126 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOEY. [Book VIL 



$asamones, who now occupy their territory. 48 This race, how- 

 ever, still survives in a few persons who are descendants of 

 those who either took to flight or else were absent on the oc- 

 casion of the battle. The Marsi, in Italy, are still in possession 

 of the same power, for which, it is said, they are indebted 

 to their origin from the son of Circe, from whom they acquired 

 it as a natural quality. But the fact is, that all men possess 

 in their bodies a poison which acts upon serpents, and the 

 human saliva, it is said, makes them take to flight, as though 

 they had been touched with boiling water. The same sub- 

 stance, it is said, destroys them the moment it enters their 

 throat, and more particularly so, if it should happen to be the 

 saliva of a man who is fasting. 49 



Above the Kasamones, 50 and the Machlyae, who border upon 

 them, are found, as we learn from Calliphanes, the nation of 

 the Androgyni, a people who unite the two sexes in the same 

 individual, and alternately perform the functions of each. 

 Aristotle also states, that their right breast is that of a male, 

 the left that of a female. 51 



Isigonus and Nymphodorus inform us that ; there are in 

 Africa certain families of enchanters, 52 who, by means of their 

 charms, in the form of commendations, can cause cattle to 

 perish, trees to wither, and infants to die. Isigonus adds, that 



48 Herodotus, B. iy. c. 173, gives a somewhat different account ; see also 

 Aulus Gellius, B. xvi. c. 11, who follows the narrative of Herodotus. Gel- 

 lius also gives an account of the Marsi, which is similar to that of Pliny. B. 



49 It is scarcely necessary to remark, that this alleged effect of the human 

 saliva is without foundation. The saliva of a person who has fasted for 

 some time, is still, in this country, a popular remedy for ophthalmia. It 

 contains a greater proportion of saline matter than saliva under ordinary 

 circumstances. B. 



50 The Nasamones have been enumerated among the inhabitants of the 

 northern part of Africa^near the Greater Syrtis, v. 5. See also Herodotus, 

 B. ii. c. 32, and B. vi. c. 172 and 190. B. 



51 Certain individuals are occasionally met with, whose generative organs 

 exhibit an unusual formation, so as to give the idea of their uniting both 

 sexes in the same person ; and there are instances, where parts peculiar to 

 both sexes actually appear to exist, but always in an imperfect or rudimentary 

 state ; all beyond this is undoubtedly fabulous. See Todd's Cyclop, of 

 Anat. in loco. B. 



82 There are, at the present day, individuals among the negroes, who 

 profess to have the power of enchantment, which, however, appears to 

 consist in their possessing the knowledge of various poisons, which they 

 not unfrequently administer, and ' by these means obtain great influence 

 over the minds of the people. B. 



