Chapter XXX: Book XVII (5)

[6] The Teredo navalis of Linnæus, not an insect, but one of the mollusks. This is the same creature that is mentioned in B. xvi. c. 80; but that spoken of in B. viii. c. 74, must have been a land insect.

[7] They respire by orifices in the sides of the body, known to naturalists as _stigmata_. The whole body, Cuvier says, forms, in a measure, a system of lungs.

[8] Cuvier remarks that the various noises made by insects are in reality not the voice, as they are not produced by air passing through a larynx.

[9] B. ix. c. 6.

[10] Cuvier remarks, that they have a nourishing fluid, which is of a white colour, and acts in place of blood.

[11] The dye of sæpia, Cuvier remarks, is not blood, nor does it act as such, being an excrementitious liquid. It has in addition a bluish, transparent, blood. The same also with the juices of the purple.

[12] “Nervos.” Cuvier says that all insects have a brain, a sort of spinal marrow, and nerves.

[13] “Tutius.”

[14] Insects have no fat, Cuvier says, except when in the chrysalis state; but they have a fibrous flesh of a whitish colour. They have also viscera, trachea, nerves, and a most complicated organization.

[15] “Melligo.” For further information on this subject consult Bevan on the Honey Bee.

[16] Or “conusis,” “gummy matter.”

[17] Pitch-wax.

[18] A kind of bee-glue; the origin of the name does not seem to be known. Reaumur says that they are all different varieties of bee-glue.

[19] See B. xxii. c. 50.

[20] Different combinations of the pollen of flowers, on which bees feed.

[21] It is formed from the honey that the bee has digested.

[22] Sorrel, or monk’s rhubarb.

[23] A kind of broom.

[24] Spanish broom, the Stipa tenacissima of Linnæus. Ropes were made of it. See B. xix. c. 7.

[25] Or, the “wild man.”

[26] Huber has discovered that there are two kinds of bees of neutral sex, or, as he calls them, unprolific females, the workers, which go out, and the nurses, which are smaller, and stay in the hive to tend the larvæ.

[27] From the honey found in the corollæ of flowers. This, after being prepared in the first stomach of the bee, is deposited in the cell which is formed for its reception.

[28] Cuvier says that the three kinds of cells are absolutely necessary, and that they do not depend on the greater or less abundance. The _king_ of the ancients is what we know as the _queen_ bee, which is impregnated by the drones or males.

[29] This is the fact, but not so their _imperfect_ state.

[30] They do not work, but merely impregnate the queen; after which they are driven from the hive, and perish of cold and starvation.

[31] It appears, as Cuvier says, that the ancients had _some_ notion that the swarm was multiplied by the aid of the drones.

[32] Cuvier says that the cell for the future queen is different from the others, and much larger. The bees also supply the queen larva much more abundantly with food, and of more delicate quality.

[33] Cuvier says that this coincidence with the number of the legs is quite accidental, as it is with the mouth that the animal constructs the cell.

[34] The basis of it is really derived from the calix or corolla of flowers.

[35] See B. iv. c. 24.

[36] In the last Chapter.

[37] Or “Flower-honey.”

[38] Season-honey.

[39] “Vinegar” is the ordinary meaning.

[40] Sillig remarks that the whole of this passage is corrupt.

[41] Hence, perhaps, its name of “acetum.”

[42] The people of Italy.

[43] The 10th of the calends of September, or 23rd August.

[44] Or “heath-honey.” In the north of England the hives are purposely taken to the moors.

[45] “Erice,” “heather,” seems to be a preferable reading to “myrice,” “tamarisk,” which is adopted by Sillig.

[46] 12th September.

[47] “Tetralicem” seems preferable to “tamaricem.”

[48] 13th November.

[49] “Unsmoked” honey.

[50] It takes place while they are on the wing.

[51] The only prolific _female_, in reality.

[52] Some unprolific females and some males, in reality.

[53] Cuvier thinks that either hornets, or else the drones, must be alluded to. Virgil, Georg. B. iv. l. 197, _et seq._, is one of those who think that bees are produced from flowers.

[54] _I. e._ from flowers.

[55] They arrange the eggs in the cells, but they cannot be said to _sit_.

[56] This is not the fact. The queen bee commences as a larva, and that the larva of a working bee, Cuvier says, which, placed in a larger cell, and nurtured in a different manner, developes its sex and becomes the queen of the new swarm.

[57] They are then in the chrysalis state.

[58] “Clavus.”

[59] It is the first hatched _queen_ that puts the others to death.

[60] In consequence, really, of their pregnancy.

[61] The greater size of the abdomen makes the wings _look_ shorter.

[62] The queen has a sting, like the working bees, but uses it less frequently.

[63] A place in Germany, where Drusus, the brother of Tiberius, gained a victory over the Germans: the locality is unknown.

[64] “Fur.” A variety, probably, of the drone.

[65] So Virgil says—

——“Hæc certamina tanta Pulveris exigui jactu compressa
quiescent.”—_Georg._ iv. 87.

[66] If it is left in the wound, the insect dies, being torn asunder.

[67] Of course this is fabulous, as the drones are males.

[68] Though belonging to the same class, they are not of degenerate kinds.

[69] The “mule-gnat.”

[70] See Virgil, Georg. B. iv. l. 27.

[71] The reading seems doubtful, and the meaning is probably unknown.

[72] “Injury of the young.”

[73] There are two kinds of hive-moth—the Phalæna tinea mellanella of Linnæus, and the Phalæna tortrix cereana. It deposits its larva in holes which it makes in the wax.

[74] In consequence of closing the stigmata, and so impeding their respiration. The same result, no doubt, is produced by the honey when smeared over their bodies.

[75] B. xxi. c. 42.

[76] Cuvier says that a hive has been known to last more than thirty years: but it is doubtful if bees ever live so long as ten, or, except the queen, little more than one.

[77] Though Virgil tells the same story, in B. iv. of the Georgics, in relation to the shepherd Aristæus, all this is entirely fabulous.

[78] Georg. B. iv. l. 284, _et seq._

[79] Under roofs, and sometimes in the ground: hornets build in the hollows of trees.

[80] Called “Sphæx” by Linnæus.

