Chapter XV: Book VIII: The Nature of the Terrestrial Animals (3)

Among the animals, also, that are domesticated with mankind, there are many circumstances that are far from undeserving of being known: among these, there are more particularly that most faithful friend of man, the dog, and the horse. We have an account of a dog that fought against a band of robbers, in defending its master; and although it was pierced with wounds, still it would not leave the body, from which it drove away all birds and beasts. Another dog, again, in Epirus, recognized the murderer of its master, in the midst of an assemblage of people, and, by biting and barking at him, extorted from him a confession of his crime. A king of the Garamantes also was brought back from exile by two hundred dogs, which maintained the combat against all his opponents. The people of Colophon[1875] and Castabala[1876] kept troops of dogs, for the purposes of war; and these used to fight in the front rank, and never retreat; they were the most faithful of auxiliaries, and yet required no pay. After the defeat of the Cimbri, their dogs defended their moveable houses, which were carried upon waggons. Jason, the Lycian, having been slain, his dog refused to take food, and died of famine. A dog, to which Darius gives the name of Hyrcanus, upon the funeral pile of King Lysimachus being lighted, threw itself into the flames,[1877] and the dog of King Hiero did the same. Philistus also gives a similar account of Pyrrhus, the dog of the tyrant Gelon: and it is said, also, that the dog of Nicomedes, king of Bithynia, tore Consingis,[1878] the wife of that king, in consequence of her wanton behaviour, when toying with her husband.

Among ourselves, Volcatius, a man of rank, who instructed Cascellius in the civil law,[1879] as he was riding on his Asturian jennet, towards evening, from his country-house, was attacked by a robber, and was only saved by his dog. The senator Cælius,[1880] too, while lying sick at Placentia, was surprised by armed men, but received not a wound from them until they had first killed his dog. But a more extraordinary fact than all, is what took place in our own times, and is testified by the public register of the Roman people. In the consulship of Appius Junius and P. Silius, when Titius Sabinus[1881] was put to death, together with his slaves, for the affair of Nero, the son of Germanicus, it was found impossible to drive away a dog which belonged to one of them from the prison; nor could it be forced away from the body, which had been cast down the Gemitorian steps;[1882] but there it stood howling, in the presence of vast multitudes of people; and when some one threw a piece of bread to it, the animal carried it to the mouth of its master. Afterwards, when the body was thrown into the Tiber, the dog swam into the river, and endeavoured to raise it out of the water; quite a throng of people being collected to witness this instance of an animal’s fidelity.

Dogs are the only animals that are sure to know their masters; and if they suddenly meet him as a stranger, they will instantly recognize him. They are the only animals that will answer to their names, and recognize the voices of the family. They recollect a road along which they have passed, however long it may be. Next to man, there is no living creature whose memory is so retentive. By sitting down on the ground, we may arrest their most impetuous attack, even when prompted by the most violent rage.

In daily life we have discovered many other valuable qualities in this animal; but its intelligence and sagacity are more especially shown in the chase. It discovers and traces out the tracks of the animal, leading by the leash[1883] the sportsman who accompanies it straight up to the prey; and as soon as ever it has perceived it, how silent it is, and how secret but significant is the indication which it gives, first by the tail and afterwards by the nose![1884] Hence it is, that even when worn out with old age, blind, and feeble, they are carried by the huntsman in his arms, being still able to point out the coverts where the game is concealed, by snuffing with their muzzles at the wind. The Indians raise a breed between the dog and the tiger,[1885] and for this purpose tie up the females in the forests when in heat. The first two litters they look upon as too savage to be reared, but they bring up the third.

The Gauls do the same with the wolf and the dog;[1886] and their packs of hounds have, each of them, one of these dogs, which acts as their guide and leader. This dog they follow in the chase, and him they carefully obey; for these animals have even a notion of subordination among themselves. It is asserted that the dogs keep running when they drink at the Nile, for fear of becoming a prey to the voracity of the crocodile.[1887] When Alexander the Great was on his Indian expedition, he was presented by the king of Albania with a dog of unusual size; being greatly delighted with its noble appearance, he ordered bears, and after them wild boars, and then deer, to be let loose before it; but the dog lay down, and regarded them with a kind of immoveable contempt. The noble spirit of the general became irritated by the sluggishness thus manifested by an animal of such vast bulk, and he ordered it to be killed. The report of this reached the king, who accordingly sent another dog, and at the same time sent word that its powers were to be tried, not upon small animals, but upon the lion or the elephant; adding, that he had had originally but two, and that if this one were put to death, the race would be extinct. Alexander, without delay, procured a lion, which in his presence was instantly torn to pieces. He then ordered an elephant to be brought, and never was he more delighted with any spectacle; for the dog, bristling up its hair all over the body, began by thundering forth a loud barking, and then attacked the animal, leaping at it first on one side and then on the other, attacking it in the most skilful manner, and then again retreating at the opportune moment, until at last the elephant, being rendered quite giddy by turning round and round, fell to the earth, and made it quite re-echo with his fall.

