BOOK XI. cxiv. 275-cxv. 278 



head an irascible mind ' — as if this were a visible 

 indication of a swollen temper!" ' When people's 

 eyebrows are level this signifies that they are 

 gentle, when they are curved at the side of the 

 nose, that they are stern, when bent down at the 

 temples, that they are mockers, when entirely 

 drooping, that they are malevolent and spiteful. 

 If people's eyes are narrow on both sides, this shows 

 them to be malicious in character; eyes that have 

 fleshy corners on the side of the nostrils show a 

 mark of maliciousness ; when the white part of the 

 eyes is extensive it conveys an indication of impu- 

 dence ; eyes that have a habit of repeatedly closing 

 indicate unreliabihty. Large ears are a sign of 

 talkativeness and silliness,' Thus far Trogus. 



CXV. The lion's breath contains a severe poison ThebreaU,. 

 and the bear's is pestilential : no wild animal will 

 touch things that have come in contact with its 

 vapour, and things that it has breathed upon go bad 

 more quickly. Of the remaining species nature has 

 willed that in man alone the breath shall be corrupted 

 in a great many ways, even by bad food and bad teeth, 

 but most of all by old age. The old man cannot feel 

 pain, he lacks all touch and taste, without which there 

 is no sensation at all ; his breath comes and goes, 

 constantly retiring from him, ultimately to depart 

 from him and thereafter to be all that remains out of 

 a human being. The breath was a draught drawn 

 from heaven ; yet for it also a penalty has been in- 

 vented, so that even that which is the very means of 

 living may not give us joy in life. This applies speci- 

 ally to the Parthian races, even from youth up, be- 

 cause of their lack of discrimination in diet, for even 

 their mouths smell from too much wine. But their 



607 