[81] The true version is, that after killing the insect they bury it with their eggs as food for their future young.

[82] Cuvier says that it is the males, and not the females, that have no sting.

[83] What modern naturalists call the “Hymenoptera.”

[84] Some kind of wasp, or, as Cuvier says, probably the mason bee.

[85] Called “bombyx” also; though, as Cuvier remarks, of a kind altogether different from the preceding one.

[86] The first kinds of silk dresses worn by the Roman ladies were from this island, and, as Pliny says, were known by the name of _Coæ vestes_. These dresses were so fine as to be transparent, and were sometimes dyed purple, and enriched with stripes of gold. They probably had their name from the early reputation which Cos acquired by its manufactures of silk.

[87] This account is derived from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 19.

[88] “Lanificia.”

[89] Early in the reign of Tiberius, as we learn from Tacitus, the senate enacted “ne vestis Serica viros fædaret”—“That men should not defile themselves by wearing garments of silk,” Ann. B. ii. c. 33.

[90] The Aranea lupus of Linnæus.

[91] As Cuvier observes, he has here guessed at the truth.

[92] They copulate in a manner dissimilar to that of any other insects—the male fecundates the female by the aid of feelers, which he introduces into the vulva of the female situate beneath the anterior part of the abdomen.

[93] Cuvier remarks, that the scorpion is viviparous; but the young are white when born, and wrapped up in an oval mass, for which reason they may easily be taken for maggots or grubs.

[94] This must be understood of the scorpion of Egypt, Libya, and Syria. The sting of that of the south of Europe is not generally dangerous.

[95] Cuvier seems to regard this as fanciful: he says that the instances of _seven_ joints are but rarely to be met with.

[96] There are no winged scorpions. Cuvier thinks that he may possibly allude to the panorpis, or scorpion-fly, the abdomen of which terminates in a forceps, which resembles the tail of the scorpion.

[97] Probably the panorpis.

[98] See B. xxix. c. 29.

[99] The starred or spotted lizard.

[100] The stellio of the Romans is the “ascalabos” or “ascalabotes” of the Greeks, the lizard into which Ascalabus was changed by Ceres: see Ovid, Met. B. v. l. 450, _et seq._ Pliny also mentions this in B. xxix. c. 4, though he speaks of some difference in their appearance. It is a species of gecko, the tarentola of Italy, the tarente of Provence, and the geckotta, probably, of Lacepède. The gecko, Cuvier says, is not venomous; but it causes small blisters to rise on the skin when it walks over it, the result, probably, of the extreme sharpness of its nails.

[101] See c. 28 of this Book, and B. viii. c. 95; B. xxx. c. 27.

[102] A general name for the grasshopper. Cuvier remarks, that Pliny is less clear on this subject than Aristotle, the author from whom he has borrowed.

[103] “Correptis” seems a preferable reading to “conrupti,” that adopted by Sillig.

[104] The female has this, and employs it for piercing dead branches in which to deposit its eggs.

[105] The “mother of the grasshopper.”

[106] The trunk of the grasshopper, Cuvier says, is situate so low down, that it seems to be attached to the breast. With it the insect extracts the juices of leaves and stalks.

[107] Or “twig-grasshopper.”

[108] Or “corn-grasshopper.”

[109] Or “oat-grasshopper.”

[110] The river Cæcina. See B. iii. c. 15. This river is by Strabo, B. vi. c. 260, called the Alex. Ælian has the story that the Locrian grasshoppers become silent in the territory of Rhegium, and those of Rhegium in the territory of Locri, thereby implying that they each have a note in its own respective country.

[111] Cuvier says that the observations in this Chapter, derived from Aristotle, are remarkable for their exactness, and show that that philosopher had studied insects with the greatest attention.

[112] Or sheath; the Coleoptera of the naturalists.

[113] The flying stag-beetle, the Lucanus cervus of Linnæus.

[114] The dung-beetle, the Scarabæus pilularius of Linnæus.

[115] Various kinds of crickets.

[116] Cuvier says that it is on the two sides of the abdomen that the male carries its light, while the whole posterior part of the female is shining.

[117] In the glow-worm of France, the Lampyris noctiluca of Linnæus, the female is without wings, while the male gives but little light. In that of Italy, the Lampyris Italica, both sexes are winged.

[118] “Blattæ.” See B. xxix. c. 39, where three kinds are specified.

[119] This beetle appears to be unknown. Cuvier suggests that the Scarabæus nasicornis of Linnæus, which haunts dead bark, or the Scarabæus auratus may be the insect referred to.

[120] “Fatal to the beetle.”

[121] Cuvier remarks that this assertion, borrowed from Aristotle, is incorrect. The wings of many of the Coleoptera are articulated in the middle, and so double, one part on the other, to enter the sheath.

[122] Cuvier remarks, that the panorpis has a tail very like that of the scorpion; and that the ephemera, the ichneumons and others, have tails also. Aristotle, in the corresponding place, only says that the insects do not use the tail to direct their flight.

[123] These are merely the feelers of the jaws.

[124] Not instead of, but in addition to, the tongue, by the aid of which they suck.

[125] Evidently meaning the trunk.

[126] See B. xxix. c. 39.

[127] It is not true that the young locusts are destitute of feet.

[128] 7th May.

[129] 18th July.

[130] 11th May.

[131] Cuvier treats this story as purely imaginary.

[132] Cuvier says that some have been known nearly a foot long, but not more.

[133] He alludes to the ravages committed by the swarms of the migratory locust, Grillus migratorius of Linnæus.

[134] Julius Obsequens speaks of a pestilence there, created by the dead bodies of the locusts, which caused the death of 8000 persons.

[135] See also B. vi. c. 35.

[136] What are commonly called ants’ eggs, are in reality their larvæ and nymphæ. Enveloped in a sort of tunic, these last, Cuvier says, are like grains of corn, and from this probably has arisen the story that they lay up grains against the winter, a period through which in reality they do not eat.

[137] They stow away bits of meat and detached portions of fruit, to nourish their larvæ with their juices.

[138] It is in reality their larvæ that they thus bring out to dry. The working ants, or neutrals, are the ones on which these labours devolve: the males and females are winged, the working ants are without wings.

