206 THE HISTORY OF ANIMALS. [li. VIII. 



osen ; the bear neither draws in the water nor laps it, but 

 gulps it down. Some birds draw in the water, but those 

 which have long necks imbibe it at intervals, lifting up their 

 heads ; the porphyrion alone gulps it down. All horned 

 animals, both domestic and wild, and those that have not 

 pointed teeth eat fruits and grass, and are incapable of en- 

 during hunger, except the dog, and this animal eats fruit 

 and grass less than any other. 



2. The hog eats roots more than other animals, because 

 its snout is well adapted for this operation, it is more 

 adapted to various kinds of food than other animals. In 

 proportion to its size its fat is developed very fast, for it be- 

 comes fat in sixty days. Those who occupy themselves in 

 fatting hogs know how fast they fatten by weighing them, 

 when lean ; they will become fat after starvation for three 

 days. Almost all other animals become fat, after previous 

 starvation. After three days those who fatten hogs feed 

 them well. 



3. The Thracians fatten them by giving them drink on 

 the first day, then at first they omit one day, afterwards two, 

 three, or four, till they reach to seven days. These creatures 

 are fattened with barley, millet, figs, acorns, wild pears, and 

 cucumbers. Both this and other animals with a warm 

 stomach are fattened in idleness, and the sow also by wal- 

 lowing in the mire. They prefer different kinds of food at 

 different ages. The hog and the wolf fight together, a sixth 

 part of its weight when alive, consists of bristles, blood, and 

 fat. Sows and 1 all other animals grow lean while suckling 

 their young. This then, is the nature of these animals. 



CHAPTER IX. 



1. OXEN eat both fruits and grass. They become fat on 

 flatulent food, as vetches, broken beans, and stems of beans, 

 and if any person having cut a hole in the skin inflates them 

 and then feeds the older cattle, they fatten more rapidly, 

 and either on whole or broken barley, or on sweet food, as on 

 figs and grapes, wine, and the leaves of the elm, and especially 

 in the sunshine and in warm waters. The horns of the calf, 

 if anointed with wax, may be directed in any way that is de- 

 sired, and they suffer less in the feet if their horns are 

 rubbed with wax, or pitch, or oil. 



