[lit-ideas] Re: Polypvs mos natare svrsvm vestri adficio pipio in a domus svl...

On the other hand, use small print, or you'll require an extra  large.

And you HAVE to quote him appropriately as PLINY, never  Juvenal:

In a way, it reminded me of Oppian's poetical description of  olive-loving 
tree octopuses.
 
Pliny it's doubtful saw the thing. Most likely he read it in  Aristotle.
 
In his History of Animals, Aristotle notes in passing that 
 
"the octopus is the only mollusc that ventures on to dry land; it walks by  
preference on rough ground". 
 
which fails to recall snails and slugs. 
 
Pliny the Elder repeats in Nat. Hist. the observations (first published by  
Trebius Niger) of Lucius Lucullus, proconsul of Hispania Bætica, who 
described a  giant polypus that was terrorizing Iberian fish-picklers by coming 
out of the  sea and robbing their salty stores. 
 
"At Carteia, in the preserves there, a polypus was in the habit of coming  
from the sea to the pickling-tubs that were left open, and devouring the 
fish  laid in salt there -- for it is quite astonishing how eagerly all 
sea-animals  follow even the very smell of salted condiments, so much so, that 
it 
is for this  reason, that the fishermen take care to rub the inside of the 
wicker fish-kipes  with them. -- At last, by its repeated thefts and 
immoderate depredations, it  drew down upon itself the wrath of the keepers of 
the 
works. Palisades were  placed before them, but these the polypus managed to 
get over by the aid of a  tree, and it was only caught at last by calling in 
the assistance of trained  dogs, which surrounded it at night, as it was 
returning to its prey; upon which,  the keepers, awakened by the noise, were 
struck with alarm at the novelty of the  sight presented. First of all, the 
size of the polypus was enormous beyond all  conception; and then it was 
covered all over with dried brine, and exhaled a  most dreadful stench. Who 
could 
have expected to find a polypus there, or could  have recognized it as such 
under these circumstances? They really thought that  they were joining 
battle with some monster, for at one instant, it would drive  off the dogs by 
its 
horrible fumes, and lash at them with the extremities of its  feelers; 
while at another, it would strike them with its stronger arms, giving  blows 
with so many clubs, as it were; and it was only with the greatest  difficulty 
that it could be dispatched with the aid of a considerable number of  
three-pronged fish-spears. The head of this animal was shewn to Lucullus: it 
was  
in size as large as a cask of fifteen amphoræ, and had a beard, to use the  
expressions of Trebius himself, which could hardly be encircled with both 
arms,  full of knots, like those upon a club, and thirty feet in length; the 
suckers or  calicules, as large as an urn, resembled a basin in shape, while 
the teeth again  were of a corresponding largeness: its remains, which were 
carefully preserved  as a curiosity, weighed seven hundred pounds. [Chapter 
46, Book 9.] 

Aelian, in his On the Characteristics of Animals contains a similar  
encounter:
 
"Octopuses naturally with the lapse of time attain to enormous proportions  
and approach cetaceans and are actually reckoned as such. At any rate I 
learn of  an octopus at Dicaearchia in Italy which attained to a monstrous bulk 
and  scorned and despised food from the sea and such pasturage as it 
provided. And so  this creature actually came out on to the land and seized 
things 
there. Now it  swam up through a subterranean sewer that discharged the 
refuse of the aforesaid  city into the sea and emerged in a house on the shore 
where some Iberian  merchants had their cargo, that is, pickled fish from 
that country in immense  jars; it threw its tentacles round the earthenware 
vessels and with its grip  broke them and feasted on the pickled fish. And 
when the merchants entered and  saw the broken pieces, they realised that a 
large quantity of their cargo had  disappeared; and they were amazed and could 
not guess who had robbed them: they  saw that no attempt had been made upon 
the doors; the roof was undamaged; the  walls had not been broken through. 
They saw also the remains of the pickled fish  that had been left behind by 
the uninvited guest. So they decided to have their  most courageous servant 
armed and waiting in ambush in the house. Well, during  the night the Octopus 
crept up to its accustomed meal and clasping the vessels,  as an athelete 
puts a strangle-hold upon his adversary with all his might  gripping firmly, 
the robber -- if I may so call the Octopus -- crushed the  earthenware with 
the greatest ease. It was full moon, and the house was full of  light, and 
everything was quite visible. But the servant was not for attacking  the 
brute single-handed as he was afraid, moreover his adversary was too big for  
one man, but in the morning he informed the merchants what had happened. They  
could not believe their ears. Then some of them remembering how heavily 
they had  been mulcted, were for risking the danger and were eager to encounter 
their  enemy, while others in their thirst for this singular and incredible 
spectacle  voluntarily shut themselves up with their companions in order to 
help them.  Later, in the evening the marauder paid his visit and made for 
his usual feast.  Thereupon some of them closed off the conduit; others took 
arms against the  enemy and with choppers and razors well sharpened cut the 
tentacles, just as  vine-dressers and woodmen lop the tips of the branches 
of an oak. And having cut  away its strength, at long last they overcame it 
not without considerable  labour. And what was so strange was that merchants 
captured the fish on dry  land. Mischief and craft are plainly seen to be 
characteristics of this  creature. [Chapter 6, Book 13. Translation by Alwyn 
Faber Scholfield, 1958.]  Fisherfolk assert that even octopuses come ashore 
if a sprig of olive is laid  upon the beach. [Chapter 37, Book 1.]
If a field, or if trees with fruit upon  them are close by the sea, farmers 
often find that in summer Octopuses and  Osmyluses have emerged from the 
waves, have crept up the trunks, have enveloped  the branches, and are 
plucking the fruit. So when they have caught them they  punish them. And as 
quittance for what the aforesaid fish have reaped they  provide the owners of 
the 
pillaged fruit with a feast. [Chapter 45, Book  9.]

These olivevorous tree octopuses are also described by Athenaeus in his  
Deipnosophistae, who adds figs to their diet:

And sometimes they [polypi] have been seen leaving the sea, and going on  
dry land, especially towards any rough or rugged ground; for they shun smooth 
 places: and of all plants they especially delight in the olive, and they 
are  often found embracing the trunk of an olive with their feelers. They 
have also  been discovered clinging to such fig-trees as grow near the 
seashore, and eating  the figs, as Clearchus tells us, in his treatise on those 
Animals which live in  the Water. And this also is a proof that they are fond 
of 
the olive, -- that if  any one drops a branch of this tree down into the 
sea, in a place where there  are polypi, and holds it there a little time, he 
without any trouble draws up as  many polypi as he pleases, clinging to the 
branch. [Chapter 103, Book 7.]  

The question for Ritchie is:
 
Could humans have played a similar role in the evolution of the Pacific  
Northwest Tree Octopus? 
 
Perhaps octopuses originally came ashore looking for the salmon they saw  
humans catching. When they discovered the humans' smoked salmon -- so unlike 
the  fish they were used to, and so very, very tasty -- they wanted more 
than they  could steal from the humans, and thus took to the similarly flavored 
redcedar  trees under the mistaken belief that "tree fish" -- naturally 
imbued with the  smoky redolence of the woods -- dwell there. Not ever finding 
these mythic fish,  they eventually gave up their quixotic search, but, 
having become accustomed to  their arboreal life, continued to call the trees 
home.
 
Cheers,

JLS
  griceclub.blogspot.com
 
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