BOOK XI. XLii. iig-xLiv. 121 



foundries of Cyprus even in the middle of the fii*e 

 there flies a creature with wings and four legs, of 

 the size of a rather large fly ; it is called the pyrallis, 

 or by some the pyrotocon. As long as it is in the fire 

 it Hves, but when it leaves it on a rather long flight 

 it dies ofF. 



XLIII. The river Bug on the Black Sea at ^¥^:J^^^^ 

 midsummer brings down some thin membranes that insects. 

 look Hke berries out of which burst a four-legged 

 caterpillar in the manner of the creature mentioned 

 above, but it does not live beyond one day, owing 

 to which it is called the hemerobius." The rest of 

 this sort of creatures have from start to finish seven- 

 day periods, but the gnat and maggots have twenty- 

 one-day, and those whose offspring are fully formed 

 twenty-eight-day periods. Their changes and trans- 

 formations into other shapes take place every three 

 or every four days. The remaining kinds of this 

 class possessing wings usually die in autumn of decay 

 of the wings,* but horse-flies die of bHndness also. 

 When flies have been kiUed by damp they can be 

 resuscitated by being buried in ashes. 



XLIV. Now let our investigation treat of the Vanetiesoj 

 various parts of bodies besides the ones ah-eady taHngthe 

 mentioned, taking Hmb by Hmb. bodu"^^''^ 



All creatures that have blood have a head. On seriatim .- 

 the head a few kinds, and these only birds, have 

 crests, of different sorts it is true — with the phoenix 

 it is a row of feathers spreading out fi-om the middle 

 of the head in a different direction, peacocks have 

 bushy tufts, the bird of Stymphalus'^ a crest, the 

 pheasant Httle horns, as moreover has the small 

 bird that was formerly named from this pecuHarity 

 the crestcd lark and subsequently was called by the 



507 



