76. Chap. 76.-In What Animals The Liver Increases And De- Creases With The Moon. Observations Of The Aruspices Relative Thereto, And Remarkable Prodigies.

CHAP. 76.—IN WHAT ANIMALS THE LIVER INCREASES AND DE- CREASES WITH THE MOON. OBSERVATIONS OF THE ARUSPICES RELATIVE THERETO, AND REMARKABLE PRODIGIES.

It is said, that in the small liver of the mouse the number of lobes corresponds to the day of the moon, and that they are found to be just as many in number as she is days old; in addition to which, it is said that it increases at the winter solstice. In the rabbits of Bætica, the liver is always found to have a double lobe. Ants will not touch one lobe of the liver of the bramble-frog, in consequence of its poisonous nature, it is generally thought. The liver is remarkable for its powers of preservation, and sieges have afforded us remarkable instances of its being kept so long as a hundred years.[1]

1. There must be some corrupt reading here; for, as Sillig remarks, who ever heard of a siege which lasted a hundred years?