THE NATURE OF THE TERRESTRIAL ANIMALS.
CHAP. 1. (1.)—ELEPHANTS; THEIR CAPACITY.
Let us now pass on to the other animals, and first of all to the land
animals. The elephant is the largest of them all, and in intelligence
approaches the nearest to man. It understands the language of its
country, it obeys commands, and it remembers all the duties which it
has been taught. It is sensible alike of the pleasures of love and
glory, and, to a degree that is rare among men even, possesses notions
of honesty, prudence, and equity; it has a religious respect also for
the stars, and a veneration for the sun and the moon.[1570] It is
said by some authors, that, at the first appearance of the new moon,
herds of these animals come down from the forests of Mauritania to a
river, the name of which is Amilo;[1571] and that they there purify
themselves in solemn form by sprinkling their bodies with water; after
which, having thus saluted the heavenly body, they return to the woods,
carrying before them[1572] the young ones which are fatigued. They are
supposed to have a notion, too, of the differences of religion;[1573]
and when about to cross the sea, they cannot be prevailed upon to go
on board the ship, until their keeper has promised upon oath that they
shall return home again. They have been seen, too, when worn out by
disease, (for even these vast masses are liable to disease,) lying on
their back, and throwing the grass up into the air, as if deputing the
earth to intercede for them with its prayers.[1574] As a proof of their
extreme docility, they pay homage to the king, fall upon their knees,
and offer him the crown. Those of smaller growth, which the Indians
call bastards,[1575] are employed by them in ploughing.[1576]
CHAP. 2. (2.)—WHEN ELEPHANTS WERE FIRST PUT INTO HARNESS.
The first harnessed elephants that were seen at Rome, were in the
triumph of Pompeius Magnus over Africa, when they drew his chariot;
a thing that is said to have been done long before, at the triumph
of Father Liber on the conquest of India. Procilius[1577] says, that
those which were used at the triumph of Pompeius, were unable to go in
harness through the gate of the city. In the exhibition of gladiators
which was given by Germanicus,[1578] the elephants performed a sort of
dance with their uncouth and irregular movements. It was a common thing
to see them throw arrows with such strength, that the wind was unable
to turn them from their course, to imitate among themselves the combats
of the gladiators, and to frolic through the steps of the Pyrrhic
dance.[1579] After this, too, they walked upon the tight-rope,[1580]
and four of them would carry a litter in which lay a fifth, which
represented a woman lying-in. They afterwards took their places at
table, reclining upon couches which were filled with people; and so
nicely did they manage their steps, that they did not so much as touch
any of those who were drinking there.
CHAP. 3. (3.)—THE DOCILITY OF THE ELEPHANT.
It is a well-known fact,[1581] that one of these animals, who was
slower than usual in learning what was taught him, and had been
frequently chastised with blows, was found conning over his lesson in
the night-time.[1582] It is a most surprising thing also, that the
elephant is able not only to walk up the tight-rope backwards; but
to come down it as well, with the head foremost.[1583] Mutianus, who
was three times consul, informs us that one of these animals had been
taught to trace the Greek letters, and that he used to write in that
language the following words: “I have myself written these words, and
have dedicated the Celtic spoils.”[1584] Mutianus states also, that he
himself was witness to the fact, that when some elephants were being
landed at Puteoli[1585] and were compelled to leave the ship, being
terrified at the length of the platform, which extended from the vessel
to the shore, they walked backwards, in order to deceive themselves by
forming a false estimate of the distance.
CHAP. 4.—WONDERFUL THINGS WHICH HAVE BEEN DONE BY THE ELEPHANT.
These animals are well aware that the only spoil that we are anxious
to procure of them is the part which forms their weapon of defence, by
Juba, called their horns, but by Herodotus, a much older writer, as
well as by general usage and more appropriately, their teeth.[1586]
Hence it is that, when their tusks have fallen off, either by accident
or from old age, they bury them in the earth.[1587] These tusks form
the only real ivory, and, even in these, the part which is covered by
the flesh is merely common bone, and of no value whatever; though,
indeed, of late, in consequence of the insufficient supply of ivory,
they have begun to cut the bones as well into thin plates. Large
teeth, in fact, are now rarely found, except in India, the demands
of luxury[1588] having exhausted all those in our part of the world.
The youthfulness of the animal is ascertained by the whiteness of the
teeth.[1589] These animals take the greatest care of their teeth;
they pay especial attention to the point of one of them, that it may
not be found blunt when wanted for combat; the other they employ for
various purposes, such as digging up roots and pushing forward heavy
weights. When they are surrounded by the hunters, they place those in
front which have the smallest teeth, that the enemy may think that the
spoil is not worth the combat; and afterwards, when they are weary of
resistance, they break off their teeth, by dashing them against a
tree, and in this manner pay their ransom.[1590]
CHAP. 5. (4.)—THE INSTINCT OF WILD ANIMALS IN PERCEIVING DANGER.
It is a wonderful thing, that most animals are aware why it is that
they are sought after, and what it is, that, under all circumstances,
they have to guard against. When an elephant happens to meet a man in
the desert, who is merely wandering about, the animal, it is said,
shows himself both merciful and kind, and even points out the way.
But the very same animal, if he meets with the traces of a man,[1591]
before he meets the man himself, trembles in every limb, for fear of an
ambush, stops short and scents the wind, looks around him, and snorts
aloud with rage; and then, without trampling upon the object, digs it
up,[1592] and passes it to the next one, who again passes it to the
one that follows, and so on from one to the other, till it comes to
the very last. The herd then faces about, returns, and ranges itself
in order of battle; so strongly does the odour, in all cases, attach
itself to the human footstep, even though, as is most frequently the
case, the foot itself is not naked. In the same way, too, the tigress,
which is the dread of the other wild beasts, and which sees, without
alarm, the traces even of the elephant itself, is said at once, upon
seeing the footsteps of man, to carry off her whelps. How has the
animal acquired this knowledge? And where has it seen him before, of
whom it stands in such dread? Doubt there can be none, that forests
such as it haunts are but little frequented by man! It is not to be
wondered at, if they are astonished at the print of a footstep before
unknown; but how should they know that there is anything that they
ought to dread? And, what is still more, why should they dread even
the very sight of man, seeing that they are so far superior to him in
strength, size, and swiftness? No doubt, such is the law of Nature,
such is the influence of her power—the most savage and the very largest
of wild beasts have never seen that which they have reason to fear, and
yet instantly have an instinctive feeling of dread, when the moment has
come for them to fear.[1593]
(5.) Elephants always move in herds.[1594] The oldest takes the lead,
and the next in age brings up the rear. When they are crossing a river,
they first send over the smallest, for fear lest the weight of the
larger ones may increase the depth of the channel, by working away the
bed of the river. We learn from Antipater, that King Antiochus had two
elephants, which he employed in his wars, and to which he had given
the names of celebrated men; and that they were aware too of this mark
of distinction.[1595] Cato, in his Annals, while he has passed over in
silence the names of the generals, has given that of an elephant called
Surus, which fought with the greatest valour in the Carthaginian army,
and had lost one of its tusks. When Antiochus was sounding the ford of
a river, an elephant named Ajax, which on other occasions had always
led the van, refused to enter the stream; upon which proclamation was
made, that the first rank should belong to the one which should take
the lead in passing over. One called Patroclus hazarded the attempt,
and as a reward, the king presented it with some silver pendants,[1596]
a kind of ornament with which these animals are particularly delighted,
and assigned it all the other marks of command. Upon this, the
elephant that had been degraded refused to take its food, and so
preferred death to ignominy. Indeed their sense of shame is wonderful,
and when one of them has been conquered, it flies at the voice of the
conqueror, and presents him with earth and vervain.[1597]
These animals are sensible to feelings of modesty; they never couple
but in secret:[1598] the male after it has attained its fifth year, the
female after the age of ten.[1599] It is said, that their intercourse
takes place only every second year, and for five days only, and no
more; on the sixth day they plunge into a river, before doing which
they will not rejoin the herd. Adulterous intercourse is unknown to
them, and they have none of those deadly combats for the possession
of the female, which take place among the other animals. Nor is this
because they are uninfluenced by the passion of love. One in Egypt,
we are told, fell in love with a woman, who was a seller of garlands;
and let no one suppose that he made a vulgar choice, for she was the
especial object of the love of Aristophanes, who held the very highest
rank as a grammarian. Another became attached to the youth Menander,
a native of Syracuse, in the army of Ptolemy; whenever it did not see
him, it would manifest the regret which it experienced, by refusing its
food. Juba gives an account also of a female who dealt in perfumes, to
whom one of these creatures formed an attachment. All these animals
manifested their attachment by their signs of joy at the sight of
the person, by their awkward caresses, and by keeping for them and
throwing into their bosom the pieces of money which the public had
given them.[1600] Nor, indeed, ought we to be surprised, that an
animal which possesses memory should be sensible of affection: for
the same author relates, that an elephant recognized, after the lapse
of many years, an old man who had been its keeper in his youth. They
would seem also to have an instinctive feeling of justice. King Bocchus
once fastened thirty elephants to the stake, with the determination of
wreaking his vengeance on them, by means of thirty others; but though
men kept sallying forth among them to goad them on, he could not, with
all his endeavours, force them to become the ministers of the cruelty
of others.
