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DE MIRABILIBUS
AUSCULTATIONIBUS
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THE
WORKS OF ARISTOTLE
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH
UNDER THE EDITORSHIP
OF
J. A. SMITH M.A.
FELLOW OF BALLIOL COLLEGE
W. D. ROSS M.A.
FELLOW OF ORIEL COLLEGE
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
^itil^^
v
HENRY FROWDE, M.A.
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
LONDON, EDINBURGH, NEW YORK
TORONTO AND MELBOURNE
PREFACE
It was the desire of the late Master of Balliol, Dr. Ben-
jamin Jowett, as formulated in his will, that the proceeds
from the sale of his works, the copyright in which he
bequeathed to Balliol College, should be used to promote the
study of Greek Literature, especially by the publication of
new translations and editions of Greek authors. In a codicil
to his will he expressed the hope that the translation of
Aristotle's works begun by his own translation of the Politics
should be proceeded with as speedily as possible. The
College resolved that the funds thus accruing to them should,
in memory of his services to the College and to Greek
letters, be applied to the subvention of a series of translations
of the works of Aristotle. Through the co-operation, financial
and other, of the Delegates of the University Press it has now
become possible to begin the realization of this design. By
agreement between the College and the Delegates of the Press
the present editors were appointed to superintend the carrying
out of the scheme. The series is published at the joint
expense and risk of the College and the Delegates of the
Press.
The editors have secured the co-operation of various
scholars in the task of translation. The translations make
no claim to finality, but aim at being such as a scholar might
construct in preparation for a critical edition and commentary.
Wherever new readings are proposed the fact will be indi-
cated, but notes justificatory of conjectural emendations
or defensive of novel interpretations will, where admitted, be
193397
PREFACE
reduced to the smallest compass. The editors, while retaining
a general right of revision and annotation, will leave the
responsibility for each translation to its author, whose name
will in all cases be given,
J. A. S.
W. D. R.
PARTS PUBLISHED OR IN THE PRESS
/ r PARVA NATURALIA : by J. I. Beare and G. R. T. Ross.
DE LINEIS INSECABILIBUS : by H. H. Joachim.
METAPHYSICA (Vol. VIII) : by W. D. Ross.
DE MIRABILIBUS AUSCULTATIONIBUS : by L. D. Dowdall.
HISTORIA ANIMALIUM (Vol. IV) : by D'A. W, Thompson.
DE GENERATIONS ANIMALIUM : by A. Platt.
October, 1909.
DE MIRABILIBUS
AUSCULTATIONIBUS
BY
LAUNCELOT D. DOWDALL, B.D., LL.B.
UNIVERSITY
OF
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1909
HENRY FROWDE, M.A.
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
LONDON, EDINBURGH, NEW YORK
TORONTO AND MELBOURNE
M^1
PREFACE
In the following translation I have followed in the main
the text of Apelt (Teubner, 1898) which rests on the recen-
sion of Bekker, while the Laurentian MS. (S*) is closely
followed, with a few exceptions. Very different from this
is the text of Beckmann (Gottingen, 1786) ; but his learned
notes have been useful. I must acknowledge my obligations
also to the Latin version in Bussemaker's edition (Didot,
1878), and to the German rendering of Schnitzer (Stuttgart,
i8(5o). My thanks are due to Mr. Kenyon of the British
Museum for kindly transcribing for me Hermann's emen-
dation (ch. 133) before Apelt's edition came to my hand.
Many valuable suggestions are due to the kindness of
Mr. W. D. Ross, Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford.
L. D. D.
Hove.
/jme 30, 1 909.
The De Mirabilibus Auscultationibus, though undoubtedly
not written by Aristotle, has been included in this series from
a wish to omit, as nearly as possible, no part of the corpus
associated with Aristotle's name and printed in the standard
editions of his works. Much of the book is at least of
Peripatetic origin.
W. D. R.
Oxford.
October 21, 1909.
DE MIRABILIBUS AUSCULTATIONIBUS
CONTENTS
CHAP.
1. The Bison.
2. The Piety of Camels.
3. The Cuckoo.
4. Cretan Goats.
5. Achaean Stags.
6. Leopard's Bane.
7. The Sandpiper.
8. The Hedgehog.
9. Cephallenian Goats.
^10. Wild Asses.
11. The Tortoise.
12. Martens.
i^. The Woodpecker.
14. The Pelican.
15. Blackbirds.
16. Flower-honey.
17. Cappadocian Honey.
18. Box-honey.
19. Tree-honey.
20. Bees' Food.
21. Bees.
22. Honey-wine.
23. Thessalian Serpents.
24. Laconian Serpents.
25. Mice.
26. Mice and Gold.
27. Scorpions.
28. Mice of Cyrene.
29. A Marvellous Whirlpool.
30. The Elk (Tarandos).
31. The Madman of Abydos.
32. Nocturnal Madness.
33. Fire-mixture and Fire-stone.
34. The Island of Lipara.
35. Fires in Media and Persia.
36. Fire in Atitania.
27. Volcanoes.
38. Fire in Lipara : Eruptions of
Etna.
39. Fire in Lydia.
40. Fire-streams in Sicily.
41. Fire-stone (Spinos).
42. Mines in Macedonia.
43. Copper in Cyprus.
CHAP.
44. The Island of Melos.
45. Paeonian Gold.
46. Gold of the Oxus.
47. Pierian Gold.
48. Chalybian Iron.
49. Indian Copper.
50. Celtic Tin.
51. The Pantheon Olive.
52. What happened in the Mines
of Pergamos.
53. The Ascanian Lake.
54. The Wells of Pythopolis.
55. The Sicihan Strait.
56. The Spring near Syracuse. ^
57. The Spring of Palici. '^
58. The Copper of Demonesus.
59. The Cave of Demonesus.
60. Concerning Eagles.
61. Indian Lead.
62. The Copper of the Mossynoeci.
63. Hibernating Birds and Fish.
64. Bees and Grasshoppers.
65. The Hedgehog.
66. Jealousy of the Spotted Lizard.
67. Bears' Fat.
68. Dumb Frogs and Solid-hoofed
Swine.
69. Fruitful Mules.
70. Frogs of Seriphos.
71. Wandering Fish.
72. Fish on Dry Land.
7^. Fish obtained by Digging.
74. Paphlagonian Fish.
75. The Stag's Horn.
76. The Lynx.
77. The Sea-calf.
78. Circaean Poison.
79. The Birds of Diomedes.
80. Fruitfulness of Umbria.
81. The Amber Islands.
82. Flowers and Wheat of Sicily.
83. Crete without Wild Beasts.
84. Island of the Carthaginians.
85. Road of Heracles.
VI
CONTENTS
CHAP.
86. Celtic Poison.
87. Silver in Iberia.
88. The Balearic Islands (Gym-
nesiae).
89. The Massilian Lake.
90. Ligurian Slingers.
91. Ligurian Women.
92. The Ligurian River.
93. The Mine of Aethaleia.
94. The City of Oenarea.
95. Cumaean Sibyl and River
Cetus.
96. The Mantle of Alcimenes.
97. lapygia and Heracles.
98. The lapygian Stone.
99. The Orchomenian Cave.
100. Sardinia and Aristaeus.
loi. Noises at Lipara. The
Wonderful Cave.
102. Lake Avernus.
103. The Siren Islands.
104. Mount Delphium.
105. The Danube. Voyage of the
Argonauts.
106. Sacrifices to the Dead at
Tarentum.
107. Philoctetes and Tlepolemus.
108. The Tools of Epeus-
109. Daunia and the Arms of
Diomedes.
no. Legend of the Bronze Neck-
lace.
111. Sicilian Crocus.
112. The Miraculous Lake in
Sicily.
113. The Fragrant Mountain and
Oil-spring.
114. The Burning Spring.
115. Burning Stones.
116. Thracian Barley.
117. The Healing Fountain.
118. Falconry,
119. Venetian Jackdaws.
120. The Beetles' Death.
121. The Fatal Spring.
122. Hares' Livers. Place of
Death. Temple of Dio-
nysus.
123. The Miracle of Dionysus.
Kites.
124. Moles.
125. Amphibious Mice.
126. The Crows of Crannon.
127. Bitumen of Apollonia. Burn-
ing Ground.
CHAP.
128. Illyrian Cattle.
129. Paeonian Wild Oxen.
130. The Sicilian Strait.
131. The Tomb of Deiope.
132. Palm-island.
133. The Old Inscription.
134. Salt obtained by Digging.
135. Spanish Silver.
136. Deserts beyond Gades.
Shoals of Tunnies.
137. The Pedasaean Goat.
138. Illyrian Salt.
139. The Scorpion-Fighter.
140. Naxian Wasps.
141. Scythian Poison.
142. The Cyprian Snake.
143. The Wild Pear of Ceos.
144. White Bears.
145. The Hyaena.
146. The Lion- Killer.
147. Vultures and Beetles.
148. The Lizards' Bite.
149. Mesopotamian Snakes. -
150. Snakes of the Euphrates.
151. The Sacred Snake.
152. The Sacred Water of Tyana.
153. The Sacred Olive.
154. The Race of the Pious.
155. The Contrivance of Phidias.
1 56. The Statue of Bitys.
