Scorpions live on earth. Serpents, when an opportunity presents itself, show an especial liking for wine, although in other respects they need but very little drink. These animals, also, when kept shut up, require but little aliment, hardly any at all, in fact. The same is the case also with spiders, which at other times live by suction. Hence it is, that no venomous animal will die of hunger or thirst; it being the fact that they have neither heat, blood, nor sweat; all which humours, from their natural saltness, increase the animal's voracity. In this class of animals all those are the most deadly, which have eaten some of their own kind just before they inflict the wound. The sphingium and the satyr[1] stow away food in the pouches of their cheeks, after which they will take it out piece by piece with their hands and eat it; and thus they do for a day or an hour what the ant usually does[2] for the whole year.

(73.) The only animal with toes upon the feet that feeds upon grass is the hare, which will eat corn as well; while the solid-hoofed animals, and the swine among the cloven-footed ones, will eat all kinds of food, as well as roots. To roll over and over is a peculiarity of the animals with a solid hoof. All those which have serrated teeth are carnivorous. Bears live also upon corn, leaves, grapes, fruit, bees, crabs even, and ants; wolves, as we have already[3] stated, will eat earth even when they are famishing. Cattle grow fat by drinking; hence it is that salt agrees with them so well; the same is also the case with beasts of burden, although they live on corn as well as grass; but they eat just in proportion to what they drink. In addition to those already spoken of, among the wild animals, stags ruminate, when reared in a domesticated state. All animals ruminate lying in preference to standing, and more in winter than in summer, mostly for seven months in the year. The Pontic mouse[4] also ruminates in a similar manner.