[139] “Ad recognitionem mutuam.”

[140] Some modern writers express an opinion that when they meet, they converse and encourage one another by the medium of touch and smell.

[141] See B. v. c. 31.

[142] M. de Veltheim thinks that by this is really meant the Canis corsac, the small fox of India, but that by some mistake it was represented by travellers as an ant. It is not improbable, Cuvier says, that some quadruped, in making holes in the ground, may have occasionally thrown up some grains of the precious metal. The story is derived from the narratives of Clearchus and Megasthenes. Another interpretation of this story has also been suggested. We find from some remarks of Mr. Wilson, in the _Transactions of the Asiatic Society_, on the Mahabharata, a Sanscrit poem, that various tribes on the mountains Meru and Mandara (supposed to lie between Hindostan and Tibet) used to sell grains of gold, which they called _paippilaka_, or “ant-gold,” which, they said, was thrown up by ants, in Sanscrit called _pippilaka_. In travelling westward, this story, in itself, no doubt, untrue, may very probably have been magnified to its present dimensions.

[143] Cuvier observes, that this is a very correct account of the cabbage or radish butterfly, the Papilio brassicæ or Papilio raphani of Linnæus.

[144] Cossi. See B. xvii. c. 37.

[145] Tæniæ.

[146] He alludes to the Morbus pediculosus.

[147] Aristotle says, in the corresponding passage, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 26, that the animals which are affected by lice, are more particularly exposed to them when they change the water in which they wash.

[148] Or “leapers.”

[149] He alludes to dog-ticks and ox-ticks, the Acarus ricinus of Linnæus, and the Acarus reduvius of Schrank.

[150] In c. 32 he has said the same of the grasshopper; in relation to its drink.

[151] A variety of the Cynips of Linnæus, which in vast numbers will sometimes adhere to the ears of dogs.

[152] These are really the larvæ of night-moths. His account here is purely imaginary.

[153] He speaks of the Cynips psenes of Linnæus, which breeds on the blossom of the fig-tree, and aids in its fecundation. See B. xv. c. 21.

[154] He alludes to various coleopterous insects, which are not included among the Cantharides of the modern naturalists. They are first an egg, then a larva, then a nympha, and then the insect fully developed.

[155] See B. xxix. c. 30.

[156] The redness sometimes observed on the snow of the Alps and the Pyrenees, is supposed by De Lamarck to be produced by animalculæ: other naturalists, however, suppose it to arise from vegetable or mineral causes.

[157] Cuvier thinks that he alludes to a variety of the ephemera or the phryganea of Linnæus, the case-wing flies, many of which are particularly short-lived. These are by no means peculiar to the river Bog or Hypanis.

[158] “Living for a day.”

[159] They only _appear_ to be so, from the peculiar streaks on the eyes. Linnæus has hence called one variety, the Tabanus cæcutiens.

[160] Or with pounded chalk or whitening. Ælian adds, “if they are placed in the sun,” which appears necessary for the full success of the experiment. Life appears to be suspended in such cases for a period of surprising length.

[161] Probably the golden pheasant, as already mentioned.

[162] Some kind of heron or crane, Cuvier thinks.

[163] The Alauda cristata of Linnæus, so called from “galera,” a pointed cap like a helmet.

[164] The fifth legion.

[165] The hoopoe, B. x. c. 44.

[166] Savigny and Cuvier take this to be the Ardea virgo of Linnæus, a native of Numidia.

[167] The suddenness of their appearance, no doubt, was fabulous; but we have well-authenticated cases in recent times of substances growing on the human head, to all appearance resembling horns, and arising from a disordered secretion of the hair. Witness the case of Mary Davies, a so-called horn from whose head is preserved in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. The story of Genucius Cippus, the Roman prætor, is told by Ovid, Met. B. xv. l. 565, _et seq._

[168] A spitter, or second year stag, according to Cuvier.

[169] “Broad-horned.” The Cervus dama of Linnæus.

[170] “Dama.” The Antelope redunca of Linnæus, Cuvier thinks.

[171] No doubt a kind of antelope.

[172] “Lyras” seems preferable to “liras.”

[173] There are several varieties of oxen, in which the horns adhere to the skin, and not to the cranium.

[174] B. viii. cc. 29-31.

[175] The Coluber cerastes of Linnæus. See B. viii. c. 35.

[176] The drinking-horns of our Saxon ancestors are well known to the antiquarian.

[177] The “urna” was half an “amphora,” or nearly three gallons.

[178] See B. xxxv. c. 41.

[179] The rhinoceros. See B. viii. c. 39.

[180] He surely must except the Phrygian oxen with the moveable horns, which he has previously mentioned.

[181] Or “long-haired.” See B. iii. c. 7.

[182] See B. iv. c. 31.

[183] See B. iv. c. 22.

[184] See B. v. c. 29.

[185] Φαλακροκόραξ. See B. x. c. 68.

[186] He borrows this from Aristotle.

[187] B. viii. c. 54, and B. x. c. 58. The skull of the bear is not thinner or weaker than that of other animals of its own size; but the skull of the parrot, in proportion to those of other birds, is remarkably hard.

[188] See B. vii. c. 1.

[189] Cuvier says that these are the larvæ of the œstrus, which are deposited on the lips of quadrupeds, and so make their way to various cavities.

[190] B. ix. c. 40.

[191] Or razor-sheath. See B. x. c. 88.

[192] Aristotle was of this opinion, but Galen maintained that the mole _can_ see. Its eye is extremely small, and hard on the surface.

[193] Or “white” heron. As Cuvier remarks, this is probably a mere augur’s fable.

[194] It is almost needless to remark, that both snails, as well as locusts and grasshoppers, _have_ eyes.

[195] Lumbricus.

[196] B. vii. c. 2.

[197] “Cæsii.”

[198] The same has been said also of Cardan, the elder Scaliger, Theodore Beza, the French physician Mairan, and the republican Camille Desmoulins.

[199] Caligula.

[200] Hardouin with justice doubts the soundness of this alleged reason.

[201] He alludes, probably, to some method of curing cataract; perhaps somewhat similar to that mentioned by him in B. xx. c. 20.

