138 VARRO ON FARMING [bk. 



us what to keep in mind when pregnancy has be- 

 gun, for different animals bring forth at different 

 times. For instance, a mare is pregnant for twelve 

 months, a cow for ten, sheep and goats respectively 

 for five, and pigs for four months. 



Speaking of pregnancy, let me tell you some- 

 thing which happens in Spain ; no one will believe 

 it, but it is none the less true. In Lusitania, near 

 ^ the ocean, in that stretch of country where is the 

 ittA"-' town Olisipo,^ certain mares on Mount Tagrus^ 

 conceive at a certain time of the year by means of 



^ Olisipo, now Lisbon. Pliny (N. H., iv, 22) calls it: mu- 

 nicipium civium Romanorum, Felicitas Julia cognominatum. 



* Monte Tagro. Columella (vi, 27, 7) : Cum sit notissimum 

 etiam in Sacro nionte Hispaniae qui procurrit in occidentcm 

 iuxta Oceanum, frequenter equas sine coitu ventrem pertulisse, 

 foetumque educasse^ qui tamen inutilis est, quod triennio, prius 

 quam adolescat, morte absumitur. 



Pomponlus Mela (iii, i) mentions three promontories (i) 

 Cuneus, (2) Sacrum (Cape St. Vincent), and (3) Magnum, and 

 he places Ulysippo on the last, near the mouth of the 

 Tagus. 



Pliny (N. H., iv, 22) writes: Oppida memorabilia: a Tago 

 in ora, Olysippo equarum efavonio vento conceptu nobile. . . . 

 And again (viii, 42) : Constat in Lusitania circa Olysiponem 

 oppidum et Tagum Amnem . . . ; and goes on to relate Varro's 

 story. 



It has been proposed therefore to read (i) on Columella's 

 authority Monte Sacro (now Sagres), which is obviously wrong, 

 as the Sacrum Promontorium is several hundred miles from 

 Lisbon, (2) Amne Tago, and (3) Monte Artabro. Solinus Poly- 

 histor (cap. xxvi) calls the Promontorium Artabrum Ulysippo- 

 nense, so that the last conjecture seems the most plausible. 

 But then how account for the Monte Tagro of the text? 