157. The Black Mountains.
158. The White-leaved Rod.
159. The Stone called 'Modon'.
160. The Plant called 'Sistros'.
161. The Mad Vine,
162. The Cylindrical Stone.
163. The Love- Plant.
164. Putrefaction- Serpents
(Sepes).
165. The Dark Adder and the
Viper.
166. The Nile-Stone.
167. The Sound-minded Stone
(Sophron).
168. The Rhine and Danube.
169. The Sybaris and Crathis.
1 70. The Wool-dyeing Rivers.
171. The Lance- Herb.
172. The Fountain Arethusa.
173. The Stone of Madness.
174. The Changing Stone.
175. The Golden Bull of Artemis.
176. Aetolian Moles.
177. Pregnancy of Elephants.
178. Pleasant. Madness.
DE MIRABILIBUS
AUSCULTATIONIBUS
U.Nf/VERs/Tvll
DE MIRABILIBUS AUSCULTATIONIBUS
1 Men say that in Paeonia, on the mountain called 830*
Hesaenus, which forms the boundary between the Paeonian 5
and Maedian ^ districts, there is found a wild beast, which is
called Bolinthos,^ but by the Paeonians is named Monaepos.
They state that this in its general nature is similar to the
ox, but surpasses it in size and strength, and moreover is
distinguished from it by its mane ; for like the horse it has 10
a mane hanging down very thick from the neck, and from
the crown of the head as far as the eyes. It has horns,
not such as oxen have, but bent downwards, the tip being
low down near the ears ; and these severally contain more
than three pints, and are very black, and shine as though ^5
they were peeled ; ^ and when the hide is stripped off it
occupies a space capable of containing eight couches.
When the animal is struck with a weapon it flees, and
only stops when it is quite exhausted. Its flesh has an
agreeable taste. It defends itself by kicking, and voiding
excrement over a distance of about twenty-four feet. It
easily and frequently employs this kind of defence, and the 20
excretion hums so severely that the hair of the dogs is
scraped off. They say, however, that the excrement pro-
duces this effect only when the animal is disturbed, but
when it is undisturbed it does not burn. When they bring
forth young, assembling in larger numbers and being all
gathered closely together, the full-grown ones bring forth,
and void excrement as a defence round their young ; for
the animal discharges a large quantity of this excretion.
2 In Arabia aiunt camelos non inire matres suas ; sed 830**
etiamsi quis cogat, nolunt ; namque curatorem admissario
aliquando destitutum operto* matrem submisisse ferunt
pullo. Is^ vero coitum tunc quidem, ut videtur, absolvit;
paulo tamen post armentarium morsibus necavit. ^°
^ fxrjdiKrjp MSS. Sylburg corrects to MaidiKrjp. Cf. c. 115.
^ Bison, or wild ox, probably the same as the Bonasos.
' Gesner conj. XeXiTraarfxeva. Cf. HzsL An. ix. 45.
* al. opertam. Cf. Hist, An. ix. 47 ; Ovid, Met. x. 324.
AR. M. A. 3
830^ DE MIRABILIBUS
Men say that the cuckoos in Hellce, when about to 3
breed, do not build a nest, but lay their eggs in the nests
of ring-doves or turtle-doves, and neither sit on their eggs,
nor hatch them, nor rear their young ; but when the chick
15 is born and reared, it expels its companions from the nest.
Moreover, it appears, it grows large and beautiful, so that
it easily overcomes the rest. They say that the ring-doves
also take such a delight in it that they even assist it to
drive out their own young.
ao The she-goats in Crete, when they are shot with arrows, 4
seek, it would appear, for the dittany, which grows there ;
for as soon as they have eaten it, they straightway expel
the arrows from their bodies.
Men say that some of the stags in Achaea, when they 5
have shed their horns, proceed to places of such a kind that
831^ they cannot be easily found ; and that they act in this way
because they have no means of defence, and also because
the parts from which they have shed their horns give them
pain ; and it is stated that, in the case of many of these
animals, ivy is seen growing in the place of the horns.
Men say that in Armenia a certain poison grows, which 6
is called leopard's bane. So, when a leopard is seen, they
anoint a victim with this, and let it go. When the leopard
5 touches it, she goes, it would appear, in quest of human
excrement. Therefore the hunters put it in a vessel, and
suspend it from a tree, so that the leopard, by leaping up
towards it and becoming exhausted, may be paralysed by
10 it, and fall into their power.
Men say that in Egypt the sandpipers fly into the mouths 7
of the crocodiles, and cleanse their teeth, pulling out the
pieces of flesh, which stick in their snouts, while the croco-
diles are pleased, and do them no harm.
IS Men say that the hedgehogs in Byzantium perceive when 8
north or south winds are blowing, and immediately change
their holes ; and, when the winds are southerly, make their
holes opening out of the ground, but, when they are
northerly, out of the walls.
AUSCULTATIONIBUS 3-15 831*
9 The she-goats in Cephallenia do not drink, as it appears, 20
like other quadrupeds ; but daily turning their faces towards
the sea, open their mouths, and take in the breezes.
10 In Syria inquiunt inter silvestres asinos ^ unum praeire
armento, atque si iunior aliquis pullus feminam conscenderit,
ducem indignari, et hunc tantisper persequi, dum compre-
hendat ac in crura posteriora conquiniscens ore verenda 25
evellat.
11 Men say that tortoises, when they have eaten part of
a viper, eat marjoram as an antidote, and, if the creature
fails to find it at once, it dies ; that many of the country-
' folk, wishing to prove whether this is true, whenever they
see it acting in this manner, pluck up the marjoram, and 30
when they have done so, the tortoise is presently seen
dying.
12 Viverrae aiunt genitalia esse reliquorum animalium na- 831^
turae absimilia,dum ipsis, quomodocumque demum affectis,
semper sint instar ossium solida. Singulare urinae stillicidio
laborantibus remedium esse perhibent rasaque exhiberi.
13 Men say that the bird called the woodpecker climbs 5
upon the trees like lizards, both hanging from and standing
on the branches. It is further stated that it feeds upon
the grubs out of the trees, and digs so deeply into the
trees, in its search for the grubs, that it even brings the
trees down.
lA Men say that the pelicans dig up the mussels that are 10
found in the rivers, and swallow them ; then, when they
have devoured a large quantity of these, they vomit them
up again, and thereupon eat the meat of the mussels, but
do not touch the shells.
15 Men say that in Cyllene in Arcadia the blackbirds are
born white, which happens nowhere else, and that they 15
give utterance to various sounds, and go forth by the light
of the moon ; but that, if any one should attempt to capture
them by day, they are caught with great difficulty.
^ ova>v : iTTTvav Beckm. ; but cf. Plin. viii. 30, Oppian, Ven, iii. 205.
B 3
831^ DE MIRABILIBUS
It IS stated by certain persons that what is called flower- l6
20 honey is produced in Melos and Knidos, and that, while
fragrant in smell, it lasts for only a short time ; and that
in it ^ bee-bread is produced.
In some parts of Cappadocia they say that the honey is I?
made without a honey-comb, and that in consistency it
resembles olive-oil.
At Trapezus in Pontus the honey gathered from the 18
box-tree is produced, having an oppressive smell, and they
25 say that this drives out of their senses those who are sound
in mind, while it completely cures those who suffer from
epilepsy.
Men say that in Lydia also the honey is gathered from 19
the trees in abundance, and that the inhabitants form
out of it balls without wax, and cutting off portions by
30 very violent rubbing ^ make use of it. It is produced indeed
in Thrace likewise, not so solid, but as it were of a sandy
nature. They say that all honey when congealed preserves
832^ an equal volume, not like water and all other liquids.
The grass of Chalcis and almonds are most useful for 20
making honey ; for they say that a very large quantity is
produced by them.
People say that bees are stupefied by unguents, and are 21
unable to endure the smell of them ; while some say that
5 they especially sting those who have been anointed.
They say that among the Illyrians those who are called 22
Taulantians make wine out of honey. When they have
squeezed out the honey-combs, they pour water on the
honey, and boil it in a caldron until half is consumed ; then
they pour it out into earthen jars, fill them half ^ full, and
lay them on boards ; and on these they say it ferments for
10 a long time, and becomes like wine, while for the rest it
is sweet and strong. But now they state that this mode
of preparation was adopted also among some of the in-
habitants of Greece, so that the drink did not differ from
' Buss, reads 6\iyoxp6iiop de Kara rqv e., omitting iv rovra.
^ Because of the hardness of the honey.
^ Tjixiaeay al. rjdiaTa. Probably, as Heyne thinks, these words crept
into the text from a marginal gloss. Apelt conj. ncofxaaavTes for noirj'
aavT€f, rejecting f]^iorea : cf. 845* 6.
AUSCULTATIONIBUS 16-29 83a*
old wine, and that in later times, when they inquired into
the method of mixing it, they were unable to discover it.
23 They relate that in Thessaly once upon a time so large
a number of serpents was bred alive that, if they had not 15
been exterminated by the storks, the inhabitants would
have left the country. Wherefore they also honour the
storks, and it is unlawful to kill them, and, if any one
kills them, he becomes liable to the same penalties as
a homicide.
