Chapter VII.

1. Among viviparous quadrupeds, those that are wild and have pointed teeth are all carnivorous, except some wolves, which, when they are hungry, will, as they say, eat a certain kind of earth, but this is the only exception. They will not eat grass unless they are sick, for some dogs eat grass and vomit it up again, and so are purified. The solitary wolves are more eager for human flesh than those which hunt in packs.

2. The animal which some persons call the glanus and others the hyæna, is not less than the wolf, it has a mane like a horse, but the hair all along its spine is more harsh and thick. It also secretly attacks men, and hunts them down; it hunts dogs also by vomiting like men; it also breaks open graves for the sake of this kind of food.

3. The bear is also omnivorous, for it eats fruit, and on account of the softness of its body it can climb trees; it eats leguminous seeds also; it also overturns hives and eats the honey, and it feeds upon crabs and ants, and is carnivorous, for its strength enables it to attack not only deer, but wild hogs, if it can fall upon them secretly, and oxen. For when it meets the bull face to face, it falls upon its back, and when the bull attempts to throw it, seizes its horns with its fore-legs, and biting upon the shoulder of the bull, throws it down. For a short time it can walk upright on its hind legs. It eats flesh after it has become putrid.

4. The lion, like all other wild animals with pointed teeth, is carnivorous; it devours its food greedily, and swallows large pieces without dividing them; it can afterwards, from its repletion, remain two or three days without food. It drinks very little. Its excrement is small, and is not made more than once in three days or thereabouts, and it is dry and hard like that of a dog. The wind from its bowels has an acrid smell, and its urine is powerfully scented, for which reason dogs smell to trees, for the lion, like the dog, lifts its leg to make water. It produces also a strong smell when it breathes upon its food, and when its bowels are laid open they emit a strong scent.

5. Some quadrupeds and wild animals seek their food in the neighbourhood of ponds and rivers, but none of them except the seal live near the sea; of this class are the creature called beaver, and the satherium, the satyrium, the otter, and that which is called latax. This creature is broader than the enydris, and has strong teeth, for it often goes out in the night and with its teeth gnaws off the osiers. The enydris also will bite men, and they say will not leave its hold till it hears the noise of its teeth against the bone. The latax has rough hair, the nature of which is between that of the seal and that of the deer.