Chapter 387

1577Plutarch informs us, that Pompey had resolved to have his chariot drawn by four elephants, but finding the gate too narrow, he was obliged to use horses.—B.

1578See an account of this, and of the feats performed by the elephants, in Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. ii. c. 11.—B.

1579The Pyrrhic dance has been referred to in the last Book, c. 57. p. 231. It is not improbable that the elephants employed in this dance were caparisoned with armour.

1580However ill adapted the elephant may appear, from its size and form, for this feat, we have the testimony of Seneca, Suetonius, Dion Cassius, and Julian, to the truth of the fact.—B.

1581Plutarch, in his treatise on the Shrewdness of Animals, tells us that this wonderful circumstance happened at Rome.

1582“Eadem illa meditantem,” is the expression. It would be curious to know in what way the elephant showed that he was “conning” over his lesson.

1583Suetonius is supposed to allude to this circumstance.—B. He tells us that a horseman ascended a tight rope on an elephant’s back.

1584Ælian informs us, that he had seen an elephant write Latin characters. Hardouin remarks, that the Greek would beΑὐτὸς ἐγὼ τάδ’ ἔγραψα, λαφυρά τε Κελτ’ ἀνέθηκα.

1585See B. iii. c. 9.

1586As to the tusks of the elephant, no doubt the opinion of Herodotus, B. iii. c. 97, is correct, that they are teeth, and not horns. They are essentially composed of the same substance with the other teeth, and, like them, are inserted into the jaw, and not into the os frontis, as is the case with horns.—B.

1587Not improbably, the great quantity of fossil ivory which has been found, may have given rise to this tale. We have in Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 581, a long extract from Cuvier’s “Recherches sur les ossements fossiles,” in which he gives an account of the parts of the world in which the bones of the elephant have been discovered.—B.

1588Tables and bedsteads were not only covered or veneered with ivory among the Romans, but, in the later times, made of the solid material, as we learn from Ælian and Athenæus.

1589Plutarch, in his treatise on the Shrewdness of Animals, gives the same statement respecting the whiteness of the teeth in the young animal.—B.

1590It is scarcely necessary to remark, that these statements respecting the sagacity of the elephant in connection with their teeth, are without foundation.—B.

1591The word employed isvestigium; it is explained by Ælian to refer to the herbage, which has received both the visible impression as well as the odour of the foot.—B.

1592In the case of a footstep, this must mean the ground with which the foot has come in contact.

1593It is a general opinion, and one founded upon observations of daily occurrence, that animals have an instinctive dread of man. We have, however, facts stated by travellers of undoubted veracity, which would lead to an opposite conclusion. One of the most remarkable is the account which Denham gives of the tameness of the birds in Lake Tchad.—B.

1594Cuvier observes, that this is correct; see Ajasson, vol. vi. p. 408, and Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 338.—B.

1595“Novere ea.” It is doubtful whether these words do not mean something more than merely “knew their names,” as Hardouin explains it, for that would be nothing wonderful in an elephant. On the other hand, to say that they were aware of the honour which had been conferred on them, in giving the names of famous men, would be to make a statement which exceeds belief; for how could the elephantsshowthat they appreciated this honour, even supposing that they did appreciate it? Pliny’s elliptical style repeatedly gives rise to doubts of this nature.

1596“Phaleris.” See Notes to B. vii. c.29, p. 170.

1597Pliny informs us, in B. xxii. c. 4, that this was done by those conquered in battle.—B.

1598We may conclude, from the account given by Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 2, and by Ælian, B. viii. c. 17, that this opinion was generally adopted by the ancients.—B. We learn from Cuvier, who mentions the results of M. Corse’s observations, that there is no such modesty in the elephant, and that the two at the Museum of Natural History at Paris gave proof of the fact.

1599This is erroneous; the males do not arrive at puberty before the females, which takes place about the fourteenth or fifteenth year. In the elephant which was under the inspection of M. Corse, the period of gestation was between twenty and twenty-one months, so that there may be some foundation for the biennial period, but the term of five days is entirely imaginary. Aristotle makes the interval three years.—B.

1600There is a passage in Suetonius, in his Life of Augustus, and one in Macrobius, where the custom of offering pieces of money to elephants, which they took up with the proboscis, is referred to.—B.

1601In the Epitome of Livy, B. xiii., it is said, that Valerius Corvinus was unsuccessful in his engagements with Pyrrhus, in consequence of the terror produced by the elephants.—B.