24 Likewise also it is related that there was once in
Lacedaemon so great a multitude of serpents that the 20
' Lacedaemonians, owing to a scarcity of corn, used them
as food ; whence also they say that the Pythian priestess
called them ' serpent-necked '}
25 It is said that in the island of Gyaros ^ the mice eat iron.
26 Men say that among the Chalybians, in an islet situated
beyond them, gold is collected by mice in large numbers :
wherefore also, as it appears, they rip up those that are 25
found in the mines.
27 It is said that travellers going from Susa to Media meet
with an immense multitude of scorpions at the second stage.
So the King of the Persians, whenever he was passing
through the place, remained there for three days, ordering
all his men to hunt them down ; and he gave a prize to him 30
who caught the greatest number. '
28 Men say that in Cyrene there is not merely one sort 832^
of mice, but several kinds differing both in forms and in
colours ; for some are broad-faced, like mustelae,'^ and
some like hedgehogs, which they call ' echines '.
29 In Cilicia they say that there is a whirlpool, in which
birds, and animals besides, that have been suffocated, when 5
immersed come to life again.
^ Meziriac conj. 6(J)io^6povs.
^ The MSS. read Kvnpcp. Marsilius Cagnatus suggests Tvapco (one
of the Sporades) on the authority of Antigonus Caryst. c. 21, and
Plin. viii. 57.
^ The weasel is not broad-faced. It is doubtful what animal
Aristotle is referring to. Cf. Bonitz's I/tdex, 145^ 43,
832*^ DE MIRABILIBUS
Among the Scythians who are called Geloni, they say 30
that there is a certain wild animal, excessively rare indeed,
10 which is named Tarandos.^ Now this is said to change
the colour of its hair, according to the place in which it
may be ; and for this reason it is hard to catch ; for it
becomes in colour like to trees and places, and its sur-
roundings generally. But the most wonderful thing is
its changing its hair ; for other animals change the colour
15 of the skin, such as the chameleon and polypus. In size
it resembles an ox, while the form of its face is like that of
a stag.
It is said that a certain man in Abydos being deranged 31
in mind, and coming into the theatre during many days
30 looked on (as though actors were performing a play), and
applauded ; and, when he was restored to his senses, he
declared that that was the happiest time he had ever
spent.
Moreover they say that at Tarentum a certain wine- 32
merchant was mad at night, but sold his wines during the
day : he also kept the key of the cellar attached to his
35 girdle, and though many tried to steal it from him and get
possession of it, he never lost it.
In the island of Tenos they say there is a small bowl 33
containing a mixture, from which people kindle fire very
readily. Moreover in the Thracian Bithynia^ there is
found in the mines the stone which is called *spinos',^
30 from which they say that fire is kindled.
People say that in the island of Lipara there is a certain * 34
place where the air is sucked down into the earth, and
that if they bury a pot there they can put therein what-
ever they please and boil it.
833^ Both in Media and in Psittacene, a district of Persia, 35
there are fires burning, that in Media small, but that in
Psittacene large and with a bright flame ; for which reason
also the King of the Persians constructed kitchens near it.
^ Elk, or reindeer. ^ Sithonia ? (conj. Sylburg). ' Alum-slate .^
* Reading with Apelt nva danvorjv instead of vulg. rives yrjv. This
local use of elo-nvor] is peculiar.
AUSCULTATIONIBUS 30-42 833*
Both these are in level, not in elevated places. These fires 5
are conspicuous both by night and by day, while those
in Pamphylia are seen only at night.
36 They say also that at Atitania, near the borders of the
district of Apollonia, there is a certain rock, and fire rising
from it is not visible, but whenever oil is poured thereon
blazes up.
37 It is said that the places outside the Pillars of Hercules 10
burn, some constantly, others at night only, as Hanno's
Circumnavigation relates. The fire also in Lipara is visible
and flaming, yet not by day, but only at night. They say
also that in Pithecusae the ground is fiery, and extraordi- 15
narily hot, yet not burning.
38 vXenophanes states that the fire in Lipara once failed for
sixteen years, but returned in the seventeenth year. They
say that the lava-stream in Etna is neither flaming nor
continuous, but returns only after an interval of many
years.
39 It is said that in Lydia a vast amount of fire blazed up, ao
and continued burning for seven days.
40 The lava-stream in Sicily is an extraordinary pheno-
menon. The breadth of the fire that blazes up amounts to
forty stadia, while the height to which it is carried amounts
to three.
41 They say that the stone in Thrace which is called 25
'spinos' burns when split in two, and that it also, like
charcoal-embers, when put together again, and sprinkled
with water, burns ; and that the stone called * marieus ^ '
does the same.
42 At Philippi in Macedonia they state that there are
mines, the refuse from which, they say, increases and pro- 30
duces gold, and that this is an observable fact.
* Cod. Vind., with two other MSS., has fiapiddv, for which Salmasius
suggests vd(j)dav. Sylburg suggests OpaKiauy the Thracian stone being
mentioned in c. 115. Cf. Alexandri Problemata^ p. 322 Xi'^os dpaKiasy
v8aTi fxev KaLOjieuo^, eXalco de (r^€vvvfievos.
833^ DE MIRABILIBUS
They say that in Cyprus, at the place called Tyrrhias,^ 43
copper is produced in like manner ; for men having cut it
up, as it appears, into small pieces, sow it, and then, when
the rains have come on, it grows and springs up, and so is
collected.
They say that in the island of Melos, in those parts of 44
5 the ground that are dug up, the earth fills itself up again.
In Paeonia they state that when continuous showers have 45
fallen, and the ground is thoroughly soaked, there is found
what is called gold without fire.^ They state, too, that in
Paeonia the ground is so rich in gold that many persons
10 have found gold even exceeding a pound in weight. And
they say that certain persons, who had found them, brought
two nuggets to the king, one weighing three pounds, the
other five ; and they say that these are set beside him on
the table, and, if he eats anything, he first offers a libation
upon them.
15 They say that among the Bactrians also the river Oxus 4^
carries down numerous small nuggets of gold, and more-
over that in Iberia the river called Theodorus ^ both throws
out much gold on its banks, and likewise also carries it
down the stream.
They state also that in Pieria, a district of Macedonia, 47
20 some uncoined gold was buried by the ancient kings, and,
while there were four cavities, from one of them gold grew
up a span in length.
It is said that the production of the Chalybian and 48
Amisenian* iron is very peculiar; for it grows together,
as at least they assert, from the sand that is carried down
25 by the rivers. Some say that they simply wash this, and
smelt it in a furnace ; but others that, after frequently wash-
ing the deposit left by the first washing, they burn it, and
insert what is called the fire-proof stone which is abundant
in the country. This iron is far more beautiful than the
30 other kinds. But if it were not burnt in the furnace it
^ Meursius conj. t6 \ey. Kovpiou. Cf Strabo, xiv. p. 683.
■^ i. e. unsmehed, solid.
^ Identified with the Durius, mod. Douro. Cf. Rose, Arisf. frag.,
p. 206 (Teubner). Beckm. conj. Qepfxcodav (in Cappadocia).
* Amisuswas a town in Pontus, mod. Eski Samsun. Rose conj. do-rjfxov.
AUSCULTATIONIBUS 43~5^ 834^
would not at all differ, as it appears, from silver. Now
they say that it alone is not liable to rust, but that it is not
very plentiful.
49 They say also that among the Indians the copper is so
bright, pure, and free from rust that it cannot be dis-
tinguished in colour from gold ; moreover that among the
cups of Darius there are certain goblets, and these not 5
inconsiderable in number, as to which, except by their
smell, one could not otherwise decide whether they are of
copper or gold.
50 They say that the Celtic tin melts much more quickly
than lead. A proof of its fusibility is that it is believed to
melt even in water : at any rate, it seems, it stains quickly.
Now it melts in the cold ^ also, when the weather is frosty, 10
because, as they say, the hot substance inherent in it is by
reason of its weakness shut up and compressed within.
51 ' In the Pantheon ^ there is an olive-tree, which is called
that * of the beautiful crowns '. But all its leaves are con-
trary in appearance to those of other olive-trees ; for it ^
has the pale-green outside, instead of inside, and it sends 15
forth branches, like those of the myrtle, suitable for crowns.
From this Heracles took a shoot, and planted it at
Olympia. and from it are taken the crowns which are
given to the combatants. This tree is near the river
Ilissus, sixty ^ stadia distant from the river. It is sur-
rounded by a wall, and a severe penalty is imposed on 20
any one who touches it. From this the Eleians took the
shoot, and planted it in Olympia, and from it they took the
crowns which they bestowed.
52 In the Lydian mines near Pergamos, which also Croesus
had worked, the following incident occurred. When a
certain war arose the workmen fled to them ; but, as the 25
mouth was built up, they were suffocated ; and a long
time afterwards, when the mines were cleared out, vessels,
which they used to employ for daily uses, such as jars
^ Beckm. conj. ^i^yyiacnv. ^ At Athens.
' Kuster reads e^a yap oIk, dXX* ivTos. But the schol. explains
;(Xa)pa by XeiiKa.
* Perhaps ' six ' should be read» as ^' = 60 might easily arise from e^.