CHAP. 6. (6.)—WHEN ELEPHANTS WERE FIRST SEEN IN ITALY.
Elephants were seen in Italy, for the first time, in the war with King
Pyrrhus,[1601] in the year of the City 472; they were called “Lucanian
oxen,” because they were first seen in Lucania.[1602] Seven years
after this period, they appeared at Rome in a triumph.[1603] In the
year 502 a great number of them were brought to Rome, which had been
taken by the pontiff Metellus, in his victory gained in Sicily over
the Carthaginians;[1604] they were one hundred and forty-two[1605] in
number, or, as some say, one hundred and forty, and were conveyed to
our shores upon rafts, which were constructed on rows of hogsheads
joined together. Verrius informs us, that they fought in the Circus,
and that they were slain with javelins, for want of some better method
of disposing of them; as the people neither liked to keep them nor yet
to give them to the kings.[1606] L. Piso tells us only that they were
brought into the Circus; and for the purpose of increasing the feeling
of contempt towards them, they were driven all round the area of that
place by workmen, who had nothing but spears blunted at the point. The
authors who are of opinion that they were not killed, do not, however,
inform us how they were afterwards disposed of.
CHAP. 7. (7.)—THE COMBATS OF ELEPHANTS.
There is a famous combat mentioned of a Roman with an elephant, when
Hannibal compelled our prisoners to fight against each other. The one
who had survived all the others he placed before an elephant, and
promised him his life if he should slay it; upon which the man advanced
alone into the arena, and, to the great regret of the Carthaginians,
succeeded in doing so.[1607] Hannibal, however, thinking that the news
of this victory might cause a feeling of contempt for these animals,
sent some horsemen to kill the man on his way home. In our battles
with Pyrrhus it was found, on making trial, that it was extremely easy
to cut off the trunks of these animals.[1608] Fenestella informs us,
that they fought at Rome in the Circus for the first time during the
curule ædileship of Claudius Pulcher, in the consulship of M. Antonius
and A. Postumius, in the year of the City 655; and that twenty years
afterwards, during the curule ædileship of the Luculli, they were set
to fight against bulls. In the second consulship[1609] of Pompeius, at
the dedication of the temple of Venus Victrix,[1610] twenty elephants,
or, as some say, seventeen, fought in the Circus against a number
of Gætulians, who attacked them with javelins. One of these animals
fought in a most astonishing manner; being pierced through the feet,
it dragged itself on its knees towards the troop, and seizing their
bucklers, tossed them aloft into the air: and as they came to the
ground they greatly amused the spectators, for they whirled round and
round in the air, just as if they had been thrown up with a certain
degree of skill,[1611] and not by the frantic fury of a wild beast.
Another very wonderful circumstance happened; an elephant was killed
by a single blow. The weapon pierced the animal below the eye, and
entered the vital part of the head. The elephants attempted, too, by
their united efforts, to break down the enclosure, not without great
confusion among the people who surrounded the iron gratings.[1612] It
was in consequence of this circumstance, that Cæsar, the Dictator, when
he was afterwards about to exhibit a similar spectacle, had the arena
surrounded with trenches[1613] of water, which were lately filled up
by the Emperor Nero,[1614] when he added the seats for the equestrian
order.[1615] When, however, the elephants in the exhibition given by
Pompeius had lost all hopes of escaping, they implored the compassion
of the multitude by attitudes which surpass all description, and
with a kind of lamentation bewailed their unhappy fate. So greatly
were the people affected by the scene, that, forgetting the general
altogether, and the munificence which had been at such pains to do them
honour, the whole assembly rose up in tears, and showered curses on
Pompeius, of which he soon afterwards became the victim. They fought
also in the third consulship of the Dictator Cæsar, twenty of them
against five hundred foot soldiers.[1616] On another occasion twenty
elephants, carrying towers,[1617] and each defended by sixty men, were
opposed to the same number of foot soldiers as before, and an equal
number of horsemen. Afterwards, under the Emperors Claudius and Nero,
the last exploit[1618] that the gladiators performed was fighting
single-handed[1619] with elephants.
The elephant is said to display such a merciful disposition towards
animals that are weaker than itself, that, when it finds itself in a
flock of sheep, it will remove with its trunk[1620] those that are
in the way, lest it should unintentionally trample upon them.[1621]
They will never do any mischief except when provoked, and they are of
a disposition so sociable, that they always move about in herds, no
animal being less fond of a solitary life. When surrounded by a troop
of horsemen, they place in the centre of the herd those that are weak,
weary, or wounded, and then take the front rank each in its turn, just
as though they acted under command and in accordance with discipline.
When taken captive, they are very speedily tamed, by being fed on the
juices of barley.[1622]
CHAP. 8. (8.)—THE WAY IN WHICH ELEPHANTS ARE CAUGHT.
In India[1623] they are caught by the keeper guiding one of the tame
elephants towards a wild one which he has found alone or has separated
from the herd; upon which he beats it, and when it is fatigued mounts
and manages it just the same way as the other. In Africa[1624] they
take them in pit-falls; but as soon as an elephant gets into one, the
others immediately collect boughs of trees and pile up heaps of earth,
so as to form a mound, and then endeavour with all their might to drag
it out. It was formerly the practice to tame them by driving the herds
with horsemen into a narrow defile, artificially made in such a way
as to deceive them by its length; and when thus enclosed by means of
steep banks and trenches, they were rendered tame by the effects of
hunger; as a proof of which, they would quietly take a branch that was
extended to them by one of the men. At the present day, when we take
them for the sake of their tusks, we throw darts at their feet, which
are in general the most tender part of their body. The Troglodytæ, who
inhabit the confines of Æthiopia, and who live entirely on the flesh
of elephants procured by the chase, climb the trees which lie near the
paths through which these animals usually pass. Here they keep a watch,
and look out for the one which comes last in the train; leaping down
upon its haunches, they seize its tail with the left hand, and fix
their feet firmly upon the left thigh. Hanging down in this manner,
the man, with his right hand, hamstrings the animal on one side, with
a very sharp hatchet. The elephant’s pace being retarded by the wound,
he cuts the tendons of the other ham, and then makes his escape; all of
which is done with the very greatest celerity. Others, again, employ
a much safer, though less certain method; they fix in the ground, at
considerable intervals, very large bows upon the stretch; these are
kept steady by young men remarkable for their strength, while others,
exerting themselves with equal efforts, bend them, and so wound the
animals as they pass by, and afterwards trace them by their blood. The
female elephant is much more timid by nature than the male.
CHAP. 9. (9.)—THE METHOD BY WHICH THEY ARE TAMED.
Elephants of furious temper are tamed by hunger[1625] and blows, while
other elephants are placed near to keep them quiet, when the violent
fit is upon them, by means of chains. Besides this, they are more
particularly violent when in heat,[1626] at which time they will level
to the ground the huts of the Indians with their tusks. It is on this
account that they are prevented from coupling, and the females are kept
in herds separate from the males, just the same way as with other
cattle. Elephants, when tamed, are employed in war, and carry into the
ranks of the enemy towers filled with armed men; and on them, in a very
great measure, depends the ultimate result of the battles that are
fought in the East. They tread under foot whole companies, and crush
the men in their armour. The very least sound, however, of the grunting
of the hog terrifies them:[1627] when wounded and panic-stricken, they
invariably fall back, and become no less formidable for the destruction
which they deal to their own side, than to their opponents. The African
elephant is afraid of the Indian, and does not dare so much as look at
it, for the latter is of much greater bulk.[1628]
CHAP. 10. (10.)—THE BIRTH OF THE ELEPHANT, AND OTHER PARTICULARS
RESPECTING IT.
The vulgar notion is, that the elephant goes with young ten
years;[1629] but, according to Aristotle, it is two years only. He says
also that the female only bears once, and then a single young one; that
they live two hundred years, and some of them as much as three hundred.
