[206] Cyprinus Phoxinus.
3. The same thing also occurs in the malacia; for the male sepia sprinkles the ova of the female as they are deposited; and it is reasonable to suppose that the other malacia do the same, although it has only been observed in the sepia. They produce their ova near the land, the cobii deposit them upon stones, and that which they produce is flat and sand-like. The rest do the same, for the parts near the land are warmer, and provision is more abundant, and there is better protection for their young against larger fish, for which cause very great numbers deposit their ova near the river Thermodon, in the Pontus, for the place is sheltered and warm, and the water is sweet.
4. The majority of viviparous fish reproduce once in a-year, except the small phycides,[207] which reproduce twice a-year. The male phyces differs from the female, being darker-coloured and having larger scales. All other fish produce from seed, and emit ova; but that which is called the belone, at the season of reproduction bursts asunder, and in this way the ova escape; for this fish has a division beneath the stomach and bowels, like the serpents called typhlinæ.[208] When it has produced its ova, it survives, and the wound heals up again.
[207] Mugil. Some species of mullet.
[208] Lacerta apus.
5. The development of the ovum is alike, both in those that are internally and those that are externally oviparous. For it takes place at the extremity of the ovum, and it is enclosed in a membrane.
The eyes are the first part that is conspicuous; they are large and spherical; so that it is plain that they are mistaken who say that the mode of development resembles that of vermiform creatures, for in them the order is different, and the lower parts are formed first, and afterwards the head and eyes. When the ovum is taken away, they assume a circular form, and for some time continue to grow without taking in any food, by absorbing the moisture of the ovum. They afterwards derive their nutriment, as long as they continue growing, from the water of the river.
6. When the Pontus is cleansed, something is floated out into the Hellespont which is called fucus. It is of a yellow colour. Some say that it is naturally a plant. This takes place at the beginning of summer. The oysters and small fish which live in these places feed upon this fucus; and some maritime persons say that they obtain their purple from this plant.
CHAPTER XIII.
1. The pond and river fish begin to reproduce usually when five months old. They all produce their ova at the beginning of summer. Like the marine fish, the females of these kinds never emit all their ova, nor the males all their semen, at once; but both sexes are always found to contain a portion of the reproductive substance; they produce their ova at the proper season. The cyprinus five or six times a-year, and especially under the influence of the stars. The chalcis reproduces three times, all the rest but once a-year.
2. They deposit their ova in the stagnant parts of rivers and ponds among the reeds, as the phoxinus and perca. The glanis and the perca produce their ova in strings, like the frog. That which the perca produces is so involved that, on account of its breadth, the fishermen collect it together from among the reeds in ponds. The larger individuals of the glanis produce their ova in deep water, some where it is a fathom deep; but the smaller ones in shallow water, and especially at the root of the willow or some other tree, and among the reeds and mosses.
3. The fish fold themselves together, sometimes a large one with a small one, and approximate the passages, which some call their navel, from which they eject their respective seminal matter, the females their ova, and the males their spermatic fluid. Those ova with which the semen of the male has been mixed immediately or in the course of a day become whiter and larger, and in a short time the eyes of the fish make their appearance; for in all fish, as in other animals, this part is most conspicuous, and appears the largest. But, if the seminal fluid does not touch any of the ova, as in the case of sea-fish, these become useless and barren.
4. From the fertile ova, as the fish increase in size, something like a shell is separated; this is the membrane which envelopes the ovum and the embryo fish. As soon as the seminal fluid is mixed with the ova a glutinous matter is formed, which fastens them to the roots or other substance on which they are deposited. The male watches over the place where the greatest number of ova are deposited, and the female departs as soon as she has spawned. The development of the ovum of the glanis proceeds the most slowly, for the male remains by them for forty or fifty days, in order that they may not be devoured by fish chancing to come that way.
