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And whatsoever is in
conformity with nature is pleasant, and all animals pursue pleasure in
keeping with their nature.

2

Animals are also differentiated locally: that is to say, some
live upon dry land, while others live in the water. And this
differentiation may be interpreted in two different ways. Thus, some
animals are termed terrestrial as inhaling air, and others aquatic
as taking in water; and there are others which do not actually take in
these elements, but nevertheless are constitutionally adapted to the
cooling influence, so far as is needful to them, of one element or the
other, and hence are called terrestrial or aquatic though they neither
breathe air nor take in water. Again, other animals are so called from
their finding their food and fixing their habitat on land or in water:
for many animals, although they inhale air and breed on land, yet
derive their food from the water, and live in water for the greater
part of their lives; and these are the only animals to which as living
in and on two elements the term 'amphibious' is applicable. There is
no animal taking in water that is terrestrial or aerial or that
derives its food from the land, whereas of the great number of land
animals inhaling air many get their food from the water; moreover some
are so peculiarly organized that if they be shut off altogether from
the water they cannot possibly live, as for instance, the so-called
sea-turtle, the crocodile, the hippopotamus, the seal, and some of the
smaller creatures, such as the fresh-water tortoise and the frog:
now all these animals choke or drown if they do not from time to
time breathe atmospheric air: they breed and rear their young on dry
land, or near the land, but they pass their lives in water.

But the dolphin is equipped in the most remarkable way of all
animals: the dolphin and other similar aquatic animals, including
the other cetaceans which resemble it; that is to say, the whale,
and all the other creatures that are furnished with a blow-hole. One
can hardly allow that such an animal is terrestrial and terrestrial
only, or aquatic and aquatic only, if by terrestrial we mean an animal
that inhales air, and if by aquatic we mean an animal that takes in
water. For the fact is the dolphin performs both these processes: he
takes in water and discharges it by his blow-hole, and he also inhales
air into his lungs; for, by the way, the creature is furnished with
this organ and respires thereby, and accordingly, when caught in the
nets, he is quickly suffocated for lack of air. He can also live for a
considerable while out of the water, but all this while he keeps up
a dull moaning sound corresponding to the noise made by
air-breathing animals in general; furthermore, when sleeping, the
animal keeps his nose above water, and he does so that he may
breathe the air. Now it would be unreasonable to assign one and the
same class of animals to both categories, terrestrial and aquatic,
seeing that these categories are more or less exclusive of one
another; we must accordingly supplement our definition of the term
'aquatic' or 'marine'. For the fact is, some aquatic animals take in
water and discharge it again, for the same reason that leads
air-breathing animals to inhale air: in other words, with the object
of cooling the blood. Others take in water as incidental to their mode
of feeding; for as they get their food in the water they cannot but
take in water along with their food, and if they take in water they
must be provided with some organ for discharging it. Those blooded
animals, then, that use water for a purpose analogous to respiration
are provided with gills; and such as take in water when catching their
prey, with the blow-hole. Similar remarks are applicable to molluscs
and crustaceans; for again it is by way of procuring food that these
creatures take in water.

Aquatic in different ways, the differences depending on bodily
relation to external temperature and on habit of life, are such
animals on the one hand as take in air but live in water, and such
on the other hand as take in water and are furnished with gills but go
upon dry land and get their living there. At present only one animal
of the latter kind is known, the so-called cordylus or water-newt;
this creature is furnished not with lungs but with gills, but for
all that it is a quadruped and fitted for walking on dry land.

In the case of all these animals their nature appears in some
kind of a way to have got warped, just as some male animals get to
resemble the female, and some female animals the male. The fact is
that animals, if they be subjected to a modification in minute organs,
are liable to immense modifications in their general configuration.
This phenomenon may be observed in the case of gelded animals: only
a minute organ of the animal is mutilated, and the creature passes
from the male to the female form. We may infer, then, that if in the
primary conformation of the embryo an infinitesimally minute but
absolutely essential organ sustain a change of magnitude one way or
the other, the animal will in one case turn to male and in the other
to female; and also that, if the said organ be obliterated altogether,
the animal will be of neither one sex nor the other. And so by the
occurrence of modification in minute organs it comes to pass that
one animal is terrestrial and another aquatic, in both senses of these
terms. And, again, some animals are amphibious whilst other animals
are not amphibious, owing to the circumstance that in their
conformation while in the embryonic condition there got intermixed
into them some portion of the matter of which their subsequent food is
constituted; for, as was said above, what is in conformity with nature
is to every single animal pleasant and agreeable.

Animals then have been categorized into terrestrial and
aquatic in three ways, according to their assumption of air or of
water, the temperament of their bodies, or the character of their
food; and the mode of life of an animal corresponds to the category in
which it is found. That is to say, in some cases the animal depends
for its terrestrial or aquatic nature on temperament and diet
combined, as well as upon its method of respiration; and sometimes
on temperament and habits alone.

Of testaceans, some, that are incapable of motion, subsist on
fresh water, for, as the sea water dissolves into its constituents,
the fresh water from its greater thinness percolates through the
grosser parts; in fact, they live on fresh water just as they were
originally engendered from the same. Now that fresh water is contained
in the sea and can be strained off from it can be proved in a
thoroughly practical way. Take a thin vessel of moulded wax, attach
a cord to it, and let it down quite empty into the sea: in twenty-four
hours it will be found to contain a quantity of water, and the water
will be fresh and drinkable.

Sea-anemones feed on such small fishes as come in their way. The
mouth of this creature is in the middle of its body; and this fact may
be clearly observed in the case of the larger varieties. Like the
oyster it has a duct for the outlet of the residuum; and this duct
is at the top of the animal. In other words, the sea-anemone
corresponds to the inner fleshy part of the oyster, and the stone to
which the one creature clings corresponds to the shell which encases
the other.

The limpet detaches itself from the rock and goes about in quest
of food. Of shell-fish that are mobile, some are carnivorous and
live on little fishes, as for instance, the purple murex-and there can
be no doubt that the purple murex is carnivorous, as it is caught by a
bait of fish; others are carnivorous, but feed also on marine
vegetation.

The sea-turtles feed on shell-fish-for, by the way, their mouths
are extraordinarily hard; whatever object it seizes, stone or other,
it crunches into bits, but when it leaves the water for dry land it
browses on grass). These creatures suffer greatly, and oftentimes
die when they lie on the surface of the water exposed to a scorching
sun; for, when once they have risen to the surface, they find a
difficulty in sinking again.