The adult age of the elephant begins at the sixtieth year.[1630] They
are especially fond of water, and wander much about streams, and this
although they are unable to swim, in consequence of their bulk.[1631]
They are particularly sensitive to cold, and that, indeed, is their
greatest enemy. They are subject also to flatulency, and to looseness
of the bowels, but to no other kind of disease.[1632] I find it
stated, that on making them drink oil, any weapons which may happen to
stick in their body will fall out; while, on the contrary, perspiration
makes them the more readily adhere.[1633] If they eat earth it is
poison to them, unless indeed they have gradually become accustomed by
repeatedly doing so. They also devour stones as well; but the trunks
of trees are their most favourite food. They throw down, with a blow
from their forehead, palms of exceeding height, and when lying on the
ground, strip them of their fruit. They eat with the mouth, but they
breathe, drink,[1634] and smell with [the proboscis], which is not
unaptly termed their “hand.” They have the greatest aversion to the
mouse of all animals,[1635] and quite loathe their food, as it lies
in the manger, if they perceive that it has been touched by one of
those animals. They experience the greatest torture if they happen
to swallow, while drinking, a horseleech, an animal which people are
beginning, I find, to call almost universally a “blood-sucker.”[1636]
The leech fastens upon the wind-pipe, and produces intolerable pain.
The skin of the back is extremely hard, that of the belly is softer.
They are not covered with any kind of bristles, nor yet does the tail
even furnish them with any protection from the annoyance of flies; for
vast as these animals are, they suffer greatly from them. Their skin
is reticulated, and invites these insects by the odour it exhales.
Accordingly, when a swarm of them has settled on the skin, while
extended and smooth, the elephant suddenly contracts it; and, in this
way, the flies are crushed between the folds which are thus closed.
This power serves them in place of tail, mane, and hair.[1637]
Their teeth are very highly prized, and from them we obtain the most
costly materials for forming the statues of the gods. Luxury has
discovered even another recommendation in this animal, having found a
particularly delicate flavour in the cartilaginous part of the trunk,
for no other reason, in my belief, than because it fancies itself to be
eating ivory.[1638] Tusks of enormous size are constantly to be seen
in the temples; but, in the extreme parts of Africa, on the confines
of Æthiopia, they are employed as door-posts for houses; and Polybius
informs us, on the authority of the petty king Gulussa,[1639] that they
are also employed as stakes in making fences for the folds of cattle.
CHAP. 11. (11.)—IN WHAT COUNTRIES THE ELEPHANT IS FOUND; THE ANTIPATHY
OF THE ELEPHANT AND THE DRAGON.
Africa produces elephants, beyond the deserts of the Syrtes, and in
Mauritania; they are found also in the countries of the Æthiopians and
the Troglodytæ, as mentioned above.[1640] But it is India that produces
the largest,[1641] as well as the dragon,[1642] which is perpetually at
war with the elephant, and is itself of so enormous a size, as easily
to envelope the elephants with its folds, and encircle them in its
coils. The contest is equally fatal to both; the elephant, vanquished,
falls to the earth, and by its weight, crushes the dragon which is
entwined around it.[1643]
CHAP. 12. (12.)—THE SAGACITY OF THESE ANIMALS.
The sagacity which every animal exhibits in its own behalf is
wonderful, but in these it is remarkably so. The dragon has much
difficulty in climbing up to so great a height, and therefore, watching
the road, which bears marks of their footsteps when going to feed, it
darts down upon them from a lofty tree. The elephant knows that it
is quite unable to struggle against the folds of the serpent, and so
seeks for trees or rocks against which to rub itself. The dragon is
on its guard against this, and tries to prevent it, by first of all
confining the legs of the elephant with the folds of its tail; while
the elephant, on the other hand, endeavours to disengage itself with
its trunk. The dragon, however, thrusts its head into its nostrils, and
thus, at the same moment, stops the breath and wounds the most tender
parts. When it is met unexpectedly, the dragon raises itself up, faces
its opponent, and flies more especially at the eyes; this is the reason
why elephants are so often found blind, and worn to a skeleton with
hunger and misery. What other cause can one assign for such mighty
strifes as these, except that Nature is desirous, as it were, to make
an exhibition for herself, in pitting such opponents against each other?
There is another story, too, told in relation to these combats—the
blood of the elephant, it is said, is remarkably cold; for which
reason, in the parching heats of summer,[1644] it is sought by the
dragon with remarkable avidity. It lies, therefore, coiled up and
concealed in the rivers, in wait for the elephants, when they come to
drink; upon which it darts out, fastens itself around the trunk, and
then fixes its teeth behind the ear, that being the only place which
the elephant cannot protect with the trunk. The dragons, it is said,
are of such vast size, that they can swallow the whole of the blood;
consequently, the elephant, being thus drained of its blood, falls to
the earth exhausted; while the dragon, intoxicated with the draught, is
crushed beneath it, and so shares its fate.
CHAP. 13. (13.)—DRAGONS.
Æthiopia produces dragons, not so large as those of India, but still,
twenty cubits in length.[1645] The only thing that surprises me is,
how Juba came to believe that they have crests.[1646] The Æthiopians
are known as the Asachæi, among whom they most abound; and we are
told, that on those coasts four or five of them are found twisted and
interlaced together like so many osiers in a hurdle, and thus setting
sail, with their heads erect, they are borne along upon the waves, to
find better sources of nourishment in Arabia.
CHAP. 14. (14.)—SERPENTS OF REMARKABLE SIZE.
Megasthenes informs us, that in India, serpents grow to such an immense
size, as to swallow stags and bulls;[1647] while Metrodorus says, that
about the river Rhyndacus,[1648] in Pontus, they seize and swallow the
birds that are flying above them, however high and however rapid their
flight.[1649] It is a well-known fact, that during the Punic war, at
the river Bagrada, a serpent one hundred and twenty feet in length was
taken by the Roman army under Regulus, being besieged, like a fortress,
by means of balistæ and other engines of war.[1650] Its skin and jaws
were preserved in a temple at Rome, down to the time of the Numantine
war. The serpents which in Italy are known by the name of boa, render
these accounts far from incredible, for they grow to such a vast size,
that a child was found entire in the stomach of one of them, which
was killed on the Vaticanian Hill during the reign of the Emperor
Claudius.[1651] These are nourished, in the first instance, with the
milk of the cow, and from this they take their name.[1652] As to the
other animals, which have been of late repeatedly brought to Italy from
all parts of the world, it is quite unnecessary to give any minute
account of their form.
CHAP. 15. (15.)—THE ANIMALS OF SCYTHIA; THE BISON.
Scythia produces but very few animals, in consequence of the scarcity
of shrubs. Germany, which lies close adjoining it, has not many
animals, though it has some very fine kinds of wild oxen: the bison,
which has a mane, and the urus,[1653] possessed of remarkable strength
and swiftness. To these, the vulgar, in their ignorance, have given
the name of bubalus:[1654] whereas, that animal is really produced in
Africa, and rather bears a resemblance to the calf and the stag.
CHAP. 16.—THE ANIMALS OF THE NORTH; THE ELK, THE ACHLIS, AND THE
BONASUS.
The North, too, produces herds of wild horses, as Africa and Asia do
of wild asses;[1655] there is, also, the elk, which strongly resembles
our steers, except that it is distinguished by the length of the ears
and of the neck. There is also the achlis,[1656] which is produced in
the island of Scandinavia;[1657] it has never been seen in this city,
although we have had descriptions of it from many persons; it is not
unlike the elk, but has no joints in the hind leg. Hence, it never lies
down, but reclines against a tree while it sleeps; it can only be taken
by previously cutting into the tree, and thus laying a trap for it, as
otherwise, it would escape through its swiftness. Its upper lip is so
extremely large, for which reason it is obliged to go backwards when
grazing; otherwise, by moving onwards, the lip would get doubled up. In
Pæonia, it is said, there is a wild animal known as the bonasus;[1658]
it has the mane of the horse, but is, in other respects, like the bull,
with horns, however, so much bent inwards upon each other, as to be of
no use for the purposes of combat. It has therefore to depend upon its
flight, and, while in the act of flying, it sends forth its excrements,
sometimes to a distance of even three jugera;[1659] the contact of
which burns those who pursue the animal, just like a kind of fire.
CHAP. 17.—LIONS; HOW THEY ARE PRODUCED.