CHAP. 62.—THE GENERATION OF THE DOG.[1888]

This animal brings forth twice in the year; it is capable of bearing young when a year old, and gestation continues for sixty days. The young ones are born blind, and the greater the supply of nourishment from the mother’s milk, the more slowly do they acquire their sight; still, however, this never takes place later than the twentieth day, or earlier than the seventh. It is said by some writers, that if only one is born, it is able to see on the ninth day; and that if there are two, they begin to see on the tenth, every additional one causing the power of seeing to come a day later. It is said, too, that the females which are produced by the mother in her first litter, are subject to the night-mare.[1889] The best dog of the litter is the one which is last in obtaining its sight, or else the one which the mother carries first into her bed.

CHAP. 63.—REMEDIES AGAINST CANINE MADNESS.[1890]

Canine madness is fatal to man during the heat of Sirius,[1891] and, as we have already said, it proves so in consequence of those who are bitten having a deadly horror of water.[1892] For this reason, during the thirty days[1893] that this star exerts its influence, we try to prevent the disease by mixing dung from the poultry-yard with the dog’s food; or else, if they are already attacked by the disease, by giving them hellebore.

(41.) We have a single remedy against the bite, which has been but lately discovered, by a kind of oracle, as it were—the root of the wild rose, which is called cynorrhodos,[1894] or dog-rose. Columella informs us, that if, on the fortieth day after the birth of the pup, the last bone of the tail is bitten off, the sinew will follow with it; after which, the tail will not grow, and the dog will never become rabid.[1895] It is mentioned, among the other prodigies, and this I take to be one indeed, that a dog once spoke;[1896] and that when Tarquin was expelled from the kingdom, a serpent barked.

CHAP. 64. (42.)—THE NATURE OF THE HORSE.

King Alexander had also a very remarkable horse;[1897] it was called Bucephalus, either on account of the fierceness of its aspect, or because it had the figure of a bull’s head marked on its shoulder. It is said, that he was struck with its beauty when he was only a boy, and that it was purchased from the stud of Philonicus, the Pharsalian, for thirteen talents.[1898] When it was equipped with the royal trappings, it would suffer no one except Alexander to mount it, although at other times it would allow any one to do so. A memorable circumstance connected with it in battle is recorded of this horse; it is said that when it was wounded in the attack upon Thebes, it would not allow Alexander to mount any other horse. Many other circumstances, also, of a similar nature, occurred respecting it; so that when it died, the king duly performed its obsequies, and built around its tomb a city, which he named after it.[1899]

It is said, also, that Cæsar, the Dictator, had a horse, which would allow no one to mount but himself, and that its fore-feet were like those of a man; indeed it is thus represented in the statue before the temple of Venus Genetrix.[1900] The late Emperor Augustus also erected a tomb to his horse; on which occasion Germanicus Cæsar[1901] wrote a poem, which still exists. There are at Agrigentum many tombs of horses, in the form of pyramids.[1902] Juba informs us, that Semiramis was so greatly enamoured of a horse, as to have had connection with it.[1903] The Scythian horsemen make loud boasts of the fame of their cavalry. On one occasion, one of their chiefs having been slain in single combat, when the conqueror came to take the spoils of the enemy, he was set upon by the horse of his opponent, and trampled on and bitten to death. Another horse, upon the bandage being removed from his eyes, found that he had covered his mother, upon which he threw himself down a precipice, and was killed. We learn, also, that for a similar cause, a groom was torn to pieces, in the territory of Reate.[1904] For these animals have a knowledge of the ties of consanguinity, and in a stud a mare will attend to its sister of the preceding year, even more carefully than its mother.

Their docility, too, is so great, that we find it stated that the whole of the cavalry of the Sybarite army were accustomed to perform a kind of dance to the sound of musical instruments. These animals also foresee battles; they lament over their masters when they have lost them, and sometimes shed tears[1905] of regret for them. When King Nicomedes was slain, his horse put an end to its life by fasting. Phylarchus relates, that Centaretus,[1906] the Galatian, after he had slain Antiochus in battle, took possession of his horse, and mounted it in triumph; upon which the animal, inflamed with indignation, regardless of the rein and become quite ungovernable, threw itself headlong down a precipice, and they both perished together. Philistus relates, that Dionysius having left his horse stuck fast in a morass, the animal, as soon as it disengaged itself, followed the steps of its master, with a swarm of bees, which had settled on its mane; and that it was in consequence of this portent, that Dionysius gained possession of the kingdom.[1907]

CHAP. 65.—THE DISPOSITION OF THE HORSE; REMARKABLE FACTS CONCERNING CHARIOT HORSES.

