Chaps. 55-65.

Chap. 55. (37.)—The Mice of Pontus and of the Alps.

The mice of Pontus also conceal themselves during the winter; but only the white ones. [It is supposed that the white mouse of Pontus, mentioned also by Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 17, is the ermine, or else the marten; but, as Cuvier remarks, Ajasson, vol. vi. p. 457, Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 467, the ermine does not hibernate.—B.] I wonder how those authors, who have asserted that the sense of taste in these animals is very acute, found out that such is the fact. The Alpine mice, which are the same size as badgers, also conceal themselves; [Cuvier, ubi supra, conceives that the Alpine mouse is the marmot; but he remarks, that it is inferior in size to the badger.—B.] but they first carry a store of provisions into their retreat. Some writers, indeed, say that the male and female, lying on their backs alternately, hold in their paws a bundle of gnawed herbs, and, the tail of each in its turn being seized by the teeth of the other, in this way, they are dragged into their hole; hence it is, that at this season their hair is found to be rubbed off their backs. There is a similar animal also in Egypt, [Cuvier, ubi supra, conceives the Egyptian mouse to be the jerboa, the Mus jaculus of Linnæus; but it is much smaller than the marmot. Pliny, in B. x. c. 85, says, that the Egyptian mouse walks on two feet, as does the mouse of the Alps. Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vii. c. 37, and Ælian, Anim. Nat. B. xv. c. 26, refer to the mouse of Egypt.—B. Probably the Mus cahirinus.] which sits, in the same way, upon its haunches, and walks on two feet, using the fore feet as hands.

Chap. 56.—Hedgehogs.

Hedgehogs also lay up food for the winter; rolling themselves on apples as they lie on the ground, they pierce one with their quills, and then take up another in the mouth, and so carry them into the hollows of trees. These animals also, when they conceal themselves in their holes, afford a sure sign that the wind is about to change from north-east to south. [The faculty which these and other animals possess of foreseeing the weather and the future direction of the wind, is mentioned by Plutarch, and as existing especially in the hedgehog. It is also mentioned by Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. ix. c. 6; but it is not confined, as Pliny states, to its change in one direction only. It has been suggested by some commentators, that, by a slight alteration in the text, the statement may be extended to a change of the wind in either direction, Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 468.—B.] When they perceive the approach of the hunter, they draw in the head and feet, and all the lower part of the body, which is covered by a thin and defenceless down only, and then roll themselves up into the form of a ball, so that there is no way of taking hold of them but by their quills. When they are reduced to a state of desperation, they discharge a corrosive urine, which injures their skin and quills, as they are aware that it is for the sake of them that they are hunted. A skilful hunter, therefore, will only pursue them when they have just discharged their urine. In this case the skin retains its value; while in the other case, it becomes spoilt and easily torn, the quills rotting and falling off, even though the animal should escape with its life. For this reason it is that it never moistens itself with this poisonous fluid, except when reduced to the last stage of desperation; for it has a perfect hatred for its own venomous distillation, and so careful is the animal, so determined to wait till the very last moment, that it is generally caught before it has employed this means of defence.

They force it to unroll itself, by sprinkling warm water upon it, and then, suspended by one of its hind legs, it is left to die of hunger; for there is no other mode of destroying it, without doing injury to its skin. This animal is not, as many of us imagine, entirely useless to man. If it were not for the quills which it produces, the soft fleece of the sheep would have been given in vain to mankind; for it is by means of its skin, that our woollen cloth is dressed. From the monopoly of this article, great frauds and great profits have resulted; [The teasel, or carding thistle, is now used for this purpose; as also iron wires, crooked and sharpened at the point. Not a single quill, probably of the hedgehog, is now used in the manufacture of cloth.] there is no subject on which the senate has more frequently passed decrees, and there is not one of the Emperors, who has not received from the provinces complaints respecting it. [Dalechamps suggests that these complaints were probably to the effect that thistles and thorns were employed instead of the quills of the hedgehog; that the skin of the hedgehog was brought to market in a bad state; and again, that the rich merchants were in the habit of buying them up, and forestalling the market. Hardouin quotes an edict of the Emperor Zeno against monopolies of hedgehogs and carding materials, if, indeed, that is the meaning of the word “pectinum.”]

Chap. 57. (38.)—The Leontophonus, and the Lynx.

