[2573] Both in the crab and the cray-fish, Aristotle says.

[2574] Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. vii. c. 24, calls this kind of crab

δρομίας, the “runner,” from the great distance it is known to travel.

He says, that they meet together, coming in one by one, at a certain

bay in the Thracian Bosporus, where those who have arrived wait for

the others; and that on finding that the waves of the Euxine are

sufficiently violent to sweep them away, they unite in a dense body,

and then waiting till the waters have retired, make a passage across

the straits.

[2575] Cuvier remarks, that Hardouin is correct in considering this

the same as the crab known in France as Bernard the Hermit (our

hermit-crab), the Cancer Bernardus of Linnæus, a species of the

genus now known as the Pagur. This animal hides its tail and lower

extremities in the empty shells of whelks, or other univalves. Cuvier

suggests that our author committed a slip of the pen, in using the

word oyster here for shell-fish. This is the καρκίνιον, probably, of

Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 15, and De Part. Anim. B. iv. c. 8;

and it is most probable that, as Cuvier states, the real πιννοτήρης of

Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. iv. c. 4, and B. v. c. 14, was another of the

crustacea, of which Pliny speaks under the same name in c. 66. This

last is a small crab, that lives in the shells of bivalves, such as

mussels, &c., but not when empty. See the Notes to c. 66.

[2576] This circumstance is more fully treated of in B. xxxii. c. 19.

[2577] Our author speaks rather more guardedly here than usual; and

Hardouin seems almost inclined to believe the story. Ovid also alludes

to this story in the Met. B. xv. l. 370, _et seq._ “If you take off the

bending claws from the crab of the sea-shore, and bury the rest in the

earth, a scorpion will come forth from the part so buried, and will

threaten with its crooked tail.”

[2578] Of animals covered with a thin crust.

[2579] The sea-urchin, the herisson de mer of the French, and the

Echinus of Linnæus.

[2580] Cuvier remarks, that it does not use the spines or prickles

for this purpose, but that it moves by means of tentacules, which it

projects from between its prickles.

[2581] The Echinus cidaris of Linnæus; with a small body, and very long

spines. The name, according to Hardouin, is from the Greek, meaning the

“mother of the echini.”

[2582] See B. iv. c. 17.

[2583] The same, Cuvier says, with the Echinus spatagus of Linnæus.

[2584] Not “ova,” Cuvier says, but “ovaria” rather. Each urchin has

five “ovaria,” arranged in the form of stars. They are supposed to be

hermaphroditical, but there is considerable doubt on the subject.

[2585] The mouth of the sea-urchin, armed with five teeth, is generally

turned to the ground, Cuvier says.

[2586] Plutarch, in his Book “on the Instincts of Animals,” Oppian,

Halieut. B. ii. l. 225, and Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. vii. c. 44, all

mention this.

[2587] This idea probably arose from the fact of their being sometimes

found with stones sticking between their spines or prickles.

[2588] The thin-crusted animals.

[2589] Known to us as periwinkles.

[2590] It is now known, thanks to the research of Swammerdam, that the

black points at the extremity of the great horns of the land snail, or

Helix terrestris, and at the base of them in the water snail, are eyes.

[2591] “Pectines in mari;” literally, “sea-combs.” The French still

call them by a similar name, “peignes.” They are known also in France

as “coquilles de St. Jaques,” or St. James’s shells; probably,

because worn by pilgrims who had visited the shrine of St. Jago, at

Compostella. Indeed, the scallop shell was a favourite emblem with

the palmers and pilgrims of the middle ages, who were in the habit of

wearing it on their return in the hat.

[2592] He Latinizes the Greek name, calling it “unguis”—“a nail;” and,

according to Varro, they were so called from their resemblance to the

human nail. Pliny mentions them again in c. 87 of this Book, and in B.

xxxii. c. 53, where he states that they are also called “dactyli,” or

“fingers.” Cuvier says, that under this name are meant the pholades, a

bivalve shell-fish, which give forth a very brilliant light.

[2593] Univalves, with a thick spinous shell.

[2594] The flat shell-fish, for instance, according to Cuvier, of the

genus patella, or lepas.

[2595] Other fish of the genus patella, only more concave; the

haliotes, for instance.

[2596] Forming a prolonged cone, Cuvier says, like the cerites.

[2597] The mouth of which is shaped like a crescent; such as the

helices, Cuvier says.

[2598] The nerites, Cuvier says, which are cut into two hemispheres.

[2599] Such as many of the whelks, Cuvier says.

[2600] The whelks that have the edge turned inwards, so that one lip

appears to fold under the other.

[2601] As no two naturalists might probably agree as to the exact

meaning of the terms here employed, it has been thought advisable to

give the passage as it appears in the original: “Jam distinctione

virgulata, crinita, crispa, cuniculatim, pectinatim divisa, imbricatim

undata, cancellatim reticulata, in obliquum, in rectum expansa,

densata, porrecta, sinuata, brevi nodo legatis, toto latere connexis,

ad plausum apertis, ad buccinum recurvis.”

[2602] In allusion, probably, to the streaks or lines drawn upon the

exterior of the shell.

[2603] With the mouth wide open, like that of a person in the act of

applauding.

[2604] By “ad buccinum recurvis,” he probably alludes to a whelk, or

fish with a turbinated shell, resembling the larger conch or trumpet

shell, which Triton is sometimes described as blowing.

[2605] Probably some of the Cypræa; which have been already alluded to

in Note 6 to c. 41 of the present Book. Cuvier remarks, that there are

many of the univalve shell-fish that float on the surface of the water,

but none, with the exception of the argonauta or nautilus, are known to

employ a membranous sail.

[2606] Cuvier says, that he has been informed that the scallop, by

suddenly bringing together the valves of its shell, is able to make a

bound, and leap above the surface of the water.

[2607] Ajasson says, that the words “purpuras, conchylia,” here signify

not the fish themselves, but the various tints produced by them; the

purpura and the conchylium being, in fact, exactly the same fish,

though, as will be explained in c. 60 of the present Book, by various

modes of treatment, various colours were extracted from them. See also

B. xxi. c. 22.

[2608] Dalechamps notices here an ancient proverb, which says, “Qui

nare vult, se exuit.” “He who wishes to swim, takes off his clothes.”

[2609] In c. 2 of the present Book.

[2610] In B. vi. cc. 24 and 28.

[2611] See B. vi. c. 23. Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xv. c. 8, says to the

same effect, but calls it “Perimuda, a city of India.”

[2612] Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. x. c. 13. It has been already remarked,

in the sixth Book, that the ancients looked upon the Persian Gulf as

forming part of the Erythræan or Red Sea.

[2613] The pearl itself, Cuvier says, is nothing else but an

extravasation, so to say, of the juices, whose duty it is to line the

interior of the shell, to thicken and so amplify it; and consequently,

it is produced by a malady. It is possible, he says, for them to be

found in all shell-fish; but they have no beauty in them, unless the

interior of the shell, the _nacre_, or, as we call it, the mother of

pearl, is lustrous and beautiful itself. Hence it is, that the finest

of them come from the east, and are furnished by the kind of bivalve,

called by Linnæus, “Mytilus margaritiferus,” which has the most

beautiful mother of pearl in the interior that is known. The parts of

the Indian sea which are mentioned by Pliny, are those in which the

pearl oyster is still found in the greatest abundance.

[2614] All this theory, as Cuvier says, is totally imaginary.

[2615] Isidorus of Charax, in his description of Parthia, commended by

Athenæus, B. iii., says, on the other hand, that the fish are aided in

bringing forth, by rain and thunder.

[2616] From the Greek φυσήμα, “air-bubble.”

[2617] It sometimes happens, Cuvier says, that the secretion which

forms the mother-of-pearl makes tubercles in the interior of the shell,

which are the pearls adhering to the shell here spoken of.

[2618] Persius alludes to this in Sat. ii. l. 66. “Hæc baccam conchæ

rasisse;” “to file the pearl away from its shell.”

[2619] From this passage we learn that the “tympana,” or hand-drums of

the ancients, were often of a semiglobular shape, like the kettle-drums

of the present day.

[2620] Cuvier remarks that this is not the fact: the concretions are

perfectly hard before the animal leaves the water.

[2621] Isidorus of Charax, as quoted by Athenæus, B. iii.; and Ælian,

Hist. Anim. B. x. c. 20, make similar statements. Rondelet, in his

treatise on Testaceous Fishes, B. i., complains of Pliny using the word

“videt,” “sees,” in the present passage; but, as Hardouin says, he only

uses it in a free sense, meaning, “is aware of the approach of,” or

“has a perception of.”

[2622] Isidorus of Charax, in Athenæus, B. iii., tells a similar

story; but modifies it by saying that the fish sometimes cuts off the

_fingers_ of the divers, and not the hands.

[2623] “Canes marini.” He calls by this name the same animal that a

little further on he describes by the name of “canicula,” “dog-fish;”

alluding, probably, under that name to various species of the shark.

Procopius, in his book, De Bell. Pers. B. i. c. 4, has a wonderful

story in relation to this subject. He says, that the sea-dogs are

wonderful admirers of the pearl-fish, and follow them out to sea; that

when the sea-dogs are pressed by hunger, they go in quest of prey, and

then return to the shell-fish and gaze upon it. A certain fisherman,

having watched for the moment when the shell-fish was deprived of the

protection of its attendant sea-dog, which was seeking its prey, seized

the shell-fish, and made for the shore. The sea-dog, however, was soon

aware of the theft, and making straight for the fisherman, seized him.

Finding himself thus caught, he made a last effort, and threw the

pearl-fish on shore, immediately on which he was torn to pieces by its

protector.

[2624] Such, for instance, as Megasthenes, quoted by Arrian in his

Indica, and Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xv. c. 8.

[2625] Hardouin suggests that a preferable reading to “vetuslate,”

would be “venustate,” by its beauty; and indeed, Ælian, in the

corresponding passage, Hist. Anim. B. xv. c. 8, says, that the chief is

remarkable “for its size, and the extreme beauty of its colours.”

[2626] “Nucleos.” The Greek authors occasionally call them “stones”

and “bones.” Tertullian calls them “maladies of shell-fish and

warts”—“concharum vitia et verrucas.”

[2627] Cuvier says, that the most efficient mode of extracting all the

concretions that may happen to be concealed in the body of the animal,

is to leave the flesh to dissolve in water, upon which the concretions

naturally fall to the bottom.

[2628] Isidorus and Solinus, however, say that the pearl is so called,

because two are never found together. The derivation given by Pliny is,

however, the more probable one. From the Latin “unio,” comes our word

“onion;” which, like the pearl, consists of numerous coats, one laid

upon the other.

[2629] Hence we must conclude that the word “margarita” is not of

Greek, but Eastern origin.

[2630] Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xv. c. 8, says, that the Indian pearls,

and those which come from the Red Sea, are the best.

[2631] The laminæ of the lapis specularis, described by Pliny, B.

xxxvi. c. 45.

[2632] “Exaluminatos.” It is clear from this passage that Pliny was

acquainted with our alum, as he here clearly implies that the alum

known to him was of a white colour. Beckmann, however, in his History

of Inventions, asserts that our alum was _certainly_ not known to

the Greeks and Romans, and that their “alumen” was nothing else but

vitriol, the green sulphate of iron, and that not in its pure state,

but such as forms in mines. Pereira, however, in his Materia Medica,

says, that there can be little doubt that Pliny was acquainted with our

alum, but did not distinguish it from sulphate of iron, as he informs

us that one kind of alum was white, and was used for dyeing wool of

various colours. It is mentioned more fully in B. xxxv. c. 52, where he

speaks of its use in dyeing.

[2633] These alabaster boxes for unguents are mentioned by Pliny in B.

xxxvi. c. 12. They were usually pear-shaped; and as they were held with

difficulty in the hand, on account of their extreme smoothness, they

were called ἀλάβαστρα, from ἀ, “not,” and λαβέσθαι “to be held.” The

reader will recollect the offer made to our Saviour, of the “alabaster

box of ointment of spikenard, very precious.” Matt. xxvi. 7. Mark xiv.

3.

[2634] Seneca, Benef. B. vii. c. 9, speaks of them as hanging in tiers

from the ears of the Roman matrons, two and two; and he says that they

are not satisfied unless they have two or three patrimonies suspended

from each ear.

[2635] From their resemblance to “crotala,” used by dancers, and

similar to our castanets.

[2636] That the pearls as fully bespeak the importance of the wearer,

as the lictor does of the magistrate whom he is preceding. The honour

of being escorted by one or two lictors, was usually granted to the

wives and other members of the imperial family.

[2637] Even on the “socculus,” or “soccus,” a shoe or slipper which did

not require any “obstragulum,” or tie. We find from Seneca, De Ben.

