Columella: DE RE RUSTICA LIBRI XII

I. PRAEFATIO. Scio quosdam, Publi Silvine, prudentes agricolas pecoris abnuisse curam, gregariorumque pastorum velut inimicam suae professionis disciplinam constantissime repudiasse. Neque infitior id eos aliqua ratione fecisse, quia sit agricolae contrarium pastoris propositum; cum ille quam maxime subacto et puro solo gaudeat, hic novali graminosoque; ille fructum e terra speret, hic e pecore; ideoque arator abominetur, at contra pastor optet herbarum proventum.

1. PREFACE. I know that certain prudent agriculturists, Publius Silvinus, have refused the care of livestock, and have most steadfastly repudiated the discipline of flock-shepherds as though inimical to their own profession. Nor do I deny that they did this with some reason, because the purpose of the shepherd is contrary to that of the farmer; since the one rejoices most of all in soil that is thoroughly subacted and clean, the other in fallow and grassy land; the one hopes for fruit from the earth, the other from the herd; and therefore the plowman abominates, but on the contrary the shepherd desires, the growth of herbage.

[2] Sed in his tam discordantibus votis est tamen quaedam societas atque coniunctio, quoniam et pabulum e fundo plerumque domesticis pecudibus magis quam alienis depascere ex usu est, et copiosa stercoratione, quae contingit e gregibus, terrestres fructus exuberant.

[2] Yet in these so discordant wishes there is nevertheless a certain society and conjunction, since both it is to advantage to let the fodder from the estate be grazed mostly by domestic cattle rather than by others’, and by the copious stercoration which accrues from the flocks, the fruits of the earth abound.

[3] Nec tamen ulla regio est, in qua modo frumenta gignantur, quae non ut hominum ita armentorum adiutorio colatur. Unde etiam iumenta et armenta nomen a re traxere, quod nostrum laborem vel onera subvectando vel arando iuvarent. Itaque sicut veteres Romani praeceperunt, ipse quoque censeo tam pecorum quam agrorum cultum pernoscere.

[3] Nor yet is there any region, in which at least grains are produced, which is not cultivated with the aid as much of herds as of men. Whence even beasts of burden and herd-cattle have drawn their name from the very fact, because they help our labor, either by conveying burdens or by plowing. And so, as the ancient Romans prescribed, I too judge that one ought thoroughly to learn the cultivation both of herds and of fields.

[4] Nam in rusticatione vel antiquissima est ratio pascendi eademque quaestuosissima. Propter quod nomina quoque pecuniae et peculii tracta videntur a pecore, quoniam id solum veteres possederunt, et adhuc apud quasdam gentes unum hoc usurpatur divitiarum genus; sed ne apud nostros quidem colonos alia res uberior. Ut etiam M. Cato prodidit, qui consulenti, quam partem rei rusticae exercendo celeriter locupletari posset, respondit si bene pasceret; rursusque interroganti, quid deinde faciendo satis uberes fructus percepturus esset, affirmavit, si mediocriter pasceret.

[4] For in rustic husbandry the most ancient method is that of pasturing, and the same is the most lucrative. On account of this, too, the very names of money and peculium seem to have been drawn from cattle, since that alone the ancients possessed; and even now among certain peoples this one kind of wealth is employed; but not even among our own coloni is there any other resource more bounteous. As even M. Cato has recorded: to one consulting him, as to which part of the res rustica, by exercising it, he might quickly become wealthy, he replied, if he should pasture well; and when the man asked again what, thereafter, by doing, he would receive sufficiently abundant returns, he affirmed, if he should pasture moderately.

[5] Ceterum de tam sapiente viro piget dicere, quod eum quidam auctores memorant eidem quaerenti quodnam tertium in agricolatione quaestuosum esset, asseverasse si quis vel male pasceret; cum praesertim maium dispendium sequatur inertem et inscium pastorem, quam prudentem diligentemque compendium. De secundo tamen responso dubium non est quin mediocrem neglegentiam domini fructus pecoris exsuperet.

[5] However, it irks to speak of so wise a man, that certain authors report that, to the same inquirer asking what the third profitable thing in agriculture might be, he asserted: if someone should even pasture badly; especially since a greater loss follows an inert and unknowing shepherd than a gain follows a prudent and diligent one. As to the second answer, however, there is no doubt that the fruits of the herd surpass the master’s moderate negligence.

[6] Quam ob causam nos hanc quoque partem rei rusticae, Silvine, quanta voluimus industria, maiorum secuti praecepta posteritati mandavimus. Igitur cum sint duo genera quadrupedum, quorum alterum paramus in consortium operum, sicut bovem, mulam, equum, asinum, alterum voluptatis ac reditus et custodiae causa, ut ovem, capellam, suem, canem; de eo genere primum dicemus, cuius usus nostri laboris est particeps.

[6] For which cause we too have consigned this part also of rustic business, Silvinus, to posterity with as much industry as we wished, following the precepts of our elders. Therefore, since there are two kinds of quadrupeds, of which the one we prepare for a consortium of works, such as the ox, the mule, the horse, the ass, the other for the sake of pleasure and revenue and custody, as the sheep, the she-goat, the swine, the dog; about that kind first we shall speak, whose use is a participant in our labor.

[7] Nec dubium quin, ut ait Varro, ceteras pecudes bos honore superare debeat, praesertim [autem] in Italia, quae ab hoc nuncupationem traxisse creditur, quod olim Graeci tauros Italous vocarent; et in ea urbe, cuius moenibus condendis mas et femina boves aratro terminum signaverunt, velut pecus; quod item Atticis Athenis Cereris et Triptolemi fertur minister; quod inter fulgentissima sidera particeps caeli; quod deinde laboriosissimus adhuc hominis socius in agricultura; cuius tanta fuit apud antiquos veneratio, ut tam capital esset bovem necuisse, quam civem. Ab hoc igitur promissi operis capiamus exordium.

