not apt to disagree with one, and good for the stomach. But the fresh ones are less popular than the others, because they hunt the sea-hares and feed on them, owing to which their entrails are apt to produce cholera morbus. And the fish which is called ceris is tender, good for the bowels, and good for the stomach; but its juice has fattening and purgative qualities. The orphus, which some write [Greek: orphos], and some [Greek: orphôs], is very full of a pleasant juice, glutinous, indigestible, very nutritious, diuretic. But the parts near his head are glutinous and digestible; but the more fleshy parts are indigestible and heavy, and the part towards the tail is the tenderest part; and he is a fish apt to generate phlegm, and indigestible. The sphyrænæ are more nutritious than the congers; and the eel caught in lakes is not so nice as the sea-eel, but it is more nutritious. The chrysophrys is very like the melanurus; and the sea-scorpions, which are found in the deep sea, and are of a tawny colour, are more nutritious than those which are found in marshes, or than the large ones which are taken on the shores.
52. "But the sparus is harsh-tasted, tender, with no unpleasant smell, good for the stomach, diuretic, and not indigestible; but when he is fried he is indigestible. The mullet is good for the stomach, very astringent, of very firm flesh, not very digestible, apt to bind the bowels, especially when it is broiled; but when it is fried in a frying-pan, then it is heavy and indigestible; and, as a general rule, the whole tribe of mullets has the property of causing secretions of blood. The synodon and the charax are of the same kind, but the charax is the better of the two. The phagrus is found both in the river and in the sea; but that which is found in the sea is the best. The capriscus is called also the mussel; but it has a strong smell, and very hard meat, and it is more indigestible than the citharus; but its skin is very pleasant to the taste. The needle-fish, or belone, and it is also called the ablennes, is indigestible and moist, but good for the bowels. The thrissa, and those of the same kind, such as the chalcis and the eretimis, are very digestible. The cestreus is found in the sea, and in rivers, and in lakes. And this fish, says he, is also called the oxyrhynchus; but the one which is taken in the Nile is called the coracinus. And the black kind is smaller than the white, and when boiled it is not so good as when it is roasted; for when roasted it is good for