These animals possess an intelligence which exceeds all description.[1908] Those who have to use the javelin are well aware how the horse, by its exertions and the supple movements of its body, aids the rider in any difficulty he may have in throwing his weapon. They will even present to their master the weapons collected on the ground. The horses too, that are yoked to the chariots in the Circus, beyond a doubt, display remarkable proofs how sensible they are to encouragement and to glory. In the Secular games, which were celebrated in the Circus, under the Emperor Claudius, when the charioteer Corax, who belonged to the white party,[1909] was thrown from his place at the starting-post, his horses took the lead and kept it, opposing the other chariots, overturning them, and doing every thing against the other competitors that could have been done, had they been guided by the most skilful charioteer; and while we quite blushed to behold the skill of man excelled by that of the horse, they arrived at the goal, after going over the whole of the prescribed course. Our ancestors considered it as a still more remarkable portent, that when a charioteer had been thrown from his place, in the plebeian games of the Circus,[1910] the horses ran to the Capitol, just as if he had been standing in the car, and went three times round the temple there. But what is the greatest prodigy of all, is the fact that the horses of Ratumenna came from Veii to Rome, with the palm branch and chaplet, he himself having fallen from his chariot, after having gained the victory; from which circumstance the Ratumennian gate derived its name.[1911]

When the Sarmatæ are about to undertake a long journey, they prepare their horses for it, by making them fast the day before, during which they give them but little to drink; by these means they are enabled to travel on horseback, without stopping, for one hundred and fifty miles. Some horses are known to live fifty years; but the females are not so long-lived.[1912] These last come to their full growth at the fifth year, the males a year later. The poet Virgil has very beautifully described the points which ought more especially to be looked for, as constituting the perfection of a horse;[1913] I myself have also treated of the same subject, in my work[1914] on the Use of the Javelin by Cavalry, and I find that pretty nearly all writers are agreed respecting them.[1915] The points requisite for the Circus are somewhat different, however; and while horses are put in training for other purposes at only two years old, they are not admitted to the contests of the Circus before their fifth year.

CHAP. 66.—THE GENERATION OF THE HORSE.[1916]

The female of this animal carries her young for eleven months, and brings forth in the twelfth. The connection takes place at the vernal equinox, and generally in both sexes, at the age of two years; but the colt is much stronger when the parents are three years old. The males are capable of covering up to the thirty-third year, and it is not till after the twentieth that they are taken for this purpose from the Circus. At Opus,[1917] it is said, a horse served as a stallion until his fortieth year; though he required some assistance in raising the fore part of the body. There are few animals, however, in which the generative powers are so limited, for which reason it is only admitted to the female at certain intervals;[1918] indeed it cannot cover as many as fifteen times in the course of one year.[1919] The sexual passion of the mare is extinguished by cropping her mane; she is capable of bearing every year up to the fortieth. We have an account of a horse having lived to its seventy-fifth year. The mare brings forth standing upright, and is attached, beyond all other animals, to her offspring. The horse is born with a poisonous substance on its forehead, known as hippomanes,[1920] and used in love philtres; it is the size of a fig, and of a black colour; the mother devours it immediately on the birth of the foal, and until she has done so, she will not suckle it. When this substance can be rescued from the mother, it has the property of rendering the animal quite frantic by the smell. If a foal has lost its mother, the other mares in the herd that have young, will take charge of the orphan. It is said that the young of this animal cannot touch the earth with the mouth for the first three days after its birth. The more spirited a horse is, the deeper does it plunge its nose into the water while drinking. The Scythians prefer mares for the purposes of war, because they can pass their urine without stopping in their career.

CHAP. 67.—MARES IMPREGNATED BY THE WIND.

It is well known that in Lusitania, in the vicinity of the town of Olisipo[1921] and the river Tagus, the mares, by turning their faces towards the west wind as it blows, become impregnated by its breezes,[1922] and that the foals which are conceived in this way are remarkable for their extreme fleetness; but they never live beyond three years. Gallicia and Asturia are also countries of Spain; they produce a species of horse known to us as thieldones,[1923] and when smaller, asturcones;[1924] they have a peculiar and not common pace of their own, which is very easy, and arises from the two legs of the same side being moved together;[1925] it is by studying the nature of this step that our horses have been taught the movement which we call ambling.[1926] Horses have very nearly the same diseases as men;[1927] besides which, they are subject to an irregular action of the bladder, as, indeed, is the case with all beasts of burden.[1928]

CHAP. 68. (45.)—THE ASS, ITS GENERATION.