Crustaceans feed in like manner. They are omnivorous; that is to
say, they live on stones, slime, sea-weed, and excrement-as for
instance the rock-crab-and are also carnivorous. The crawfish or
spiny-lobster can get the better of fishes even of the larger species,
though in some of them it occasionally finds more than its match.
Thus, this animal is so overmastered and cowed by the octopus that
it dies of terror if it become aware of an octopus in the same net
with itself. The crawfish can master the conger-eel, for owing to
the rough spines of the crawfish the eel cannot slip away and elude
its hold. The conger-eel, however, devours the octopus, for owing to
the slipperiness of its antagonist the octopus can make nothing of it.
The crawfish feeds on little fish, capturing them beside its hole or
dwelling place; for, by the way, it is found out at sea on rough and
stony bottoms, and in such places it makes its den. Whatever it
catches, it puts into its mouth with its pincer-like claws, like the
common crab. Its nature is to walk straight forward when it has
nothing to fear, with its feelers hanging sideways; if it be
frightened, it makes its escape backwards, darting off to a great
distance. These animals fight one another with their claws, just as
rams fight with their horns, raising them and striking their
opponents; they are often also seen crowded together in herds. So much
for the mode of life of the crustacean.

Molluscs are all carnivorous; and of molluscs the calamary and
the sepia are more than a match for fishes even of the large
species. The octopus for the most part gathers shellfish, extracts the
flesh, and feeds on that; in fact, fishermen recognize their holes
by the number of shells lying about. Some say that the octopus devours
its own species, but this statement is incorrect; it is doubtless
founded on the fact that the creature is often found with its
tentacles removed, which tentacles have really been eaten off by the
conger.

Fishes, all without exception, feed on spawn in the spawning
season; but in other respects the food varies with the varying
species. Some fishes are exclusively carnivorous, as the cartilaginous
genus, the conger, the channa or Serranus, the tunny, the bass, the
synodon or Dentex, the amia, the sea-perch, and the muraena. The red
mullet is carnivorous, but feeds also on sea-weed, on shell-fish,
and on mud. The grey mullet feeds on mud, the dascyllus on mud and
offal, the scarus or parrot-fish and the melanurus on sea-weed, the
saupe on offal and sea-weed; the saupe feeds also on zostera, and is
the only fish that is captured with a gourd. All fishes devour their
own species, with the single exception of the cestreus or mullet;
and the conger is especially ravenous in this respect. The cephalus
and the mullet in general are the only fish that eat no flesh; this
may be inferred from the facts that when caught they are never found
with flesh in their intestines, and that the bait used to catch them
is not flesh but barley-cake. Every fish of the mullet-kind lives on
sea-weed and sand. The cephalus, called by some the 'chelon', keeps
near in to the shore, the peraeas keeps out at a distance from it, and
feeds on a mucous substance exuding from itself, and consequently is
always in a starved condition. The cephalus lives in mud, and is in
consequence heavy and slimy; it never feeds on any other fish. As it
lives in mud, it has every now and then to make a leap upwards out
of the mud so as to wash the slime from off its body. There is no
creature known to prey upon the spawn of the cephalus, so that the
species is exceedingly numerous; when, however, the is full-grown it
is preyed upon by a number of fishes, and especially by the acharnas
or bass. Of all fishes the mullet is the most voracious and
insatiable, and in consequence its belly is kept at full stretch;
whenever it is not starving, it may be considered as out of condition.
When it is frightened, it hides its head in mud, under the notion that
it is hiding its whole body. The synodon is carnivorous and feeds on
molluscs. Very often the synodon and the channa cast up their stomachs
while chasing smaller fishes; for, be it remembered, fishes have their
stomachs close to the mouth, and are not furnished with a gullet.

Some fishes then, as has been stated, are carnivorous, and
carnivorous only, as the dolphin, the synodon, the gilt-head, the
selachians, and the molluscs. Other fishes feed habitually on mud or
sea-weed or sea-moss or the so-called stalk-weed or growing plants; as
for instance, the phycis, the goby, and the rock-fish; and, by the
way, the only meat that the phycis will touch is that of prawns.
Very often, however, as has been stated, they devour one another,
and especially do the larger ones devour the smaller. The proof of
their being carnivorous is the fact that they can be caught with flesh
for a bait. The mackerel, the tunny, and the bass are for the most
part carnivorous, but they do occasionally feed on sea-weed. The
sargue feeds on the leavings of the trigle or red mullet. The red
mullet burrows in the mud, when it sets the mud in motion and quits
its haunt, the sargue settles down into the place and feeds on what is
left behind, and prevents any smaller fish from settling in the
immediate vicinity.

Of all fishes the so-called scarus, or parrot, wrasse, is the
only one known to chew the cud like a quadruped.

As a general rule the larger fishes catch the smaller ones in
their mouths whilst swimming straight after them in the ordinary
position; but the selachians, the dolphin, and all the cetacea must
first turn over on their backs, as their mouths are placed down below;
this allows a fair chance of escape to the smaller fishes, and,
indeed, if it were not so, there would be very few of the little
fishes left, for the speed and voracity of the dolphin is something
marvellous.

Of eels a few here and there feed on mud and on chance morsels
of food thrown to them; the greater part of them subsist on fresh
water. Eel-breeders are particularly careful to have the water kept
perfectly clear, by its perpetually flowing on to flat slabs of
stone and then flowing off again; sometimes they coat the eel-tanks
with plaster. The fact is that the eel will soon choke if the water is
not clear as his gills are peculiarly small. On this account, when
fishing for eels, they disturb the water. In the river Strymon
eel-fishing takes place at the rising of the Pleiads, because at
this period the water is troubled and the mud raised up by contrary
winds; unless the water be in this condition, it is as well to leave
the eels alone. When dead the eel, unlike the majority of fishes,
neither floats on nor rises to the surface; and this is owing to the
smallness of the stomach. A few eels are supplied with fat, but the
greater part have no fat whatsoever. When removed from the water
they can live for five or six days; for a longer period if north winds
prevail, for a shorter if south winds. If they are removed in summer
from the pools to the tanks they will die; but not so if removed in
the winter. They are not capable of holding out against any abrupt
change; consequently they often die in large numbers when men
engaged in transporting them from one place to another dip them into
water particularly cold. They will also die of suffocation if they
be kept in a scanty supply of water. This same remark will hold good
for fishes in general; for they are suffocated if they be long
confined in a short supply of water, with the water kept
unchanged-just as animals that respire are suffocated if they be
shut up with a scanty supply of air. The eel in some cases lives for
seven or eight years. The river-eel feeds on his own species, on
grass, or on roots, or on any chance food found in the mud. Their
usual feeding-time is at night, and during the day-time they retreat
into deep water. And so much for the food of fishes.