There are also two other animals, whose urine possesses very wonderful properties. We have heard speak of a small animal, to which the name of leontophonus [Λεοντοφονὸς, the “lion-killer.”] has been given, and which is said to exist only in those countries where the lion is produced; if its flesh is only tasted by the lion, so intensely venomous is its nature, that this lord of the other quadrupeds instantly expires. Hence it is, that the hunters of the lion burn its body to ashes, and sprinkle a piece of flesh with the powder, and so kill the lion by means of the ashes even—so fatal to it is this poison! The lion, therefore, not without good reason hates the leontophonus, and after destroying its sight, kills it without inflicting a bite: the animal, on the other hand, sprinkles the lion with its urine, being well aware that this too is fatal to it.

The urine of the lynx, in the countries [See c. of this Book.] where that animal is produced, either becomes crystallized, or else hardens into a precious stone, resembling the carbuncle, and which shines like fire. [This fable is referred to by Ovid, Metam. B. xv. l. 414, and by Theophrastus in his Treatise on Stones.] This is called lyncurium; [See B. xxxvii. c. 11.] and hence it is, that many persons believe that this is the way in which amber is produced. The lynx, being well aware of this property, envies us the possession of its urine, and therefore buries it in the earth; [It is not unusual for animals to cover their excrements with earth, probably from the fact of their being annoyed by the unpleasant odour.—B.] by this, however, it becomes solid all the sooner.

Chap. 58.—Badgers and Squirrels.

The badger, when alarmed, shows its fear by a different kind of artifice; inflating the skin, it distends it to such a degree, as to repel equally the blows of men and the bite of dogs. [This statement respecting the “meles,” or badger, as well as what is said of the prescience of the squirrel, is without foundation. There has been some difference of opinion respecting the identity of the animal, which Pliny calls “meles;” by some it has been supposed to be the polecat, or else the weasel.—B.] The squirrel, also, has the power of foreseeing storms, and so, stopping up its hole at the side from which the wind blows, it leaves the other side open; besides which, the tail, which is furnished with longer hair than the rest of the body, serves as a covering for it. It appears, therefore, [This bears reference to what is said of bears in c. 54, and of Alpine mice and hedgehogs.] that some animals lay up a store of food for the winter, while others pass the time in sleep, which serves them instead of food.

Chap. 59. (39.)—Vipers and Snails.

It is said, that the viper is the only one among the serpents that conceals itself in the earth; the others lurking either in the hollows of trees or in holes in the rocks. [This statement is contrary to the account given by Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 15; he says, that while other serpents conceal themselves in holes in the earth, vipers conceal themselves under rocks.—B.] Provided they are not destroyed by cold, they can live there, without taking food, for a whole year. [Cuvier remarks, Ajasson, vol. vi. p. 458, Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 473, that nothing is more striking, either to the vulgar or to the man of science, than the long abstinence from food which serpents are capable of enduring.—B.] During the time that they are asleep in their retreat, none of them are venomous.

A similar state of torpor exists also in snails. These animals again become dormant during the summer, adhering very powerfully to stones; and even, when turned up and pulled away from the stones, they will not leave their shells. In the Balearic isles, the snails which are known as the cave-snail, [Cavatica.] do not leave their holes in the ground, nor do they feed upon any green thing, but adhere to each other like so many grapes. There is another less common species also, which is closed by an operculum that adheres to the shell. [This is the case with the Helix Pomatia, and still more so with the Helix Neritoidea, which is very common in the neighbourhood of Nice, and which, at the approach of winter, is furnished with an operculum of great thickness.—B.] These animals always burrow under the earth, and were formerly never found, except in the environs of the Maritime Alps: they have, however, of late been dug up in the territory of Liternum; [See B. iii. c. 9.] the most valued, however, of all, are those of the island of Astypalæa. [See B. iv. c. 23. The Romans valued them as a delicate food.]

Chap. 60.—Lizards.

It is said, that the lizard, the greatest enemy of all to the snail, never prolongs its life beyond six months. The lizards of Arabia are a cubit in length, [According to Cuvier, Ajasson, vol. vi. p. 458, and Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 475, the species of lizard named monitor, frequently exceeds this size; but he remarks, in reference to the size of the Indian lizard, that none of the saurians, except the crocodile, attains the length here mentioned.—B.] while those upon Nysa, [See B. vi. c..] a mountain of India, are twenty-four feet long, their colour being either yellow, purple, or azure blue.

Chap. 61. (40.)—The Qualities of the Dog; Examples of Its Attachment to Its Master; Nations Which Have Kept Dogs for the Purposes of War.