5. Next to this is the cyprinus. The ova, however, of these which are preserved escape very quickly. The development in some of the small fish takes place on the third day, and the ova upon which the seminal fluid has fallen begin to increase on the same day, or shortly afterwards. The ova of the glanis become as large as the seed of the orobus. Those of the cyprinus and that class, about the size of millet.
The ova of these fish are produced and developed in this manner.
6. The chalcis assembles in great numbers to deposit its ova in deep water. The fish which is called tilon deposits its ova near the shore, in sheltered places; this fish also is gregarious. The cyprinus, balerus, and all others, so to say, hasten into shallow water to deposit their ova, and thirteen or fourteen males often follow a single female, and when the female has deposited her ova and departed, the males that follow her sprinkle their semen upon them. The majority of the ova are lost, for the female scatters them abroad as she is moving forward, unless they fall upon any substance, and are not carried away by the stream. None of them, except the glanis, watch their ova, unless the cyprinus meets with them in great numbers, when, they say, that this fish watches them.
7. All the male fish have semen, except the eel, and this one has neither semen nor ova. The cestreus migrates from the sea into lakes and rivers; the eel, on the contrary, leaves them for the sea. Most fish, therefore, as I observed, proceed from ova.
CHAPTER XIV.
1. Some originate in mud and sand: even of those kinds which originate in sexual intercourse and ova, some, they say, have appeared both in other marshy places and in those which once surrounded Cnidus, which became dry under the influence of the dog-star, and all the mud was parched up, but with the first rains the waters returned, and small fish appeared with the return of the waters. This was a kind of cestreus, which originates in coition, about the size of small mænidia,[209] but they had neither ova nor semen. In the Asiatic rivers, which do not flow into the sea, other small fish, of the size of epseti,[210] are produced in the same manner. Some persons say that the cestreus is always produced in this manner, but in this they are mistaken, for both the females are known to have ova and the males semen. But there is some one kind of them which originates in mud and sand.
[209] Sardine.
[210] Atherine epsetos.
2. It is evident from the following considerations that some of them are of spontaneous growth, and do not originate either in ova or semen.
Those which are neither oviparous nor viviparous are all produced either from mud or sand, or from the putrid matter on the surface, as also the foam in sandy places produces the aphya.[211] This aphya never increases in size, and is barren, and as time advances it perishes, and another fry is formed. Wherefore it may be said to be reproduced at every season, except for a short time; for it continues from the autumn arcturus to the spring. This is a proof that it sometimes originates in the soil, for it is not captured by fishermen in cold weather, but on a fine day it may be taken as it comes up from the ground for the sake of the warmth. When they have dragged the ground and scraped up the surface, the fish are more numerous and better. The other aphyæ are inferior, on account of their rapid growth.
[211] Melanurus juvenculus.
3. They are found in shady and marshy places, when the earth becomes warm in fine weather, as near the temple of Athene in Salamis, and near the tomb of Themistocles, and near Marathon, for foam is formed in all these places. It makes its appearance in such places, and in fine weather: it appears also at times in seasons of much rain, and when foam is formed of rain water, wherefore also it is called aphrus; and sometimes it is found on the surface of the sea, in fine weather, where it is whirled about, and, like the little maggots in dung, so this is found in the foam which floats on the surface; wherefore also this aphya is carried by the sea in many directions, and it abounds and is captured in the greatest abundance when the season is moist and warm.
4. There is another aphya derived from fish, for that which is called cobitis is derived from small and inferior gobii, which bury themselves in the earth. The membrades are produced from the phalerica.
The trichides come from these, and the trichiæ from the trichides; from one kind of aphya, which inhabits the port of Athens, the encrasicoli are derived. There is another kind of aphya which originates in the mœnis and cestreus, but the barren aphrus is very soft, and endures only for a short time, as I said before, and at last nothing is left but the head and eyes. The fishermen, however, have now found a mode of conveying it from place to place, for it lasts longer when salted.