[7] There is no doubt that, as Varro says, the ox ought to surpass the other flocks in honor, especially [however] in Italy, which is believed to have drawn its appellation from this, because once the Greeks used to call bulls Italoi; and in that city for the founding of whose walls a male and a female ox marked the boundary with the plow, like cattle; which likewise at Attic Athens is said to be the minister of Ceres and Triptolemus; which among the most gleaming stars is a participant in heaven; which then, to this day, is the most laborious companion of man in agriculture; whose veneration among the ancients was so great that it was as capital a crime to have slain an ox as a citizen. From this, therefore, let us take the beginning of the promised work.

I. Quae in emendis bubus sequenda quaeque vitanda sint, non ex facili dixerim, cum pecudes pro regionis caelique statu et habitum corporis et ingenium animi et pili colorem gerant. Aliae formae sunt Asiaticis, aliae Gallicis, Epiroticis aliae. Nec tantum diversitas provinciarum, sed ipsa quoque Italia partibus suis discrepat.

1. What in buying oxen ought to be followed and what avoided, I would not easily say, since cattle, according to the condition of region and of sky, bear both the habit of the body and the temperament of the mind and the color of the hair. Other forms belong to the Asiatic, others to the Gallic, others to the Epirote. Nor is it only the diversity of the provinces, but Italy herself also differs in her parts.

Campania plerumque boves progenerat albos et exiles, labori tamen et culturae patrii soli non inhabiles.

Campania for the most part produces white and slender oxen, yet not unfit for labor and for the cultivation of their native soil.

[2] Umbria vastos et albos; eademque robios, nec minus probabiles animis quam corporibus. Etruria et Latium compactos, sed ad opera fortes. Apenninus durissimos omnemque difficultatem tolerantes, nec ab aspectu decoros.

[2] Umbria [yields] vast and white [ones]; and likewise russet-red (roan), no less commendable in spirits than in bodies. Etruria and Latium [produce] compact [ones], yet strong for works. The Apennine [produces] the very hardest, enduring every difficulty, yet not decorous in aspect.

Quae cum tam varia et diversa sint, tamen quaedam quasi communia et certa praecepta in emendis iuvencis arator sequi debet; eaque Mago Carthaginiensis ita prodidit, ut nos deinceps memorabimus.

Although these things are so various and diverse, nevertheless the plowman ought to follow certain, as it were, common and sure precepts in buying young oxen; and these Mago the Carthaginian has thus handed them down, as we shall hereafter recount.

[3] Parandi sunt boves novelli, quadrati, grandibus membris, cornibus proceris ac nigrantibus et robustis, fronte lata et crispa, hirtis auribus, oculis et labris nigris, naribus resimis patulisque, cervice longa et torosa, palearibus amplis et paene ad genua promissis, pectore magno, armis vastis, capaci et tamquam implente utero, lateribus porrectis, lumbis latis, dorso recto planoque vel etiam subsidente, clunibus rotundis, cruribus compactis ac rectis, sed brevioribus potius quam longis, nec genibus improbis, ungulis magnis, caudis longissimis et setosis, piloque corporis denso brevique, coloris robii vel fusci, tactu corporis mollissimo.

[3] Young bulls should be procured, square-built, with large limbs, horns tall and blackish and sturdy, a brow broad and crinkled, ears shaggy, eyes and lips black, nostrils retroussé and wide, a neck long and muscular, dewlaps ample and hanging almost to the knees, a chest great, forequarters vast, a belly capacious and as if filling a womb, flanks extended, loins broad, a back straight and level, or even subsiding, haunches rounded, legs compact and straight, but rather shorter than long, and not with ill-formed knees, hooves large, tails very long and bristly, and the body’s hair dense and short, of ruddy or dusky color, with a very soft feel to the body.

II. Talis notae vitulos oportet, cum adhuc teneri sunt, consuescere manu tractari, ad praesepia religari, ut exiguus in domitura labor eorum et minus sit periculi. Verum nec ante tertium neque post quintum annum iuvencos domari placet, quoniam illa aetas adhuc tenera est, haec iam praedura. Eos autem, qui de grege feri comprehenduntur, sic subigi convenit.

2. Calves of such a note should, while they are still tender, be accustomed to be handled by hand, to be tied at the mangers, so that there may be slight labor in their domestication and less danger. Yet it is not approved that young bullocks be tamed before the 3rd nor after the 5th year, since the former age is still tender, the latter already over-hardened. Those, however, who are apprehended wild from the herd, it is fitting to be subdued thus.

[2] Primum omnium spatiosum stabulum praeparetur, ubi domitor facile versari, et unde degredi sine periculo possit. Ante stabulum nullae angustiae sint, sed aut campus aut via late patens, ut, cum producentur iuvenci, liberum habeant excursum, ne pavidi aut arboribus aut obiacenti cuilibet rei se implicent noxamque capiant.

[2] First of all let a spacious stable be prepared, where the tamer may easily maneuver, and from which he can have egress without danger. Before the stable let there be no straits, but either an open field or a road lying broadly open, so that, when the steers are brought out, they may have free course, lest, being skittish, they entangle themselves either with trees or with any object lying in the way and incur harm.

[3] In stabulo sint ampla praesepia, supraque transversi asseres in modum iugorum a terra septem pedibus elati configantur, ad quos religari possint iuvenci. Diem deinde, quo domituram auspiceris, liberum a tempestatibus et a religionibus matutinum eligito; cannabinisque funibus cornua iuvencorum ligato.

[3] In the stable let there be ample mangers, and above, let crosswise beams, in the manner of yokes, be fastened, raised seven feet from the ground, to which the young bullocks may be tied. Then choose the day on which you will auspicate the taming, a morning free from storms and from religious scruples; and with hempen ropes tie the horns of the young bullocks.

