Etymologies & Works 12

I. ON CATTLE AND BEASTS OF BURDEN. Adam first assigned names to all living creatures, giving to each a name from its present condition according to the state of the nature which it would serve. But the nations gave names to each of the animals from their own tongue. Yet Adam did not impose those names according to the Latin tongue or the Greek or that of any of the barbarian nations, but in that language which before the flood was the one language of all, which is called Hebrew. In Latin they are called 'animalia' or 'animantia' (living beings), because they are animated with life and moved by breath. They are called quadrupeds ('quadrupedia') because they walk on four feet: though these be similar to cattle, yet they are not under human care, such as stags, deer, wild asses, and the rest.

But neither are they wild beasts, like lions; nor beasts of burden, such as could help the uses of men. We call 'pecus' (cattle) everything that lacks human speech and form. But properly the name of 'cattle' is wont to be applied to those animals which are either fit for eating, such as sheep and swine, or useful in the service of men, such as horses and oxen. Now there is a difference between 'pecora' and 'pecudes': for the ancients commonly used 'pecora' in the sense of all animals; but 'pecudes' only those animals which are eaten, as if 'pecuedes' (that are eaten). Generally, however, every animal is called 'pecus' from grazing ('a pascendo'). Beasts of burden ('iumenta') drew their name from this, that by their aid they help our labour or burden, by carrying or by ploughing.

For the ox draws carts and turns the hardest clods of earth with the ploughshare; the horse and the ass carry burdens and temper the labour of men in travelling. Whence also beasts of burden ('iumenta') are named from this, that they help ('iuvent') men: for they are animals of great strength. Likewise also herds ('armenta'), either because they are fit for arms ('armis'), that is, for war; or because we use them in arms. Others understand by 'armenta' only oxen, from ploughing ('ab arando'), as if 'aramenta' [or because they are armed with horns]. There is a distinction between 'armenta' and 'greges' (flocks): for herds are of horses and oxen, but flocks of goats and sheep. The sheep ('ovis') is a soft creature in its wool, defenceless in body, gentle in disposition, named from oblation ('oblatione'); because among the ancients in the beginning not bulls but sheep were slaughtered in sacrifice.

Of these, some are called 'bidentes' (two-toothed), those which among their eight teeth have two that are higher, which the heathen chiefly offered in sacrifice. The wether ('vervex') is named either from its strength ('viribus'), because it is stronger than the other sheep; or because it is a male ('vir'), that is, a male; or because it has a worm ('vermem') in its head, roused by the itching of which they strike one another in turn and, fighting, they butt with great force. The ram ('aries') is called either 'apo tou Areos,' that is, from Mars: whence among us the males in flocks are called 'mares'; or because this animal was first sacrificed by the heathen upon the altars ('aris'). The ram, because it was placed upon the altars. Whence is that verse (Sedulius 1,115): 'The ram is slain at the altar.'

As for the lamb ('agnus'), although the Greeks call it 'apo tou agnou,' as if 'pious,' yet the Latins think it has this name because, beyond the other animals, it recognizes ('agnoscat') its mother; so much so that even if it has strayed in a great flock, it at once recognizes the voice of its parent by its bleating. Kids ('haedi') are named from eating ('ab edendo'). For when small they are very fat and of pleasant flavour, whence [both 'to eat', whence] also delicacy ('edulium') is named. The he-goat ('hircus') is a lascivious animal, butting and always burning for coition; whose eyes look sideways because of lust, whence it also drew its name. For 'hirqui' are the corners of the eyes according to Suetonius (Prata 171); whose nature is so exceedingly hot that its blood alone dissolves the adamant stone, which neither fire nor the substance of iron is able to master.

The larger he-goats are called 'Cinyphii' from the river Cinyps in Libya, where they are born of great size. Some have said that he-goats ('capros') and she-goats ('capras') are named from browsing ('carpendis') the shrubs. Others because they catch at ('captent') rough places. Some from the crackling ('crepitu') of their legs, whence they are called 'crepae'; these are the wild goats, which the Greeks, because they see most sharply, that is, 'oxyderkesteron,' called 'dorca.' For they dwell on lofty mountains, and although from afar, yet they see all who come. The same are also 'capreae' (roe-deer): the same are 'ibices' (ibexes), as if 'avices' (bird-like), because after the manner of birds they hold the steep and lofty places and dwell on high, so that from their loftiness they are scarcely visible to human gaze. Whence also the southern region calls the ibexes birds, those which dwell along the streams of the Nile.

These animals, then, as we have said, dwell on the highest rocks, and if ever they perceive the hostility of wild beasts or men, hurling themselves down from the loftiest summits of the crags, they receive themselves unharmed upon their own horns. Stags ('cervi') are named 'apo ton keraton,' that is, from their horns; for horns are called 'kerata' in Greek. These, being enemies of serpents, when they perceive themselves burdened with infirmity, draw them out of their caverns by the breath of their nostrils, and, having overcome the deadliness of their venom, are restored by them as food. They themselves revealed the herb dittany ('dictamnum'); for having fed on it, they shake out the arrows they have received. They marvel, moreover, at the whistling of reed-pipes. With ears erect they hear sharply, with ears lowered they hear nothing.

If ever they swim across immense rivers or seas, they place their heads upon the haunches of those going before them, and succeeding one another in turn they feel no labour of weight. The 'tragelaphi' (goat-stags) are named by the Greeks, which, though they be of the same appearance as stags, yet have shaggy shoulders like he-goats, and chins bristling with long beards; these are found nowhere else than around the Phasis. Fawns ('hinnuli') are the offspring of stags [named from nodding ('ab innuere'), because at the nod of their mother they are hidden away]. The little doe ('dammula') is so named because it escapes from the hand ('de manu'): a timid and unwarlike animal; concerning which Martial (13,94): 'The boar is feared for its tusk, its horns defend the stag; we defenceless does, what are we but prey?' The hare ('lepus') is named 'light-foot' ('levipes'), because it runs swiftly. Whence also in Greek it is called 'lagos' for its running;

for it is a swift and very timid animal. Rabbits ('cuniculi') are named as a kind of wild animal, as if 'caniculi' (little dogs), because they are caught by the tracking of dogs ('canum') or driven out of their burrows. The pig ('sus') is so named because it roots up the pastures ('subigat'), that is, seeks food from the worked-up earth. The boar ('verres') is so named because it has great strength ('grandes vires'). The hog ('porcus'), as if 'filthy' ('spurcus'). For it gluts itself in mire, immerses itself in mud, smears itself with slime. Horace (Epistles 1,2,26): 'And the sow that loves the mud.' Hence also filthiness ('spurcitia') and bastards ('spurios') are named. The bristles of pigs we call 'setae', and 'setae' are named from the pig ('a sue'): from which also cobblers ('sutores') are named, because from bristles they sew ('suant'), that is, stitch together ('consuant'), hides. The wild boar ('aper') is named from its ferocity ('feritate'), the letter F being removed and P substituted. Whence also among the Greeks it is called 'syagros,' that is, 'wild.'

