Chapter XIV: Book VIII: The Nature of the Terrestrial Animals (2)

There are two other[1704] animals, which have some resemblance to the camel. One of these is called, by the Æthiopians, the nabun.[1705] It has a neck like that of the horse, feet and legs like those of the ox, a head like that of the camel, and is covered with white spots upon a red ground; from which peculiarities it has been called the cameleopard.[1706] It was first seen at Rome in the Circensian games held by Cæsar, the Dictator.[1707] Since that time too, it has been occasionally seen. It is more remarkable for the singularity of its appearance than for its fierceness; for which reason it has obtained the name of the wild sheep.[1708]

CHAP. 28. (19.)—THE CHAMA, AND THE CEPUS.

It was at the games of Pompeius Magnus that the chama[1709] was first exhibited; an animal called rufius by the Gauls; having the figure of a wolf, with the spots of the pard. There were also exhibited some animals from Æthiopia, which they called by the Greek name, κήποι,[1710] the hinder extremities of which resembled the human feet and legs, while the fore-feet were like hands. These animals have not been seen at Rome since that time.

CHAP. 29. (20.)—THE RHINOCEROS.

At the same games the rhinoceros was also exhibited, an animal which has a single horn projecting from the nose;[1711] it has been frequently seen since then. This too is another natural-born enemy of the elephant.[1712] It prepares itself for the combat by sharpening its horn against the rocks; and in fighting directs it chiefly against the belly of its adversary, which it knows to be the softest part. The two animals are of equal length, but the legs of the rhinoceros are much the shorter: its skin is the colour of box-wood.

CHAP. 30. (21.)—THE LYNX, THE SPHINX, THE CROCOTTA, AND THE MONKEY.

Æthiopia produces the lynx[1713] in abundance, and the sphinx, which has brown hair and two mammæ on the breast,[1714] as well as many monstrous kinds of a similar nature; horses with wings, and armed with horns, which are called pegasi;[1715] the crocotta, an animal which looks as though it had been produced by the union of the wolf and the dog,[1716] for it can break any thing with its teeth, and instantly on swallowing it digest it with the stomach; monkeys, too, with black heads, the hair of the ass, and a voice quite unlike that of any other animal.[1717] There are oxen, too, like those of India, some with one horn, and others with three; the leucrocotta, a wild beast of extraordinary swiftness, the size of the wild ass, with the legs of a stag, the neck, tail, and breast of a lion, the head of a badger, a cloven hoof, the mouth slit up as far as the ears, and one continuous bone instead of teeth;[1718] it is said, too, that this animal can imitate the human voice. Among the same people, there is also found an animal called eale; it is the size of the river-horse, has the tail of the elephant, and is of a black or tawny colour.[1719] It has also the jaws of the wild boar, and horns that are moveable, and more than a cubit in length, so that, in fighting, it can employ them alternately, and vary their position by presenting them directly or obliquely, according as necessity may dictate. But the wild bulls which this country produces are the fiercest of all; they are larger than our domestic bull, and exceed all the others in swiftness; are of a tawny colour, with azure eyes, and the hair turned the contrary way; while the jaws open as far as the ears, and the horns are as moveable as those of the eale. The hide of this animal is as hard as flint, and effectually resists all wounds. These creatures pursue all the other wild beasts, while they themselves can only be taken in pitfalls, where they always perish from excess of rage. Ctesias informs us, that among these same Æthiopians, there is an animal found, which he calls the mantichora;[1720] it has a triple row of teeth, which fit into each other like those of a comb, the face and ears of a man, and azure eyes, is of the colour of blood, has the body of the lion, and a tail ending in a sting, like that of the scorpion. Its voice resembles the union of the sound of the flute and the trumpet; it is of excessive swiftness, and is particularly fond of human flesh.

CHAP. 31.—THE TERRESTRIAL ANIMALS OF INDIA.

There are in India oxen also with solid hoofs[1721] and a single horn;[1722] and a wild beast called the axis, which has a skin like that of a fawn, but with numerous spots on it, and whiter;[1723] this animal is looked upon as sacred to Bacchus. The Orsæan Indians hunt down a kind of ape, which has the body white[1724] all over; as well as a very fierce animal called the monoceros,[1725] which has the head of the stag, the feet of the elephant, and the tail of the boar, while the rest of the body is like that of the horse; it makes a deep lowing noise, and has a single black horn, which projects from the middle of its forehead, two cubits in length.[1726] This animal, it is said, cannot be taken alive.

CHAP. 32.—THE ANIMALS OF ÆTHIOPIA; A WILD BEAST WHICH KILLS WITH ITS EYE.

Among the Hesperian Æthiopians is the fountain of Nigris, by many, supposed to be the head of the Nile. I have already mentioned the arguments by which this opinion is supported.[1727] Near this fountain, there is found a wild beast, which is called the catoblepas;[1728] an animal of moderate size, and in other respects sluggish in the movement of the rest of its limbs; its head is remarkably heavy, and it only carries it with the greatest difficulty, being always bent down towards the earth. Were it not for this circumstance, it would prove the destruction of the human race; for all who behold its eyes, fall dead upon the spot.[1729]

CHAP. 33.—THE SERPENTS CALLED BASILISKS.

