102 History of Nature. [BoOK VIII. 



were vocal ; and this kind still continueth there. Even now 

 in the Island Seriphos they are silent ; but if the same are 

 carried to other Places, they sing. And they say that the 

 like happeneth in a Lake of Thessaly named Sicendus. In 

 Italy the Bite of the Shrew-mouse 1 (Mus araneus) is venom- 

 ous ; but beyond the Apennines there are no more such to 

 be found. In whatever Country they are, if they cross over 

 the Track of a Cart-wheel, they die. In Olympus, a Moun- 

 tain of Macedonia, there are no Wolves ; nor in the Island 

 of Crete. And there also are no Foxes nor Bears; and in 

 one Word, no hurtful Creature, except the Phalangiurn, 2 a 

 kind of Spider, of which we will speak more in its proper 

 Place. It is more surprising that in the same Island there are 

 no Deer, except only in the Region of the Cydoniates : no 

 wild Boars likewise, nor the Attagen, or Hedgehogs. To 

 conclude, in Africa there are no wild Boars, no Stags, no 

 Roes, nor Bears. 



CHAPTER LIX. 



What Creatures are hurtful to Strangers. 



SOME Creatures there are which do no Harm to the Na- 

 tives of the Country, but kill all Strangers : such as some 

 small Serpents in Tirinthe, which are supposed to be pro- 

 duced out of the Earth. So, in Syria, there are Snakes, 

 especially along the Banks of the Euphrates, that do not 

 touch the Syrians while l}ing asleep; and even if a Native 

 treads upon them and receives a Bite, he does not receive 

 any Hurt ; but to the People of any other Nation they are 



1 Sorex araneus. LINN. The Shrew. Among the ancients the 

 Shrew-mouse had a very bad reputation. Thus Aristotle declares that 

 its bite is dangerous to horses and other beasts of burden ; and that it is 

 more dangerous if the Shrew-mouse be with young. The bite, he says, 

 causes boils, and these burst, if the Shrew-mouse be pregnant when she 

 inflicts the wound ; but if she be not, they do not burst. " Hist. Anim." 

 Lib. viii. 24. Wern. Club. 



2 Lib. xi. 24 ; and Lib. xxix. 4. 