Among the animals, also, that are domesticated with mankind, there are many circumstances that are far from undeserving of being known: among these, there are more particularly that most faithful friend of man, the dog, and the horse. We have an account of a dog that fought against a band of robbers, in defending its master; and although it was pierced with wounds, still it would not leave the body, from which it drove away all birds and beasts. Another dog, again, in Epirus, recognized the murderer of its master, in the midst of an assemblage of people, and, by biting and barking at him, extorted from him a confession of his crime. A king of the Garamantes also was brought back from exile by two hundred dogs, which maintained the combat against all his opponents. The people of Colophon [See B. v. c. 31.] and Castabala [See B. v. c. 22, and B. vi. c. 3.] kept troops of dogs, for the purposes of war; and these used to fight in the front rank, and never retreat; they were the most faithful of auxiliaries, and yet required no pay. After the defeat of the Cimbri, their dogs defended their moveable houses, which were carried upon waggons. Jason, the Lycian, having been slain, his dog refused to take food, and died of famine. A dog, to which Darius gives the name of Hyrcanus, upon the funeral pile of King Lysimachus being lighted, threw itself into the flames, [This anecdote is referred to by Ælian, Anim. Nat. B. vi. c. 25. He gives an account of the dog of Gelon, Anim. Nat. B. vi. c. 62, and Var. Hist. B. i. c. 13.—B.] and the dog of King Hiero did the same. Philistus also gives a similar account of Pyrrhus, the dog of the tyrant Gelon: and it is said, also, that the dog of Nicomedes, king of Bithynia, tore Consingis, [Tzetzes, Chil. iii. of his History, calls her Ditizela, and thus alludes to this story: “The said Nicomedes had a dog of very large size, and of Molossian breed, which manifested great fidelity to him. One day seeing his mistress, the wife of Nicomedes, and the mother of Prusias, Zielus, and Lysandra, Ditizela, by name, and a Phrygian by birth, toying with the king, he took her for an enemy, and rushing on her, tore her right shoulder.” It is supposed that she died of the injuries thus received. Some editions call her Condingis, and others Cosingis.] the wife of that king, in consequence of her wanton behaviour, when toying with her husband.

Among ourselves, Volcatius, a man of rank, who instructed Cascellius in the civil law, [A. Cascellius was an eminent Roman jurist, but nothing seems to be known of his preceptor, Volcatius, whose prænomen is thought to have been Mucius. Cascellius was noted for his great eloquence and his stern republican principles; and of Cæsar’s conduct and government he spoke with the greatest freedom. He never advanced in civic honours beyond the quæstorship, though he was offered the consulship by Augustus; which he declined. He is frequently quoted in the Digest. Horace, in his Art of Poetry, ll. 371, 372, pays a compliment to the legal reputation of Cascellius, who is also mentioned by Valerius Maximus and Macrobius.] as he was riding on his Asturian jennet, towards evening, from his country-house, was attacked by a robber, and was only saved by his dog. The senator Cælius, [From Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. vii. c. 10, it appears that his name was Cælius Calvus, but probably no further particulars are known of him.] too, while lying sick at Placentia, was surprised by armed men, but received not a wound from them until they had first killed his dog. But a more extraordinary fact than all, is what took place in our own times, and is testified by the public register of the Roman people. In the consulship of Appius Junius and P. Silius, when Titius Sabinus [He was a distinguished Roman eques, and a friend of Germanicus; for which reason he incurred the hatred of Sejanus. To satisfy the vengeance of Tiberius and his favourite Sejanus, one Latinus Latiaris, a supposed friend of Sabinus, induced him to speak in unguarded terms of Sejanus and Tiberius, and then betrayed his confidence. He was put to death in prison.] was put to death, together with his slaves, for the affair of Nero, the son of Germanicus, it was found impossible to drive away a dog which belonged to one of them from the prison; nor could it be forced away from the body, which had been cast down the Gemitorian steps; [More commonly called the Gradus or Scalæ Gemoniæ, “the stairs of wailing;” a place down which the bodies of the criminals were thrown, when executed in prison.—B.] but there it stood howling, in the presence of vast multitudes of people; and when some one threw a piece of bread to it, the animal carried it to the mouth of its master. Afterwards, when the body was thrown into the Tiber, the dog swam into the river, and endeavoured to raise it out of the water; quite a throng of people being collected to witness this instance of an animal’s fidelity.