1602Varro, De Ling. Lat. B. vi. calls the elephant “Lucas bos,” “the Lucanian ox,” from the fact of this large quadruped being first seen by the Romans in the Lucanian army.—B.

1603According to Seneca, Manius Curius Dentatus was the first who exhibited elephants in his triumph over Pyrrhus. See also Florus, B. i. c. 18.—B.

1604There are coins extant struck to commemorate this victory, in which there is the figure of an elephant.—B.

1605The number of elephants brought to Rome by Metellus is differently stated; Florus, B. ii., says that they were “about a hundred;” in the Epitome of Livy, B. xix., they are one hundred and twenty, and the same number is mentioned by Seneca.—B.

1606Who were their allies, or rather vassals; for in such case, they might make a dangerous use of them.

1607Val. Maximus, B. ix. c. 2, gives an account of the brutality of Hannibal on this occasion, in forcing the Roman captives to fight against each other, until only one was left; but he does not make mention of the combat with the elephant.—B.

1608Florus, B. i. c. 18, states, that this was practised in the later engagements with Pyrrhus, and that by these means the elephants were either destroyed or rendered useless. Cuvier remarks, that the trunk is composed of small muscles and fatty matter, enveloped by a tendinous membrane, and covered with skin.—B.

1609A.U.C.678.—B.

1610“Venus the Conqueror.” This temple was dedicated by Pompey, after his conquests in the East, in his second consulship,B.C.55.

1611Pliny here refers to an art, practised among the Romans, of throwing up a shield into the air, in such a manner that, after performing a circuit, it would fall down on a certain spot; this trick is also alluded to by Martial, B. ix. Ep. 39.—B. The exercise with the boomerang, which was known to the ancient Assyrians, and has been borrowed in modern times from the people of Australasia, seems to have been somewhat similar to this.

1612“Clathri.” These were gratings of iron trellis-work, placed in front of the lowest row of the spectators, to protect them from the wild beasts. This exhibition took place in Pompey’s Amphitheatre, in the Campus Martius. The arena of the amphitheatre was mostly surrounded by a wall, distinguished by the name of “podium,” which was generally about eighteen feet in height, and the top of which was protected by this trellis-work. In the present instance, however, the “podium” can hardly have been so much as eighteen feet in height.

1613“Euripis.” Julius Cæsar caused a canal, ten feet wide, to be formed in the Circus Maximus, around the bottom of the “podium,” to protect the spectators from the wild beasts. These “euripi” probably took their name from the narrow channel so called, which lay between Bœotia and the island of Eubœa.

1614We learn, however, from Lampridius, in his Life of Heliogabalus, that this euripus was afterwards restored to the Circus.

1615Tacitus and Suetonius mention this separation of the equites from the rest of the spectators: it took placeA.U.C.816.—B. Up to the time of Augustus,A.U.C.758, the senators, equites, and people sat indiscriminately in the Circus; but that emperor, and after him Claudius, Nero, and Domitian, separated the senators and the equites from the commons.

1616There are coins which bear the figure of an elephant and the word Cæsar, probably struck in commemoration of these games.—B.

1617The practice of placing towers filled with soldiers on the backs of the elephants is alluded to by Lucretius, B. v. l. 1301, and by Juvenal, Sat. xii. l. 110.—B. It still prevails in India.

1618“Consummation gladiatorum.” There is some doubt about the exact meaning of this. It may mean, “at the conclusion of the gladiatorial games,” as exhibited; or, what is more probable, “as the crowning exploit of the gladiators,” who wished thereby to secure their manumission, which was granted after remarkable feats of valour. Cælius Rhodiginus, B. xi. c. 11, prefers this last meaning: Dalechamps, with whom Ajasson coincides, the first.

1619“Postea singulis.” Those who coincide with Dalechamps and Ajasson, as to the meaning, would read it, that at the end of the gladiatorial games, the elephants fought singly one against another, the gladiators having retired from the arena.

1620Pliny here uses the word “manu,” “hand,” which although, as he afterwards remarks, it may not be an inappropriate metaphor, could scarcely be admitted in our language.—B.

1621This trait has been observed in all ages; the elephant has been known to remove with its trunk a child lying in its way, and in danger of being injured. It appears to have an instinctive dread of trampling on a living animal; the same has also been observed in the horse.—B.

