550 plist's NATUBAL HISTOET. [Book X. 



and more in winter than in summer, mostly for seven months 

 in the year. The Pontic mouse ^^ also ruminates in a similar 

 manner. 



CHAP. 94. DIYEESITIES IN THE DKINKING OF ANIMALS. 



In drinking, those animals which have serrated ^^ teeth, lap ; 

 and common mice do the same, although they belong to another 

 class. Those which have the teeth continuous, horses and 

 oxen, for instance, sup ; bears do neither the one nor the other, 

 but seem to bite at the water, and so devour it. In Africa, 

 the greater part of the wild beasts do not drink in summer, 

 through the want of rain ; for which reason it is that the mice 

 of Libya, when caught, will die if they drink. The ever- 

 thirsting plains of Africa produce the oryx,^^ an animal which, 

 in consequence of the nature of its native locality, never 

 drinks, and which, in a remarkable manner, affords a remedy 

 against drought : for the Gaetulian bandits by its aid fortify 

 themselves against thirst, by finding in its body certain 

 vesicles filled with a most wholesome liquid. In this same 

 Africa, also, the pards conceal themselves in the thick foliage 

 of the trees, and then spring down from the branches on any 

 creature that may happen to be passing by, thus occupying 

 what are ordinarily the haunts of the birds. Cats too, with 

 what silent stealthiness, with what light steps do they creep 

 towards a bird ! How slily they will sit and watch, and then 

 dart out upon a mouse ! These animals scratch up the earth 

 and bury their ordure, being well aware that the smell of it 

 would betray their presence. 



CHAP. 95. (74.) ANTIPATHIES OF ANIMALS. PEOOFS THAT THEY 



AEE SENSIBLE OF FEIENDSHIP AND OTHEE AFFECTIONS. 



Hence there will be no difficulty in perceiving that animals 

 are possessed of other instincts besides those previously men- 

 tioned. In fact, there are certain antipathies and sympathies 

 among them, w^hich give rise to various affections besides those 

 which we have mentioned in relation to each species in its 

 appropriate place. The swan and the eagle are always at 



56 Probably the ermine. See B. viii, c. 55. 

 " Pliny alludes to dogs, cats, and similar mammifera, as having serrated 

 teeth ; the term, however, is quite inappropriate. 

 58 See B. viii. c. 79. 