For everything that is wild and savage we improperly call 'agreste' (rustic). The young bullock ('iuvencus') is so named because it begins to help ('iuvare') the uses of men in tilling the earth, or because among the heathen a bullock ('iuvencus') was always and everywhere sacrificed to Jove, never a bull. For in victims their age also was considered. 'Taurus' (bull) is a Greek name, like 'bos' (ox) also. The Indian bulls are of a tawny colour, of winged swiftness, with hair turned the wrong way; they bend their heads around with what flexibility they will; by the hardness of their back they repel every weapon with savage ferocity. The Greeks call the ox 'boun.' This the Latins call 'trio,' because it treads ('terat') the earth, as if 'terio.' Naevius (tragedy 62): 'This rustic driver of the plough-oxen.'

The breadth of whose skin from the chin to the legs is called the 'palearia' (dewlaps), from the skin itself ('a pelle'), as if 'pellearia'; which is a sign of nobility in an ox. Among their companions oxen have exceeding devotion; for the one seeks out the other with which it was accustomed to draw the plough under the yoke, and by frequent lowing it testifies its tender affection if perchance the other has failed. The cow ('vacca') is so named, as if 'boacca.' For it is of that class of variable nouns, like lion ('leo') and lioness ('leaena'), dragon ('draco') and she-dragon ('dracaena'). The bull-calf ('vitulus') and heifer-calf ('vitula') are named from greenness ('viriditate'), that is, from green age, like a maiden ('virgo'). The heifer-calf, then, is one that is small and has not yet given birth: for one that has given birth is a young cow ('iuvenca') or a cow. Buffaloes ('bubali') are named by derivation, because they are similar to oxen ('boum'); so untamed that from ferocity they do not receive the yoke upon their necks. Africa produces these.

The 'uri' (aurochs) are wild oxen in Germany, having horns so far extended that from them, by their remarkable capacity, drinking-vessels are made for royal tables. [The aurochs are named 'apo ton oreon,' that is, from the mountains.] The occasion gave the name to camels ('camelis'), either because, when they are laden, they lie down that they may become shorter and lower, since the Greeks call what is low and short 'chamai'; or because it is curved in the back. For the Greek word 'kamour' signifies 'curved.' Although other regions too send these forth, yet Arabia sends the most. They differ from one another, however; for the Arabian ones have two humps on the back, those of the other regions a single one. The dromedary ('dromeda') is a kind of camel, of smaller stature indeed, but swifter. Whence also it has its name; for in Greek 'dromos' means running and swiftness.

For it is wont to travel a hundred thousand paces and more in a single day. This animal, like the ox and the sheep and the camel, chews the cud ('ruminat'). Rumination ('ruminatio') is named from the 'ruma', the prominent part of the throat, through which the swallowed food is called back by certain animals. The ass ('asinus') and the little ass ('asellus') are named from sitting ('a sedendo'), as if 'asedus': but this name, which was more fitting for horses, this animal took on because, before men caught horses, they began to sit upon this one. It is indeed a slow animal and resisting by no reason; as soon as man wished, he laid it under himself. 'Onager' is interpreted as 'wild ass.' For the Greeks call an ass 'onon', 'agrion' wild. Africa has these, large and untamed and wandering in the desert. Each single one presides over a herd of females.

When males are born, they are jealous and bite off their testicles; guarding against which the mothers hide them in secret places. The Arcadian asses are so named because they were first brought over from Arcadia, large and tall. The smaller little ass, however, is more useful for the field, because it both endures labour and does not almost refuse neglect. Horses ('equi') are so named because, when they were yoked to four-horse chariots, they were made equal ('aequabantur'), and, being alike in form and similar in running, they were paired together. The 'caballus' (nag) was formerly called 'cabo', because as it walks it hollows out the ground with the pressed hoof, which the other animals do not do. Hence also 'sonipes' (sound-foot), because it makes sound with its feet. The liveliness of horses is great: for they exult in the fields; they scent out war; they are roused by the sound of the trumpet to battle;

kindled by the voice they are provoked to running; they grieve when they have been conquered; they exult when they have conquered. Some perceive their enemies in war, so that they attack their adversaries with their bite: some even recognize their own masters, forgetting their tameness if they be changed; some receive no one on their back except their master: when their masters are slain or dying, many shed tears. For the horse alone weeps for the sake of man and feels the emotion of grief. Whence also in the Centaurs the nature of horses and men is mingled. Men are also wont, from either the sadness or the eagerness of horses, to gather the future outcome when about to do battle.

There is a common opinion that a long life belongs to Persian, Hunnish, Epirote, and Sicilian horses, over fifty years, but a shorter one to Spanish and Numidian and Gallic ones. In noble horses, as the ancients say, four things are looked for: form, beauty, merit, and colour. Form, that the body be strong and solid, the height suited to its strength, the flank long, the haunches especially compact and rounded, the chest broadly open, the whole body knotted with the density of its muscles, the foot dry and made firm by a hollow hoof. Beauty, that the head be small and dry, the skin clinging almost to the bones, the ears short and pricked, the eyes large, the nostrils wide-open, the neck erect, the mane and tail thick, the roundness of the hooves fixed with solidity.

Merit, that it be bold in spirit, nimble of foot, with trembling limbs, which is a sign of courage: and one that is easily roused from deep rest, or, when its haste has been excited, is not difficult to hold in. Now the motion of a horse is discerned in its ears, its strength in its trembling limbs. The colour is chiefly to be regarded: bay, golden, rosy, myrtle-hued, deer-coloured, dun, grey, dappled, hoary, snow-white, white, spotted, black. Then in the following order, the piebald distinguished from black and bay; the remaining piebald or ashen colour is the worst. The bay ('badium') the ancients used to call 'vadium', because among the other animals it goes ('vadat') more strongly. The same is also 'spadix', which they call 'phoenicatus':

and it is called 'spadix' from the colour of the palm-branch, which the Sicilians call 'spadica.' The grey ('glaucus') is as if having painted eyes and suffused with a certain brilliance. For the ancients said 'glaucum'. The dun ('gilvus') is a somewhat whitish honey-colour. The spotted ('guttatus') is white with intervening black points. Now 'candidus' and 'albus' differ from one another. For 'albus' (white) is with a certain paleness: but 'candidus' (bright-white) is snowy and suffused with pure light. It is called hoary ('canus') because it is of a white and black colour. It is called dappled ('scutulatus') on account of the discs which they have, white among the purple. Piebald ('varius'), because it has ways ('vias') of unequal colours. Those which have only white feet are called 'petili'; those with a white forehead, 'calidi.' Deer-coloured ('cervinus') is the one which they commonly call 'guaranen.'

