Chaps. 44-61.

Chap. 44. (37.)—The Nature and Characteristics of All Animals Considered Limb by Limb. Those Which Have Tufts and Crests.

In addition to what is already stated, we will add an account of every part of the body of an animal, taken limb by limb.

All those which have blood, have a head as well. A small number of animals, and those only among the birds, have tufts of various kinds upon the head. The phœnix [Probably the golden pheasant, as already mentioned.] has a long row of feathers on it, from the middle of which arises another row; peacocks have a hairy tuft, resembling a bushy shrub; the stymphalis [Some kind of heron or crane, Cuvier thinks.] has a sort of pointed crest, and the pheasant, again, small horns. Added to these, there is the lark, a little bird, which, from the appearance of its tuft, was formerly called “galerita,” but has since received the Gallic name of “alauda,” [The Alauda cristata of Linnæus, so called from “galera,” a pointed cap like a helmet.] a name which it has transferred to one of our legions. [The fifth legion.] We have already made mention, also, of one bird [The hoopoe, B. x. c. 44.] to which Nature has given a crest, which it can fold or unfold at pleasure: the birds of the coot kind [Savigny and Cuvier take this to be the Ardea virgo of Linnæus, a native of Numidia.] have also received from her a crest, which takes its rise at the beak, and runs along the middle of the head; while the pie of Mars, and the Balearic crane, are furnished with pointed tufts. But the most remarkable feature of all, is the crest which we see attached to the heads of our domestic fowls, substantial and indented like a saw; we cannot, in fact, strictly call it flesh, nor can we pronounce it to be cartilage or a callosity, but must admit that it is something of a nature peculiar to itself. As to the crests of dragons, there is no one to be found who ever saw one.

Chap. 45.—The Various Kinds of Horns. Animals in Which They Are Moveable.

Horns, too, of various forms have been granted to many animals of the aquatic, marine, and reptile kind, but those which are more properly understood under that name belong to the quadrupeds only; for I look upon the tales of Actæon and of Cippus even, in Latin story, as nothing more nor less than fables. [The suddenness of their appearance, no doubt, was fabulous; but we have well-authenticated cases in recent times of substances growing on the human head, to all appearance resembling horns, and arising from a disordered secretion of the hair. Witness the case of Mary Davies, a so-called horn from whose head is preserved in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. The story of Genucius Cippus, the Roman prætor, is told by Ovid, Met. B. xv. l. 565, et seq.] And, indeed, in no department of her works has Nature displayed a greater capriciousness. In providing animals with these weapons, she has made merry at their expense; for some she has spread them out in branches, the stag, for instance; to others she has given them in a more simple form, as in the “subulo,” so called from the resemblance of its horns to a “subula,” [A spitter, or second year stag, according to Cuvier.] or shoemaker’s awl. In others, again, she has flattened them in the shape of a man’s hand, with the fingers extended, from which circumstance the animal has received the name of “platyceros.” [“Broad-horned.” The Cervus dama of Linnæus.] To the roe-buck she has given branching horns, but small, and has made them so as not to fall off and be cast each year; while to the ram she has given them of a contorted and spiral form, as though she were providing it with a cæstus for offence. The horns of the bull, again, are upright and threatening. In this last kind, the females, too, are provided with them, while in most it is only the males. The chamois has them, curving backwards; while in the fallow deer [“Dama.” The Antelope redunca of Linnæus, Cuvier thinks.] they bend forward. The strepsiceros, [No doubt a kind of antelope.] which in Africa bears the name of addax, has horns erect and spiral, grooved and tapering to a sharp point, so much so, that you would almost take them to be the sides of a lyre. [“Lyras” seems preferable to “liras.”] In the oxen of Phrygia, the horns are moveable, [There are several varieties of oxen, in which the horns adhere to the skin, and not to the cranium.] like the ears; and among the cattle of the Troglodytæ, they are pointed downwards to the ground, for which reason it is that they are obliged to feed with the head on one side. Other animals, again, have a single horn, and that situate in the middle of the head, or else on the nose, as already stated. [B. viii. cc. 29-31.]