Dogs are the only animals that are sure to know their masters; and if they suddenly meet him as a stranger, they will instantly recognize him. They are the only animals that will answer to their names, and recognize the voices of the family. They recollect a road along which they have passed, however long it may be. Next to man, there is no living creature whose memory is so retentive. By sitting down on the ground, we may arrest their most impetuous attack, even when prompted by the most violent rage.

In daily life we have discovered many other valuable qualities in this animal; but its intelligence and sagacity are more especially shown in the chase. It discovers and traces out the tracks of the animal, leading by the leash [“Lorum,” the leather thong by which the dogs were held until the proper moment, when they were “let slip” upon their prey.] the sportsman who accompanies it straight up to the prey; and as soon as ever it has perceived it, how silent it is, and how secret but significant is the indication which it gives, first by the tail and afterwards by the nose! [This is mentioned by Gratian, Cyneget. l. 237.—B.] Hence it is, that even when worn out with old age, blind, and feeble, they are carried by the huntsman in his arms, being still able to point out the coverts where the game is concealed, by snuffing with their muzzles at the wind. The Indians raise a breed between the dog and the tiger, [This practice is mentioned by Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 33, and Diodorus Siculus, B. xvii. But Cuvier informs us, that neither the tiger nor the panther are capable of generating with the dog; he supposes that the account was invented to enhance the value of the spotted or striped dogs, which were brought from India.—B.] and for this purpose tie up the females in the forests when in heat. The first two litters they look upon as too savage to be reared, but they bring up the third.

The Gauls do the same with the wolf and the dog; [The dog is capable of generating with the wolf; and as what is termed the shepherd’s dog much resembles the wolf, Cuvier conceives it not impossible, that it may have originated from this mixture; Ajasson, vol. vi. p. 459; Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 481.—B.] and their packs of hounds have, each of them, one of these dogs, which acts as their guide and leader. This dog they follow in the chase, and him they carefully obey; for these animals have even a notion of subordination among themselves. It is asserted that the dogs keep running when they drink at the Nile, for fear of becoming a prey to the voracity of the crocodile. [This is mentioned by Ælian, in his Anim. Nat. B. vi. c. 53, and his Var. Hist. B. i. c. 4. It likewise forms the subject of one of Phædrus’s Fables.] When Alexander the Great was on his Indian expedition, he was presented by the king of Albania with a dog of unusual size; being greatly delighted with its noble appearance, he ordered bears, and after them wild boars, and then deer, to be let loose before it; but the dog lay down, and regarded them with a kind of immoveable contempt. The noble spirit of the general became irritated by the sluggishness thus manifested by an animal of such vast bulk, and he ordered it to be killed. The report of this reached the king, who accordingly sent another dog, and at the same time sent word that its powers were to be tried, not upon small animals, but upon the lion or the elephant; adding, that he had had originally but two, and that if this one were put to death, the race would be extinct. Alexander, without delay, procured a lion, which in his presence was instantly torn to pieces. He then ordered an elephant to be brought, and never was he more delighted with any spectacle; for the dog, bristling up its hair all over the body, began by thundering forth a loud barking, and then attacked the animal, leaping at it first on one side and then on the other, attacking it in the most skilful manner, and then again retreating at the opportune moment, until at last the elephant, being rendered quite giddy by turning round and round, fell to the earth, and made it quite re-echo with his fall.

Chap. 62.—The Generation of the Dog.

This animal brings forth twice in the year; it is capable of bearing young when a year old, and gestation continues for sixty days. The young ones are born blind, and the greater the supply of nourishment from the mother’s milk, the more slowly do they acquire their sight; still, however, this never takes place later than the twentieth day, or earlier than the seventh. It is said by some writers, that if only one is born, it is able to see on the ninth day; and that if there are two, they begin to see on the tenth, every additional one causing the power of seeing to come a day later. It is said, too, that the females which are produced by the mother in her first litter, are subject to the night-mare. [“Faunos cerni.” Hardouin remarks on these words; “Flitting before the sight, and rushing upon each other, like the Ephialtes,” and refers, for a farther explanation, to his commentary on the passage in B. xxv. c. 10, where the subject is treated more at large. The Ephialtes is generally supposed to have been what we term incubus or nightmare.—B.] The best dog of the litter is the one which is last in obtaining its sight, or else the one which the mother carries first into her bed.

Chap. 63.—Remedies Against Canine Madness.