M. Varro informs us that Quintus Axius, the senator, paid for an ass the sum of four hundred thousand sesterces;[1929] I am not sure whether this did not exceed the price ever given for any other animal. It is certainly a species of animal singularly useful for labour and ploughing,[1930] but more especially for the production of mules.[1931] In these animals also, the country in which they are born is taken into consideration; in Greece, those from Arcadia[1932] are the most valued; and in Italy, those of Reate.[1933] The ass is an animal which is unable to endure cold,[1934] for which reason it is that it is never produced in Pontus; nor is it allowed to cover at the vernal equinox, like other cattle, but at the summer solstice. The males are less proper for covering, when out of work. The earliest age at which the females are ever capable of bearing is the thirtieth month, but the usual time begins at the age of three years. The number to which it gives birth is the same as the mare, which it also resembles, in the length of its gestation, and in its mode of bringing forth; but the female will discharge the generative fluid from the womb, being unable to retain it, unless by blows she is forced to run immediately after being covered. They seldom bring forth two at one birth.[1935] When the she-ass is about to bring forth, she shuns the light and seeks darkness, in order to escape the observation of man. Asses are capable of breeding throughout the whole of their life, which extends to thirty years. Their attachment to their young is great in the extreme, but their aversion to water is still greater. They will pass through fire to get at their foals, while the very same animal, if the smallest stream intervenes, will tremble, and not dare so much as to wet even its feet. Nor yet in their pastures will they ever drink at any but the usual watering-place, and they make it their care to find some dry path by which to get at it. They will not pass over a bridge either, when the water can be seen between the planks beneath.[1936] Wonderful to relate, too, if their watering-places are changed, though they should be ever so thirsty, they will not drink without being either beaten or caressed. They ought always to have plenty of room for sleeping; for they are very subject to various diseases in their sleep, when they repeatedly throw out their feet, and would immediately lame themselves by coming in contact with any hard substance; so that it is necessary that they should be provided with an empty space. The profit which is derived from these animals exceeds that arising from the richest estate. It is a well-known fact, that in Celtiberia there are some she-asses which have produced to their owners as much as four hundred thousand sesterces.[1937] In the rearing of she-mules it is said to be particularly necessary to attend to the colour of the hair of the ears and the eyelids, for, although the rest of the body be all of one colour, the mule that is produced will have all the colours that are found in those parts. Mæcenas was the first person who had the young of the ass served up at his table;[1938] they were in those times much preferred to the onager or wild ass;[1939] but, since his time, the taste has gone out of fashion. An ass, after witnessing the death of another ass, survives it but a very short time only.

CHAP. 69. (44.)—THE NATURE OF MULES,[1940] AND OF OTHER BEASTS OF BURDEN.

From the union of the male ass and the mare a mule is produced in the thirteenth month, an animal remarkable for its strength in laborious work. We are told that, for this purpose, the mare ought not to be less than four years old, nor more than ten. It is said also that these two species will repulse each other, unless the male has been brought up, in its infancy, upon the milk of the other species; for which reason they take the foals away from the mare, in the dark, and substitute for them the male colts of the ass. A mule may also be produced from a horse and a female ass; but it can never be properly broken in, and is incorrigibly sluggish,[1941] being in all respects as slow as an old animal. If a mare has conceived by a horse, and is afterwards covered by an ass, the first conception is abortive; but this is not the case when the horse comes after the ass. It has been observed, that the female is in the best state for receiving the male in the seventh day after parturition, and that the males are best adapted for the purpose when they are fatigued.[1942] A female ass, which has not conceived before shedding what are called the milk-teeth, is considered to be barren; which is also looked upon as the case when a she-ass does not become pregnant after the first covering. The male which is produced from a horse and a female ass, was called by the ancients “hinnulus,” and that from an ass and a mare “mulus.”[1943] It has been observed that the animal which is thus produced by the union of the two species is of a third species, and does not resemble either of the parents; and that all animals produced in this way, of whatever kind they may be, are incapable of reproduction; she-mules are therefore barren. It is said, indeed, in our Annals, that they have frequently brought forth;[1944] but such cases must be looked upon only as prodigies.[1945] Theophrastus says that they commonly bring forth in Cappadocia; but that the animal of that country is of a peculiar species.[1946] The mule is prevented from kicking by frequently giving it wine to drink.[1947] It is said in the works of many of the Greek writers, that from the union of a mule with a mare, the dwarf mule is produced, which they call “ginnus.” From the union of the mare and the wild ass, when it has been domesticated, a mule is produced which is remarkably swift in running, and has extremely hard feet, and a thin body, while it has a spirit that is quite indomitable. The very best stallion of all, however, for this purpose, is one produced from a union of the wild ass and the female domesticated ass. The best wild asses are those of Phrygia and Lycaonia. Africa glories in the wild foals which she produces, as excelling all others in flavour; these are called “lalisiones.”[1948] It appears from some Athenian records, that a mule once lived to the age of eighty years. The people were greatly delighted with this animal, because on one occasion, when, on the building of a temple in the citadel,[1949] it had been left behind on account of its age, it persisted in promoting the work by accompanying and assisting them; in consequence of which a decree was passed, that the dealers in corn were not to drive it away from their sieves.[1950]

CHAP. 70. (45.)—OXEN; THEIR GENERATION.