Schol. Theocr. iv. 7 says okto)*
834^ DE MIRABILIBUS
30 and the like, were found petrified. These, being filled
with whatever liquid it might be, had been turned to stone,
as well as the bones of the men.
In the Ascanian lake the water is so impregnated with 53
soda that garments have need of no other cleansing sub-
stance ; if one leaves them too long in the water they fall
to pieces.
Near the Ascanian lake is Pythopolis, a village about 54
35 one hundred and twenty stadia distant from Cius, in which
834^ all the wells are dried up in the winter, so that one cannot
dip a pitcher into them ; but in the summer they are
filled up to the brim.
The strait between Sicily and Italy increases and dimin- 55
ishes along with the changes of the moon.
5 It is stated also that on the road to Syracuse there 5^
is in a meadow a spring, neither large nor containing much
water ; but, when once a great crowd met at the place,
it supplied water in abundance.
There is also a certain spring in Palici ^ in Sicily^ about 57
as large as the space ten couches would occupy. This
throws up water to the height of six cubits, so that it
10 is thought by those who see it that the plain will be
inundated ; and again it returns to its original state.
There is also a form of oath, which is considered to be
sacred there ; whatever oaths a man swears he writes on
a little tablet, and throws into the water. If therefore
he swears truly, the tablet floats on the top ; but if he
15 swears falsely, they say that the tablet grows heavy and dis-
appears, while the man is burnt. Wherefore the priest takes
security from him that some one shall purify the temple.
Demonesus, the island of the Chalcedonians, received 58
ao its name from Demonesus, who first cultivated it. The
place contains the mine of cyanos and gold-solder. Of
this latter the finest sort is worth its weight in gold, for
it is also a remedy for the eyes. In the same place there
* It was called 1) ToyvIlaXiKayu XifivT], mod. Lago di Naftia. We should
have expected eV IlaXtKrj, as the Palici were twin sons of Zeus and
Thalia, whose temple stood near a volcanic lake, in which two jets of
gas throw up the water to a great height, and hence became sacred to
the two indigenous deities, called Palici 6ia to dnodavouTcxs rrdXiv els
dvdpoiTTovs Ueo-Oai. Cf. Sotion, 8. Steph. Byzant. UaXiKrj.
AUSCULTATIONIBUS 52-63 834^
is also copper, obtained by divers, two fathoms below the
surface of the sea, from which was made the statue in
Sicyon in the ancient temple of Apollo, and in Pheneus
the so-called statues of mountain-copper. On these is the 25
inscription — ' Heracles, son of Amphitryon, having cap-
tured Elis, dedicated them '. Now he captured Elis
guided, in accordance with an oracle, by a woman, whose
father, Augeas, he had slain. Those who dig the copper
become very sharp-sighted, and those who have no eye-
lashes grow them : wherefore also physicians use the 30
flower of copper ^ and Phrygian ashes for the eyes.
59 Now in the same place there is a cave which is called
the pretty ^ cave. In this pillars have been formed by con-
gelation from certain drippings of water : and this becomes
evident from their being contracted ^ towards the ground,
for the narrowest * part is there.^
60 Of the offspring of a pair of eagles, so long as they pair 35
together, every second one is a sea-eagle. Now from the 835*
sea-eagles springs an osprey, and from these black eagles
and vultures : yet these on the other hand do not bring 5
the breed of vultures to a close, but produce the great
vultures, and these are barren. And a proof is this, that
no one has ever seen a nest of a great vulture.
61 A wonderful thing they say happens among the Indians
with regard to the lead there ; for when it has been melted
and poured into cold water it jumps out of the water.
62 Men say that the copper of the Mossynoeci is very
brilliant and white, no tin being mixed with it ; but there 10
is a kind of earth there, which is smelted with it.^ They
state that the man who discovered the mixture did not
inform any one ; so the copper vessels formerly produced
in these parts were excellent, but those subsequently made
were no longer so.
63 Men state that in Pontus some birds during the winter 15
^ Capillary red copper-ore.
^ Or hollowed : cf. Horn. Od. ix. 114 eV o-TrfVo-i yhaf^ivpoim.
^ Weise reads avayayrj. * Weise o-reyj/oraroj/.
° fto-i . . . arcvoiraTai has been suggested.
^ This seems to have been cadmia, and the mixture what is called
Prince Rupert's metal, or white copper. The Mossynoeci lived on
the southern shores of the Black Sea, and derived their name from the
wooden towers {yi-oaavv) in which they dwelt. Cf Xen. Anab. v. 4. 26.
836* DE MIRABILIBUS
the Spartan, and that having been examined they were
put to death by the Tarentines.
In the island of Diomedeia, which lies in the Adriatic, 79
they say there is a temple of Diomedes, wonderful and
holy, and round the temple there sit in a circle birds of
10 a large size, having great hard beaks. These birds, they
state, if Greeks land at the place, keep quiet ; but if any of
the barbarians who live around them approach, they fly
up, and soaring in the air swoop down upon their heads,
and, wounding them with their beaks, kill them. The
15 story goes that the companions of Diomedes were meta-
morphosed ^ into these, when they had been shipwrecked
off the island and Diomedes was treacherously slain by
Aeneas, who was then king of those regions.
20 Among the Unibrians they say that the cattle bring 80
forth young three times in the year, and that the earth
yields many times more fruit than the seed that is sown :
that the women also are prolific, and rarely bring forth
only one child at a time, but most of them have two or
three.
25 In the Amber islands, which are situated in the corner 81
of the Adriatic, they say that there are two statues
erected, the one of tin, the other of bronze, wrought after
the ancient fashion. It is stated that these are works of
Daedalus, a memorial of old times, when he, fleeing before
30 Minos from Sicily and Crete, put in to these places. But
they say that the river Eridanus^ formed these islands
by alluvial deposit. Moreover, as it appears, there is near
the river a lake, containing hot water, and a smell exhales
from it heavy and unpleasant, and neither does any animal
drink from it, nor does a bird fly over it, but falls and dies.
836 It has a circumference of two hundred stadia, a width of
about ten. Now the inhabitants tell the story that Phae-
thon, when struck by the thunderbolt, fell into this lake ;
and that therein are many black poplars, from which falls
5 what is called amber.^ This, they say, resembles gum, and
* Cf. Lycophr. 594 rriKpav eTaipau enTepoifjLevTjv ldo)v | olaxvofiiKTOv poipav.
"^ Po.
^ For the story of the tears of the Hehades being changed into amber
cf. Ov. Met^ ii. 365. So Marcianus, the geographer, describes amber
AUSCULTATIONIBUS 78-84 836^
hardens like a stone, and, when collected by the inhabitants,
is carried over to the Greeks. To these islands, therefore,
they state that Daedalus came, and, having obtained
possession of them, dedicated in one of them his own
statue, and in the other that of his son Icarus ; but that 10
afterwards, when the Pelasgians, who had been expelled
from Argos, sailed against them, Daedalus fled, and arrived
at the island of Icarus.
82 In Sicily, in the neighbourhood of the place called
Enna,^ there is said to be a cave, round about which 15
they assert that there not only grows a quantity of other
kinds of flowers at every season of the year, but that
especially an immense space is covered with violets, which
fill the adjoining country with fragrance, so that the hunts-
men are unable to track the hares, as their dogs are
overcome by the smell. Through this chasm there is an
invisible subterranean passage, by which they say Pluto 20
carried ofl" Proserpine. In this place it is said that wheat
is found, resembling neither the native sorts, which people
use, nor other kinds that are imported, but possessed of
a great peculiarity. And this they use as an argument to 25
prove that the wheat-fruit appeared first among them-
selves ; whence also they lay claim to Demeter, affirming
that the goddess was born amongst them.
83 In Crete men say that there are no wolves, bears, and
vipers, and similarly no wild beasts like them, because
Zeus was born therein.
84 In the sea outside the Pillars of Hercules they say that 30
an island was discovered by the Carthaginians, desolate,
having wood of every kind, and navigable rivers, and
admirable for its fruits besides, but distant several days'
voyage from them. But, when the Carthaginians often 837*
came to this island because of its fertility, and some even
dwelt there, the magistrates of the Carthaginians gave
notice that they would punish with death those who should
sail to it, and destroyed all the inhabitants, lest they should 5
thus — o (fyaaiv elvai baKpvov anoKiOov^iivov | Biavyfs, alyeipcov aTroora-
XayfjLo. Ti.
^ The Laurentian MS. has ewav : vulgo anur). Instead oinepl r. k. 'e.
Weise reads rfj KoXovuhrj Airvij. So Beckm. Cf. Sil. Ital. xiv. 238 sqq.
837^ DE MIRABILIBUS
spread a report about it, or a large number might gather
together to the island in their time,^ get possession of the
authority, and destroy the prosperity of the Carthaginians.
From Italy as far as the country of the Celts, Celto- 85
ligurians, and Iberians, they say there is a certain road,
10 called the * road of Heracles ', by which whether a Greek
or a native travels, he is watched by the neighbouring
tribes, so that he may receive no injury ; for those amongst
whom the injury has been done must pay the penalty.