[202] This was done by the nearest relatives. This usage still prevails in this country, the eyelids being pressed down with pieces of gold or silver.

[203] Or “squint-eyed.”

[204] Or “cock-eyed.”

[205] B. viii. c. 45.

[206] B. viii, c. 51.

[207] See B. xxv. c. 50.

[208] Or crustaceous covering.

[209] Kohl is still used in the east for the same purpose.

[210] Aristotle says so, Hist. Anim. B. iii. c. 10.

[211] “The eyebrows.”

[212] This is not the fact.

[213] With their nails when mourning for the dead.

[214] Hence the word “nasutus,” a sneering, captious, or sarcastic man.

[215] “Flat-nosed,” and “snub-nosed.”

[216] A Roman family—the reading of this word seems doubtful.

[217] In reality, the under one only.

[218] He is incorrect in speaking of dogs as having serrated teeth.

[219] In the dugong also, babiroussa, muntjac, and others.

[220] The morse and the dugong are instances to the contrary.

[221] The females of the elephant, morse, dugong, chevrotin, and muntjac have them, and they are equally as useful as with the male, only, perhaps, not so strong.

[222] This is incorrect, unless he merely means ranged in one continuous line; and even then he is in error.

[223] See B. ix. c. 29. This is called the parrot-fish, from the resemblance of its upper and lower jaws to the beak of a parrot.

[224] They present this appearance from being worn away at the surface.

[225] Rondelet would read “gula,” the throat. This, though repudiated by Hardouin, is approved of by Cuvier, who justly looks upon the ordinary reading as an absurdity. Many fish, he says, and more especially the osseous ones, have teeth in the pharynx.

[226] There is always one fang, at least, ready to supply the place of the one in front, if lost by any accident.

[227] Like the jugglers of the East at the present day. But it is very doubtful whether the poison fang is in _all_ instances previously extracted from the serpents which they handle.

[228] But the camel, as well as the lama, has an incisive bone, provided with an incisive tooth on each side, and has canine and molar teeth as well.

[229] If by this term he means teeth separated from each other, the assertion is incorrect, as in these animals we find the molars separated from the lower incisives by a very considerable space.

[230] Cuvier says, as far as the sea-urchin is concerned, very simply, and merely by looking at it, as its five teeth are very apparent.

[231] The incisors are in number, and very nearly in appearance, like those of man. The canines are different in shape, though similar in number. What he says about the elephant, is peculiar to that of India.

[232] See B. ix. c. 88.

[233] Very few other animals are born with teeth, in their natural state. Apes, dogs, and cats are not born with teeth.

[234] From the fourth to the eighth month in reality, during which the four central incisors appear.

[235] The only ones that do not change are those which have three molars on each side of the jaw.

[236] This is erroneous: they change the incisors and molars as well.

[237] See B. xxviii. c. 78.

[238] By us known as the “wisdom” teeth.

[239] This is not the fact: they have usually the same number, but there are exceptions on both sides. The same is also the case with sheep, goats, and swine.

[240] This is not very uncommon.

[241] Not at all an uncommon occurrence.

[242] Of the second set.

[243] It is only in the horse and the ass that these indications can be relied upon.

[244] Columellares.

[245] This has no such effect.

[246] The contrary is the case: it will be more prolific.

[247] Swine change them just the same as other animals.

[248] By certain appearances in the incisors, the age of a horse up to its twenty-fourth year, or even beyond, may be judged of: the other signs cannot be so positively relied upon.

[249] B. viii. c. 15.

[250] “Sævissima dentibus,” seems to be a preferable reading to “sævissime dentiunt.”

[251] Only two-forked in reality.

[252] It is _not_ covered with hair.

[253] It is _not_ bifurcate.

[254] These are horny, conical papillæ, the summits of which point backwards.

[255] See B. ix. c. 60.

[256] “Criers.”

[257] One of the titles of the goddess Fortuna.

[258] “Uva,” or “grape.”

[259] More generally “epiglottis.” It is found in some few reptiles. This passage is omitted by Sillig.

[260] Gullet, or pharynx.

[261] Stomachum.

[262] All these animals, on the contrary, have seven vertebræ.

[263] This is not the fact. The spinal marrow, even, may be wounded, without death being the immediate result.

[264] Snow-water, we know, is apt to produce goitre.

[265] “Stomachus.” More properly, the œsophagus, or ventricle.

[266] Lacunæ modo.

[267] Or turtle. It has a tongue, and though it has no teeth, the jaws are edged with a horny substance like the bills of birds.

[268] “Crenis” is read for “renis:” otherwise the passage is unintelligible: it is still most probably in a corrupt state.

[269] Among all the mammiferæ and the birds, the heart has four cavities, two on each side.

[270] Mens.

[271] This is a mistake. The heart is subject to disease, equally with other parts of the body.

[272] In spite of what Schenkius says in confirmation of Pliny, this is very doubtful. Of course it must increase from childhood, but the increase surely does not continue till the fiftieth year.

[273] See an account of him in the Messeniaca of Pausanias.

[274] In this part of the story may have originated that of the escape of Sindbad the Sailor, when buried in the vault with the body of his wife.—See the “Arabian Nights.”

[275] “Rex Sacrorum.” This was a priest elected from the patricians, on whom the priestly duties devolved, which had been originally performed by the kings of Rome. He ranked above the Pontifex Maximus, but was possessed of little or no political influence.

[276] No doubt there was trickery in this.

[277] By supernatural agency.

[278] This was P. Vitellius, who served under Germanicus in Germany. He was one of the accusers of Cn. Piso, who was charged with having poisoned Germanicus.

[279] The cardiac disease, as alleged.

[280] B. ix. c. 6.

[281] But see B. viii. c. 51, and B. xxviii. c. 29.

[282] Plutarch says that it was the “caput,” or “head” of the liver that was wanting. M. Marcellus was slain while reconnoitring the Carthaginian camp by night.

[283] Caligula.

[284] 1st of January.

[285] By his niece and wife, Agrippina, the mother of Nero.

[286] See B. iv. c. 11. Tharne does not seem to be known. Of course, this story about the hares is fabulous.

[287] There must be some corrupt reading here; for, as Sillig remarks, who ever heard of a siege which lasted a hundred years?

