Chapter 390

1880From Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. vii. c. 10, it appears that his name was Cælius Calvus, but probably no further particulars are known of him.

1881He was a distinguished Roman eques, and a friend of Germanicus; for which reason he incurred the hatred of Sejanus. To satisfy the vengeance of Tiberius and his favourite Sejanus, one Latinus Latiaris, a supposed friend of Sabinus, induced him to speak in unguarded terms of Sejanus and Tiberius, and then betrayed his confidence. He was put to death in prison.

1882More commonly called the Gradus or Scalæ Gemoniæ, “the stairs of wailing;” a place down which the bodies of the criminals were thrown, when executed in prison.—B.

1883“Lorum,” the leather thong by which the dogs were held until the proper moment, when they were “let slip” upon their prey.

1884This is mentioned by Gratian, Cyneget. l. 237.—B.

1885This practice is mentioned by Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 33, and Diodorus Siculus, B. xvii. But Cuvier informs us, that neither the tiger nor the panther are capable of generating with the dog; he supposes that the account was invented to enhance the value of the spotted or striped dogs, which were brought from India.—B.

1886The dog is capable of generating with the wolf; and as what is termed the shepherd’s dog much resembles the wolf, Cuvier conceives it not impossible, that it may have originated from this mixture; Ajasson, vol. vi. p. 459; Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 481.—B.

1887This is mentioned by Ælian, in his Anim. Nat. B. vi. c. 53, and his Var. Hist. B. i. c. 4. It likewise forms the subject of one of Phædrus’s Fables.

1888These statements are probably, for the most part, from Aristotle, Hist. Anim, B. v. c. 14, and B. vi. c. 20.—B.

1889“Faunos cerni.” Hardouin remarks on these words; “Flitting before the sight, and rushing upon each other, like the Ephialtes,” and refers, for a farther explanation, to his commentary on the passage in B. xxv. c. 10, where the subject is treated more at large. The Ephialtes is generally supposed to have been what we term incubus or nightmare.—B.

1890All these remedies are perfectly useless.—B.

1891Pliny details the noxious effects, conceived to be produced by the influence of Sirius, in B. ii. c. 40, and, among others, its tendency to produce canine madness. In B. xxix. c. 32, he enumerates the various remedies proposed for the disease; these, however, are equally inefficacious with those mentioned here.—B.

1892We have an account of this disease in Celsus, B. v. c. 27, and especially of the peculiar symptom from which it derives its classical denomination. It is remarkable that Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 22, speaking of canine madness, says, that it is communicated by the dog to all animals,except man.—B. See B. vii. c.13.

1893It appears that there was a difference of opinion as to the number of days during which the Dog-star continued to exercise its influence.—B.

1894The history of this supposed discovery is related more at large, B. xxv. c. 2 and 6. The popular name of the plant is still the “dog-rose.”—B.

1895Columella says, that the operation prevents the tail from acquiring “fœdum incrementum,” “a foul increase;” and, as many shepherds say, secures the animal from the disease.—B.

1896This is one of the marvellous tales related by Julius Obsequens, c. 103.—B.

1897Plutarch, in his Life of Alexander, gives some account of this celebrated horse, and Aulus Gellius, B. v. c. 2, devotes a chapter to it.—B.

1898Ajasson estimates the price to have been 70,200 francs, £2925 sterling.—B.

1899Situate on the river Hydaspes; Q. Curtius calls it Bucephalus.—B. See B. vi. c.23, where it is called Bucephala.

1900This account is given by Suetonius, Life of Julius Cæsar, c. 61. Cuvier suggests that the hoofs may have been notched, and that the sculptor probably exaggerated the peculiarity, so as to produce the resemblance to a human foot.—B.

1901The nephew of Tiberius and the father of the Emperor Caligula.—B.

1902Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xii. c. 40, states that three mares of Miltiades and Evagoras, which had been victorious in the Olympic games, were buried with sepulchral honours in the Ceramicus.—B.

1903Ajasson suggests, with much plausibility, that when connections of this description are mentioned, the report originated from persons who had significant names, as Lebœuf and Poulain; analogous to our names of Lamb, Bull, Hog, &c.—B.