[4] Sed laquei, quibus capulabuntur, lanatis pellibus involuti sint, ne tenerae frontes sub cornua laedantur. Cum deinde buculos comprehenderis, perducito ad stabulum, et ad stipites religato ita ut exiguum laxamenti habeant, distentque inter se aliquanto spatio, ne in colluctatione alter alteri noceat. Si nimis asperi erunt, patere unum diem noctemque desaeviant.

[4] But let the nooses, by which they will be haltered, be wrapped in woolly skins, lest the tender foreheads beneath the horns be injured. Then, when you have seized the young bulls, lead them to the stable, and tie them to posts so that they have a small allowance of slack, and let them be spaced apart from one another by some interval, lest in wrestling one harm the other. If they are too fierce, allow them to rage out for one day and a night.

Simul atque iras contuderint, mane producantur, ita ut a tergo complures, qui sequuntur, retinaculis eos contineant, et unus cum clava salignea procedens modicis ictibus subinde impetus eorum coerceat.

As soon as they have beaten down their anger, let them be led out in the morning, in such a way that several who follow from behind hold them in check with tethers, and one, advancing with a willow club, from time to time with moderate blows coerce their charges.

[5] Sin autem placidi et quieti boves erunt, vel eodem die, quo alligaveris, ante vesperum licebit producere, et docere per mille passus composite ac sine pavore ambulare; cum domum perduxeris, arcte ad stipites religato, ita ne capite moveri possint. Tum demum ad alligatos boves neque a posteriore parte neque a latere, sed adversus, placide et cum quadam vocis adulatione venito, ut accedentem consuescant aspicere. Deinde nares perfricato, ut hominem discant odorari.

[5] But if the oxen will be placid and quiet, then even on the same day on which you have tied them, before evening it will be permitted to lead them out and to teach them to walk for 1,000 paces in a composed manner and without fear; when you have led them home, tie them tightly to the posts, so that they cannot move their head. Then at last come to the tied-up oxen not from the rear part nor from the side, but facing them, calmly and with a certain adulation of the voice, so that they may become accustomed to look upon one who approaches. Then rub their nostrils, so that they may learn to scent a human.

[6] Mox etiam convenit tota tergora et tractare et respergere mero, quo familiariores bubulco fiant; ventri quoque et sub femina manum subicere, ne ad eiusmodi tactum postmodum pavescant, et ut ricini qui plerumque feminibus inhaerent, eximantur. Idque cum fit, a latere domitor stare debet, ne calce contingi possit.

[6] Soon after, it is also fitting both to handle all the hides and to sprinkle them with pure wine (merum), whereby they may become more familiar with the oxherd (bubulcus); also to put the hand to the belly and under the thigh, lest thereafter they take fright at such a touch, and so that the ticks (ricini), which for the most part cling to the thighs, may be removed. And when this is done, the tamer ought to stand at the side, so that he may not be touched by a kick.

[7] Post haec diductis malis educito linguam, totumque eorum palatum sale defricato, libralesque offas in praesulsae adipis liquamine tinctas in gulam demittito, ac vini singulos sextarios per cornu faucibus infundito; nam per haec blandimenta triduo fere mansuescunt, iugumque quarto die accipiunt, cui ramus illigatus temonis vice traicitur; interdum et pondus aliquod iniungitur, ut maiore nisu laboris exploretur patientia.

[7] After these things, with the cheeks drawn apart, draw out the tongue, and rub their whole palate with salt, and let pound-weight mouthfuls, dipped in the liquor of pre-salted lard, be sent down the gullet, and pour a sextarius apiece of wine through a horn into their throats; for by these blandishments they are for the most part tamed within about three days, and on the fourth day they accept the yoke, through which a branch, bound on, is passed in place of the pole; sometimes also some weight is imposed, so that by greater exertion of labor their endurance may be tested.

[8] Post eiusmodi experimenta vacuo plostro subiungendi et paulatim longius cum oneribus producendi sunt. Sic perdomiti mox ad aratrum instituantur, sed in subacto agro, ne statim difficultatem operis reformident neve adhuc tenera colla dura proscissione terrae contundant. Quemadmodum autem bubulcus in arando bovem instituat, primo praecepi volumine.

[8] After experiments of this sort they are to be yoked to an empty wagon and gradually led out farther with loads. Thus, once thoroughly tamed, let them soon be trained to the plow, but in a worked field, lest they at once shrink from the difficulty of the task, and lest their as‑yet tender necks be bruised by the hard breaking‑up of the soil. How, however, the oxherd should institute the ox in plowing, I prescribed in the first volume.

Curandum ne in domitura bos calce aut cornu quemquam contingat. Nam nisi haec caveantur, numquam eiusmodi vitia quamvis subacto eximi poterunt.

Care must be taken that, in the subduing, the ox does not make contact with anyone by a kick or by a horn. For unless these things are guarded against, vices of this sort will never be able to be removed, although it has been subjugated.

[9] Verum ista sic agenda praecipimus, si veteranum pecus non aderit. Nam si aderit, expeditior tutiorque ratio domandi est, quam nos in nostris agris sequimur. Nam ubi plostro aut aratro iuvencum consuescimus, ex domitis bubus valentissimum eundemque placidissimo cum indomito iungimus.

[9] Truly we prescribe that these things be done thus, if veteran cattle will not be at hand. For if they will be at hand, a more expeditious and safer method of taming is at hand, which we follow on our own fields. For when we accustom the young bullock to the wagon or the plow, from the tamed oxen we yoke the strongest—and the same, most placid—with the untamed one.

Is et procurrentem retrahit et cunctantem producit.

