A companion to Greek studies / edited for the syndics of the University Press, by Leonard Whibley.

  • Leonard Whibley
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A companion to Greek studies / edited for the syndics of the University Press, by Leonard Whibley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

    77/722 (page 33)
    REPTILES. FISHES a spotted lizard, and xaiw.at^«wv, Chamceko vulgaris, African and not found in Greece. 52. The Ophidia, of which the modern Greeks recognize seven species, were more discriminated. ApaKwv, though sometimes appUed ophidia to serpents generally, is discriminated by Hesiod. It was a huge reptile, doubtless the python. There is no reason why Python sebcs of Africa, or F. tnolurus of India, or a kindred species, should not have formerly existed in Greece and Asia Minor. It would be one of the first animals exterminated by man. Ofja^, resembling the Hebrew and Coptic name, is generic for all snakes, of which 12 species are known from Greece. 'YSpos and v8pa are water snakes, of which Coluber viperinns is the most frequent. Exis, Ix'-hva, a poisonous snake, of which there are two in Greece, Vipera aspis and V. ammodytis. Kepaa-Tr]<;, Cerasles hasselquisti, the horned viper, inhabits the African desert, but is still, though very rarely, found in Greece. 53. BaTpa;)[(o? includes all frogs. Four species inhabit Greece, Rana esculenta, J?. te?nporaria, Discoglossus pidus and Hyla viridis, ^ ^ ^. the tree frog. The frog was a favourite topic of the early humourists, as the Barpap^ot of Aristophanes, the BaTpaxofJivo/jiaxia, once attributed to Homer, and many fables testify, ^pvvrj, toad, Bu/o, is represented by two species, B. vulgaris (also British) and £. viridis. The only other reptile to be noticed is a-aXafjidvSpa, Salamandra maculosa, which, it was believed, could resist fire. The oc^tes TTTepmroi of Herodotus must have been fabulous. The serpent often occurs on the coins of Egypt, sometimes with Isis. It was sacred to Asclepius. The coins of Cumae bore a water-snake, those of Croton a python. Serpents were the symbol of prudence, and the guardians of health-giving plants, and of springs. D. FISHES. 54. The fishes of the Mediterranean, though very numerous in species, are not peculiar, being generally identical with those of the parallel Atlantic latitudes. The freshwater species, though few in number, are more inter- esting. The Sahtiotiidce (trout, etc.), while existing in the higher reaches of the Danube and other rivers, do not descend to the sea, and were unknown to the Greeks. The principal freshwater fishes are lXko\\i, the sturgeon, Accipenser sturio, and sterlet, A. rutpenus, cartilaginous fishes : yAai'is, or KopaKLvo?, the cat-fish, Siliiriis glanis, abundant in the Nile, and another species in the Jordan : AeTriSiDTo'?, Cyprinus lepidoius, a Nilotic carp; , o^i;ppvy;(os, Mormyrus oxyrrhynchus, of a family peculiar to the African rivers; it was held sacred by the Egyptians. More than 50 species are known, of which eleven are found in the Nile. Ey^^cA-us, Anguilla, the eel, of which there are several species, abounds in all Mediterranean rivers, but not in those of the Black Sea. Mvpatm, Pteromyzon Jluviatilis, the lamprey, was G. A. •}