They say that among the Celts there is a poison called 86
by them 'arrow-poison', which they assert produces cor-
ruption so quickly that the Celtic huntsmen, when they
15 have shot a stag, or any other animal, run up to it in haste,
and cut out the wounded part of the flesh, before the
poison spreads, as well for the sake of the food as to
prevent the animal from putrefying. They say, however,
that the bark of the oak was found to be an antidote for
this; but others maintain that the antidote is something
20 different, a leaf, which they call ravenswort,^ because a
raven, which had tasted the poison, and become sick, was
observed by them to hasten for this leaf, and, after devouring
it, to be delivered from its pain.
In Iberia they say that, when the coppices were set on 87
25 fire by certain shepherds, and the earth was heated by the
wood, the country visibly flowed with silver ; and when,
after some time, earthquakes succeeded, and the ground in
different places burst asunder, a large quantity of silver was
collected, which brought in no ordinary revenue to the
Massilians.
30 In the islands called Gymnesiae,^ that lie off the coast 88
of Iberia, which they assert to be the largest, after the so-
called seven * islands, they say that oil is not produced
from olives, but from the turpentine-tree in very large
quantities, and adapted for every purpose. Moreover they
affirm that the Iberians, who inhabit those islands, are so
35 fond of women that they give to the merchants four or
five males in exchange for one female. When they receive
^ Reading eV alroov. ^ Hawkweed. ^ Balearic.
* i. e. Sardinia, Sicily, Cyprus, Crete, Euboea, Corsica, and Lesbos.
Timaeus op. Strabo, xiv. p. 967.
AUSCULTATIONIBUS 84-93 ^37*
their pay, while serving with the Carthaginians, they pur-
chase, it seems, nothing else but women ; for no man
amongst them is allowed to have gold or silver. But as
a reason for their forbidding the introduction of money, 5
some such statement as this is added, that Heracles made
his expedition against Iberia for the sake of the riches of
the inhabitants.
89 In the country of the Massilians, on the borders of
Liguria, they say there is a certain lake, and that this
boils up and overflows, and casts out so great a quantity 10
of fish as to surpass belief. But whenever the monsoons
blow the soil is heaped up upon it (such dust arises there),
and its surface becomes solid like the ground, and the
natives, piercing it with tridents,^ easily take out of it as 15
much fish as they please.
90 It is said that some of the Ligurians sling so skilfully
that, when they see several birds, they contend with one
another about which bird each is preparing to strike, pre-
suming that all will easily hit their mark.
91 They say that there is also this peculiarity amongst them : 20
the women bring forth whilst engaged in work, and after
washing the child with water, they immediately dig and
hoe, and attend to their other household duties, which they
were obliged to perform before the time of their delivery.
92 This is also a marvel among the Ligurians : they say 35
that there is a river ^ in their country whose stream is lifted
up on high and flows along so that those on the other side
cannot be seen.
93 In Etruria there is said to be a certain island named
Aethaleia, in which out of a certain mine in former days
copper was dug, from which they say that all the copper
vessels amongst them have been wrought ; that afterwards 30
it could no longer be found : but, when a long interval of
time had elapsed, from the same mine iron was produced,
which the Etrurians, who inhabit the town called Popu-
lonium, use to the present day.
* A three-pronged fishing-spear, called in Scotland a leister.
2 Arno. Cf. Strab. v. 340.
837* DE MIRABILIBUS
Now in Etruria there is a certain city called Oenarea,^ 94
which they say is exceedingly strong ; for in the midst of
35 it there is a lofty hill, rising upwards to the height of thirty
stadia, and having at its foot wood of all sorts, and waters.
838* They say, therefore, that the inhabitants, fearing lest some
one should become despot, set over themselves those of their
slaves who had been manumitted, and these have dominion
over them ; but every year they appoint others of the
same class in their stead.
5 At Cumae in Italy there is shown, it appears, a sub- 95
terranean bed-chamber of the prophetic Sibyl, who, they
say, was of a very great age, and had always remained
a virgin, being a native of Erythrae, but by some of the
10 inhabitants of Italy called a native of Cumae, and by some
named Melancraera.^ It is said that this place is under the
sway of the Lucanians. They state moreover that in those
parts about Cumae there is a certain river called Cetus,^ and
they say that whatever is thrown into this is after a con-
siderable time first coated over, and finally turns into stone.
15 Men say that for Alcimenes, the Sybarite, a mantle was 96
prepared of such magnificence, that it was exhibited at
Lacinium during the festival of Hera, to which all the
Italians assemble, and that it was admired more than all
the things that were shown there. Of this they say that
20 Dionysius the Elder obtained possession, and sold it to
the Carthaginians for one hundred and twenty talents. It
was of purple, fifteen cubits in width, and w^as adorned on
either side with little figures inwoven, above with Susa,
35 below with Persians ; in the middle were Zeus, Hera, Themis,
Athene, Apollo, and Aphrodite. Near each extremity was
Alcimenes, and on both sides Sybaris.
In the neighbourhood of the lapygian promontory, from 97
a certain place in which, as the legends relate, the fight of
30 Heracles with the giants took place, they say that ichor
^ Steph. Byzant., who has copied these words, gives Olva as the name
of the city. Victorius reads OvXareppa (=Volaterra). The description
in the text corresponds with Strabo's account of Volaterra, v. p. 154.
* Black-haired.
^ Cod. Vind. KaKennav (some MSS. MaKfrrnau). The correction was
made by a later hand. The Silarus seems meant, cp. Sil. Ital. viii. 582.
AUSCULTATIONIBUS 94-100 838*
flows in great abundance, and of such a nature that, owing
to the oppressiveness of the smell, the sea off that place is
innavigable. They state besides that in many parts of
Italy many memorials of Heracles still exist on the roads
by which he travelled. Near Pandosia in lapygia footprints
of the god are shown, on which no one must tread.
98 There is also in the neighbourhood of the lapygian
promontory a stone big enough to load a waggon, which 838^
they say was lifted up by him ^ and transferred to this
spot, and it was actually moved with one finger.
99 In the city of the Orchomenians in Boeotia they say that
a fox was seen, which, being pursued by a dog, entered 5
into a certain subterranean passage, and that the dog entered
along with her and, barking, produced a great noise, as
though he found a wide space about him ; but the hunts-
men, thinking there was something marvellous there, broke
open the entrance, and forced their way in as well: and
that, seeing the light coming in by certain holes, they had 10
a clear view of all that was in the cave, and went and
reported it to the magistrates.
100 In the island of Sardinia they say there are many
beautiful buildings constructed in the ancient Greek style,
and, amongst others, domes carved in remarkable pro- 15
portions. It is said that these were built by lolaus, son of
Iphicles, when he, having taken with him the Thespiadae,
the sons of Heracles, sailed to those parts with the intention
of settling there, considering that they belonged to him
through his relationship with Heracles, because Heracles 20
was lord, of all the western land. This island, as it appears,
was formerly called Ichnussa, because it was shaped in its
outline very similarly to a human footstep.^ It is stated to
have been previously fertile and productive ; for the legend
states that Aristaeus, whom they assert to have been most
skilful in agriculture among the ancients, ruled over these 25
parts, which were formerly occupied by many large birds.
At the present day, however, it is no longer fertile, because
when ruled by the Carthaginians it had all its fruits that
were useful for food destroyed, and death was fixed as the
' Sc. Heracles. ^ Gr. Ix^oS'
C 2
839^ DE MIRABILIBUS
clearer proofs of this, that they ^ did not sail out through
30 the Symplegades, citing the poet himself as a witness in
the case of those regions ; for (say they) he, pointing out
the gravity of the danger, states that it is impossible to sail
past the place ^ —
Planks of ships and bodies of men together are carried
By the waves of the sea and storms of fire destructive.
840* As regards the ' Dark Rocks ' indeed it is not said that
they send forth fire ; but it happens near the strait which
divides Sicily from Italy, as the eruptions of fire are found
on both sides ; while not only is the island continually
5 burning, but also the stream of lava round Etna often
spreads over the country.
In Tarentum they say that at certain times people offer 106
sacrifices to the shades of the Atridae, Tydidae, Aeacidae,
and Laertiadae, and besides that they celebrate a sacrifice
separately to the Agamemnonidae on another special day,
10 on which it is unlawful for the women to taste the victims
offered to those heroes. There is also amongst them
a temple of Achilles. Now it is said that after the
Tarentines had taken it, the place which they at present
inhabit was called Heraclea ; but in the early times, when
the lonians were in possession, it was named Pleum ^
15 and at a still earlier date it was called Sigeum by the
Trojans, who had gained possession of it.
Among the Sybarites Philoctetes is said to be honoured; 107
for that on his return from Troy he founded in the
Crotonian territory the town called Macalla,^ which they
say is one hundred and twenty stadia distant;^ and
historians relate that he dedicated the bow and arrows
20 of Heracles in the temple of Apollo the sea-god:^ but
from thence they say that the Crotonians, during their
dominion, took them, and dedicated them in the temple
of Apollo in their own city. Now it is said that having
died there * he lies by the river Sybaris, after he had given
^ sc. the Argonauts. ^ q^^ ^ii. 67. ^ Polieum ? conj. Sahnasius.
* Tzetzes on Lycophr. 927 states that Macalla contained the
sepulchre of Philoctetes, which received divine honours from the
people. No trace of the town remains. ^ i. e. from Croton.