It is a remarkable fact, that pards,[1660] panthers, lions, and other
animals of this kind, walk with the points of their nails concealed in
a sheath in the body, lest they should be broken or blunted; and that,
when they run, their hooked claws are turned backwards, and are never
extended, except in the act of seizing their prey.[1661]
(16.) The noble appearance of the lion is more especially to be seen
in that species which has the neck and shoulders covered with a mane,
which is always acquired at the proper age by those produced from
a lion; while, on the other hand, those that are the offspring of
the pard, are always without this distinction. The female also has
no mane. The sexual passions of these animals are very violent, and
render the male quite furious. This is especially the case in Africa,
where, in consequence of the great scarcity of water, the wild beasts
assemble in great numbers on the banks of a few rivers. This is also
the reason why so many curious varieties of animals are produced
there, the males and females of various species coupling promiscuously
with each other.[1662] Hence arose the saying, which was common in
Greece even, that “Africa is always producing something new.” The lion
recognizes, by the peculiar odour of the pard, when the lioness has
been unfaithful to him, and avenges himself with the greatest fury.
Hence it is, that the female, when she has been guilty of a lapse,
washes herself, or else follows the lion at a considerable distance.
I find that it was a common belief, that the lioness is able to bear
young no more than once, because, while delivering herself, she tears
her womb with her claws.[1663] Aristotle, however, gives a different
account; a man of whom I think that I ought here to make some further
mention, seeing that upon these subjects, I intend, in a great measure,
to make him my guide. Alexander the Great, being inflamed with a strong
desire to become acquainted with the natures of animals, entrusted
the prosecution of this design to Aristotle, a man who held the
highest rank in every branch of learning; for which purpose he placed
under his command some thousands of men in every region of Asia and
Greece, and comprising all those who followed the business of hunting,
fowling, or fishing, or who had the care of parks, herds of cattle,
the breeding of bees, fish-ponds, and aviaries, in order that no
creature that was known to exist might escape his notice. By means of
the information which he obtained from these persons, he was enabled
to compose some fifty volumes, which are deservedly esteemed, on the
subject of animals; of these I purpose to give an epitome, together
with other facts with which Aristotle was unacquainted; and I beg the
kind indulgence of my readers in their estimate of this work of mine,
as by my aid they hastily travel through all the works of nature, and
through the midst of subjects with which that most famous of all kings
so ardently desired to be acquainted.
Aristotle then informs us, that the lioness, at the first birth,
produces five whelps, and one less every succeeding year, until, after
having produced one only, she ceases to bear.[1664] The young ones,
when first born, are shapeless and extremely small in flesh, being
no larger than a weasel; for six months they are scarcely able to
walk,[1665] and until they are two months old, they cannot move. Lions,
he says, are found in Europe, but only between the rivers Achelous and
Nestus; being much superior in strength to those which are produced in
Africa or Syria.[1666]
CHAP. 18.—THE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF LIONS.
There are two species of lions; in the one the body is shorter and
more compact, and the mane more crisp and curly;[1667] these are more
timid than those with a longer body and straight hair, which, in fact,
have no fear of wounds. The males raise the leg like the dog, when
they pass their urine;[1668] which has a most disagreeable odour, the
same being the case too with their breath. They seldom drink, and only
take food every other day;[1669] when they have gorged themselves,
they will sometimes go without food for three days. They swallow
their food whole, without mastication, so far as they are able; and
when they have taken more than the stomach can possibly receive, they
extract part of it by thrusting their claws into the throat; the same
too, if, when full, they have occasion to take to flight. That they
are very long-lived is proved by the fact, that many of them are found
without teeth. Polybius,[1670] the companion of Æmilianus, tells us,
that when they become aged they will attack men, as they have no longer
sufficient strength for the pursuit of wild beasts. It is then that
they lay siege to the cities of Africa; and for this reason it was,
that he, as well as Scipio, had seen some of them hung upon a cross;
it being supposed that others, through dread of a similar punishment,
might be deterred from committing the like outrages.
CHAP. 19.—THE PECULIAR CHARACTER OF THE LION.
The lion is the only one of all the wild beasts that shows mercy to
the suppliant; after it has conquered, it will spare,[1671] and when
enraged, it will vent its fury rather upon men than women, and never
upon children, unless when greatly pressed by hunger. It is the belief
in Libya, that it fully understands the entreaties which are addressed
to it. At all events, I have heard it asserted as a fact, that a
female slave, who was returning from Gætulia, was attacked by a number
of lions in the forests; upon which she summoned sufficient courage
to address them, and said that she was a woman, a fugitive, helpless
creature, that she implored the compassion of the most generous of
animals, the one that has the command of all the others, and that she
was a prey unworthy of their high repute—and by these means effectually
soothed their ferocity. There are various opinions on this point,
as to whether it is through some peculiar disposition of the animal,
or merely by accident, that their fury is thus soothed by addressing
them. As to what is alleged, too, about serpents, that they can be
drawn from their holes by singing, and thus be made to yield themselves
up to death, the truth or falsity of it has not by any means been
satisfactorily ascertained.[1672]
The tail of the lion gives indication of the state of his feelings,
just as the ears do in the horse; for these are the distinguishing
signs which Nature has given to each of the most generous of animals.
Hence it is that, when pleased, the tail is without motion, and the
animal fawns upon those who caress him; a thing, however, that very
rarely happens, for his most frequent state is that of rage. He begins
by beating the earth with his tail; and as he becomes more furious, he
lashes his sides, as if trying to excite himself. His greatest strength
is situate in the breast. From every wound that he makes, whether it
is with his claws or his teeth, a black blood issues.[1673] When his
hunger is satisfied, he becomes harmless. The generous disposition of
the lion is more especially manifested in time of danger; not only at
the moment when, despising all weapons, he long defends himself solely
by the terror which he inspires, and protests, as it were, that he
is compelled thus to defend himself, but when he rises at last, not
as though constrained by danger, but as if enraged by the mad folly
of his adversaries. This, however, is a still more noble feature of
his courage—however numerous the dogs and hunters may be that press
upon him, as he makes his retreat he comes to a stand every now and
then upon the level plain, while he is still in view, and scowls
contemptuously upon them: but as soon as ever he has entered the
thickets and dense forests, he scours away at the swiftest possible
pace, as though aware that the place itself will shelter his shame.
When in pursuit, the lion advances with a leap, but he does not do so
when in flight. When wounded, he discovers, with wonderful sagacity,
the person who struck the blow, and will find him out, however great
may have been the multitude of his pursuers. If a person has thrown a
dart at him, but has failed to inflict a wound, the animal seizes him,
whirls him round and throws him to the ground, but without wounding
him. When the lioness is defending her whelps, it is said that she
fixes her eyes steadily on the ground, that she may not be frightened
at the spears of the hunters. In all other respects, these animals
are equally free from deceit and suspicion. They never look at an
object obliquely, and they dislike being looked at themselves in such
a manner. It is generally believed, that, when the lion is dying,
he bites at the earth, and sheds tears at his fate.[1674] Powerful,
however, and fierce as this animal is, he is terrified by the motion
of wheels or of an empty chariot, and still more on seeing the crest
or hearing the crowing of a cock;[1675] but most of all, is he afraid
of fire. The only malady to which the lion is subject, is loss of
appetite; this, however, is cured by putting insults upon him, by means
of the pranks of monkeys placed about him, a thing which rouses his
anger; immediately he tastes their blood, he is relieved.
CHAP. 20.—WHO IT WAS THAT FIRST INTRODUCED COMBATS OF LIONS AT ROME,
AND WHO HAS BROUGHT TOGETHER THE GREATEST NUMBER OF LIONS FOR THAT
PURPOSE.
Q. Scævola, the son of P. Scævola, when he was curule ædile, was the
first to exhibit at Rome a combat of a number of lions; and L. Sylla,
who was afterwards Dictator, during his prætorship, gave the spectacle
of a fight of one hundred lions with manes.[1676] After him, Pompeius
Magnus exhibited six hundred lions in the Circus, three hundred and
fifteen of which had manes; Cæsar, the Dictator, exhibited four
hundred.
CHAP. 21.—WONDERFUL FEATS PERFORMED BY LIONS.