Canine madness is fatal to man during the heat of Sirius, [Pliny details the noxious effects, conceived to be produced by the influence of Sirius, in B. ii. c. 40, and, among others, its tendency to produce canine madness. In B. xxix. c. 32, he enumerates the various remedies proposed for the disease; these, however, are equally inefficacious with those mentioned here.—B.] and, as we have already said, it proves so in consequence of those who are bitten having a deadly horror of water. [We have an account of this disease in Celsus, B. v. c. 27, and especially of the peculiar symptom from which it derives its classical denomination. It is remarkable that Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 22, speaking of canine madness, says, that it is communicated by the dog to all animals, except man.—B. See B. vii. c..] For this reason, during the thirty days [It appears that there was a difference of opinion as to the number of days during which the Dog-star continued to exercise its influence.—B.] that this star exerts its influence, we try to prevent the disease by mixing dung from the poultry-yard with the dog’s food; or else, if they are already attacked by the disease, by giving them hellebore.

(41.) We have a single remedy against the bite, which has been but lately discovered, by a kind of oracle, as it were—the root of the wild rose, which is called cynorrhodos, [The history of this supposed discovery is related more at large, B. xxv. c. 2 and 6. The popular name of the plant is still the “dog-rose.”—B.] or dog-rose. Columella informs us, that if, on the fortieth day after the birth of the pup, the last bone of the tail is bitten off, the sinew will follow with it; after which, the tail will not grow, and the dog will never become rabid. [Columella says, that the operation prevents the tail from acquiring “fœdum incrementum,” “a foul increase;” and, as many shepherds say, secures the animal from the disease.—B.] It is mentioned, among the other prodigies, and this I take to be one indeed, that a dog once spoke; [This is one of the marvellous tales related by Julius Obsequens, c. 103.—B.] and that when Tarquin was expelled from the kingdom, a serpent barked.

Chap. 64. (42.)—The Nature of the Horse.

King Alexander had also a very remarkable horse; [Plutarch, in his Life of Alexander, gives some account of this celebrated horse, and Aulus Gellius, B. v. c. 2, devotes a chapter to it.—B.] it was called Bucephalus, either on account of the fierceness of its aspect, or because it had the figure of a bull’s head marked on its shoulder. It is said, that he was struck with its beauty when he was only a boy, and that it was purchased from the stud of Philonicus, the Pharsalian, for thirteen talents. [Ajasson estimates the price to have been 70,200 francs, £2925 sterling.—B.] When it was equipped with the royal trappings, it would suffer no one except Alexander to mount it, although at other times it would allow any one to do so. A memorable circumstance connected with it in battle is recorded of this horse; it is said that when it was wounded in the attack upon Thebes, it would not allow Alexander to mount any other horse. Many other circumstances, also, of a similar nature, occurred respecting it; so that when it died, the king duly performed its obsequies, and built around its tomb a city, which he named after it. [Situate on the river Hydaspes; Q. Curtius calls it Bucephalus.—B. See B. vi. c., where it is called Bucephala.]

It is said, also, that Cæsar, the Dictator, had a horse, which would allow no one to mount but himself, and that its fore-feet were like those of a man; indeed it is thus represented in the statue before the temple of Venus Genetrix. [This account is given by Suetonius, Life of Julius Cæsar, c. 61. Cuvier suggests that the hoofs may have been notched, and that the sculptor probably exaggerated the peculiarity, so as to produce the resemblance to a human foot.—B.] The late Emperor Augustus also erected a tomb to his horse; on which occasion Germanicus Cæsar [The nephew of Tiberius and the father of the Emperor Caligula.—B.] wrote a poem, which still exists. There are at Agrigentum many tombs of horses, in the form of pyramids. [Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xii. c. 40, states that three mares of Miltiades and Evagoras, which had been victorious in the Olympic games, were buried with sepulchral honours in the Ceramicus.—B.] Juba informs us, that Semiramis was so greatly enamoured of a horse, as to have had connection with it. [Ajasson suggests, with much plausibility, that when connections of this description are mentioned, the report originated from persons who had significant names, as Lebœuf and Poulain; analogous to our names of Lamb, Bull, Hog, &c.—B.] The Scythian horsemen make loud boasts of the fame of their cavalry. On one occasion, one of their chiefs having been slain in single combat, when the conqueror came to take the spoils of the enemy, he was set upon by the horse of his opponent, and trampled on and bitten to death. Another horse, upon the bandage being removed from his eyes, found that he had covered his mother, upon which he threw himself down a precipice, and was killed. We learn, also, that for a similar cause, a groom was torn to pieces, in the territory of Reate. [See B. iii. c. 17.] For these animals have a knowledge of the ties of consanguinity, and in a stud a mare will attend to its sister of the preceding year, even more carefully than its mother.