There is the same power also in the serpent called the basilisk.[1730] It is produced in the province of Cyrene, being not more than twelve fingers in length. It has a white spot on the head, strongly resembling a sort of a diadem.[1731] When it hisses, all the other serpents fly from it: and it does not advance its body, like the others, by a succession of folds, but moves along upright and erect upon the middle. It destroys all shrubs, not only by its contact, but those even that it has breathed upon; it burns up all the grass too, and breaks the stones, so tremendous is its noxious influence. It was formerly a general belief that if a man on horseback killed one of these animals with a spear, the poison would run up the weapon and kill, not only the rider, but the horse as well. To this dreadful monster the effluvium of the weasel is fatal, a thing that has been tried with success, for kings have often desired to see its body when killed; so true is it that it has pleased Nature that there should be nothing without its antidote. The animal is thrown into the hole of the basilisk, which is easily known from the soil around it being infected. The weasel destroys the basilisk by its odour, but dies itself in this struggle of nature against its own self.[1732]

CHAP. 34. (22.)—WOLVES; THE ORIGIN OF THE STORY OF VERSIPELLIS.

In Italy also it is believed that there is a noxious influence in the eye of a wolf; it is supposed that it will instantly take away the voice of a man,[1733] if it is the first to see him. Africa and Egypt produce wolves of a sluggish and stunted nature;[1734] those of the colder climates are fierce and savage. That men have been turned into wolves, and again restored to their original form,[1735] we must confidently look upon as untrue, unless, indeed, we are ready to believe all the tales, which, for so many ages, have been found to be fabulous. But, as the belief of it has become so firmly fixed in the minds of the common people, as to have caused the term “Versipellis”[1736] to be used as a common form of imprecation, I will here point out its origin. Euanthes, a Grecian author of no mean reputation, informs us that the Arcadians assert that a member of the family of one Anthus is chosen by lot, and then taken to a certain lake in that district, where, after suspending his clothes on an oak, he swims across the water and goes away into the desert, where he is changed into a wolf and associates with other animals of the same species for a space of nine years. If he has kept himself from beholding a man during the whole of that time, he returns to the same lake, and, after swimming across it, resumes his original form, only with the addition of nine years in age to his former appearance. To this Fabius[1737] adds, that he takes his former clothes as well. It is really wonderful to what a length the credulity[1738] of the Greeks will go! There is no falsehood, if ever so barefaced, to which some of them cannot be found to bear testimony.

So too, Agriopas, who wrote the Olympionics,[1739] informs us that Demænetus, the Parrhasian, during a sacrifice of human victims, which the Arcadians were offering up to the Lycæan[1740] Jupiter, tasted the entrails of a boy who had been slaughtered; upon which he was turned into a wolf, but, ten years afterwards, was restored to his original shape and his calling of an athlete, and returned victorious in the pugilistic contests at the Olympic games.

It is also commonly supposed, that the tail of this animal contains a small lock of hair, which possesses an amatory power; and that when the creature is caught, this hair is shed by it, but has no virtue whatever, unless it is procured from the animal while alive.[1741] It is said that these animals couple for no more than twelve days in the year;[1742] and that when pressed by hunger they will eat earth. Among the points of augury, to have our progress cut short to the right by a wolf, if at the time its mouth is full, is the best of omens. There is a species, which is known as the stag-wolf, such as we have already said[1743] were brought from Gaul and exhibited in the Circus by Pompeius Magnus. It is said, that however hungry this animal may chance to be, if it only turns its head while eating, it immediately becomes oblivious of the food that is before it, and takes its departure to seek it elsewhere.[1744]

CHAP. 35. (23.)—DIFFERENT KINDS OF SERPENTS.

With reference to serpents, it is generally known, that they assume the colour of the soil in which they conceal themselves. The different species of them are innumerable. The cerastes[1745] has little horns, often four in number, projecting from the body, by the movement of which it attracts birds, while the rest of its body lies concealed.[1746] The amphisbæna[1747] has two heads,[1748] that is to say, it has a second one at the tail, as though one mouth were too little for the discharge of all its venom. Some serpents have scales, some a mottled skin, and they are all possessed of a deadly poison. The jaculus[1749] darts from the branches of trees; and it is not only to our feet that the serpent is formidable, for these fly through the air even, just as though they were hurled from an engine.[1750] The neck of the asp[1751] puffs out,[1752] and there is no remedy whatever against its sting, except the instant excision of the affected part.[1753] This reptile, which is thus deadly, is possessed of this one sense, or rather affection; the male and the female are generally found together,[1754] and the one cannot live without the other; hence it is that, if one of them happens to be killed, the other takes incredible pains to avenge its death. It follows the slayer of its mate, and will single him out among ever such a large number of people, by a sort of instinctive knowledge; with this object it overcomes all difficulties, travels any distance, and is only to be avoided by the intervention of rivers or an accelerated flight. It is really difficult to decide, whether Nature has altogether been more liberal of good or of evil. First of all, however, she has given to this pest but weak powers of sight, and has placed the eyes, not in the front of the head, so that it may see straight before it, but in the temples, so that it is more frequently put in motion by the approach of the footstep than through the sight. (24.) The ichneumon, too, is its enemy[1755] to the very death.