It was formerly a very difficult matter to catch the lion, and it
was mostly done by means of pit-falls. In the reign, however, of the
Emperor Claudius, accident disclosed a method which appears almost
disgraceful to the name of such an animal; a Gætulian shepherd stopped
a lion, that was rushing furiously upon him, by merely throwing his
cloak[1677] over the animal; a circumstance which afterwards afforded
an exhibition in the arena of the Circus, when the frantic fury of the
animal was paralyzed in a manner almost incredible by a light covering
being thrown over its head, so much so, that it was put into chains
without the least resistance; we must conclude, therefore, that all its
strength lies in its eyes. This circumstance renders what was done by
Lysimachus[1678] less wonderful, who strangled a lion, with which he
had been shut up by command of Alexander.[1679]
Antony subjected lions to the yoke, and was the first at Rome to
harness them to his chariot;[1680] and this during the civil war, after
the battle on the plains of Pharsalia; not, indeed, without a kind of
ominous presage, a prodigy that foretold at the time how that generous
spirits were about to be subdued. But to have himself drawn along in
this manner, in company with the actress Cytheris,[1681] was a thing
that surpassed even the most monstrous spectacles that were to be
seen at that calamitous period. It is said that Hanno, one of the most
illustrious of the Carthaginians, was the first who ventured to touch
the lion with the hand, and to exhibit it in a tame state. It was on
this account that he was banished; for it was supposed, that a man
so talented and so ingenious would have it in his power to persuade
the people to anything, and it was looked upon as unsafe to trust the
liberties of the country to one who had so eminently triumphed over
even ferocity itself. There are some fortuitous occurrences cited also,
which have given occasion to these animals to display their natural
clemency. Mentor, a native of Syracuse, was met in Syria by a lion, who
rolled before him in a suppliant manner; though smitten with fear and
desirous to escape, the wild beast on every side opposed his flight,
and licked his feet with a fawning air. Upon this, Mentor observed
on the paw of the lion a swelling and a wound; from which, after
extracting a splinter, he relieved the creature’s pain.[1682] There
is a picture at Syracuse, which bears witness to the truth of this
transaction.
In the same manner, too, Elpis, a native of Samos, on landing from a
vessel on the coast of Africa, observed a lion near the beach, opening
his mouth in a threatening manner; upon which he climbed a tree, in the
hope of escaping, while, at the same time, he invoked the aid of Father
Liber; for it is the appropriate time for invocations when there is
no room left for hope. The wild beast did not pursue him as he fled,
although he might easily have done so; but, lying down at the foot of
the tree, by the open mouth which had caused so much terror, tried to
excite his compassion. A bone, while he was devouring his food with too
great avidity, had stuck fast between his teeth, and he was perishing
with hunger; such being the punishment inflicted upon him by his own
weapons, every now and then he would look up and supplicate him, as it
were, with mute entreaties. Elpis,[1683] not wishing to risk trusting
himself to so formidable a beast, remained stationary for some time,
more at last from astonishment than from fear. At length, however,
he descended from the tree and extracted the bone, the lion in the
meanwhile extending his head, and aiding in the operation as far as it
was necessary for him to do. The story goes on to say, that as long
as the vessel remained off that coast, the lion showed his sense of
gratitude by bringing whatever he had chanced to procure in the chase.
In memory of this circumstance, Elpis consecrated a temple at Samos to
Father Liber, which the Greeks, from the circumstance above related,
called “the temple κεχηνότος Διονύσου,” or “of the open-mouthed
Bacchus.” Can we wonder, after this, that the wild beasts should be
able to recognize the footsteps of man,[1684] when of him alone of all
animals they even hope for aid? For why should they not have recourse
to others for assistance? Or how is it that they know that the hand of
man has power to heal them? Unless, perhaps, it is that the violence of
pain can force wild beasts even to risk every thing to obtain relief.
(17.) Demetrius, the natural philosopher, relates an equally remarkable
instance, in relation to a panther.[1685] The animal was lying in the
middle of the road, waiting for some one to pass that way, when he was
suddenly perceived by the father of one Philinus, an ardent lover
of wisdom.[1686] Seized with fear, he immediately began to retreat;
while the beast rolled itself before him, evidently with the desire
of caressing him, at the same time manifesting signs of grief, which
could not be misunderstood in a panther even. The animal had young
ones, which had happened to fall into a pit at some distance from the
place. The first dictates of compassion banished all fear, and the next
prompted him to assist the animal. He accordingly followed her, as she
gently drew him on by fixing her claws in his garment; and as soon as
he discovered what was the cause of her grief and the price of his own
safety, he took the whelps out of the pit, and they followed her to the
end of the desert; whither he was escorted by her, frisking with joy
and gladness, in order that she might more appropriately testify how
grateful she was, and how little she had given him in return; a mode of
acting which is but rarely found, among men even.
CHAP. 22.—A MAN RECOGNIZED AND SAVED BY A DRAGON.
Facts such as these induce us to give some credit to what Democritus
relates, who says that a man, called Thoas, was preserved in Arcadia by
a dragon.[1687] When a boy, he had become much attached to it, and had
reared it very tenderly; but his father, being alarmed at the nature
and monstrous size of the reptile, had taken and left it in the desert.
Thoas being here attacked by some robbers who lay in ambush, he was
delivered from them by the dragon, which recognized his voice and came
to his assistance. But as to what has been said respecting infants that
have been exposed and nourished by the milk of wild beasts,[1688] as
in the case of the founders of our city by a wolf, I am disposed to
attribute such cases as these rather to the greatness of the destinies
which have to be fulfilled, than to any peculiarity in the nature of
the animals themselves.
CHAP. 23.—PANTHERS.
The panther and the tiger are nearly the only animals that are
remarkable for a skin distinguished by the variety of its spots;[1689]
whereas others have them of a single colour, appropriate to each
species. The lions of Syria alone are black. The spots of the
panther are like small eyes, upon a white ground. It is said that
all quadrupeds are attracted in a most wonderful manner by their
odour,[1690] while they are terrified by the fierceness of their
aspect; for which reason the creature conceals its head, and then
seizes upon the animals that are attracted to it by the sweetness of
the odour. It is said by some, that the panther has, on the shoulder, a
spot which bears the form of the moon; and that, like it, it regularly
increases to full, and then diminishes to a crescent. At present, we
apply the general names of varia[1691] and pard, (which last belongs to
the males), to all the numerous species of this animal, which is very
common in Africa and Syria.[1692] Some writers distinguish the panther,
as being remarkable for its whiteness: but as yet I have not observed
any other difference between them.
CHAP. 24.—THE DECREE OF THE SENATE, AND LAWS RESPECTING AFRICAN
ANIMALS; WHO FIRST BROUGHT THEM TO ROME, AND WHO BROUGHT THE GREATEST
NUMBER OF THEM.
There was an ancient decree of the senate, which prohibited animals
being imported from Africa into Italy; but Cn. Aufidius, the tribune
of the people,[1693] procured a law repealing this, which allowed of
their being brought over for the games of the Circus. Scaurus, in his
ædileship,[1694] was the first who sent over the parti-coloured kind,
one hundred and fifty in the whole; after which, Pompeius Magnus sent
four hundred and ten, and the late Emperor Augustus four hundred and
twenty.
CHAP. 25.—TIGERS: WHEN FIRST SEEN AT ROME; THEIR NATURE.
The same emperor was the first person who exhibited at Rome a tame
tiger[1695] on the stage.[1696] This was in the consulship of Q.
Tubero and Fabius Maximus,[1697] at the dedication of the theatre of
Marcellus, on the fourth day before the nones of May: the late Emperor
Claudius exhibited four at one time.[1698]
(18.) Hyrcania and India produce the tiger, an animal of tremendous
swiftness, a quality which is more especially tested when we deprive it
of all its whelps, which are always very numerous. They are seized by
the hunter, who lies in wait for them, being provided with the fleetest
horse he can possibly obtain, and which he frequently changes for a
fresh one. As soon as the female finds her lair empty—for the male
takes no care whatever of his offspring—headlong she darts forth, and
traces them by the smell. Her approach is made known by her cries, upon
which the hunter throws down one of the whelps; this she snatches up
with her teeth, and more swift, even, under the weight, returns to her
lair, and then again sets out in pursuit; and this she continues to do,
until the hunter has reached his vessel, while the animal vainly vents
her fury upon the shore.
CHAP. 26.—CAMELS:[1699] THE DIFFERENT KINDS.
Camels are found feeding in herds in the East. Of these there are two
different kinds, those of Bactria and those of Arabia;[1700] the former
kind having two humps on the back, and the latter only one; they have
also another hump under the breast, by means of which they support
themselves when reclining. Both of these species, like the ox, have no
teeth in the upper jaw.[1701] They are all of them employed as beasts
of burthen, in carrying loads on the back, and they answer the purpose
of cavalry in battle. Their speed is the same with that of the horse,
but their power of holding out in this respect is proportioned in
each to its natural strength: it will never go beyond its accustomed
distance, nor will it receive more than its usual load. The camel has
a natural antipathy to the horse.[1702] It can endure thirst for four
days even, and when it has the opportunity of obtaining water, it
drinks, as it were, both for past and future thirst, having first taken
care to trouble the water by trampling in it; without doing which,
it would find no pleasure in drinking. They live fifty years, some
indeed as much as one hundred. These animals, too, are liable to fits
of frenzy.[1703] A peculiar mode of castrating them, and the females,
even, when required for the purposes of war, has been discovered;
it renders them more courageous, by the destruction of all sexual
feelings.
