EBULLITION. See BOILING. ECIHNE1S, the remora, in natural his tory, a genus of fishes of the order Tho racici. Generic character : head fur nished on the top with a flat, oval, trans versely grooved shield : gill-membrane, with ten rays, according to Gmelin, and six, according to Shaw ; body not scaled. There are three species, the echinels re mora, or Mediterranean remora, is of the I. length of from twelve to eighteen inches. 1 Among the ancients its peculiarity of structure and habits was connected with the most incredible and marvellous cir cumstances, which are, however, detailed , with all possible gravity and faith, by their most profound naturalists. Pliny states, that the force of the tide, the cur rent, and the tempest, joining in one grand impulse with oars and sails, to urge a ship onwards in one direction, is checked by the operation of one small fish, called remora, by the Roman au thors, which completely counteracts this apparently irresistible accumulation of power, and compels the vessel to remain motionless in the midst of the ocean. He credits the prevailing report that Antho ny's ship, in the battle of Actium, was kept motionless by the exertion of the remora, notwithstanding the efforts of several hundred sailors ; and that the vessel of Caligula was detained between Astura and Antium by another of these fishes found sticking to the helm, and whose solitary efforts could not be coun tervailed by a crew of 400 able seamen, till several of the latter, on examining in to the cause of the detention, perceived the impediment, and detached the remo ra from its hold. The emperor, he adds, was not a little astonished, that the, fish should hold the ship so fast in the water, and when brought upon the deck appear to possess no power of detention over it whatever. This confiding naturalist ex presses himself as perfectly convinced that all fishes possess a similar power, and states, as a notorious example, the de tention of Periander's ship by a porcel lane, near the Cape of Gnidos. Quitting,
however, the fables of antiquity, it may be observed, that the fins of the remora are particularly weak, and thus prevent its swimming to any considerable dis tance, on which account it attaches itself to various bodies, inanimate or living, be ing found not only fastened to ships, but to whales, sharks, and other fishes ; and with such extreme tenacity is this hold maintained, that, unless the effort of se paration be applied in a particular direc tion, it is impossible to effect the disunion without the destruction of the fish itself. As the remora is extremely voracious, and far from fastidious in its food, it may attach itself to vessels and large fishes, with a view to secure that ample subsist ence, which must arise to it from the su perfluity with which it is in such circum stances almost inevitably furnished. This fish will often adhere to rocks, and par ticularly in boisterous and tempestuous weather. The apparatus for accomplish ing this adhesion consists of an oval area on the top of the head, traversed by nu merous dissepiments, each of which is fringed at the edge by a row of very nu merous perpendicular teeth, or filaments, while the whole oval space is strengthen ed by a longitudinal septum. It is re ported by some authors, that, in the Mo zambique channel, a species of remora is employed by the natives of the coast in their pursuit of turtles with great success. A ring is fixed near the tail of the remo ra, with a long cord attached to it, and when the boat has arrived as nearly as it well can to the turtle sleeping on the surface of the water, the remora is diS missed, and immediately proceeds to. wards the turtle, which it fastens on so firmly, that both are drawn into the boat with extreme facility. For a representa tion of the Mediterranean remora, see PISCES, Plate 1V. fig. 3.