CHAPTER XV.
1. Eels are not produced from sexual intercourse, nor are they oviparous, nor have they ever been detected with semen or ova, nor when dissected do they appear to possess either seminal or uterine viscera; and this is the only kind of sanguineous animal which does not originate either in sexual intercourse or in ova. It is, however, manifest that this is the case, for, after rain, they have been reproduced in some marshy ponds, from which all the water was drawn and the mud cleaned out; but they are never produced in dry places nor in ponds that are always full, for they live upon and are nourished by rain water. It is plain, therefore, that they are not produced either from sexual intercourse or from ova. Some persons have thought that they were productive, because some eels have parasitical worms, and they thought that these became eels.
2. This, however, is not the case, but they originate in what are called the entrails of the earth, which are found spontaneously in mud and moist earth. They have been observed making their escape from them, and others have been found in them when cut up and dissected.
These originate both in the sea and in rivers wherein putrid matter is abundant; in those places in the sea which are full of fuci, and near the banks of rivers and ponds, for in these places the heat causes much putridity. This is the mode of generation in eels.
CHAPTER XVI.
1. The reproductive function is not active in all fish at the same time or the same manner, nor are they pregnant during the same length of time. Before the season of sexual intercourse the males and females begin to assemble, and at the period of intercourse and the production of their ova they pair together. Some of them do not remain pregnant more than thirty days, and others not so long; but all of them remain so for a number of days, which can be distributed into seven. Those which some persons call marini remain pregnant for the longest period.
The sargus becomes pregnant in the month of December, and remains so for thirty days. The kind of cestreus which some persons call the chelon and the myxon are pregnant at the same time as the sargus. All these suffer in their pregnancy, wherefore they are driven to the shore at this season; for in the vehemence of their desire they are carried towards the land, and always continue in motion during this period till they have produced their ova. The cestreus is more remarkable for this than any other fish. As soon as they have deposited their ova, they become quiet.
2. In many fish there is a limit to their reproductive powers, when worms make their appearance in their abdomen. These worms are small living creatures, which expel the reproductive substance. The small fry of the rhyas makes its appearance in the spring, and that of many others about the vernal equinox. Other fish do not produce at this season of the year, but in the summer or near the autumnal equinox.
3. The atherina produces its young first of all, near the land. The cephalus is the last. This is evident from the small fry of the former appearing first, and that of the latter last of all. The cestreus also produces among the first. The salpa in most places deposits its ova during the summer, and sometimes in the autumn. The aulopias, which they call anthias, produces its ova in the summer season. After these the chrysophrys, labrax, mormyrus, and all those which are called dromades; the trigla and cocarinus are the latest of all the gregarious fish. These oviposit in the autumn. The trigla deposits her ova in the mud, which causes her to be late, for the mud continues cold for a long while. The coracimus is next to the trigla, and goes among the sea weed to deposit her ova: consequently they frequent rocky places. It continues pregnant for a long while. The mænides oviposit at the winter solstice. Many other marine fish oviposit in the summer, for they are not captured at this period. The mænis is the most productive of all fish, and the batrachus the most so among the selache. They are, however, rare, for they perish very readily; they oviposit in shoals and near the land.
4. The selache, as being viviparous, are less productive. These are particularly preserved by their large size. The belone is late in producing its young, and many of them are burst by their ova in the act of parturition; for these ova are not so numerous as they are large.
They surround the parent as if they were phalangia; for she produces them attached to herself, and if any one touches them they make their escape. The atherina deposits her ova by rubbing her abdomen against the sand. The thynni burst with fat. They live two years. The fishermen argue thus: when the thynnides fail one year, the thynni fail the year after. They appear to be a year older than the pelamus.