3

Of birds, such as have crooked talons are carnivorous without
exception, and cannot swallow corn or bread-food even if it be put
into their bills in tit-bits; as for instance, the eagle of every
variety, the kite, the two species of hawks, to wit, the dove-hawk and
the sparrow-hawk-and, by the way, these two hawks differ greatly in
size from one another-and the buzzard. The buzzard is of the same size
as the kite, and is visible at all seasons of the year. There is
also the phene (or lammergeier) and the vulture. The phene is larger
than the common eagle and is ashen in colour. Of the vulture there are
two varieties: one small and whitish, the other comparatively large
and rather more ashen-coloured than white. Further, of birds that
fly by night, some have crooked talons, such as the night-raven, the
owl, and the eagle-owl. The eagle-owl resembles the common owl in
shape, but it is quite as large as the eagle. Again, there is the
eleus, the Aegolian owl, and the little horned owl. Of these birds,
the eleus is somewhat larger than the barn-door cock, and the Aegolian
owl is of about the same size as the eleus, and both these birds
hunt the jay; the little horned owl is smaller than the common owl.
All these three birds are alike in appearance, and all three are
carnivorous.

Again, of birds that have not crooked talons some are carnivorous,
such as the swallow. Others feed on grubs, such as the chaffinch,
the sparrow, the 'batis', the green linnet, and the titmouse. Of the
titmouse there are three varieties. The largest is the
finch-titmouse--for it is about the size of a finch; the second has
a long tail, and from its habitat is called the hill-titmouse; the
third resembles the other two in appearance, but is less in size
than either of them. Then come the becca-fico, the black-cap, the
bull-finch, the robin, the epilais, the midget-bird, and the
golden-crested wren. This wren is little larger than a locust, has a
crest of bright red gold, and is in every way a beautiful and graceful
little bird. Then the anthus, a bird about the size of a finch; and
the mountain-finch, which resembles a finch and is of much the same
size, but its neck is blue, and it is named from its habitat; and
lastly the wren and the rook. The above-enumerated birds and the
like of them feed either wholly or for the most part on grubs, but the
following and the like feed on thistles; to wit, the linnet, the
thraupis, and the goldfinch. All these birds feed on thistles, but
never on grubs or any living thing whatever; they live and roost
also on the plants from which they derive their food.

There are other birds whose favourite food consists of insects
found beneath the bark of trees; as for instance, the great and the
small pie, which are nicknamed the woodpeckers. These two birds
resemble one another in plumage and in note, only that the note of the
larger bird is the louder of the two; they both frequent the trunks of
trees in quest of food. There is also the greenpie, a bird about the
size of a turtle-dove, green-coloured all over, that pecks at the bark
of trees with extraordinary vigour, lives generally on the branch of a
tree, has a loud note, and is mostly found in the Peloponnese. There
is another bird called the 'grub-picker' (or tree-creeper), about as
small as the penduline titmouse, with speckled plumage of an ashen
colour, and with a poor note; it is a variety of the woodpecker.

There are other birds that live on fruit and herbage, such as
the wild pigeon or ringdove, the common pigeon, the rock-dove, and the
turtle-dove. The ring-dove and the common pigeon are visible at all
seasons; the turtledove only in the summer, for in winter it lurks
in some hole or other and is never seen. The rock-dove is chiefly
visible in the autumn, and is caught at that season; it is larger than
the common pigeon but smaller than the wild one; it is generally
caught while drinking. These pigeons bring their young ones with
them when they visit this country. All our other birds come to us in
the early summer and build their nests here, and the greater part of
them rear their young on animal food, with the sole exception of the
pigeon and its varieties.

The whole genus of birds may be pretty well divided into such as
procure their food on dry land, such as frequent rivers and lakes, and
such as live on or by the sea.

Of water-birds such as are web-footed live actually on the
water, while such as are split-footed live by the edge of it-and, by
the way, water-birds that are not carnivorous live on water-plants,
(but most of them live on fish), like the heron and the spoonbill that
frequent the banks of lakes and rivers; and the spoonbill, by the way,
is less than the common heron, and has a long flat bill. There are
furthermore the stork and the seamew; and the seamew, by the way, is
ashen-coloured. There is also the schoenilus, the cinclus, and the
white-rump. Of these smaller birds the last mentioned is the
largest, being about the size of the common thrush; all three may be
described as 'wag-tails'. Then there is the scalidris, with plumage
ashen-grey, but speckled. Moreover, the family of the halcyons or
kingfishers live by the waterside. Of kingfishers there are two
varieties; one that sits on reeds and sings; the other, the larger
of the two, is without a note. Both these varieties are blue on the
back. There is also the trochilus (or sandpiper). The halcyon also,
including a variety termed the cerylus, is found near the seaside. The
crow also feeds on such animal life as is cast up on the beach, for
the bird is omnivorous. There are also the white gull, the cepphus,
the aethyia, and the charadrius.

Of web-footed birds, the larger species live on the banks of
rivers and lakes; as the swan, the duck, the coot, the grebe, and
the teal-a bird resembling the duck but less in size-and the
water-raven or cormorant. This bird is the size of a stork, only
that its legs are shorter; it is web-footed and is a good swimmer; its
plumage is black. It roosts on trees, and is the only one of all
such birds as these that is found to build its nest in a tree. Further
there is the large goose, the little gregarious goose, the
vulpanser, the horned grebe, and the penelops. The sea-eagle lives
in the neighbourhood of the sea and seeks its quarry in lagoons.

A great number of birds are omnivorous. Birds of prey feed on
any animal or bird, other than a bird of prey, that they may catch.
These birds never touch one of their own genus, whereas fishes often
devour members actually of their own species.

Birds, as a rule, are very spare drinkers. In fact birds of prey
never drink at all, excepting a very few, and these drink very rarely;
and this last observation is peculiarly applicable to the kestrel. The
kite has been seen to drink, but he certainly drinks very seldom.

4

Animals that are coated with tessellates-such as the lizard and
the other quadrupeds, and the serpents-are omnivorous: at all events
they are carnivorous and graminivorous; and serpents, by the way,
are of all animals the greatest gluttons.

Tessellated animals are spare drinkers, as are also all such
animals as have a spongy lung, and such a lung, scantily supplied with
blood, is found in all oviparous animals. Serpents, by the by, have an
insatiate appetite for wine; consequently, at times men hunt for
snakes by pouring wine into saucers and putting them into the
interstices of walls, and the creatures are caught when inebriated.
Serpents are carnivorous, and whenever they catch an animal they
extract all its juices and eject the creature whole. And, by the
way, this is done by all other creatures of similar habits, as for
instance the spider; only that the spider sucks out the juices of
its prey outside, and the serpent does so in its belly. The serpent
takes any food presented to him, eats birds and animals, and
swallows eggs entire. But after taking his prey he stretches himself
until he stands straight out to the very tip, and then he contracts
and squeezes himself into little compass, so that the swallowed mass
may pass down his outstretched body; and this action on his part is
due to the tenuity and length of his gullet. Spiders and snakes can
both go without food for a long time; and this remark may be
verified by observation of specimens kept alive in the shops of the
apothecaries.

