Note 126 — PRIMO VIAGGIO INTORNO AL MONDO

MS. 5,650 omits these last two words. The Italian form braccio is retained in view of these words; for the Spanish braza is a measure about equivalent to the English fathom, while the braccio, although varying in different cities, is near three palmos (spans) in length. The term is, however, translated brasse (“fathom”) in MS. 5,650. Mosto (p. 60, note 8), conjectures this fish to be the Eliginus maclovinus. Of this fish, Theodore Gill, the well-known ichthyologist, says in a letter of May 22, 1905: “The Italian editor gave a shrewd guess in the suggestion that the fish in question was what was formerly called Eliginus maclovinus. The only vulgar name that I have been able to find for it is ‘robalo,’ and this name is applied to it by the Spanish-speaking people of both sides of South America. Like most popular names, however, it is very misleading. ‘Robalo’ is the Spanish name for the European bass, which is nearly related to our striped bass or rock bass. To that fish the robalo of South America has no affinity or real resemblance, and belongs to a very different family peculiar to the southern hemisphere—the Nototheniids. The so-called Eliginus maclovinus (properly, Eliginops maclovinus) is the most common and widely distributed species and probably the one obtained by the fleet of Magalhães.”