The same common folk call it 'aeranen', because it is of a bronze-like colour. The myrtle-hued ('myrteus') is a dark purple. It is called 'dosina' because its colour is that of an ass ('de asino'): the same is also ashen ('cinereus'). Now these are sprung from a wild stock, which we call 'equiferi' (wild horses), and therefore they cannot pass over to civic dignity. 'Mauron' is black; for the Greeks call black 'mauron.' The 'mannus' is a shorter horse, which the common folk call 'brunicus'. The ancients called them 'veredi', because they draw ('veherent') coaches ('redas'), that is, lead them; or because they run the public roads, along which coaches too were wont to go. There are three kinds of horses: one noble, fit for battles and burdens; another common and of the herd, fit for drawing, not for riding;

a third sprung from the intermixture of different kinds, which is also called 'bigenerum' because it is born of diverse kinds, such as the mule. Now the mule ('mulus') has a name drawn from the Greek. For in Greek it is so called, either because, subdued under the yoke of millers, it drags the slow mill-stones in a circle in grinding. The Jews assert that Ana, the great-great-grandson of Esau, was the first to cause herds of mares to be mounted by asses in the desert, that from thence mules, new animals contrary to nature, might be born. And that wild asses too were admitted for this purpose to she-asses: and that he himself discovered a coupling of this kind, so that the swiftest asses might be born from these. For human ingenuity forced diverse animals into coition, and thus by adulterous mixture discovered another kind;

just as Jacob too procured resemblances of colours contrary to nature. For his ewes would conceive such offspring as were the shadows of the rams mounting from above which they beheld in the mirror of the waters. Finally this same thing is said to be done also in herds of mares, that they set noble stallions before the sight of the conceiving mares, so that they may conceive and produce ones like them. For lovers of doves too place most beautiful painted doves in the very places in which those doves dwell, so that by the seizing of the sight they may generate like ones. Hence it is that some bid pregnant women gaze upon no most ugly countenances of animals, such as dog-headed apes and monkeys, lest, meeting them with their eyes, they bring forth like offspring.

For it is the nature of females that whatever they have gazed upon or conceived in mind in the utmost heat of pleasure, while they conceive, such offspring also they bring forth. For a living creature in the act of Venus transmits forms from outside to within, and, satiated with their impressions, it seizes their appearances into its own quality. Among living creatures, those are called 'bigenera' (of double kind) which are born of diverse kinds, such as the mule from a mare and an ass; the 'burdo' (hinny) from a horse and a she-ass; hybrids ('hybridae') from wild boars and pigs; the 'tityrus' from a ewe and a he-goat; the 'musmo' from a she-goat and a ram. And this is the leader of the flock. II. ON WILD BEASTS. The name 'beasts' ('bestiae') properly belongs to lions, leopards, tigers, wolves, and foxes, and dogs and apes and the rest, which rage either with mouth or with claws, serpents excepted.

Wild beasts ('bestiae') are named from the force ('vi') with which they rage. They are called wild ('ferae') because they use their natural liberty and are borne along by their own desire. For their wills are free, and they wander hither and thither, and wherever their spirit has led, thither they are borne. The word 'lion' ('leo') was inflected from a Greek origin into Latin. For in Greek it is called 'leon'; and it is a hybrid name, because it is partly corrupted. But 'leaena' (lioness) is wholly Greek, like 'dracaena' also. That the lioness should be called 'lea' has been taken up by the poets. Now 'leo' in Greek is interpreted 'king' in Latin, because it is the prince of all wild beasts. Its kind is said to be threefold. Of these, the short ones with a curly mane are unwarlike; the long ones with a plain coat are fierce. Their spirits are indicated by their forehead and tail. Their strength is in their breast;

their firmness in the head. When surrounded by hunters they gaze upon the ground, that they may be the less terrified by the sight of the hunting-spears. They fear the noise of wheels, but fire still more. When they have slept, their eyes keep watch; when they walk, they cover their own tracks with their tail, lest the hunter find them. When they have brought forth a cub, the cub is said to sleep for three days and three nights; then afterward, as if shaken by the roaring or growling of the father, the place of the den is said to rouse the sleeping cub. Toward man the nature of lions is such that they cannot be angered unless injured. For their mercy is manifest by constant examples. For they spare the prostrate; they permit the captives they meet to return home; they do not kill a man except in great hunger. Concerning which Lucretius (5,1035):

'And the cubs of lions.' The tiger ('tigris') is named on account of its winged flight; for so the Persians and Medes name an arrow. For it is a beast distinguished with various spots, marvellous in valour and swiftness; from whose name the river Tigris is called, because it is the most rapid of all rivers. Hyrcania chiefly breeds these. The panther ('panther') is so named, either because it is a friend of all animals, except the dragon, or because it rejoices in the fellowship of its own kind, and gives back whatever it receives in the same likeness. For 'pan' in Greek means 'all.' It is a beast painted over with tiny circles, so that with eye-like circles of tawny hue it is distinguished with black or white variety. It gives birth once altogether; the reason for this cause is manifest.

For when the cubs have grown together in the mother's womb and are strong with the powers ripe for birth, they hate the delays of time; and so they tear with their claws the womb burdened with offspring, as though it hindered the birth: she pours forth the birth, or rather lets it go, with pain compelling her. Thus afterward, the parts being corrupted and scarred, the genital seed poured in does not cling once received, but rebounds ineffectual. For Pliny (Natural History 8,43) says that animals with sharp claws cannot bear frequently; for they are injured within by the cubs moving about. The leopard ('pardus') is second after the panther, a species varied and most swift and headlong to blood. For with a leap it rushes to the kill. The leopard proper ('leopardus') is born from the adultery of a lioness and a 'pardus', and produces a third origin;

just as Pliny too in the Natural History (8,42) says, that a lion couples with a female 'pardus', or a 'pardus' with a lioness, and from either coupling degenerate offspring are created, like the mule and the hinny. The rhinoceros ('rhinoceron') is so named by the Greeks. In Latin it is interpreted 'horn on the nose.' The same is also 'monoceros', that is, 'unicorn', because it has a single horn in the middle of its forehead, four feet long, so sharp and strong that whatever it attacks, it either tosses up or pierces through. For it often has a contest even with elephants, and, wounding one in the belly, lays it low. It is of such great strength that it is caught by no valour of hunters;

but, as those who have written of the natures of animals assert, a virgin girl is set before it, who opens her bosom to the approaching beast, in which it lays its head with all ferocity laid aside, and thus, lulled to sleep, it is caught as though defenceless. The elephant ('elephantus') the Greeks think is named from the greatness of its body, because it presents the form of a mountain; for in Greek a mountain is called 'lophos.' But among the Indians it is named from its voice, 'barro'; whence also its voice is 'barritus', and its teeth ivory. Its snout is called 'proboscis', because with it it brings food to its mouth; and it is like a snake, fortified with an ivory rampart. The ancient Romans called these oxen 'Lucas oxen': oxen, because they saw no larger animal: 'Lucas', because in Lucania Pyrrhus first set them against the Romans in battle.

For this kind of animal is fit for the affairs of war; for on them the Persians and Indians, having placed wooden towers, fight with javelins as if from a wall. In understanding and memory too they are strong. They walk in herds; they salute with such motion as they can; they flee from a mouse; they couple facing away from each other; and when they give birth, they let their young loose in waters or on islands on account of dragons, because they are enemies and, entangled by them, are killed; they carry their young for two years, nor do they beget more than once, nor several, but only one; and they live three hundred years. Elephants were formerly born only in Africa and India; now India alone breeds them. The griffin ('grypes') is so called, because it is a feathered and four-footed animal.