5

Of viviparous quadrupeds such as are fierce and jag-toothed
are without exception carnivorous; though, by the way, it is stated of
the wolf, but of no other animal, that in extremity of hunger it
will eat a certain kind of earth. These carnivorous animals never
eat grass except when they are sick, just as dogs bring on a vomit
by eating grass and thereby purge themselves.

The solitary wolf is more apt to attack man than the wolf that
goes with a pack.

The animal called 'glanus' by some and 'hyaena' by others is
as large as a wolf, with a mane like a horse, only that the hair is
stiffer and longer and extends over the entire length of the chine. It
will lie in wait for a man and chase him, and will inveigle a dog
within its reach by making a noise that resembles the retching noise
of a man vomiting. It is exceedingly fond of putrefied flesh, and will
burrow in a graveyard to gratify this propensity.

The bear is omnivorous. It eats fruit, and is enabled by the
suppleness of its body to climb a tree; it also eats vegetables, and
it will break up a hive to get at the honey; it eats crabs and ants
also, and is in a general way carnivorous. It is so powerful that it
will attack not only the deer but the wild boar, if it can take it
unawares, and also the bull. After coming to close quarters with the
bull it falls on its back in front of the animal, and, when the bull
proceeds to butt, the bear seizes hold of the bull's horns with its
front paws, fastens its teeth into his shoulder, and drags him down to
the ground. For a short time together it can walk erect on its hind
legs. All the flesh it eats it first allows to become carrion.

The lion, like all other savage and jag-toothed animals, is
carnivorous. It devours its food greedily and fiercely, and often
swallows its prey entire without rending it at all; it will then go
fasting for two or three days together, being rendered capable of this
abstinence by its previous surfeit. It is a spare drinker. It
discharges the solid residuum in small quantities, about every other
day or at irregular intervals, and the substance of it is hard and dry
like the excrement of a dog. The wind discharged from off its
stomach is pungent, and its urine emits a strong odour, a phenomenon
which, in the case of dogs, accounts for their habit of sniffing at
trees; for, by the way, the lion, like the dog, lifts its leg to
void its urine. It infects the food it eats with a strong smell by
breathing on it, and when the animal is cut open an overpowering
vapour exhales from its inside.

Some wild quadrupeds feed in lakes and rivers; the seal is the
only one that gets its living on the sea. To the former class of
animals belong the so-called castor, the satyrium, the otter, and
the so-called latax, or beaver. The beaver is flatter than the otter
and has strong teeth; it often at night-time emerges from the water
and goes nibbling at the bark of the aspens that fringe the
riversides. The otter will bite a man, and it is said that whenever it
bites it will never let go until it hears a bone crack. The hair of
the beaver is rough, intermediate in appearance between the hair of
the seal and the hair of the deer.

6

Jag-toothed animals drink by lapping, as do also some animals
with teeth differently formed, as the mouse. Animals whose upper and
lower teeth meet evenly drink by suction, as the horse and the ox; the
bear neither laps nor sucks, but gulps down his drink. Birds, a
rule, drink by suction, but the long necked birds stop and elevate
their heads at intervals; the purple coot is the only one (of the
long-necked birds) that swallows water by gulps.

Horned animals, domesticated or wild, and all such as are not
jag-toothed, are all frugivorous and graminivorous, save under great
stress of hunger. The pig is an exception, it cares little for grass
or fruit, but of all animals it is the fondest of roots, owing to
the fact that its snout is peculiarly adapted for digging them out
of the ground; it is also of all animals the most easily pleased in
the matter of food. It takes on fat more rapidly in proportion to
its size than any other animal; in fact, a pig can be fattened for the
market in sixty days. Pig-dealers can tell the amount of flesh taken
on, by having first weighed the animal while it was being starved.
Before the fattening process begins, the creature must be starved
for three days; and, by the way, animals in general will take on fat
if subjected previously to a course of starvation; after the three
days of starvation, pig-breeders feed the animal lavishly. Breeders in
Thrace, when fattening pigs, give them a drink on the first day;
then they miss one, and then two days, then three and four, until
the interval extends over seven days. The pigs' meat used for
fattening is composed of barley, millet, figs, acorns, wild pears, and
cucumbers. These animals-and other animals that have warm
bellies-are fattened by repose. (Pigs also fatten the better by
being allowed to wallow in mud. They like to feed in batches of the
same age. A pig will give battle even to a wolf. ) If a pig be
weighed when living, you may calculate that after death its flesh will
weigh five-sixths of that weight, and the hair, the blood, and the
rest will weigh the other sixth. When suckling their young,
swinelike all other animals-get attenuated. So much for these animals.

7

Cattle feed on corn and grass, and fatten on vegetables that
tend to cause flatulency, such as bitter vetch or bruised beans or
bean-stalks. The older ones also will fatten if they be fed up after
an incision has been made into their hide, and air blown thereinto.
Cattle will fatten also on barley in its natural state or on barley
finely winnowed, or on sweet food, such as figs, or pulp from the
wine-press, or on elm-leaves. But nothing is so fattening as the
heat of the sun and wallowing in warm waters. If the horns of young
cattle be smeared with hot wax, you may mold them to any shape you
please, and cattle are less subject to disease of the hoof if you
smear the horny parts with wax, pitch, or olive oil. Herded cattle
suffer more when they are forced to change their pasture ground by
frost than when snow is the cause of change. Cattle grow all the
more in size when they are kept from sexual commerce over a number
of years; and it is with a view to growth in size that in Epirus the
so-called Pyrrhic kine are not allowed intercourse with the bull until
they are nine years old; from which circumstance they are nicknamed
the 'unbulled' kine. Of these Pyrrhic cattle, by the way, they say
that there are only about four hundred in the world, that they are the
private property of the Epirote royal family, that they cannot
thrive out of Epirus, and that people elsewhere have tried to rear
them, but without success.

8

Horses, mules, and asses feed on corn and grass, but are
fattened chiefly by drink. Just in proportion as beasts of burden
drink water, so will they more or less enjoy their food, and a place
will give good or bad feeding according as the water is good or bad.
Green corn, while ripening, will give a smooth coat; but such corn
is injurious if the spikes are too stiff and sharp. The first crop
of clover is unwholesome, and so is clover over which ill-scented
water runs; for the clover is sure to get the taint of the water.
Cattle like clear water for drinking; but the horse in this respect
resembles the camel, for the camel likes turbid and thick water, and
will never drink from a stream until he has trampled it into a
turbid condition. And, by the way, the camel can go without water
for as much as four days, but after that when he drinks, he drinks
in immense quantities.

