they are light and nutritious, and are easily digested, and leave nothing behind them, and are not apt to cause flatulence. And every kind of fish is more digestible when dressed simply, and especially those which keep near the rocks have a better flavour when dressed plainly. And the species which is called soft-fleshed is like them, namely, the sea-thrush, the sea-blackbird, and others which resemble them. And these contain more moisture than the others, and with respect to refreshing the strength of those who eat them, they have more efficacy. And if any one wishes to produce an effect upon his bowels, he should eat them boiled; but if he is in good health, then he will find them nutritious roasted. And as diuretic food they are equally useful cooked either way.
56. "But the places of the sea where rivers and lakes fall into it, and also those where there are large bays and gulfs of the sea, are those where all the fish are more juicy, and more full of fat. They are also more palatable when caught in those places, but less nutritious and less digestible. And on the shore where it is exposed to the open sea, and where it is unprotected, then the fishes found there are for the most part hard and thin, beaten by the continued action of the waves. But where the sea is deep close in shore and less exposed to violent winds, especially if there are any cities near, then there is the greatest number of fish, and they are equally excellent in respect of pleasantness of flavour and ease of digestion, and also in the nourishment which they afford to the body. But of sea fish those are the most indigestible and the heaviest which migrate at certain seasons from the sea to the lakes and rivers; such as the cestreus; and as a general rule that is the character of every fish which can live in both salt and fresh water. But of those which live wholly in rivers and lakes, the river fish are the best; for the water of lakes is more apt to putrefy. And, again, of river fish those are the best which are found in the most rapid rivers; and especially the trout; for those are never found except where the river is rapid and cold, and they are far superior to all other river fish in their digestible properties."
57. This now, my friends, is my contribution, and I have brought you the wholesomest food with which it was in my power to provide you. For, as you may read in the Parasite of Antiphanes,—
