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
All birds, however, have not eyelids: hence it is, that those which are
viviparous have no nictation of the eye. The heavier kinds of birds
shut the eye by means of the lower eyelid, and they wink by drawing
forward a membrane which lies in the corner of the eye. Pigeons,
and other birds of a similar nature, shut the two eyelids; but the
quadrupeds which are oviparous, such, for instance, as the tortoise
and the crocodile, have only the lower eyelid moveable, and never
wink, in consequence of the hardness of the eye. The edge of the upper
eyelid was by the ancients called “cilium,” from which comes our word
“supercilia.[211]” If the eyelid happens to be severed by a wound it
will not reunite,[212] which is the case also with some few other parts
of the human body.
CHAP. 58.—THE CHEEKS.
Below the eyes are the cheeks, a feature which is found in man only.
From the ancients they received the name of “genæ,” and by the laws of
the Twelve Tables, women were forbidden to tear them.[213] The cheeks
are the seat of bashfulness; it is on them more particularly that
blushes are to be seen.
CHAP. 59.—THE NOSTRILS.
Within the cheeks is the mouth, which gives such strong indications
of the feelings of joyousness and laughter; and above it, but in man
only, is the nose, which modern notions have stamped as the exponent
of sarcasm and ridicule.[214] In no other animal but man, is the nose
thus prominent; birds, serpents, and fishes, have no nostrils, but
apertures only for the purpose of smell. It is from the peculiarity of
the nose that are derived the surnames of “Simus”[215] and “Silo.”
Children born in the seventh month often have the ears and the nostrils
imperforate.
CHAP. 60.—THE MOUTH; THE LIPS; THE CHIN; AND THE JAW-BONE.
It is from the “labia,” or lips, that the Brocchi[216] have received
the surname of Labeo. All animals that are viviparous have a mouth that
is either well-formed, or harshly defined, as the case may be. Instead
of lips and mouth, the birds have a beak that is horny and sharp at the
end. With birds that live by rapine, the beak is hooked inwards, but
with those which gather and peck only, it is straight: those animals,
again, which root up grass or puddle in the mud, have the muzzle broad,
like swine. The beasts of burden employ the mouth in place of hands in
gathering their food, while those which live by rapine and slaughter
have it wider than the rest. No animal, with the exception of man, has
either chin or cheek-bones. The crocodile is the only animal that has
the upper jaw-bone[217] moveable; among the land quadrupeds it is the
same as with other animals, except that they can move it obliquely.
CHAP. 61.—THE TEETH; THE VARIOUS KINDS OF TEETH; IN WHAT ANIMALS THEY
ARE NOT ON BOTH SIDES OF THE MOUTH: ANIMALS WHICH HAVE HOLLOW TEETH.
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