^ Probably we should read 'AXai'ou, i. e. releasing from wanderings.
So Wesseling from Tzetzes on Lycophr. 911 Traucr^eW t^s aA?;s, 'AXai'ou
'ATrdAXcoj/os Upov kti^ci.
AUSCULTATIONIBUS 105-110 840*
help to the Rhodians, who along with Tlepolemus had been 25
carried out of their course to those parts, and had engaged
in battle with the barbarians who inhabited that country.
108 In that part of Italy which is called Gargaria, close to
Metapontium, they say there is a temple of Athene
Heilenia, where they state that the tools of Epeus were
dedicated, which he had prepared for the construction of 30
the wooden horse ; he having given this surname ; ^ for
Athene appeared to him in a dream and desired him to
dedicate the tools ; and he being therefore delayed in putt-
ing out to sea was cooped up^ in the place, unable to sail
out : whence the temple was called that of Athene Heilenia.
109 In the district which bears the name of Daunia, there 840^
is said to be a temple called that of the Achaean Athene,
in swhich bronze axes and the arms of Diomedes and his
companions are dedicated. In this place they state that 5
there are dogs which do no harm to such of the Greeks
as come there, but fawn upon them, as though they were
most familiar to them. Now all the Daunians and the
neighbouring tribes, both men and women, wear black
garments, apparently for the following reason — because it
is said that the Trojan women, who had been taken 10
captives, and had come to those parts, fearing that they
might experience hard slavery at the hands of the women
who already belonged to the Achaeans in their native
land, set fire to their ships, in order that they might
escape from the expected slavery, and at the same time,
that they, being united in wedlock with those men, now 15
compelled to stay, might have them for their husbands.
The poet has also very admirably described them ; ^ for
one may see those women likewise, it seems, * robe-
trailing ' and ' deep-bosomed \
no In the country of the Peucetians * they say there is 20
a temple of Artemis, in which, they state, is dedicated
the bronze necklace celebrated in those parts, with the
inscription — ' Diomede to Artemis '. Now the legend re-
^ sc. to the goddess.
^ Gr. elXeladai.
^ II. vi. 442, vii. 297, xiv. 105, xviii. 122.
* rieuKej/rivot? S*. The Peucetii were a people of Apulia.
840^ DE MIRABILIBUS
lates that he put it round the neck of a stag, and that
it ^ adhered there ; and in this way having been afterwards
found by Agathocles, king of the Sicilians, it was, they
affirm, dedicated in the temple of Zeus. ^
25 On the promontory of Sicily, called the promontory of iii
Pelorus, it is stated that so much saffron grows that, while
by some of the Greeks dwelling in those parts it is not
known what a valuable flower it is, on the promontory of
30 Pelorus all who wish bring home large waggon loads of it, and
in the spring-time strew their beds and stages ^ with saffron.
Polycritus, who has written the history of Sicily in verse, 112
states that in a certain part of the interior there is a little
lake, with a circumference about that of a shield, and this
35 contains water transparent indeed, but somewhat turbid.
841^ Now if any one enters this, intending to wash himself,
it increases in breadth ; but if a second person * enters, it
grows wider still ; and finally, having grown larger, it
becomes wide enough for the reception of even fifty men.
5 But whenever it has received this number, swelling up again
from the bottom it casts the bodies of the bathers high
in the air and out on the ground ; but, as soon as this has
occurred, it returns once more to the original form of its
circumference. And not only in the case of men does this
occur with regard to it, but also, if a quadruped enters,
it experiences the same result.
10 In the dominion of the Carthaginians ^ they say there is II3
a mountain which is called Uranion,^ full of all kinds of
wood and variegated with many flowers, so that the con-
tiguous places over a wide extent partaking of its fragrance
waft to the travellers a most agreeable odour. Near this
15 spot they say that there is a spring of oil, and that it has
a smell like that of cedar sawdust. But they say that the
person who approaches it must be chaste, and, if this is
^ sc. the necklace. ^ We should probably read rrjs Beov.
^ This is difficult. Natalis renders ' cum . . . et thoros et umbracula
faciant ex croco ' : so Montesaurus — * lectulos tentoriave sibi ex eo croco
praeparant *. Schnitzer — inachen sie ihre Matratzen u. Zeltdecken aus
Safra7i. But probably A. means that they strew their couches and
stages with the flowers of saffron, instead of the mere essence. Cf.
Lucret. ii. 416 ; Ovid, A. A. \. 104.
* Sylburg conj. bevr^pos for MS. devrepop. ^ i.e. in Sicily.
^ i. e. heavenly. Beckm. reads Fcopiov, Cod. Vind. Ovviov.
AUSCULTATIONIBUS 110-118 841*
the case, it spouts up the oil in greater abundance, so that
it can be safely drawn.
114 Men say that near this spring also there is a natural rock 20
of great size. Now they say that when summer is come
it sends up a flame of fire, but when winter arrives, from
the same place it sends gushing up a stream of water so
cold that, when compared with snow, it does not dififer
from it. And this, they declare, is not a secret occurrence,
nor does it appear for only a short time ; but it sends forth 25
the fire throughout the whole summer, and the water
throughout the whole winter.
115 It is reported that in that part of Thrace which is called
the country of the Sinti and Maedi, there is a certain river
named Pontus, in which are carried down certain stones 30
which burn, and are of a nature opposed to that of charcoal
from wood ; for while fanned they are quickly extinguished,
but when sprinkled with water they blaze up and kindle
better. Now, when they are burning, they have a smell 841^
similar to that of bitumen, so bad and pungent that no
creeping thing remains in the place while they are burning.
116 They say, moreover, that in their country there is a cer-
tain place, not very small, about twenty stadia in extent,
that bears barley, which the men indeed use ; but the horses
and oxen, or any other animal, will not eat it : nay, not 5
even does any pig or dog venture to taste the excrement
of men who after eating a cake or bread made from this
barley have voided it, as death results from it.
117 At Scotussae in Thessaly they say there is a little
fountain from which flows water of such a kind that in ic
a moment it heals wounds and bruises both of men and of
beasts of burden ; ^ and if any one throws wood into it, with-
out having quite broken it, but having merely split it, this
unites, and is restored again to its original state.
118 In Thrace above Amphipolis they say that a thing 15
happens, which is wonderful and incredible to those who
have not seen it ; for the boys, going forth from the villages
and neighbouring districts to catch little birds, take the
, ^ Theopompus ap. Plin. xxxi. 2 makes the same statement, as also
Sotion, de Fhwi. p. 124, on the authority of Isigonus. Cf. Antigonus
Car. p. 157.
841^ DE MIRABILIBUS
hawks to help in catching them, and they do so in this
20 manner : — When they have advanced to a suitable spot they
call the hawks by name with a loud cry ; and, when they
hear the boys' voice, they come and frighten away the birds ;
these in terror of them take refuge in the bushes, where the
boys strike them down with sticks and capture them. But
25 what one would be most of all surprised at is this — whenever
the hawks themselves have seized any of the birds, they throw
them down to the bird-catchers, while the boys return home,
after giving some portion of all their booty to the hawks.
Another marvel also they say occurs among the Heneti : ^ 119
30 that countless myriads of jackdaws are frequently borne
to their country, and eat up the corn when the people
have sown it. To them the Heneti offer gifts, before the
842^ birds are about to fly to the borders of the land, throwing
before them seeds of all kinds of fruits. Now if the jack-
daws taste these they do not come over into their country,
and the Heneti know that they will be in peace ; but, if
they do not taste them, the people thereupon expect an
attack to be made upon them by their enemies.
5 In the Thracian Chalcidice,^ near Olynthus, they say I20
there is a place called Cantharolethros,^ a little larger in
size than a threshing-floor ; and that when any other living
creature reaches the spot it departs again ; but none of
10 the beetles that come there do so ; but they going round
and round the place die from hunger.
Among the Thracian Cyclopes there is a little spring 121
containing water, which in appearance indeed is pure,
transparent, and like all others ; but, when an animal drinks
of it, straightway it perishes.
15 Men say that in Crastonia, near the country of the 122
Bisaltae, the hares that are captured have two livers ; and
that there is a certain place, about a rood in extent, into
which whatever animal Renters dies. There is in the
same place, besides, a temple of Dionysus, large and
20 beautiful, in which, when the festival and sacrifice take
^ i.e. Venetians. "^ Beckm. reads Chalcis.
^ i. e. Beetles' death.
AUSCULTATIONIBUS 1 18-127 842*
place, it is said that a great blaze of fire is seen when
the god is going to produce a good season, and that
all those who are assembled round the sacred enclosure
see it ; when, however, he intends to cause unfruitfulness,
this light is not seen, but darkness extends over the place,
as during the other nights.
123 In Elis they relate that there is a certain building about 25
eight furlongs distant from the city, in which, at the festival
of Dionysus, they place three empty copper caldrons.
Having done this, they request any of the Greeks staying
in the city, who wishes, to examine the vessels, and to seal
the doors of the house : then, when they are about to open 30
them, they point out the seals to the citizens and strangers
first of all, before they do so. They on entering find the
caldrons indeed full of wine, but the floor and the walls
uninjured, so that it is impossible to entertain a suspicion
that they accomplish this by some trick. Moreover, they say
that amongst the same people there are kites, which snatch 35
the meat from those who carry it through the market- 842**
place, but do not touch the flesh of the sacred victims.
