Chaps. 79-84.

Chap. 79. (53.)—Animals in a Half-wild State.

In no species is the union with the wild animal so easy as in that of the swine; the produce of such unions was called by the ancients hybrid, [There has been some difference of opinion respecting the derivation of this word, but it is generally used to express a “mongrel,” i. e. an animal whose parents are of different natures, or, when applied to the human species, of different countries.—B.] or half savage; which appellation has also been transferred to the human race, as it was to C. Antonius, the colleague of Cicero in his consulship. Not only, however, with respect to the hog, but all other animals as well, wherever there is a tame species, there is a corresponding wild one as well; a fact which is equally true with reference to man himself, as is proved by the many races of wild men of which we have already spoken. [See B. vii. c..] There is no kind of animal, however, that is divided into a greater number of varieties than the goat. There are the capræa, [It is not easy to determine what animals Pliny intended to designate. Cuvier employs the terms “chevreuils, chamois, and bouquetins,” as the corresponding words in the French. In English we have no names to express these varieties; we may, however, regard them generally, as different species of wild goats. Cuvier conceives that the Linnæan names of the animals mentioned were, probably, Cervus capreolus, Antelope rupicapra, and Capra ibex.—B.] the rupicapra or rock-goat, and the ibex, an animal of wonderful swiftness, although its head is loaded with immense horns, which bear a strong resemblance to the sheath of a sword. [The resemblance may be supposed to consist in the horns being hollow, and tapering to a point.—B.] By means of these horns the animal balances itself, when it darts along the rocks, as though it had been hurled from a sling; [There is considerable difficulty in ascertaining the correct reading, or the exact meaning which the writer intended to convey by the words employed.—B.] more especially when it wishes to leap from one eminence to another. There are the oryges also, [There is some difficulty in determining the nature of the variety which Pliny terms “oryges;” Hardouin has collected the opinions of naturalists, and we have some remarks by Cuvier; he refers to Buffon’s account of the Antelope oryx, as agreeing, in the essential points, with the description given by Pliny; Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 554. See B. xi. c. 106.] which are said to be the only animals that have the hair the contrary way, the points being turned towards the head. There are the dama also, [Cuvier remarks, that there is some doubt respecting the dama of Pliny; he is, however, disposed to regard it as a species of antelope. Ajasson, vol. vi. p. 464, 465; Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 554.—B.] the pygargus, [The term pygargus is derived from the words πυγὴ ἀργὸς, denoting “white buttocks.” Probably a kind of gazelle.] and the strepsiceros, [“With twisted horns.” It is probable that Pliny intended to designate a species of antelope.—B. See B. xi. c. 45.] besides many others which strongly resemble them. The first mentioned of these animals, [In this division Pliny, probably, included what he has termed the “capræa,” the rupicapra, and the ibex.—B.] however, dwell in the Alps; all the others are sent to us from the parts beyond sea.

Chap. 80. (54.)—Apes.