1622“Hordeo succo;” the exact meaning has been the subject of much discussion; it probably refers to some preparation of barley used by the ancients, perhaps a maceration of the corn in water; it is scarcely to be supposed, however, that the words are to be taken literally.—B.

1623Albertus Magnus, in his work on Animals, B. viii. c. 3, gives a fuller account of this method of taking the wild elephant. He says: “A man, riding on a tame elephant, guides him to the woods, and when he has met with some wild ones, drives the tame one against them, and makes it strike them with its trunk: the tame one, being better fed, soon conquers the wild elephant, and throws him to the ground; upon which, the man leaps upon him, and flogs him with a whip, and immediately the other becomes quiet.” Strabo, B. xv., gives a different account of the mode of catching and taming the elephant in India.

1624This appears to have been taken from Plutarch; and we have the same statement in Ælian, who particularly speaks of the sagacity of the animal, in endeavouring to extricate itself from the trench.—B.

1625We have the same account given by Ælian and by Strabo.—B.

1626Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 18, remarks, that the violence of the animal, which is produced by an accidental cause, as also that arising from venereal excitement, are counteracted by opposite modes of treatment; the one by depriving it of food, the other by over-feeding it; the former, in order to break its strength, and the latter, to divert it into a different channel.—B.

1627Ælian, Anim. Nat. B. i. c. 38, states that the Romans employed this mode of terrifying the elephants brought against them by Pyrrhus.—B.

1628That this was the general opinion among the ancients, we learn from Polybius, Ælian, Livy, Diodorus Siculus, and others. Cuvier remarks, that this may have been the case with the animals from Barbary, or the north of Africa, but that it is not so with those from the middle or south of that continent.—B.

1629It has been stated, in a Note to chap. 5, that Mr. Corse found the period of the gestation of the elephant to be between twenty and twenty-one months.—B.

1630Ælian, Anim. Nat. B. iv. c. 31, considers the age of sixty to be the prime period of their life, not the commencement of their prime.—B.

1631This remark is incorrect; when the water is sufficiently deep, it swims with ease; and if the end of the trunk remains exposed to the atmosphere, it can dive below the surface, or swim with the body immersed.—B.

1632Cuvier remarks, that this statement is incorrect. He dissected three elephants at Paris, and found that their death had been caused by inflammation of the lungs and chest. The species of elephant, which now inhabits Asia and Africa, is certainly not adapted to a cold climate; but the numerous remains of elephants found in the north of Asia, prove that a species formerly existed, capable of enduring great cold. It is to be observed, that this species was covered with a thick, furry coat of wool and hair.—B.

1633This is from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 26; but it is scarcely necessary to remark, that it is without foundation. Ælian, Anim. Nat. B. ii. c. 18, refers to it, and explains it by supposing that the oil was not drunk, but applied externally; which is less improbable.—B.

1634They suck the fluid into the cavity of the trunk, and bend the trunk into the mouth, where it is received and swallowed in the usual manner.—B.

1635This dislike is confirmed by Cuvier.—B.

1636“Sanguisuga.”

1637Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. ii. c. 1, remarks, that the elephant is the least hairy of all animals.—B.

1638Cuvier remarks, that the trunk, being composed of a mixture of delicate muscular fibres and rich fat, would, when properly prepared, afford an article of food that might be very palatable.—B.

1639We learn from Livy, B. xlii. c. 23, that Gulussa was the son of Massinissa.—B.

1640In c. 8 of this Book.—B.

1641We learn from Cuvier, that the elephants of Africa and Asia belong to different species, distinguished by the form of the head, and some peculiarities in the structure of the teeth.—B.

1642By the term “dragon,” we may suppose that Pliny refers to some of the great serpents which exist in hot climates, and are of such vast size, that they might perhaps be able to perform some of the exploits here ascribed to the dragon.—B.

1643This account appears to be entirely without foundation.—B.

1644The idea of the elephant’s blood being cold, and sought after by the dragon, is, of course, without foundation; its blood being of the same temperature with that of other quadrupeds.—B.

1645Cuvier states, that in India and America there are serpents of the genus boa, or python, thirty feet or more in length. He observes, that there are various species of aquatic reptiles in the seas of India, but that they never swim twisted together, or with their heads elevated. Ælian gives an account of the great size of the dragons in Æthiopia.—B.