CHAP. 36.—THE ICHNEUMON.

This hostility is the especial glory of this animal, which is also produced in Egypt. It plunges itself repeatedly into the mud, and then dries itself in the sun: as soon as, by these means, it has armed itself with a sufficient number of coatings, it proceeds to the combat. Raising its tail, and turning its back to the serpent, it receives its stings, which are inflicted to no purpose, until at last, turning its head sideways, and viewing its enemy, it seizes it by the throat. Not content, however, with this victory, it conquers another creature also, which is no less dangerous.

CHAP. 37. (25.)—THE CROCODILE.

The Nile produces the crocodile also,[1756] a destructive quadruped, and equally dangerous on land and in the water. This is the only land animal that does not enjoy the use of its tongue,[1757] and the only one that has the upper jaw moveable, and is capable of biting with it; and terrible is its bite, for the rows of its teeth fit into each other, like those of a comb.[1758] Its length mostly exceeds eighteen cubits. It produces eggs about the size of those of the goose, and, by a kind of instinctive foresight, always deposits them beyond the limit to which the river Nile rises, when at its greatest height.[1759] There is no animal that arrives at so great a bulk as this, from so small a beginning.[1760] It is armed also with claws, and has a skin, that is proof against all blows. It passes the day on land, and the night in the water, in both instances on account of the warmth.[1761] When it has glutted itself with fish, it goes to sleep on the banks of the river, a portion of the food always remaining in its mouth; upon which, a little bird, which in Egypt is known as the trochilus, and, in Italy, as the king of the birds, for the purpose of obtaining food, invites the crocodile to open its jaws; then, hopping to and fro, it first cleans the outside of its mouth, next the teeth, and then the inside, while the animal opens its jaws as wide as possible, in consequence of the pleasure which it experiences from the titillation.[1762] It is at these moments that the ichneumon, seeing it fast asleep in consequence of the agreeable sensation thus produced, darts down its throat like an arrow, and eats away its intestines.[1763]

CHAP. 38.—THE SCINCUS.

Like the crocodile, but smaller even than the ichneumon, is the scincus,[1764] which is also produced in the Nile, and the flesh of which is the most effectual antidote against poisons, and acts as a powerful aphrodisiac upon the male sex. But so great a pest was the crocodile to prove, that Nature was not content with giving it one enemy only; the dolphins, therefore, which enter the Nile, have the back armed with a spine,[1765] which is edged like a knife, as if for this very purpose; and although these animals are much inferior in strength, they contrive to destroy the crocodile by artifice, which on the other hand attempts to drive them from their prey, and would reign alone in its river as its peculiar domain. For all animals have an especial instinct in this respect, and are able to know not only what is for their own advantage, but also what is to the disadvantage of their enemies; they fully understand the use of their own weapons, they know their opportunity, and the weak parts of those with which they have to contend.

The skin of the belly of the crocodile is soft and thin; aware of this, the dolphins plunge into the water, as if in great alarm, and diving beneath its belly, tear it open with their spines. There is a race of men also, who are peculiarly hostile to this animal; they are known as the Tentyritæ, from an island in the Nile which they inhabit.[1766] These men are of small stature, but of wonderful presence of mind, though for this particular object only. The crocodile is a terrible animal to those who fly from it, while at the same time it will fly from those who pursue it; these, however, are the only people who dare to attack it. They even swim in the river after it, and mount its back like so many horsemen; and just as the animal turns up its head for the purpose of biting them, they insert a club into its mouth, holding which at each end, with the two hands, it acts like a bit, and by these means they drive the captured animal on shore. They also terrify the crocodile so much by their voice alone even, as to force it to disgorge the bodies which it has lately swallowed, for the purpose of burial. This island, therefore, is the only place near which the crocodile never swims; indeed, it is repelled by the odour of this race of men, just as serpents are by that of the Psylli.[1767] The sight of this animal is said to be dull when it is in the water, but, when out of the water, piercing in the extreme; it always passes the four winter months in a cave, without taking food.[1768] Some persons say, that this is the only animal that continues to increase in size as long as it lives; it is very long-lived.

CHAP. 39.—THE HIPPOPOTAMUS.

The Nile produces the hippopotamus, another wild beast, of a still greater size. It has the cloven hoof of the ox; the back, the mane, and the neighing of the horse; and the turned-up snout, the tail, and the hooked teeth of the wild boar, but not so dangerous.[1769] The hide is impenetrable, except when it has been soaked with water; and it is used for making shields and helmets.[1770] This animal lays waste the standing corn, and determines beforehand what part it shall ravage on the following day; it is said also, that it enters the field backwards, to prevent any ambush being laid for it on its return.

CHAP. 40. (26.)—WHO FIRST EXHIBITED THE HIPPOPOTAMUS AND THE CROCODILE AT ROME.

