Commentary for Bava Metzia 46:1

ומחרוזות של דגים: אמאי להוי קשר סימן בקטרא דציידא דכולי עלמא הכי מקטרי ולהוי מנין סימן במנינא דשוין

AND STRINGS OF FISHES. Why [do they belong to the finder]? Should not the knot serve as an identification mark?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Cf. supra 20b; infra 25b. ');">¹</span> — [The Mishnah speaks] of a fisherman's knot which is tied so universally.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The kind of knot which fishermen use everywhere and which therefore cannot be regarded as an identification mark. ');">²</span> But should not the number of [fishes on the string] serve as a distinguishing mark? — [The Mishnah speaks] of a fixed number [of fishes].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The number of fishes which fishermen usually hang on the same string, so that there is nothing distinctive about it. ');">³</span>

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