The different kinds of apes, which approach the nearest to the human figure, are distinguished from each other by the tail. [Some of these animals are entirely without a tail, and this circumstance has been employed to form the primary division of the simiæ into the two species, those with and those without tails. We have an epigram of Martial, in which this is referred to. “Si mihi cauda foret, cercopithecus eram”—“If I had but a tail, I should be a monkey.” B. iv. Ep. 102.—B. See B. xi. c. 100.] Their shrewdness is quite wonderful. It is said that, imitating the hunters, they will besmear themselves with bird-lime, and put their feet into the shoes, which, as so many snares, have been prepared for them. [We learn from Strabo, Ind. Hist. B. xv., that, in catching the monkey, the hunters took advantage of the propensity of these animals to imitate any action they see performed. “Two modes,” he says, “are employed in taking this animal, as by nature it is taught to imitate every action, and to take to flight by climbing up trees. The hunters, when they see an ape sitting on a tree, place within sight of it a dish full of water, with which they rub their eyes; and then, slyly substituting another in its place, full of bird-lime, retire and keep upon the watch. The animal comes down from the tree, and rubs its eyes with the bird-lime, in consequence of which the eyelids stick together, and it is unable to escape.” Ælian also says, Hist. Anim. B. xvii. c. 25, that the hunters pretend to put on their shoes, and then substitute, in their place, shoes of lead; the animal attempts to imitate them, and, the shoes being so contrived, when it has once got them on, it finds itself unable to take them off, or to move, and is consequently taken.] Mucianus says, that they have even played at chess, having, by practice, learned to distinguish the different pieces, which are made of wax. [There has been some difficulty in ascertaining the exact reading here; but the meaning seems to be, that the pieces were made of wax, and that the animals had learned to distinguish them from each other, and move them in the appropriate manner; how far this is to be credited, it is not easy to decide, but it would certainly require very strong and direct evidence. We are told that the Emperor Charles V. had a monkey that played at chess with him.—B.] He says that the species which have tails become quite melancholy when the moon is on the wane, and that they leap for joy at the time of the new moon, and adore it. Other quadrupeds also are terrified at the eclipses of the heavenly bodies. All the species of apes manifest remarkable affection for their offspring. Females, which have been domesticated, and have had young ones, carry them about and shew them to all comers, shew great delight when they are caressed, and appear to understand the kindness thus shewn them. Hence it is, that they very often stifle their young with their embraces. The dog’s-headed ape [In the original, termed “cynocephali,” “dog’s-headed;” an appellation given to them, according to Cuvier, from their muzzle projecting like that of a dog; we have an account of this species in Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. ii. c. 13.—B. Probably the baboon. See B. vi. c., and B. vii. c.. The satyr is, perhaps, the uran-utang. See B. v. c. 8, and B. vii. c..] is of a much fiercer nature, as is the case with the satyr. The callitriche [Or “fine-haired monkey;” supposed to be the Silenus of Linnæus; it is described by Buffon, under the name of Callitrix.—B. It seems to be also called the “Simia hamadryas.”] has almost a totally different aspect; it has a beard on the face, and a tail, which in the first part of it is very bushy. It is said that this animal cannot live except in the climate of Æthiopia, which is its native place.

Chap. 81. (55.)—The Different Species of Hares.

There are also numerous species of hares. Those in the Alps are white, [Hardouin gives references to the authors who have observed this change in the colour of the hare, apparently depending upon the peculiar locality, and its consequent exposure to a low temperature. Cuvier considers it as characteristic of a peculiar species, the Lepus variabilis, “which being peculiar to the highest mountains, and the regions of the north, is white in winter.”—B.] and it is believed that, during the winter, they live upon snow for food; at all events, every year, as the snow melts, they acquire a reddish colour; it is, moreover, an animal which is capable of existing in the most severe climates. There is also a species of hare, in Spain, which is called the rabbit; [Or coney, “cuniculus.” Hardouin makes some observations upon the derivation of this term, to show that Pliny was mistaken in supposing it to be of Spanish origin; we have also an observation of Cuvier’s to the same effect.—B.] it is extremely prolific, and produces famine in the Balearic islands, by destroying the harvests. The young ones, either when cut from out of the body of the mother, or taken from the breast, without having the entrails removed, are considered a most delicate food; they are then called laurices. [“Laurices;” we have no explanation of this word in any of the editions of Pliny. Its origin appears to be quite unknown.] It is a well-known fact, that the inhabitants of the Balearic islands begged of the late Emperor Augustus the aid of a number of soldiers, to prevent the too rapid increase of these animals. The ferret [According to Cuvier, the Mustela furo of Linnæus. Ajasson, ubi supra.—B.] is greatly esteemed for its skill in catching them. It is thrown into the burrows, with their numerous outlets, which the rabbits form, and from which circumstance they derive their name, [Because, as Varro says, De Re Rus. B. iii. c. 12, they are in the habit of making burrows—cuniculos—in the earth.] and as it drives them out, they are taken above. Archelaus informs us, that in the hare, the number of cavernous receptacles in the body for the excrements always equals that of its years; [This reference to the opinion of Archelaus appears to be from Varro, ubi supra; the same reference is made by Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. ii. c. 2.—B.] but still the numbers are sometimes found to differ. He says also, that the same individual possesses the characteristics of the two sexes, and that it becomes pregnant just as well without the aid of the male. It is a kind provision of Nature, in making animals which are both harmless and good for food, thus prolific. The hare, which is preyed upon by all other animals, is the only one, except the dasypus, [Respecting the dasypus of Pliny, it has been doubted whether it be a distinct species, a variety of the hare, or merely a synonyme.—B.] which is capable of superfœtation; [It is by some contended, that the human female, and perhaps some other animals, have occasionally been the subjects of what is termed superfœtation; whereas, according to Pliny, in the hare and the dasypus it takes place frequently, but in no other animals.—B. On this subject, see B. vii. c..] while the mother is suckling one of her young, she has another in the womb covered with hair, another without any covering at all, and another which is just beginning to be formed. Attempts have been made to form a kind of stuff of the hair of these animals; but it is not so soft as when attached to the skin, and, in consequence of the shortness of the hairs, soon falls to pieces.