Their docility, too, is so great, that we find it stated that the whole of the cavalry of the Sybarite army were accustomed to perform a kind of dance to the sound of musical instruments. These animals also foresee battles; they lament over their masters when they have lost them, and sometimes shed tears [We here find Pliny tripping, for he has previously said, in B. vii. c. 1, that man is the only animated being that sheds tears. See also c. of the present Book, where he represents the lion as shedding tears.] of regret for them. When King Nicomedes was slain, his horse put an end to its life by fasting. Phylarchus relates, that Centaretus, [Ælian calls him Centoarates. Antiochus I., or Soter, is here alluded to. He was killed in battle with the Galli or Galatians, B.C. 261.] the Galatian, after he had slain Antiochus in battle, took possession of his horse, and mounted it in triumph; upon which the animal, inflamed with indignation, regardless of the rein and become quite ungovernable, threw itself headlong down a precipice, and they both perished together. Philistus relates, that Dionysius having left his horse stuck fast in a morass, the animal, as soon as it disengaged itself, followed the steps of its master, with a swarm of bees, which had settled on its mane; and that it was in consequence of this portent, that Dionysius gained possession of the kingdom. [Mentioned by Cicero, De Divin. B. i. c. 33.—B.]

Chap. 65.—The Disposition of the Horse; Remarkable Facts Concerning Chariot Horses.

These animals possess an intelligence which exceeds all description. [Hardouin refers to the works of Busbequius, in which we meet with nearly the same account of the sagacity of the horse, as in Pliny; Lemaire, iii. 489.] Those who have to use the javelin are well aware how the horse, by its exertions and the supple movements of its body, aids the rider in any difficulty he may have in throwing his weapon. They will even present to their master the weapons collected on the ground. The horses too, that are yoked to the chariots in the Circus, beyond a doubt, display remarkable proofs how sensible they are to encouragement and to glory. In the Secular games, which were celebrated in the Circus, under the Emperor Claudius, when the charioteer Corax, who belonged to the white party, [As already mentioned in the Note to c. 54 of the last Book, there were four parties or factions of the charioteers who were named from the colour of their dress.] was thrown from his place at the starting-post, his horses took the lead and kept it, opposing the other chariots, overturning them, and doing every thing against the other competitors that could have been done, had they been guided by the most skilful charioteer; and while we quite blushed to behold the skill of man excelled by that of the horse, they arrived at the goal, after going over the whole of the prescribed course. Our ancestors considered it as a still more remarkable portent, that when a charioteer had been thrown from his place, in the plebeian games of the Circus, [The games of the Circus were divided into the Patrician and the Plebeian; the first being conducted by generals, consuls, and the curule ædiles, the latter by the ædiles of the people.—B.] the horses ran to the Capitol, just as if he had been standing in the car, and went three times round the temple there. But what is the greatest prodigy of all, is the fact that the horses of Ratumenna came from Veii to Rome, with the palm branch and chaplet, he himself having fallen from his chariot, after having gained the victory; from which circumstance the Ratumennian gate derived its name. [Related somewhat more at large by Plutarch, in his Life of Publicola.—B.]

When the Sarmatæ are about to undertake a long journey, they prepare their horses for it, by making them fast the day before, during which they give them but little to drink; by these means they are enabled to travel on horseback, without stopping, for one hundred and fifty miles. Some horses are known to live fifty years; but the females are not so long-lived. [Many of these particulars are from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 22.—B.] These last come to their full growth at the fifth year, the males a year later. The poet Virgil has very beautifully described the points which ought more especially to be looked for, as constituting the perfection of a horse; [Georgics, B. iii. l. 72, et seq.—B.] I myself have also treated of the same subject, in my work [See Introduction to vol. i. p. vii.] on the Use of the Javelin by Cavalry, and I find that pretty nearly all writers are agreed respecting them. [Varro, de Re Rust. B. ii. c. 7; and Columella, B. vi. c. 29, have treated on this subject at considerable length.—B.] The points requisite for the Circus are somewhat different, however; and while horses are put in training for other purposes at only two years old, they are not admitted to the contests of the Circus before their fifth year.