M. Scaurus was the first who exhibited this animal at Rome, together with five crocodiles, at the games which he gave in his ædileship, in a piece of water[1771] which had been temporarily prepared for the purpose. The hippopotamus has even been our instructor in one of the operations of medicine.[1772] When the animal has become too bulky by continued over-feeding, it goes down to the banks of the river, and examines the reeds which have been newly cut; as soon as it has found a stump that is very sharp, it presses its body against it, and so wounds one of the veins in the thigh; and, by the flow of blood thus produced, the body, which would otherwise have fallen into a morbid state, is relieved; after which, it covers up the wound with mud.

CHAP. 41. (27.)—THE MEDICINAL REMEDIES WHICH HAVE BEEN BORROWED FROM ANIMALS.[1773]

The bird also, which is called the ibis,[1774] a native of the same country of Egypt, has shewn us some things of a similar nature. By means of its hooked beak, it laves the body through that part, by which it is especially necessary for health that the residuous food should be discharged. Nor, indeed, are these the only inventions which have been borrowed from animals, to prove of use to man. The power of the herb dittany, in extracting arrows, was first disclosed to us by stags that had been struck by that weapon; the weapon being discharged on their feeding upon this plant.[1775] The same animals, too, when they happen to have been wounded by the phalangium, a species of spider, or by any insect of a similar nature, cure themselves by eating crabs. One of the very best remedies for the bite of the serpent, is the plant[1776] with which lizards treat their wounds when injured in fighting with each other. The swallow has shown us that the chelidonia[1777] is very serviceable to the sight, by the fact of its employing it for the cure of its young, when their eyes are affected. The tortoise recruits its powers of effectually resisting serpents, by eating the plant which is known as cunile bubula;[1778] and the weasel feeds on rue, when it fights with the serpent in the pursuit of mice.[1779] The stork cures itself of its diseases with wild marjoram, and the wild boar with ivy, as also by eating crabs, and more particularly those that have been thrown up by the sea.[1780] The snake, when the membrane which covers its body has been contracted by the cold of winter, throws it off in the spring by the aid of the juices of fennel,[1781] and thus becomes sleek and youthful in appearance. First of all, it disengages the head, and it then takes no less than a day and a night in working itself out, and divesting itself of the membrane in which it has been enclosed. The same animal, too, on finding its sight weakened during its winter retreat, anoints and refreshes its eyes by rubbing itself on the plant called fennel or marathrum; but if any of the scales are slow in coming off,[1782] it rubs itself against the thorns of the juniper. The dragon relieves the nausea which affects it in spring, with the juices of the lettuce.[1783] The barbarous nations go to hunt the panther, provided with meat that has been rubbed with aconite, which is a poison.[1784] Immediately on eating it, compression of the throat overtakes them, from which circumstance it is, that the plant has received the name of pardalianches.[1785] The animal, however, has found an antidote against this poison in human excrements; besides which, it is so eager to get at them, that the shepherds purposely suspend them in a vessel, placed so high, that the animal cannot reach them even by leaping, when it endeavours to get at them; accordingly, it continues to leap until it has quite exhausted itself, and at last expires: otherwise, it is so tenacious of life, that it will continue to fight long after its intestines have been dragged out of its body.

When an elephant has happened to devour a chameleon, which is of the same colour with the herbage, it counteracts this poison by means of the wild olive. Bears, when they have eaten of the fruit of the mandrake, lick up numbers of ants.[1786] The stag counteracts the effect of poisonous plants by eating the artichoke. Wood-pigeons, jackdaws, blackbirds, and partridges, purge themselves once a year by eating bay leaves; pigeons, turtle-doves, and poultry, with wall-pellitory, or helxine; ducks, geese, and other aquatic birds, with the plant sideritis or vervain; cranes, and birds of a similar nature, with the bulrush. The raven, when it has killed a chameleon, a contest in which even the conqueror suffers, counteracts the poison by means of laurel.

CHAP. 42. (28.)—PROGNOSTICS OF DANGER DERIVED FROM ANIMALS.

There are a thousand other facts of this kind: and the same Nature has also bestowed upon many animals as well, the faculty of observing the heavens, and of presaging the winds, rains, and tempests, each in its own peculiar way. It would be an endless labour to enumerate them all; just as much as it would be to point out the relation of each to man.[1787] For, in fact, they warn us of danger, not only by their fibres and their entrails, to which a large portion of mankind attach the greatest faith, but by other kinds of warnings as well. When a building is about to fall down, all the mice desert it[1788] before-hand, and the spiders with their webs are the first to drop. Divination from birds has been made a science among the Romans, and the college of its priests is looked upon as peculiarly sacred.[1789] In Thrace, when all parts are covered with ice, the foxes are consulted, an animal which, in other respects, is baneful from its craftiness. It has been observed, that this animal applies its ear to the ice, for the purpose of testing its thickness; hence it is, that the inhabitants will never cross frozen rivers and lakes until the foxes have passed over them and returned.

CHAP. 43. (29.)—NATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN EXTERMINATED BY ANIMALS.