B. ii. c. 12, and Pliny, B. xxxvii. c. 6, that Caligula wore gold and

pearls upon his socculi.

[2638] Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xv. c. 8, states to this effect from Juba.

[2639] They are found also, Ajasson says, at the present day, in some

of the coldest rivers and torrents of Auvergne.

[2640] Or “pinna,” the Greek name of this kind of pearl oyster.

[2641] Cuvier remarks, that he is here probably speaking of some spiny

bivalve, perhaps the Spondylus of Linnæus.

[2642] “Grandini.” But Hardouin thinks, and probably correctly,

that the meaning here of the word is the “measles of swine;” for

Androsthenes, in Athenæus, B. iii., has a similar passage, in which he

says: “The stone (_i. e._ pearl) grows in the flesh of the shell-fish,

just as the measles grow in the flesh of swine.”

[2643] He is also mentioned in B. xxxvi. c. 12, and B. xxxvii. cc. 9,

11, 23, 35, and 50, as a writer on gems; but nothing else seems to be

known of him.

[2644] Cuvier observes, that most of the rivers and lakes of the north

of Europe possess the mya margarifera: the pearls of which, though much

inferior to those of the East, are sufficiently esteemed to be made an

article of commerce. Bad pearls, of a dead marble colour, are also very

frequently found in the mussels taken off our coasts. Pearls have in

modern times declined very considerably in value; those of about the

size of a large pea can be purchased, of very fine quality, for about

a guinea each, while those of the size of a pepper-corn sell at about

eighteen-pence. Seed pearls, of the size of small shot, are of very

little value. Tavernier speaks of a remarkable pearl, that was found at

Catifa, in Arabia, the fishery probably alluded to by Pliny, in C. 54,

and which he bought for the sum of £110,000, some accounts say £10,000,

of our money. It is pear-shaped, the elenchus of the ancients, regular,

and without blemish. The diameter is .63 of an inch, at the largest

part, and the length from two to three inches. It is said to be in the

possession of the Shah of Persia.

[2645] Tacitus, in his Agricola, says that pearls of a tawny and livid

colour are thrown up on the shores of Britain, and there collected.

Suetonius absolutely says, c. 4, that Julius Cæsar invaded Britain in

the hope of obtaining pearls, in the weight and size of which he took

considerable interest.

[2646] By the inscription placed beneath the thorax, or breast-plate.

[2647] The grand-daughter of M. Lollius, and heiress to his immense

wealth. She was first married to C. Memmius Regulus; but was divorced

from him, and married to the Emperor Caligula, who, however, soon

divorced her. At the instigation of Agrippina, Claudius first banished

her, and then caused her to be murdered. A sepulchre to her honour was

erected in the reign of the Emperor Nero.

[2648] Caligula.

[2649] Or rather “betrothal entertainment,” “sponsalium cœna.” The

“sponsalia” were not an unusual preliminary of marriage, but were not

absolutely necessary.

[2650] 7,600,000 francs, Hardouin says; which would make £304,000 of

our money.

[2651] “Ipsa confestim parata mancupationem tabulis probare.”

[2652] He was proprætor of the province of Galatia, Consul B.C. 21, and

B.C. 16 legatus in Gaul; where he suffered a defeat from certain of the

German tribes. He was afterwards appointed by Augustus tutor to his

grandson, C. Cæsar, whom he accompanied to the East in B.C. 2. He was a

personal enemy of Tiberius, which may in some measure account for the

bad character given him by Velleius Paterculus, who describes him as

more eager to make money than to act honourably, and as guilty of every

kind of vice. Horace, on the other hand, in the ode addressed to him,

Carm. iv. 9, expressly praises him for his freedom from all avarice.

His son, M. Lollius, was the father of Lollia Paulina.

[2653] This does not appear to be asserted by any other author; but

Velleius Paterculus almost suggests as much, B.ii., “Cujus mors intra

paucos dies fortuita an voluntaria fuerit ignoro.” It was said that

he was in the habit of selling the good graces of Caius Cæsar to the

Eastern sovereigns for sums of money.

[2654] “Fercula.” See vol. i. p. 400, Note 3447.

[2655] “Unam imperii mulierculam accubantem.”

[2656] A fourth of the sum mentioned in Note 2650.

[2657] “Corollarium.”

[2658] “Et consumpturam eam cœnam taxationem confirmans.”

[2659] “It was because pearls are calcareous, that Cleopatra was able

to dissolve hers in vinegar, and by these means to gain a bet from her

lover, as we are told by Pliny, B. ix. c. 58, and Macrobius, Sat. B.

ii. c. 13. She must, however, have employed stronger vinegar than that

which we use for our tables; as pearls, on account of their hardness

and their natural enamel, cannot be easily dissolved by a weak acid.

Nature has secured the teeth of animals against the effect of acids, by

an enamel covering, which answers the same purpose; but if this enamel

happens to be injured only in one small place, the teeth soon spoil

and rot. Cleopatra, perhaps, broke and pounded the pearls [pearl]; and

it is probable that she afterwards diluted the vinegar with water,

that she might be able to drink it; though dissolved calcareous matter

neutralizes acids, and renders them imperceptible to the tongue. That

pearls are not peculiar to one kind of shell-fish, as many believe, was

known to Pliny.” _Beckmann’s History of Inventions_, vol. i. p. 258,

note 1, _Bohn’s Ed._ We may remark, however that as the story is told

by Pliny, there is no appearance that Cleopatra _pounded_ the pearl.

It is more likely that she threw it into the vinegar, and immediately

swallowed it, taking it for granted that it had melted.

[2660] Macrobius, Saturn. B. iii. says, “Monatius” Plancus. His name

was in reality Lucius Munatius Plancus. He afterwards deserted Antony,

and took the side of Octavianus; and it was on his proposal that

Octavianus received the title of Augustus in B.C. 27. He built the

temple of Saturn, in order to secure the emperor’s favour. It is not

known in what year he died.

[2661] “Omine rato.” He means, that in the result, it was only too true

that Antony was “victus,” conquered, and that by his enemy Octavianus.

[2662] Claudius, or Clodius Æsopus, was the most celebrated tragic

actor at Rome in the time of Cicero, and was probably a freedman of

the Clodian family. Horace and other authors put him on a level with

Roscius. From Cicero we learn that his acting was characterized chiefly

by strong emphasis and vehemence. Cicero characterizes him as a “summus

artifex,” a “consummate artist.” He was a firm friend of Cicero, whose

cause he advocated indirectly more than once during his banishment from

Rome. It appears from Pliny, B. x. c. 72, that he was far from frugal,

though he left a large fortune to his spendthrift son, Clodius Æsopus.

This man, among his other feats, dissolved in vinegar (or at least

attempted to do so), a pearl worth about £8000, which he took from the

ear-ring of Cæcilia Metella. It is alluded to by Horace, B. ii. Sat.

iii. l. 239.

[2663] Or “conchylium.” We find that Pliny generally makes a difference

between the colours of the “murex,” or “conchylium,” and those of

the “purpura,” or “purple.” Cuvier says, that they were the names of

different shell-fish which the ancients employed for dyeing in purple

of various shades. It is not known exactly, at the present day, what

species they employed; but it is a fact well ascertained, that the

greater part of the univalve shell-fish, more especially the Buccini

and Murices of Linnæus, distil a kind of red liquid. The dearness of

it arose, Cuvier thinks, from the remarkably small quantity that each

animal afforded. Since the coccus, or kermes, he says, came to be well

known, and more especially since the New World has supplied us with

cochineal, we are no longer necessitated to have recourse to the juices

of the murex.

[2664] Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 14, says, “about six.” The murex

of Pliny is the κήρυξ of Aristotle.

[2665] Aristotle says, that the purple consists of three parts, the

upper being the τράχηλος, or neck; the middle the μήκων, or poppy;

and the lower the πυθμήν, or trunk; and that the juice lies between

the first and second of these parts, or the throat. This juice, which

Pliny calls “flos,” “flower,” “ros,” “dew,” and “succus,” “juice,” is

distilled, Cuvier says, not from the fauces of the animal, but from the

mantle or membranous tissue which lines the shell.

[2666] See B. v. c. 7. See also B. vi. c. 36.

[2667] Which preceded the Roman consuls, who were clothed with the toga

prætexta, the colour of which was Syrian purple.

[2668] Hardouin seems to think that “majestate pueritiæ” means

“children of high birth;” but it was the fact that all children of free

birth wore the prætexta, edged with purple, till they attained puberty.

It is much more probable that by these words Pliny means the “majesty

of youth,” in its simplicity and guileless nature, that commands our

veneration and respect.

[2669] He means that the purple laticlave or broad hem of the senator’s

toga distinguished him from the eques, who wore a toga with an

angusticlave, or narrow hem.

[2670] From Cicero, Epist. Ad. Attic. B. ii. Ep. 9, we learn that

purple was worn by the priests when performing sacrifice. Ajasson,

however, agrees with Dalechamps in thinking that this passage bears

reference to the consuls, who wore purple when sacrificing to the gods.

[2671] The prætexta, for instance, the laticlave, the chlamys, the

paludamentum, and the trabea.

[2672] On the occasion of a triumph, the victor was arrayed in a “toga

picta,” an embroidered garment, which, from the present passage, would

appear to have been of purple and gold. Pliny tells us, B. xxxiii. c.

19, that Tarquinius, on his triumph over the Sabines, wore a robe of

cloth of gold.

[2673] Aristotle says the same, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 14, and De Partib.

Anim. B. ii. c. 17. Cuvier says, that the buccinus and murex have a

long neck, in which there is a tongue armed with little teeth, but

very sharp, by means of which the animal is enabled to pierce other

shell-fish.

[2674] “Conchylia;” other fish of the same kind apparently; as Pliny

uses the word “conchylium” synonymously with “murex.”

[2675] “Præmia vitæ suæ.”

[2676] Cuvier says that the buccini, properly so called, have at

the bottom of the orifice of the shell an incision, which is the

characteristic of the genus. Our whelks are the best known specimen of

the buccinum that we have. They received their name, he says, from the

buccinum, or buccina, the conch-shell, (with which Triton is commonly

painted), and that in its turn was so called from its resemblance to a

buccina, trumpet or herdsman’s horn.

[2677] It is not the tongue, Cuvier says, that occupies this passage,

but a prolongation of the skin or coat that envelopes the animal, and

its office is to conduct to the branchiæ the water necessary for the

purposes of respiration.

[2678] This description, Cuvier says, is applicable to the Murex

brandaris, the Murex tribulus of Linnæus, and other species that denote

their growth by the increase of the spirals furnished with spines.

[2679] Or “deep sea” purples. Dalechamps remarks, that Pliny here

unwittingly gives to the purples in general, a name which only belonged

to one species; there being some that only frequent the shore, and are

not found out at sea.

[2680] “Lutensis.”

[2681] “Algensis.”

[2682] “Tæniensis.”

[2683] “Calculensis.”

[2684] From the Greek διαλυτὸς, “free,” or “roving;” in consequence of

its peculiar mode of life.

[2685] Nassis. See Note [2547] in p. 421.

[2686] “Quum cerificavere.” Cuvier remarks that Aristotle, Hist.

Anim. B. v. c. 14, says, that these shell-fish make “waxen combs,”

meaning thereby collections of cells, similar to those formed by the

bee; and it is to this notion that Pliny refers in the use of the

word “cerificavere.” It is the fact, Cuvier says, that the univalve

sea shell-fish, and more particularly the buccini and the murices,

envelope their eggs with glutinous vesicles of varied forms, according

to the respective species; which, when massed together, may be not

inappropriately termed “combs.”

[2687] In c. 60. As Cuvier remarks, with considerable justice, this

description by Pliny of the process of dyeing in purple, is very

difficult to explain, seeing that the art is now entirely lost.

Reaumur, he says, made some attempts at dyeing with a small buccinum

found off the French coasts, the Buccinum lapillus of Linnæus; but

without any result.

[2688] About twenty ounces.

[2689] Because iron or brazen vessels might impart a tinge to the

colour. The same would probably be the case if the word “plumbo” were

to be considered as signifying “lead.” As, however, Pliny uses this

word in the signification of “tin,” it is most probable that that is

his meaning. Littré, however, translates the word “plombe,” “lead.”

[2690] Hardouin says, that the weight of the contents of the amphora

would be about eighty pounds: it would therefore take eight thousand

pounds of material to make five hundred pounds of dye. The passage,

however, which runs as follows, “Fervere in plumbo, singulasque

amphoras centenas ad quingentenas medicaminis libras æquari,” may be

rendered, “It is then set to boil in vessels of tin, and every hundred

amphoræ of water ought to be proportioned to five hundred pounds of the

material;” indeed, this is probably the correct translation, though

Littré, who is generally very exact, adopts that given in the text.