He both draws back the one rushing forward and leads forth the one hesitating.

[10] Si vero non pigeat iugum fabricare, quo tres iungantur, hac machinatione consequemur, ut etiam contumaces boves gravissima opera non recusent. Nam ubi piger iuvencus medius inter duos veteranos iungitur, aratroque iniuncto terram moliri cogitur, nulla est imperium respuendi facultas. Sive enim efferatus prosilit, duorum arbitrio inhibetur; seu consistit, duobus gradientibus etiam invitus obsequitur; seu conatur decumbere, a valentioribus sublevatus trahitur; propter quae undique necessitate contumaciam deponit, et ad patientiam laboris paucissimis verberibus perducitur.

[10] If indeed it be not irksome to fabricate a yoke by which three may be joined, by this machination we shall achieve that even contumacious oxen do not refuse the gravest labors. For when a sluggish young bullock is yoked in the middle between two veterans, and with the plough attached is compelled to toil the earth, there is no capacity of spurning command. For whether, made wild, he leaps forward, he is restrained by the arbitration of the two; or if he stands still, with the two walking he obeys even unwilling; or if he tries to lie down, lifted by the stronger he is dragged; because of which, on every side by necessity he lays aside obstinacy, and is brought to endurance of labor by very few lashes.

[11] Est etiam post domituram mollioris generis bos, qui decumbit in sulco; eum non saevitia, sed ratione censeo emendandum. Nam qui stimulis aut ignibus aliisque tormentis id vitium eximi melius iudicant, verae rationis ignari sunt, quoniam pervicax contumacia plerumque saevientem fatigat. Propter quod utilius est citra corporis vexationem fame potius et siti cubitorem bovem emendare.

[11] There is also, after the breaking-in, an ox of a softer kind, who lies down in the furrow; I judge him to be amended not by savagery, but by reason. For those who judge that that vice is better removed by goads or fires and other torments are ignorant of true reason, since pervicacious contumacy for the most part wearies out the one raging. On account of which it is more useful, without vexation of the body, to amend the couching ox rather by hunger and thirst.

Nam eum vehementius afficiunt naturalia desideria quam plagae.

For natural desires affect him more vehemently than blows.

[12] Itaque si bos decubuit, utilissimum est pedes eius sic vinculis obligari, ne aut insistere aut progredi aut pasci possit. Quo facto inedia et siti compulsus deponit ignaviam; quae tamen rarissima est in pecore vernaculo; longeque omnis bos indigena melior est quam peregrinus. Nam neque aquae nec pabuli nec caeli mutatione tentatur, neque infestatur condicione regionis, sicut ille, qui ex planis et campestribus locis in montana et aspera perductus est, vel ex montanis in campestria.

[12] And so, if an ox has lain down, it is most useful that his feet be thus bound with bonds, so that he can neither stand, nor advance, nor feed. This done, compelled by hunger and thirst, he lays aside sloth; which, however, is very rare in homebred cattle; and by far every indigenous ox is better than a foreign one. For he is not tried by a change of water, fodder, or sky, nor is he harassed by the condition of the region, like the one who has been brought from flat and level places into mountainous and rugged ones, or from the mountains into the plains.

[13] Itaque etiam, cum cogimur ex longinquo boves arcessere, curandum est, ut in similia patriis locis traducantur. Item custodiendum est, ne in comparatione vel statura vel viribus impar cum valentiore iungatur. Nam utraque res inferiori celeriter affert exitium.

[13] Therefore also, when we are compelled to fetch oxen from a long distance, care must be taken that they be conveyed into localities similar to their native ones. Likewise it must be guarded that one unequal in comparison—either in stature or in strength—be not joined with a stronger; for both situations quickly bring ruin to the inferior.

[14] Mores huius pecudis probabiles habentur, qui sunt propiores placidis quam concitatis, sed non inertes; qui sunt verentes plagarum et acclamationum, sed fiducia virium nec auditu nec visu pavidi, nec ad ingredienda flumina aut pontes formidolosi; multi cibi [edaces] verum in eo conficiendo lenti. Nam hi melius concoquunt, ideoque robora corporum citra maciem conservant, qui ex commodo, quam qui festinanter mandunt.

[14] The manners of this herd-animal are held commendable when they are nearer to the placid than to the agitated, yet not inert; when it is in awe of blows and shouts, yet, with confidence in its powers, neither timid at hearing nor at sight, nor fearful to enter rivers or bridges; a consumer of much food [voracious], but slow in dispatching it. For those who masticate at their ease digest better and therefore preserve the robustness of their bodies without leanness, than those who eat hastily.

[15] Sed tam vitium est bubulci pinguem quam exilem bovem reddere; habilis enim et modica corporatura pecoris operarii debet esse, nervisque et musculis robusta, non adipibus obesa, ut nec sui tergoris mole nec labore operis degravetur. Sed quoniam quae sequenda sunt in emendis domandisque bubus tradidimus, tutelam eorum praecipiemus.

[15] But it is as much a fault for the oxherd to render the ox fat as to render it meager; for the bodily frame of working cattle ought to be handy and moderate, robust in sinews and muscles, not obese with fat, so that it is weighed down neither by the mass of its own hide nor by the labor of the work. But since we have handed down what things are to be followed in purchasing and breaking oxen, we will prescribe their care.

III. Boves calore sub divo, frigoribus intra tectum manere oportet. Itaque hibernae stabulationi eorum praeparanda sunt stramenta, quae mense Augusto intra dies triginta sublatae messis praecisa in acervum exstrui debent. Horum desectio cum pecori tum agro est utilis: liberantur arva sentibus, qui aestivo tempore per Caniculae ortum recisi plerumque radicitus intereunt, et stramenta pecori subiecta plurimum stercoris efficiunt.