Then, again, in some animals the horns are adapted for butting, and in others for goring; with some they are curved inwards, with others outwards, and with others, again, they are fitted for tossing: all which objects are effected in various ways, the horns either lying backwards, turning from, or else towards each other, and in all cases running to a sharp point. In one kind, also, the horns are used for the purpose of scratching the body, instead of hands.

In snails the horns are fleshy, and are thus adapted for the purpose of feeling the way, which is also the case with the cerastes; [The Coluber cerastes of Linnæus. See B. viii. c. 35.] some reptiles, again, have only one horn, though the snail has always two, suited for protruding and withdrawing. The barbarous nations of the north drink from the horns of the urus, [The drinking-horns of our Saxon ancestors are well known to the antiquarian.] a pair of which will hold a couple of urnæ: [The “urna” was half an “amphora,” or nearly three gallons.] other tribes, again, point their spears with them. With us they are cut into laminæ, upon which they become transparent; indeed, the rays of a light placed within them may be seen to a much greater distance than without. They are used also for various appliances of luxury, either coloured or varnished, or else for those kinds of paintings which are known as “cestrota,” [See B. xxxv. c. 41.] or horn-pictures. The horns of all animals are hollow within, it being only at the tip that they are solid: the only exception is the stag, the horn of which is solid throughout, and is cast every year. When the hoofs of oxen are worn to the quick, the husbandmen have a method of curing them, by anointing the horns of the animal with grease. The substance of the horns is so ductile, that even while upon the body of the living animal, they can be bent by being steeped in boiling wax, and if they are split down when they are first shooting, they may be twisted different ways, and so appear to be four in number upon one head. In females the horns are generally thinner than in the males, as is the case, also, with most kinds of wool-bearing animals.

No individuals, however, among sheep, or hinds, nor yet any that have the feet divided into toes, or that have solid hoofs, are furnished with horns; with the sole exception of the Indian ass, [The rhinoceros. See B. viii. c. 39.] which is armed with a single horn. To the beasts that are cloven-footed Nature has granted two horns, but to those that have fore-teeth in the upper jaw, she has given none. Those persons who entertain the notion that the substance of these teeth is expended in the formation of the horns, are easily to be refuted, if we only consider the case of the hind, which has no more teeth than the male, and yet is without horns altogether. In the stag the horn is only imbedded in the skin, but in the other [He surely must except the Phrygian oxen with the moveable horns, which he has previously mentioned.] animals it adheres to the bone.

Chap. 46.—The Heads of Animals. Those Which Have None.

The head of the fish is very large in proportion to the rest of the body, probably, to facilitate its diving under water. Animals of the oyster and the sponge kind have no head, which is the case, also, with most of the other kinds, whose only sense is that of touch. Some, again, have the head blended with the body, the crab, for instance.

Chap. 47.—The Hair.

Of all animals man has the longest hair upon the head; which is the case more especially with those nations where the men and women in common leave the hair to grow, and do not cut it. Indeed, it is from this fact, that the inhabitants of the Alps have obtained from us the name of “Capillati,” [Or “long-haired.” See B. iii. c. 7.] as also those of Gallia, “Comata.” [See B. iv. c. 31.] There is, however, a great difference in this respect according to the various countries. In the island of Myconus, [See B. iv. c. 22.] the people are born without hair, just as at Caunus the inhabitants are afflicted with the spleen from their birth. [See B. v. c. 29.] There are some animals, also, that are naturally bald, such as the ostrich, for instance, and the aquatic raven, which last has thence derived its Greek [Φαλακροκόραξ. See B. x. c. 68.] name. It is but rarely that the hair falls off in women, and in eunuchs such is never known to be the case; nor yet does any person lose it before having known sexual intercourse. [He borrows this from Aristotle.] The hair does not fall off below the brain, nor yet beneath the crown of the head, or around the ears and the temples. Man is the only animal that becomes bald, with the exception, of course, of such animals as are naturally so. Man and the horse are the only creatures whose hair turns grey; but with man this is always the case, first in the fore-part of the head, and then in the hinder part.