This kind of wild beast is born in the Hyperborean mountains. In every part of the body they are lions; in wings and face they are like eagles; they are vehemently hostile to horses. For they also tear men to pieces when seen. The chameleon ('chamaeleon') does not have one colour, but is sprinkled with diverse variety, like the leopard. It is so called from... The little body of this chameleon is varied by a most easy conversion to the colours which it sees, which is not so in other animals, whose corpulence is not so easily disposed to conversion. The giraffe ('camelopardus') is so named because, though it be sprinkled over with white spots like a leopard, it is similar to a horse in its neck, to oxen in its feet, yet in its head it is similar to a camel. Ethiopia breeds this. The lynx ('lynx') is so named because it is counted among the kind of wolves;

a beast with its back distinguished with spots like a leopard, but similar to a wolf: whence the one is 'lykos' and this one 'lynx.' They say that its urine turns into the hardness of a precious stone, which is called 'lyncurius', which by this proof is shown that the lynxes themselves perceive it. For they cover over the discharged liquid with sand as much as they can, by a certain envy of nature, lest such a discharge pass over into human use. Pliny the Second (cf. Natural History 8,43) says that lynxes do not admit more than one offspring beyond a single one. Beavers ('castores') are named from castrating ('a castrando'). For their testicles are fit for medicines, on account of which, when they have perceived the hunter beforehand, they castrate themselves and cut off their own powers with their bites. Concerning which Cicero in the Scauriana (2,7):

'They ransom themselves by that part of the body on account of which they are chiefly sought.' Juvenal (12,34): 'Who makes himself a eunuch, desiring to escape by the loss of a testicle.' These same are also 'fibri', which are also called 'Pontic dogs.' The bear ('ursus') is said to be so named because it shapes its offspring with its own mouth, as if 'orsus' (having begun). For they say that these beget shapeless offspring, and that a certain flesh is born which the mother, by licking, composes into limbs. Whence is that verse: 'Thus the she-bear shapes her offspring with her tongue when she has brought it forth.' But this the immaturity of the birth causes: for it gives birth on the thirtieth day. Whence it comes about that the hastened fecundity produces shapeless offspring. The bears' head is weak; their greatest strength is in their arms and loins; whence at times they stand erect. The wolf ('lupus') is carried over into our tongue by a Greek derivation.

For they call wolves 'lykous': and 'lykos' in Greek is named from its habits, because in the madness of its rapacity it slaughters whatever it has found. Others say that wolves ('lupi') are named as if 'leopos', because, like a lion's, its strength is thus in its feet; whence also whatever it has pressed with its foot does not live. It is a rapacious beast and greedy for gore; concerning which the country folk say that a man loses his voice if a wolf sees him first. Whence also to one suddenly falling silent it is said: 'A wolf in the story.' Certainly, if it perceives that it has been seen beforehand, it lays aside the boldness of its ferocity. Wolves couple no more than twelve days in the whole year; they bear hunger long, and after long fasting they devour much. Ethiopia sends forth wolves maned on the neck, and so varied that they say no colour is lacking to them.

The Latin name of the dog ('canis') seems to have a Greek etymology; for in Greek it is called 'kyon.' Although some suppose it to be named from the melody ('canore') of its barking, because it resounds; whence also 'to sing' ('canere'). Nothing, moreover, is more sagacious than dogs; for they have more sense than the other animals. For they alone recognize their own names; they love their masters; they defend their masters' houses; for their masters they throw themselves into death; of their own will they run with their master to the hunt; they do not abandon the body of their master even when dead. Whose nature, in short, is that they cannot exist apart from men. In dogs there are two things: either courage or swiftness. 'Catuli' (whelps) is improperly used of the offspring of any wild beasts. For properly whelps are of dogs, so named by diminution.

Now they are called 'lycisci', as Pliny says (cf. 8,148), dogs born of wolves and dogs, when by chance they mingle among themselves. The Indians too are wont at night to tie up female dogs in the woods to be mounted by the tiger beasts, by which they are leapt upon, and from that same litter are born dogs so exceedingly fierce and strong that in their embrace they lay lions low. The fox ('vulpes') is so named, as if 'volupes' (flying-foot). For it is nimble of foot ('volubilis pedibus'), and never runs in straight paths, but in winding circuits, a fraudulent animal deceiving by its ambushes. For when it has no food, it feigns death, and thus it seizes and devours the birds that come down as though to a corpse. 'Simiae' (apes) is a Greek name, that is, 'with flattened nostrils';

Hence we also call them 'simiae' (apes), because their nostrils are flattened and their face ugly, disgracefully wrinkled with folds; though a she-goat too may have a flattened nose. Others suppose that apes were named by the Latin tongue ('simiae' from 'similitudo'), because much likeness to human reason is perceived in them; but that is false. These creatures, keen observers of the elements, rejoice at the new moon, and grow sad at the half and waning moon. The young that they love they carry before themselves; the neglected ones cling about the mother. There are five kinds of them, among which the cercopitheci have tails; for an ape which has a tail is the kind some call 'clura.' The sphinxes are shaggy with hair, with prominent breasts, and teachable to the point of forgetting their wildness. The cynocephali (dog-heads) are themselves also like apes, but with a face after the manner of a dog; and thence they are named.

The satyrs have a rather pleasing face, and are restless with gesticulating movements. The callitriches differ from the rest in almost their whole appearance, for they have a beard spread over the face and a broad tail. The leontophonos is a small beast, so named because when captured it is burned, and pieces of flesh sprinkled with its ash and laid at the crossings of paths kill lions, if they take even the least bit of them. The porcupine (histrix) is an animal in Africa like a hedgehog, named from the whirring of its quills, which it looses from its back and shoots out to wound the dogs pursuing it. The enhydros is a little beast so called because it dwells in the waters, and chiefly in the Nile.

If it finds a crocodile sleeping, it first rolls itself in mud, and enters through its mouth into its belly, and gnawing away all its inward parts, so kills it. The ichneumon is so named in Greek because by its scent both the wholesomeness of foods and the poisonous ones are betrayed. Of it Dracontius says (Praise of God 1.515): 'The pig-like one cuts through the force of every poison.' It is called 'suillus' (pig-like) from its bristles. It also pursues serpents; and when it fights against the asp, it raises its tail, which the asp especially begins to watch as if threatening; and when the ichneumon shifts its attack to that, the asp, deceived, is seized. It is called 'musio' (mouser) because it is deadly to mice. The common people call it 'cattus' from its catching (captura). Others say it is because it 'cattat,' that is, sees.

For it discerns so sharply that by the brilliance of its eyes it overcomes the darkness of the night. Whence 'catus' comes from the Greek, that is, 'clever,' from 'kaiesthai' (to be kindled). The ferret (furo) is named from 'furvus' (dark); whence also 'fur' (thief). For it digs out dark and hidden burrows, and casts out the prey it has found. The badger (melo) is so named either because it has a very rounded body, or because it seeks out honeycombs and constantly hunts for honey. III. ON SMALL ANIMALS. The mouse (mus) is a tiny animal; its name is Greek, but whatever is derived from it becomes Latin. Others say 'mice' because they are born from the moisture of the earth; for 'mus' means earth, whence also 'humus.' In these creatures the liver grows at the full moon, just as certain sea creatures wax, which again wane when the moon diminishes. The shrew (sorex) is a Latin word, so called because it gnaws and cuts through in the manner of a saw (serra).