3. Oxen ought to remain under the open sky in heat, and within a roof in cold. Therefore, for their winter stabling, straw must be prepared, which, in the month of August, within thirty days of the harvest having been carried off, ought to be cut and piled up in a heap. The cutting of these is useful both to the cattle and to the field: the fields are freed from brambles, which, cut back in summertime at the rising of the Dog-star, for the most part perish root-and-branch; and the straw laid beneath the cattle produces a very great amount of manure.

Haec cum ita curaverimus, tum et omne genus pabuli praeparabimus, dabimusque operam, ne penuria cibi macrescat pecus.

When we have thus cared for these things, then we will also prepare every kind of fodder, and we will take pains that the herd not grow lean from penury of food.

[2] Boves autem recte pascendi non una ratio est. Nam si ubertas regionis viride pabulum subministrat, nemo dubitat quin id genus cibi ceteris praeponendum sit; quod tamen nisi riguis aut roscidis locis non contingit. Itaque in iis ipsis vel maximum commodum est, quod sufficit una opera duobus iugis, quae eodem die alterna temporum vice vel arant vel pascuntur.

[2] But there is not a single method for feeding oxen correctly. For if the fertility of the region supplies green provender, no one doubts that that kind of food is to be preferred to the others; which, however, does not occur except in irrigated or dewy places. And so in those very places there is even the greatest convenience: a single labor suffices for two yokes (teams), which on the same day, in alternating turns of time, either plow or are pastured.

[3] Siccioribus agris ad praesepia boves alendi sunt, quibus pro condicione regionum cibi praebentur; eosque nemo dubitat, quin optimi sint vicia in fascem ligata et cicercula itemque pratense foenum. Minus commode tuemur armentum paleis, quae ubique et quibusdam regionibus solae praesidio sunt. Eae probantur maxime ex milio, tum ex ordeo, mox etiam ex tritico.

[3] On drier fields the oxen must be fed at the mangers, to whom, according to the condition of the regions, foods are supplied; and no one doubts that the best are vetch tied into a bundle and chickling vetch likewise, as well as meadow hay. We maintain the herd less suitably with chaff, which everywhere, and in certain regions is the sole support. These are approved most from millet, then from barley, next also from wheat.

Sed iumentis iusta operum reddentibus ordeum praeter has praebetur.

But to the beasts of burden that render a just measure of work, barley is provided in addition to these.

[4] Bubus autem pro temporibus anni pabula dispensantur. Ianuario mense [singulis] fresi et aqua macerati ervi quaternos sextarios mistos paleis dare convenit, vel lupini macerati modios, vel cicerculae maceratae semodios, et super haec affatim paleas. Licet etiam, si sit leguminum inopia, et eluta et siccata vinacia, quae de lora eximuntur, cum paleis miscere.

[4] But for oxen, fodders are dispensed according to the seasons of the year. In the month of January, it is fitting to give to each four sextarii of bitter vetch, crushed and soaked in water, mixed with chaff; or modii of soaked lupine; or half‑modii of soaked chickling; and over these, chaff in abundance. It is also permitted, if there is a scarcity of legumes, to mix with the chaff grape‑pomace both rinsed and dried, which is taken out from the lora.

[5] Nec dubium [est] quin ea longe melius cum suis folliculis, ante quam eluantur, praeberi possint. Nam et cibi et vini vires habent, nitidumque et hilare et corpulentum pecus faciunt. Si grano abstinemus, frondis aridae corbis pabulatorius modiorum viginti sufficit, vel foeni pondo triginta, vel sine modo viridis laurea et ilignea frondes.

[5] Nor is there a doubt [is] that these can be furnished far better with their own little sacks/skins, before they are washed out. For they have the forces both of food and of wine, and they make the herd sleek and cheerful and corpulent. If we abstain from grain, a fodder-basket of twenty modii of dry frondage suffices, or thirty pounds of hay, or, without measure, green laurel and holm-oak leaves.

Et his, si regionis copia permittat, glans adicitur; quae nisi ad satietatem detur, scabiem parit. Potest etiam si proventus vilitatem facit, semodius fabae fresae praeberi. Mense Februario plerumque eadem sunt cibaria.

And to these, if the abundance of the region permits, acorn-mast is added; which, unless it be given to satiety, produces scab. It is also possible, if the yield makes for cheapness, for a half-modius of crushed beans to be supplied. In the month of February for the most part the same victuals are used.

[6] Martio et Aprili debet ad foeni pondus adici, quia terra proscinditur; sat autem erit pondo quadragena singulis dari. Ab Idibus Aprilis usque in Idus Iunias viride pabulum recte secatur; potest etiam in Kal. iulias frigidioribus locis idem praestari; a quo tempore in Kal.

[6] In March and April an increase ought to be added to the weight of hay, because the earth is being plowed; but it will be enough to give forty pounds to each. From the Ides of April up to the Ides of June green fodder is rightly cut; it can also, on the Kalends of July, be provided the same in colder places; from which time, on the Kalends

Novembres tota aestate et deinde autumno satientur fronde; quae tamen ante est utilis, quam cum maturuerit vel imbribus vel assiduis roribus; probaturque maxime ulmea, post fraxinea, et ab hac populnea. Ultimae sunt ilignea et quernea et laurea; sed eae post aestatem necessariae deficientibus ceteris.

Let the November-born be satisfied with leafage through the whole summer and then in autumn; which, however, is useful before it has matured either by showers or by assiduous dews; and the elm-leaf is most approved, next the ash, and after this the poplar. The last are holm-oak and oak and laurel; but these are necessary after the summer, when the others are failing.

[7] Possunt etiam folia ficulnea probe dari, si sit eorum copia, aut stringere arbores expediat. Ilignea tamen [vel] melior est quernea, sed eius generis, quod spinas non habet. Nam id quoque, uti iuniperus, respuitur a pecore propter aculeos.