[2691] “Alligatur:” which word may also mean, that mixed with the

buccinum, it will hold fast, and not speedily fade or wash out.

[2692] So called from the gem of that name; see B. xxxvii. c. 40.

[2693] Aἵματι πορφυρέῳ. Il. Ρ. l. 360, for instance.

[2694] The “trabea” was similar in cut to the toga, but was ornamented

with purple horizontal stripes. Servius mentions three kinds of trabea;

one wholly of purple, which was sacred to the gods, another of purple

and white, and another of purple and saffron, which belonged to the

augurs. The purple and white trabea was the royal robe, worn by the

early kings, and the introduction of which was assigned to Romulus. The

trabea was worn by the consuls in public solemnities, such as opening

the temple of Janus. The equites also wore it on particular occasions;

and it is sometimes spoken of as the badge of the equestrian order.

[2695] The latus clavus, or laticlave, was originally worn on

the tunic, and was a distinctive badge of the senatorian order.

It consisted of a single broad band of purple colour, extending

perpendicularly from the neck down the centre of the tunic. The right

of wearing the laticlave was given to children of the equestrian order,

at least, as we learn from Ovid, in the reign of Augustus.

[2696] Hardouin says, that in his time there were still to be seen the

remains of the ancient dyeing houses at Tarentum, the modern Otranto,

and that vast heaps of the shells of the murex had been discovered

there.

[2697] Cloths doubly dyed, or twice dipped: from the Greek δὶς, twice,

and βάπτω, to dip.

[2698] “Triclinaria.” This word probably signified not only the

hangings of the table couches, but the coverings, and the coverlets

which were spread over the guests while at the meal.

[2699] “Pro indiviso.”

[2700] “Dimidia et medicamina adduntur.” This, no doubt, is the sense

of the passage, as it is evident that only a thinner dye was required

for tint, though at first sight it would appear as though one-half more

were required for the same quantity of wool. The quantity therefore

would be 155-1/2 pounds of dye to fifty pounds of wool.

[2701] “Tantoque dilutior, quanto magis vellera esuriunt.” This

seems to be the meaning of the passage: some commentators would read

“dilucidior” for “dilutior,” and it would appear to be preferable.

[2702] There can be little doubt that Salmasius is right in his

conjecture that the reading here should be “quingentos,” “five

hundred,” instead of “quinquagenos,” “fifty:” as it is evident from

what Pliny has said in previous Chapters, that the juices of the

pelagia were considerably more valuable than those of the buccinum.

[2703] He states this by way of warning to those who are in the habit

of paying enormous prices for dyes, such as one hundred denarii for a

pound, as mentioned in the last Chapter.

[2704] This is mentioned more fully in B. xvi. c. 84.

[2705] See B. xxxiii. c. 23. Electrum was an artificial metal,

resembling amber in colour, and consisting of gold alloyed with

one-fifth part of silver.

[2706] See B. xxxiv. c. 3. It was a mixture of gold, silver, and copper.

[2707] Described at the end of c. 62.

[2708] “Nomen improbum.”

[2709] From the Greek ὕσγινος, after the herb hysge, which was used in

dyeing. Judging from the present passage, it would almost appear to

have been the colour now known as puce. See B. xxi. c. 36 and c. 97;

and B. xxxv. c. 26.

[2710] See B. xvi. c. 8, and B. xxiv. c. 4.

[2711] See B. iv. c. 35.

[2712] This is in reality the Coccus ilicis of Linnæus, a small insect

of the genus Coccus, the female of which, when impregnated, fastens

itself to a tree from which they derive nourishment, and assumes the

appearance of a small grain: on which account they were long taken for

the seeds of the tree, and were hence called grains of kermes. They

are used as a red and scarlet dye, but are very inferior to cochineal,

which has almost entirely superseded the use of the kermes. The colour

is of a deep red, and will stand better than that of cochineal, and is

less liable to stain.

[2713] Or pina. The Pinna marina, Cuvier says, is a large bivalve

shell-fish, which is remarkable for its fine silky hair, by means of

which it fastens itself to the bottom of the sea.

[2714] The poet Oppian, Halieut. B. ii. l. 186, relates the same story

about the pinna and its protector; which is also mentioned by Cicero,

Plutarch, and Aristotle.

[2715] We have already had an account of one pinnotheres, in c. 51.

Some of the editions, however, make a difference in the spelling of the

name, and call the animal mentioned in the 51st Chapter, “pinnotheres,”

and the one here spoken of, the “pinnoteres,” the “guardian of the

pinna;” from the Greek verb τηρέω, “to keep,” or “guard.” “Pinnophylax”

has the same meaning.

[2716] Cuvier says, that in the shell of the pinna, as, in fact, of

all the bivalves, there are often found little crabs, which are, as it

were, imprisoned there; and that it is this fact that has given rise

to the story of the treaty of amity between these two animals, which

appears in various authors, and is related in various forms, which only

agree in being devoid of truth. Cuvier says that a careful distinction

must be made between the pinnotheres of this Chapter, the one of which

Aristotle makes mention, and that which is mentioned by Pliny in c. 51,

the hermit-crab of the moderns. There can, however, be but little doubt

that they are different accounts of the same animal.

[2717] The whole, nearly, of this Chapter is taken from Aristotle, B.

v. c. 16.

[2718] Plutarch speaks of this fish, in his “Treatise on the Instincts

of Animals;” also Oppian, Halieut. B. ii. l. 62. The Raia torpedo of

Linnæus, Cuvier says, has on each side of the body a galvanic organ,

which produces an electric shock, similar to that communicated by the

use of the Leyden vial. By this means it baffles its enemies, and

drives them away; or else, having stupefied them, devours them at its

leisure.

[2719] Cuvier confirms this statement. The liver of the torpedo, he

says, is very delicate eating, as, indeed, is that part in most of the

ray genus.

[2720] Oppian, Halieut. B. ii. l. 86; Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. ix. c. 24;

and Cicero, De Nat. Deor. make mention of this.

[2721] The Lophius piscatorius of Linnæus, the baudroie of the French.

This is a fish, Cuvier says, with a large wide mouth, and having

upon the top of the head moveable filaments, surmounted by a sort of

membranous lashes. It seems that it is the fact that it buries itself

in the sand, and then employs the artifice here mentioned by Pliny, for

the purpose of attracting the fish that serve as its food.

[2722] Or turbot. This fish, the Pleuronectes maximus of Linnæus, and

the Squalus squatina of Linnæus, presents no sufficiently distinct

filaments at the extremity of the fins to justify what Pliny says. But

the word “rhombus,” Cuvier says, which ordinarily means the common

turbot, here means the psetta of the Greeks, the Pleuronectes rhombus

of Linnæus, which has the anterior radii of the dorsal fin separated,

and forming small filaments. For an account of the psetta, see c. 24,

p. 396.

[2723] The sting-ray, the Raia pastinaca of Linnæus. This fish, Cuvier

says, has upon the tail a pointed spine, compressed and notched like a

saw, which forms a most dangerous weapon. It is again mentioned in c.

72 of the present Book, under its Greek name of “trigon.”

[2724] Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. ii. c. 17, and B. ix. c. 51; Oppian,

Halieut. B. ii. l. 424; and Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. vii. c. 35, make a

similar statement as to the scolopendra.

[2725] The animal, Cuvier says, which is here mentioned as the

scolopendra, is in reality of the class of worms that have red blood,

or annelides, such, for instance, as the Nereides of larger size. These

having on the sides tentacles, which bear a strong resemblance to feet,

and sharp jaws, might, he says, be very easily taken for scolopendræ.

They have also a fleshy trunk, often very voluminous, and so flexible

that it can be extended or withdrawn, according to the necessities of

the animal. It is this trunk, Cuvier thinks, that gave occasion to the

story that it could disgorge its entrails, and then swallow them again.

[2726] This fish, Cuvier says, was doubtless a species of squalus;

which have the power, in consequence of the sharpness of their saw-like

teeth, of cutting a line with the greatest ease. It is mentioned by

Aristotle, B. ix. c. 52; Ælian, Var. Hist. B. i. c. 43; and Oppian,

Halieut. B. iii. l. 144.

[2727] The fish that has been previously mentioned in c. 17 of this

Book, under the name of silurus.

[2728] “Aries.” The Delphinus orca of Linnæus. See c. 4 of the present

Book.

[2729] The zoöphytes, or the zoödendra.

[2730] The wandering urticæ, or sea-nettles, are the Medusæ of Linnæus,

the stationary nettle is the Actinia of the same naturalist.

[2731] “Carnosæ frondis his natura.”

[2732] Many species of the medusæ, Cuvier says, and other animals

of the same class, the physalus more especially, cause an itching

sensation in the skin when they are touched. This is noticed also

by Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. vii. c. 35; and by Diphilus of Siphnos, in

Athenæus, B. iii.

[2733] This is true, Cuvier says, and more especially with reference

to the actiniæ. They have the mouth provided with numerous fleshy

tentacles, by means of which they can seize very small animals which

come within their reach, which they instantly swallow.

[2734] Cuvier says, that this is the case more especially with the

medusæ and the physali.

[2735] “Ora ei in radice.” Aristotle, however, says, Hist. Anim. B.

iv. c. 5, and B. viii. c. 3, that the sea-nettle has the mouth situate

ἐν μέσῳ, “in the middle of the body.” Hardouin attempts to explain the

passage on the ground that Pliny has made a mistake, in an endeavour

to suit his similitude of a tree to the language of Aristotle. Cuvier

says, that there exists one genus or species of the medusæ, which

appears to feed itself by the aid of an apparatus of branches, and is

divided into such a multitude of filaments, almost innumerable, that it

bears a strong resemblance to the roots of a tree or vegetable. It is

this kind, he says, that he has called by the name of “Rhizostomos.”

[2736] Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 3, says the same; though,

on the other hand, in the Fourth Book, he says that the animal has no

excrements, although it has a mouth, and feeds.

[2737] Cuvier remarks, that there are a great many more than three

kinds of sponges, but that Pliny here is only enumerating those which

were employed for domestic use.

[2738] In the singular, “tragus,” from the Greek τραγὸς, a goat, on

account of their strong smell, which they contract from the mud and

slime in which they are found.

[2739] Probably from the Greek μάνος, “rare,” “in small quantities;” in

allusion to the comparative rarity of this kind of sponge.

[2740] A term merely used, as Cælius Rhodiginus says, to denote the

strength of its texture.

[2741] Cuvier says, that though sometimes shells and small animals are

found lodged in the sponge, they do not afford it any nourishment.

Having no mouth, it can only live and increase by the inhalation of

substances dissolved in the water of the sea.

[2742] “Sensere.” Cuvier says, that many observers have stated that

this is the only sign of animal life that the sponge affords; but

that Grant assures us that it does not even afford that. The fact

is, however, that “the sponge itself is a cellular, fibrous tissue,

produced by small animals, almost imperceptible, called polypi, and

living in the sea. This tissue is said to be covered in its native

state with a sort of semifluid thin coat of animal jelly, susceptible

of a slight contraction or trembling on being touched; which, in fact,

is the only symptom of vitality displayed by the sponge. After death,

this gelatinous substance disappears, and leaves only the skeleton or

sponge, formed by the combination of a multitude of small capillary

tubes, capable of receiving water in the interior, and of becoming

thereby distended. Though different in their nature, sponges are

analogous in their formation to coral. On being examined with a power

of about 500 linear, the fleshy matter of the living sponge is to be

distinctly observed, having in its interior gemmæ, which are considered

to be the young. These are occasionally given off from the mass of

living matter. The greater portion of the mass of sponge consists of

small cylindrical threads or fibres, varying in size. The spiculæ

are not found within these, but in the large and flattened fibres,

and varying in number from one to three or more, imbedded in their

substance.” _From Brande’s Dictionary._

[2743] See B. iv. c. 17.

[2744] This, to the end of the Chapter, is almost verbatim from

Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. iv. c. 17.

[2745] See B. iv. cc. 8, 10.

[2746] Ἀπλυσίαι, from ἀ, “not,” and πλύνω, “to wash.” These aplysiæ or

halcyones, Cuvier says, are a kind of sponge, of too thick and compact

a nature to admit of their being washed. It is arbitrarily, he says,

that Linnæus has applied this name to a species of the molluscæ, which

is, in reality, the sea-hare of the ancients.

[2747] It is pretty clear that under the name of “canicula,”

“dog-fish,” or “canis marinus,” “sea-dog,” Pliny includes the whole

genus of sharks.