CHAP. 27.—THE CAMELEOPARD; WHEN IT WAS FIRST SEEN AT ROME.
There are two other[1704] animals, which have some resemblance to the
camel. One of these is called, by the Æthiopians, the nabun.[1705] It
has a neck like that of the horse, feet and legs like those of the
ox, a head like that of the camel, and is covered with white spots
upon a red ground; from which peculiarities it has been called the
cameleopard.[1706] It was first seen at Rome in the Circensian games
held by Cæsar, the Dictator.[1707] Since that time too, it has been
occasionally seen. It is more remarkable for the singularity of its
appearance than for its fierceness; for which reason it has obtained
the name of the wild sheep.[1708]
CHAP. 28. (19.)—THE CHAMA, AND THE CEPUS.
It was at the games of Pompeius Magnus that the chama[1709] was first
exhibited; an animal called rufius by the Gauls; having the figure
of a wolf, with the spots of the pard. There were also exhibited
some animals from Æthiopia, which they called by the Greek name,
κήποι,[1710] the hinder extremities of which resembled the human feet
and legs, while the fore-feet were like hands. These animals have not
been seen at Rome since that time.
CHAP. 29. (20.)—THE RHINOCEROS.
At the same games the rhinoceros was also exhibited, an animal
which has a single horn projecting from the nose;[1711] it has been
frequently seen since then. This too is another natural-born enemy of
the elephant.[1712] It prepares itself for the combat by sharpening its
horn against the rocks; and in fighting directs it chiefly against the
belly of its adversary, which it knows to be the softest part. The two
animals are of equal length, but the legs of the rhinoceros are much
the shorter: its skin is the colour of box-wood.
CHAP. 30. (21.)—THE LYNX, THE SPHINX, THE CROCOTTA, AND THE MONKEY.
Æthiopia produces the lynx[1713] in abundance, and the sphinx, which
has brown hair and two mammæ on the breast,[1714] as well as many
monstrous kinds of a similar nature; horses with wings, and armed
with horns, which are called pegasi;[1715] the crocotta, an animal
which looks as though it had been produced by the union of the wolf
and the dog,[1716] for it can break any thing with its teeth, and
instantly on swallowing it digest it with the stomach; monkeys, too,
with black heads, the hair of the ass, and a voice quite unlike that
of any other animal.[1717] There are oxen, too, like those of India,
some with one horn, and others with three; the leucrocotta, a wild
beast of extraordinary swiftness, the size of the wild ass, with the
legs of a stag, the neck, tail, and breast of a lion, the head of a
badger, a cloven hoof, the mouth slit up as far as the ears, and one
continuous bone instead of teeth;[1718] it is said, too, that this
animal can imitate the human voice. Among the same people, there is
also found an animal called eale; it is the size of the river-horse,
has the tail of the elephant, and is of a black or tawny colour.[1719]
It has also the jaws of the wild boar, and horns that are moveable,
and more than a cubit in length, so that, in fighting, it can employ
them alternately, and vary their position by presenting them directly
or obliquely, according as necessity may dictate. But the wild bulls
which this country produces are the fiercest of all; they are larger
than our domestic bull, and exceed all the others in swiftness; are of
a tawny colour, with azure eyes, and the hair turned the contrary way;
while the jaws open as far as the ears, and the horns are as moveable
as those of the eale. The hide of this animal is as hard as flint, and
effectually resists all wounds. These creatures pursue all the other
wild beasts, while they themselves can only be taken in pitfalls, where
they always perish from excess of rage. Ctesias informs us, that among
these same Æthiopians, there is an animal found, which he calls the
mantichora;[1720] it has a triple row of teeth, which fit into each
other like those of a comb, the face and ears of a man, and azure eyes,
is of the colour of blood, has the body of the lion, and a tail ending
in a sting, like that of the scorpion. Its voice resembles the union of
the sound of the flute and the trumpet; it is of excessive swiftness,
and is particularly fond of human flesh.
CHAP. 31.—THE TERRESTRIAL ANIMALS OF INDIA.
There are in India oxen also with solid hoofs[1721] and a single
horn;[1722] and a wild beast called the axis, which has a skin like
that of a fawn, but with numerous spots on it, and whiter;[1723] this
animal is looked upon as sacred to Bacchus. The Orsæan Indians hunt
down a kind of ape, which has the body white[1724] all over; as well
as a very fierce animal called the monoceros,[1725] which has the head
of the stag, the feet of the elephant, and the tail of the boar, while
the rest of the body is like that of the horse; it makes a deep lowing
noise, and has a single black horn, which projects from the middle of
its forehead, two cubits in length.[1726] This animal, it is said,
cannot be taken alive.
CHAP. 32.—THE ANIMALS OF ÆTHIOPIA; A WILD BEAST WHICH KILLS WITH ITS
EYE.
Among the Hesperian Æthiopians is the fountain of Nigris, by many,
supposed to be the head of the Nile. I have already mentioned the
arguments by which this opinion is supported.[1727] Near this fountain,
there is found a wild beast, which is called the catoblepas;[1728] an
animal of moderate size, and in other respects sluggish in the movement
of the rest of its limbs; its head is remarkably heavy, and it only
carries it with the greatest difficulty, being always bent down towards
the earth. Were it not for this circumstance, it would prove the
destruction of the human race; for all who behold its eyes, fall dead
upon the spot.[1729]
CHAP. 33.—THE SERPENTS CALLED BASILISKS.
There is the same power also in the serpent called the basilisk.[1730]
It is produced in the province of Cyrene, being not more than twelve
fingers in length. It has a white spot on the head, strongly resembling
a sort of a diadem.[1731] When it hisses, all the other serpents fly
from it: and it does not advance its body, like the others, by a
succession of folds, but moves along upright and erect upon the middle.
It destroys all shrubs, not only by its contact, but those even that
it has breathed upon; it burns up all the grass too, and breaks the
stones, so tremendous is its noxious influence. It was formerly a
general belief that if a man on horseback killed one of these animals
with a spear, the poison would run up the weapon and kill, not only the
rider, but the horse as well. To this dreadful monster the effluvium
of the weasel is fatal, a thing that has been tried with success, for
kings have often desired to see its body when killed; so true is it
that it has pleased Nature that there should be nothing without its
antidote. The animal is thrown into the hole of the basilisk, which
is easily known from the soil around it being infected. The weasel
destroys the basilisk by its odour, but dies itself in this struggle of
nature against its own self.[1732]
CHAP. 34. (22.)—WOLVES; THE ORIGIN OF THE STORY OF VERSIPELLIS.
In Italy also it is believed that there is a noxious influence in
the eye of a wolf; it is supposed that it will instantly take away
the voice of a man,[1733] if it is the first to see him. Africa and
Egypt produce wolves of a sluggish and stunted nature;[1734] those
of the colder climates are fierce and savage. That men have been
turned into wolves, and again restored to their original form,[1735]
we must confidently look upon as untrue, unless, indeed, we are
ready to believe all the tales, which, for so many ages, have been
found to be fabulous. But, as the belief of it has become so firmly
fixed in the minds of the common people, as to have caused the term
“Versipellis”[1736] to be used as a common form of imprecation, I
will here point out its origin. Euanthes, a Grecian author of no mean
reputation, informs us that the Arcadians assert that a member of the
family of one Anthus is chosen by lot, and then taken to a certain
lake in that district, where, after suspending his clothes on an
oak, he swims across the water and goes away into the desert, where
he is changed into a wolf and associates with other animals of the
same species for a space of nine years. If he has kept himself from
beholding a man during the whole of that time, he returns to the same
lake, and, after swimming across it, resumes his original form, only
with the addition of nine years in age to his former appearance. To
this Fabius[1737] adds, that he takes his former clothes as well. It is
really wonderful to what a length the credulity[1738] of the Greeks
will go! There is no falsehood, if ever so barefaced, to which some of
them cannot be found to bear testimony.
