Chap. 45.] YAltlOUS KINDS OF H011XS. 45 



like the ears ; and among the cattle of the Troglodyte, they 

 are pointed downwards to the ground, for which reason it is 

 that they are obliged to feed with the head on one side. 

 Other animals, again, have a single horn, and that situate in 

 the middle of the head, or else on the nose, as already 

 stated. 71 



Then, again, in some animals the horns are adapted for 

 butting, and in others for goring ; with some they are curved 

 inwards, with others outwards, and with others, again, they 

 are fitted for tossing : all which objects are effected in vari- 

 ous ways, the horns either lying backwards, turning from, or 

 else towards each other, and in all cases running to a sharp 

 point. In one kind, also, the horns are used for the purpose 

 of scratching the body, instead of hands. 



In snails the horns are fleshy, and are thus adapted for the 

 purpose of feeling the way, which is also the case with the ce- 

 rastes ; 72 some reptiles, again, have only one horn, though the 

 snail has always two, suited for protruding and withdrawing. 

 The barbarous nations of the north drink from the horns of the 

 urus, 73 a pair of which will hold a couple of urnaa : 74 other 

 tribes, again, point their spears with them. "With us they are 

 cut into lamina?, upon which they become transparent ; indeed, 

 the rays of a light placed within them may be seen to a much 

 greater distance than without. They are used also for various 

 appliances of luxury, either coloured or varnished, or else 

 for those kinds of paintings which are known as " cestrota/' 75 

 or horn-pictures. The horns of all animals are hollow within, 

 it being only at the tip that they are solid : the only excep- 

 tion is the stag, the horn of which is solid throughout, and 

 is cast every year. When the hoofs of oxen are worn to the 

 quick, the husbandmen have a method of curing them, by 

 anointing the horns of the animal with grease. - The substance 

 of the horns is so ductile, that even while upon the body of 

 the living animal, they can be bent by being steeped in boil- 

 ing wax, and if they are split down when they are first shoot- 

 ing, they may be twisted different ways, and so appear to be 



71 B. viii.cc. 29—31. 



72 The Coluber cerastes ef Linnaeus. See B. via. c. 35. 



73 The drinking-horns of our Saxon ancestors are well known to the 

 antiquarian. 



74 The "urna" was half an "amphora," or nearly three gallons. 



75 See B. xxsv. c. 41. 



