The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 3 (of 6)Pliny, the Elder
History
The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 3 (of 6)
Pliny, the Elder
Natural history -- Pre-Linnean works
Man is the only animal the ears of which are immoveable. It is from
the natural flaccidity of the ear, that the surname of _Flaccus_ is
derived. There is no part of the body that creates a more enormous
expense for our women, in the pearls which are suspended from them.
In the East, too, it is thought highly becoming for the men, even, to
wear gold rings in their ears. Some animals have large, and others
small ears. The stag alone has them cut and divided, as it were; in
the field-mouse they have a velvet surface. All the animals that are
viviparous have ears of some kind or other, with the sole exception of
the sea-calf, the dolphin, the fishes which we have mentioned[190]
as cartilaginous, and the viper. These animals have only cavities
instead of ears, with the exception of the cartilaginous fishes and
the dolphin, which last, however, it is quite clear possesses the
sense of hearing, for it is charmed by singing, and is often taken
while enraptured with the melody: how it is that it does hear, is
quite marvellous. These animals, too, have not the slightest trace of
olfactory organs, and yet they have a most acute sense of smell.
Among the winged animals, only the horned owl and the long-eared owl
have feathers which project like ears, the rest having only cavities
for the purpose of hearing; the same is the case, also, with the scaly
animals and the serpents. Among horses and beasts of burden of all
kinds, it is the ears which indicate the natural feelings; when the
animal is weary, they are drooping and flaccid; when it is startled,
they quiver to and fro; when it is enraged, they are pricked up; and
when it is ailing, they are pendant.
CHAP. 51.—THE FACE, THE FOREHEAD, AND THE EYE-BROWS.
Man is the only creature that has a face, the other animals having
only a muzzle or a beak. Other animals have a forehead as well, but
it is only on the forehead of man that is depicted sorrow, gladness,
compassion, or severity. It is the forehead that is the index of the
mind. Man has eyebrows, also, which move together or alternately;
these, too, serve in some measure as indications of the feelings. Do
we deny or do we assent, it is the eyebrows, mostly, that indicate
our intentions. Feelings of pride may be generated elsewhere, but it
is here that they have their principal abode; it is in the heart that
they take their rise, but it is to the eyebrows that they mount, and
here they take up their position. In no part of the body could they
meet with a spot more lofty and more precipitous, in which to establish
themselves free from all control.
CHAP. 52.—THE EYES—ANIMALS WHICH HAVE NO EYES, OR HAVE ONLY ONE EYE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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