1646Cuvier remarks, that there are no serpents with crests on the head, and that Juba must have been thinking probably of some animal of the genus lacertus, when he made this statement. We may here remark, that the “basiliscus,” or “king of serpents,” was said by the poets to have a crown on its head, as denoting its kingly rank. See c.33of this Book.

1647It is well known, that certain serpents have the jaws and fauces so constructed, that they will allow of the passage of an animal more bulky than themselves; they first crush its bones, and form it into a kind of pulp, and then pass it, without further change, into the stomach, where it is slowly dissolved by the gastric juices.—B.

1648Supposed to have been in Mysia, or Bithynia, considerably to the west of Pontus.—B.

1649This account is entirely without foundation. The same statement is made by Ælian, Anim. Nat. B. ii. c. 21, who probably copied it from Metrodorus. There are stories of the power which serpents possess of fascinating birds by the eye, but they are not improbably without foundation.—B. There is little doubt, however, that some serpents have the power, by some means or other, of fascinating the birds which they make their prey.

1650This is referred to by many ancient writers; among others, by Livy, B. xviii.; Florus, B. ii. c. 2; Valerius Maximus, B. i. c. 8; and Aulus Gellius, B. vi. c. 3.—B.

1651As Cuvier remarks, it is difficult to conceive what he means by the boa of Italy. At the present day, the longest Italian serpents are the Æsculapian serpent (a harmless animal), and the “Coluber quadrilineatus” of Linnæus, neither of which exceeds ten feet in length. The one here mentioned, was probably, as Cuvier suggests, one of the genuine boa or python species; but, as he says, where did it come from? and how did it get there?

1652It is doubtful whether any one ever witnessed a serpent sucking a cow, but it seems to have been generally believed, and it is therefore probable, that the name of the animal was derived from this circumstance.—B. It is still believed of the common snake in some parts of this country. The reading “primo” has been preferred to “trimo,” that adopted by Sillig.

1653Cuvier remarks upon the two animals here mentioned, the bison and the urus, that Europe, at the present time, contains only one species of wild ox, the bison, or aurochs of the Germans, which still exists, although in small numbers only, in the forests of Lithuania. There are, however, fossil remains, in different parts of the north of Europe, of other animals of the same genus, which may have been the urus of Pliny, and not extinct when he wrote. Ajasson, vol. vi. pp. 413, 414; Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 365. The description by Cæsar of the urus of Gaul, Bell. Gall. B. vi. c. 26, seems to agree with the remains of the fossil animal, and may, therefore, be considered as confirming the opinion, that both animals were in existence when Pliny wrote.—B.

1654This appears to have been a species of antelope, the Antelope bubalus of Linnæus. Cuvier observes, that Strabo places it among the gazelles, and Aristotle associates it with the stag and the deer, while Oppian’s description of the urus, agrees with those of the gazelle.—B.

1655We learn from various travellers, that there are troops of wild horses and asses in many parts of Tartary and the neighbouring countries; but it is doubtful whether they have proceeded from an original wild stock, or may not have been the produce of some individuals which had accidentally escaped from the domestic state.—B.

1656No doubt Pliny has fallen into an error on this subject, and his elk and achlis are, in reality, the same animal. The description of the latter, for the most part, applies to the former, with the exception of the want of joints in the legs, which is entirely without foundation. Cæsar’s account of the elk, Bell. Gall. B. vi. c. 27, agrees generally with Pliny’s account of the achlis; he also says, that the legs of the alces are “without articulations and joints.”

1657The Romans had but a very imperfect knowledge of the Scandinavian peninsula. They supposed it to be surrounded by the ocean, and to be composed of many islands, which Ptolemy calls Scandiæ. Of these, the largest bore especially the name of Scandia or Scandinavia, by which name the modern Sweden was probably indicated. See B. iv. c. 30.

1658Pliny’s account is from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. ix. c. 45, but, as is often the case, with considerable exaggerations. Aristotle says, that these animals eject their excrements to a distance of four feet, and that it is of so acrid a nature, as to cause the hair of the dog to fall off. The word jugerum is generally used as a measure of superficial surface.—B.

1659Pliny here renders the Greekπλέθρον, by “jugerum,” which is ordinarily a measure of superficies. In the present case, therefore, it must mean a measure oflength, of 100 Grecian, or 104 Roman feet.

1660The pard of Pliny, as we shall find stated below, is the male of the panther.