We find it stated, that the oxen of India are of the height of camels, and that the extremity of their horns are four feet asunder. In our part of the world the most valuable oxen are those of Epirus, owing, it is said, to the attention paid to their breed by King Pyrrhus.[1951] This perfection was acquired by not permitting them to breed until after their fourth year. By these means he brought them to a very large size, and descendants of this breed are still to be seen at the present day. But in our times, we set heifers to breed in their first year, or, at the latest, in their second. Bulls are fit for breeding in their fourth year; one being sufficient, it is said, for ten cows during the whole year. If the bull, after covering, goes to the right side, the produce will be a male; if to the left, a female.[1952] Conception takes place after a single union; but if, by any accident, it should not have taken place, the cow seeks the male again, at the end of twenty days. She brings forth in the tenth month; whatever may be produced before that time cannot be reared. Some writers say, that the birth takes place the very day on which the tenth month is completed. This animal but rarely produces twins. The time of covering begins at the rising of the Dolphin, the day before the nones of January,[1953] and continues for the space of thirty days. Sometimes it takes place in the autumn; and among those nations which live upon milk, they manage so as to have a supply of it at all times of the year. Bulls never cover more than twice in the same day. The ox is the only animal that walks backwards while it is feeding; among the Garamantes, they feed in no other manner.[1954] The females live fifteen years at the longest, and the males twenty; they arrive at their full vigour in their fifth year. It is said that they are made fat by being washed in warm water, or by having the entrails inflated with air by means of a reed, introduced through an incision in the skin. We must not look upon those kinds as having degenerated, the appearance of which is not so favourable. Those that are bred in the Alps, although very small of body, give a great quantity of milk, and are capable of enduring much labour; they are yoked by the horns, and not by the neck. The oxen of Syria have no dewlap, but they have a hump on the back. Those of Caria also, which is in Asia, are unsightly[1955] in appearance, having a hump hanging over the shoulders from the neck; and their horns are moveable;[1956] they are said, however, to be excellent workers, though those which are either black or white are condemned as worthless for labour.[1957] The horns of the bull are shorter and thinner than those of the ox. Oxen must be broken in when they are three years old; after that time it is too late, and before that time too early. The ox is most easily broken in by yoking it with one that has already been trained.[1958] This animal is our especial companion, both in labour generally, and in the operations of agriculture. Our ancestors considered it of so much value, that there is an instance cited of a man being brought before the Roman people, on a day appointed, and condemned, for having killed an ox, in order to humour an impudent concubine of his, who said that she had never tasted tripe; and he was driven into exile, just as though he had killed one of his own peasants.[1959]

The bull has a proud air, a stern forehead, shaggy ears, and horns which appear always ready, and challenging to the combat; but it is by his fore feet that he manifests his threatening anger. As his rage increases, he stands, lashing back his tail[1960] every now and then, and throwing up the sand against his belly; being the only animal that excites himself by these means. We have seen them fight at the word of command, and shown as a public spectacle; these bulls whirled about and then fell upon their horns, and at once were up again; then, at other times, they would lie upon the ground and let themselves be lifted up; they would even stand in a two-horsed chariot, while moving at a rapid rate, like so many charioteers.[1961] The people of Thessaly invented a method of killing bulls, by means of a man on horseback, who would ride up to them, and seize one of the horns, and so twist their neck. Cæsar the Dictator was the first person who exhibited this spectacle at Rome.

Bulls are selected as the very choicest of victims, and are offered up as the most approved sacrifice for appeasing the gods.[1962] Of all the animals that have long tails, this is the only one whose tail is not of proportionate length at the moment of birth; and in this animal alone it continues to grow until it reaches its heels. It is on this account, that in making choice of a calf for a victim, due care is taken that its tail reaches to the pastern joint; if it is shorter than this, the sacrifice is not deemed acceptable to the gods. This fact has also been remarked, that calves, which have been carried to the altar on men’s shoulders, are not generally acceptable to the gods; and also, if they are lame, or of a species which is not appropriate,[1963] or if they struggle to get away from the altar. It was a not uncommon prodigy among the ancients, for an ox to speak;[1964] upon such a fact being announced to the senate, they were in the habit of holding a meeting in the open air.

CHAP. 71. (46.)—THE EGYPTIAN APIS.[1965]

In Egypt an ox is even worshipped as a deity; they call it Apis. It is distinguished by a conspicuous white spot on the right side, in the form of a crescent. There is a knot also under the tongue, which is called “cantharus.”[1966] This ox is not allowed to live beyond a certain number of years; it is then destroyed by being drowned in the fountain of the priests. They then go, amid general mourning, and seek another ox to replace it; and the mourning is continued, with their heads shaved, until such time as they have found one; it is not long, however, at any time, before they meet with a successor. When one has been found, it is brought by the priests to Memphis. There are two temples appropriated to it, which are called thalami,[1967] and to these the people resort to learn the auguries. According as the ox enters the one or the other of these places, the augury is deemed favourable or unfavourable. It gives answers to individuals, by taking food from the hand of those who consult it. It turned away from the hand of Germanicus Cæsar, and not long after he died.[1968] In general it lives in secret; but, when it comes forth in public, the multitudes make way for it, and it is attended by a crowd of boys, singing hymns in honour of it; it appears to be sensible of the adoration thus paid to it, and to court it. These crowds, too, suddenly become inspired, and predict future events. Once in the year a female is presented to the ox, which likewise has her appropriate marks, although different from those on the male; and it is said that she is always killed the very same day that they find her. There is a spot in the Nile, near Memphis, which, from its figure, they call Phiala;[1969] here they throw into the water a dish of gold, and another of silver, every year upon the days on which they celebrate the birth of Apis.[1970] These days are seven in number, and it is a remarkable thing, that during this time, no one is ever attacked by the crocodile; on the eighth day, however, after the sixth hour, these beasts resume all their former ferocity.