The ancients used to call the shrew 'saurex,' just as they said 'clodus' for 'claudus' (lame). The weasel (mustela) is so called as if 'mus longus' (long mouse); for 'telum' (dart) is named from length. This creature, crafty in cunning, in the houses where it rears its young, moves and changes its dwelling. It also pursues serpents and mice. There are two kinds of weasels: the one is of the woodland, differing in size, which the Greeks call 'iktides'; the other roams about in houses. But those are mistaken who say that the weasel conceives through its mouth and gives birth through its ear. The shrew-mouse (mus araneus) is one by whose bite a spider (aranea) is imitated. There is in Sardinia a very small animal, of a spider's form, which is called 'solifuga,' because it flees the day. In silver mines it is very numerous, creeping about secretly, and by their heedlessness it brings destruction on those who sit down upon it.

The mole (talpa) is so called because it is condemned to perpetual blindness in darkness. For it is without eyes, always digs the earth, casts up the soil, and eats the roots beneath the crops; the Greeks call it 'asphalax.' Dormice (glires) are so named because sleep makes them fat; for we say 'gliscere' for 'to grow.' For they sleep the whole winter and lie motionless as if dead, but in summertime they revive. The hedgehog (ericius) is an animal covered with spines, named from the fact that it draws itself up when it is enclosed within its own spines, by which it is protected on every side against ambushes. For as soon as it senses anything, it first draws itself up, and turned into a ball, it gathers itself back into its own arms. There is a certain prudence in it;

for when it has cut a grape-cluster from the vine, it rolls itself over on its back upon it, and so presents it to its young. The cricket (gryllus) has its name from the sound of its voice. It walks backward, bores into the earth, and chirps at night. It is hunted by an ant tied round with a hair and cast into its hole, dust having first been blown in so that it cannot hide itself; and so it is drawn out by the ant's embraces. The ant (formica) is so named because it carries grains (micas) of grain (farris). Its skill is great; for it provides for the future, and in summer prepares what it may eat in winter; at harvest it chooses wheat and does not touch barley; when rain falls on its grain, it throws it all out.

It is said that in Ethiopia there are ants in the form of a dog, which dig up golden sands with their feet, which they guard lest anyone carry them off, and they pursue to death those who try to snatch them. The ant-lion (formicoleon) is so called because it is either the lion of ants or indeed both an ant and a lion at once. For it is a small animal quite hostile to ants, which hides itself in the dust and kills the ants carrying grains. It is called both lion and ant because to other animals it is as an ant, but to ants it is as a lion. IV. ON SERPENTS. The word 'anguis' (snake) is the general term for every kind of serpent that can be coiled and twisted; and hence 'anguis' because it is angular (angulosus) and never straight.

Snakes were always held by the pagans to be the guardian spirits (genii) of places, whence Persius (1.113): 'Paint two snakes: boys, the place is sacred.' The 'coluber' (snake) is so called because it haunts (colat) the shades, or because it glides into slippery courses with sinuous windings. For 'lubricum' (slippery) is said of whatever slips away while it is held, like a fish or a serpent. The serpent (serpens) received its name because it creeps (serpit) by hidden approaches, not by open steps, but crawls by the tiniest efforts of its scales. But those creatures which rest upon four feet, like lizards and newts, are called not serpents but reptiles. Serpents, however, are reptiles because they crawl on belly and breast. Of these there are as many venoms as kinds, as many destructions as species, as many pains as colors.

The dragon (draco) is the greatest of all serpents, or indeed of all living things upon the earth. The Greeks call it 'drakonta'; whence it was derived into Latin so that it is called 'draco.' It is often dragged out from caves and borne into the air, and the air is stirred up because of it. It is crested, with a small mouth and narrow pipes, through which it draws breath and thrusts out its tongue. Its strength lies not in its teeth but in its tail, and it does harm by a lash rather than by its jaws. It is harmless as to venoms, but poisons are not necessary to it for causing death, because if it binds anyone it kills him. From it not even the elephant is safe by the size of its body;

for lurking near the paths along which the elephants are wont to go, it binds their legs with its knots, and slays them by suffocation. It is born in Ethiopia and India in the very burning of continual heat. The basilisk in Greek is interpreted in Latin as 'regulus' (little king), because it is the king of serpents, so much so that those who see it flee, since it kills them by its very smell; for it slays a man even if it merely looks at him. Indeed, no flying bird passes unharmed before its gaze, but however far off it may be, it is burned up and devoured by its mouth. Yet it is overcome by weasels, which men introduce into the caves where it hides; and so at that sight it flees, and the weasel pursues and kills it. For the Parent of all things has established nothing without a remedy.

It is half a foot in length, marked with white spots. The basilisks, like scorpions, seek out dry places, and after they come to the waters, they make men hydrophobic and frenzied. The 'sibilus' (hisser) is the same as the 'regulus.' For by its hissing it kills before it bites or burns. The viper (vipera) is so called because it gives birth by force (vi parit). For when its belly groans for birth, the young, not awaiting nature's due deliverance, gnaw through its sides and burst out by force, with the death of the mother. Lucan (6.490): 'The viper's coils unite, the body broken apart.' It is said that the male, inserting its head, ejaculates its seed into the viper's mouth; but she, turned to rage from the pleasure of lust, bites off the male's head received in her mouth. So it comes about that both parents perish;

the male while mating, the female while giving birth. From the viper are made the lozenges which are called 'theriakoi' by the Greeks. The asp (aspis) is so called because by its bite it injects and scatters venoms; for the Greeks call venom 'ios,' and thence 'aspis,' because it slays by its venomous bite. Of this there are diverse kinds and species, and unequal effects for doing harm. It is said that the asp, when it begins to suffer the charmer who by certain proper songs summons it to bring it out of its cave: it, when it is unwilling to come out, presses one ear to the ground, and stops and covers the other with its tail, and thus, not hearing those magic voices, it does not come out to the enchanter. The 'dipsas,' a kind of asp, which in Latin is called 'situla' (thirst-bringer), because whomever it bites perishes of thirst.

The 'hypnalis,' a kind of asp, is so called because it kills by sleep. Cleopatra applied this to herself, and thus was released by death as if by sleep. The 'haemorrhois' asp is so named because whoever is bitten by it sweats blood, so that, with the veins dissolved, whatever there is of life is drawn out through the blood. For in Greek blood is called 'haima.' The 'prester' asp runs always with mouth open and steaming. Of it the poet thus makes mention (Lucan 9.722): 'And the greedy prester distending its smoking jaws.' Whomever it strikes is swollen up and killed by monstrous corpulence; for putrefaction follows the swelling. The 'seps,' a wasting asp, which when it has bitten a man immediately consumes him, so that he is wholly liquefied in the serpent's mouth.