[2748] Rondelet and Dalechamps absolutely interpret this passage as

though it were the dog-fish and flat-fish over whose eyes this cloud

comes, and the latter proceeds to describe it as a malady which hinders

the fish from taking its own part in the combat. Hardouin, however,

detects this absurdity, and justly reprehends it; though it must be

confessed that there is some obscurity in the passage, arising from the

way in which it is worded.

[2749] Cuvier thinks it not improbable that it may have been some of

the large rays that were seen by the divers, and more especially, the

largest of them all, the Cephalopterus.

[2750] “Stilos.”

[2751] Cælius Rhodigonus, B. xxv. c. 16, states that the divers for

sponges were in the habit of pouring forth oil at the bottom of the

sea, for the purpose of increasing the light there; and Pliny states

the same in B. ii. c. 106.

[2752] Cuvier says, that the name of “sacred fish” has been given to

several fish of very different character; such as the anthias, or

aulopias of Aristotle, B. ix. c. 37, the pompilus and the dolphin

(Athenæus, B. vii.), because it was thought that their presence was a

guarantee against the vicinity of dangerous fish. The authors, however,

that were consulted by Pliny, seem to have given this name to the

flat-fish, the Pleuronectes of Linnæus; and in fact, unprovided as they

are with any means of defence, their presence is not unlikely to prove,

in a very great degree, the absence of the voracious class of fishes.

[2753] It is singular that Pliny, after his numerous stories as to

the sensitiveness of numerous bivalves, should make this statement in

reference to the oyster; for, on the contrary, as Cuvier says, the

oyster, in common with the other bivalves, is extremely sensitive to

the touch.

[2754] Cuvier says, that the different zoöphytes, the sea-star, at

least, are far from having the life of vegetables only; for that they

are real animals, which have the sense of touch, a voluntary power of

motion more or less complete, and seize and devour their prey. It is

not, however, very well known, he says, what was the “holothurium” of

the ancients. Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. i. c. 1, ranks it, as well as

the oyster, among the animals which, without being attached to any

object, have not the faculty of moving; and in his work, De Part. Anim.

B. iv. c. 5, he adds, that the holothurium and the pulmo only differ

from the sponge in being detached. Cuvier is of opinion, however, that

they both belong to the halcyones, the round kinds of which easily

detach themselves from the places upon which they have grown.

[2755] Pulmo, “the sea-lungs.”

[2756] Or, as we call it, the star-fish.

[2757] “Adeoque nihil non gignitur in mari.”

[2758] “Cauponarum.” “Caupona” had two significations; that of an

inn where travellers obtained food and lodging, and that of a shop

where wine and ready-dressed meat were sold. A lower kind of inn was

the popina, which was principally frequented by the slaves and lower

classes, and was mostly used as a brothel as well.

[2759] He alludes to various kinds of sea-animals, called sea-lice and

sea-fleas. Cuvier says, that there are some crustacea which have been

called sea-fleas and sea-lice, some of which kinds are parasites, and

are attached to various fishes and cetacea. Thus, he says, a pycnogonum

is commonly named “pediculus balænæ,” or the “whale-louse;” one of the

calygæ is called the “fish-flea,” another the “mackerel-flea.” The name

of sea-flea, he observes, has been given more especially to a very

diminutive kind of shrimp, in consequence of its power of leaping from

place to place.

[2760] Aristotle says, that the chalcis is greatly tormented by

sea-fleas, which attach themselves to its gills. Cuvier remarks, that

a great number of fish are subject to have the gills attacked by

parasitical animals of the genus Lernæa or that of the monoculi of

Linnæus, which have been divided into many classes since. They have

nothing in common, he says, with the land-flea, except the name and the

property of living at the expense of other animals.

[2761] The ancients, Cuvier says, speak of their chalcis as being of

a similar nature to the thryssa and the sardine (Athenæus, B. vii.),

gregarious fishes, which live both in the sea and in fresh water, and

the flesh of which was salted. Hence he concludes that it was the

same as the Clupea ficta of Lacepède, the “finte” of the French, and

the agone of Lombardy, which unites all these characteristics, and is

sometimes called the “sardine” of the Lago di Garda.

[2762] It is mentioned again in B. xxiii. c. 3. Cuvier says, that

the sea-hare of the ancients is the mollusc to which Linnæus has

injudiciously given the name of aplysia, which Pliny gives to certain

of the sponge genus, and to which nomenclature of Linnæus the modern

naturalists have assented. (See N. [2746], p. 456.) Its tentacles and

its muzzle, he says, resemble the muzzle and ears of the hare, closely

enough to have caused this appellation. As its smell is disagreeable,

and its figure repulsive, a multitude of marvellous, and indeed fatal

qualities, he says, have been ascribed to this animal, which fishermen

still speak of, but which, nevertheless, are not confirmed by actual

experience. The only true fact that can be alleged against it is, that

it secretes from an organ, situate in its body, a kind of acrid liquid.

As to the Indian sea-hare, the body of which was covered with hair,

Cuvier professes himself quite at a loss to know what it might be; but

he thinks that this name must have been given to some tetrodon, which

may have received the name from the cleft in the jaw and the skin,

bristling with fine and minute spines. The sailors, he says, attribute

to the tetrodon certain venomous properties.

[2763] Cuvier says, that there is reason to believe that this is the

same as the vive of the French (probably our weever), the Trachinus

draco of Linnæus. This creature, with the spiny projections of its

first dorsal fin, is able to inflict wounds that are extremely

difficult to cure; not because they are venomous in any degree,

but because the extremities being very minute, sharp, and pointed,

penetrate deep into the flesh. See c. 43 of this Book.

[2764] Or sting-ray, mentioned in c. 40 and c. 67 of this Book; so

called from the Greek τρυγὼν. Cuvier says, that this sting, or spine,

is sharp, like a saw; and that when it has penetrated the flesh, it

cannot be got out without enlarging the wound. This it is, and not its

fancied poisonous qualities, that renders its wound so dangerous; and

as for its action upon trees and iron, they are entirely fabulous.

[2765] Νοσήματα λοιμώδη, as Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 25,

calls them.

[2766] Cuvier says, that there are some maladies by which individuals

are attacked; but that it is not uncommonly the case that certain

species are attacked universally, as it were, by a sort of epidemic.

There was an instance of this, he says, in the lake of the valley

of Montmorency, where numbers of the fish were suddenly to be seen

floating dead on the surface, the skin of which was covered with red

spots, while at the same time their flesh had become disagreeable to

the taste, and unwholesome.

[2767] Cuvier says, that this is not the case in general; but that

some, more especially those which are viviparous, actually do couple;

while, on the other hand, in most, the male does nothing else but

besprinkle with the milt the eggs which the female has deposited, as is

stated by Pliny a little further on.

[2768] These belong to the cetacea; which, as Cuvier says, are now

universally placed among the mammifera, and not among the fishes. They

couple, he says, in the same manner as quadrupeds do in general.

[2769] As Aristotle says, “from those that are left the fishes are

produced.”

[2770] Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 12.

[2771] It has been calculated, Cuvier says, that a female cod, or

sturgeon, produces in a year more than one hundred thousand eggs.

[2772] Cuvier says, that the eggs of the common fishes, of toads,

frogs, &c., have no shells, but only a membranous tunic; and when they

have been once fecundated, they imbibe the surrounding moisture, and

increase till they produce the animal.

[2773] It is probable, Cuvier thinks, that this passage relates more

especially to the ray genus, but that there is no very positive

knowledge as to the mode in which they do couple. It is probable, he

suggests, that they may do it in the manner above mentioned, by the

attrition of the belly. As to the turtle genus, he says, it is certain

that the male mounts the back of the female; and in some species the

sternum of the male is concave, the better to adapt itself to the

convex callipash of the female.

[2774] More properly, the physeter, passage, or orifice.

[2775] Cuvier remarks, that this account of the coupling of the

cephalopodes is taken from Aristotle. He says, that he is not aware

whether modern observation has confirmed these statements, and almost

doubts whether, considering the organization of these animals, it is

not almost more probable that they do not couple at all, and that the

male, as in the case of most other fishes, only fecundates the eggs

after they have been deposited by the female.

[2776] Cuvier says, that whatever may be the sense in which the word

“mollia” is here taken, the assertion is not correct. The gasteropod

molluscs, he says, whether hermaphroditical, or whether of separate

sexes, couple side to side. The acephalous molluscs do not couple at

all, and each individual fecundates its own eggs. The crustacea couple

by attrition of the belly.

[2777] “Tadpoles.” There is both truth and falsehood, Cuvier says,

in the statements here made relative to the tadpole. Frogs, he says,

produce eggs, from which the tadpole developes itself, with a tail like

that of a fish. The feet, however, are not produced by any bifurcation

of the tail, but shoot out at the base of the tail, and in the same

proportion that they grow, the tail decreases, till at last it entirely

disappears.

[2778] Frogs, Cuvier says, conceal themselves in mud and slime during

the winter, but, of course, are not changed into it.

[2779] “Quæ fuere.” Just in the same state, he probably means to say,

in which they were when they were melted into slime, and not as they

were when in the tadpole state.

[2780] All that is asserted here, Cuvier says, about the spontaneous

operations of nature is totally false. Everything connected with the

eggs and the generation of the mussel, the murex, and the scallop is

now clearly ascertained.

[2781] “Acescente humore.” Hardouin has suggested that the proper

reading may be “arescente humore”—“from moisture dried up;” for, he

remarks, Aristotle, in his Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 18, states, that the

“empides,” gnats formed from the ascarides in the slime of wells, are

more frequently produced in the autumn season.

[2782] The apuæ, or aphyæ, Cuvier says, are nothing else but the fry of

fish of a large kind.

[2783] Cuvier says, that some of the shell-fish deposit their eggs upon

stakes and piles, which are driven down into the water among sea-weed,

and the bottoms of old ships: but that many of them perish from the

solutions formed by those bodies in a state of rottenness, or, at all

events, are not produced from their decomposition.

[2784] “Ostreariis.” This was unknown to Aristotle, who, in his work De

Gener. Anim. B. iii. c. 11, expressly denies that the oyster secretes

any generative or fecundating liquid.

[2785] Cuvier says, that at the time of the oyster spawning, its

body appears swollen in some parts with a milky fluid, which is not

improbably the fecundating fluid. During this season the oyster is

generally looked upon as unfit for food; among us, from the beginning

of May to the end of July.

[2786] This, Cuvier remarks, is a mere vague hypothesis, as to the

reproduction of the eel, without the slightest foundation. Pliny

borrows it from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 9.

[2787] The squatina and the ray do not interbreed, Cuvier observes, any

more than other fish; and the Squatina raia, or rhinobatis, (which was

said to be their joint production), is a particular species, more flat

in form than the squalus, and longer than the ray.

[2788] Ῥινόβατος, “the squatinoraia.”

[2789] “Lupus.” The Perca labrax of Linnæus; see c. 28 of the present

Book.

[2790] The sardine. See c. 20 of the present Book.

[2791] See c. 71 of the present Book.

[2792] This name, Cuvier says, appears so rarely in the ancient

writers, that it is difficult to ascertain its exact signification.

The moderns, he says, have pretty generally agreed to give it to the

carp, but without any good and sufficient foundation. It was a lake

or river fish, which, as Aristotle says, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 14,

deposited its eggs five or six times in the year, and which had a

palate so fleshy, that it might almost be mistaken for a tongue, B. iv.

c. 8, characteristics that appear well suited to the carp. But then, on

the other hand, Oppian mentions it, Halieut. B. i., as a shore fish,

implying apparently that it belonged to the sea; and Pliny himself, in

c. 25 of the present Book, does the same, by his words, “hoc et in mari

accidere cyprino.” The words “in mari,” however, he has added, of his

own accord, to the account which he has derived from Aristotle.

[2793] The fish called the sea-scorpion. Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. v.

c. 11.

[2794] “Sola autumno, occasu Vergiliarum.” It seems questionable

whether the reading should not be “solea:” “the sole in autumn, at the

setting of the Vergiliæ.”

[2795] The Pleiades.

[2796] See c. 40 of the present Book.

[2797] Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 11.

[2798] “Prosequitur afflatu.” Aristotle says that it pours over them

its ink or atramentum, καταφυσᾷ τὸν θόλον.

[2799] Philostratus, Hist. B. v. c. 17, says that so full is it of

eggs, that after it is dead they will more than fill a vessel far

larger than the cavities of its head.

[2800] Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 14.

[2801] Our periwinkles.

[2802] All the chondropterygian fishes, Cuvier says, have, in addition

to their ovaries, real oviducts, which the ordinary fishes have not;

the lower part of which, being detached, acts as the uterus, into which

the eggs descend when they have gained their proper size: and it is

here that the young ones burst forth from the egg, when the parent

animal is viviparous.

