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306 306 HERODOTUS

it is not lawful for them to wear either dress or shoes of any other material. They bathe twice every day in cold water, and twice each night. Besides which they observe, so to speak, thousands of ceremonies. (^Book IL, 35-37.)

CROCODILES AND THE HIPPOPOTAMUS

The following are the peculiarities of the crocodile : During the four winter months they eat nothing ; they are four-footed, and live indifferently on land or in the water. The female lays and hatches her eggs ashore, passing the greater portion of the day on dry land, but at night retiring to the river, the water of which is warmer than the night-air and the dew. Of all known animals this is the one which from the smallest size grows to be the greatest : for the egg of the crocodile is but little bigger than that of the goose, and the young crocodile is in proportion to the egg ; yet when it is full grown, the animal measures fre- quently seventeen cubits, and even more. It has the eyes of a pig, teeth large and tusk-like, of a size pro- portioned to its frame ; unlike any other animal, it is without a tongue ; it cannot move its under jaw, and in this respect too it is singular, being the only ani- mal in the world which moves the upper jaw, but not the under. It has strong claws and a scaly skin, im- penetrable upon the back. In the water it is blind, but on land it is very keen of sight. As it lives chiefly in the river, it has the inside of its mouth con- stantly covered with leeches ; hence it happens that, while all the other birds and beasts avoid it, with the trochilus it lives at peace, since it owes much to that bird : for the crocodile, when he leaves the water and comes out upon the land, is in the habit of lying with