(B) That from Pliny. Writing of the _Muræna_, he says that it is quite clear that in its tail abides its _anima_ (‘life’ or ‘being’), because a blow on that part swiftly kills it, while one on the head is more tedious in effect.[627] (C) That alleged in Scandinavia. To the Norseman the most delicate part of the salmon was its tail. His choice, nowadays by no means exceptional, was explained by a pretty piece of ætiological tradition. Loki, fleeing from the pursuit of the gods whose anger he had provoked, had the wit and the time to transform himself into a salmon. Then and in this guise would he have surely escaped, had not Thor caught him by the tail, “and this is the reason why salmon have had the tails so fine and so thin ever since.”[628] In my list, which excludes the _Echineis_, despite its being according to Cassiodorus[629] “that honey of flesh, that dainty of the deep,” in precedence comes 1 the _Mullus_, 2 the _Scarus_, 3 the _Acipenser_, 4 the _Rhombus_, 5 the _Lupus_, 6 the _Asellus_, 7 the Eel and the _Muræna_, 8 the κάπρος, 9 the Sole. 1. _Mullus_ (_M. barbatus_), the “Red Mullet.” The passages already quoted as regards the huge prices sometimes given for it establish the extreme esteem with which this fish was regarded. But if need be, witness after witness to credit can easily be called. Perhaps, as regards the Latins, Nonnius will suffice: “Inter omnes pisces prærogativa quadam omniumque consensu Mullus sibi imperium occupavit, nec alius unquam majori in honore aut gratia apud Romanos fuit.”[630] Among the Greeks, if, as seems acknowledged, the τρίγλη corresponds to the Mullet, its place must be accounted high from the number of its devotees. Matron[631] goes into raptures even over its mere head when steeped in brine, irrespective of whether it came from an autumn (as recommended by Aristotle) or a spring fish (the choice of Xenocrates). The acme of epicurean hospitality was reached with serving the Mullet, not dead swimming in sauce, but alive swimming in a globe of glass, to be handed round among the guests. All eyes gloated as its gay hues gradually grew dimmer, till at last with death they faded into one dull colour. Seneca lashes with his bitterest irony the custom, and the company. They are no longer content to satisfy their teeth and their stomach—no, they must also gratify their eyes. “No one now sits with a dying friend. None can bring himself to witness the death, however much desired! of his father. The last hours of brother or kinsman find no soul with him. To the death of the Mullet have they all flocked with one accord.”[632] 2. For the _Scarus_ (_S. cretensis_), the “Parrot Wrasse,” see Chapter X.