So too, Agriopas, who wrote the Olympionics,[1739] informs us that
Demænetus, the Parrhasian, during a sacrifice of human victims, which
the Arcadians were offering up to the Lycæan[1740] Jupiter, tasted the
entrails of a boy who had been slaughtered; upon which he was turned
into a wolf, but, ten years afterwards, was restored to his original
shape and his calling of an athlete, and returned victorious in the
pugilistic contests at the Olympic games.
It is also commonly supposed, that the tail of this animal contains a
small lock of hair, which possesses an amatory power; and that when
the creature is caught, this hair is shed by it, but has no virtue
whatever, unless it is procured from the animal while alive.[1741] It
is said that these animals couple for no more than twelve days in the
year;[1742] and that when pressed by hunger they will eat earth. Among
the points of augury, to have our progress cut short to the right by
a wolf, if at the time its mouth is full, is the best of omens. There
is a species, which is known as the stag-wolf, such as we have already
said[1743] were brought from Gaul and exhibited in the Circus by
Pompeius Magnus. It is said, that however hungry this animal may chance
to be, if it only turns its head while eating, it immediately becomes
oblivious of the food that is before it, and takes its departure to
seek it elsewhere.[1744]
CHAP. 35. (23.)—DIFFERENT KINDS OF SERPENTS.
With reference to serpents, it is generally known, that they
assume the colour of the soil in which they conceal themselves. The
different species of them are innumerable. The cerastes[1745] has
little horns, often four in number, projecting from the body, by the
movement of which it attracts birds, while the rest of its body lies
concealed.[1746] The amphisbæna[1747] has two heads,[1748] that is to
say, it has a second one at the tail, as though one mouth were too
little for the discharge of all its venom. Some serpents have scales,
some a mottled skin, and they are all possessed of a deadly poison. The
jaculus[1749] darts from the branches of trees; and it is not only to
our feet that the serpent is formidable, for these fly through the air
even, just as though they were hurled from an engine.[1750] The neck of
the asp[1751] puffs out,[1752] and there is no remedy whatever against
its sting, except the instant excision of the affected part.[1753]
This reptile, which is thus deadly, is possessed of this one sense,
or rather affection; the male and the female are generally found
together,[1754] and the one cannot live without the other; hence it is
that, if one of them happens to be killed, the other takes incredible
pains to avenge its death. It follows the slayer of its mate, and will
single him out among ever such a large number of people, by a sort of
instinctive knowledge; with this object it overcomes all difficulties,
travels any distance, and is only to be avoided by the intervention
of rivers or an accelerated flight. It is really difficult to decide,
whether Nature has altogether been more liberal of good or of evil.
First of all, however, she has given to this pest but weak powers of
sight, and has placed the eyes, not in the front of the head, so that
it may see straight before it, but in the temples, so that it is more
frequently put in motion by the approach of the footstep than through
the sight. (24.) The ichneumon, too, is its enemy[1755] to the very
death.
CHAP. 36.—THE ICHNEUMON.
This hostility is the especial glory of this animal, which is also
produced in Egypt. It plunges itself repeatedly into the mud, and then
dries itself in the sun: as soon as, by these means, it has armed
itself with a sufficient number of coatings, it proceeds to the combat.
Raising its tail, and turning its back to the serpent, it receives its
stings, which are inflicted to no purpose, until at last, turning its
head sideways, and viewing its enemy, it seizes it by the throat. Not
content, however, with this victory, it conquers another creature also,
which is no less dangerous.
CHAP. 37. (25.)—THE CROCODILE.
The Nile produces the crocodile also,[1756] a destructive quadruped,
and equally dangerous on land and in the water. This is the only land
animal that does not enjoy the use of its tongue,[1757] and the only
one that has the upper jaw moveable, and is capable of biting with
it; and terrible is its bite, for the rows of its teeth fit into each
other, like those of a comb.[1758] Its length mostly exceeds eighteen
cubits. It produces eggs about the size of those of the goose, and, by
a kind of instinctive foresight, always deposits them beyond the limit
to which the river Nile rises, when at its greatest height.[1759] There
is no animal that arrives at so great a bulk as this, from so small a
beginning.[1760] It is armed also with claws, and has a skin, that
is proof against all blows. It passes the day on land, and the night
in the water, in both instances on account of the warmth.[1761] When
it has glutted itself with fish, it goes to sleep on the banks of the
river, a portion of the food always remaining in its mouth; upon which,
a little bird, which in Egypt is known as the trochilus, and, in Italy,
as the king of the birds, for the purpose of obtaining food, invites
the crocodile to open its jaws; then, hopping to and fro, it first
cleans the outside of its mouth, next the teeth, and then the inside,
while the animal opens its jaws as wide as possible, in consequence of
the pleasure which it experiences from the titillation.[1762] It is at
these moments that the ichneumon, seeing it fast asleep in consequence
of the agreeable sensation thus produced, darts down its throat like an
arrow, and eats away its intestines.[1763]
CHAP. 38.—THE SCINCUS.
Like the crocodile, but smaller even than the ichneumon, is the
scincus,[1764] which is also produced in the Nile, and the flesh of
which is the most effectual antidote against poisons, and acts as a
powerful aphrodisiac upon the male sex. But so great a pest was the
crocodile to prove, that Nature was not content with giving it one
enemy only; the dolphins, therefore, which enter the Nile, have the
back armed with a spine,[1765] which is edged like a knife, as if for
this very purpose; and although these animals are much inferior in
strength, they contrive to destroy the crocodile by artifice, which on
the other hand attempts to drive them from their prey, and would reign
alone in its river as its peculiar domain. For all animals have an
especial instinct in this respect, and are able to know not only what
is for their own advantage, but also what is to the disadvantage of
their enemies; they fully understand the use of their own weapons, they
know their opportunity, and the weak parts of those with which they
have to contend.
The skin of the belly of the crocodile is soft and thin; aware of this,
the dolphins plunge into the water, as if in great alarm, and diving
beneath its belly, tear it open with their spines. There is a race of
men also, who are peculiarly hostile to this animal; they are known as
the Tentyritæ, from an island in the Nile which they inhabit.[1766]
These men are of small stature, but of wonderful presence of mind,
though for this particular object only. The crocodile is a terrible
animal to those who fly from it, while at the same time it will fly
from those who pursue it; these, however, are the only people who dare
to attack it. They even swim in the river after it, and mount its back
like so many horsemen; and just as the animal turns up its head for
the purpose of biting them, they insert a club into its mouth, holding
which at each end, with the two hands, it acts like a bit, and by these
means they drive the captured animal on shore. They also terrify the
crocodile so much by their voice alone even, as to force it to disgorge
the bodies which it has lately swallowed, for the purpose of burial.
This island, therefore, is the only place near which the crocodile
never swims; indeed, it is repelled by the odour of this race of men,
just as serpents are by that of the Psylli.[1767] The sight of this
animal is said to be dull when it is in the water, but, when out of the
water, piercing in the extreme; it always passes the four winter months
in a cave, without taking food.[1768] Some persons say, that this is
the only animal that continues to increase in size as long as it lives;
it is very long-lived.
CHAP. 39.—THE HIPPOPOTAMUS.
The Nile produces the hippopotamus, another wild beast, of a still
greater size. It has the cloven hoof of the ox; the back, the mane, and
the neighing of the horse; and the turned-up snout, the tail, and the
hooked teeth of the wild boar, but not so dangerous.[1769] The hide
is impenetrable, except when it has been soaked with water; and it is
used for making shields and helmets.[1770] This animal lays waste the
standing corn, and determines beforehand what part it shall ravage on
the following day; it is said also, that it enters the field backwards,
to prevent any ambush being laid for it on its return.
CHAP. 40. (26.)—WHO FIRST EXHIBITED THE HIPPOPOTAMUS AND THE CROCODILE
AT ROME.
M. Scaurus was the first who exhibited this animal at Rome, together
with five crocodiles, at the games which he gave in his ædileship, in
a piece of water[1771] which had been temporarily prepared for the
purpose. The hippopotamus has even been our instructor in one of the
operations of medicine.[1772] When the animal has become too bulky by
continued over-feeding, it goes down to the banks of the river, and
examines the reeds which have been newly cut; as soon as it has found a
stump that is very sharp, it presses its body against it, and so wounds
one of the veins in the thigh; and, by the flow of blood thus produced,
the body, which would otherwise have fallen into a morbid state, is
relieved; after which, it covers up the wound with mud.