[288] Or diaphragm; from “præ,” “before,” and “cor,” the “heart.”

[289] With Sardonic laughter, as Hardouin remarks.

[290] Or small guts.

[291] Or front intestines.

[292] The coot, probably.

[293] He alludes to the papillæ of the mucous gland.

[294] The colic.

[295] “Lupus cervarius.” Probably the lynx.

[296] The belly of the elephant presents five transversal folds.

[297] See B. xxviii. c. 77. This substance, known by the name of egagropile, consists of the hair which the animal has swallowed when licking itself. It assumes a round form, in consequence of the action of the intestines.

[298] Perhaps the godwit, or stone-plover, the Scolopax ægocephala of Linnæus.

[299] See also B. xxvi. c. 83.

[300] This may be done with safety in dogs or other animals.

[301] See B. v. c. 32.

[302] See p. 68.

[303] This is not the case. Birds have kidneys, but of an irregular form.

[304] This is a mistake. It _does_ cicatrize.

[305] Or bag.

[306] “The (principal) place.”

[307] Ajasson renders this passage: “The effects are fatal when this organ, becoming displaced, absorbs the air.” The text is probably corrupt.

[308] Varro, De Re Rust. B. ii. c. 4, says that he saw an instance of this in Arcadia.

[309] This is not the case.

[310] There is no similarity whatever between the spinal marrow and that which is found in the other bones.

[311] The hare and the partridge, for instance.

[312] There is considerable doubt what the ancients exactly meant by the “nervi;” and whether, in fact, they had any definite idea of “nerves,” in our acceptation of the word. Pliny here expresses the opinions entertained by Aristotle. “Tendons,” or “sinews,” would almost appear to be the proper translation of the word.

[313] See B. xxviii. c. 41.

[314] In allusion, probably, to hæmorrhoids, or piles.

[315] See B. vii. c. 12.

[316] Bears, dormice, serpents, &c.

[317] The polypus and the chameleon.

[318] See B. viii. cc. 51, 52.

[319] Walking-sticks are still made of it.

[320] As already mentioned, this is not the fact.

[321] See B. ix. c. 43.

[322] It is not improbable that, under this name, some kind of large vampire bat was meant; but, as Pliny says, it is impossible to arrive at any certain knowledge on the subject. The best account given of the strix is that in Ovid’s Fasti, B. vi. The name was given opprobriously to supposed witches, the “foul and midnight hags” of Shakspeare.

[323] This assertion is borrowed from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vii. c. 14.

[324] Or biestings.

[325] See B. xxviii. c. 12. Poppæa Sabina, first the mistress, then the wife, of the Emperor Nero.

[326] “Spuma.” He calls it so, because it floats on the surface. See B. xxviii. c. 35. The “acor,” or acrid liquid, which he speaks of, is, no doubt, butter-milk.

[327] Or whey.

[328] Nismes, in France. Hardouin speaks of goats’-milk cheeses made in its neighbourhood, and known as _fromages de Baux_.

[329] Probably the modern Losere and Gevaudan. See B. iv. c. 19.

[330] For the Docleatæ, see B. iii. c. 26.

[331] For the Centrones, see B. iii. c. 24. He perhaps refers to the modern _fromage de Passi_.

[332] The modern Marquisat de Cive, which still produces excellent cheese.

[333] See B. xiv. c. 8.

[334] And more especially at Salona in Bithynia.

[335] “Etiam ubi non videtur major.” This is probably corrupt.

[336] He wrote a poem, in which the principal Latin dramatists are enumerated, in the order of merit. A. Gellius, B. xv. c. 24, has preserved a portion of it.

[337] Germanicus.

[338] This seems to be the meaning of “imbricatus.”

[339] Though wounds in the knee are highly dangerous, death does not _necessarily_ ensue.

[340] Of another person, who had thus forfeited his bail. It was the custom to touch the ear of the attesting witness.

[341] The goddess of retribution. See B. xxviii. c. 5, where he makes further mention of her statue in the Capitol.

[342] The frog is, in some measure, an exception.

[343] Or “flat-foot,” “splay-foot,” “large-foot,” and “club-footed.”

[344] Words meaning “knock-kneed,” “bow-legged,” and “wry-legged.”

[345] The rhinoceros.

[346] Or wryneck.

[347] See B. x. c. 5.

[348] Supposed to be the Hirundo apus of Linnæus. Of the “oce” nothing is known; indeed, the reading is very doubtful.

[349] B. ix. c. 44.

[350] He evidently means insects of the centipede class. See B. xxix. c. 39.

[351] B. x. c. 83.

[352] Such as circumcision among the Jews.

[353] See B. xxxv. c. 46.

[354] Probably the buzzard; from this story also called the “triorchis.”

[355] Hist. Anim. B. iv. c. 9.

[356] See B. ix. c. 52.

[357] “Aper.”

[358] B. ix. c. 7.

[359] See c. 65 of the present Book.

[360] Not the dumb son mentioned by Herodotus, who saved his father’s life at the taking of Sardes.

[361] Like the whispering gallery of St. Paul’s Cathedral.

[362] “Non aliter quam oculis.” On this, few will be found to agree with Pliny.

[363] And not to “conceal” them, according to the opinion of some modern politicians.

[364] But they are borrowed from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. i. c. 9.

[365] See B. xii. c. 7.

[366] B. vii. c. 2.

[367] See B. xxix. c. 23.

[368] See c. 21 of the present Book.

[369] B. ix. c. 33.

[370] Or Fish-eaters.

[371] Or bulimia.

[372] See end of B. ii.

[373] See end of B. ii.

[374] C. Tremellius Scrofa, a friend of M. Varro, and one of the early writers on agriculture.

[375] See end of B. x.

[376] See end of B. vii.

[377] See end of B. ix.

[378] See end of B. vii.

[379] See end of B. viii.

[380] See end of B. ii.

[381] See end of B. ii.

[382] See end of B. x.

[383] See end of B. iii.

[384] Nothing seems to be known of this writer.

[385] See end of B. vii.

[386] See end of B. vii.

[387] See end of B. ii.

[388] See end of B. ii.

[389] See end of B. vi.