[2803] Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 13, says the same of the

glanis, or silurus.

[2804] The Syngnathus acus of Linnæus. This fish, Cuvier says, and in

general all of the same genus, has a channel situate under the tail,

which is opened by two moveable valves. In this they deposit their eggs

at the moment of excluding them. After this, the valves open, to give a

passage to the eggs, or the young enclosed in them. This circumstance,

he says, gave rise to the notion mentioned in the text.

[2805] Mentioned in c. 35 of the present Book. Cuvier says that the

sea tortoises, or turtles, to which no doubt this animal belonged, do

deposit their eggs much in the way here mentioned.

[2806] Both these fishes have been mentioned in c. 23 of the present

Book.

[2807] Pliny means to say, Cuvier says, that all these fish are to be

looked upon as females: and, in fact, he says, Cavolini discovered eggs

and a milt in every one that he examined; so that they appear to have

all the appliances of self-fecundation.

[2808] Or wheel-fish: from the Greek τροχὸς, “a wheel.” It is not

clearly known what animal he alludes to under this name. Snails, Cuvier

says, are hermaphrodites, and so is the helix, but still they require

sexual connection for the purposes of reproduction. The greater part of

the marine uni-valves, on the other hand, are of separate sexes; but

the organ of the male being proportionally of great length, and coiled

in part beneath its mantle, this fact may very possibly have given rise

to the notion here mentioned by our author, that the animal impregnates

itself.

[2809] This can only be understood, Cuvier says, as applying to those

animals the young of which are still enveloped in the membranes of the

egg; for in general, the young of fish, from the moment of their birth,

have eyes of great beauty, and are remarkable for the quickness of

their sight.

[2810] From the Greek παυσίλυπον, “grief-assuaging.” This was the name

of a splendid villa belonging to Vedius Pollio, and which he bequeathed

to Augustus. It was famous for its fish preserves; and it was here

probably that Pollio kept his murenæ, previously mentioned by Pliny as

being fed on human flesh. The vicinity is still called Monte Posilipo.

[2811] “Cæsaris piscinis.” This may either mean, preserves which had

their name from Cæsar, or preserves which afterwards belonged to Cæsar.

The work of Seneca, in which this circumstance was mentioned, is no

longer in existence.

[2812] He was a contemporary of L. Crassus, and was distinguished for

his great wealth, and his love of luxury and refinement, but possessed

an unblemished character. His surname, Orata or Aurata, was given to

him, it is said, because he was remarkably fond of gold-fish—auratæ

pisces—though, according to other authorities, it was because he was in

the habit of wearing two very large gold rings.

[2813] “Pensiles balineas.” This expression has been differently

rendered by various commentators, but it is now generally supposed to

refer to the manner in which the flooring of the bathing rooms was

suspended over the hollow cells of the hypocaust or heating furnace.

This is called by Vitruvius, “Suspensura caldariorum.”

[2814] “Ita mangonicatas villas subinde vendendo.”—By the use of the

word “ita,” Pliny may possibly mean that he was in the habit of filling

up the villas with the “balineæ pensiles,” which he had invented.

“Mangonizo” was to set off or trim up a thing, that it might sell again

all the better.

[2815] Varro speaks of those of Tarentum, as being the best. The Greeks

preferred the oysters of Abydos; the Romans, under the empire, those of

Britain.

[2816] It does not appear to be known what two bridges are here alluded

to; the Sublician, or wooden bridge, was probably one of them, and,

perhaps, the Palatine bridge was the other. The former was built by

Ancus Martius.

[2817] For some further account of the British oyster, see B. xxxii. c.

21.

[2818] See B. xxxii. c. 21.

[2819] He was the first of this family, a branch of the Licinian gens,

who bore the surname of Murena, from his love for that fish, it was

said. He, like his father P. Licinius, attained the rank of prætor, and

was a contemporary of the orator, L. Crassus.

[2820] “Euripum.”

[2821] “Xerxen togatum,” or “the Roman Xerxes,” in allusion to Xerxes

cutting a canal through the Isthmus, which connected the Peninsula of

Mount Athos with Chalcidice. See B. iv. c. 17, and the Note, vol. i. p.

300.

[2822] Probably the same person as the C. Hirrius Posthumius, who is

mentioned as a voluptuary by Cicero, De Fin. B. ii. c. 22, § 70. Varro

speaks of him, as expending the rent of his houses, amounting to twelve

millions of sesterces, in bait for his murenæ.

[2823] This is, probably, the meaning of “quadragies” here, though it

has been translated 400,000.

[2824] See B. iii. c. 9.

[2825] Porphyry, Tzetzes, and Macrobius relate the same story.

[2826] See B. vii. c. 18, and B. xxxv. c. 36. Her grandson, Caligula,

is supposed to have hastened her death.

[2827] Hirpinius is the more common reading. He is mentioned in B.

viii. c. 78. If the reading “Lupinus” is adopted, nothing seems to be

known of this epicurean trifler.

[2828] Our periwinkles.

[2829] See B. iii. c. 17.

[2830] Off the coast of Africa, see B. v. c. 1. These periwinkles, or

sea-snails, are again mentioned in B. xxx. c. 15.

[2831] “Sapa.” Must, or new wine, boiled down to one half, according to

Pliny; and one third, according to Varro.

[2832] The “quadrans” contained three cyathi, and was the fourth part

of a sextarius, which consisted of about a pint and a-half; in which

case the contents of one of their shells would be no less than fifteen

quarts!! A statement to which no credit can be attached, unless,

indeed, the sea-snail was something quite different to our periwinkle.

[2833] Cuvier remarks, that nothing is known of the fish of the

Euphrates here mentioned by Pliny from Theophrastus; as, indeed, all

particulars relative to the fresh-water fish of foreign countries are

the portion of Ichthyology with which we are the least acquainted.

Judging, however, from what is stated as to their habits and

appearance, they may he various species of the genus Gobius of Linnæus,

and more especially the one called periophthalmus by Bloch. These

species are in the habit of crawling along the grass on the banks of

rivers.

[2834] Generally considered the same as our gudgeon. It is called

“cobio” (from the Greek κωβιὸς), by Pliny, in B. xxxii. c. 53. It was a

worthless fish, “Vilis piscis,” as Juvenal says.

[2835] What Heraclea, if that is the correct reading, is meant here, it

is impossible to say. Cromna is mentioned in B. vi. c. 2.

[2836] Cuvier thinks, that Pliny here alludes to a species of loche,

the Cobitis fossilis of Linnæus, which keeps itself concealed in the

mud, and can survive a long time in it, after the water above it is

absorbed. Hence it is often found alive in the mud of drained marshes,

or in the dried-up beds of rivers.

[2837] Cuvier remarks, that many fish, the orifice of the gills of

which, like those of the eel, is small, or which have in the interior

of those parts organs proper for the preservation there of water,

are able, like the eel, to live for some time on dry land; such, for

instance, as the periophthalmi previously mentioned, the chironectes,

the ophicephali, the anabas, and others; but it is difficult to say,

he observes, of what species were those of the Lycus, which are here

mentioned.

[2838] Or turtle. See c. 12 of the present Book.

[2839] It is most probable that Sillig is right in his supposition,

that “quam” should be read “æquam;” otherwise it does not appear that

any sense can be made of the passage. Schneider, in his commentaries

upon Theophrastus, Sillig says, quite despaired of either amending or

explaining this passage; which, however, with Sillig’s emendation is

very easily to be understood.

[2840] In accordance with the opinion of Vossius and Sillig, we read

here “in illis,” instead of the common, and most probably incorrect,

reading, “in nullis.”

[2841] Pomponius Mela, B. i. c. 9., and Ovid, Met. B. i. l. 422, _et

seq._, tell the same story, which, however, has no truth in it whatever.

[2842] B. v. c. 35.

[2843] Oppian, Halieut. B. iii. c. 305, et seq., tells a similar story

as to the mode of taking the anthias, with some slight variation,

however.

[2844] “Damni formulam editam.”

[2845] Cuvier says, that the star-fish, the Asterias of Linnæus, is

covered with a callous shell without, and has within only the viscera

and the ovaria, apparently without any muscles. Aristotle reckons it

among the fishes which he calls ὀστρακοδέρματα, or hard-shelled fish;

while, on the other hand, Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xi. c. 22, reckons it

among the μαλακόστρακα, or soft-shelled fish.

[2846] Cuvier says, that Pliny has good reason to say that he does

not know upon what authority this power has been attributed to the

star-fish; as it is altogether fabulous.

[2847] “Or finger.” The same fish that have been mentioned as “ungues,”

or “onyches,” in c. 51 of the present Book. They are a multivalve

shell-fish, Cuvier says, which live in hardened mud or the interior of

rocks, into which they burrow cavities, from which they cannot retreat;

and they can only be taken by breaking the stone. They have a flavour

like pepper, and give out a phosphorescent light. See the end of c. 51.

[2848] Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. ix. c. 3. Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. v. c.

48.

[2849] Aristotle says, that the tail of the conger is bitten by the

murena, but not that of the murena by the conger. Hardouin suggests

that Pliny may have learned this fact from the works of Nigidius

Figulus.

[2850] Cuvier remarks, that in another passage, B. xi. c. 62, Pliny

states that the “musculus qui balænam antecedit” has no teeth, but

only bristles in its mouth. Now, in B. xxxii. c. 53, he speaks of the

musculus as among the largest of animals; from which Cuvier concludes

it to have been a species of whale, probably the “rorqual” of the

Mediterranean. In confirmation of this, he thinks that the word

“antecedit,” in B. xi. c. 62. has not the meaning of “goes before,” but

“exceeds in size;” though here it is spoken of as leading the whale;

and Oppian, Ælian, Plutarch, Claudian, speak of the conductor of the

whale as a little fish. He is of opinion, in fine, that either Pliny

or some of the authors from which he has borrowed, have made a mistake

in the name, and probably given that of “musculus,” which was really a

large fish, to a small one, which was commonly supposed to attend on

the movements of the whale.

[2851] It is evident from this passage, that Pliny is speaking of a

little fish here, and not one to which he would assign such bulk as is

ascribed to the musculus in B. xxxii. c. 53.

[2852] See end of B. iii.

[2853] See end of B. vii.

[2854] Caius Cilnius Mecænas, or rather Mæcenas, a descendant of the

kings of Etruria, and of equestrian rank. He was the favourite minister

of Augustus, and the friend and patron of Horace, Virgil, and most of

the more deserving among the learned of his day. He is supposed to have

written two tragedies, the Prometheus and Octavia; an epic poem, and a

work on Natural History, to which Pliny frequently alludes, and which

seems to have related, principally, to fishes and gems. He is also

thought to have written some memoirs of the life of Augustus.

[2855] A rhetorician, who flourished in the reigns of Augustus and

Tiberius. His school was attended by the elder Seneca, who had then

recently removed to Rome from Corduba. He was regarded at Rome as a

prodigy of learning, and gave lectures before he had assumed the toga

virilis. He is supposed to have written poetry, and a history of the

Carthaginian wars.

[2856] See end of B. ii.

[2857] Or “writer of Mimes.” Laberius Decimus was of equestrian rank,

born about B.C. 107, and died B.C. 43. Half compelled, and half induced

by the offer of a reward by Cæsar, he appeared on the stage, in his

old age, as an actor of mimes. A few verses, and a prologue still in

existence, are attributed to him.

[2858] Fabianus Papirius. See end of B. ii.

[2859] See end of B. viii.

[2860] See end of B. ii.

[2861] L. Ælius Præconinus Stilo, a Roman of equestrian rank, one of

the earliest grammarians, and also one of the most celebrated. He

instructed Varro, and was one of Cæsar’s instructors in rhetoric. He

received the name of Præconinus, from the circumstance of his father

having been a “præco,” and that of Stilo, on account of his writings.

He wrote commentaries on the songs of the Salii, and on the Twelve

Tables, a work De Proloquiis, &c.

[2862] See end of B. ii.

[2863] See end of B. vii.

[2864] L. Annæus Seneca. See end of B. vi.

[2865] See end of B. vii.

[2866] A poet of Verona, who died B.C. 16, He wrote a poem upon birds,

snakes, and medicinal plants, in imitation, probably, of the Theriaca

of Nicander. There is a work, still extant, under his name, “On the

Virtues of Herbs;” which, no doubt, belongs to the middle ages. He also

wrote sixteen or more Books of Annals.

[2867] M. Valerius Messala Corvinus. He was born at Rome, B.C. 59. He

joined the party of Cassius against Antony and Augustus, which last he

defeated at the battle of Philippi. He afterwards served under Antony,

and then Augustus; the centre of whose fleet he commanded at Actium.

