Some of these animals have no horns; but where there are horns, the age of the animal is denoted by the number of knots on them. In Cilicia, and in the vicinity of the Syrtes, the inhabitants shear the goat for the purpose of clothing themselves. It is said that the she goats in the pastures will never look at each other at sun-set, but lie with their backs towards one another, while at other times of the day they lie facing each other and in family groups. They all have long hair hanging down from the chin. If any one of the flock is taken hold of and dragged by this hair, all the rest gaze on in stupid astonishment. Mutianus relates an instance of the intelligence of this animal, of which he himself was an eye-witness. Two goats, coming from opposite directions, met on a very narrow bridge, which would not admit of either of them turning round, and in consequence of its great length, they could not safely go backwards, there being no sure footing on account of its narrowness, while at the same time an impetuous torrent was rapidly rushing beneath; accordingly, one of the animals lay down flat, while the other walked over it. Book VI. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF FISHES. CHAPTER I. WHY THE LARGEST ANIMALS ARE FOUND IN THE SEA. We have now given an account of the animals which we call terrestrial, and which live as it were in a sort of society with man. Among the remaining ones, it is well known that the birds are the smallest; we shall therefore first describe those which inhabit the seas, rivers, and standing waters. Among these there are many to be found that exceed in size any of the terrestrial animals; the evident cause of which is the superabundance of moisture with which they are supplied. Very different is the lot of the winged animals, whose life is passed soaring aloft in the air. But in the seas, spread out as they are far and wide, forming an element at once so delicate and so vivifying, many animals are to be found of monstrous form. Hence it is that the vulgar notion may very possibly be true, that whatever is produced in any other department of Nature, is to be found in the sea as well; while, at the same time, many other productions are there to be found which nowhere else exist. That there are to be found in the sea the forms, not only of terrestrial animals, but of inanimate objects, is easy to be understood by all who will take the trouble to examine the grape-fish, the sword-fish, the saw-fish, and the cucumber-fish, which last so strongly resembles the real cucumber both in color and in smell. We shall find the less reason then to be surprised to find that in so small an object as a shell-fish the head of the horse is to be seen protruding from the shell. [Illustration: SEA-ELEPHANT.—_Morunga proboscidea._]