[390] See end of B. x.

[391] C. Oppius, one of the most intimate friends of Julius Cæsar, for whom, with Balbus, he acted in Spain. Of his numerous biographical and historical works, none have survived to our time.

[392] See end of B. ii.

[393] See end of B. ii.

[394] Probably Neoptolemus of Paros, who wrote a book of Epigrams, a treatise on Languages, and other works.

[395] Of Soli, an observer of the habits of bees. His portrait is said still to exist, on a cornelian, attentively observing a swarm of bees. He wrote upon bees, honey, and the art of mixing wines.

[396] Probably a different writer from the one mentioned at the end of B. viii.; nothing seems to be known of him.

[397] See end of B. viii.

[398] See end of B. viii.

[399] See end of B. x.

[400] A philosopher of Agrigentum, and disciple of Pythagoras. He is said to have perished in the crater of Mount Etna. He wrote numerous works, of which only some fragments exist.

[401] See end of B. iv.

[402] Apparently the same as the King Philometor, mentioned below. See end of B. viii.

[403] Of this writer nothing seems to be known.

[404] See end of B. vii.

[405] Of Chalcedon, one of the most famous physicians of antiquity. He was physician to Phalaris, the tyrant of Sicily, and is said to have dissected criminals alive. He was the first that paid particular attention to the nervous system.

[406] A native of Iulis, in Cos, or else Ceos, grandson of Aristotle, and disciple of Theophrastus. He acquired great reputation as a physician, at the court of Seleucus Nicator, king of Syria, where he discovered the supposed disease of Prince Antiochus, who had fallen in love with his step-mother, Stratonice. Of his numerous medical works, only the titles and a few fragments exist.

[407] See end of B. vii.

[408] A physician of Laodicæa, founder of the school of the Methodici. He was a pupil of Asclepiades, and died about B.C. 43. Of his medical works only a few fragments survive.

[409] See end of B. ii.

[410] See end of B. viii.

[411] See end of B. viii.

[412] See end of B. viii.

[413] See end of B. iii.

[414] See end of B. vii.

[415] See King Attalus, above.

[416] “Animâ.” The notion that plants are possessed of a soul or spirit, is derived from the Greek philosophers, who attributed to them intellect also, and sense.

[417] Vitruvius mentions the people of Gaul, Hispania, Lusitania, and Aquitania, as living in his day in dwellings covered with oak shingles, or with straw.

[418] See B. vi. c. 20, and B. xi. c. 26.

[419] Desfontaines remarks, that we may still trace vestiges of this custom in the fine trees that grow near church porches, and in church-yards. Of course, his remark will apply to France more particularly.

[420] It is doubtful whether the æsculus of the Romans was the same as the bay-oak, the holm-oak, or the beech. See B. xvi. c. 4.

[421] See further on this subject in Phædrus’s Fables, B. iii. f. 17.

[422] Reckoning the promulsis, antecæna, or gustatio, not as a course, but only a prelude, the bellaria, or dessert, at the Roman banquets, formed the second course, or mensa. It consisted of fruits uncooked, sweetmeats, and pastry.

[423] He alludes to the pursuit of the elephant, for the purpose of obtaining ivory, which was extensively used in his day, in making the statues of the divinities.

[424] A sarcastic antithesis. And yet Dalechamps would read “hominum” instead of “numinum”!

[425] Præmissa. The exact meaning of this word does not appear. Though all the MSS. agree in it, it is probably a corrupt reading. Plutarch, in his Life of Camillus, says that the wine of Italy was first introduced in Gaul by Aruns, the Etruscan.

[426] The Platanus orientalis of Linnæus. It received its name from the Greek πλάτος, “breadth,” by reason of its wide-spreading branches.

[427] For further mention of this island, now Tremiti, see B. iii. c. 30.

[428] He alludes, probably, to the “vectigal solarium,” a sort of ground-rent which the tributary nations paid to the Roman treasury. Virgil and Homer speak of the shade of the plane-tree, as a pleasant resort for festive parties.

[429] It is not improbable that Pliny, in copying from Theophrastus, has here committed an error. That author, B. ix. c. 7, says: ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῷ Ἀδρίᾳ πλάτανον οὔ φασιν εἶναι, πλὴν περὶ τὸ Διομήδους ἱερόν· σπανίαν δὲ καὶ ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ πάσῃ. “They say that in Adria there are no plane-trees, except about the temple of Diomedes: and that they are extremely rare in Italy.” Pliny, probably, when his secretary was reading to him, mistook the word σπανίαν, “rare,” for Ἱσπανίᾳ “in Spain.”

[430] It has been remarked that, in reality, this process would only tend to impede its growth. Macrobius tells us, that Hortensius was guilty of this singular folly.

[431] Situate near the sea-shore. It was here that Plato taught. See B. xxxi. c. 3.

[432] Caligula.

[433] It is supposed that he here alludes sarcastically to the extreme corpulence of Caligula.

[434] M. Fée, the learned editor of the botanical books in Ajasson’s translation, remarks, that this cannot have been the Platanus of the botanists, and that there is no tree of Europe, which does not lose its leaves, that at all resembles it.

[435] The tendency, namely, to lose their leaves.

[436] Grandson of Asinius Pollio. Tacitus tells us, that he was one of those whom Piso requested to undertake his defence, when charged with having poisoned Germanicus; but he declined the office.

[437] Or “ground plane-trees.” It is by no means uncommon to see dwarf varieties of the larger trees, which are thus reduced to the dimensions of mere shrubs.

[438] C. Matius Calvena, the friend of Julius and Augustus Cæsar, as also of Cicero. He is supposed to have translated the Iliad into Latin verse, and to have written a work on cookery.

[439] See B. xxiii. c. 55. Fée remarks, that the ancients confounded the citron with the orange-tree.

[440] Fée remarks, that this is not the case. The arbute is described in B. xv. c. 28.

[441] In the time of Plutarch, it had begun to be somewhat more used. It makes one of the very finest preserves.

[442] At the present day, it is cultivated all over India, in China, South America, and the southern parts of Europe. Fée says, that they grow even in the open air in the gardens of Malmaison.