124 It is said that at Coronea in Boeotia the animals called 5
moles cannot live, or dig up the ground, w^hile the rest of
Boeotia possesses a large number of them.
125 ^t Lusi ^ in Arcadia men say there is a certain spring in
which field-mice are found and swim, passing their lives in
it. The same thing is said to occur likewise at Lampsacus.
126 At Crannon in Thessaly they say there are only two 10
crows ^ in the city. When these have hatched their young,
they depart from the place, as it appears, but leave behind
as many others of their ofl"spring.
127 In Apollonia, which lies near to the country of the 15
Taulantii,^ they say there is bitumen obtained by digging,
and pitch springing up from the earth, in the same manner
^ Aova-ois Sylb. : MSS. KoKovarois. Antigonus, 152, on the authority
of Theopompus, makes the same statement with regard to Lusi. So
Plin. xxxi. 2. 2 Qf ^^ J 27^
^ Conj. Brodaeus instead of MS. 'ArXarnKwi/. Holsten. conj.
'ATivrdvoiv. Apelt reads 'ArXai^Tivoiv. Cf. c. 22. 36. TavXavripcov conj.
Bussemaker. Codex Vindobon. ^AdirXarivaiv. (The point beneath rr
implies that it is spurious.)
842^ DE MIRABILIBUS
as springs of water, in no respect differing from that of
Macedonia, but that it is naturally blacker and thicker
than that. And not far from this place there is a fire
20 burning at all times, as those who dwell in the neighbour-
hood assert. The burning place, it appears, is not large,
but about the size of the space occupied by five couches.
This spot smells of sulphur and alum,^ and thick grass
grows around, at which one would be most surprised, and
25 also large trees, not four cubits distant from the fire.
Moreover, a fire burns constantly in Lycia and near
Megalopolis in Peloponnesus.
It is said also that among the Illyrians the cattle bring 128
forth young twice in the year, and that most of them have
twins, and that many goats bring forth three or four kids
30 at a time, and some even five or more ; and, besides, that
they readily yield nine pints of milk. They say too that
the hens do not lay merely once, as among other nations,
but twice or thrice in the day.
It is said that the wild oxen in Paeonia are far larger 129
than those that are found in other nations, and that their
35 horns contain twenty-four pints, and those of some of them
even more.
843^ Concerning the Sicilian Strait, apart from what many 130
other writers have written, this author ^ states that a por-
tentous occurrence takes place : the billows, he says, being
carried with a loud whistling sound from the Tyrrhenian
6 Sea, dash against both the promontories, that of Sicily and
that of Italy, which is called Rhegium, and being borne
from a great sea are shut up in a narrow space ; and when
this occurs they raise the waves with a loud roar in mid-
air to a very great height, as they dash upwards, so that
10 the rising of the waters is visible to those who are far
away, not resembling the rising of the sea, but white and
foaming, and similar to the sweeping movements which
take place in excessively violent storms : and that some-
times the waves meet each other on both the promontories
^ Or vitriol. ''■ Polycritus probably. Cf. c. 112. Sylburg
thinks that these two chapters should be connected together.
AUSCULTATIONIBUS 127-132 843^
and produce a collision ^ incredible in description, and unen- 15
• durable for the eyes to behold ; but at other times parting,
after dashing against each other, they show an abyss,^ so
deep and horrible to those who are compelled to look on,
that many are unable to restrain themselves, and fall,
blinded with terror. But when the waves, after dashing 20
on either of the two places and being carried to the tops
of the promontories, have descended again into the sea
flowing beneath, then again with loud bellowing and great
and swift eddies the sea boils up, and is lifted on high from
the depths in confusion, and assumes alternately all kinds 25
of hues, for it appears at one time dark, at another blue,
and oftentimes of a purplish colour : but no creeping thing
can endure either to hear or to see the quick rush and
length of this sea, and besides these its ebb, but all flee to
the low-lying skirts of the mountains ; but, when the heaving 30
of the billows ceases, the eddies are borne on high, making
such various twistings that they seem to produce movements
resembling the coils of presteres,^ or some other large snakes.
131 Men say that, while the Athenians were building the 843^
temple of Demeter at Eleusis, a brazen pillar was found
surrounded with rocks, on which had been inscribed —
'This is the tomb of Deiope', whom some state to have
been the wife of Musaeus, others the mother of Triptolemus. 5
132 In one of the islands, called the islands of Aeolus, they
say that a large number of palm-trees grow, whence it is
also called ' Palm-island ' ; therefore that could not be true
which is asserted by Callisthenes, that the tree* received
its name from the Phoenicians, who inhabited the sea-coast 10
. of Syria. But some state that the Phoenicians themselves
received this name from the Greeks, because they, first of
all sailing over the sea, slew and murdered all, wherever they
landed. And moreover in the language of the Perrhaebians
the verb * phoenixai ' means * to stain with blood '.^
^ The Laurentian MS. reads crvyKkeia-fiov : so Beckm. The Cod. Vind.
has (Tvy<\vaix6i/. ^ lit. make the prospect.
^ 7rpr]aTr]p(ov. The bite of these snakes caused the victim to swell
{7rpr,6(o), and produced burning thirst. Cf. Lucan ix. 791 ' torridus
prester'. Cf. Diosc. ed. Spengel, II. 71. 675. Lenz, Zoo/, d. Gr. u.
Rom. 469. ■* i. e. phoenix.
° Nicander Alex. 187 has (j)oiv6s = (f)6vos. Cf. (Jiovevw.
843^ DE MIRABILIBUS
15 In what is called the Aeniac district, in the neighbour- 133
hood of the city named Hypate,^ an old pillar is said to
have been discovered ; and the Aenianians, wishing to
know to whom it belonged, as it had an inscription in
ancient characters, sent certain persons to take it to Athens.
But as they were proceeding through Boeotia, and were
20 communicating to some of their guest friends the object
of their journey, it is said that they were conducted into
the so-called Ismenium ^ at Thebes ; for there the meaning
of the inscription could be most easily discovered, they
said, adding that there were in that place some ancient
dedicatory offerings having the forms of the letters similar
to those of the one in question : whence they say that,
25 having found an explanation of the objects of their inquiry,
from what was already known to them, they copied down
the following lines : —
I Heracles offered the grove to the beaming goddess
Cythera,
When I had Geryon's herds, and Erytheia for spoil ;
For with desire for her the goddess had vanquished
my heart.
30 But here my wife Erythe brings forth Erython as her
offspring,
Nymph-born maid Erythe, to whom I yielded the plain,
Sacred memorial of love under the shade of the beech.
844^ With this inscription both that place corresponded, being
called Erythus, and also the fact that it was from thence,
and not from Erytheia, that he drove away the cows ; for
5 they say that nowhere either in the parts of Libya or
Iberia is the name of Erytheia to be found.
In the city called Utica in Libya, which is situated, as 134
they say, on the gulf between the promontory of Hermes ^
and that of Hippos, and about two hundred furlongs
10 beyond Carthage (now Utica also is said to have been
founded by Phoenicians two hundred and eighty-seven
years before Carthage itself, as is recorded in the Phoeni-
cian histories), men state that salt is obtained by digging
^ In Thessaly. "^ i. e. temple of Ismenian Apollo.
^ Utica lay between the Hermaeum Promontorium, mod. Ras el
Kanais, and the promontory of Apollo, mod. Ras Sidi Ali. Cf. Kiepert,
who identifies the latter with C. Bon, though others identify it with
C. Zibeeb, or C. Farina.
AUSCULTATIONIBUS 133-137 844*
at a depth of eighteen feet, in appearance white and not
solid, but resembling the most sticky gum ; and that when
brought into the sun it hardens, and becomes like Parian 15
marble; and they say that from it are carved figures of
animals, and utensils besides.
135 It is said that those of the Phoenicians who first sailed
to Tartessus,^ after importing to that place oil^ and other
small wares of maritime commerce, obtained for their
return cargo so great a quantity of silver, that they were 20
no longer able to keep or receive it, but were forced, when
sailing away from those parts, to make of silver not only
all the other articles which they used, but also all their
anchors.
135 They say that the Phoenicians who inhabit the city
called Gades, when they sail outside the Pillars of Heracles 25
under an easterly wind for four days, arrive at certain
desolate places, full of rushes and seaweed, and that these
places are not covered with water, whenever there is an
ebb, but, whenever there is a flood, they are overflowed,
and in these there is found an exceeding great number of 30
tunnies, of a size and thickness surpassing belief, when
they are stranded. These they salt, pack up in vessels,
and convey to Carthage. They are the only fish which
the Carthaginians do not export ; on account of their
excellence for food, they consume them themselves.
137 In the district of Pedasa in Caria a sacrifice is celebrated 35
in honour of Zeus, at which they send in the procession 844^
a she-goat, with regard to which they say that a marvellous
thing occurs ; for while it proceeds from Pedasa a distance
of seventy furlongs, through a dense crowd of people
looking on, it is neither disturbed in its progress, nor is
turned out of the way, but, being tied with a rope, advances 5
before the man who holds the priesthood.