Chap. 48.—The Bones of the Head.

Some few persons only are double-crowned. The bones of the head are flat, thin, devoid of marrow, and united with sutures indented like a comb. When broken asunder they cannot be united, but the extraction of a small portion is not necessarily fatal, as a fleshy cicatrix forms, and so makes good the loss. We have already mentioned, in their respective [B. viii. c. 54, and B. x. c. 58. The skull of the bear is not thinner or weaker than that of other animals of its own size; but the skull of the parrot, in proportion to those of other birds, is remarkably hard.] places, that the skull of the bear is the weakest of all, and that of the parrot the hardest.

Chap. 49.—The Brain.

The brain exists in all animals which have blood, and in those sea animals as well, which we have already mentioned as mollusks, although they are destitute of blood, the polypus, for instance. Man, however, has, in proportion to his body, the most voluminous brain of all. This, too, is the most humid, and the coldest of all the viscera, and is enveloped above and below with two membranous integuments, for either of which to be broken is fatal. In addition to these facts, we may remark that the brain is larger in men than in women. In man the brain is destitute of blood and veins, and in other animals it has no fat. Those who are well informed on the subject, tell us that the brain is quite a different substance from the marrow, seeing that on being boiled it only becomes harder. In the very middle of the brain of every animal there are small bones found. Man is the only animal in which it is known to palpitate [See B. vii. c. 1.] during infancy; and it does not gain its proper consistency until after the child has made its first attempt to speak. The brain is the most elevated of all the viscera, and the nearest to the roof of the head; it is equally devoid of flesh, blood, and excretions. The senses hold this organ as their citadel; it is in this that are centred all the veins which spring from the heart; it is here that they terminate; this is the very culminating point of all, the regulator of the understanding. With all animals it is advanced to the fore-part of the head, from the fact that the senses have a tendency to the direction in which we look. From the brain proceeds sleep, and its return it is that causes the head to nod. Those creatures, in fact, which have no brain, never sleep. It is said that stags [Cuvier says that these are the larvæ of the œstrus, which are deposited on the lips of quadrupeds, and so make their way to various cavities.] have in the head certain small maggots, twenty in number: they are situate in the empty space that lies beneath the tongue, and around the joints by which the head is united to the body.

Chap. 50.—The Ears. Animals Which Hear Without Ears or Apertures.

Man is the only animal the ears of which are immoveable. It is from the natural flaccidity of the ear, that the surname of Flaccus is derived. There is no part of the body that creates a more enormous expense for our women, in the pearls which are suspended from them. In the East, too, it is thought highly becoming for the men, even, to wear gold rings in their ears. Some animals have large, and others small ears. The stag alone has them cut and divided, as it were; in the field-mouse they have a velvet surface. All the animals that are viviparous have ears of some kind or other, with the sole exception of the sea-calf, the dolphin, the fishes which we have mentioned [B. ix. c. 40.] as cartilaginous, and the viper. These animals have only cavities instead of ears, with the exception of the cartilaginous fishes and the dolphin, which last, however, it is quite clear possesses the sense of hearing, for it is charmed by singing, and is often taken while enraptured with the melody: how it is that it does hear, is quite marvellous. These animals, too, have not the slightest trace of olfactory organs, and yet they have a most acute sense of smell.

Among the winged animals, only the horned owl and the long-eared owl have feathers which project like ears, the rest having only cavities for the purpose of hearing; the same is the case, also, with the scaly animals and the serpents. Among horses and beasts of burden of all kinds, it is the ears which indicate the natural feelings; when the animal is weary, they are drooping and flaccid; when it is startled, they quiver to and fro; when it is enraged, they are pricked up; and when it is ailing, they are pendant.

Chap. 51.—The Face, the Forehead, and the Eye-brows.