[443] B. xi. c. 115. Virgil says the same, Georg. B. ii. ll. 134, 135. Theophrastus seems to say, that it was the outer rind that was so used.

[444] See B. vi. c. 20.

[445] See B. vii. c. 2. The tree to which he alludes is unknown.

[446] Georg. B. ii. ll. 116, 117.

[447] B. iii. c. 97. There is little doubt that, under the general name of “ebony,” the wood of many kinds of trees was, and is still, imported into the western world, so that both Herodotus and Virgil may have been correct in representing ebony as the product of both India and Æthiopia.

[448] Herodotus says two hundred.

[449] In Italy, whither he had retired from the hostile attacks of his fellow-citizens. It is supposed by Le Vayer and others, that Pliny is wrong in his assertion, that Herodotus wrote to this effect while at Thurii; though Dr. Schmitz is inclined to be of opinion that he is right in his statement.

[450] B. iii. c. 115.

[451] B. vi. c. 35.

[452] Fée remarks, that the words of Pliny do not afford us any means of judging precisely what tree it was that he understood by the name of ebony. He borrows his account mainly from Theophrastus.

[453] It is not known to what tree he alludes.

[454] This account of the Ficus Indica, or religiosa, known to us as the banian-tree, is borrowed entirely from Theophrastus. Fée remarks, however, that he is wrong in some of his statements, for that the leaves are not crescent-shaped, but oblong and pointed, and that the fruit has not a pleasant flavour, and is only eaten by the birds.

[455] See B. vi. c. 23.

[456] Sprengel and Bauhin are of opinion that the banana is the tree meant here; Dodonæus thinks that it is the pomegranate. Thevet says that the pala is the paquovera of India, the fruit of which is called pacona. The account is borrowed from Theophrastus.

[457] The Gymnosophists, or Brahmins.

[458] Called Syndraci in B. vi. c. 25.

[459] It is not improbable that the Tamarindus Indica of Linnæus is the tree here alluded to: though M. Fée combats that opinion.

[460] See Theophrastus, B. iv. c. 5.

[461] Dalechamps and Desfontaines are of opinion, that the pistachio, or Pistacia terebinthus of Linnæus, is here alluded to; but Fée considers that there are no indications to lead to such a conclusion.

[462] It is not improbable that he may here allude to the cotton-tree, of which further mention is made in c. xxi. of the present Book.

[463] Fée is of opinion that Cynorrhodon here means, not the dog-rose, but the gall which is formed on the tree by the sting of the Cynips bedeguar.

[464] Fée expresses himself at a loss to conjecture what trees are here meant by Pliny.

[465] Fée remarks, that there are many inaccuracies in the account here given by Pliny of the pepper-tree, and that it does not bear any resemblance to the juniper-tree. The grains, he says, grow in clusters, and not in a husk or pod; and he remarks, that the long pepper and the black pepper, of which the white is only a variety divested of the outer coat, are distinct species. He also observes, that the real long pepper, the Piper longum of Linnæus, was not known to the ancients.

[466] Fée remarks, that this is not a correct description of ginger, the Amomum zingiber of Linnæus. Dioscorides was one of those who thought that ginger was the root of the pepper-tree.

[467] It is very doubtful what tree is here alluded to by Pliny, though certain that it is not one of the pepper-trees. Sprengel takes it to be the Daphne Thymelæa.

[468] It has been suggested that under this name the clove is meant, though Fée and Desfontaines express a contrary opinion. Sprengel thinks that it is the Vitex trifolia of Linnæus, and Bauhin suggests the cubeb, the Piper cubeba of Linnæus. Fée thinks it may have possibly been the Myrtus caryophyllata of Ceylon, the fruit of which corresponds to the description here given by Pliny.

[469] See c. 52 of the present Book.

[470] Or “Lycium.” It is impossible to say with exactness what the medical liquid called “Lycion” was. Catechu, an extract from the tan of the acacia, has been suggested; though the fruit of that tree does not answer the present description.

[471] Fée suggests that this may possibly be the Lycium Europæum of Linnæus, a shrub not uncommonly found in the south of Europe.

[472] The Rhamnus Lycioides of Linnæus, known to us as buckthorn. The berries of many varieties of the Rhamnus are violent purgatives.

[473] What he means under this head is not known. Fée speaks of a tree which the Brahmins call macre, and which the Portuguese called arvore de las camaras, arvore sancto, arvore de sancto Thome, but of which they have given no further particulars. Acosta, Clusius, and Bauhin have also professed to give accounts of it, but they do not lead to its identification. De Jussieu thinks that either the Soulamea, the Rex amaroris of Rumphius, or else the Polycardia of Commerson is meant. It seems by no means impossible that mace, the covering of the nutmeg, is the substance alluded to, an opinion that is supported by Gerard and Desfontaines.

[474] “Saccharon.” Fée suggests that Pliny alludes to a peculiar kind of crystallized sugar, that is found in the bamboo cane, though, at the same time, he thinks it not improbable that he may have heard of the genuine sugar-cane; as Strabo, B. xv., speaks of a honey found in India, prepared without the aid of bees, and Lucan has the line—

“Quique bibunt tenerâ dulces ab arundine succos,”

evidently referring to a sugar in the form of a syrup, and not of crystal, like that of the Bambos arundinacea. It is by no means improbable, that Pliny, or rather Dioscorides, from whom he copies, confuses the two kinds of sugar; as it is well known that the Saccharum officinarum, or sugar-cane, has been cultivated from a very early period in Arabia Felix.

[475] It is unknown what plant is here alluded to by Pliny, but Sprengel suggests that it is the Acacia latronum.

[476] From the description, this would appear to be a sort of poisonous horse-radish.

[477] There is a tree in India, as we are informed by Fée, which is known as the Excæcaria Agallochum, the juice of which is remarkably acrid. Sailors, on striking it with a hatchet, and causing the juice to spirt into their eyes, have been in danger of losing their sight. It is possible that this may be the tree here alluded to by Pliny.

[478] He borrows the account of this marvellous shrub from Theophrastus. No such plant is likely to have ever existed; though small, and even large, snakes may occasionally take refuge among shrubs and hollow trees.