CHAP. 41. (27.)—THE MEDICINAL REMEDIES WHICH HAVE BEEN BORROWED FROM
ANIMALS.[1773]
The bird also, which is called the ibis,[1774] a native of the same
country of Egypt, has shewn us some things of a similar nature. By
means of its hooked beak, it laves the body through that part, by which
it is especially necessary for health that the residuous food should be
discharged. Nor, indeed, are these the only inventions which have been
borrowed from animals, to prove of use to man. The power of the herb
dittany, in extracting arrows, was first disclosed to us by stags that
had been struck by that weapon; the weapon being discharged on their
feeding upon this plant.[1775] The same animals, too, when they happen
to have been wounded by the phalangium, a species of spider, or by any
insect of a similar nature, cure themselves by eating crabs. One of
the very best remedies for the bite of the serpent, is the plant[1776]
with which lizards treat their wounds when injured in fighting with
each other. The swallow has shown us that the chelidonia[1777] is very
serviceable to the sight, by the fact of its employing it for the cure
of its young, when their eyes are affected. The tortoise recruits its
powers of effectually resisting serpents, by eating the plant which
is known as cunile bubula;[1778] and the weasel feeds on rue, when it
fights with the serpent in the pursuit of mice.[1779] The stork cures
itself of its diseases with wild marjoram, and the wild boar with ivy,
as also by eating crabs, and more particularly those that have been
thrown up by the sea.[1780] The snake, when the membrane which covers
its body has been contracted by the cold of winter, throws it off in
the spring by the aid of the juices of fennel,[1781] and thus becomes
sleek and youthful in appearance. First of all, it disengages the head,
and it then takes no less than a day and a night in working itself out,
and divesting itself of the membrane in which it has been enclosed.
The same animal, too, on finding its sight weakened during its winter
retreat, anoints and refreshes its eyes by rubbing itself on the plant
called fennel or marathrum; but if any of the scales are slow in coming
off,[1782] it rubs itself against the thorns of the juniper. The dragon
relieves the nausea which affects it in spring, with the juices of the
lettuce.[1783] The barbarous nations go to hunt the panther, provided
with meat that has been rubbed with aconite, which is a poison.[1784]
Immediately on eating it, compression of the throat overtakes them,
from which circumstance it is, that the plant has received the name of
pardalianches.[1785] The animal, however, has found an antidote against
this poison in human excrements; besides which, it is so eager to get
at them, that the shepherds purposely suspend them in a vessel, placed
so high, that the animal cannot reach them even by leaping, when it
endeavours to get at them; accordingly, it continues to leap until
it has quite exhausted itself, and at last expires: otherwise, it is
so tenacious of life, that it will continue to fight long after its
intestines have been dragged out of its body.
When an elephant has happened to devour a chameleon, which is of the
same colour with the herbage, it counteracts this poison by means
of the wild olive. Bears, when they have eaten of the fruit of the
mandrake, lick up numbers of ants.[1786] The stag counteracts the
effect of poisonous plants by eating the artichoke. Wood-pigeons,
jackdaws, blackbirds, and partridges, purge themselves once a year
by eating bay leaves; pigeons, turtle-doves, and poultry, with
wall-pellitory, or helxine; ducks, geese, and other aquatic birds, with
the plant sideritis or vervain; cranes, and birds of a similar nature,
with the bulrush. The raven, when it has killed a chameleon, a contest
in which even the conqueror suffers, counteracts the poison by means of
laurel.
CHAP. 42. (28.)—PROGNOSTICS OF DANGER DERIVED FROM ANIMALS.
There are a thousand other facts of this kind: and the same Nature
has also bestowed upon many animals as well, the faculty of observing
the heavens, and of presaging the winds, rains, and tempests, each
in its own peculiar way. It would be an endless labour to enumerate
them all; just as much as it would be to point out the relation of
each to man.[1787] For, in fact, they warn us of danger, not only by
their fibres and their entrails, to which a large portion of mankind
attach the greatest faith, but by other kinds of warnings as well.
When a building is about to fall down, all the mice desert it[1788]
before-hand, and the spiders with their webs are the first to drop.
Divination from birds has been made a science among the Romans, and the
college of its priests is looked upon as peculiarly sacred.[1789] In
Thrace, when all parts are covered with ice, the foxes are consulted,
an animal which, in other respects, is baneful from its craftiness. It
has been observed, that this animal applies its ear to the ice, for the
purpose of testing its thickness; hence it is, that the inhabitants
will never cross frozen rivers and lakes until the foxes have passed
over them and returned.
CHAP. 43. (29.)—NATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN EXTERMINATED BY ANIMALS.
We have accounts, too, no less remarkable, in reference even to the
most contemptible of animals. M. Varro informs us, that a town in
Spain was undermined by rabbits, and one in Thessaly, by mice; that
the inhabitants of a district in Gaul were driven from their country
by frogs,[1790] and a place in Africa by locusts;[1791] that the
inhabitants of Gyarus,[1792] one of the Cyclades, were driven away
by mice;[1793] and the Amunclæ, in Italy, by serpents. There is a
vast desert tract on this side of the Æthiopian Cynamolgi,[1794] the
inhabitants of which were exterminated by scorpions and venomous
ants.[1795] and Theophrastus informs us, that the people of
Rhœteum[1796] were driven away by scolopendræ.[1797] But we must now
return to the other kinds of wild beasts.
CHAP. 44. (30.)—THE HYÆNA.
It is the vulgar notion, that the hyæna possesses in itself both
sexes, being a male during one year, and a female the next, and that
it becomes pregnant without the co-operation: of the male; Aristotle,
however, denies this.[1798] The neck, with the mane, runs continuously
into the back-bone, so that the animal cannot bend this part without
turning round the whole body. Many other wonderful things are also
related of this animal; and strangest of all, that it imitates the
human voice among the stalls of the shepherds; and while there, learns
the name of some one of them, and then calls him away, and devours him.
It is said also, that it can imitate a man vomiting, and that, in this
way, it attracts the dogs, and then falls upon them. It is the only
animal that digs up graves, in order to obtain the bodies of the dead.
The female is rarely caught: its eyes, it is said, are of a thousand
various colours and changes of shade. It is said also, that on coming
in contact with its shadow, dogs will lose their voice, and that, by
certain magical influences, it can render any animal immoveable, round
which it has walked three times.
CHAP. 45.—THE COROCOTTA; THE MANTICHORA.[1799]
By the union of the hyæna with the Æthiopian lioness, the corocotta
is produced, which has the same faculty of imitating the voices of
men and cattle. Its gaze is always fixed and immoveable; it has no
gums in either of its jaws, and the teeth are one continuous piece of
bone; they are enclosed in a sort of box as it were, that they may not
be blunted by rubbing against each other. Juba informs us, that the
mantichora of Æthiopia can also imitate the human speech.
CHAP. 46.—WILD ASSES.
Great numbers of hyænas are produced in Africa, which also gives birth
to multitudes of wild asses. In this species each male rules over a
herd of females. Fearing rivals in their lust, they carefully watch
the pregnant females, and castrate the young males with their teeth,
as soon as they are born.[1800] The pregnant females, on the other
hand, seek concealment, and endeavour to bring forth in secret, being
desirous to increase their opportunities of sexual indulgence.
CHAP. 47.—BEAVERS, AMPHIBIOUS ANIMALS;[1801] OTTERS.
The beavers of the Euxine, when they are closely pressed by danger,
themselves cut off the same part, as they know that it is for this
that they are pursued. This substance is called castoreum by the
physicians.[1802] In addition to this, the bite of this animal is
terrible; with its teeth it can cut down trees on the banks of rivers,
just as though with a knife.[1803] If they seize a man by any part of
his body, they will never loose their hold until his bones are broken
and crackle under their teeth. The tail is like that of a fish;[1804]
in the other parts of the body they resemble the otter;[1805] they are
both of them aquatic animals, and both have hair softer than down.
CHAP. 48. (31.)—BRAMBLE-FROGS.
Bramble-frogs,[1806] also, which live both on land and in water, are
replete with various medicinal substances, which they are said to
discharge each day, and to take in again with their food, of which they
only retain the poisonous parts.
CHAP. 49.—THE SEA-CALF; BEAVERS; LIZARDS.
The sea-calf, too, lives equally in the sea and on land, being
possessed of the same degree of intelligence as the beaver. It vomits
forth its gall, which is useful for many purposes in medicine; also
the rennet,[1807] which serves as a remedy in epilepsy; for it is well
aware that it is hunted for these substances. Theophrastus informs
us, that lizards[1808] also cast their skins like the serpent, and
instantly devour them, thus depriving us of a powerful remedy for
epilepsy; he says, too, that the bite of the lizard is fatal in Greece,
but harmless in Italy.[1809]