5. The thynni and scombri copulate at the end of February, and produce their young at the beginning of June. They produce their ova, as it were, in a purse. The growth of the thynnides is rapid; for when these fish produce their young in the Pontus, they produce from the ovum creatures which some persons call scordylæ, and the Byzantines call auxidæ, because they grow in a few days. They go out in the autumn with the thynnus, and return in the spring as pelamides. Nearly all other fish grow rapidly, but those in the Pontus more rapidly than in other places; for the amiæ there increase visibly every day. It is necessary to remember that the same fish have not in the same place the identical time of coition and gestation, nor the same period of reproduction and completion of their offspring. For those which are called coracini produce their ova at the time of wheat harvest, though, generally speaking, the order of their reproduction is that which I have mentioned.
6. The conger also becomes pregnant, though this circumstance is not equally distinct everywhere on account of its fat; for the organ of reproduction is long, like that of serpents. It becomes distinct, however, when laid upon the fire; for the fat smokes and consumes away, and the ova, when pressed, jump out with a cracking noise. If any person will feel and rub them with the finger, the fat will appear smooth and the ova rough to the touch. Some congers have fat but no ova; and others, on the contrary, have no fat but such ova as I have described. We have now treated of nearly all the oviparous animals, whether furnished with fins, or wings, or feet, and of their sexual intercourse, gestation, development, and such like subjects.
CHAPTER XVII.
1. We must now treat of the nature of viviparous animals with feet and of man at this period. We have already treated in general and in particular of their mode of coition. It is common to all animals to be elevated with the desire and pleasure of sexual intercourse. The females become savage when their young are produced, the males at the season of coition; for horses bite each other and drive about and pursue their riders. The wild boars are very savage at this season, although coition renders them weak.
2. And they fight wonderfully among themselves, and make themselves as it were breastplates, and render their skin callous beforehand by rubbing themselves against trees and frequently wallowing in the mud and drying themselves. They fight together and drive each other out of the herd so fiercely, that not rarely both of them perish in the fight.
The same is the nature of bulls, rams, and goats; for although at other seasons they pasture together, at the period of copulation they quarrel and fight together. The male camel also is violent at this time, whether it is a man or a camel that approaches him, and he will at all times fight with a horse.
3. The nature of wild animals is the same. For bears, wolves, and lions are savage if they are approached at this season; but they do not quarrel much among themselves, for none of them are gregarious. The she bears are savage in defence of their cubs, and bitches for their puppies. Elephants also become wild at this period. Wherefore they say that in India those who have the care of them do not permit them to have sexual intercourse with the females; for they become mad at such season and overturn the houses, which are badly built, and do many other violent acts. They say also that abundance of food will render them more gentle. They also bring others among them which are directed to beat them, and so they punish them and reduce them to a state of discipline.
4. Those creatures which have frequent sexual intercourse, like domestic animals, as the hog and dog, appear to be less influenced by these circumstances on account of the frequency of their coition. Of all females the mare is the most violent in her sexual desires, and then the cow. Mares are subject to the affection called hippomania, and this name is transferred from this single animal to intemperate and lascivious persons. They are said to be affected by the wind at such seasons: wherefore in Crete they never separate the stallions from the mares. When the mares are thus affected, they separate themselves from the other horses. In swine the same affection is called καπρίζειν, to desire the boar. They never run to the east or the west, but either north or south.
5. When they suffer from this affection, they will allow no one to approach them, till they either are so fatigued that they can go no further, or come to the sea: they then eject some substance, which has received the name of hippomanes, like that on a new-born colt. It resembles the capria of the sow. Poisoners diligently seek for this substance. At the season of sexual intercourse they lean upon each other more than at other times, and move their tails, and utter a different sound from that which is common to them. A fluid like semen also flows from their genital organs, but it is much more thin than that of the male; and some persons call this fluid hippomanes, though it is not that which is produced upon colts. It is difficult to collect this fluid, for it does not appear in large quantities. When they are desirous of sexual intercourse, they often make water, and sport together: this is the nature of horses.