9

The elephant at the most can eat nine Macedonian medimni of fodder
at one meal; but so large an amount is unwholesome. As a general
rule it can take six or seven medimni of fodder, five medimni of
wheat, and five mareis of wine-six cotylae going to the maris. An
elephant has been known to drink right off fourteen Macedonian
metretae of water, and another metretae later in the day.

Camels live for about thirty years; in some exceptional cases
they live much longer, and instances have been known of their living
to the age of a hundred. The elephant is said by some to live for
about two hundred years; by others, for three hundred.

10

Sheep and goats are graminivorous, but sheep browse assiduously
and steadily, whereas goats shift their ground rapidly, and browse
only on the tips of the herbage. Sheep are much improved in
condition by drinking, and accordingly they give the flocks salt every
five days in summer, to the extent of one medimnus to the hundred
sheep, and this is found to render a flock healthier and fatter. In
fact they mix salt with the greater part of their food; a large amount
of salt is mixed into their bran (for the reason that they drink
more when thirsty), and in autumn they get cucumbers with a sprinkling
of salt on them; this admixture of salt in their food tends also to
increase the quantity of milk in the ewes. If sheep be kept on the
move at midday they will drink more copiously towards evening; and
if the ewes be fed with salted food as the lambing season draws near
they will get larger udders. Sheep are fattened by twigs of the
olive or of the oleaster, by vetch, and bran of every kind; and
these articles of food fatten all the more if they be first
sprinkled with brine. Sheep will take on flesh all the better if
they be first put for three days through a process of starving. In
autumn, water from the north is more wholesome for sheep than water
from the south. Pasture grounds are all the better if they have a
westerly aspect.

Sheep will lose flesh if they be kept overmuch on the move or be
subjected to any hardship. In winter time shepherds can easily
distinguish the vigorous sheep from the weakly, from the fact that the
vigorous sheep are covered with hoar-frost while the weakly ones are
quite free of it; the fact being that the weakly ones feeling
oppressed with the burden shake themselves and so get rid of it. The
flesh of all quadrupeds deteriorates in marshy pastures, and is the
better on high grounds. Sheep that have flat tails can stand the
winter better than long-tailed sheep, and short-fleeced sheep than the
shaggy-fleeced; and sheep with crisp wool stand the rigour of winter
very poorly. Sheep are healthier than goats, but goats are stronger
than sheep. (The fleeces and the wool of sheep that have been killed
by wolves, as also the clothes made from them, are exceptionally
infested with lice. )

11

Of insects, such as have teeth are omnivorous; such as have a
tongue feed on liquids only, extracting with that organ juices from
all quarters. And of these latter some may be called omnivorous,
inasmuch as they feed on every kind of juice, as for instance, the
common fly; others are blood-suckers, such as the gadfly and the
horse-fly, others again live on the juices of fruits and plants. The
bee is the only insect that invariably eschews whatever is rotten;
it will touch no article of food unless it have a sweet-tasting juice,
and it is particularly fond of drinking water if it be found
bubbling up clear from a spring underground.

So much for the food of animals of the leading genera.

12

The habits of animals are all connected with either breeding and
the rearing of young, or with the procuring a due supply of food;
and these habits are modified so as to suit cold and heat and the
variations of the seasons. For all animals have an instinctive
perception of the changes of temperature, and, just as men seek
shelter in houses in winter, or as men of great possessions spend
their summer in cool places and their winter in sunny ones, so also
all animals that can do so shift their habitat at various seasons.

Some creatures can make provision against change without
stirring from their ordinary haunts; others migrate, quitting Pontus
and the cold countries after the autumnal equinox to avoid the
approaching winter, and after the spring equinox migrating from warm
lands to cool lands to avoid the coming heat. In some cases they
migrate from places near at hand, in others they may be said to come
from the ends of the world, as in the case of the crane; for these
birds migrate from the steppes of Scythia to the marshlands south of
Egypt where the Nile has its source. And it is here, by the way,
that they are said to fight with the pygmies; and the story is not
fabulous, but there is in reality a race of dwarfish men, and the
horses are little in proportion, and the men live in caves
underground. Pelicans also migrate, and fly from the Strymon to the
Ister, and breed on the banks of this river. They depart in flocks,
and the birds in front wait for those in the rear, owing to the fact
that when the flock is passing over the intervening mountain range,
the birds in the rear lose sight of their companions in the van.

Fishes also in a similar manner shift their habitat now out of
the Euxine and now into it. In winter they move from the outer sea
in towards land in quest of heat; in summer they shift from shallow
waters to the deep sea to escape the heat.

Weakly birds in winter and in frosty weather come down to the
plains for warmth, and in summer migrate to the hills for coolness.
The more weakly an animal is the greater hurry will it be in to
migrate on account of extremes of temperature, either hot or cold;
thus the mackerel migrates in advance of the tunnies, and the quail in
advance of the cranes. The former migrates in the month of Boedromion,
and the latter in the month of Maemacterion. All creatures are
fatter in migrating from cold to heat than in migrating from heat to
cold; thus the quail is fatter when he emigrates in autumn than when
he arrives in spring. The migration from cold countries is
contemporaneous with the close of the hot season. Animals are in
better trim for breeding purposes in spring-time, when they change
from hot to cool lands.

Of birds, the crane, as has been said, migrates from one end of
the world to the other; they fly against the wind. The story told
about the stone is untrue: to wit, that the bird, so the story goes,
carries in its inside a stone by way of ballast, and that the stone
when vomited up is a touchstone for gold.

The cushat and the rock-dove migrate, and never winter in our
country, as is the case also with the turtle-dove; the common
pigeon, however, stays behind. The quail also migrates; only, by the
way, a few quails and turtle-doves may stay behind here and there in
sunny districts. Cushats and turtle-doves flock together, both when
they arrive and when the season for migration comes round again.
When quails come to land, if it be fair weather or if a north wind
is blowing, they will pair off and manage pretty comfortably; but if a
southerly wind prevail they are greatly distressed owing to the
difficulties in the way of flight, for a southerly wind is wet and
violent. For this reason bird-catchers are never on the alert for
these birds during fine weather, but only during the prevalence of
southerly winds, when the bird from the violence of the wind is unable
to fly. And, by the way, it is owing to the distress occasioned by the
bulkiness of its body that the bird always screams while flying: for
the labour is severe. When the quails come from abroad they have no
leaders, but when they migrate hence, the glottis flits along with
them, as does also the landrail, and the eared owl, and the corncrake.
The corncrake calls them in the night, and when the birdcatchers
hear the croak of the bird in the nighttime they know that the
quails are on the move. The landrail is like a marsh bird, and the
glottis has a tongue that can project far out of its beak. The eared
owl is like an ordinary owl, only that it has feathers about its ears;
by some it is called the night-raven. It is a great rogue of a bird,
and is a capital mimic; a bird-catcher will dance before it and, while
the bird is mimicking his gestures, the accomplice comes behind and
catches it. The common owl is caught by a similar trick.

