [3 m/f]: stone; pebble; flint

crustīs ut locustae, │ with crusts, like lobsters;

crusta, -ae [1/f]: hard surface of a body e.g. shell, rind, bark; Engl. deriv. crustacean

crustīs et spīnīs ut echīnī, │ with crusts and spines, like sea urchins;

echīnus, -ī [2/m]: sea urchin

squāmīs ut piscēs, │ with scales, like fish;

squāma, -ae [1/f]: scale (of a fish)

asperā cute ut squātina, │ with rough skin, like the skate

cutis, -is [3/f]: (living) skin; hide; leather

mollī ut mūrēnae, │ with soft skin like moray eels,

alia nūllā ut polypī. │ and some with none at all, like octopuses.

Image: alia coriō et pilō integuntur … │ Some are covered with skin and (with) hair; note the use of the ablative case to describe what each is covered with …

06.06.26: Comenius (1658) XXXV; Sea-fish and Shell-fish … and fish that ‘flie’ (4) from the authors; Pliny the Elder’s Natural History [2]

[ii] Plānōrum piscium alterum est genus, quod prō spīnā cartilāginem habet, ut raiae, pastinācae, squātinae, … │ There is another kind of flat fish, which has cartilage instead of a spine, such as rays, stingrays, skates, …

pastināca, -ae [1/f]; raia, -ae [1/f] pastināca (in this topic) sting-ray

[iii] And Pliny distinguishes the stingray by highlighting its dangers. Here he is referring to poisonous creatures:

sed nūllum usque execrābilius quam radius super caudam ēminēns trȳgonis, quam nostrī pastinācam appellant, … arborēs īnfīxus rādīcī necat, arma ut tēlum perforat vī ferrī et venēnī mālō.

But nothing is more accursed than the spine projecting above the tail of the trygon (stingray), which our people call pastinaca; … when driven into the root of a tree, it kills it, and as a weapon it pierces armour with the force of both iron and evil poison.

cauda, -ae [1/f]: tail

radius, -ī [2/m]: various meanings including (here) the spine of the fish

trȳgōn, -is, [3/m]: alternative noun (from Gk.) referring to the stingray

29.05.26: Comenius (1658) XXXV; Sea-fish and Shell-fish … and fish that ‘flie’ (3) shark tales

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/505677705376836/

Latin can sometimes lead you in very weird directions!

squalus, -ī [2/m]: shark

The origins of the word squalus, -ī [2/m] meaning ‘shark’ are a little unclear; Pliny the Elder refers to these fish (without specifically stating that they can “swallow you whole”) and Carl Linnaeus, who developed the system of classifying species uses the term to refer to a genus of dog-fish: squalus acanthias (spiny dogfish).

While the Wiktionary and Lewis and Short dictionaries are rather non-committal describing squalus as a “kind of (large) sea-fish, thought to be a shark,” the word has ended up in, for example, French: le squale and Italian: squalo. Therefore, if you have a pet shark, it is perfectly reasonable to say: “Mihi squalus est.”

And, if you don’t believe me, ask Matt Hooper in Jaws (1974) because he tells you three times!

(Carcharhinus) longimanus and Isurus glaucus are references to types of shark.

HOOPER: Indicates the non-frenzy feeding of a large squalus possibly longimanus or isurus glaucus. Now, the enormous amount of tissue loss prevents any detailed analysis however the attacking squalus must be considerably larger than any normal squalus found in these waters. Didn't you get on the phone to check out these waters?

MARTIN: No.

HOOPER: Well this is not a boat accident! It wasn't any propeller! It wasn't any coral reef! And it wasn't Jack the Ripper! It was a shark.

25.05.26: Comenius (1658) XXXV; Sea-fish and Shell-fish … and fish that ‘flie’ (2) illustrations: ‘fishy’ monsters, angry eels, scary skates … and fish-propelled boats

The “sea-monk”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_monk

A fish that looked like a human monk wearing a habit was allegedly found off the coast of Zealand, Denmark in 1546 (or 1549) and variously described at that time as:

monachus, -ī [2/m] maris; piscis, -is maris [3/m]

piscis monachī habitū, a “fish dressed in the habit of a monk”

image #1: illustration of a sea-monk (1572)

Image #2: There are several views as to what this creature actually was including a seal, a walrus, a “merman”, and a hoax. Despite its name, it was highly unlikely to have been the monkfish to which we refer now since it bears no resemblance to those early descriptions. In the mid 19^th century, the Danish zoologist Steenstrup suggested that the sea-monk was a giant squid, and his illustration compared it with two contemporary 16^th century images.

Further images show some examples of Mediaeval and early Renaissance depictions of less than friendly sea-creatures although the Middle Ages did see a use for flying fish.

21.05.26: Comenius (1658) XXXV; Sea-fish and Shell-fish … and fish that ‘flie’ (1)

Sea-fish, and shell-fish. │ marīnī piscēs & conchæ.

The whale, 1. (is the) │ bālæna, (cētus) 1.

Greatest ¦ of the sea-fish. │ maximus ¦ piscium marīnōrum.

The dolphin, 2. │ delphīnus, 2.

The swiftest.│ vēlōcissimus.

The scate, 3.│ raia, 3.

The most monstrous.│ mōnstr(u)ōsissimus.

Others are the lamprel, 4. │ aliī sunt mūrænula, 4.

The salmon, 5. │ salmō, 5.

There are also fish that flie, 6. │ dantur etiam volātilēs, 6.

Add herrings, 7. │ adde halecēs, 7.

Which are brought pickled, │ quī salsī,

And pla(i)ce, 8. and cods, 9. │ & passerēs, 8. cum asellīs, 9.