1904See B. iii. c. 17.

1905We here find Pliny tripping, for he has previously said, in B. vii. c. 1, that man is the only animated being that sheds tears. See also c.19of the present Book, where he represents the lion as shedding tears.

1906Ælian calls him Centoarates. Antiochus I., or Soter, is here alluded to. He was killed in battle with the Galli or Galatians,B.C.261.

1907Mentioned by Cicero, De Divin. B. i. c. 33.—B.

1908Hardouin refers to the works of Busbequius, in which we meet with nearly the same account of the sagacity of the horse, as in Pliny; Lemaire, iii. 489.

1909As already mentioned in the Note to c. 54 of the last Book, there were four parties or factions of the charioteers who were named from the colour of their dress.

1910The games of the Circus were divided into the Patrician and the Plebeian; the first being conducted by generals, consuls, and the curule ædiles, the latter by the ædiles of the people.—B.

1911Related somewhat more at large by Plutarch, in his Life of Publicola.—B.

1912Many of these particulars are from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 22.—B.

1913Georgics, B. iii. l. 72, et seq.—B.

1914See Introduction to vol. i. p. vii.

1915Varro, de Re Rust. B. ii. c. 7; and Columella, B. vi. c. 29, have treated on this subject at considerable length.—B.

1916The materials of this chapter appear to have been principally taken from Aristotle, Varro, and Columella.—B.

1917See B. iv. c. 12.

1918Varro,ubi supra, gives considerably different directions on this point; he says, “Intercourse is to be allowed, at the proper season of the year, twice a day, morning and evening.”

1919This sentence in Columella,ubi supra, seems to illustrate the meaning, which is somewhat obscure. “Veruntamen nec minus quam quindecim, nec plures quam viginti, unus debet implere”—“One male ought to be coupled with not more than twenty females, nor less than fifteen.”

1920Cuvier states, that the hippomanes is a concretion occasionally found in the liquor amnii of the mare, and which it devours, from the same kind of instinctive feeling which causes quadrupeds generally to devour the afterbirth. He remarks, however, that this can have no connection with the attachment which the mother bears to her offspring; Ajasson, vol. vi. p. 459; Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 495. The hippomanes is said to have been employed by the sorceresses of antiquity, as an ingredient in their amatory potions. See Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 24, and Ælian, Anim. Nat. B. xiv. c. 18.—B. See also B. xxviii. c. 11.

1921Now Lisbon. See B. iv. c. 35.

1922The accounts given, by Phœnician navigators, of the fertility of Lusitania, and the frequency of the mild western breezes, gave rise to the fable here mentioned, which has been generally received by the ancients; and that not merely by the poets, as Virgil, Geor. B. iii. l. 274, 275, but by practical writers, as Varro, B. ii. c. 1, and Columella, B. vi. c. 27. Justin, however, B. xliv. c. 3, attributes the opinion to the great size of the horses, and their remarkable fleetness, from which they were said to be the sons of the wind.—B.

1923The origin and meaning of this name is not known.—B.

1924Martial describes the peculiar short, quick step of the “asturco,” in one of his Epigrams, B. xiv. Ep. 199.—B.

1925“Alterno crurum explicatu glomeratio;” it would not be possible to give a literal translation, but we may judge of the meaning by the context.—B. He clearly alludes to a movement like our canter.

1926“Tolutim carpere incursus;” Hardouin explains this by a reference to Plautus, Asinaria, A. iii. sc. 3, l. 116. “Tolutim ni badizas”—“If you do not amble, lifting up your feet.”

1927Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 24, gives an account of the diseases of horses.—B.

1928“Genere veterino;” so called, according to Hardouin, from “vectura,” “carriage,” as applicable to horses, asses, and mules; Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 497.—B.

1929There is considerable difficulty in ascertaining the exact amount of sums of money mentioned by the ancients. “We read in Varro, B. ii. c. 1, and B. ii. c. 8, of enormous prices said to have been given for asses, and the particular case of Axius is mentioned, B. iii. c. 2; according to the usual estimate, the sum here mentioned amounts to upwards of £3200 sterling.—B.