CHAP. 72. (47.)—SHEEP, AND THEIR PROPAGATION.[1971]

Many thanks, too, do we owe to the sheep, both for appeasing the gods, and for giving us the use of its fleece. As oxen cultivate the fields which yield food for man, so to sheep are we indebted for the defence of our bodies. The generative power lasts in both sexes from the second to the ninth year, sometimes to the tenth.[1972] The lambs produced at the first birth are but small. The season for coupling, in all of them, is from the setting of Arcturus, that is to say, the third day before the ides of May,[1973] to the setting of Aquila, the tenth day before the calends of August.[1974] The period of gestation is one hundred and fifty days. The lambs that are produced after this time are feeble; the ancients called those that were born after it, cordi.[1975] Many persons prefer the lambs that are born in the winter to those of the spring, because it is of much more consequence that they should have gained strength before the summer solstice than before the winter one; consequently, the sheep is the only animal that is benefitted by being born in the middle of winter. It is the nature of the ram to reject the young and prefer the old ones, and he himself is more serviceable when old,[1976] and when deprived of his horns.[1977] He is also rendered less violent by having one horn pierced towards the ear. If the right testicle is tied up, the ram will generate females, and if the left, males.[1978] The noise of thunder produces abortion in sheep, if they are left alone; to prevent such accidents, they are brought together into flocks, that they may be rendered less timid by being in company. When the north-east wind blows, males are said to be conceived; and when the south wind, females. In this kind of animal, the mouth of the ram is especially looked to, for whatever may be the colour of the veins under the tongue, the wool of the young one will be of a similar colour.[1979] If these veins are many in number, it will be mottled. Any change, too, in their water or drink, will render them mottled.[1980]

There are two principal kinds of sheep, the covered[1981] and the colonic,[1982] or common sheep; the former is the more tender animal, but the latter is more nice about its pastures, for the covered sheep will feed on brambles even. The best coverings for sheep are brought from Arabia.[1983]

CHAP. 73. (43.)—THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF WOOL, AND THEIR COLOURS.[1984]

The most esteemed wool of all is that of Apulia, and that which in Italy is called Grecian wool, in other countries Italian. The fleeces of Miletus hold the third rank.[1985] The Apulian wool is shorter in the hair, and only owes its high character to the cloaks[1986] that are made of it. That which comes from the vicinity of Tarentum and Canusium is the most celebrated; and there is a wool from Laodicea, in Asia, of a similar quality.[1987] There is no white wool superior to that of the countries bordering on the Padus,[1988] nor up to the present day has any wool exceeded the price of one hundred sesterces per pound.[1989] The sheep are not shorn in all countries; in some places it is still the custom to pull off the wool.[1990] There are various colours of wool; so much so, indeed, that we want terms to express them all. Several kinds, which are called native,[1991] are found in Spain; Pollentia, in the vicinity of the Alps,[1992] produces black fleeces of the best quality; Asia, as well as Bætica,[1993] the red fleeces, which are called Erythræan; those of Canusium are of a tawny colour;[1994] and those of Tarentum have their peculiar dark tint.[1995] All kinds of wool, when not freed from the grease,[1996] possess certain medicinal properties. The wool of Istria is much more like hair than wool, and is not suitable for the fabrication of stuffs that have a long nap;[1997] so too is that which Salacia,[1998] in Lusitania, finds the most useful for making its chequered cloths. There is a similar wool, too, found about Piscenæ,[1999] in the province of Narbonensis, as also in Egypt; a garment, when it has been worn for some time, is often embroidered with this wool, and will last for a considerable time.

The thick, flocky wool has been esteemed for the manufacture of carpets from the very earliest times; it is quite clear, from what we read in Homer, that they were in use in his time.[2000] The Gauls embroider them in a different manner from that which is practised by the Parthians.[2001] Wool is compressed also for making a felt,[2002] which, if soaked in vinegar,[2003] is capable of resisting iron even; and, what is still more, after having gone through the last process,[2004] wool will even resist fire; the refuse, too, when taken out of the vat of the scourer, is used for making mattresses,[2005] an invention, I fancy, of the Gauls. At all events, it is by Gallic names that we distinguish the different sort of mattresses[2006] at the present day; but I am not well able to say at what period wool began to be employed for this purpose. Our ancestors made use of straw[2007] for the purpose of sleeping upon, just as they do at present when in camp. The gausapa[2008] has been brought into use in my father’s memory, and I myself recollect the amphimalla[2009] and the long shaggy apron[2010] being introduced; but at the present day, the laticlave tunic[2011] is beginning to be manufactured, in imitation of the gausapa.[2012] Black wool will take no colour. I shall describe the mode of dyeing the other kinds of wool when speaking of the sea-purple,[2013] or of the nature of various plants.[2014]

CHAP. 74.—DIFFERENT KINDS OF CLOTHS.