We have accounts, too, no less remarkable, in reference even to the most contemptible of animals. M. Varro informs us, that a town in Spain was undermined by rabbits, and one in Thessaly, by mice; that the inhabitants of a district in Gaul were driven from their country by frogs,[1790] and a place in Africa by locusts;[1791] that the inhabitants of Gyarus,[1792] one of the Cyclades, were driven away by mice;[1793] and the Amunclæ, in Italy, by serpents. There is a vast desert tract on this side of the Æthiopian Cynamolgi,[1794] the inhabitants of which were exterminated by scorpions and venomous ants.[1795] and Theophrastus informs us, that the people of Rhœteum[1796] were driven away by scolopendræ.[1797] But we must now return to the other kinds of wild beasts.

CHAP. 44. (30.)—THE HYÆNA.

It is the vulgar notion, that the hyæna possesses in itself both sexes, being a male during one year, and a female the next, and that it becomes pregnant without the co-operation: of the male; Aristotle, however, denies this.[1798] The neck, with the mane, runs continuously into the back-bone, so that the animal cannot bend this part without turning round the whole body. Many other wonderful things are also related of this animal; and strangest of all, that it imitates the human voice among the stalls of the shepherds; and while there, learns the name of some one of them, and then calls him away, and devours him. It is said also, that it can imitate a man vomiting, and that, in this way, it attracts the dogs, and then falls upon them. It is the only animal that digs up graves, in order to obtain the bodies of the dead. The female is rarely caught: its eyes, it is said, are of a thousand various colours and changes of shade. It is said also, that on coming in contact with its shadow, dogs will lose their voice, and that, by certain magical influences, it can render any animal immoveable, round which it has walked three times.

CHAP. 45.—THE COROCOTTA; THE MANTICHORA.[1799]

By the union of the hyæna with the Æthiopian lioness, the corocotta is produced, which has the same faculty of imitating the voices of men and cattle. Its gaze is always fixed and immoveable; it has no gums in either of its jaws, and the teeth are one continuous piece of bone; they are enclosed in a sort of box as it were, that they may not be blunted by rubbing against each other. Juba informs us, that the mantichora of Æthiopia can also imitate the human speech.

CHAP. 46.—WILD ASSES.

Great numbers of hyænas are produced in Africa, which also gives birth to multitudes of wild asses. In this species each male rules over a herd of females. Fearing rivals in their lust, they carefully watch the pregnant females, and castrate the young males with their teeth, as soon as they are born.[1800] The pregnant females, on the other hand, seek concealment, and endeavour to bring forth in secret, being desirous to increase their opportunities of sexual indulgence.

CHAP. 47.—BEAVERS, AMPHIBIOUS ANIMALS;[1801] OTTERS.

The beavers of the Euxine, when they are closely pressed by danger, themselves cut off the same part, as they know that it is for this that they are pursued. This substance is called castoreum by the physicians.[1802] In addition to this, the bite of this animal is terrible; with its teeth it can cut down trees on the banks of rivers, just as though with a knife.[1803] If they seize a man by any part of his body, they will never loose their hold until his bones are broken and crackle under their teeth. The tail is like that of a fish;[1804] in the other parts of the body they resemble the otter;[1805] they are both of them aquatic animals, and both have hair softer than down.

CHAP. 48. (31.)—BRAMBLE-FROGS.

Bramble-frogs,[1806] also, which live both on land and in water, are replete with various medicinal substances, which they are said to discharge each day, and to take in again with their food, of which they only retain the poisonous parts.

CHAP. 49.—THE SEA-CALF; BEAVERS; LIZARDS.

The sea-calf, too, lives equally in the sea and on land, being possessed of the same degree of intelligence as the beaver. It vomits forth its gall, which is useful for many purposes in medicine; also the rennet,[1807] which serves as a remedy in epilepsy; for it is well aware that it is hunted for these substances. Theophrastus informs us, that lizards[1808] also cast their skins like the serpent, and instantly devour them, thus depriving us of a powerful remedy for epilepsy; he says, too, that the bite of the lizard is fatal in Greece, but harmless in Italy.[1809]

CHAP. 50. (32.)—STAGS.

Stags, although the most mild of all animals, have still their own feelings of malignancy;[1810] when hard pressed by the hounds, of their own accord they fly for refuge to man; and when the females bring forth, they are less anxious to avoid the paths which bear traces of human footsteps, than solitary spots which offer a retreat to wild beasts.[1811] They become pregnant after the rising of the constellation Arcturus;[1812] they bring forth after a gestation of eight months, and sometimes produce two young ones. They separate after conception, but the males, upon being thus abandoned, become maddened with the fury of their passion; they dig up the earth, and their muzzles become quite black, until they have been washed by the rain.[1813] The females, before they bring forth, purge themselves by means of a certain herb, which is called seselis, by the use of which parturition is rendered more easy. After delivery, they take a mixture of the two plants called seselis[1814] and aros,[1815] and then return to the fawn; they seem desirous, for some reason or other, that their first milk, after parturition, should be impregnated with the juice of these plants. They then exercise the young ones in running, and teach them how to take to flight, leading them to precipices, and showing them how to leap. The sexual passion of the male having been now satisfied, he repairs to the pasture lands with the greatest eagerness. When they feel themselves becoming too fat, they seek some retired spot, thus acknowledging the inconvenience arising from their bulk. Besides this, they continually pause in their flight, stand still and look back, and then again resume their flight when the enemy approaches. This pause is occasioned by the intense pain which they feel in the intestines, a part which is so weak, that a very slight blow will cause them to break within. The barking of a dog instantly puts them to flight, and they always run with the wind, in order that no trace of them may be left. They are soothed by the shepherd’s pipe and his song;[1816] when their ears are erect, their sense of hearing is very acute, but when dropped, they become deaf.[1817]