1930See B. xvii. c. 5.

1931Varro, B. i. c. 20, and B. iii. c. 16, and Columella, B. vii. c. 1, enlarge upon the valuable qualities of the ass for agricultural purposes; Columella, B. vi. c. 37, treats at length upon the production of mules.—B.

1932See a passage in Plautus, in which the superior excellence of the asses of Arcadia is referred to; Asinaria, A. ii. sc. 2, l. 67.—B.

1933See B. iii. c. 17.

1934This property is mentioned by Herodotus, B. iv. c. 28, and by Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 27, also De Gener. Anim. B. ii. c. 8, and by Strabo, B. vii. The ass is a native of Arabia, and degenerates when brought into a cold climate.—B.

1935These circumstances appear to have been taken from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 14, and B. vi. c. 23.—B.

1936“Per raritatem eorum translucentibus fluviis.”—B.

1937Upwards of £3200 sterling.—B.

1938An epigram of Martial, B. xiii. Ep. 97, appears to refer to the employment of the young ass as an article of food.—B. The famous sausages of Bologna are made, it is said, of asses’ flesh.

1939The onager, according to Cuvier, is the same with the ass, in the wild state; it still exists in large herds in various parts of Southern Asia, and is called by the Tartars, Kulan.—B.

1940Most of the circumstances here mentioned appear to have been taken from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 24 and 36; Varro, B. ii. c. 8; and Columella, B. vi. c. 37.—B.

1941It is expressly stated by Columella,ubi supra, that the mules “produced from a horse and a female ass, are in all respects most like the mother.”

1942This is explained by Columella,ubi supra, who remarks, that when a stallion is admitted to a female in the full heat of its passion, it often causes mischief; which is not the case when its ardour has been a little subdued by having been worked for some time.—B.

1943Varro,ubi supra, says: “The produce of a mare and a male ass is a mule, of a horse and a female ass ahinnus.”

1944Varro, B. ii. c. 1, alludes to this occurrence; Livy mentions two instances, B. xxvi. c. 23, and B. xxxvii. c. 3; these prodigies were said both to have occurred at Reate.—B.

1945Herodotus relates two cases, which were regarded as presaging some extraordinary event, B. iii. c. 153, and B. vii. c. 57. Juvenal, Sat. xiii. l. 66, and Suetonius, Life of Galba, c. 4, speak of a pregnant mule as a most extraordinary circumstance; it seems to have given rise to a proverbial expression among the Romans.—B.

1946Cuvier remarks, that there is, in the deserts of Asia, a peculiar animal, with undivided hoofs, the Equus hemionus of naturalists, and the Dgiggetai of the Tartars, which bears a resemblance to our mules, but is not the produce of the horse and the ass; he refers us to Professor Pallas’s account of it in Acad. Petrop. Nov. Com. vol. xix. p. 394; Ajasson, vol. vi. p. 461; Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 505.—B.

1947Pliny repeats this advice in B. xxx. c. 53; it is, of course, entirely without foundation.—B.

1948The epigram of Martial previously referred to bears this title.—B. See N.1938, p. 324.

1949This temple was the Parthenon. This anecdote is mentioned by Arist. Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 24; Ælian, Anim. Nat. B. vi. c. 49.—B.

1950In which they probably exposed their samples for sale, as our farmers do in small bags. The phrase isἀπὸ τῶν τηλιῶν, in Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 24, from whom Pliny takes the story.

1951This alleged superiority is mentioned by Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. iii. c. 91, by Varro, B. ii. c. 5, and by Columella, B. vi. c. 1; but it is remarked by Dalechamps and Hardouin, that the appellation of Pyrrhic given to these oxen, was more probably derived from their red colour,πυῤῥὸς, than from the name of the king. The materials of this chapter are principally from the above writers, especially Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 21, and B. viii. c. 7.—B.

