4 



The ninth Booke df 



other places.thcy will kccpe a finging as well as the reft. And (by report) the like happeneth in a 

 lake otTheffalie named Sicendns.In ItaliCjthe hardic (hrewes are v^oinous in their biting: but 

 pafle over the Apennine oncCjthere are no more fuch to be found Jn what countrey ibevet they 

 bejet them goe over the tradl of a cart wheele^they die prefently. In Olympus, a mountaine of 

 MacedoniCjthere are no Wolves^ne yet in the Ifland Candie. And there verily are to bte found 

 no Foxes nor BearcSjand in one word,no hurtfuU and noifome beaftjUnleffe it bee a kind of fpi- 

 dercalledPhalangium: whereof wee will fpeake more in due time and place. And that which is 

 more wonderfulljin the fame Ifland there are no Stags and Hinds, faveonelyinthe region and 

 quarter of the Cydoniatcs.No wild Borcslikewife,nor the foule called the Godwitor Attagene, 

 neyetVrchins. To conclude, in AfFrickcyee fliall find no wild Bores^ no Stags and Hinds^no 

 Roe-buckes andDoes^ncyctBeares. 



Chap. liX. 

 ^ IVhat creatures are hurt full to Hr Angers 



NOwXorac living creatures there be that doe no harme at all to the inhabitants of the fame 

 countriesjbut kill all ftrangcrs. And namely,certaine Serpents in Tirinthe,which are fup- 

 pofcd to breed of themfelves out of the very earth. Semblably,in Syria there be Snakes, 

 and cfpecialiy along the bankes of Euphrates,that will not touch the Syrians lying along afleep : 

 nay,if a man that leaneth upon them bee ftung or bitten by them,hee fball find no hurt or mii^ 

 cheefe thereby.But to men of all other nations whatfoever^they are moft fpightf ully bent; them 

 they will with great greedinefle eagerly afTailc and flie upon, yea, and kill them withextreame 

 painc and anguifh. And therefore it isjthat the Syrians deftroy them not.Contrariwi(e,^r//?^?/!? 

 reporteth,Thatin Latmos (a mountaine of Caria) the Scorpions will doe no harme to ftraun- 

 gers, marrie the inhabitants of thefamecountrey they will fting to death. Now let us proceed 

 to other living creatures beiidesthofeofthelandj and difcourfe of their fundrie forts and kinds^ 



HE NINTH B OOKE 



THE HISTORIE OF NATVRE, 



WRITTEN BY C. PLINIVS 



SECVNDVS. 



Cha^. I. 



}-'^tIq nature of water cruturest 



Have thus fhewed the nature of thofe beafts which live upon the land, and therein 

 have fome focietie and fellowfhip with men. And confidering, that of all others be- 

 fides in the world, they that file bee theleaft^wee willfirif treat of thofe fifh that keeps 

 in the feainot forgetting thofe alfojcither in running frefh rivers or in ftanding lakes. 



Chap, it, 



^ what the reafin is rphj the fea fhould heed the greatefl living creatures i ^ 



THc waters bring forth more ftore of living creatures, and the fame greater than the land. 

 The caufe whereof is evident,even the exceffive abundance of moifiure. Asfor the foules 

 and birds,who live hanging (as it were)and hovering in the aire^thcir cafe is ocherwife.Now 



ill 