In other respects the stag is a simple animal, which regards every thing as wonderful, and with a stupid astonishment; so much so, indeed, that if a horse or cow happens to approach it, it will not see the hunter, who may be close at hand, or, if it does see him, it only gazes upon his bow and arrow. Stags cross the sea in herds, swimming in a long line, the head of each resting on the haunches of the one that precedes it, each in its turn falling back to the rear. This has been particularly remarked when they pass over from Cilicia to the island of Cyprus. Though they do not see the land, they still are able to direct themselves by the smell. The males have horns, and are the only animals that shed them every year, at a stated time in the spring; at which period they seek out with the greatest care the most retired places, and after losing them, remain concealed, as though aware that they are unarmed. Still, however, they envy us the good that these might do us; for it is said the right horn, which possesses, as it were, certain medicinal properties, can never be found, a circumstance the more astonishing, from the fact that they change their horns every year, even when kept in parks;[1818] it is generally thought that they bury their horns in the ground. The odour of either horn, when burnt, drives away serpents and detects epilepsy. They also bear the marks of their age on the horns, every year, up to the sixth,[1819] a fresh antler being added; after which period the horns are renewed in the same state, so that by means of them their age cannot be ascertained. Their old age, however, is indicated by their teeth, for then they have only a few, or none at all; and we then no longer perceive, at the base of their horns, antlers projecting from the front of the forehead, as is usually the case with the animal when young.

When this animal is castrated it does not shed its horns, nor are they reproduced. When the horns begin to be reproduced, two projections are to be seen, much resembling, at first, dry skin; they grow with tender shoots, having upon them a soft down like that on the head of a reed. So long as they are without horns, they go to feed during the night. As the horns grow, they harden by the heat of the sun, and the animal, from time to time, tries their strength upon the trees; when satisfied with their strength, it leaves its retreat.

Stags, too, have been occasionally caught with ivy green and growing on their horns,[1820] the plant having taken root on them, as it would on any piece of wood, while the animal was rubbing them against the trees. The stag is sometimes found white, as is said to have been the case with the hind of Q. Sertorius, which he persuaded the nations of Spain to look upon as having the gift of prophecy.[1821] The stag, too, fights with the serpent: it traces out the serpent’s hole, and draws it forth by the breath of its nostrils,[1822] and hence it is that the smell of burnt stags’ horn has the remarkable power of driving away serpents. The very best remedy for the bite of a serpent is the rennet of a fawn that has been killed in the womb of its mother.

The stag is generally admitted to be very long lived; some were captured at the end of one hundred years with the golden collars which Alexander the Great had put upon them, and which were quite concealed by the folds of the skin, in consequence of the accumulation of fat.[1823] This animal is not subject to fever, and, indeed, it is a preservative against that complaint. We know that of late some women of princely rank have been in the habit of eating the flesh of the stag every morning, and that they have arrived at an extreme old age, free from all fevers. It is, however, generally supposed that the animal must be killed by a single wound to make sure of it possessing this virtue.

(33.) Of the same species is an animal, which only differs from the stag in having a beard and long hair about the shoulders: it is called tragelaphus,[1824] and is produced nowhere except on the banks of the Phasis.[1825]

CHAP. 51.—THE CHAMELEON.

Africa is almost the only country that does not produce[1826] the stag, but then it produces the chameleon,[1827] although it is much more commonly met with in India. Its figure and size are that of a lizard, only that its legs are straight and longer. Its sides unite under its belly, as in fishes, and its spine projects in a similar manner. Its muzzle is not unlike the snout of a small hog, so far as in so small an animal it can be. Its tail is very long, and becomes smaller towards the end, coiling up in folds like that of the viper. It has hooked claws, and a slow movement like that of the tortoise; its body is rough like that of the crocodile; its eyes are deep sunk in the orbits, placed very near each other, very large, and of the same colour as the body. It never closes them, and when the animal looks round, it does so, not by the motion of the pupil, but of the white of the eye.[1828] It always holds the head upright and the mouth open, and is the only animal which receives nourishment neither by meat nor drink, nor anything else, but from the air alone.[1829] Towards the end of the dog-days[1830] it is fierce, but at other times quite harmless. The nature of its colour, too, is very remarkable, for it is continually changing; its eyes, its tail, and its whole body always assuming the colour of whatever object is nearest, with the exception of white and red.[1831] After death, it becomes of a pale colour. It has a little flesh about the head, the jaws, and the root of the tail, but none whatever on the rest of the body. It has no blood whatever, except in the heart and about the eyes, and its entrails are without a spleen.[1832] It conceals itself during the winter months, just like the lizard.

CHAP. 52.—OTHER ANIMALS WHICH CHANGE COLOUR; THE TARANDUS, THE LYCAON, AND THE THOS.