1952This singular notion is mentioned by Varro and Columella,ubi supra; Cuvier says, that it is the origin of the pretended secret of producing the sexes at pleasure, which was published by Millot; Ajasson, vol. vi. p. 461.—B.

19534th January. See B. xviii. c. 64.

1954This is mentioned by Herodotus, B. iv. c. 183; this peculiarity in their mode of taking their food is ascribed to the extraordinary length of the horns; it is also mentioned by Ælian, Anim. Nat. B. xvi. c. 33.—B.

1955“Fœdi visu.” This is very similar to the expression used by Virgil, Georg. B. iii., when describing the points of an ox, l. 52,—“oui turpi caput”—“the head of which is unsightly”— probably in allusion to its large size.

1956According to Cuvier, there is an ox, in warm climates, which has a mass of fat on the shoulders, and whose horns are only attached to the skin; Buffon has described it under the name of Zebu; Ajasson, vol. vi. p. 461; Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 512.—B.

1957“Ad laborer damnantur;” with respect to the colour, Varro, B. ii. c. 5, has the following remarks: “The best colours are black, red, pale red, and white. The latter ones are the most delicate, the first the most hardy. Of the two middle ones, the first is the best, and both are more valuable than the first and last.”

1958We have an account of this process in Columella, B. ii. c. 6.—B.

1959This anecdote is related by Valerius Maximus, B. viii. c. 1. Virgil, Georg. B. ii. l. 537, speaks of the use of oxen in food, as a proof of the degeneracy of later times, and as not existing during the Golden Age; “Ante Impia quad cœsis gens est epulata juvencis.” This feeling is alluded to by Ælian, Anim. Nat. B. xii. c. 34, and by Suetonius, Life of Domitian, c. ix.—B.

1960It is doubtful whether this is the meaning of “alternos replicans orbes,” or what indeed is the meaning. Most editions omit “orbes,” thus making the matter still worse.

1961Hardouin supposes that this alludes to the exhibition of oxen hunted at the exhibition of shows and in the Circus, for the gratification of the Roman people.—B.

1962Referred to by Virgil, Georg. B. ii. ll. 145, 146, “et maxima taurus Victima,” “and the bull the largest victim of all.”—B.

1963In reference to this remark, we may mention the passage in Virgil, Æn. B. iii. c. 119, “Taurum Neptuno, taurum tibi, pulcher Apollo.” “A bull to thee, Neptune, a bull to thee, beauteous Apollo.”

1964Instances are mentioned by Livy, B. xxxv. c. 21, and by Val. Maximus, B. i. c. 65.—B.

1965We have an account of Apis in Herodotus, B. iii. c. 28; also in Pomponius Mela, B. i. c. 9; and in Ælian, Anim. Nat. B. xi. c. 10.—B.

1966“Quem cantharum appellant.” According to Dalechamps, “So called from the blackness of the colour, and its resemblance to a beetle.” Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 516. He refers the reader to a further account in B. xxx. c. 30.—B.

1967From the Greekθάλαμοι, “bed-chambers.”

1968Tacitus, Ann. B. ii. c. 69, gives an account of the sickness of Germanicus after his return from Egypt, but does not refer to the circumstance here mentioned.—B.

1969The “goblet.” See B. v. c. 10.

1970Seneca, Quæst. Nat. B. iv. c. 2, gives an account of this ceremony, but does not refer to the birth of Apis.—B.

1971The contents of this Chapter appear to be principally from Varro, B. ii. cc. 1, 2, and Columella, B. vii. cc. 2, 3, 4.—B.

1972This account is probably from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 14; B. vi. c. 19; and B. ix. c. 3, where we have various particulars respecting the production and mode of life of the sheep.—B.

197313th May.

197423rd July.

1975Varro,ubi supra, gives a somewhat different account: “Those lambs are called ‘cordi,’ which are born after their time, and have remained in the womb, calledχορίον, from which they take that name.”—B.

1976The expression “senecta melior,” here employed, is limited by Columella,ubi supra, to the third year.—B.

1977Columella, B. vii. c. 8, remarks, “When deprived of his horns he knows himself to be disarmed, as it were, and is not so ready to quarrel and is less vehement in his passion.”

