BOOK X. Lxxxiii. 173-176 



Species ^vith the genital organs behind them, Quadrupe.is 

 elephants, eamels, tigers, lynxes, the rhinoceros, the ^^^'^igs\,f 

 Hon, the hairy-footed and the common rabbit coupiing. 

 couple back to back. Camels even make for 

 deserts or else places certain to be secret, and 

 one is not allowed to interrupt them wdthout disas- 

 ter; the coupUng lasts a whole day, and this is the 

 case with these alone of all animals. With the 

 sohd-hooved species in the quadruped class the 

 males ai'e excited by scenting the female. Also 

 dogs, seals and wolves turn away in the middle of 

 couphng and still remain coupled against their will. 

 Among the above-mentioned ^» species, of hares the 

 females usually cover first, but with all the others the 

 males ; but bears, as was said, couple, hke human 

 beings, lying down, hedgehogs both standing up and 

 embracing each other, cats with the male standing 

 and the female lying beneath it, foxes lying down on 

 tlieir sides and the female embracing the male. 

 Cows and does resent the violence of the bulls and 

 stags, and consequently walk forward in pairing. 

 Stags pass across to other hinds and return to the 

 former ones alternately. Lizards hke the creatures 

 without feet practise intercourse by intertwining. 



All animals are less fertile the larger they are in FeTtiUtii 

 bulk. Elephants, camels and horses produce off- ^"^^rL/v 

 spring one at a time, but the thistle-finch, the smallest wUh sUe 

 of birds, twelve at a time. Those that produce most '^J ^'P'"-'^"- 

 young bear them most quickly ; the larger the animal, 

 the longer it takes to be shaped in the womb ; the 

 more long-hved ones are carried longer by the 

 mother. Also animals are not of an age suitable for 

 procreation while they are still growing. Sohd- 



• VIII 126. 



403 