The tarandrus,[1833] too, of the Scythians, changes its colour, but this is the case with none of the animals which are covered with hair, except the lycaon[1834] of India, which is said to have a mane on the neck. But with respect to the thos,[1835] (which is a species of wolf, differing from the common kind in having a larger body and very short legs, leaping with great activity, living by the chase, and never attacking man); it changes its coat, and not its colour, for it is covered with hair in the winter, and goes bare in summer. The tarandrus is of the size of the ox; its head is larger than that of the stag, and not very unlike it; its horns are branched, its hoofs cloven, and its hair as long as that of the bear. Its proper colour, when it thinks proper to return to it, is like that of the ass. Its hide is of such extreme hardness, that it is used for making breast-plates. When it is frightened, this animal reflects the colour of all the trees, shrubs, and flowers, or of the spots in which it is concealed; hence it is that it is so rarely captured. It is wonderful that such various hues should be given to the body, but still more so that it should be given to the hair.

CHAP. 53. (35.)—THE PORCUPINE.

India and Africa produce the porcupine, the body of which is covered with prickles. It is a species of hedgehog, but the quills of the porcupine are longer, and when it stretches the skin, it discharges them like so many missiles. With these it pierces the mouths of the dogs which are pressing hard upon it, and even sends its darts to some distance further.[1836] It conceals itself during the winter months, which, indeed, is the nature of many animals, and more especially the bear.

CHAP. 54. (36.)—BEARS AND THEIR CUBS.

Bears couple in the beginning of winter,[1837] and not after the fashion of other quadrupeds; for both animals lie down and embrace each other.[1838] The female then retires by herself to a separate den, and there brings forth on the thirtieth day, mostly five young ones. When first born, they are shapeless masses of white flesh, a little larger than mice;[1839] their claws alone being prominent. The mother then licks them gradually into proper shape. There is nothing more uncommon than to see a she-bear in the act of parturition.[1840] The male remains in his retreat for forty days, the female four months. If they happen to have no den, they construct a retreat with branches and shrubs, which is made impenetrable to the rain and is lined with soft leaves. During the first fourteen days they are overcome by so deep a sleep, that they cannot be aroused by wounds even. They become wonderfully fat, too, while in this lethargic state. This fat is much used in medicine; and it is very useful in preventing the hair from falling off.[1841] At the end of these fourteen days they sit up, and find nourishment by sucking their fore-paws.[1842] They warm their cubs, when cold, by pressing them to the breast, not unlike the way in which birds brood over their eggs. It is a very astonishing thing, but Theophrastus believes it, that if we preserve the flesh of the bear, the animal being killed in its dormant state, it will increase in bulk, even though it may have been cooked.[1843] During this period no signs of food are to be found in the stomach of the animal, and only a very slight quantity of liquid; there are a few drops of blood only near the heart, but none whatever in any other part of the body.[1844] They leave their retreat in the spring, the males being remarkably fat: of this circumstance, however, we cannot give any satisfactory explanation, for the sleep, during which they increase so much in bulk, lasts, as we have already stated, only fourteen days.[1845] When they come out, they eat a certain plant, which is known as aros,[1846] in order to relax the bowels, which would otherwise become in a state of constipation; and they sharpen the edges of their teeth against the young shoots of the trees. Their eye-sight is dull, for which reason in especial, they seek the combs of bees, in order that from the bees stinging them in the throat and drawing blood, the oppression in the head may be relieved.[1847] The head of the bear is extremely weak, whereas, in the lion, it is remarkable for its strength: on which account it is, that when the bear, impelled by any alarm, is about to precipitate itself from a rock, it covers its head with its paws. In the arena of the Circus they are often to be seen killed by a blow on the head with the fist. The people of Spain have a belief, that there is some kind of magical poison in the brain of the bear, and therefore burn the heads of those that have been killed in their public games; for it is averred, that the brain, when mixed with drink, produces in man the rage of the bear.[1848] These animals walk on two feet, and climb down trees backwards.[1849] They can overcome the bull, by suspending themselves, by all four legs, from its muzzle and horns, thus wearing out its powers by their weight. In no other animal is stupidity found more adroit in devising mischief. It is recorded in our Annals, that on the fourteenth day before the calends of October,[1850] in the consulship of M. Piso and M. Messala, Domitius Ahenobarbus, the curule ædile, brought into the Circus one hundred Numidian bears, and as many Æthiopian hunters. I am surprised to find the word Numidian added, seeing that it is well known that there are no bears produced in Africa.[1851]

CHAP. 55. (37.)—THE MICE OF PONTUS AND OF THE ALPS.

The mice of Pontus also conceal themselves during the winter; but only the white ones.[1852] I wonder how those authors, who have asserted that the sense of taste in these animals is very acute, found out that such is the fact. The Alpine mice, which are the same size as badgers, also conceal themselves;[1853] but they first carry a store of provisions into their retreat. Some writers, indeed, say that the male and female, lying on their backs alternately, hold in their paws a bundle of gnawed herbs, and, the tail of each in its turn being seized by the teeth of the other, in this way, they are dragged into their hole; hence it is, that at this season their hair is found to be rubbed off their backs. There is a similar animal also in Egypt,[1854] which sits, in the same way, upon its haunches, and walks on two feet, using the fore feet as hands.

