Lambs are born white and black according
as white or black veins are under the ram's tongue; the lambs are
white if the veins are white, and black if the veins are black, and
white and black if the veins are white and black; and red if the veins
are red. The females that drink salted waters are the first to take
the male; the water should be salted before and after parturition, and
again in the springtime. With goats the shepherds appoint no
bell-wether, as the animal is not capable of repose but frisky and apt
to ramble. If at the appointed season the elders of the flock are
eager for intercourse, the shepherds say that it bodes well for the
flock; if the younger ones, that the flock is going to be bad.
20
Of dogs there are several breeds. Of these the Laconian hound of
either sex is fit for breeding purposes when eight months old: at
about the same age some dogs lift the leg when voiding urine. The
bitch conceives with one lining; this is clearly seen in the case
where a dog contrives to line a bitch by stealth, as they impregnate
after mounting only once. The Laconian bitch carries her young the
sixth part of a year or sixty days: or more by one, two, or three,
or less by one; the pups are blind for twelve days after birth.
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