As a general rule all birds with crooked talons are
short-necked, flat-tongued, and disposed to mimicry. The Indian
bird, the parrot, which is said to have a man's tongue, answers to
this description; and, by the way, after drinking wine, the parrot
becomes more saucy than ever.

Of birds, the following are migratory-the crane, the swan, the
pelican, and the lesser goose.

13

Of fishes, some, as has been observed, migrate from the outer seas
in towards shore, and from the shore towards the outer seas, to
avoid the extremes of cold and heat.

Fish living near to the shore are better eating than deep-sea
fish. The fact is they have more abundant and better feeding, for
wherever the sun's heat can reach vegetation is more abundant,
better in quality, and more delicate, as is seen in any ordinary
garden. Further, the black shore-weed grows near to shore; the other
shore-weed is like wild weed. Besides, the parts of the sea near to
shore are subjected to a more equable temperature; and consequently
the flesh of shallow-water fishes is firm and consistent, whereas
the flesh of deep-water fishes is flaccid and watery.

The following fishes are found near into the shore-the
synodon, the black bream, the merou, the gilthead, the mullet, the red
mullet, the wrasse, the weaver, the callionymus, the goby, and
rock-fishes of all kinds. The following are deep-sea fishes--the
trygon, the cartilaginous fishes, the white conger, the serranus,
the erythrinus, and the glaucus. The braize, the sea-scorpion, the
black conger, the muraena, and the piper or sea-cuckoo are found alike
in shallow and deep waters. These fishes, however, vary for various
localities; for instance, the goby and all rock-fish are fat off the
coast of Crete. Again, the tunny is out of season in summer, when it
is being preyed on by its own peculiar louse-parasite, but after the
rising of Arcturus, when the parasite has left it, it comes into
season again. A number of fish also are found in sea-estuaries; such
as the saupe, the gilthead, the red mullet, and, in point of fact, the
greater part of the gregarious fishes. The bonito also is found in
such waters, as, for instance, off the coast of Alopeconnesus; and
most species of fishes are found in Lake Bistonis. The coly-mackerel
as a rule does not enter the Euxine, but passes the summer in the
Propontis, where it spawns, and winters in the Aegean. The tunny
proper, the pelamys, and the bonito penetrate into the Euxine in
summer and pass the summer there; as do also the greater part of
such fish as swim in shoals with the currents, or congregate in shoals
together. And most fish congregate in shoals, and shoal-fishes in
all cases have leaders.

Fish penetrate into the Euxine for two reasons, and firstly for
food. For the feeding is more abundant and better in quality owing
to the amount of fresh river-water that discharges into the sea, and
moreover, the large fishes of this inland sea are smaller than the
large fishes of the outer sea. In point of fact, there is no large
fish in the Euxine excepting the dolphin and the porpoise, and the
dolphin is a small variety; but as soon as you get into the outer
sea the big fishes are on the big scale. Furthermore, fish penetrate
into this sea for the purpose of breeding; for there are recesses
there favourable for spawning, and the fresh and exceptionally sweet
water has an invigorating effect upon the spawn. After spawning,
when the young fishes have attained some size, the parent fish swim
out of the Euxine immediately after the rising of the Pleiads. If
winter comes in with a southerly wind, they swim out with more or less
of deliberation; but, if a north wind be blowing, they swim out with
greater rapidity, from the fact that the breeze is favourable to their
own course. And, by the way, the young fish are caught about this time
in the neighbourhood of Byzantium very small in size, as might have
been expected from the shortness of their sojourn in the Euxine. The
shoals in general are visible both as they quit and enter the
Euxine. The trichiae, however, only can be caught during their
entry, but are never visible during their exit; in point of fact, when
a trichia is caught running outwards in the neighbourhood of
Byzantium, the fishermen are particularly careful to cleanse their
nets, as the circumstance is so singular and exceptional. The way of
accounting for this phenomenon is that this fish, and this one only,
swims northwards into the Danube, and then at the point of its
bifurcation swims down southwards into the Adriatic. And, as a proof
that this theory is correct, the very opposite phenomenon presents
itself in the Adriatic; that is to say, they are not caught in that
sea during their entry, but are caught during their exit.

Tunny-fish swim into the Euxine keeping the shore on their
right, and swim out of it with the shore upon their left. It is stated
that they do so as being naturally weak-sighted, and seeing better
with the right eye.

During the daytime shoal-fish continue on their way, but
during the night they rest and feed. But if there be moonlight, they
continue their journey without resting at all. Some people
accustomed to sea-life assert that shoal-fish at the period of the
winter solstice never move at all, but keep perfectly still wherever
they may happen to have been overtaken by the solstice, and this lasts
until the equinox.

The coly-mackerel is caught more frequently on entering than
on quitting the Euxine. And in the Propontis the fish is at its best
before the spawning season. Shoal-fish, as a rule, are caught in
greater quantities as they leave the Euxine, and at that season they
are in the best condition. At the time of their entrance they are
caught in very plump condition close to shore, but those are in
comparatively poor condition that are caught farther out to sea.
Very often, when the coly-mackerel and the mackerel are met by a south
wind in their exit, there are better catches to the southward than
in the neighbourhood of Byzantium. So much then for the phenomenon
of migration of fishes.

Now the same phenomenon is observed in fishes as in
terrestrial animals in regard to hibernation: in other words, during
winter fishes take to concealing themselves in out of the way
places, and quit their places of concealment in the warmer season.
But, by the way, animals go into concealment by way of refuge
against extreme heat, as well as against extreme cold. Sometimes an
entire genus will thus seek concealment; in other cases some species
will do so and others will not. For instance, the shell-fish seek
concealment without exception, as is seen in the case of those
dwelling in the sea, the purple murex, the ceryx, and all such like;
but though in the case of the detached species the phenomenon is
obvious-for they hide themselves, as is seen in the scallop, or they
are provided with an operculum on the free surface, as in the case
of land snails-in the case of the non-detached the concealment is
not so clearly observed. They do not go into hiding at one and the
same season; but the snails go in winter, the purple murex and the
ceryx for about thirty days at the rising of the Dog-star, and the
scallop at about the same period. But for the most part they go into
concealment when the weather is either extremely cold or extremely
hot.

