6. Toward man the nature of the lion is kind, so that they cannot become angry unless attacked. Their pity is shown by continual examples. For they spare the fallen, they allow captives they meet to return home; they do not kill man unless very hungry.
17. The Gryphes are so called because they are winged quadrupeds. This kind of wild beast is found in the Hyperborean Mts. In every part of their body they are lions, and in wings and head are like eagles, and they are fierce enemies of horses. Moreover they tear men to pieces.
20. They say the urine [of the lynx] is changed to the hardness of a precious stone, which is called lincurius, and by the following proof it is shown that the lynxes are conscious of this; for when they have urinated, they cover the urine with sand as well as they can, from a sort of meanness of nature, lest such a product be turned to the advantage of man.
21. Castores (beavers) are so named from castrating. For their testicles are useful for medicine and therefore when they perceive a hunter, they castrate themselves and cut away their potency by a bite. Of these Cicero speaks in Scauriana: “They ransom themselves by that part of the body for which they are most sought.”
24. [The wolf] is a ravenous beast and greedy for blood, and of it the country people say that a man loses his voice if a wolf sees him first. And therefore if a person is suddenly silent, they say, “It is the wolf in the fable”. But if the wolf perceives that he has been noticed first, he lays aside his boldness....
25. ... No creature is more sagacious than dogs, for they have more understanding than other animals.
26. For they alone recognize their names, love their masters, guard their masters’ houses, risk their lives for their masters, of their own free will rush upon the prey with their master, do not abandon even their master’s dead body. And finally their nature is such that they cannot exist without men. In dogs two things are to be regarded, courage and speed.
38. Musio is so called because it is a foe to mice (muribus). Common people call it cat (catus) because it catches [mice]. Others say, because it sees (catat). For it has such sharp sight that it overcomes the darkness of the night by the brightness of its eyes.
Chapter 3. On small animals.
1. Mus (mouse) is a tiny animal; it has a Greek name;[333] but any word that is derived from it becomes Latin. Others say mures are so named because they are born from the humor (moisture) of the earth. For mus is equivalent to terra, and from the word comes humus too. The liver of these creatures grows at the full moon, just as certain things that belong to the sea grow, which grow smaller again when the moon lessens.