Chap. 82. (56.)—Animals Which Are Tamed in Part Only.

Hares are seldom tamed, and yet they cannot properly be called wild animals; indeed, there are many species of them which are neither tame nor wild, but of a sort of intermediate nature; of the same kind there are among the winged animals, swallows and bees, and among the sea animals, the dolphin.

(57.) Many persons have placed that inhabitant of our houses, the mouse, in this class also; an animal which is not to be despised, for the portents which it has afforded, even in relation to public events. By gnawing the silver shields at Lanuvium, [This is referred to by Cicero, in his treatise, De Divinatione, B. i. c. 44, and B. ii. c. 27; in the latter he treats it as an idle tale.—B.] mice prognosticated the Marsian war; and the death of our general, Carbo, at Clusium, [See B. iii. c. 8.] by gnawing the latchets with which he fastened his shoes. [C. Papirius Carbo, a contemporary and friend of the Gracchi. In B.C. 119, the orator, Licinius Crassus, brought a charge against him, the nature of which is not known; but Carbo put an end to his life, by taking cantharides.] There are many species of this animal in the territory of Cyrenaica; some of them with a wide, others with a projecting, forehead, and some again with bristling hair, like the hedgehog. [These different species are thus characterized by Cuvier: “Les premiers sont les souris et les rats, de formes ordinaires; les seconds, les grandes musaraignes [shrew-mice] de la taille du rat, telles que l’on en trouve en Egypte; les troisiemes, une espece de souris particuliere à l’Egypte, et peut-être à la Barbarie, armée d’epines parmi ses poils dont Aristote avait deja parlé (B. vi. l. 37, cap. ult.) et que M. Geoffroy a retrouvée et nommée mus cahirinus.” Ajasson, vol. vi. p. 467, and Lemaire, ubi supra.—B. See B. viii. c., and B. x. c..] We are informed by Theophrastus, that after the mice had driven the inhabitants of Gyara [Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 11, mentions this circumstance, but says that it occurred in the island of Paros. For Gyara, see B. iv. c. 23.] from their island, they even gnawed the iron; which they also do, by a kind of natural instinct, in the iron forges among the Chalybes. In gold mines, too, their stomachs are opened for this purpose, and some of the metal is always to be found there, which they have pilfered, [We have two passages in Livy, B. xxvii. and B. xxx., where gold is said to have been gnawed by mice.—B.] so great a delight do they take in stealing! We learn from our Annals, also, that at the siege of Casilinum, [See B. iii. c. 9. In B.C. 217, this place was occupied by Fabius with a strong garrison, to prevent Hannibal from passing the Vulturnus; and the following year, after the battle of Cannæ, was occupied by a small body of Roman troops, who, though little more than 1000 in number, withstood the assaults of Hannibal during a protracted siege, until compelled by famine to surrender.] by Hannibal, a mouse was sold for two hundred denarii, [This sum would be about £7.—B.] and that the person who sold it perished with hunger, while the purchaser survived. To be visited by white mice is considered as indicative of a fortunate event; but our Annals are full of instances in which the singing [It is by no means improbable that “occentus” here means “singing,” and not merely “squeaking;” as the singing of a mouse would no doubt be deemed particularly ill-boding in those times. At the present day, a mouse has been heard to emit a noise which more nearly resembled singing than squeaking; and a “singing mouse” has been the subject of an exhibition more than once.] of a mouse has interrupted the auspices. [We have frequent allusions to this occurrence in the writings of the Romans, some of which are referred to by Dalechamps; Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 563.—B.] Nigidius informs us, that the field-mouse conceals itself during winter: this is also said to be the case with the dormouse, which the regulations of the censors, and of M. Scaurus, the chief of the senate, when he was consul, [A.U.C. 639; it does not appear what was the cause of this prohibition.—B.] have banished from our tables, [See B. xxxvi. c. 2.] no less than shell-fish and birds, which are brought from a foreign country. The dormouse is also a half-wild animal, and the same person [Fulvius Lupinus, as already stated in c. 78.—B.] made warrens for them in large casks, who first formed parks for wild boars. In relation to this subject, it has been remarked that dormice will not mate, unless they happen to be natives of the same forest; and that if those are put together that are brought from different rivers or mountains, they will fight and destroy each other. These animals nourish their parents, when worn out with old age, with a singular degree of affection. This old age of theirs is put an end to by their winter’s rest, when they conceal themselves and sleep; they are young again by the summer. The field-mouse [“Nitelis.” See B. xvi. c. 69. Probably the animal now known as the Myoxus nitela of Linnæus.] also enjoys a similar repose.