About two years before his death, which happened in the middle of the

reign of Augustus, his memory failed him, and he was often unable to

recollect his own name. He wrote a history, or rather, commentaries on

the Civil wars after the death of Cæsar, and towards the close of his

life composed a genealogical work “On the Families of Rome.” He also

wrote poems of a satirical, and sometimes licentious character; and

works on grammar, the titles of only two of which have come down to us.

He was especially famous for his eloquence.

[2868] See end of B. viii.

[2869] See end of B. vi.

[2870] See end of B. ii.

[2871] See end of B. viii.

[2872] See end of B. iv.

[2873] See end of B. ii.

[2874] See end of B. iii.

[2875] See end of B. ii.

[2876] Nothing whatever is known of him.

[2877] See end of B. iii.

[2878] Cuvier remarks, that the accounts given by the ancients of

birds, are enveloped in greater obscurity than their information on

quadrupeds, or fishes. The quadrupeds, he says, are not so numerous,

and are known from their characteristics. The fishes also, which the

ancients so highly esteemed as an article of food, were well known to

them in general, and they have repeated occasions to speak of them:

but as to the birds, the augurs were their principal informants.

Pliny, in fact, often quotes their testimony; and we find, from what

he says, that these men had not come to any agreement among themselves

as to what were the names of divers species of birds, the movements

of which announced, according to them, the success or misfortune of

states equally with individuals. This portion, in fact, of the works

of Pliny, Cuvier remarks, is an excellent commentary on the remark of

Cicero, who, an augur himself, asked the question, how two augurs could

look each other in the face without laughing. There are also several

passages from Aristotle, who has, however, given but very little

attention to the exterior characteristics of birds: it is only from the

similarity of their habits and present names that we are able, in many

cases, to guess what bird it is that is meant.

[2879] “Struthiocamelus;” from the Greek, signifying a “little

sparrow,” and a “camel.” Cuvier remarks, that Pliny’s description is

correct, and that he is only mistaken in a few slight particulars.

[2880] Pliny perhaps here uses the conjunction “vel” in the explanatory

sense of “otherwise;” intending to distinguish Æthiopian Africa from

the Roman province of that name.

[2881] Cuvier remarks, that there is some truth in this, so far as

that the ostrich has only two toes, like the stag and other ruminating

animals; but then they are unequal in size, and not covered with hoofs.

[2882] Father Lobo, in his account of Abyssinia, says that when the

ostrich is running at great speed, it throws the stones behind with

such violence, that they would almost seem to be thrown at those in

pursuit.

[2883] An ostrich, Cuvier says, will swallow anything, but it is by no

means able to digest everything. He says, that he has seen ostriches

with the stomach ruptured by nails which they have swallowed, or

dreadfully torn by pieces of glass.

[2884] It has been remarked by Diodorus Siculus, B. ii., that so far

from displaying stupidity in acting thus, it adopts a wise precaution,

its head being its most weak and defenceless part.

[2885] Cuvier states that its egg is equal to twenty-four to

twenty-eight fowls’ eggs, and that he had frequently eaten of them, and

found them very delicate.

[2886] “Ferunt.” With regard to this verb, Cuvier remarks, that it is

equivocal; and that it is very possible that the writer intends to say,

not that India and Æthiopia _produce_ these marvellous birds, but that

the people of those countries _report_ or _relate_ marvellous stories

touching those birds. It is clear that he does not believe in the

existence of the phœnix.

[2887] Cuvier remarks, that all these relations are neither more nor

less than so many absurd fables or pure allegories, but that the

description given is exactly that of a bird which does exist, the

golden pheasant, namely. The description given is probably taken from

the pretended phœnix that Pliny mentions as having been brought to Rome

in the reign of Claudius. It is not improbable, he thinks, that this

may have been a golden pheasant, brought from the interior of Asia,

when the pursuits of commerce had as yet hardly extended so far, and to

which those who showed it gave, most probably, the name of the phœnix.

Ajasson is of opinion, that under the story of the phœnix an allegory

was concealed, and thinks it may not improbably have been employed to

pourtray the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. Bailly, _Hist.

de l’Astronomie_, thinks that it bore reference to the great canicular

year of the Egyptians.

[2888] Borrowed from Herodotus, B. ii. c. 73.

[2889] The MSS. vary considerably as to the number. Some make it 540

years, others 511, others 40, and others 560.

[2890] Mentioned also, B. vii. c. 57.

[2891] 532 years, according to Hardouin. Bailly says: “The first men

who studied the heavens remarked that the revolution of the sun brought

back the seasons in the same order. They thought that they observed

that certain variations of the temperature depended upon the aspect of

the moon, and attached different prognostics to the rising and setting

of the stars, persuading themselves that the vicissitudes of things

here below had regulated periods, like the movements of the heavenly

bodies. From this arose the impression, that the same aspect, the same

arrangement of all the stars, that had prevailed at the commencement

of the world, would also attend its destruction; and that the period

of this long revolution was the predestined duration of the life of

nature. Another impression was the idea that the world would only

perish at this epoch to be born again, and for the same order of things

to recommence with the same series of celestial phenomena. Some fixed

this universal renovation at the conjunction of all the planets, others

at the return of the stars to the same point of the ecliptic; others,

uniting these two kinds of revolutions, marked the term of the duration

of all things at the moment at which the planets and the stars would

return to the same primitive situation with regard to the ecliptic, or

in other words, they conceived an immense period, which would include

one or more complete revolutions of each of the planets. All these

periods were called the ‘great year,’ or the ‘great revolution.’”

_Histoire de l’Astronomie Ancienne._

[2892] A.U.C. 657.

[2893] A.U.C. 789.

[2894] A public place in the Forum, where the comitia curiata were

held, and certain offences tried and punished.

[2895] Cuvier remarks, that this passage is borrowed, with some

changes, from Aristotle’s “History of Animals,” B. ix. c. 32, but that

the account given by Pliny is not very easily explained, from the fact

that the word _eagle_ is not used by him in a rigorous acceptation

of the word. Indeed it is only at the present day that any accurate

knowledge has been obtained as to the different species of eagles,

and the changes of colour to which they are subject with the advance

of age; circumstances which have caused the species of them to be

multiplied by naturalists. It is very doubtful, he says, whether

Aristotle has distinguished the various kinds any better than Pliny;

although Buffon, who himself was not very successful in distinguishing

them, says that Aristotle understood more on the subject than the

moderns.

[2896] Μελανάετος, or the “black eagle.” Cuvier says, that this

description is copied exactly from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. ix. c. 32.

This eagle, he says, cannot be, as is commonly supposed, the “common

eagle.” It can only be, he thinks, the “small” eagle, the female of

which, according to Nauman and Savigny, when it is old is almost all

black, and without spots; only the young being spotted.

[2897] From the Greek πυγὴ ἀργὴ, “white tail.” Cuvier remarks, that

this is copied exactly from Aristotle, except that he says nothing

about the whiteness of the tail, which is an interpolation. The

feathers as described agree with those of the common eagle, the Falco

fulvus, which is strong enough to seize a fawn. As regards its habit,

he says, of dwelling on plains, that would agree better with the Jean

le blanc of the French, the Falco Gallicus; while the name of pygargus

is commonly applied, at the present day, to the great sea-eagle, the

Falco albicilla; which frequents lakes and the sea-shore, and therefore

corresponds more nearly with the haliætus of Pliny.

[2898] Cuvier says, that he is almost tempted to believe that it is

the balbusard, the Falco haliætus, that is here meant, as it has a

black back, and lives in the vicinity of lakes. But then, he remarks,

it lives on fish and not aquatic birds; while, on the other hand, the

little eagle of Buffon, the Falco nævio, often seizes ducks and other

aquatic animals. He is inclined then, notwithstanding the apparent

confusion, to take this morphnos for the modern small eagle. The words

μορφνὸς and περκνὸς signify “black.”

[2899] From the Greek, meaning “black wing.”

[2900] “Mountain stork.” Buffon thinks that this is the great brown

vulture; Cuvier, the great white-headed eagle.

[2901] Γνήσιος. “True-born,” “genuine.” Cuvier thinks that this may be

the royal or imperial eagle, Falco imperialis.

[2902] The great sea-eagle, according to Cuvier, the varieties of

which (in age) are called by Linnæus “Falco albicaudus,” and “Falco

ossifraga.”

[2903] See Lucan, B. ix. l. 902.

[2904] He contradicts himself, for he has already stated that it is the

sixth species.

[2905] “Barbata.” Cuvier takes it to be the læmmer-geyer, or Gypaëtus,

the only bird of prey that has a beard.

[2906] Or eagle-stone. See B. xxxvi. c. 39. He does not there mention

that it is combustible. It is not impossible that pieces of aëtites, or

ferruginous geodes, may have been found in an eagle’s nest.

[2907] Fora.

[2908] Albertus Magnus says that he knows this by actual experience:

“credat Judæus.”

[2909] Ordinem.

[2910] See Virgil, Æn. B. xi. l. 755, _et seq._ By the “dragon,” he

means some large serpent.

[2911] “Heroum.”

[2912] The great European vulture.

[2913] Their nests are seldom seen, in consequence of being concealed

in the crags of the highest mountains, the Pyrenees, for instance.

[2914] “Three” seems a better reading. Aristotle says “two.”

[2915] Ovid, in his “Art of Love,” speaks of the use of eggs in

purifications made by lovesick damsels. See B. ii. l. 330.

[2916] This story arises from the extreme acuteness of their power of

smelling a dead body. The Egyptians said that the vulture foreknows the

field of battle seven days.

[2917] Festus says, also, that it is the ossifrage, and was so called

from the god Sancus.

[2918] Aristotle says ten.

[2919] A mere fable. Cuvier says that the ægithus of Aristotle was

probably a kind of sparrow.

[2920] Said to be three in number; a mere fable. The buzzard probably

is meant.

[2921] The family of the Buteones belonged to the gens Fabia.

[2922] Cuvier thinks that he means to identify this kind with the

triorchis, of which Aristotle says that it is to be seen at all seasons.

[2923] See B. vi. c. 36.

[2924] Cuvier remarks, that we here find the art of falconry in its

rough state. It was restored to Europe, no doubt, by the Crusaders. See

Beckmann’s Hist. Inventions, vol. i. p. 201. _Bohn’s Edition._

[2925] “Missas in sublime sibi excipere eos.” The meaning is very

doubtful.

[2926] The whole of this passage is, most probably, a gloss or

interpolation.

[2927] This is denied by Albertus Magnus.

[2928] Cuvier remarks, that Pliny has erroneously joined the account

given by Aristotle of the cybindis, to that of the hybris, or ptynx. He

takes the cybindis to be the “Strix Uralensis” of Pallas.

[2929] Cuvier says, that this notion is still entertained by the French

peasantry.

[2930] This is not the case. It only lays in the nests of insectivorous

birds.

[2931] Cuvier remarks, that this is not a very good reason; but we have

not yet been able to find a better.

[2932] Cuvier denies this story, but says, that when the foster-mother

is a very small bird, the young cuckoo will take the whole of her head

in his beak when receiving food.

[2933] “Curse on your ill-betiding croak.” See “The Farmer’s Wife and

the Raven,” in Gay’s Fables.

[2934] Aristotle says, that it was never to be seen in the Acropolis or

Citadel of Athens.

[2935] Only the case with the large raven, or Corvus corax of Linnæus,

the others living in flocks.

[2936] Doé says, that this is incorrect; the beak of the raven not

being of a similar form to that of the pigeon.

[2937] Or else, “The Median guests.” It is not known to what he

alludes. Alexander ab Alexandro says, that both Alexander the Great and

Cicero were warned of their deaths by the raven.

[2938] “Noctua, bubo, ulula.” It is very doubtful what birds are

meant by these names. Cuvier has been at some pains to identify them,

and concludes that the noctua, or glaux of Aristotle, is the Strix

brachyotas of Linnæus, the “short-eared screech-owl;” the bubo, the

Strix bubo of Linnæus, and the ulula, the Strix aluco of Linnæus; our

madgehowlet, grey or brown owl.

[2939] Seventh of March. The year of their consulship is not known.

[2940] Cuvier suggests, that it may be the coracias of Aristotle, our

jackdaw probably, the Corvus graculus of Linnæus. It has been said,

that in its admiration of shining objects, it will take up a burning

coal; a trick which has before now caused conflagrations. Servius

speaks of it as frequenting funeral piles.

[2941] A.U.C. 647.

[2942] “Spinturnix” and “clivia” were names given by the augurs

probably to some kinds of birds.

[2943] Cuvier ridicules the excessive ignorance of the augurs. It is

with the beak that the young bird breaks the shell.