Varro informs us, he himself having been an eye-witness, that in the temple of Sancus,[2015] the wool was still preserved on the distaff and spindle of Tanaquil,[2016] who was also called Caia Cæcilia; and he says that the royal waved[2017] toga, formerly worn by Servius Tullius, and now in the temple of Fortune, was made by her. Hence was derived the custom, on the marriage of a young woman, of carrying in the procession a dressed distaff and a spindle, with the thread arranged upon it. Tanaquil was the first who wove the straight tunic,[2018] such as our young people wear with the white toga;[2019] newly-married women also. Waved garments were at first the most esteemed of all: after which those composed of various colours[2020] came into vogue. Fenestella informs us, that togas with a smooth surface, as well as the Phryxian togas,[2021] began to be used in the latter part of the reign of Augustus. Thick stuffs, in the preparation of which the poppy[2022] was used, are of more ancient date, being mentioned by the poet Lucilius, in his lines on Torquatus. The prætexta[2023] had its origin among the Etrurians. I find that the trabea[2024] was first worn by the kings; embroidered garments are mentioned by Homer,[2025] and in this class originated the triumphal robes.[2026] The Phrygians first used the needle for this purpose,[2027] and hence this kind of garment obtained the name of Phrygionian. King Attalus, who also lived in Asia, invented the art of embroidering with gold, from which these garments have been called Attalic.[2028] Babylon was very famous for making embroidery in different colours, and hence stuffs of this kind have obtained the name of Babylonian.[2029] The method of weaving cloth with more than two threads was invented at Alexandria; these cloths are called polymita;[2030] it was in Gaul that they were first divided into chequers.[2031] Metellus Scipio, in the accusation which he brought against Cato,[2032] stated that even in his time Babylonian covers for couches were selling for eight hundred thousand sesterces, and these of late, in the time of the Emperor Nero, had risen to four millions.[2033] The prætextæ of Servius Tullius, with which the statue of Fortune, dedicated by him, was covered,[2034] lasted until the death of Sejanus; and it is a remarkable fact, that, during a period of five hundred and sixty years, they had never become tattered,[2035] or received injury from moths. I myself have seen the fleece upon the living animal dyed purple, scarlet, and violet,—a pound and a half[2036] of dye being used for each,—just as though they had been produced by Nature in this form, to meet the demands of luxury.

CHAP. 75.—THE DIFFERENT SHAPES OF SHEEP; THE MUSMON.

In the sheep, it is considered a proof of its being of a very fair breed, when the legs are short, and the belly is covered with wool; when this part is bare, they used to be called apicæ, and were looked upon as worthless.[2037] The tail of the Syrian sheep is a cubit in length,[2038] and it is upon that part that most of the wool is found. It is considered too early to castrate lambs before they are five months old.

(49.) There is in Spain, and more especially in Corsica, a peculiar kind of animal called the musmon,[2039] not very unlike a sheep, but with a fleece which more resembles the hair of the goat than the wool of the sheep. The ancients gave the name of umbri[2040] to the breed between this animal and the sheep. The head of the sheep is the weakest part of all, on which account it is obliged, when it feeds, to turn away from the sun.[2041] The animals which are covered with wool are the most stupid of all.[2042] When they are afraid to enter any place, if one is only dragged into it by the horns, all the rest will follow. The longest duration of their life is ten years; but in Æthiopia it is thirteen. Goats live in that country eleven years, but in other parts of the world mostly eight years only. Both of these animals require to be covered not more than four times to ensure conception.

CHAP. 76. (50.)—GOATS AND THEIR PROPAGATION.

The goat occasionally brings forth as many as four at a birth; but this is rarely the case.[2043] It is pregnant five months, like the sheep. Goats become barren when very fat. There is little advantage to be derived from their bringing forth before their third year, or after the fourth, when they begin to grow old.[2044] They are capable of generating in the seventh month, and while they are still sucking. In both sexes those that have no horns are considered the most valuable.[2045] A single coupling in the day is not sufficient; the second and the following ones are more effectual. They conceive in the month of November, so as to bring forth in the month of March, when the buds are bursting; this is sometimes the case with them when only one year old, and always with those of the second year; but the produce of those which are three years old is the most valuable.[2046] They continue to bring forth for a period of eight years. Cold produces abortion. When their eyes are surcharged, the female discharges the blood from the eye by pricking it with the point of a bulrush, and the male with the thorn of a bramble.

Mutianus relates an instance of the intelligence of this animal, of which he himself was an eye-witness. Two goats, coming from opposite directions, met on a very narrow bridge, which would not admit of either of them turning round, and in consequence of its great length, they could not safely go backwards, there being no sure footing on account of its narrowness, while at the same time an impetuous torrent was rapidly rushing beneath; accordingly, one of the animals lay down flat, while the other walked over it.

Among the males, those are the most esteemed which have flat noses and long hanging ears,[2047] the shoulders being covered with very thick shaggy hair; the mark of the most valuable among the females is the having two folds[2048] hanging down the body from under the neck. Some of these animals have no horns; but where there are horns, the age of the animal is denoted by the number of knots on them. Those that have no horns give the most milk.[2049] According to Archelaus,[2050] they breathe, not through the nose, but the ears,[2051] and they are never entirely free from fever,[2052] from which circumstance it is, probably, that they are more animated than sheep, more ardent, and have stronger sexual passions. It is said also, that they have the power of seeing by night as well as in the day, for which reason those persons who are called Nyctalopes,[2053] recover the power of seeing in the evening, by eating the liver of the he-goat. In Cilicia, and in the vicinity of the Syrtes, the inhabitants shear the goat for the purpose of clothing themselves.[2054] It is said that the she-goats in the pastures will never look at each other at sun-set, but lie with their backs towards one another,[2055] while at other times of the day they lie facing each other and in family groups. They all have long hair hanging down from the chin, which is called by us aruncus.[2056] If any one of the flock is taken hold of and dragged by this hair, all the rest gaze on in stupid astonishment; and the same happens when any one of them has eaten of a certain herb.[2057] Their bite is very destructive to trees, and they make the olive barren by licking it;[2058] for which reason they are not sacrificed to Minerva.[2059]