The 'cerastes' is a serpent so called because it has horns on its head like a ram's; for the Greeks call horns 'kerata.' It has four little horns, by the display of which, as if by bait, it entices and destroys the creatures it has lured. For it covers its whole body with sand and gives no sign of itself, except from that part by which it captures the birds or animals it has invited. It is more flexible than other serpents, so that it seems to have no spine. The 'scytale' serpent is so called because it gleams with such variety of back that by the charm of its markings it holds back those who look; and because it is rather sluggish in crawling, those it cannot overtake it captures as they stand amazed at the wonder of it. It is of such heat that even in wintertime it sheds the skin of its glowing body.

Of it Lucan (9.717): 'And the scytale, alone even now shedding its slough amid the scattered frosts.' The 'amphisbaena' is so called because it has two heads, one in its own place, the other in the tail, running from either head, with the trailing of its body coiled. This alone of serpents commits itself to the cold, coming forth the first of all. Of it the same Lucan (9.719): 'And the amphisbaena, heavy, verging toward its twin head.' Its eyes shine like lamps. The 'enhydris' is a snake living in the water; for the Greeks call water 'hydor.' The 'hydros' is a water serpent, by which those struck swell up; some call its disease 'boa,' because it is cured by cow-dung. The 'hydra' is a dragon of many heads, such as was in the marsh of Lerna in the province of Arcadia.

In Latin this is called 'excetra,' because when one head was cut off, three heads grew forth. But this is fabulous; for it is established that the Hydra was a place vomiting forth waters that laid waste a neighboring city, in which, when one channel was stopped, many broke out: which Hercules seeing, burned up the very places, and so closed the channels of the waters. For 'hydra' is named from water (aqua). The 'chelydros' serpent, which is also 'chersydros,' as it were 'cherhydros,' because it dwells both in waters and on land; for the Greeks call land 'cherson,' and water 'hydor.' Through whatever land it glides, it makes it smoke: which Macer thus describes (8): 'Whether its foaming back exhales its venom, or the earth smokes where the foul snake glides.' And Lucan (9.711): 'And of the chelydri drawn along their smoking track.' It always walks straight;

for if it twists itself while it runs, it immediately cracks apart. The 'natrix' is a serpent that infects water with venom; for in whatever spring it may be, it mixes its venom into it. Of it Lucan (9.720): 'The natrix, defiler of water.' The 'cenchris' is a serpent that does not bend, which always makes a straight course. Of it Lucan (9.712): 'And the cenchris, ever about to glide on a straight line.' The 'parias' is a serpent which always walks on its tail and seems to make a furrow. Of it the same Lucan (9.721): 'The parias, content to furrow its path with its tail.' The 'boas' is a snake of Italy of immense bulk, which pursues herds of cattle and buffalo, and attaches itself to their milk-flowing udders and by sucking kills them; and thence from the ravaging of cattle (boves) it received the name 'boas.' The 'iaculus' is a flying serpent. Of it Lucan (9.720):

'And the flying iaculi.' For they leap up into the trees, and when some animal comes in their way, they hurl themselves upon it and slay it; whence they are also called 'iaculi' (javelins). In Arabia, moreover, there are serpents with wings, which are called 'sirenae,' which run faster than horses, but are also said even to fly; whose venom is so great that death follows the bite before pain. The 'ophites' is so called because it has the color of sand. Of it the poet (Lucan 9.714): 'The Theban ophites, painted with small spots, of one color with the parched sands, and the ammodytes indistinguishable from them.' The 'seps' is a tiny serpent, which consumes with venom not only the body but even the bones. Of it the poet thus makes mention (Lucan 9.723): 'The wasting seps, dissolving the bones together with the body.'

The 'dipsas' is a serpent said to be of such smallness that when it is trodden on, it is not seen. Its venom extinguishes life before it is felt, so that the face, forestalled by death, does not even take on the sadness of one about to die. Of it the poet (Lucan 9.737): 'The dipsas, trodden with its head twisted back, bit Aulus, the standard-bearer of Tyrrhenian blood: there was scarcely any pain or sensation of the fang.' The 'salpuga' is a serpent that is not seen. The 'caecula' is so called because it is small and has no eyes. The 'centipede' (centupeda) is named from its multitude of feet. The lizard (lacertus) is a kind of reptile, so called because it has arms (bracchia). There are many kinds of lizards: such as the botrax, the salamander, the saura, the stellio. The 'botrax' is so called because it has the face of a frog; for the Greeks call a frog 'batrachon.'

The salamander is so named because it prevails against fires. Its power is the greatest among all venomous creatures; for the others strike individuals, but this one destroys many at once. For if it creeps up a tree, it infects all the fruits with venom, and kills those who eat them; and if it even falls into a well, the force of its venom kills those who drink. Fighting against fires, it alone of animals extinguishes flames; for it lives in the midst of the flames without pain and without being consumed, and not only because it is not burned, but it puts out the fire. The 'saura' is a lizard which, when it grows old, its eyes are blinded, and it enters a hole in a wall facing the East, and when the sun rises it looks toward it and is given light. The 'stellio' has its name given from its color;

for it is painted on its back with shining spots in the manner of stars (stellae). Of it Ovid (Metamorphoses 5.461): 'And it has a name suited to its color, its body starred with various spots.' It is said to be so hostile to scorpions that at the sight of it, it brings upon them dread and torpor. There are also other kinds of serpents: such as the ammodytes, the elephantia, the chamaedracontes. In short, the number of deaths is as great as the number of names. But all serpents are cold by their nature; nor do they strike except when they grow warm. For when they are cold, they touch nothing; whence their venoms do more harm by day than by night. For they grow numb in the chill of night, and rightly so, since they are cold from the nocturnal dew. For being pestilent and cold by nature, they draw into themselves the vapor of their icy body;

whence in winter they grow numb into knots, and in summer they are loosened. Hence it is that when anyone is struck by the venom of any serpent, he first becomes stupefied, and afterward, when that very poison, warmed within him, has flared up, it immediately kills the man. Venom (venenum) is so called because it goes through the veins (venae); for its pestilence, once infused, spreads through the veins, increased by the body's vital force, and drives out the soul. Whence venom cannot do harm unless it touches a man's blood. Lucan (9.614): 'The pestilence of serpents is harmful when mingled with blood.' But all venom is cold, and therefore the soul, which is fiery, flees the cold venom. In the natural goods which we see to be common to us and to irrational animals, the serpent excels by a certain liveliness of sense.

Whence it is also read in Genesis (3.1): 'Now the serpent was wiser than all the beasts of the earth.' Pliny says, if it be believed, that the head of a serpent, even if it has escaped with only two fingers' length, nonetheless lives. Whence it exposes its whole body to those striking, in defense of its head. In all snakes the sight is dull. Rarely do they look straight ahead, and not without reason, since they have their eyes not in the front but at the temples; so that they hear more quickly than they see. No animal, moreover, moves its tongue with such swiftness as the serpent, so that it seems to have a triple tongue, though it is but one. Serpents' bodies are moist, so much so that wherever they go, they mark the way with moisture.