14

Insects almost all go into hiding, with the exception of such of
them as live in human habitations or perish before the completion of
the year. They hide in the winter; some of them for several days,
others for only the coldest days, as the bee. For the bee also goes
into hiding: and the proof that it does so is that during a certain
period bees never touch the food set before them, and if a bee
creeps out of the hive, it is quite transparent, with nothing
whatsoever in its stomach; and the period of its rest and hiding lasts
from the setting of the Pleiads until springtime.

Animals take their winter-sleep or summer-sleep by concealing
themselves in warm places, or in places where they have been used to
lie concealed.

15

Several blooded animals take this sleep, such as the pholidotes or
tessellates, namely, the serpent, the lizard, the gecko, and the
river. crocodile, all of which go into hiding for four months in the
depth of winter, and during that time eat nothing. Serpents in general
burrow under ground for this purpose; the viper conceals itself
under a stone.

A great number of fishes also take this sleep, and notably,
the hippurus and coracinus in winter time; for, whereas fish in
general may be caught at all periods of the year more or less, there
is this singularity observed in these fishes, that they are caught
within a certain fixed period of the year, and never by any chance out
of it. The muraena also hides, and the orphus or sea-perch, and the
conger. Rock-fish pair off, male and female, for hiding (just as for
breeding); as is observed in the case of the species of wrasse
called the thrush and the owzel, and in the perch.

The tunny also takes a sleep in winter in deep waters, and
gets exceedingly fat after the sleep. The fishing season for the tunny
begins at the rising of the Pleiads and lasts, at the longest, down to
the setting of Arcturus; during the rest of the year they are hid
and enjoying immunity. About the time of hibernation a few tunnies
or other hibernating fishes are caught while swimming about, in
particularly warm localities and in exceptionally fine weather, or
on nights of full moon; for the fishes are induced (by the warmth or
the light) to emerge for a while from their lair in quest of food.

Most fishes are at their best for the table during the summer or
winter sleep.

The primas-tunny conceals itself in the mud; this may be
inferred from the fact that during a particular period the fish is
never caught, and that, when it is caught after that period, it is
covered with mud and has its fins damaged. In the spring these tunnies
get in motion and proceed towards the coast, coupling and breeding,
and the females are now caught full of spawn. At this time they are
considered as in season, but in autumn and in winter as of inferior
quality; at this time also the males are full of milt. When the
spawn is small, the fish is hard to catch, but it is easily caught
when the spawn gets large, as the fish is then infested by its
parasite. Some fish burrow for sleep in the sand and some in mud, just
keeping their mouths outside.

Most fishes hide, then, during the winter only, but crustaceans,
the rock-fish, the ray, and the cartilaginous species hide only during
extremely severe weather, and this may be inferred from the fact
that these fishes are never by any chance caught when the weather is
extremely cold. Some fishes, however, hide during the summer, as the
glaucus or grey-back; this fish hides in summer for about sixty
days. The hake also and the gilthead hide; and we infer that the
hake hides over a lengthened period from the fact that it is only
caught at long intervals. We are led also to infer that fishes hide in
summer from the circumstance that the takes of certain fish are made
between the rise and setting of certain constellations: of the
Dog-star in particular, the sea at this period being upturned from the
lower depths. This phenomenon may be observed to best advantage in the
Bosporus; for the mud is there brought up to the surface and the
fish are brought up along with it. They say also that very often, when
the sea-bottom is dredged, more fish will be caught by the second haul
than by the first one. Furthermore, after very heavy rains numerous
specimens become visible of creatures that at other times are never
seen at all or seen only at intervals.

16

A great number of birds also go into hiding; they do not all
migrate, as is generally supposed, to warmer countries. Thus,
certain birds (as the kite and the swallow) when they are not far
off from places of this kind, in which they have their permanent
abode, betake themselves thither; others, that are at a distance
from such places, decline the trouble of migration and simply hide
themselves where they are. Swallows, for instance, have been often
found in holes, quite denuded of their feathers, and the kite on its
first emergence from torpidity has been seen to fly from out some such
hiding-place. And with regard to this phenomenon of periodic torpor
there is no distinction observed, whether the talons of a bird be
crooked or straight; for instance, the stork, the owzel, the
turtle-dove, and the lark, all go into hiding. The case of the
turtledove is the most notorious of all, for we would defy any one
to assert that he had anywhere seen a turtle-dove in winter-time; at
the beginning of the hiding time it is exceedingly plump, and during
this period it moults, but retains its plumpness. Some cushats hide;
others, instead of hiding, migrate at the same time as the swallow.
The thrush and the starling hide; and of birds with crooked talons the
kite and the owl hide for a few days.

17

Of viviparous quadrupeds the porcupine and the bear retire into
concealment. The fact that the bear hides is well established, but
there are doubts as to its motive for so doing, whether it be by
reason of the cold or from some other cause. About this period the
male and the female become so fat as to be hardly capable of motion.
The female brings forth her young at this time, and remains in
concealment until it is time to bring the cubs out; and she brings
them out in spring, about three months after the winter solstice.
The bear hides for at least forty days; during fourteen of these
days it is said not to move at all, but during most of the
subsequent days it moves, and from time to time wakes up. A she-bear
in pregnancy has either never been caught at all or has been caught
very seldom. There can be no doubt but that during this period they
eat nothing; for in the first place they never emerge from their
hiding-place, and further, when they are caught, their belly and
intestines are found to be quite empty. It is also said that from no
food being taken the gut almost closes up, and that in consequence the
animal on first emerging takes to eating arum with the view of opening
up and distending the gut.

The dormouse actually hides in a tree, and gets very fat at that
period; as does also the white mouse of Pontus.

(Of animals that hide or go torpid some slough off what is
called their 'old-age'. This name is applied to the outermost skin,
and to the casing that envelops the developing organism. )

In discussing the case of terrestrial vivipara we stated that
the reason for the bear's seeking concealment is an open question.
We now proceed to treat of the tessellates. The tessellates for the
most part go into hiding, and if their skin is soft they slough off
their 'old-age', but not if the skin is shell-like, as is the shell of
the tortoise-for, by the way, the tortoise and the fresh water
tortoise belong to the tessellates. Thus, the old-age is sloughed
off by the gecko, the lizard, and above all, by serpents; and they
slough off the skin in springtime when emerging from their torpor, and
again in the autumn. Vipers also slough off their skin both in
spring and in autumn, and it is not the case, as some aver, that
this species of the serpent family is exceptional in not sloughing.
When the serpent begins to slough, the skin peels off at first from
the eyes, so that any one ignorant of the phenomenon would suppose the
animal were going blind; after that it peels off the head, and so
on, until the creature presents to view only a white surface all over.
The sloughing goes on for a day and a night, beginning with the head
and ending with the tail. During the sloughing of the skin an inner
layer comes to the surface, for the creature emerges just as the
embryo from its afterbirth.