Chap. 83. (58.)—Places in Which Certain Animals Are Not to Be Found.

It is a remarkable fact, that nature has not only assigned different countries to different animals, but that even in the same country, it has denied certain species to peculiar localities. [Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 33.—B.] In Italy the dormouse is found in one part only, the Messian forest. [According to Hardouin, this forest is termed, in modern times, Bosco di Baccano; it is nine miles S.W. of Rome.] In Lycia the gazelle never passes beyond the mountains which border upon Syria; [Cuvier informs us, that “Le dorcas des Grecs n’est le daim, comme le dit Hardouin, mais le chevreuil; car Aristote (De Partib. Anim. l. iii. c. 2) dit que c’est le plus petit des animaux à cornes que nous connaissions (sans doute en Grèce); et le dorcas Libyca, très-bien decrit par Ælien (l. xiv. c. 4), est certainement la gazelle commune, ‘antelope dorcas,’” Ajasson, vol. vi. pp. 467, 468; Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 565. Respecting the localities here mentioned, it has been proposed to substitute Cilicia for Syria, Syria and Lycia being at a considerable distance from each other.—B.] nor does the wild ass in that vicinity pass over those which divide Cappadocia from Cilicia. On the banks of the Hellespont, the stags never pass into a strange territory, and about Arginussa [See B. v. c. 39.] they never go beyond Mount Elaphus; those upon that mountain, too, have cloven ears. In the island of Poroselene, [See B. v. c. 38.] the weasels will not so much as cross a certain road. In Bœotia, the moles, which were introduced at Lebadea, fly from the very soil of that country, while in the neighbourhood, at Orchomenus, the very same animals tear up all the fields. We have seen coverlets for beds made of the skins of these creatures, so that our sense of religion does not prevent us from employing these ominous animals for the purposes of luxury. When hares have been brought to Ithaca, they die as soon as ever they touch the shore, and the same is the case with rabbits, on the shores of the island of Ebusus; [See B. iii. c. 11, and the Note to the passage. See also c. of this Book.] while they abound in the vicinity, Spain namely, and the Balearic isles. In Cyrene, the frogs were formerly dumb, and this species still exists, although croaking ones were carried over there from the continent. At the present day, even, the frogs in the island of Seriphos are dumb; but when they are carried to other places, they croak; the same thing is also said to have taken place at Sicandrus, a lake of Thessaly. [Ælian, B. ii. c. 37, gives the same account of the frogs of Seriphos and the lake of Thessaly, but gives the name of Pierus to the lake.—B.] In Italy, the bite of the shrew-mouse [“Mus araneüs; the ‘shrew-mouse,’” according to Cuvier, “La musaraigne n’est pas venimeuse. Il s’en faut beaucoup qu’elle n’existe pas au nord des Apennins; et elle ne périt point passe qu’elle a traversé une ornière, quoique souvent elle puisse y être écrasée. C’est un des quadrupèdes que l’on tue le plus aisément par un coup léger.” Ajasson, vol. vi. p. 468.—B.] is venomous; an animal which is not to be found in any region beyond the Apennines. In whatever country it exists, it always dies immediately if it goes across the rut made by a wheel. Upon Olympus, a mountain of Macedonia, there are no wolves, nor yet in the isle of Crete. [Ælian, B. iii. c. 32, gives the same account, which he professes to have taken from Theophrastus.—B.] In this island there are neither foxes, nor bears, nor, indeed, any kind of baneful animal, [This is also stated by Ælian.] with the exception of the phalangium, a species of spider, of which I shall speak in its appropriate place. [B. xi. c. 23, and B. xxix. c. 27.—B.] It is a thing still more remarkable, that in this island there are no stags, except in the district of Cydon; [See B. iv. c. 20.] the same is the case with the wild boar, the woodcock, [“Attagenæ;” the commentators have suspected some inaccuracy with respect to this word, as we have no other remarks on birds in this part of Pliny’s work; Lemaire, vol. iii. pp. 567, 568.—B.] and the hedgehog. In Africa, there are neither wild boars, stags, deer, nor bears.

