226 THE HISTORY OF VETERINARY MEDICINE. 



is also the case in the disease called ' nymphian,' in which the horse 

 becomes stiff when one blows up its nose, or depresses the head ; 

 when any one tries to ride them they go in circles until stopped. 

 They always depress the head when rabid. Other signs of the same 

 are that they depress the ears upon the mane, and again elevate 

 them ; that they become weak and snort much. Conditions con- 

 nected with pain of the heart are also incurable : in this the animals 

 have tucked-up flanks, or the bladder becomes displaced, which is 

 easily recognized from the inability of the horse to micturate, and 

 that they draw their legs up and stamp with their feet. According 

 to those who should know, horses and sheep suffer from all the dis- 

 eases common to man. A poison known as ' sandarac ' kills not 

 only the horse but all draught-animals. It is given in water. A 

 pregnant horse aborts when it smells the smoke from a blown-out 

 candle ; the same effect is also occasionally observed in women 

 when in the same condition. Horses love meadows and swamps. 

 They drink gladly of dirty water, and when the water is clear they 

 stir up the bottom with their feet, and then bathe in it, for these 

 animals generally bathe gladly and love water. Cattle, on the con- 

 trary, do not drink freely of water which is unclean and warm. 



" The ass suffers especially from one disease, which is known as 

 ' melis.' It at first attacks the head, a viscid, yellow slime running 

 from the nostrils ; when the disease extends to the lungs it is deadly, 

 but when limited to the head it is not so. Of all animals of its 

 kind, the ass can bear cold the least, and thrives, therefore, in warm 

 climates. 



" The elephant is subject to tympanitis, and when thus afflicted 

 can neither micturate nor pass faeces. When it eats earth (?) at in- 

 tervals, it becomes weak ; but when it eats it constantly, it does not 

 seem to harm it. Sometimes it swallows stones. It also occasion- 

 ally suffers from diarrhoea, and is healed by giving it warm water, 

 and hay which has been dipped in honey. When suffering from 

 want of sleep they become weak, but strength returns when the 

 shoulders are rubbed with warm water, salt, and oil. When troubled 

 with pains in the shoulder, they can be helped by placing roasted 

 pork upon the afflicted part. Some elephants will drink oil, others 

 not. When a fragment of iron penetrates their body, it is said that 

 it can be driven out by giving them oil, but those who will not drink 

 it willingly must be given the oil mixed with roots." 



The fame of the noted Greek general, Xenophon (349-259 b. a), 

 is not alone limited to the remarkable retreat of the brave ten thou- 

 sand, for his writings upon the horse and horsemanship have given 