[2944] See B. xxv. c. 5.

[2945] Picus, the son of Saturn, king of Latium. He was skilled in

augury, and was said to have been changed into a woodpecker. See Ovid,

Met. B. xiv. l. 314.; Virgil, Æn. B. vii. c. 187. See also Ovid, Fasti,

B. iii. l. 37.

[2946] Valerius Maximus, B. v. c. 6, says, that seventeen members of

this family fell at the battle of Cannæ.

[2947] “Oscines” and “alites.” This was a distinction made by the

augurs, but otherwise of little utility, as all the birds with a note

fly as well.

[2948] See the story of the eyes of Argus transferred to the peacock’s

tail. Ovid, Met. B. i. l. 616.

[2949] It would be curious to know how the goose manifests its modesty,

or “verecundia.” We are equally at a loss with Pliny to discover it.

[2950] Tribune of the people, B.C. 61. He was maternal grandfather of

the Empress Livia. “Lurco” means a “glutton.”

[2951] About 12,270 francs, Ajasson says.

[2952] See B. viii. c. 19.

[2953] Possibly Media; Varro says, “Medicos.”

[2954] “Tripudia solistima.” An omen derived from the feeding of the

fowls, when they devoured their food with such avidity, that it fell

from their mouths and rebounded from the ground.

[2955] By the auspices which they afforded.

[2956] Mentioned by Cicero, De Divin. B. i.

[2957] The same too at Athens, in one of the theatres, in remembrance,

Ælian says, of the victory gained by Themistocles over the Persians.

[2958] A.U.C. 676.

[2959] When the Capitol was besieged by the Gauls.

[2960] Near Patræ, in Achaia. Ælian gives his name as Amphilochus.

[2961] A singular quality in a goose. Ælian says, that Lacydes was a

peripatetic philosopher, and that he honoured the goose with splendid

obsequies, when it died.

[2962] See B. viii. c. 77. Horace also mentions that they were fattened

with figs.

[2963] “Lacte mulso.” Perhaps honey, wine, and milk.

[2964] In Gaul. See B. iv. c. 31.

[2965] “Gans” is still the German name. Hence our word “gander.”

[2966] This medicament is further treated of in B. xxix. c. 13.

[2967] “The Commagenian mixture.” For Commagene, see B. v. cc. 13 and

20.

[2968] The “goose-fox,” so called, according to Ælian, for its cunning

and mischievous qualities; and worshipped by the Egyptians for its

affection for its young. It is supposed by Cuvier to be the Anas

Ægyptiaca of Buffon.

[2969] The Anas clypeata of Buffon, according to Cuvier.

[2970] The Tetrao tetrix of Linnæus, or heathcock.

[2971] The Tetrao urogallus of Linnæus, according to Cuvier.

[2972] The Otis tarda of Linnæus. Cuvier says, that it is not the case

that they are bad eating, and remarks that birds have _no_ marrow in

the larger bones.

[2973] Doé thinks that the spinal marrow is meant.

[2974] B. iv. c. 18, and B. vii. c. 2.

[2975] In B. vii. c. 2, Pliny speaks of the Pygmies as living to the

far East of India.

[2976] See B. iv. cc. 20 and 26; and B. vi. c. 2.

[2977] The “village of the Python,” or “serpent.” Gueroult suggests

that this may he Serponouwtzi, beyond the river Oby, in Siberia.

[2978] Thirteenth of August.

[2979] M. Mauduit has a learned discussion in Panckouke’s Translation,

vol. viii., many pages in length; in which he satisfactorily shows

that this is not entirely fabulous, but that the wild swan of the

northern climates really is possessed of a tuneful note or cadence. Of

course, the statement that it only sings just before its death, must be

rejected as fabulous.

[2980] The “mother of the quails.” Frederic II., in his work, De Arte

Venandi, calls the “rallus,” or “rail,” the “leader of the quails.”

[2981] From γλωττὰ, “a tongue.” It is not known what bird is alluded to.

[2982] Bellon thinks that this is the _proyer_, or _prayer_, of the

French; Aldrovandus considers it to be the ortolan.

[2983] Gesner suggests from “asinus,” an “ass;” its feathers sticking

up like the ears of that animal. Dalechamps thinks it is because its

voice resembles the braying of an ass; the name “otus” is from the

Greek for “ear.”

[2984] Either hemlock or hellebore.

[2985] “Despui suetum.” See B. xxviii. c. 7. As Hardouin says, in

modern times they are considered delicate eating; but Schenkius,

Obsers. Med. B. i., states, that if the bird has eaten hellebore,

epilepsy is the consequence to the person who partakes of its flesh.

[2986] See B. iv. c. 18.

[2987] A friend of Augustus, sent by him with proposals to Antony, B.C.

41.

[2988] The colour of the “factio,” or “party” of charioteers. See p.

217.

[2989] Galgulus.

[2990] Cuvier suggests, that these birds may have been the Tringa

pugnax of Linnæus and Buffon, the males of which engage in most bloody

combats with each other on the banks of rivers, in spring.

[2991] No doubt, as Cuvier says, this was the Numida meleagris of

Linnæus, Guinea hen, or pintada. Cuvier remarks that they are very

pugnacious birds.

[2992] See B. v. c. 22.

[2993] Cuvier suggests, that these birds may have been of the starling

genus, perhaps the Tardus roseus of Linnæus.

[2994] The “hunter of flies.”

[2995] Suetonius says, that when Tiberius was staying at Rhodes, an

eagle perched on the roof of his house; such a bird having never been

seen before on the island.

[2996] See B. iii. c. 21.

[2997] It is still noted for its thieving propensities; witness the

English story of the Maid and the Magpie, and the Italian opera of “La

Gazza Ladra.” Cicero says, “They would no more trust gold with you,

than with a jackdaw.” See also Ovid’s Met. B. vii. It is the Corvus

pica of Linnæus.

[2998] “Mottled pies.”

[2999] See B. iv. c. 12.

[3000] Asia Minor, most probably. The assertion, though supported by

Theophrastus, is open to doubt.

[3001] See B. viii. c. 83.

[3002] It was the nightingale that was said to be “Vox et præterea

nihil;” “A voice, and nothing else.”

[3003] As there may be different opinions on the meaning of the various

parts of this passage, it is as well to transcribe it for the benefit

of the reader, the more especially as, contrary to his usual practice,

Pliny is here in a particularly discursive mood. “Nunc continuo spiritu

trahitur in longum, nunc variatur inflexo, nunc distinguitur conciso,

copulatur intorto, promittitur revocato, infuscatur ex inopinato,

interdum et secum ipse murmurat, plenus, gravis, acutus, creber,

extentus; ubi visum est, vibrans, summus, medius, imus.”

[3004] 1227 francs, Ajasson says.

[3005] Something very similar to this, we often see practised by the

water-warblers in our streets.

[3006] Cuvier supposes that this is one of the fly-catchers; the

“Muscicapa atricapilla” of Linnæus, which changes in appearance

entirely after the breeding season.

[3007] The “black-head.”

[3008] Cuvier thinks that this is the wall nightingale, the Motacilla

phœnicurus of Linnæus, which is not seen in winter. On the other hand,

the Motacilla rubecula of Linnæus, or red-throat, is only seen during

the winter, and being like the other bird, may have been taken for it,

and named “phœnicurus.”

[3009] This is not the case. Aristotle only says that it builds its

nest of human ordure; a story probably without any foundation, but

still prevalent among the French peasantry.

[3010] It has not been identified with precision. Pliny, B. xviii. c.

69 calls it a small bird. Some make it the popinjay; others, with more

probability, the lapwing. Horace, B. iii. Ode 27, mentions it as the

parra, a bird of ill omen.

[3011] The Oriolus luteus, or witwall, according to Linnæus.

[3012] White blackbirds (if we may employ the paradox) are a distinct

variety, according to Cuvier, to be found in various countries, though

but rarely.

[3013] This is from Herodotus, but it is incorrect. The black, or

rather green ibis, Cuvier says, the Scolopax falcinellus of Linnæus, is

found not only near Pelusium, but all over the south of Europe.

[3014] He alludes to the nightingale, mentioned in c. 43.

[3015] The king-fisher, or Alcedo ispida of Linnæus. There is no truth

whatever in this favourite story of the ancients.

[3016] In copying from Aristotle, he has put “collum,” by mistake, for

“rostrum,” the “beak.”

[3017] This bird in reality builds no nest, but lays its eggs in holes

on the water side. The objects taken for its nest are a zoophyte called

_halcyonium_ by Linnæus, as Cuvier informs us, and similar in shape to

a nest.

[3018] Or didapper.

[3019] The first is the common chimney swallow. This latter one, Cuvier

says, is either the window swallow, the Hirundo urbica of Linnæus, or

else the martinet, the Hirundo apus of Linnæus.

[3020] The bank swallow, or Hirundo riparia of Linnæus.

[3021] Cuvier thinks that this is either the _remiz_, the Parus

pendulinus of Linnæus, or else the moustache, the Parus biarmicus of

Linnæus.

[3022] Not moss, Cuvier says, but blades of grass, and the silken

fibres of the poplar and other aquatic trees.

[3023] Cuvier thinks that it is the same bird as the vitiparra of Pliny.

[3024] Galgulus.

[3025] This story, in all its extravagance, is related first by

Herodotus, and then by Aristotle, who has reduced it to its present

dimensions, as given by Pliny.

[3026] Cuvier suggests that, if at all based upon truth, this may have

been the case in one instance, and then ascribed to the whole species.

[3027] The Merops apiaster of Linnæus, or bee-eater.

[3028] Cuvier says that the red partridge, the Tetrao rufus of Linnæus,

is meant.

[3029] The same wonderful story is told by Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. v.

c. 5, and by Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xvii. c. 15.

[3030] “Metu.” Aristotle says, by sexual passion. The reading is

probably corrupt here.

[3031] See B. xviii. c. 68; where he says that the summer solstice is

past at the time of the incubation.

[3032] Cuvier takes this to be the kestril, or Falco tinnunculus of

Linnæus, and considers it to be synonymous with the cenchris, mentioned

in c. 73, and in B. xxix. c. 6, though Pliny does not seem to be aware

of the identity.

[3033] Hirtius and Pansa. Frontinus, B. iii. c. 13. says that pigeons

were sent by Hirtius to Brutus. At the present day, letters are sent

fastened under their wings.

[3034] B. iii. c. 7.

[3035] “Without feet.” This was supposed to be the case with the

martinet, the Hirundo apus of Linnæus.

[3036] Or “goat-sucker.” The Caprimulgus Europæus of Linnæus.

[3037] Cuvier says that this is the spoon-bill, the Platalea leucorodea

of Linnæus. Some suppose it to be the bittern.

[3038] By nestling in the dust. Throwing dust over the body was one of

the ancient modes of purification.

[3039] “Lustrant,” “perform a lustration.” This was done by the Romans

with a branch of laurel or olive, and sometimes bean-stalks were used.

[3040] The linnet, probably.

[3041] The “bull.” This cannot possibly be the bittern, as some have

suggested, for that is a large bird.

[3042] Supposed to be the Motacilla flava of Linnæus, the spring

wagtail.

[3043] Hence the Latin name “psittacus.” From this, Cuvier thinks that

the first known among these birds to the Greeks and Romans, was the

green perroquet with a ringed neck, the Psittacus Alexandri of Linnæus.

[3044] Cuvier says that this is the jay, the Corvus glandarius of

Linnæus; but that they are not more apt at speaking than the other

kinds.

[3045] Cuvier remarks, that these can only be monstrosities.

[3046] Britannicus, the son of Claudius, and Nero, his stepson.

[3047] In the eighth region of the city.

[3048] The nephew and son of Tiberius.

[3049] Festus says that the “fane of Rediculus was without the Porta

Capena; it was so called because Hannibal, when on the march from

Capua, turned back (redierit) at that spot, being alarmed at certain

portentous visions.”

[3050] P. Cornelius Scipio Æmilianus Africanus Minor, the younger

son of L. Æmilius Paulus, the conqueror of Macedonia. It is doubtful

whether he died a natural death, or was privately assassinated by

the partisans of the Gracchi. His wife, Cornelia, and his mother,

Sempronia, were suspected by some persons.

[3051] 28th March.

[3052] One would hardly think that there was anything wonderful in a

crow being _very_ black.

[3053] The “one-horned.”

[3054] Most probably in Asia Minor, and not Eriza in India.

[3055] Cuvier is inclined to think that the Anas tadorna approaches

most nearly the description given here. From Ovid’s description of

their hard and pointed bills and claws, it would appear that a petrel

(Procellaria), or else a white heron (Ardea garzetta), is intended;

but these birds, he remarks, do not make holes in the earth. Linnæus

has given the name of Diomedea exulans to the albatross, a bird of the

Antarctic seas, which cannot have been known to the ancients.