The tracks of serpents are such that, although they seem to lack feet, they nevertheless crawl by their ribs and the efforts of their scales, which they have arranged in equal fashion from the top of the throat all the way to the bottom of the belly. For they rely on their scales as if on nails, and on their ribs as if on legs. Whence if in any part of the body from the belly to the head it is bruised by any blow, being rendered feeble it cannot maintain its course; because wherever that blow has fallen, it breaks the spine, through which the feet of the ribs and the movement of the body were carried on. Serpents, moreover, are said to live long, so much so that, having laid aside the old tunic (skin), they are said to lay aside old age and return to youth.

The 'tunics' (skins) of serpents are called 'exuviae' (sloughs), because with these, when they grow old, they strip themselves; stripped of which they return to youth. For they are called both 'exuviae' and 'induviae,' because they are stripped off (exuuntur) and put on (induuntur). Pythagoras says that from the marrow of a dead man, which is in the spine, a serpent is created; which Ovid also recounts in the books of the Metamorphoses, saying (15.398): 'There are those who believe that human marrow is changed into a snake when the spine has rotted in the closed tomb.' If this be believed, it rightly comes about that just as by a serpent comes the death of man, so also by the death of man comes the serpent. It is said, moreover, that the serpent has not dared to touch a naked man. V. ON WORMS.

A worm (vermis) is an animal that is for the most part generated from flesh, or from wood, or from any earthly thing without any copulation; although sometimes they are also born from eggs, like the scorpion. Worms, moreover, are either of the earth, or of the water, or of the air, or of flesh, or of leaves, or of wood, or of garments. The spider (aranea) is a worm of the air, named from the nourishment of the air; which with a tiny body draws out long threads, and ever intent on its web never ceases to labor, sustaining a perpetual suspension in its own craft. The leech (sanguisuga) is a water worm, so called because it sucks blood (sanguinem sugit). For it lies in wait for those drinking, and when it slips into the throat or wherever it clings, it drinks the blood;

and when it is soaked with too much gore, it vomits up what it has drunk, so as to suck fresh blood anew. The scorpion (scorpio) is an earthly worm, which is rather ascribed to worms, not to serpents; an animal armed with a sting, and named in Greek from this, because it stabs with its tail and diffuses venom by an arched wound. It is proper to the scorpion, moreover, that it does not strike the palm of the hand. The cantharis (blister-beetle) is an earthly worm which, as soon as it is applied to the human body, by its burning makes blisters full of fluid. The 'multipes' (many-foot) is an earthly worm, named from its multitude of feet, which when touched rolls itself up into a ball. It is born under stones from moisture and earth. The 'limax' (slug) is a worm of the slime (limus), so called because it is born in slime or from slime; whence also it is ever held to be filthy and unclean.

The silkworm (bombyx) is a worm of leaves, from whose weaving the silk fabric (bombycinum) is made. It is called by this name because it is emptied while it produces its threads, and only air remains within it. The caterpillar (eruca) is a worm of leaves wrapped in a cabbage-plant or in a vine-tendril, named from gnawing (erodere). Of it Plautus makes mention (Cistellaria 728): 'Imitating a worthless and mischievous beast, wrapped in a vine-tendril, it entangles itself.' Likewise it does not fly away like the locust, so as to run this way and that scattering half-eaten crops, but it remains on the doomed produce and with slow gliding and sluggish bites consumes the whole. The Greeks call the worms of wood 'teredones,' because they eat by rubbing (terere). These we call 'termites.' For thus among the Latins are called the worms of wood, which trees felled at an unsuitable time produce.

The moth (tinea) is a worm of garments, so called because it holds fast (teneat), and settles in to that extent to which it gnaws away. Hence also 'pertinax' (stubborn), because it presses again and again upon the same thing. Worms of flesh: the hemicranius, the lumbricus (roundworm), the ascarides, the costi, the lice (peduculi), the fleas (pulices), the nits (lendes), the tarmus, the ricinus (tick), the usia, the cimex (bug). The 'hemicranius' is called a worm of the head. The 'lumbricus' is a worm of the intestines, so called as if 'lumbicus,' because it slips (labitur), or because it is in the loins (lumbi). The ascarides. The costi. The lice (peduculi) are worms of the skin, named from the feet (pedes). Whence also those are called 'peduculosi' (lousy) in whom lice swarm on the body. The fleas (pulices) are so called because they are nourished chiefly from dust (pulvis). The nits (lendes). The 'tarmus' is a worm of lard. The 'ricinus' is a worm of the dog, so called because it clings in the ears of dogs; for 'kyon' in Greek is a dog.

The 'usia' is a worm of the pig, so called because it burns (urit); for where it has bitten, the place burns so much that blisters form there. The bug (cimex) is named from its likeness to a certain herb, whose stench it has. Properly, however, the worm (vermis) is born in putrid flesh; the moth (tinea) in garments; the caterpillar (eruca) in cabbage; the teredo in wood; the tarmus in lard. The worm crawls not, like the serpent, by open steps or by the efforts of scales, because it has no rigidity of spine, as the snake does, but by stretching out step by step the contracted parts of its little body in a straight line, and by contracting the parts stretched out, it unfolds its motion, and thus, being set in motion, it glides along. VI. ON FISHES. Fishes (pisces) are so called, whence also 'pecus' (livestock), namely from feeding (pascere). These which swim are called reptiles for this reason, because they have the appearance and nature of crawling;

although they plunge themselves into the deep, yet in swimming they crawl. Whence David also says (Psalm 104.25): 'This great and wide sea; there are reptiles, of which there is no number.' Amphibians (amphibia) are certain kinds of fishes, so called because they have the use of walking on land and the function of swimming in the waters. For 'amphi' in Greek means 'both,' that is, because they live both in the waters and on land: such as seals, crocodiles, hippopotami, that is, river-horses. Men imposed names on cattle and beasts and birds before they did on fishes, because these were seen and known first.

But afterward, as the kinds of fishes gradually became known, names were established for them either from a likeness to land animals, or from their own appearance or habits, or from color, or from shape, or from sex. From a likeness to land creatures: such as the frog-fishes and calf-fishes and lion-fishes and the black merli (blackbird-fishes) and the peacock-fishes painted with diverse color, marked on back and neck, and the thrush-fishes speckled with white, and the rest which have claimed for themselves names according to the appearance of land animals. From the habits of land creatures: such as the dog-fishes in the sea, named from the dogs on land, because they bite; and the wolf-fishes, because with wicked voracity they pursue others. From color: such as the shade-fishes (umbrae), because they are of the color of shadow; and the gilt-heads (auratae), because they have the color of gold on their head; and the varii (trout) from their variegation, which the common people call 'tructae' (trout). From shape:

such as the 'orbis' (globe-fish), because it is round and consists entirely in its head; and the 'solea' (sole), because it is like the soles of footwear (soleae). From sex: such as the 'musculus' (mussel/male-fish), because it is the male of the whale (ballaena); for by its mating this monster is said to conceive. Hence also the 'musculi' of snails, by whose milt oysters conceive. Whales (ballaenae), moreover, are beasts of immense size, named from emitting and pouring out (emittere) waters; for beyond all other beasts of the sea they cast up the waves higher; for 'ballein' in Greek means 'to emit.' The 'cete' are so called from 'to ketos kai ta kete,' that is, on account of their hugeness. For they are enormous kinds of monsters and bodies equal to mountains; such as the whale that received Jonah, whose belly was of such magnitude that it took on the likeness of hell, as the Prophet says (Jonah 2.3):

