[46.] Which feeds upon.]—Ver. 411. The idea that the chameleon subsists on wind and air, arose from the circumstance of its sitting with its mouth continually open, that it may catch flies and small insects, its prey. That it changes colour according to the hue of the surrounding objects, is a fact well known. It receives its name from the Greek χάμαι λέων, ‘The lion on the ground.’
[47.] Changed into stone.]—Ver. 415. Pliny says, that this becomes hard, and turns into gems, like the carbuncle, being of a fiery tint, and that the stone has the name of ‘lyncurium.’ Beckmann (Hist. Inventions) thinks that this was probably the jacinth, or hyacinth, while others suppose it to have been the tourmaline, or transparent amber.
[48.] A soft plant.]—Ver. 417. Modern improvement in knowledge has shown that coral is not a plant, but an animal substance.
[49.] Sparta was famed.]—Ver. 426-30. These lines are looked upon by many Commentators as spurious, as they are omitted in most MSS. Besides, all these cities were flourishing in the time of Pythagoras. If they are genuine, Ovid is here guilty of a series of anachronisms.
[50.] But one born.]—Ver. 447. This was Octavius, the adopted son of Julius Cæsar. According to Suetonius, he traced his descent, through his mother, from Ascanius or Iülus.
[51.] Ought not to fill.]—Ver. 462. Clarke’s quaint translation is, ‘And let us not cram our g—ts with Thyestian victuals.’
[52.] Feather foils.]—Ver. 475. He alludes to the ‘formido;’ which was made of coloured feathers, and was used to scare the deer into the toils.
[53.] Voluntarily invited.]—Ver. 481. He was living at the Sabine town of Cures, when the throne was pressed upon him by the desire of both the Roman and the Sabine nations.
[54.] City of Pittheus.]—Ver. 506. Pittheus was the son of Pelops, and the father of Æthra, the mother of Theseus; consequently he was the great-grandfather of Hippolytus.
[55.] Phlegethon.]—Ver. 532. This was said to be one of the rivers of the Infernal Regions, and to be flowing with fire and brimstone.