Chap. 84. (59.)—Animals Which Injure Strangers Only, as Also Animals Which Injure the Natives of the Country Only, and Where They Are Found.

Besides this, there are certain animals, which are harmless to the natives of the country, but destroy strangers; such are the little serpents at Tirynthus, [See B. iv. c. 9.] which are said to spring from out of the earth. In Syria, also, and especially on the banks of the Euphrates, the serpents never attack the Syrians when they are asleep, and even if they happen to bite a native who treads upon them, their venom is not felt; but to persons of any other country they are extremely hostile, and fiercely attack them, causing a death attended with great torture. On this account, the Syrians never kill them. On the contrary, on Latmos, a mountain [See B. v. c. 31.] of Caria, as Aristotle tells us, strangers are not injured by the scorpions, while the natives are killed by them. But I must now give an account of other animals as well, and of the productions of the earth. [More especially of trees, plants, flowers, medicinal substances, metals, and gems, which form the most prominent subjects of the remaining Books after the eleventh, which concludes the account of the animals.—B.]

Summary. —Remarkable events, narratives, and observations, seven hundred and eighty-seven.

Roman authors quoted. —Mucianus, [See end of B. ii.] Procilius, [A Roman historian, and a contemporary of Cicero. He is thought to have written on early Roman history, as Varro quotes his account of the Curtian Lake, and on the later history of Rome, as we have seen Pliny referring to him in c., respecting Pompey’s triumph on his return from Africa. He was held in high estimation by Pomponius Atticus, but seems not to have been so highly esteemed as a writer by Cicero.] Verrius Flaccus, [See end of B. iii.] L. Piso, [See end of B. ii.] Cornelius Valerianus, [Of this writer nothing seems to be known. He probably flourished in the reign of Tiberius or Caligula.] Cato the Censor, [See end of B. iii.] Fenestella, [A Roman historian, who flourished in the reign of Augustus, and died A.D. 21, in the seventieth year of his age. His great work was called “Annales,” and extended to at least twenty-two books, and seems to have contained much minute, though not always accurate, information with regard to the internal affairs of the city; only a few fragments remain, which bear reference to events subsequent to the Carthaginian wars. He is also thought to have written a work called “Epitomæ.” A treatise was published at Vienna, in 1510, in two Books, “On the Priesthood and Magistracy of Rome,” under the name of Fenestella; but it is in reality the composition of Andrea Domenico Fiocchi, a Florentine jurist of the fourteenth century.] Trogus, [See end of B..] the Register of the Triumphs, [See end of B. v.] Columella, [L. Junius Moderatus Columella. He was a native of Gades, or Cadiz, and was a contemporary of Celsus and Seneca. He is supposed to have resided at Rome, and from his works it appears that he visited Syria and Cilicia. It has been conjectured that he died at Tarentum. His great work is a systematic treatise upon Agriculture, divided into Twelve Books.] Virgil, [See end of B..] Varro, [See end of B. ii.] Lucilius, [C. Lucilius, the first Roman satirical poet of any importance, was born B.C. 148, and died B.C. 103. From Juvenal we learn that he was born at Suessa of the Aurunci, and from Velleius Paterculus and Horace other particulars respecting him. He is supposed to have been either the maternal grand-uncle or maternal grandfather of Pompeius Magnus. If not absolutely the inventor of Roman satire, he was the first to mould it into that form which was afterwards fully developed by Horace, Juvenal, and Perseus. He is spoken of in high terms as a writer by Cicero, Horace, and Quintilian.] Metellus Scipio, [The father of Cornelia, the wife of Pompeius Magnus. After his defeat by Cæsar at the battle of Thapsus, he stabbed himself, and leaped into the sea. In what way he distinguished himself as an author, does not appear.] Cornelius Celsus, [See end of B..] Nigidius, [See end of B..] Trebius Niger, [He was one of the companions of L. Lucullus, proconsul in Bætica, the province of Spain, B.C. 150. His work on Natural History is several times referred to by Pliny.] Pomponius Mela, [See end of B. iii.] Mamilius Sura. [A writer on Agriculture, mentioned by Varro and Columella. Nothing more seems to be known of him.]