CHAP. 77. (51.)—THE HOG.[2060]

The period for coupling the hog lasts from the return of the west wind to the vernal equinox; the proper age commences in the eighth month, indeed, in some places, in the fourth even, and continues until the eighth year.[2061] They bring forth twice in the year, the time of gestation being four months; the number at a birth amounts to twenty even, but they cannot rear so large a number.[2062] Nigidius informs us, that those which are produced within ten days of the winter solstice are born with teeth. One coupling is sufficient, but it is repeated, on account of their extreme liability to abortion; the remedy for which is not to allow coupling the first time the female is in heat, nor until its ears are flaccid and pendant. The males do not generate after they are three years old. When the females become feeble from old age, they receive the males lying down.[2063] It is not looked upon as anything portentous when they eat their young. The young of the hog is considered in a state of purity for sacrifice when five days old,[2064] the lamb on the seventh day, and the calf on the thirtieth. Coruncanius asserts, that ruminant animals are not proper for victims until they have two teeth.[2065] It has been supposed, that when a pig has lost one eye, it will not live long;[2066] otherwise, these animals generally live up to fifteen, or sometimes twenty years. They sometimes become mad; besides which, they are liable to other diseases, especially to quinsy[2067] and to scrofula.[2068] It is an indication that the hog is diseased, when blood is found at the root of a bristle pulled from its back, and when it holds its head on one side while walking. When the female becomes too fat, she has a deficiency of milk; the first litter is always the least numerous. Animals of this kind delight in rolling in the mud.[2069] The tail is curled, and it has also been remarked, that those are a more acceptable offering to the gods, whose tail is turned to the right than those which have it turned to the left. They may be fattened in sixty days, and more especially if they have been kept without food for three days before fattening. The swine is by far the most brutish of all the animals, and it has been said, and not unaptly, that life has been given them in place of salt.[2070] And yet it has been known, that these animals, when carried away by thieves, have recognized the voice of their keeper; and when a vessel has been under water through the inclination of one of its sides, they have had the sense to go over to the other side. The leader of the herd will even learn to go to market, and to different houses in the city. In the wild state also, they have the sense to pass their urine in plashy places, that they may destroy all traces of them, and so lighten themselves for flight.[2071] The female is spayed, just as is done with the camel; after they have fasted two days, they are suspended by the hind feet, and the orifice of the womb is cut; after this operation, they fatten more quickly.[2072]

M. Apicius[2073] made the discovery, that we may employ the same artificial method of increasing the size of the liver of the sow, as of that of the goose;[2074] it consists in cramming them with dried figs, and when they are fat enough, they are drenched with wine mixed with honey, and immediately killed. There is no animal that affords a greater variety to the palate of the epicure; all the others have their own peculiar flavour, but the flesh of the hog has nearly fifty different flavours. Hence it is, that there are whole pages of regulations made by the censors, forbidding the serving up at banquets of the belly, the kernels,[2075] the testicles, the womb, and the cheeks. However, notwithstanding all this, the poet Publius,[2076] the author of the Mimes, when he ceased to be a slave, is said to have given no entertainment without serving up the belly of a sow, to which he also gave the name of “sumen.”

CHAP. 78.—THE WILD BOAR; WHO WAS THE FIRST TO ESTABLISH PARKS FOR WILD ANIMALS.

The flesh of the wild boar is also much esteemed. Cato, the Censor, in his orations, strongly declaimed against the use of the brawn of the wild boar.[2077] The animal used to be divided into three portions, the middle part of which was laid by,[2078] and is called boar’s chine. P. Servilius Rullus was the first Roman who served up a whole boar at a banquet; the father of that Rullus, who, in the consulship of Cicero, proposed the Agrarian law. So recent is the introduction of a thing which is now in daily use. The Annalists have taken notice of such a fact as this, clearly as a hint to us to mend our manners; seeing that now-a-days two or three boars are consumed, not at one entertainment, but as forming the first course only.

(52.) Fulvius Lupinus was the first Roman who formed parks[2079] for the reception of these and other wild animals: he first fed them in the territory of Tarquinii: it was not long, however, that imitators were found in L. Lucullus and Q. Hortensius.[2080] The wild sow brings forth once only in the year. The males are very fierce during the rutting time; they fight with each other, having first hardened their sides by rubbing them against the trees, and covered themselves with mud. The females, as is the case with animals of every kind, become more fierce just after they have brought forth. The wild boar is not capable of generating before the first year. The wild boar of India[2081] has two curved teeth, projecting from beneath the muzzle, a cubit in length; and the same number projecting from the forehead, like the horns of the young bull. The hair of these animals, in a wild state, is the colour of copper, the others are black. No species whatever of the swine is found in Arabia.