CHAP. 56.—HEDGEHOGS.

Hedgehogs also lay up food for the winter; rolling themselves on apples as they lie on the ground, they pierce one with their quills, and then take up another in the mouth, and so carry them into the hollows of trees. These animals also, when they conceal themselves in their holes, afford a sure sign that the wind is about to change from north-east to south.[1855] When they perceive the approach of the hunter, they draw in the head and feet, and all the lower part of the body, which is covered by a thin and defenceless down only, and then roll themselves up into the form of a ball, so that there is no way of taking hold of them but by their quills. When they are reduced to a state of desperation, they discharge a corrosive urine, which injures their skin and quills, as they are aware that it is for the sake of them that they are hunted. A skilful hunter, therefore, will only pursue them when they have just discharged their urine. In this case the skin retains its value; while in the other case, it becomes spoilt and easily torn, the quills rotting and falling off, even though the animal should escape with its life. For this reason it is that it never moistens itself with this poisonous fluid, except when reduced to the last stage of desperation; for it has a perfect hatred for its own venomous distillation, and so careful is the animal, so determined to wait till the very last moment, that it is generally caught before it has employed this means of defence.

They force it to unroll itself, by sprinkling warm water upon it, and then, suspended by one of its hind legs, it is left to die of hunger; for there is no other mode of destroying it, without doing injury to its skin. This animal is not, as many of us imagine, entirely useless to man. If it were not for the quills which it produces, the soft fleece of the sheep would have been given in vain to mankind; for it is by means of its skin, that our woollen cloth is dressed. From the monopoly of this article, great frauds and great profits have resulted;[1856] there is no subject on which the senate has more frequently passed decrees, and there is not one of the Emperors, who has not received from the provinces complaints respecting it.[1857]

CHAP. 57. (38.)—THE LEONTOPHONUS, AND THE LYNX.[1858]

There are also two other animals, whose urine possesses very wonderful properties. We have heard speak of a small animal, to which the name of leontophonus[1859] has been given, and which is said to exist only in those countries where the lion is produced; if its flesh is only tasted by the lion, so intensely venomous is its nature, that this lord of the other quadrupeds instantly expires. Hence it is, that the hunters of the lion burn its body to ashes, and sprinkle a piece of flesh with the powder, and so kill the lion by means of the ashes even—so fatal to it is this poison! The lion, therefore, not without good reason hates the leontophonus, and after destroying its sight, kills it without inflicting a bite: the animal, on the other hand, sprinkles the lion with its urine, being well aware that this too is fatal to it.

The urine of the lynx, in the countries[1860] where that animal is produced, either becomes crystallized, or else hardens into a precious stone, resembling the carbuncle, and which shines like fire.[1861] This is called lyncurium;[1862] and hence it is, that many persons believe that this is the way in which amber is produced. The lynx, being well aware of this property, envies us the possession of its urine, and therefore buries it in the earth;[1863] by this, however, it becomes solid all the sooner.

CHAP. 58.—BADGERS AND SQUIRRELS.

The badger, when alarmed, shows its fear by a different kind of artifice; inflating the skin, it distends it to such a degree, as to repel equally the blows of men and the bite of dogs.[1864] The squirrel, also, has the power of foreseeing storms, and so, stopping up its hole at the side from which the wind blows, it leaves the other side open; besides which, the tail, which is furnished with longer hair than the rest of the body, serves as a covering for it. It appears, therefore,[1865] that some animals lay up a store of food for the winter, while others pass the time in sleep, which serves them instead of food.

CHAP. 59. (39.)—VIPERS AND SNAILS.

It is said, that the viper is the only one among the serpents that conceals itself in the earth; the others lurking either in the hollows of trees or in holes in the rocks.[1866] Provided they are not destroyed by cold, they can live there, without taking food, for a whole year.[1867] During the time that they are asleep in their retreat, none of them are venomous.

A similar state of torpor exists also in snails. These animals again become dormant during the summer, adhering very powerfully to stones; and even, when turned up and pulled away from the stones, they will not leave their shells. In the Balearic isles, the snails which are known as the cave-snail,[1868] do not leave their holes in the ground, nor do they feed upon any green thing, but adhere to each other like so many grapes. There is another less common species also, which is closed by an operculum that adheres to the shell.[1869] These animals always burrow under the earth, and were formerly never found, except in the environs of the Maritime Alps: they have, however, of late been dug up in the territory of Liternum;[1870] the most valued, however, of all, are those of the island of Astypalæa.[1871]

CHAP. 60.—LIZARDS.[1872]

It is said, that the lizard, the greatest enemy of all to the snail, never prolongs its life beyond six months. The lizards of Arabia are a cubit in length,[1873] while those upon Nysa,[1874] a mountain of India, are twenty-four feet long, their colour being either yellow, purple, or azure blue.

CHAP. 61. (40.)—THE QUALITIES OF THE DOG; EXAMPLES OF ITS ATTACHMENT TO ITS MASTER; NATIONS WHICH HAVE KEPT DOGS FOR THE PURPOSES OF WAR.