Foreign authors quoted. —King Juba, [See end of B. v.] Polybius, [See end of B. iv.] Herodotus, [See end of B. ii.] Antipater, [Of Tarsus, a Stoic philosopher, the disciple and successor of Diogenes, and the teacher of Panætius, about B.C. 144. Of his personal history but little is known. Mention is made of his History of Animals by the Scholiast upon Apollonius Rhodius.] Aristotle, [See end of B. ii.] Demetrius [There were several physicians of this name; one was a native of Apamea in Bithynia, a follower of Herophilus, who flourished in the third or second century B.C.; another lived about the same period, and is by some supposed to have been the same as the last. No particulars seem to be known of the individual here mentioned.] the physician, Democritus, [See end of B. ii.] Theophrastus, [See end of B. iii.] Euanthes, [Of Miletus. He wrote on mythical subjects, and is mentioned as an author by Diogenes Laertius; but nothing further seems to have been known respecting him.] Agriopas, [Some of the MSS. call him Acopas, or Copas. He was the author of an account of the victors at the Olympic games, the work here referred to by Pliny.] who wrote the “Olympionicæ,” King Hiero, [Hiero II., the king of Syracuse, and steady friend and ally of the Romans. He died probably a little before the year B.C. 216, having attained the age of ninety-two. Varro and Columella speak of a Treatise on Agriculture written by him.] King Attalus, [Attalus III., king of Pergamus, son of Eumenes II. and Stratonice, daughter of Ariarathes, king of Cappadocia. In his will he made the Roman people his heirs. Being struck with remorse for the murders and other crimes of which he had previously been guilty, he abandoned all public business, and devoted himself to the study of physic, sculpture, and gardening, on which he wrote a work. He died B.C. 133, of a fever, with which he was seized through exposing himself to the sun’s rays, while engaged in erecting a monument to his mother.] Philometor, Ctesias, [See end of B. ii.] Duris, [See end of B..] Philistus, [An historian of Syracuse, one of the most celebrated of antiquity, though, unfortunately, none of his works have come down to us. He was born about B.C. 435, and died B.C. 356. He wrote histories of Egypt, Libya, Syria, and Phœnicia.] Archytas, [A Greek of Tarentum, famous as a philosopher, mathematician, statesman, and general. The lives of him by Aristoxenus and Aristotle are unfortunately lost. He lived probably about B.C. 400, and he is said to have saved the life of Plato by his influence with the tyrant Dionysius. He was finally drowned in the Adriatic. He attained great skill as a practical mechanician; and his flying dove of wood was one of the wonders of antiquity. The fragments and titles of works ascribed to him are very numerous, but the genuineness of some is doubted.] Phylarchus, [See end of B. vii.] Amphilochus [A writer on Agriculture, mentioned also by Varro and Columella. In B. xviii. c. 43, Pliny speaks of a work of his on lucerne clover and cytisus.] of Athens, Anaxapolis [Or Anaxipolis. He was a writer on Agricultural subjects, and is mentioned by Varro and Columella; but nothing further is known respecting him.] the Thasian, Apollodorus [A writer on Agriculture. He is supposed to have lived before the time of