1978Columella, B. vii. c. 23, refers to this practice; he informs us, B. vi, c. 28, that it is practised with respect to the horse. It is also referred to by Aristotle, De Gen. Anim. B. iv. c. 1.—B.

1979For this we have the authority of Aristotle,ubi supra, and of Columella,ubi supra, who quotes from Virgil in support of it, Geor. B. iii. l. 387,et seq.—B. “Although the ram be white himself, if there is a black tongue beneath the palate, reject him, that he may not tinge the fleece of the young with black spots.”

1980Varro, B. ii. c. 2, remarks, “While the coupling is taking place, you must use the same water; for if it is changed, it will render the wool spotted, and injure the womb.”

1981“Tectæ.” The context shows that this means covered with skins or a woollen girth, probably on account of their delicate nature, while the common sheep of husbandry, or the “colonic” sheep, were able to endure the rigour of the weather without any such protection.

1982The words aretectumandcolonicum; Columella, B. vii. c. 4, uses the termsmolleandhirsutum, and Varro, B. ii. c. 2,pellitumandhirtum. The first obtained its name from its being covered with skins, to protect its delicate fleece. The colonic is so called, from “colonus,” a “husbandman,” this kind being so common as to be found in any village; whereas the tectæ were rare.

1983We have some account of the Arabian sheep in Ælian, Anim. Nat. B. x. c. 4.—B. Columella says, that the wool which was brought over to make these coverings, was only to be obtained at a very great price.

1984The greatest part of this Chapter appears to be taken, with little variation, from Columella, B. vii. c. 2-4.—B.

1985Here Pliny differs from Columella, who remarks, B. vii. c. 2, “Our people considered the Milesian, Calabrian, and Apulian wool as of excellent quality, and the Tarentine the best of all.”

1986“Pænula” was a check cloak, used chiefly by the Romans when travelling, instead of the toga, as a protection against the cold and rain. It was used by women as well as men. It was long, and without sleeves, and with only an opening for the head. Women were forbidden by Alexander Severus to wear it in the city. It was made particularly of the woolly substance known as gausapa.

1987The wool of Laodicea is celebrated by Strabo, B. xii.—B.

1988Columella, B. vii. c. 2, particularly notices the excellence of the wool of Altinum, situate near the mouth of the Padus or Po. The following epigram of Martial, B. xiv. c. 155, may be presumed to convey the opinion of the respective merits of the different kinds of wool; it is entitled “Lanæ albæ:” “Velleribus primis Apulia; Parma secundis Nobilis; Altinum tertia laudat ovis.” “Apulia is famed for its fleeces of the first quality, Parma for the second, while Altinum is praised for those of the third.”—B.

1989About twelve shillings sterling.—B.

1990Varro remarks, B. ii. c. 2, that the term “vellus,” obviously from “vello,” “to pluck,” proves that the wool was anciently plucked from the sheep, before shearing had been invented.—B.

1991“Quas nativas appellant.” The term “nativa,” as applied to the wool, has been supposed to refer to those fleeces that possess a natural colour, and do not require to be dyed.—B.

1992Martial, B. xiv. Ep. 157, calls the fleeces of Pollentia “lugentes,” “mournful,” from their black colour; they are also mentioned by Columella,ubi supra, and by Silius Italicus, B. viii. l. 599.—B.

1993Martial, B. v. c. 37, describing the charms of a lady, says, “surpassing with her locks the fleece of the Bætic sheep,” no doubt referring to the colour. In another Epigram, B. xii. E. 200, he speaks of the “aurea vellera,” the “golden fleece” of Bætis.—B.

1994Martial has two Epigrams on the wool of Canusium, B. xiv. E. 127, and E. 129. In the former it is designated as “fusca,” tawny; in the latter, “rufa,” red.—B.

1995“Suæ pulliginis.”—B.

1996The term here used, “succidus,” is explained by Varro, B. ii. c. 11: “While the newly-clipped wool has the sweat in it, it is called ‘succida.’” See B. xxix. c. 9.

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