[479] There is little doubt that the Hedysarum Alhagi of Linnæus is here meant, from which a kind of honey or manna flows, known as “Eastern” manna, or tereniabin. It is not so high as the fig-tree, and is found in Khorasan, Syria, Mesopotamia, and elsewhere. The manna distils principally in the morning.

[480] Fée remarks, that it is singular that a resinous gum, such as bdellium, should have been used in commerce for now two thousand years, and yet its origin remain unknown. Kæmpfer and Rumphus are of opinion, that the tree which produces it is the one known to naturalists as the Borassus flabelliformis of Linnæus, or the Lontarus of others. It is imported into Europe from Arabia and India, and is often found mixed with gum Arabic.

[481] Περατικὸν; from περατὰ γῆς, “the remotest parts of the earth,” from which it was brought.

[482] The modern name of this tree is unknown.

[483] B. vi. c. 28.

[484] It is supposed that the Rhizophora Mangle of Linnæus is the tree that is here described. It grows on all the coasts of India, from Siam to the entrance of the Persian Gulf. It takes root on spots which have been inundated by the sea, and its boughs bend downwards, and taking root in the earth, advance gradually towards the sea. The leaf and fruit have the characteristics of those of the arbute and almond as here mentioned.

[485] B. vi. c. 32.

[486] Fée suggests that some kind of mangrove is probably alluded to, of the kind known as avicennia, or bruguiera.

[487] See B. vi. c. 20.

[488] “Cotonei.” To this resemblance of its fruit to the quince, the cotton-tree, which is here alluded to, not improbably owes its modern name.

[489] The cotton-tree, or Gossypium arboreum of Linnæus. It is worthy of remark, that Pliny copies here almost literally from Theophrastus. According to Philostratus, the byssus, or fine tissues worn by the Egyptian priests, were made of cotton.

[490] The Malthiola incana.

[491] Fée suggests that this may be a Magnolia; but, as he remarks, most plants open and shut at certain hours; consequently, this cannot be regarded as any peculiar characteristic, sufficient to lead with certainty to its identification.

[492] Theophrastus, from whom our author is copying, says that this is the case only with the fig-tree there.

[493] According to most commentators, this is the Costus Arabicus of Linnæus. Dioscorides mentions three varieties of costus: the Arabian, which is of the best quality, and is white and odoriferous; the Indian, which is black and smooth; and the Syrian, which is of the colour of wax, dusky, and strong smelling. Fée, however, doubts whether the modern costus is the same thing as that of the ancients; for, as he says, although it has a sweet odour, it does not deserve the appellation of a “precious aromatic,” which we find constantly given to it by the ancients.

[494] See B. vi. c. 23.

[495] It is probable that the nard of the ancients, from which they extracted the famous nard-oil, was not the same plant which we know as the Indian nard, or Andropogon nardus of Linnæus. Indeed, it has been pretty conclusively established by Sir William Jones, in his “Asiatic Researches,” that the Valeriana Jatamansi is the plant from which they obtained the oil. Among the Hindoos, it is known as djatâmansi, and by the Arabs under the name of sombul, or “spike,” from the fact of the base being surrounded with ears or spikes, whence, probably, the Roman appellation. This species of valerian grows in the more distant and mountainous parts of India, Bootan and Nepaul, for instance.

[496] From the Greek, ὄζαινα, “a putrid sore.” Fée suggests that this may have been the Nardus hadrosphærum of the moderns.

[497] Fée supposes that this is not lavender, as some have thought, but the Allium victorialis of modern naturalists, which is still mixed with the nard from the Andropogon. He doubts the possibility of its having been adulterated with substances of such a different nature as those mentioned here by Pliny.

[498] Fée is of opinion, that the Greek writers, from whom Pliny copied this passage, intended to speak of the ears of nard, or spikenard.

[499] According to Dioscorides, this appellation only means such nard as is cultivated in certain mountains of India which look toward Syria, and which, according to that author, was the best nard of all. Dalechamps and Hardouin, however, ridicule this explanation of the term.

[500] Generally supposed to be the Valeriana Celtica of modern naturalists. See B. xxi. c. 79.

[501] Probably the Valeriana Italica of modern naturalists.

[502] See B. xix. c. 48.

[503] Known in this country as fox-glove, our Lady’s gloves, sage of Jerusalem, or clown’s spikenard. See B. xxi. c. 16.

[504] Not always, but very seldom, Brotier says. Clusius has established, from observation, that this plant is only a variety of the Valeriana Celtica.

[505] Fée remarks, that the name “baccara,” in Greek, properly belonged to this plant, but that it was transferred by the Romans to the field nard, with which the Asarum had become confounded. It is the same as the Asarum Europæum of modern naturalists; but it does not, as Pliny asserts, flower twice in the year.

[506] It is by no means settled among naturalists, what plant the Amomum of the ancients was; indeed, there has been the greatest divergence of opinion. Tragus takes it to be a kind of bindweed: Matthioli, the Piper Æthiopicum of Linnæus: Cordus and Scaliger, the rose of Jericho, the Anastatica hierocuntica of Linnæus. Gesner thinks it to have been the garden pepper, the Solanum bacciferum of Tournefort: Cæsalpinus the cubeb, the Piper cubeba of Linnæus: Plukenet and Sprengel the Cissus vitiginea, while Fée and Paulet look upon it as not improbably identical with the Amomum racemosum of Linnæus. The name is probably derived from the Arabic hahmâma, the Arabians having first introduced it to the notice of the Greeks.

[507] Supposed to have been only the Amomum, in an unripe state, as Pliny himself suggests.

[508] Still known in pharmacy as “cardamum.” It is not, however, as Pliny says, found in Arabia, but in India; from which it probably reached the Greeks and Romans by way of the Red Sea. There are three kinds known in modern commerce, the large, the middle size, and the small. M. Bonastre, “Journal de Pharmacie,” May, 1828, is of opinion, that the word cardamomum signifies “amomum in pods,” the Egyptian kardh meaning “pod,” or “husk.” It is, however, more generally supposed, that the Greek word, καρδία, “heart,” enters into its composition.

[509] “Verus” seems a preferable reading here to “vero,” which has been adopted by Sillig.

[510] See c. 42 of the present Book.