Man is the only creature that has a face, the other animals having only a muzzle or a beak. Other animals have a forehead as well, but it is only on the forehead of man that is depicted sorrow, gladness, compassion, or severity. It is the forehead that is the index of the mind. Man has eyebrows, also, which move together or alternately; these, too, serve in some measure as indications of the feelings. Do we deny or do we assent, it is the eyebrows, mostly, that indicate our intentions. Feelings of pride may be generated elsewhere, but it is here that they have their principal abode; it is in the heart that they take their rise, but it is to the eyebrows that they mount, and here they take up their position. In no part of the body could they meet with a spot more lofty and more precipitous, in which to establish themselves free from all control.

Chap. 52.—The Eyes—Animals Which Have No Eyes, or Have Only One Eye.

Below the forehead are the eyes, which form the most precious portion of the human body, and which, by the enjoyment of the blessings of sight, distinguish life from death. Eyes, however, have not been granted to all animals; oysters have none, but, with reference to some of the shell-fish, the question is still doubtful; for if we move the fingers before a scallop half open, it will immediately close its shell, apparently from seeing them, while the solen [Or razor-sheath. See B. x. c. 88.] will start away from an iron instrument when placed near it. Among quadrupeds the mole [Aristotle was of this opinion, but Galen maintained that the mole can see. Its eye is extremely small, and hard on the surface.] has no sight, though it has something that bears a resemblance to eyes, if we remove the membrane that is extended in front of them. Among birds also, it is said that a species of heron, which is known as the “leucus,” [Or “white” heron. As Cuvier remarks, this is probably a mere augur’s fable.] is wanting of one eye: a bird of most excellent augury, when it flies towards the south or north, for it is said that it portends thereby that there is about to be an end of perils and alarms. Nigidius says also, that neither locusts nor grasshoppers have eyes. In snails, [It is almost needless to remark, that both snails, as well as locusts and grasshoppers, have eyes.] the two small horns with which they feel their way, perform the duties of eyes. Neither the mawworm [Lumbricus.] nor any other kind of worm has eyes.

Chap. 53.—The Diversity of the Colour of the Eyes.

The eyes vary in colour in the human race only; in all other animals they are of one uniform colour peculiar to the kind, though there are some horses that have eyes of an azure colour. But in man the varieties and diversities are most numerous; the eyes being either large, of middling size, remarkably small, or remarkably prominent. These last are generally supposed to be very weak, while those which are deep-seated are considered the best, as is the case also with those which in colour resemble the eyes of the goat.

Chap. 54.—The Theory of Sight—Persons Who Can See by Night.

In addition to this, there are some persons who can see to a very great distance, while there are others, again, who can only distinguish objects when brought quite close to them. The vision of many stands in need of the rays of the sun; such persons cannot see on a cloudy day, nor yet after the sun has set. Others, again, have bad sight in the day-time, but a sight superior to that of others by night. Of persons having double pupils, or the evil eye, we have already spoken [B. vii. c. 2.] at sufficient length. Blue [“Cæsii.”] eyes are the best for seeing in the dark.

It is said that Tiberius Cæsar, like no other human being, was so endowed by Nature, that on awaking in the night [The same has been said also of Cardan, the elder Scaliger, Theodore Beza, the French physician Mairan, and the republican Camille Desmoulins.] he could for a few moments distinguish objects just as well as in the clearest daylight, but that by degrees he would find his sight again enveloped in darkness. The late Emperor Augustus had azure eyes like those of some horses, the white being larger than with other men; he used to be very angry if a person stared intently at them for this peculiarity. Claudius Cæsar had at the corners of the eyes a white fleshy substance, covered with veins, which would occasionally become suffused with blood; with the Emperor Caius [Caligula.] they had a fixed, steady gaze, while Nero could see nothing distinctly without winking, and having it brought close to his eyes. The Emperor Caius had twenty pairs of gladiators in his training-school, and of all these there were only two who did not wink the eyes when a menacing gesture was made close to them: hence it was that these men were invincible. So difficult a matter is it for a man to keep his eyes from winking: indeed, to wink is so natural to many, that they cannot desist from it; such persons we generally look upon as the most timid.

