HIPPOLITO SALVIANI. 31 



soft, and its bones cartilaginous ; it Las mammsa 

 and milk, and brings forth its young on shore 

 and, according to Aristotle, at all seasons, like man, 

 having one, two, and sometimes three at a birth. 

 On the same authority, after twelve days, it con- 

 ducts its young to the watery element, habituating 

 them to it from time to time ; and from this quar- 

 ter it procures its food. It breathes and sleeps — no 

 animal more soundly : it bellows even in its sleep. 

 It is capable of instruction, and may be taught to 

 salute the people by its look and voice, and it an- 

 swers when called by name. They are accustomed 

 to fight dreadfully with each other. According to 

 Aristotle, the seal belongs to the cetaceous tribes ; 

 it lives both on land and in the water. According 

 to Pliny, it is the only marine animal which is not 

 struck by lightning. It is killed with great diffi- 

 culty, except when struck on the head. How it is 

 taken may be learned from Oppian ; its flesh is soft 

 and disagreeable ; the elasticity of its skin is great. 

 Pliny states that a strong soporific virtue resides in 

 the right flipper ; its other remedial powers may be 

 learned from Pliny and Galen, in the various parts 

 of their writings which are cited. 



With regard to the whale tribe, he enumerates 

 the balaena, physeter, phalasna or capadolio, the 

 tursio, orca, dolphin, and platanista, most of which 

 have kept their places in most of our systems to 

 the present day, and concerning many of them, all 

 obscurity is far from being removed. As an ex- 

 ample of the opinions of the time respecting this 