6. Cows desire the bull. They are so taken up by their passion, that the cowherds cannot manage them. Mares and cows shew the vehemence of their desire by the swelling of their genital parts. Cows also, like mares, make water very frequently. The cows also mount upon the bull, and follow, and stand beside him. The younger animals, both among horses and oxen, are the first to desire sexual intercourse; and in fine weather, when their health is good, the vehemence of their desire is still stronger. If the manes of the mares are cut, their desires become weaker, and they are rendered more gentle.
7. The stallions recognise the mares of their own herds by the scent; and if any strangers become mixed with them a few days before the period of coition, they bite them till they go away, and each stallion feeds apart with his own mares. Thirty mares, or rather less, are given to each; and if any male approaches, he turns and goes round the mares in a circle, and then prepares to fight. If any one of the females attempts to move, he bites and prevents her.
8. At the season of sexual intercourse the bull pastures with the cows, and fights with other bulls: at other times the sexes keep themselves separate: this is called ἀτιμαγελεῖν (despising the herd); those in Epirus are often not seen for three months: and generally all, or nearly all, wild animals, do not herd with their females before the season of sexual intercourse: but as soon as they come to puberty the males separate themselves, and cease to feed with the females. Sows, when they are urged by sexual desire, or, as it is called, desire the boar (καπρᾳν), will even attack men. In bitches this affection is called σκυζᾳν, to desire the dog.
9. When females are urged with desire, their genital organs are swollen with heat, and a fluid secretion takes place. Mares scatter about a white fluid at this season. In no creatures are the catamenia so abundant as in women. In sheep and goats at the season of coition, there are certain signs before copulation: there are also signs after copulation, but these again cease till the period of parturition, when they again occur. By this means shepherds understand that they are about to produce their young. After parturition there is a great purification, which at first is not very full of blood, but becomes so afterwards.
10. In the cow, the ass, and mare, this purification is abundant, on account of their great size; but still it is small, considering how large they are. When the cow is urged by desire, she undergoes a brief purification, about half-a-cup full, or a little more. The time of this purification is peculiarly the period for sexual intercourse. Of all quadrupeds the mare suffers the least, and is the most cleanly in parturition: neither is her loss of blood great considering the size of the animal. In cows and mares, the failure of the catamenia in the second, fourth, and sixth month is considered as a sign of pregnancy; but it is not easy for anyone to understand this, who does not follow and accustom himself to them: and some persons are of opinion that they have no catamenia. The female oreus has no catamenia, but her urine is thicker than that of the male.
11. On the whole, the liquid excrements are thicker in other animals than in man; and those of female sheep and goats thicker than in the males of the same animal. That of the she ass is thinner, of the cow is harsher, than of their respective males. After parturition the urine of all creatures becomes thicker, and especially in those which have no purification. When females begin to feel sexual desires, their milk is like pus; it afterwards becomes useful after parturition. Sheep and goats become fat when they are pregnant, and consume more food; and so do cows, and all other quadrupeds.
CHAPTER XVIII.
1. Generally speaking, the sexual desires of animals are more violent in spring. They do not all, however, copulate at the same seasons, but at the time of year which will cause them to produce their young at the proper season. The period of gestation in domestic swine is four months. They never produce more than twenty pigs; and if they have many, they cannot bring them all up. When aged, they produce in the same manner, but they copulate more slowly. They become pregnant with one act of coition; but they submit themselves to the boar very frequently, on account of their rejection of the capria after they are pregnant. This takes place in all, but some will also eject the semen.
2. If any of the pigs are injured or deteriorated during pregnancy, it is called metachæron. This may take place in any part of the uterus. In parturition the sow gives the first teat to the first pig. It is not necessary that she should go to the boar as soon as the sexual appetite is felt, or before her ears begin to hang down; for otherwise she desires to go again. If she goes to the boar when she is desirous of it, the impregnation is complete in a single act of intercourse. Barley is a proper food for the boar at the period of coition. It should be cooked for the female after parturition. Some sows produce excellent pigs from the first; others do not produce good offspring and pigs till they are grown up. Some persons say that if one of the eyes of a sow is put out, she generally speaking dies very soon. Most of them live fifteen. Some die in less than twenty years.