All insects that slough at all slough in the same way; as the
silphe, and the empis or midge, and all the coleoptera, as for
instance the cantharus-beetle. They all slough after the period of
development; for just as the afterbirth breaks from off the young of
the vivipara so the outer husk breaks off from around the young of the
vermipara, in the same way both with the bee and the grasshopper.
The cicada the moment after issuing from the husk goes and sits upon
an olive tree or a reed; after the breaking up of the husk the
creature issues out, leaving a little moisture behind, and after a
short interval flies up into the air and sets a. chirping.

Of marine animals the crawfish and the lobster slough sometimes in
the spring, and sometimes in autumn after parturition. Lobsters have
been caught occasionally with the parts about the thorax soft, from
the shell having there peeled off, and the lower parts hard, from
the shell having not yet peeled off there; for, by the way, they do
not slough in the same manner as the serpent. The crawfish hides for
about five months. Crabs also slough off their old-age; this is
generally allowed with regard to the soft-shelled crabs, and it is
said to be the case with the testaceous kind, as for instance with the
large 'granny' crab. When these animals slough their shell becomes
soft all over, and as for the crab, it can scarcely crawl. These
animals also do not cast their skins once and for all, but over and
over again.

So much for the animals that go into hiding or torpidity, for
the times at which, and the ways in which, they go; and so much also
for the animals that slough off their old-age, and for the times at
which they undergo the process.

18

Animals do not all thrive at the same seasons, nor do they
thrive alike during all extremes of weather. Further animals of
diverse species are in a diverse way healthy or sickly at certain
seasons; and, in point of fact, some animals have ailments that are
unknown to others. Birds thrive in times of drought, both in their
general health and in regard to parturition, and this is especially
the case with the cushat; fishes, however, with a few exceptions,
thrive best in rainy weather; on the contrary rainy seasons are bad
for birds-and so by the way is much drinking-and drought is bad for
fishes. Birds of prey, as has been already stated, may in a general
way be said never to drink at all, though Hesiod appears to have
been ignorant of the fact, for in his story about the siege of Ninus
he represents the eagle that presided over the auguries as in the
act of drinking; all other birds drink, but drink sparingly, as is the
case also with all other spongy-lunged oviparous animals. Sickness
in birds may be diagnosed from their plumage, which is ruffled when
they are sickly instead of lying smooth as when they are well.

19

The majority of fishes, as has been stated, thrive best in rainy
seasons. Not only have they food in greater abundance at this time,
but in a general way rain is wholesome for them just as it is for
vegetation-for, by the way, kitchen vegetables, though artificially
watered, derive benefit from rain; and the same remark applies even to
reeds that grow in marshes, as they hardly grow at all without a
rainfall. That rain is good for fishes may be inferred from the fact
that most fishes migrate to the Euxine for the summer; for owing to
the number of the rivers that discharge into this sea its water is
exceptionally fresh, and the rivers bring down a large supply of food.
Besides, a great number of fishes, such as the bonito and the
mullet, swim up the rivers and thrive in the rivers and marshes. The
sea-gudgeon also fattens in the rivers, and, as a rule, countries
abounding in lagoons furnish unusually excellent fish. While most
fishes, then, are benefited by rain, they are chiefly benefited by
summer rain; or we may state the case thus, that rain is good for
fishes in spring, summer, and autumn, and fine dry weather in
winter. As a general rule what is good for men is good for fishes
also.

Fishes do not thrive in cold places, and those fishes suffer
most in severe winters that have a stone in their head, as the
chromis, the basse, the sciaena, and the braize; for owing to the
stone they get frozen with the cold, and are thrown up on shore.

Whilst rain is wholesome for most fishes, it is, on the
contrary, unwholesome for the mullet, the cephalus, and the
so-called marinus, for rain superinduces blindness in most of these
fishes, and all the more rapidly if the rainfall be superabundant. The
cephalus is peculiarly subject to this malady in severe winters; their
eyes grow white, and when caught they are in poor condition, and
eventually the disease kills them. It would appear that this disease
is due to extreme cold even more than to an excessive rainfall; for
instance, in many places and more especially in shallows off the coast
of Nauplia, in the Argolid, a number of fishes have been known to be
caught out at sea in seasons of severe cold. The gilthead also suffers
in winter; the acharnas suffers in summer, and loses condition. The
coracine is exceptional among fishes in deriving benefit from drought,
and this is due to the fact that heat and drought are apt to come
together.

Particular places suit particular fishes; some are naturally
fishes of the shore, and some of the deep sea, and some are at home in
one or the other of these regions, and others are common to the two
and are at home in both. Some fishes will thrive in one particular
spot, and in that spot only. As a general rule it may be said that
places abounding in weeds are wholesome; at all events, fishes
caught in such places are exceptionally fat: that is, such fishes a
a habit all sorts of localities as well. The fact is that
weed-eating fishes find abundance of their special food in such
localities, and carnivorous fish find an unusually large number of
smaller fish. It matters also whether the wind be from the north or
south: the longer fish thrive better when a north wind prevails, and
in summer at one and the same spot more long fish will be caught
than flat fish with a north wind blowing.

The tunny and the sword-fish are infested with a parasite
about the rising of the Dog-star; that is to say, about this time both
these fishes have a grub beside their fins that is nicknamed the
'gadfly'. It resembles the scorpion in shape, and is about the size of
the spider. So acute is the pain it inflicts that the sword-fish
will often leap as high out of the water as a dolphin; in fact, it
sometimes leaps over the bulwarks of a vessel and falls back on the
deck. The tunny delights more than any other fish in the heat of the
sun. It will burrow for warmth in the sand in shallow waters near to
shore, or will, because it is warm, disport itself on the surface of
the sea.

The fry of little fishes escape by being overlooked, for it is
only the larger ones of the small species that fishes of the large
species will pursue. The greater part of the spawn and the fry of
fishes is destroyed by the heat of the sun, for whatever of them the
sun reaches it spoils.

Fishes are caught in greatest abundance before sunrise and after
sunset, or, speaking generally, just about sunset and sunrise.
Fishermen haul up their nets at these times, and speak of the hauls
then made as the 'nick-of-time' hauls. The fact is, that at these
times fishes are particularly weak-sighted; at night they are at rest,
and as the light grows stronger they see comparatively well.

We know of no pestilential malady attacking fishes, such as
those which attack man, and horses and oxen among the quadrupedal
vivipara, and certain species of other genera, domesticated and
wild; but fishes do seem to suffer from sickness; and fishermen
infer this from the fact that at times fishes in poor condition, and
looking as though they were sick, and of altered colour, are caught in
a large haul of well-conditioned fish of their own species. So much
for sea-fishes.

20

River-fish and lake-fish also are exempt from diseases of a
pestilential character, but certain species are subject to special and
peculiar maladies.