[7] Fig-tree leaves too can properly be given, if there be a supply of them, or if it be expedient to strip the trees. The holm-oak, however, [vel] is better than the oak, but of that kind which has no thorns. For that too, as the juniper, is spurned by the herd on account of the prickles.

Novembri mense ac Decembri per sementem quantum appetit bos, tantum praebendum est; plerumque tamen sufficiunt singulis modii glandis et paleae ad satietatem datae, vel lupini macerati modii, vel ervi aqua conspersi, sextarii VII permisti paleis, vel cicerculae similiter conspersae sextarii XII misti paleis, vel singuli modii vinaceorum, si iis, ut supra dixi, large paleae adiciantur; vel si nihil horum est, per se foeni pondo quadraginta.

In the month of November and December, during the sowing, as much as the ox appetites, so much must be provided; for the most part, however, for each one a modius of acorns and straw given to satiety suffices, or a modius of soaked lupins, or of vetch sprinkled with water, sextarii 7 mixed with straw, or of chickling (cicerculae) similarly sprinkled, sextarii 12 mixed with straw, or single modii of wine-pressings (grape pomace), if to these, as I said above, straw be added liberally; or, if none of these is available, hay by itself, forty pounds.

IV. Sed non proderit cibis satiari pecora, nisi omnis adhibeatur diligentia, ut salubri sint corpore, viresque conservent; quae utraque custodiuntur large dato per triduum medicamento, quod componitur pari pondere triti lupini, cupressique et cum aqua nocte una sub divo habetur; idque quater anno fieri debet ultimis temporibus veris, aestatis autumni, hiemis.

4. But it will not profit the cattle to be sated with foods, unless every diligence be applied, that they may be of a salubrious body and preserve their vigor; both of which are safeguarded by a liberal administering for three days of a medicament, which is composed in equal weight of ground lupine and cypress, and is kept with water for one night under the open sky; and this ought to be done four times in the year, at the last periods of spring, summer, autumn, winter.

[2] Saepe etiam languor et nausea discutitur, si integrum gallinaceum crudum ovum ieiuni faucibus inseras, ac postero die spicas ulpici vel alii cum vino conteras, et in naribus infundas; neque haec tantum remedia salubritatem faciunt. Multi et largo sale miscent pabula; quidam marrubium deterunt cum oleo et vino; quidam porri fibras, alii grana thuris, alii sabinam herbam rutamque cum mero diluunt. Eaque medicamenta potanda praebent.

[2] Often also languor and nausea are dispelled, if you insert a whole raw chicken egg into the throat when fasting, and on the following day you crush the spikes of alexanders or of garlic with wine and pour them into the nostrils; nor do these remedies alone produce salubrity. Many also mix the fodders with plentiful salt; some grind horehound with oil and wine; some the fibers of leek, others grains of frankincense, others dilute savin-herb and rue with unmixed wine. And they offer these medicaments to be drunk.

[3] Multi caulibus vitis albae et valvulis ervi bubus medentur; nonnulli pellem serpentis obtritam cum vino miscent. Est etiam remedio cum dulci vino tritum serpyllum, et concisa et in aqua macerata scilla. Quae omnes praedictae potiones trium heminarum singulis diebus per triduum datae alvum purgant, depulsisque vitiis recreant vires.

[3] Many treat cattle with the stalks of the white vine and the little pods (valves) of ervil; some mix ground snakeskin with wine. There is also as a remedy thyme ground with sweet wine, and squill chopped and macerated in water. All these aforesaid potions, in the measure of three heminae, given once each day for three days, purge the bowels, and, the maladies having been driven off, restore the strength.

[4] Maxime tamen habetur salutaris amurca, si tantundem aquae misceas, et ea pecus insuescas; quae protinus dari non potest, sed primo cibi asperguntur, deinde exigua portione medicatur aqua, mox pari mensura mista datur ad saturitatem.

[4] Most of all, however, amurca is considered salutary, if you mix just as much water, and accustom the herd to it; which cannot be given immediately, but at first the fodders are sprinkled, then the water is medicated with a scant portion, soon, mixed in equal measure, it is given to satiety.

V. Nullo autem tempore et minime aestate utile est boves in cursum concitari; nam ea res aut cit alvum, aut movet febrem. Cavendum quoque est, ne ad praesepia sus aut gallina perrepat. Nam hoc quod decidit, immistum pabulo, bubus affert necem; et id praecipue, quod egerit sus aegra, pestilentiam facere valet.

5. At no time—and least of all in summer—is it useful to incite the oxen into a run; for that practice either sets the bowels in motion, or stirs a fever. It must also be guarded against, lest a pig or a hen creep to the mangers. For that which falls down, mixed into the fodder, brings death to the oxen; and especially that which a sick sow has excreted has the power to cause pestilence.

Quae cum in gregem incidit, confestim mutandus est caeli status, et in plures partes distributo pecore longinquae regiones petendae sunt, atque ita segregandi a sanis morbidi, ne quis interveniat, qui contagione ceteros labefaciat.

When this falls upon the herd, the condition of the climate must be changed at once, and, with the cattle distributed into several parts, far-off regions must be sought; and thus the sick are to be segregated from the sound, lest anyone mingle who, by contagion, may undermine the rest.

[2] Itaque cum ablegabuntur, in ea loca perducendi sunt, quibus nullum impascitur pecus, ne adventu suo etiam illi tabem afferant. Evincendi sunt autem quamvis pestiferi morbi, et exquisitis remediis propulsandi. Tunc panacis et eryngii radices foeniculi seminibus miscendae, et cum fricti ac moliti tritici farina candenti aqua conspergendae, eoque medicamine salivandum aegrotum pecus.

