In the earliest published account of fish otoliths, Swedish physician and naturalist Magnus von Bromell (1679–1731) produced a brief but nonetheless remarkable publication titled ‘De piscium lapillis’, in which he declared ‘fish pebbles’ or ‘ichthyoliths’ (now known as otoliths) to be of great interest and strongly encouraged their study. A transcription and English translation of the original Latin is provided, with a discussion of the impact his study had on subsequent research.