No persons have the eye all of one colour; that of the middle of the eye is always different from the white which surrounds it. In all animals there is no part in the whole body that is a stronger exponent of the feelings, and in man more especially, for it is from the expression of the eye that we detect clemency, moderation, compassion, hatred, love, sadness, and joy. From the eyes, too, the various characters of persons are judged of, according as they are ferocious, menacing, sparkling, sedate, leering, askance, downcast, or languishing. Beyond a doubt it is in the eyes that the mind has its abode: sometimes the look is ardent, sometimes fixed and steady, at other times the eyes are humid, and at others, again, half closed. From these it is that the tears of pity flow, and when we kiss them we seem to be touching the very soul. It is the eyes that weep, and from them proceed those streams that moisten our cheeks as they trickle down. And what is this liquid that is always so ready and in such abundance in our moments of grief, and where is it kept in reserve at other times? It is by the aid of the mind that we see, by the aid of the mind that we enjoy perception; while the eyes, like so many vessels, as it were, receive its visual faculties and transmit them. Hence it is that profound thought renders a man blind for the time, the powers of sight being withdrawn from external objects and thrown inward: so, too, in epilepsy, the mind is covered with darkness, while the eyes, though open, are able to see nothing. In addition to this, it is the fact that hares, as well as many human beings, can sleep with the eyes open, a thing which the Greeks express by the term κορυβαντιᾷν. Nature has composed the eye of numerous membranes of remarkable thinness, covering them with a thick coat to ensure their protection against heat and cold. This coat she purifies from time to time by the lachrymal humours, and she has made the surface lubricous and slippery, to protect the eye against the effects of a sudden shock.

Chap. 55.—The Nature of the Pupil—Eyes Which Do Not Shut.

In the midst of the cornea of the eye Nature has formed a window in the pupil, the small dimensions of which do not permit the sight to wander at hazard and with uncertainty, but direct it as straight as though it were through a tube, and at the same time ensure its avoidance of all shocks communicated by foreign bodies. The pupils are surrounded by a black circle in some persons, while it is of a yellowish cast with others, and azure again with others. By this happy combination the light is received by the eye upon the white that lies around the pupil, and its reflection being thus tempered, it fails to impede or confuse the sight by its harshness. So complete a mirror, too, does the eye form, that the pupil, small as it is, is able to reflect the entire image of a man. This [Hardouin with justice doubts the soundness of this alleged reason.] is the reason why most birds, when held in the hand of a person, will more particularly peck at his eyes; for seeing their own likeness reflected in the pupils, they are attracted to it by what seem to be the objects of their natural affection.

It is only some few beasts of burden that are subject to maladies of the eyes towards the increase of the moon: but it is man alone that is rescued from blindness by the discharge of the humours [He alludes, probably, to some method of curing cataract; perhaps somewhat similar to that mentioned by him in B. xx. c. 20.] that have caused it. Many persons have had their sight restored after being blind for twenty years; while others, again, have been denied this blessing from their very birth, without there being any blemish in the eyes. Many persons, again, have suddenly lost their sight from no apparent cause, and without any preceding injury. The most learned authors say that there are veins which communicate from the eye to the brain, but I am inclined to think that the communication is with the stomach; for it is quite certain that a person never loses the eye without feeling sickness at the stomach. It is an important and sacred duty, of high sanction among the Romans, to close [This was done by the nearest relatives. This usage still prevails in this country, the eyelids being pressed down with pieces of gold or silver.] the eyes of the dead, and then again to open them when the body is laid on the funeral pile, the usage having taken its rise in the notion of its being improper that the eyes of the dead should be beheld by man, while it is an equally great offence to hide them from the view of heaven. Man is the only living creature the eyes of which are subject to deformities, from which, in fact, arose the family names of “Strabo” [Or “squint-eyed.”] and “Pætus.” [Or “cock-eyed.”] The ancients used to call a man who was born with only one eye, “cocles,” and “ocella,” a person whose eyes were remarkably small. “Luscinus” was the surname given to one who happened to have lost one eye by an accident.