[2] Therefore, when they are sent away, they must be led into those places in which no herd grazes, lest by their arrival they bring tabes (wasting) even to those. Pestiferous diseases, however, must be vanquished and repelled with exquisite (carefully sought) remedies. Then the roots of panax and eryngium are to be mixed with the seeds of fennel, and, with flour of wheat that has been roasted and ground, are to be moistened with scalding water; and with that medicament the ailing cattle are to be made to salivate.

[3] Tunc paribus casiae myrrhaeque et thuris ponderibus, ac tantumdem sanguinis marinae testudinis miscetur potio cum vini veteris sextariis tribus, et ita per nares infunditur. Sed ipsum medicamentum ponderis sescunciae divisum, portione aequa per triduum cum vino dedisse sat erit. Praesens etiam remedium cognovimus radiculae, quam pastores consiliginem vocant.

[3] Then a potion is mixed with equal weights of cassia, myrrh, and frankincense, and just as much blood of a sea turtle, with three sextarii of old wine, and thus it is poured in through the nostrils. But the medicament itself, of the weight of one and a half ounces, divided, it will be enough to have given in an equal portion with wine over three days. We have also recognized a present remedy in the small root which the shepherds call consiliginem.

Ea in Marsis montibus plurima nascitur, omnique pecori maxime est salutaris. Laeva manu effoditur ante solis ortum. Sic enim lecta maiorem vim creditur habere.

It grows in the mountains of the Marsi in very great abundance, and is most salutary to all livestock. It is dug up with the left hand before the sun’s rising. For thus gathered it is believed to have greater potency.

[4] Usus eius traditur talis. Aenea fibula pars auriculae latissima circumscribitur, ita ut manante sanguine tamquam O litterae ductus appareat orbiculus. Hoc et intrinsecus et ex superiore parte auriculae cum factum est, media pars descripti orbiculi eadem fibula transuitur, et facto foramini praedicta radicula inseritur; quam cum recens plaga comprehendit, ita continet, ut elabi non possit; in eam deinde auriculam omnis vis morbi pestilensque virus elicitur, donec pars, quae fibula circumscripta est, demortua excidit, et minimae partis iactura caput conservatur.

[4] Its use is handed down thus. With a bronze fibula, the broadest part of the ear is circumscribed, so that, as the blood emanates, a little circle appears like the stroke of the letter O. When this has been done both on the inside and on the upper part of the ear, the middle part of the described little circle is pierced through with the same fibula, and, a hole having been made, the aforesaid little root is inserted; which, when the fresh wound grasps it, holds it so that it cannot slip out; then into that ear all the force of the disease and the pestilential virus is drawn forth, until the part that has been circumscribed by the fibula, having died, falls away, and with the loss of a very small part the head is preserved.

Cornelius Celsus etiam visci folia cum vino trita per nares infundere iubet. Haec facienda, si gregatim pecora laborant; illa deinceps, si singula.

Cornelius Celsus also bids that leaves of mistletoe, triturated with wine, be infused through the nostrils. These are to be done if the cattle are ailing en masse; those, in turn, if individual animals.

VI. Cruditatis signa sunt crebri ructus ac ventris sonitus, fastidia cibi, nervorum intentio, hebetes oculi. Propter quae bos neque ruminat neque lingua se deterget. Remedio erunt aquae calidae duo congii, et mox triginta brassicae caules modice cocti et ex aceto dati.

6. The signs of crudity (indigestion) are frequent belchings and sounds of the belly, aversions to food, tension of the sinews, dull eyes. Because of these, the ox neither ruminates nor cleans itself with its tongue. As a remedy there will be two congii of hot water, and soon thirty stalks of cabbage, moderately cooked and given with vinegar.

Sed uno die abstinendum est alio cibo.

But for one day one must abstain from other food.

[2] Quidam clausum intra tecta continent, ne pasci possit. Tum lentisci oleastrique cacuminum pondo IIII, et libram mellis una trita permiscent aquae congio, quam nocte una sub dio habent, atque ita faucibus infundunt. Deinde interposita hora macerati ervi quattuor libras obiciunt, aliaque potione prohibent.

[2] Some keep it shut up indoors, so that it cannot graze. Then they thoroughly mix, ground all together, 4 pounds of the tops of mastic and wild olive, and a pound of honey, with a congius of water, which they keep for one night under the open sky, and so they pour it into the throat. Then, after an hour has intervened, they throw in 4 pounds of soaked ervil, and they forbid any other drink.

[3] Hoc per triduum fieri debet, dum omnis causa languoris discutiatur. Nam si neglecta cruditas est, et inflatio ventris et intestinorum maior dolor insequitur, qui nec capere cibos sinit, gemitus exprimit, locoque stare non patitur, saepe decumbere, et agitare caput caudamque crebrius agere cogit. Manifestum remedium est proximam clunibus partem caudae vinculo vehementer obstringere, vinique sextarium cum olei hemina faucibus infundere atque ita citatum per mille et quingentos passus agere.

[3] This ought to be done for three days, until every cause of languor is shaken off. For if indigestion has been neglected, both a bloating of the belly and a greater pain of the intestines follows, which neither allows it to take food, forces groans, does not permit it to stand in one place, compels it often to lie down, and to shake the head and to move the tail more frequently. The manifest remedy is to bind very tightly with a ligature the part of the tail nearest to the haunches, and to pour into the throat a sextarius of wine with a hemina of oil, and thus to drive it at speed for 1,500 paces.

[4] Si dolor remanet, ungulas circumsecare, et uncta manu per anum inserta fimum extrahere, rursusque agere currentem. Si nec hoc profuit, tres caprifici aridi conteruntur, et cum dodrante aquae calidae dantur. Ubi nec haec medicina processit, myrti silvestris foliorum duae librae laevigantur, totidemque sextarii calidae aquae misti per vas ligneum faucibus infunduntur.