Aristotle, and is also mentioned by Varro. No further particulars are known respecting him.] of Lemnos, Aristophanes [A writer on Agriculture; Varro calls him a native of Mallus, in Cilicia.] the Milesian, Antigonus [A native of Cumæ or Cymæ, in Asia Minor, a Greek writer on Agriculture, mentioned also by Varro and Columella.] the Cumæan, Agathocles [A writer on Agriculture, mentioned also by Varro and Columella.] of Chios, Apollonius [A writer on Agriculture, mentioned also by Varro, Columella, Galen, and the Scholiast on Nicander.] of Pergamus, Aristander [The most famous among the soothsayers of Alexander the Great. He probably wrote the work on Prodigies, which is referred to by Pliny in B. xvii. c. 38, and elsewhere, as also by Lucian the satirist.] of Athens, Bacchius [A writer on Agriculture, mentioned also by Varro and Columella.] of Miletus, Bion [See end of B..] of Soli, Chæreas [A writer on Agriculture, mentioned also by Varro and Columella.] the Athenian, Diodorus [A writer on Agriculture, mentioned also by Varro and Columella.] of Priene, Dion [A writer on Agriculture, mentioned also by Varro and Columella.] the Colophonian, Epigenes [See end of B. ii.] the Rhodian, Euagon [A writer on Agriculture, mentioned also by Varro and Columella.] of Thasos, Euphronius [Or Euphonius, a writer on Agriculture, also mentioned by Varro and Columella. Nothing further is known relative to him.] of Athens, Hegesias [See end of B..] of Maronea, the Menanders [Menander of Priene was a writer on Agriculture, mentioned also by Varro and Columella. Menander of Heraclea was a writer on Agriculture, mentioned also by Varro.] of Priene and of Heraclea, Menecrates [A poet who wrote on Agriculture, mentioned also by Varro. It is not improbable that he is the same person with the Menecrates of Smyrna, the author of two epigrams in the Greek Anthology.] the poet, Androtion [A Greek writer on Agriculture, who wrote before the time of Theophrastus, by whom he is mentioned, as also by Athenæus and Varro.] who wrote on Agriculture, Æschrion [He is mentioned also by Varro, but nothing is known of him.] who wrote on Agriculture, Lysimachus [He is often referred to by Varro and Columella. He is also supposed to have been the writer of a History of Thebes, mentioned by the Scholiast and Apollonius Rhodius, B. iii.] who wrote on Agriculture, Dionysius [Cassius Dionysius of Utica. He translated into Greek the twenty-eight Books on Husbandry written by Mago the Carthaginian, in the Punic language. Of Mago nothing further is known.] who translated Mago, Diophanes [Diophanes of Bithynia made an epitome of the same work in Greek, and dedicated it to King Deiotarus. Columella styles Mago the Father of Agriculture.] who made an epitome of the work of Dionysius, King Archelaus, [Made king of Cappadocia by Antony, B.C. 34. He died at Rome, at an advanced age, A.D. 17. Plutarch attributes to King Archelaus—if, indeed, this was the same—a treatise on Minerals.] Nicander. [A native of Claros, near Colophon, in Ionia. It is not a matter of certainty, but it is most probable, that he lived in the reign of Ptolemy V., who died B.C. 181. He was a poet, grammarian, and physician. His “Theriaca,” a poem on the wounds inflicted by venomous animals, still exists, as also another called “Alexipharmia.”]