The eyes of animals that see at night in the dark, cats, for instance, are shining and radiant, so much so, that it is impossible to look upon them; those of the she-goat, too, and the wolf are resplendent, and emit a light like fire. The eyes of the sea-calf and the hyæna change successively to a thousand colours; and the eyes, when dried, of most of the fishes will give out light in the dark, just in the same way as the trunk of the oak when it has become rotten with extreme old age. We have already mentioned [B. viii. c. 45.] the fact, that animals which turn, not the eyes but the head, for the purpose of looking round, are never known to wink. It is said, [B. viii, c. 51.] too, that the chameleon is able to roll the eye-balls completely round. Crabs look sideways, and have the eyes enclosed beneath a thin crust. Those of craw-fish and shrimps are very hard and prominent, and lie in a great measure beneath a defence of a similar nature. Those animals, however, the eyes of which are hard, have worse sight than those of which the eyes are formed of a humid substance. It is said that if the eyes are taken away from the young of serpents and of the swallow, [See B. xxv. c. 50.] they will grow again. In all insects and in animals covered with a shell, the eyes move just in the same way as the ears of quadrupeds do; those among them which have a brittle [Or crustaceous covering.] covering have the eyes hard. All animals of this nature, as well as fishes and insects, are destitute of eye-lids, and their eyes have no covering; but in all there is a membrane that is transparent like glass, spread over them.

Chap. 56.—The Hair of the Eye-lids; What Animals Are Without Them. Animals Which Can See on One Side Only.

Man has lashes on the eye-lids on either side; and women even make it their daily care to stain them; [Kohl is still used in the east for the same purpose.] so ardent are they in the pursuit of beauty, that they must even colour their very eyes. It was with another view, however, that Nature had provided the hair of the eyelids—they were to have acted, so to say, as a kind of rampart for the protection of the sight, and as an advanced bulwark against the approach of insects or other objects which might accidentally come in their way. It is not without some reason that it is said that the eyelashes [Aristotle says so, Hist. Anim. B. iii. c. 10.] fall off with those persons who are too much given to venereal pleasures. Of the other animals, the only ones that have eyelashes are those that have hair on the rest of the body as well; but the quadrupeds have them on the upper eyelid only, and the birds on the lower one: the same is the case also with those which have a soft skin, such as the serpent, and those among the quadrupeds that are oviparous, the lizard, for instance. The ostrich is the only one among the birds that, like man, has eyelashes on either side.

Chap. 57.—Animals Which Have No Eyelids.

All birds, however, have not eyelids: hence it is, that those which are viviparous have no nictation of the eye. The heavier kinds of birds shut the eye by means of the lower eyelid, and they wink by drawing forward a membrane which lies in the corner of the eye. Pigeons, and other birds of a similar nature, shut the two eyelids; but the quadrupeds which are oviparous, such, for instance, as the tortoise and the crocodile, have only the lower eyelid moveable, and never wink, in consequence of the hardness of the eye. The edge of the upper eyelid was by the ancients called “cilium,” from which comes our word “supercilia. [“The eyebrows.”] ” If the eyelid happens to be severed by a wound it will not reunite, [This is not the fact.] which is the case also with some few other parts of the human body.

Chap. 58.—The Cheeks.

Below the eyes are the cheeks, a feature which is found in man only. From the ancients they received the name of “genæ,” and by the laws of the Twelve Tables, women were forbidden to tear them. [With their nails when mourning for the dead.] The cheeks are the seat of bashfulness; it is on them more particularly that blushes are to be seen.

Chap. 59.—The Nostrils.