CHAPTER XIX.
1. Sheep become pregnant after three or four acts of sexual intercourse. If rain falls after the act of intercourse, it must be repeated. The nature of goats is the same. They generally produce two, and sometimes three. Cases have occurred of their producing four. The period of gestation in the sheep and goat is five months; and in some places, where the weather is warm and fine, and food is abundant, they have young twice a-year. The goat will live eight years. The sheep lives ten years, or generally rather less; but the leaders of the flock live fifteen years; for in every flock they select one of the males as a leader, who, when called by the shepherd, places himself at the head of the flock. They are accustomed to this duty even when young. In Ethiopia the sheep live twelve or thirteen years, and the goats ten or eleven.
2. Both the sheep and goat enjoy sexual intercourse as long as they live. Sheep and goats produce twins, if either the pasture is good, or the ram or he-goat, or the ewe belongs to a race producing twins. They produce females or males both from the nature of the water (for there are some waters that cause them to produce males and others females) and from their manner of sexual intercourse; and if the wind is northward during copulation they produce males; and if it is southward, females; and one which naturally produces females will change its nature and produce males; so that it is necessary to see that they stand to the north during the act of sexual intercourse. If any are accustomed to copulate early, and the ram is introduced to them late, they will not endure it.
3. The lambs are white or black according as the veins beneath the tongue of the ram are white or black; for the lambs are white if the veins are white, and black if they are black. If they are both black and white, the lambs also are of two colours; and if red, then the lambs are red. They are more ready for sexual intercourse if they drink salt water; so that they should be supplied with salted water both before and after parturition, and again in the spring.
The herdsmen do not constitute any leader among the flocks of goats, because it is not their nature to be stationary, but they are active and ready to move from place to place. If the older sheep prepare for sexual intercourse at the proper time, the shepherds consider it a sign of a good year for the sheep; if the younger ones are ready first, it will be a bad sheep year.
CHAPTER XX.
1. There are many kinds of dogs. The Lacedemonian dogs, both male and female, begin to have sexual intercourse at eight months old. Some also lift their leg to make water about this period. The bitch becomes pregnant with a single act of coition; this is particularly evident in those which perform the act in secret, for they become pregnant when once united. The period of gestation in the Lacedemonian bitch is the sixth part of a year, that is sixty days, or it may be one, two, or three days more or less. The puppies when they are born are blind for twelve days. The bitch is ready for sexual intercourse six months after she has produced her young, and not sooner. In some the period of gestation is the fifth part of a year, this is seventy-two days.
The puppies of such bitches are blind for fourteen days. Others are pregnant the fourth part of a year, that is three whole months; their puppies are blind seventeen days. The female appears to desire the male for the same length of time.
2. The catamenia in bitches last for seven days, and at the same time the genital organs are swollen with heat; during this period they will not endure coition, but during the seven days which follow, for they all appear usually to desire the male for fourteen days. This affection continues in some for sixteen days. The purification from parturition takes place at the birth of the young ones; it is thick and phlegmatic, and the quantity produced in parturition is small in proportion to the size of the body.[212] Bitches generally have milk five days before parturition; in some cases it appears seven, and in others four days beforehand; the milk is good as soon as the young are born. The Lacedemonian bitch gives milk in thirty days after sexual intercourse; at first it is thick, but becomes thinner afterwards. The milk of the bitch is thicker than that of other animals, except the sow and the hare.
[212] (Or perhaps) after parturition the discharge becomes thinner in consistence.