Which are brought dry; │ quī adferuntur ārefactī;

And the sea monsters, │ & mōnstra marīna,

The seal. 10. │ phōcam, 10.

And the sea-horse, &c. │ hippopotamum, &c.

Shell-fish, 11. have shells. │ concha, 11. habet testās,

The oyster, 12. │ ostrea, 12.

Affordeth sweet meat. │ dat sapidam carnem.

The purple-fish, │ mūrex, 13.

Purple; │ purpuram;

The others, pearls, 14. │ aliī, 14. margarītās.

____________________

[1] bālaena / ballaena, -ae [1/f]: whale

also: orca, -ae [1/f]

cētus, -ī [2/m]: any large sea animal e.g. whale, shark, dolphin etc.; can also refer to a sea-monster

[2] delphīnus, -ī [2/m]: dolphin

[3] To see some of this vocabulary in context, we’ll look in later posts at excerpts from Pliny the Elder’s Natural History (Nātūrālis historia). In Book 9, he makes many references to types of fish and uses terms to distinguish between three which, to the untrained eye, look similar:

[i] raia, -ae [1/f]: ray; marine fish with a flat body

[ii] pastināca, -ae [1/f]; raia, -ae [1/f] pastināca (in this topic) sting-ray; pastināca a food term for parsnip (or carrot) referring to the tapering nature of its tail; Pliny specifically distinguishes the sting-ray by describing its venom and the strength of its spine

[iii] squātina, -ae [1/f]: skate

[4] mūrena / mūraena, -ae [1/f]: moray eel; lamprey (transl. lamprel; obsolete); mūrēnula / mūraenula, -ae [1/f] is a diminutive form, but in CL it referred to a small necklace that resembled an eel

also: anguilla, -ae [1/f]: eel

[5] salmō, salmōnis [3/n]: salmon

solea, -ae [1/f]: although its principal meaning is the sole of a shoe, it was also used to refer to the fish owing to its shape

thunnus, -ī [2/m]: tuna

tructa, -ae [1/f] / tructus, -ī [2/m]: (Late Latin) trout

Note the following three where I have given distinguishing translations for them, but there can be overlap and / or lack of clarity in original texts:

lōlīgō, lōlīginis [3/f]: squid

sēpia, -ae [1/f]: cuttlefish

pōlypus, -ī [2/m]: octopus

[6] volātilis, -e: flying; winged > piscēs volātilēs: flying fish

[7] halecēs: ‘herrings’

various forms: (h)ālex, -ēcis [3 m/f]; ālec / (h)allec: “the sediment of a costly fish-sauce, garum; and in general the sauce prepared from small fish, fish-pickle, fish-brine” (Lewis & Short)

It seems an unusual choice to describe the fish itself since there is a more recognisable alternative:

harengus / haringus, -ī [2/m]: (Late Latin) herring

[8] passer, -is [3/m]: refers far more often in CL to a sparrow, not least Lesbia’s famous deceased one in the Catullus poem, but it also was used to mean a ‘turbot’, various species of flatfish including plaice

[9] asellus, -ī [2/m]: “A sea-fish much prized by the Romans, perhaps cod or haddock” (Lewis & Short)

mōnstrum, -ī marīnum: sea-monster

[10]  in the English language of this period, “fish” i.e. the title of the text could be used much more broadly to refer to any marine mammal such as whales or seals:

phōca, -ae [1/f]: seal

hippopotamus, -ī [2/m]: the English term ‘sea-horse’ as used by the translator is referring to a walrus; the Classical Latin did refer to the Nile hippopotamus (‘river-horse’) i.e. the same animal we mean today

hippocampus, -ī [2/m]: sea-horse i.e. the small marine fish with a horse-like head and long tail

[11]

concha, -ae [1/f]: refers to a ‘bilvalve’ shellfish consisting of two hinged sections e.g. scallop, clam, mussel or oyster

conchȳlium, -ī [2/n]: shellfish

testa, -ae [1/f]: various meanings including the shell of a shellfish

mȳtilus / mȳtulus / mutulus, -ī [2/m]: (edible) mussel

cancer, cancrī [2/m]: crab

lōcusta, -ae [1/f]: lobster

[12] ostrea, -ae [1/f]: oyster

[13] mūrex, mūricis [3/m]: a shellfish used as a source of the dye Tyrian purple; the purple-fish

18.07.24: level 1; bright white (and purple) politicians

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/06/180724-level-1-bright-white-politicians.html

[14] margarīta, -ae [1/f]: pearl

Classical Latin did not have a specific word for ‘seafood’ although Neo-Latin fructus, -ūs [4/m] maris (Ital. frutti di mare; Fr. fruits de mer) i.e. fruit(s) of the sea conveys the idea. Equally, a simple combination of two general words i.e. piscēs et conchȳlia maris would have the same meaning.

Most of the illustrations in Comenius’ work are generally accurate. It’s interesting, however, that the images of the fish are not, many of them naively drawn with distinct human facial features. But it’s 1658; it is highly probable that the illustrator had only ever heard of some of these, or had seen earlier and / or inconsistent representations. Moreover, that earlier illustrations exist (one of those posted below is from 1617 and reasonably accurate) does not mean that the illustrator had access to them. A good example of that are three contemporary reports of whales, two prior to Comenius and one – the most bizarre – afterwards.

And I couldn’t end without referring to the news report from 1645 which stated that, when the whale was opened: “there was found in the belly of it a Romiſh prieſt with Pardon for divers Papiſts in England and in Ireland”

They did write some garbage in the 17^th century – and they still do, don’t they? 

Mosaic of an octopus from the floor of the tepidarium in the Roman central baths, Herculaneum