The horse delights in
meadows and marshes, and likes to drink muddy water; in fact, if water
be clear, the horse will trample in it to make it turbid, will then
drink it, and afterwards will wallow in it. The animal is fond of
water in every way, whether for drinking or for bathing purposes;
and this explains the peculiar constitution of the hippopotamus or
river-horse. In regard to water the ox is the opposite of the horse;
for if the water be impure or cold, or mixed up with alien matter,
it will refuse to drink it.
25
The ass suffers chiefly from one particular disease which they
call 'melis'. It arises first in the head, and a clammy humour runs
down the nostrils, thick and red; if it stays in the head the animal
may recover, but if it descends into the lungs the animal will die. Of
all animals on its of its kind it is the least capable of enduring
extreme cold, which circumstance will account for the fact that the
animal is not found on the shores of the Euxine, nor in Scythia.
26
Elephants suffer from flatulence, and when thus afflicted can void
neither solid nor liquid residuum.
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