'He heard me out of the belly of hell.' The sea-horses (equi marini), because in their front part they are horses, but in their hinder part are resolved into a fish. The 'bocas,' they say, are sea-oxen (boves marini), as it were 'boacae.' The 'caerulei' (sea-blue fishes) are named from their color; for 'caeruleum' is green mixed with black, as the sea is. The dolphins (delphines) have a definite name, because they follow the voices of men, or because they gather together in a school at the sound of music (symphonia). Nothing in the sea is swifter than these; for they often, leaping, fly over ships. But when they play before the waves and strike themselves with a headlong leap upon the masses of the billows, they seem to signify storms. These are properly called 'simones.' There is also a kind of dolphin in the Nile with a saw-toothed back, which kill crocodiles by cutting the soft parts of their bellies.

Sea-pigs (porci marini), which are commonly called 'suilli,' because while they seek food, they root the earth under the waters in the manner of a pig. For about the throat they have the function of a mouth, and unless they plunge their snout into the sands, they do not gather their food. The 'corvi' (raven-fishes) are named from the voice of the heart, because they grunt in the breast, and betrayed by their own voice, they are caught. The tunnies (thynni) have a Greek name. These enter in the springtime, entering by the right side, and go out by the left. This is believed to be because they see more sharply with their right eyes than with their left. The sword-fish (gladius) is so called because it has a pointed snout: for this reason it sinks ships that have been pierced through. The saw-fish (serra) is so named because it has a serrated crest, and swimming beneath, it cuts the ship. The scorpion-fish (scorpio) is so called because it wounds when it is lifted by hand.

They relate that if ten crabs are tied up with a bundle of basil, all the scorpions that are there gather to that place. The 'aranea' (weever) is a kind of fish, so called because it strikes with its sting (aere); for it has stingers with which it strikes. The crocodile (crocodillus), named from its saffron color (croceus), is born in the Nile, a four-footed animal strong on land and in the waters, for the most part twenty cubits in length, armed with a monstrousness of teeth and claws, and with such hardness of skin that it repels the blows even of strong stones from its back. By night it rests in the waters, by day on land. It cherishes its eggs on the land: male and female keep watch by turns. Certain fishes, having a serrated crest, kill it by cutting through the soft parts of its belly.

It is said to be the only one of animals that moves its upper jaw. The hippopotamus is so named because it is like a horse (hippos) in back, mane, and neigh, with an upturned snout, boar-like teeth, and a twisted tail. By day it lingers in the waters, by night it feeds on the crops: and the Nile produces it. The 'pagrus,' which the Greeks call 'phagron,' is so named because it has hard teeth, so much so that it is nourished on oysters in the sea. The 'dentix' is named for the multitude and size of its teeth (dentes). The 'lepus' (sea-hare) is named from the likeness of its head. The 'lupus' (bass), as has been said, greed named, a fish ingenious in the catch: for finally, when surrounded by the net, it is said to plow the sands with its tail, and thus, hidden, to pass through the net. The 'mullus' (red mullet) is so called because it is soft (mollis) and very tender.

They relate that by eating it lust is checked, but the keenness of the eyes is dulled: and men who often feed on it smell of the fish. When a mullet is killed in wine, those who drink of it thereafter have an aversion to wine. The mullet (mugilis) has its name because it is very agile (multum agilis). For when it senses the snares of fishermen set out, immediately returning backward it so leaps over the net that you would see the fish fly. The 'melanurus' is so called because it has a black tail and black fins and black lines on its body; for the Greeks call black 'melan.' The 'glaucus' is named from its color, because it is white; for the Greeks call white 'glaukon.' It rarely appears in summer, except only in cloudy weather. The 'thymallus' (grayling) took its name from the flower: for 'thymum' (thyme) is called a flower:

for while it is pleasing in appearance and delightful in taste, yet like a flower it is fragrant and its body breathes forth scents. The 'escarus' (parrot-fish) is so called because it alone is said to ruminate its food (esca): for the other fishes do not ruminate. They relate, moreover, that it is ingenious; for shut up in wicker traps it does not burst out with its brow, nor thrust its head into the hostile withes, but turned away it loosens the doors by frequent blows of its tail, and thus returns backward; and if perchance another parrot-fish outside sees its struggle, seizing its tail with a bite it strives to help the one bursting out. The 'sparus' (gilthead) drew its name from the lance, a missile, because it is of the same shape. For land things were discovered before those of the sea. For the 'sparus' is a rustic missile weapon, named from scattering (spargere).

The southern fish (australis piscis) is so called either because it takes in the wave of the waters with its mouth, or because this fish appears at the time when the Pleiades begin to sink toward the west. The rock-fish is marked on its right and its left flanks by hooked, continuous crimson stripes and by others of different colors; it is called 'hamio' because it is caught only with a hook (hamus). The echeneis, a small fish only half a foot long, took its name from the fact that it holds back a ship by clinging to it. Though the winds may rush and the storms may rage, the ship nonetheless seems to stand as though rooted in the sea and not to be moved, the fish holding it not by restraining but merely by clinging. The Latins called this fish the 'delay' (mora), because it forces vessels to stand still. The uranoscopus is named from the eye it has on the top of its head, from which it is always gazing upward.

The flying gurnard (millago) is so named because it flies above the water. And as often as it is seen flitting outside the water, the weather is about to change. The squatus (angel-shark) is so called because it is sharp with scales; hence too wood is polished with its skin. The city of Syria which is now called Tyre was formerly named Sarra, from a certain fish which abounds there, which they call 'sar' in their own tongue; from this it is derived that little fish of this same kind are called sarda and sardine. The allec is a little fish suitable for the brine of salted preparations; hence too its name. The aphorus is a little fish which, on account of its smallness, cannot be caught with a hook. The eel (anguilla) got its name from its resemblance to a snake (anguis). Its origin is from mud; hence too, when it is caught, it is so slippery that the more firmly you press it, the more quickly it slides away.

They report that the Ganges, a river of the East, breeds eels thirty feet long. When eels have been killed in wine, those who drink of that wine come to loathe wine. The sea-dragon (draco marinus) has spines in its gills pointing toward the tail, and when it strikes, wherever it wounds it pours out venom; hence too its name. The Greeks call the lamprey 'muraina,' because it coils itself into circles. They report that this creature is only of the female sex and conceives from a serpent; on this account it is summoned by fishermen with a hiss, as if from a serpent, and so is caught. It is killed only with difficulty by a blow of a cudgel, but at once by a fennel-stalk. It is certain that it has its life in its tail; for when its head is struck it can scarcely be killed, but by a blow to the tail it is instantly deprived of life. The conger. The octopus (polypus), that is, 'many-footed,' for it has very many folds.