[915] From τρεῖς, “three,” and σπιθαμαὶ, “spans,” the span being about nine inches English.
[916] He alludes to the wars between the Cranes and the Pygmies in the Iliad, B. iii. l. 3-6. Their story is also referred to by Ovid and Juvenal.
[917] On the subject of the Pygmies, Cuvier remarks, “I am not surprised at finding the Pygmies in the works of Homer; but to find them in Pliny, I am surprised, indeed.”—B.
[918] Or the “long livers,” from the Greek μακρὸς, “long,” and βίος, “life.”
[919] Of course, there is no truth in this statement; there are, no doubt, various circumstances in these countries favourable to longevity; but these are more than counter-balanced by certain peculiarities in their mode of life, and by the fatal epidemics to which they are occasionally subject.—B.
[920] Pliny, in B. xxix. c. 38, speaks of the use of vipers’ flesh as an article of diet, and gives some minute directions for its preparation. It was supposed to be peculiarly nutritive and restorative, and it has been prescribed for the same purpose by modern physicians. There is a medal in existence, probably struck by the Emperor Commodus, in order to commemorate the benefit which he was supposed to have derived from the use of the flesh of vipers.—B.
[921] See B. ii. c. 75.
[922] The cubitus and the palmus of the Romans, estimated, respectively, at about one foot and-a-half and three inches; this would make the height of these people eight feet.—B.
[923] From the Greek Γυμνητὴς, “one who takes much exercise of the body.”
[924] There appears to be no foundation for this statement.—B.