1661Cuvier remarks, that all the feline animals have retractile claws, drawn by an elastic ligament into a sheath, and protruded when required for the purpose of prehension. The sheath is formed of a duplicature or fold of the skin and the subjacent cellular membrane.—B.

1662What Pliny states here, is without foundation. He supposes that the leopard is the produce of a pard, or male panther, and the female of the lion; but this is incorrect, the leopard being a distinct species of animal.—B.

1663Herodotus, B. iii. c. 108, gives the same account, which is refuted by Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 31. Aulus Gellius, B. xiii. c. 7, refers to Herodotus, and the refutation by Aristotle.—B.

1664The account here given of the lioness generally, Aristotle gives respecting the Syrian lioness only, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 31; there is some reason to believe that Aristotle is not correct in what he says. The account given by Ælian, Anim. Nat. B. iv. c. 33, is nearly the same with that of Pliny.—B.

1665There is much in this account that is incorrect. It is well ascertained that the cubs of the lion are proportionably as large and as perfectly formed as the young of other animals that belong to the same family.—B.

1666Herodotus, B. vii. c. 126, and Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 28, give a similar account of the district in which lions are found.—B. Littré remarks, that this statement of Pliny is probably formed, as originally suggested by M. Maury, upon the fact, that the lions of Europe, as we learn from Herodotus, attacked the camels of Xerxes, on his invasion of Europe.

1667Cuvier remarks, that we have no knowledge of the lion with curled hair, so frequently spoken of by the ancients. He suggests that there may have been a peculiar variety between the rivers Achelous and Nestus or Mestus, or perhaps, more probably, that it was altogether imaginary. He states also, that we no longer see lions without manes, but that Olivier had seen some at Bagdat. Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. ix. c. 44, speaks of the two species of lions, and describes them nearly as Pliny has done.—B.

1668According to Cuvier, this is not the case; the lion passes its urine just as the other animals of the same family. Pliny again refers to the odour of the lion’s breath, in B. xi. c. 115.—B.

1669The lion, like other carnivorous animals, is able to receive a large quantity of food into the stomach, and to remain for a proportionably longer period without eating; but the statement respecting its taking food on alternate days, is without foundation. There does not appear to be any ground for the account of the mode by which it relieves the stomach when overcharged.—B.

1670We learn from Cicero, Ep. Fam. B. v. Ep. 12, that Polybius wrote a history of the Numantine war, in which we may presume the account here referred to was contained.—B.

1671Although these accounts of the generosity and clemency of the lion are in a great measure fabulous, still the accounts of those who have had the best opportunity of becoming acquainted with the character of different animals, agree in ascribing to it less ferocity and brutality, in proportion to its size and strength, than to other animals of the same family.—B.

1672In various countries, and more especially in Egypt, the magicians profess to charm serpents by incantations; and it appears that they are able to acquire some power over them by imitating their natural cries. Cuvier informs us, that Geoffroi St. Hilaire had witnessed the fact, and was himself able to produce the effect.—B.

1673Aristotle says, a matter of ayellowcolour,ἰχῶρες ὠχροὶ.

1674Probably, there is no foundation for this opinion: it does not appear that any animal, except man, has the faculty of weeping, i. e. of shedding tears, in connection with a peculiar condition of mind and feeling.—B. But query as to the horse. See c.64of the present Book, and the Introduction to vol. i. p. xvii.

1675This supposed fear is without foundation, but appears to have been a generally received opinion, as it is referred to by Lucretius, B. iv. l. 714-725.—B.

1676Seneca gives an account of this exhibition; he says that the lions were turned loose into the Circus, and that spearmen were sent by king Bocchus, who killed them with darts. Sylla was prætorA.U.C.661,B.C.92.—B.

1677“Sagum.” This was the cloak worn by the Roman soldiers and inferior officers, in contradistinction to the “paludamentum“ of the general and superior officers. It was open in the front, and usually, though not always, fastened across the shoulders by a clasp. It was thick, and made of wool.

1678This story is given also by Plutarch, in the life of Demetrius. Lysimachus was a Macedonian by birth, but son of Agathocles, a serf of Thessaly. Through his great courage, he became one of the body-guard of Alexander. Quintus Curtius tells us that, when hunting in Syria, he killed a lion of immense size single-handed, though not without receiving severe wounds in the contest. The same author looks upon this as the probable origin of the story here referred to by Pliny.

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