[3056] B. iii. c. 29.

[3057] See Ovid’s Met. B. xiii.

[3058] Albertus Magnus says that swallows _can_ be tamed.

[3059] The Fulica porphyrio of Linnæus, the Poule sultane of Buffon.

[3060] Literally, “the blood-red foot.” Cuvier says that this

description may apply to the sea-pie or oyster-eater, the Hæmatopus

ostralegus of Linnæus, or else the long-legged plover, the Charadrius

himantopus of Linnæus, but most probably the latter, more especially if

the reading here is “himantopus,” as some editions have it.

[3061] “Muscæ,” “flies,” is a mistake of the copyists, Cuvier thinks,

for “musculi,” “mussels.”

[3062] More especially the Larus parasiticus, Cuvier says.

[3063] Dalechamps thinks that this story bears reference to the

chatterer (the Ampelis garrulus of Linnæus), the ends of certain

feathers of the wings being extended, and of a vermilion colour:

but Cuvier looks upon Pliny’s account as almost nothing more than a

poetical exaggeration.

[3064] A species of duck, Cuvier thinks. from Aristophanes we learn

that they were common in the markets of Athens. Cuvier suggests that

it may, have been the Anas galericulata of Linnæus, the Chinese teal,

which the Parthians may have received from the countries lying to the

east of them.

[3065] “Phasiana,” so called from the river Phasis.

[3066] A variety of the guinea fowl; probably the Numida Meleagris of

Linnæus.

[3067] Literally, the “red-wing.” The modern flamingo.

[3068] Buffon thinks that this is the grouse of the English, the Tetrao

Scoticus of the naturalists; but Cuvier is of opinion that it is either

the common wood-cock, the Tetrao bonasia of Linnæus, or else the

wood-cock with pointed tail, of the south of Europe, the Tetrao alchata

of Linnæus, most probably the latter, as the male has black and blue

spots on the back; a fact which may explain the joke in the “Birds” of

Aristophanes, where a run-away slave who has been marked with stripes,

is called an attagen. By some it is called the “red-headed hazel-hen.”

[3069] In allusion, perhaps, to the words of Horace, Epod. ii. 54.

Non attagen Ionicus

Jucundior, quam lecta de pinguissimis

Oliva ramis arborum.

[3070] Literally, the “bald crow.” Pliny, B. xi. c. 47, says that it

is an aquatic bird: and naturalists generally identify it with the

cormorant, the Pelecanus carbo of Linnæus.

[3071] Literally, the red crow, the chocard of the Alps, the Corvus

pyrrhocorax of Linnæus.

[3072] The “hare’s foot.” Identical with the snow partridge, the Tetrao

lagopus of Linnæus; it is white in winter.

[3073] The same bird, Cuvier says, as seen in summer, being then of a

saffron colour, with blackish spots.

[3074] Cuvier remarks, that the green courlis, the Scolopax falcinellus

of Linnæus, which is not improbably the real ibis of the ancients, is

by no means uncommon in Italy.

[3075] “Novæ aves.” The grey partridge, Hardouin thinks.

[3076] Flamingo.

[3077] See B. xi. c. 44.

[3078] Scythia and Æthiopia ought to be transposed here, as the

griffons were said to be monsters that guarded the gold in the

mountains of Scythia, the Uralian chain, probably.

[3079] Literally, the “goat Pan.” Cuvier thinks that the bird here

alluded to actually existed, and identifies it with the napaul, or

horned pheasant of Buffon, the penelope satyra of Gmell, a bird of the

north of India, and which answers the description here given by Pliny.

[3080] See Ovid, Met. B. v. l. 553.

[3081] A kind of crested lark.

[3082] The Strix scops, probably, of Linn. See the Odyssey, B. v. l. 66.

[3083] Those called Orchia, Didia, Oppia, Cornelia, Antia, and Julia

namely.

[3084] Repositoria. See B. xxxiii. c. 49. See also B. ix. c. 13.

[3085] Valerius Maximus, B. ix. c. 1, tells this story of the

profligate son of Æsopus.

[3086] B. ix. c. 59.

[3087] “Hominum linguas,” Pliny says; a singularly inappropriate

expression, it would appear.

[3088] See B. viii. c. 37.

[3089] The tinnunculus, probably, of c. 52.

[3090] B. ii. Sat. 4, l. 12. “Longa quibus facies ovis erit, ille

memento. Ut succi melioris, et ut magis alba rotundis.”

[3091] Aristotle says just the reverse: but Hardouin thinks that the

passage in Aristotle has been corrupted.

[3092] This, Cuvier says, in reality is not the umbilical cord, but the

_chalasis_, a little transparent and gelatinous ligament, by which the

yolk is suspended like a globe. The true umbilical cord of the bird

only makes its appearance after an incubation of some days.

[3093] Produced in the territory of Adria. See B. iii. c. 18.

[3094] Cuvier says, that after an egg has been set upon for some days,

the heart of the chicken may be seen like a small red speck, that

palpitates; but that no such thing is to be seen before incubation.

[3095] Cuvier remarks, that the chicken is not formed exclusively from

the white, and that the yellow is gradually displaced by it, as the

chicken increases in size.

[3096] Cuvier tells us, that in the Memoirs of the Academy of St.

Petersburgh, there is a memoir by Wolf, entitled _Ovum simplex

gemelliferum_, in which these twin chickens are described with great

exactness.

[3097] More generally eleven or thirteen in this country.

[3098] To secure their being more equably covered.

[3099] Or rather, will produce chickens hideously deformed. This trick

is sometimes practised among the country people against those to whom

they owe a grudge.

[3100] Aristotle says with a straw mat.

[3101] Similar, probably, to our bantam.

[3102] In consequence, probably, of their smallness, and want of

sufficient warmth.

[3103] The pip.

[3104] Meaning the “urine-egg.”

[3105] Or “wind” eggs. See cc. 75 and 80.

[3106] The white heron.

[3107] So called from its soaring towards the stars.

[3108] The tawny or black heron.

[3109] Possibly the night-hawk. Sillig says, that in the corresponding

passage of Aristotle it is αἰτώλιος.

[3110] “Dog’s-urine.” See the last Chapter.

[3111] Hardouin asserts that this is the fact.

[3112] This is probably fabulous.

[3113] B. vii. c. 4.

[3114] Justly called by Juvenal, “meretricem Augustam,” Sat. vi. l. 118.

[3115] B. viii. c. 54.

[3116] Probably the goldfinch.

[3117] A kind of large hound.

[3118] The number that they bear.

[3119] See B. viii. c. 81.

[3120] B. viii. c. 10, and in the present Chapter.

[3121] B. vii. c. 13.

[3122] Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 37, does not quite say this. He

says that the young ones looked “as if” they were pregnant, οἷον κύοντα.

[3123] Ovid, Met. B. xv. l. 389, makes mention of this belief.

[3124] See the following Book.

[3125] Known by us as the razor-sheath.

[3126] Martial alludes to these fish-preserves, and the fish coming

upon hearing their name, B. iv. Ep. 30, and B. x. Ep. 30.

[3127] A species of origanum.

[3128] As in the case of the galgulus, mentioned in c. 50.

[3129] See c. 33 of the present Book, as to quails.

[3130] As to these monkies, see B. xviii. c. 30, and c. 80.

[3131] _I. e._ lay by a store.

[3132] B. viii. c. 34.

[3133] Probably the ermine. See B. viii. c. 55.

[3134] Pliny alludes to dogs, cats, and similar mammifera, as having

_serrated_ teeth; the term, however, is quite inappropriate.

[3135] See B. viii. c. 79.

[3136] Probably the chlorion of c. 45.

[3137] Supposed to be the golden-crested wren.

[3138] An insect. See B. xi. c. 42, if, indeed, this is the same that

is there mentioned, which is somewhat doubtful.

[3139] It is not known what bird is meant: perhaps the titmouse.

[3140] A kind of hawk or falcon.

[3141] Species unknown.

[3142] Probably the spring wag-tail.

[3143] In B. viii. c. 22.

[3144] Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. iv. c. 10, maintains the contrary. But

in B. vii. he asserts that infants do dream.

[3145] See Lucretius, B. iv. l. 914, _et seq._

[3146] M. Manilius, mentioned in c. 2. Nothing certain is known of him,

but by some he is supposed to have been the senator and jurisconsult of

that name, contemporary with the younger Scipio. The astronomical poem

which goes under his name was probably written at a much later period.

[3147] See end of B. iii.

[3148] See end of B. v.

[3149] A famous soothsayer, who predicted to Galba, as we learn from

Tacitus, the dangers to which he was about to be exposed. He wrote on

the science of Divination, as practised by the Etruscans.

[3150] See end of B. vii.

[3151] A Roman legislator, proconsul of Gallia Narbonensis, and long a

favourite of Augustus. According to Aulus Gellius, his works were very

numerous. He also wrote a treatise on the Etruscan divination.

[3152] Trogus Pompeius. See end of B. vii.

[3153] See end of B. vii.

[3154] See end of B. ii.

[3155] See end of B. ix.

[3156] See end of B. vii.

[3157] See end of B. ii.

[3158] See end of B. ii.

[3159] He was the most ancient writer of Roman history in prose. His

history, which was written in Greek, is supposed to have commenced with

the arrival of Æneas in Italy, and to have come down to his own time.

He was sent by the Romans to consult the oracle at Delphi, after the

battle of Cannæ.

[3160] The famous poet and writer on the Epicurean philosophy. He was

born B.C. 98, and slew himself B.C. 54.

[3161] See end of B. vii.

[3162] Q. Horatius Flaccus, one of the greatest Roman poets.

[3163] Nothing is known of this writer; indeed, the correct reading is

a matter of doubt.

[3164] See end of B. iii.

[3165] Father and son, who wrote treatises on agriculture, as we learn

from Columella.

[3166] See end of B. vi.

[3167] A writer on agriculture, mentioned by Columella.

[3168] A priestess of Delphi, said to have been the inventor of

hexameter verse. Servius identifies her with the Cumæan Sibyl. Pliny

quotes from her in c. 8, probably from some work on augury attributed

to her. A work in MS. entitled “Orneosophium,” or “Wisdom of Birds,” is

attributed to Phemonoë. She is said to have been the first to pronounce

the celebrated Γνῶθι σεαυτὸν, commonly attributed to Thales.

[3169] An Athenian comic poet of the New Comedy, born either at Soli in

Cilicia, or at Syracuse. Plautus has imitated several of his plays.

[3170] Nothing is known of this writer, who wrote a poem on

ornithology, as here stated. Athenæus is doubtful whether the writer

was a poet, Bœus, or a poetess, Bœo.

[3171] Nothing is known of this writer.

[3172] See end of B. ii.

[3173] See end of B. iii.

[3174] See end of B. iv.

[3175] The Greek tragic poet of Athens, several of whose plays still

exist.

[3176] See end of B. viii.

[3177] King Attalus III. See end of B. viii.

[3178] See end of B. viii.

[3179] See end of B. viii.

[3180] See end of B. viii.

[3181] See end of B. viii.

[3182] See end of B. viii.

[3183] See end of B. viii.

[3184] See end of B. viii.

[3185] See end of B. viii.

[3186] See end of B. viii.

[3187] See end of B. viii.

[3188] See end of B. vi.

[3189] See end of B. viii.

[3190] See end of B. viii.

[3191] See end of B. viii.

[3192] See end of B. ii.

[3193] See end of B. viii.

[3194] See end of B. ii.

[3195] Of this writer nothing whatever seems to be known.

[3196] See end of B. viii.

[3197] See end of B. v.

[3198] See end of B. viii.

[3199] See end of B. viii.

[3200] See end of B. viii.

[3201] Cassius Dionysius of Utica, flourished B.C. 40. He condensed the

twenty-eight books of Mago into twenty, and dedicated them to the Roman

prætor Sextilius.

[3202] See end of B. viii.

[3203] See end of B. viii.

[3204] See end of B. ii.

[3205] See end of B. vii.

[3206] See end of B. vii.

END OF VOL. II.

ERRATA IN VOL. I.

Page vii. line 31, _for_ Coisicius, _read_ Cossicius.

„ xvii. „ 15, _for_ pepole, _read_ people.

„ xviii. „ 30, _for_ Fabulosetas, _read_ Fabulositas.

„ 378, „ 20, _for_ Goat-Pens, _read_ Goat-Pans.

Transcriber’s Notes:—

The footnotes for each of the six volumes have been renumbered, the

references to notes in other volumes have been changed accordingly.