3. There is evidence of their having reached the age of puberty, for as in the human subject the mammæ begin to enlarge and become cartilaginous; it is, however, difficult to detect this without practice, for the enlargement is not very great. This takes place in the female, nothing of the kind occurs in the male. The males generally begin to lift up their leg to make water when they are six months old.
Some do not do so till they are eight months old, and others before they are six months old, for, to speak plainly, they do this as soon as they reach puberty; all the females sit down to make water; some, however, even of these lift up their leg for this purpose. The female never produces more than twelve puppies, generally five or six, and sometimes only one; those of Lacedæmon generally have eight; both sexes continue to enjoy sexual intercourse as long as they live.
4. It is a peculiarity of the Lacedemonian dog, that it is more ready for sexual intercourse after hard work than when idle; the male of this kind lives ten years, the female for twelve, most other dogs live fourteen or fifteen years, some even twenty, for which reason some persons think that Homer is right when he makes the dog of Ulysses to have died at the age of twenty. On account of the hard work which the Lacedemonian dogs have to endure the female lives longer than the male; in other races this is not so plainly observed, but the male is usually longer lived than the female. The dog does not shed any teeth except those called the canine teeth, these are shed by both sexes at four months old. Because they shed these only, a question is raised, for some persons altogether deny that they shed only two teeth, for it is difficult to meet with these, and others, when they see that they shed these, think that they must shed all their teeth. People judge of the age of a dog by its teeth, for in young dogs they are white and sharp, in old ones they are black and blunted.
CHAPTER XXI.
1. The cow is impregnated with a single act of coition, and the bull mounts upon her with such violence that she bends beneath his weight.
If he fails to impregnate her after twenty days, she is again admitted to the bull. Old bulls will not mount the same cow several times in the same day unless there is some intermission, but young bulls, incited by the strength of their desires, will force the same cow several times, and will mount upon many in succession. The bull is one of the least lascivious of animals. The conqueror copulates with the female, but if he become impotent from frequent sexual intercourse, the inferior will attack him, and often prevail.
2. Both the male and the female commence sexual intercourse, so as to produce young, at a year old, though not generally till they are a year and eight months old, or two years old according to general agreement.
The female is pregnant nine months, and produces her young in the tenth month; some persons affirm that parturition takes place at ten months to a day; if any of them calve before the above mentioned time, the calf is abortive and does not live, and even if born a little before the proper time it cannot live, for the hoofs are imperfect. The female generally produces one at a time, sometimes two. She continues to bear and to have sexual intercourse as long as she lives.
3. The female usually lives fifteen years, and so does the male if he is not castrated; some live for more than twenty years if they have an active body. They usually place castrated oxen as leaders of the herd, as they do in sheep, and these live longer than the others, for they do no work, and feed in a superior pasture. They attain perfection at five years old, wherefore some say that Homer was right when he spoke of the male flourishing at five years old, and the cow at nine years old, for both expressions have the same meaning.
4. Oxen change their teeth at two years old, not all of them, however, but only like the horse; they do not cast their hoofs when they are lame, but only swell very much about the feet. The milk is good immediately after calving, but the cow has no milk beforehand. The milk which is first formed becomes hard like a stone when it is coagulated; this takes place if it is not mixed with water. They do not produce young before they are a year old, except in some remarkable cases, for some have been known to copulate at four months old. Most of them desire sexual intercourse in the months of April and May.
Some, however, are not impregnated before the autumn. When many become pregnant and admit the male, it is a sign of cold and rainy weather.
The usual discharges occur in cows as they do in mares, but the quantity is less.
CHAPTER XXII.
1. Both the horse and mare begin to use sexual intercourse at two years old. Such early cases, however, are rare, and their offspring small and weak; and generally they commence at three years old, and they continue to produce better colts till they are twenty years old. The period of gestation is eleven months; parturition takes place in the twelfth. The male does not impregnate the female in any particular number of days; but at times in one, two, or three, sometimes in more. The ass mounts and impregnates more quickly than the horse; and the act of intercourse