[And they say that its horns contain twenty- four pints,
and in some cases even more.] What is wonderful is that
two crows stay continually about the temple of Zeus, while
^ A Phoenician settlement, probably the Tarshish of Scripture.
It has been identified with the city of Carteia on Mt. Calpe, mod.
Gibraltar.
844^ DE MIRABILIBUS
no other approaches the spot, and that one of them has
the front part of its neck white.
In the country of those Illyrians who are called Ardiaei, 138
10 near the boundaries separating them from the Antariates,
they say there is a great mountain, and near this a valley,
from which water springs up, not at every season, but
during the spring, in great abundance ; which the people
take, and keep during the day indeed in a cellar, but
15 during the night they set it in the open air. And, after
they have done this for five or six days, the water congeals,
and becomes the most excellent salt, which they preserve
especially for the sake of the cattle : for salt is not imported
to them, because they live at a distance from the sea, and
have no intercourse with others. They have therefore
20 most need of it for their cattle ; for they supply them with
salt twice in the year ; but if they fail to do this, the result
is that most of their cattle perish.
In Argos they say there is a species of locust which 139
35 is called the scorpion-fighter ; ^ for, as soon as it sees
a scorpion, it attacks him, and likewise the scorpion attacks
it. It chirps as it goes round him in a circle. The other,
they say, raises his sting, and turns it round against his
adversary in the same spot; then he gradually lets his sting
drop, and at last stretches himself out altogether on the
ground, while the locust runs round him. At last the locust
30 approaches and devours him. They say that it is good
to eat the locust as an antidote against the scorpion's sting.
They say that the wasps in Naxos, when they have 140
tasted the flesh of the viper (and its flesh, as it appears,
is agreeable to them), and when they have afterwards
stung any one, inflict so much pain, that their sting seems
more dangerous than that of the vipers.
845* They say that the Scythian poison, in which that people 141
dips its arrows, is procured from the viper. The Scythians,
it would appear, watch those that are just bringing forth
young, and take them, and allow them to putrefy for
some days. But when the whole mass appears to them
^ Similar to this was the locust called 6(f>iofxaxos. That in the text
may be the wingless locust called daipaKos or ovos by Dioscor. ii. 57,
who says that the Libyans at Leptis eat them greedily.
AUSCULTATIONIBUS 137-146 845^
to have become sufficiently rotten, they pour human blood 5
into a little pot, and, after covering it with a lid, bury it
in a dung-hill. And when this likewise has putrefied, they
mix that which settles on the top,^ which is of a watery
nature, with the corrupted blood of the viper, and thus
make it a deadly poison.
142 At Curium^ in Cyprus they say there is a species of 10
snake, which has similar power to that of the asp in
Egypt, except that, if it bites in the winter, it produces no
effect, whether from some other reason, or because when
congealed with cold the reptile loses its power of move-
ment, and becomes completely powerless, unless it be
warmed.
143 In Ceos they say there is a species of wild pear ^ of such 15
a kind that, if any one be wounded by its thorn, he dies.
144 In Mysia they say tliere is a white species of bears,
which, when they are hunted, emit a breath of such a kind
as to rot the flesh of the dogs, and likewise of other wild
beasts, and render them unfit for food. But, if any one 20
approaches them with violence, they discharge, it appears,
from the mouth a very great quantity of phlegm, which
the animal blows upon the faces of the dogs, and of the
men as well, so as to choke and blind them.
145 In Arabia they say there is a certain kind of hyaena,
which, when it sees some wild beast, before being itself 25
seen, or steps on the shadow of a man, produces speech-
lessness, and fixes them to the spot in such a way that
they cannot move their body ; and it is said that they
do this in the case of dogs also.
146 In Syria they say there is an animal, which is called
the lion-killer ; for the lion, it seems, dies, whenever he
eats any of it. He does not indeed do this willingly, but 30
rather flees from the animal ; but when the hunters, having
caught and roasted it, sprinkle it, like white meal, over
some other animal, they say that the lion, after tasting
it, dies on the spot. This animal injures the lion even
by making water upon it.
* Bonitz conj. €</)to-Ta/iei/oi'. * Cf. c. 43.
,^ The Schol. on Theocr. 24. 88 explains the word as aKavOatdis 4>vt6v
f^ov ras alixncrias noiovai, ^yovv t) ajrios fj dyp'ia.
AR. M. A. D
846^ DE MIRABILIBUS
the summits of the so-called Black Mountains, but turn
back when they have pursued them as far as these.
In the river Phasis it is related that a rod called the 158
30 ' White-leaved ' grows, which jealous husbands pluck, and
throw round the bridal-bed,^ and thus preserve their
marriage unadulterated.
In the Tigris they say there is a stone found, called in 159
the barbarian language Modon, with a very white colour,
and that, if any one possesses this, he is not harmed by
wild beasts.
35 In the Scamander they say a plant grows, called Sistros,^ 160
resembling chick-pea, and that it has seeds that shake,
from which fact it has obtained its name : those who
possess it (so it is said) fear neither demon nor spectre
of any kind.
In Libya there is a vine, which some people call mad, 161
^aQ^ that ripens some of its fruit, others it has like unripe grapes,
and others in blossom, and this during a short time.
On Mount Sipylus they say there is a stone like a 162
cylinder, which, when pious sons have found it, they place
5 in the sacred precincts of the Mother of the Gods, and
never err through impiety, but are always affectionate to
their parents.
On Mount Taygetus (it is said) there is a plant called 163
Charisia,^ which women in the beginning of spring fasten
round their necks, and are loved more passionately by their
husbands.
10 Othrys is a mountain of Thessaly, which produces 164
serpents that are called Sepes,* which have not a single
colour, but always resemble the place in which they live.
Some of them have a colour like that of land-snails, while
the scales of others are of a bright green ; but all of them
15 that dwell in the sands become like these in colour. When
they bite they produce thirst. Now their bite is not rough
and fiery, but malicious.
1 lit. maiden bed-chamber. ^ i. e. shaking-plant.
* i.e. love-plant. * i. e. putrefaction-serpents.
AUSCULTATIONIBUS 157-173 846^
165 When the dark-coloured adder copulates with the female,
the female during the copulation bites off the head of the
male ; therefore also her young ones, as though avenging 20
their father's death, burst through their mother's belly.
166 In the river Nile they say that a stone like a bean is
produced, and that, if dogs see it, they do not bark. It is
beneficial also to those who are possessed by some demon ;
for, as soon as it is applied to the nostrils, the demon 25
departs.
167 In the Maeander, a river of Asia, they say that a stone
is found, called by contradiction ' sound-minded ' ; for if
one throws it into any one's bosom he becomes mad, and
kills some one of his relations.
168 The rivers Rhine and Danube flow towards the north,
one passing the Germans, the other the Paeonians. In the 30
summer they have a navigable stream, but in the winter
they are congealed from the cold, and form a plain over
which men ride.
169 Near the city of Thurium they say there are two rivers,
the Sybaris and the Crathis. Now the Sybaris causes the
horses that drink of it to be timorous, while the Crathis 35
makes men yellow-haired when they bathe in it.
170 In Euboea there are said to be two rivers ; the sheep
that drink from one of them become white ; it is called
Cerbes : the other is the Neleus, which makes them black.
171 Near the river Lycormas ^ it is said that a plant ^ grows, 847*
which is like a lance, and is most beneficial in the case of
dim sight.
172 They say that the fountain of Arethusa at Syracuse
in Sicily is set in motion every five years.
173 On Mount Berecynthius ^ it is said that a stone is pro- 5
duced called 'the Sword', and if any one finds it, while
the mysteries of Hecate are being celebrated, he becomes
mad, as Eudoxus affirms.
^ A river of Aetolia, Plut. de Fluv. 8.
^ It was called o-dpicra-n from its shape.
^ In Phrygia, sacred to Cybele. It is elsewhere written BepeKVPTos.
\
847^ DE MIRABILIBUS AUSCULTATIONIBUS
On Mount Tmolus ^ it is said that a stone is produced 174
like pumice-stone, which changes its colour four times
10 in the day ; and that it is only seen by maidens who
have not yet attained to years of discretion.
847^ On the altar of the Orthosian 2 Artemis it is said that 175
a golden bull stands, which bellows when hunters enter
the temple.
Among the Aetolians it is said that moles see, but only 176
dimly, and do not feed on the earth, but on locusts.
5 They say that elephants are pregnant during the space 177
of two years, while others say during eighteen months ;
and that in bringing forth they suffer hard labour.
They say that Demaratus, the pupil of the Locrian 178
Timaeus, having fallen sick, was dumb for ten days ; but
on the eleventh, having slowly come to his senses after
his delirium, he declared that during that time he had
10 lived most agreeably.
^ A mountain of Lydia, mod. Boz-dagh, from which the Pactolus
rises.
^ She was also called Orthia, from Mt. Orthium or Orthosium in
Arcadia. Cf. Hesych. 'Opdia, Aprefxis, ovT(iis etprjrai CLTTO Tov iv ^hpKabia
X<*>piov, evOa Upbv ^Aprefxidos tdpvTat.
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