Within the cheeks is the mouth, which gives such strong indications of the feelings of joyousness and laughter; and above it, but in man only, is the nose, which modern notions have stamped as the exponent of sarcasm and ridicule. [Hence the word “nasutus,” a sneering, captious, or sarcastic man.] In no other animal but man, is the nose thus prominent; birds, serpents, and fishes, have no nostrils, but apertures only for the purpose of smell. It is from the peculiarity of the nose that are derived the surnames of “Simus” [“Flat-nosed,” and “snub-nosed.”] and “Silo.” Children born in the seventh month often have the ears and the nostrils imperforate.

Chap. 60.—The Mouth; the Lips; the Chin; and the Jaw-bone.

It is from the “labia,” or lips, that the Brocchi [A Roman family—the reading of this word seems doubtful.] have received the surname of Labeo. All animals that are viviparous have a mouth that is either well-formed, or harshly defined, as the case may be. Instead of lips and mouth, the birds have a beak that is horny and sharp at the end. With birds that live by rapine, the beak is hooked inwards, but with those which gather and peck only, it is straight: those animals, again, which root up grass or puddle in the mud, have the muzzle broad, like swine. The beasts of burden employ the mouth in place of hands in gathering their food, while those which live by rapine and slaughter have it wider than the rest. No animal, with the exception of man, has either chin or cheek-bones. The crocodile is the only animal that has the upper jaw-bone [In reality, the under one only.] moveable; among the land quadrupeds it is the same as with other animals, except that they can move it obliquely.

Chap. 61.—The Teeth; the Various Kinds of Teeth; in What Animals They Are Not on Both Sides of the Mouth: Animals Which Have Hollow Teeth.

Teeth are arranged in three different ways, serrated, in one continuous row, or else protruding from the mouth. When serrated they unite together, just like those of a comb, in order that they may not be worn by rubbing against one another, as in serpents, fishes, and dogs, [He is incorrect in speaking of dogs as having serrated teeth.] for instance. In some creatures they are set in one continuous row, man and the horse, for instance; while in the wild boar, the elephant, and the hippopotamus, they protrude from the mouth. [In the dugong also, babiroussa, muntjac, and others.] Among those set in one continuous row, the teeth which divide the food are broad and sharp, while those which grind it are double; the teeth which lie between the incisive and the molar teeth, are those known as the canine or dog-teeth; these are by far the largest in those animals which have serrated teeth. Those animals which have continuous rows of teeth, have them either situate on both sides of the mouth, as in the horse, or else have no fore-teeth in the upper part of the mouth, as is the case with oxen, sheep, and all the animals that ruminate. The she-goat has no upper teeth, except the two front ones. No animals which have serrated teeth, have them protruding [The morse and the dugong are instances to the contrary.] from the mouth; among these, too, the females rarely have them; and to those that do have them, they are of no [The females of the elephant, morse, dugong, chevrotin, and muntjac have them, and they are equally as useful as with the male, only, perhaps, not so strong.] use: hence it is, that while the boar strikes, the sow bites. No animal with horns has projecting teeth; and all such teeth are hollow, while in other animals the teeth are solid. All [This is incorrect, unless he merely means ranged in one continuous line; and even then he is in error.] fish have the teeth serrated, with the exception of the scarus, [See B. ix. c. 29. This is called the parrot-fish, from the resemblance of its upper and lower jaws to the beak of a parrot.] this being the only one among the aquatic animals that has them level [They present this appearance from being worn away at the surface.] at the edges. In addition to this, there are many fishes that have teeth upon the tongue and over the whole of the mouth, in order that, by the multitude of the bites which they inflict, they may soften those articles of food which they could not possibly manage by tearing. Many animals, also, have teeth in the palate, and even in the tail; [Rondelet would read “gula,” the throat. This, though repudiated by Hardouin, is approved of by Cuvier, who justly looks upon the ordinary reading as an absurdity. Many fish, he says, and more especially the osseous ones, have teeth in the pharynx.] in addition to which, some have them inclining to the interior of the mouth, that the food may not fall out, the animal itself having no other means of retaining it there.