[4] If the pain remains, pare the hooves, and, with a greased hand inserted through the anus, extract the dung, and again drive him at a run. If not even this has profited, three dried caprifigs are crushed and are given with three-quarters of a sextarius of hot water. When not even this medicament has succeeded, two pounds of the leaves of wild myrtle are smoothed/ground, and an equal number of sextarii of hot water, mixed, are poured into the throat through a wooden vessel.

Atque ira sub cauda sanguis emittitur. Qui cum satis profluxit, inhibetur papyri ligamine. Tum concitate agitur pecus eo usque, dum anhelat.

And thus blood is let under the tail. When it has flowed out sufficiently, it is checked by a papyrus ligature. Then the animal is driven rapidly until it pants.

[5] Sunt et ante detractionem sanguinis illa remedia: tribus heminis vini tres unciae pinsiti alii permiscentur, et post eam potionem currere cogitur. Vel salis sextans cum cepis decem conteritur, et admisto melle decocto collyria immittuntur alvo, atque ita citatus bos agitur.

[5] There are also those remedies before bloodletting: three ounces of pounded garlic are mixed with three heminae of wine, and after that potion he is compelled to run. Or a sextans of salt is pounded with ten onions, and, honey added and boiled, suppositories are inserted into the bowels, and thus the ox, urged on, is driven.

VII. Ventris quoque et intestinorum dolor sedatur visu nantium et maxime anatis. Quam si conspexerit, cui intestinum dolet, celeriter tormento liberatur. Eadem anas maiore profectu mulos et equinum genus conspectu suo sanat.

7. The pain of the belly and of the intestines is also calmed by the sight of swimmers, and most of all of the duck. If one whose intestine hurts has caught sight of it, he is quickly freed from torment. The same duck, with greater effect, heals mules and the equine kind by its own gaze.

Sed interdum nulla prodest medicina. Sequitur torminum vitium, quorum signum est cruenta et mucosa ventris proluvies.

But sometimes no medicine is of benefit. The colic-malady follows, the sign of which is a bloody and mucous flux of the belly.

[2] Remedio sunt cupressini quindecim coni, totidemque gallae, et utrorumque ponderis vetustissimus caseus. Quibus in unum tunsis admiscentur austeri vini quattuor sextarii, qui pari mensura per quatriduum dispensati dantur; nec desint lentisci myrtique et oleastri cacumina viridis. Alvus corpus ac vires carpit, operique inutilem reddit.

[2] A remedy consists of fifteen cones of the cypress and just as many galls, and of both an equal weight of the most time-worn cheese; when these are pounded together, four sextarii of austere wine are added, which are given, dispensed in equal measure, over a period of four days; nor let the green tips of mastic, myrtle, and wild olive (oleaster) be lacking. The bowel wastes the body and the strength, and renders one useless for work.

Quae cum accident, prohibendus erit bos potione per triduum, primoque die cibo abstinendus.

When these things occur, the ox shall be kept from drink for three days, and on the first day be made to abstain from food.

[3] Sed mox cacumina oleastri et arundinis, item baccae lentisci et myrti dandae; nec potestas aquae nisi quam parcissimae facienda est. Sunt qui tenerorum lauri foliorum libram et abrotonum erraticum pari portione deterant cum aquae calidae duobus sextariis, atque ita faucibus infundant, eademque pabula, ut supra diximus, obiciant.

[3] But soon the sprigs of the oleaster and of reed, likewise the berries of lentisk and myrtle are to be given; nor should access to water be allowed except the most sparing. There are those who grind a pound of tender laurel leaves and wild abrotanum in equal portion with two sextarii of hot water, and so pour it into the throat, and they offer the same fodders, as we said above.

[4] Quidam vinaceorum duas libras torrefaciunt, et ita conterunt cum totidem sextariis vini austeri, potandumque medicamentum praebent, omnique alio humore prohibent, nec minus cacumina praedictarum arborum obiciunt. Quod si neque ventris restiterit citata proluvies, neque intestinorum ac ventris dolor, cibosque respuet, et praegravato capite saepius quam consuevit, lacrymae ab oculis et pituita a naribus profluent, usque ad ossa frons media uratur, auresque ferro scindantur. Sed vulnera facta igne dum sanescunt, defricare bubula urina convenit.

[4] Some torrefy two pounds of grape-pressings (marc), and thus grind them with just as many sextarii of austere wine, and they provide the medicament to be drunk, and they prohibit every other liquid, and no less do they throw in the tips of the aforesaid trees. But if neither the hurried flux of the belly abates, nor the pain of the intestines and belly, and it rejects its foods, and, with the head weighed down more often than is customary, tears flow from the eyes and phlegm from the nostrils, let the middle of the brow be burned even to the bones, and let the ears be cut with iron. But while the wounds made by fire are healing, it is fitting to rub them with ox urine.

Ac ferro rescissa melius pice et oleo curantur.

And those cut open with iron are better treated with pitch and oil.

VIII. Solent etiam fastidia ciborum afferre vitiosa incrementa linguae, quas ranas veterinarii vocant. Haec ferro reciduntur, et sale cum alio pariter trito vulnera defricantur, donec lacessita pituita decedit. Tum vino proluitur os, et interposito unius horae spatio virides herbae et frondes dantur, dum facta ulcera cicatrices ducant.

8. Disgusts of foods also are wont to bring on diseased increments of the tongue, which veterinarians call “frogs.” These are cut away with iron, and the wounds are rubbed with salt ground together with garlic, until the provoked phlegm departs. Then the mouth is rinsed with wine, and, after an interval of one hour has been interposed, green herbs and leaves are given, until the ulcers that have been made draw cicatrices.

Si neque ranae fuerint, neque alvus citata, et nihilo minus cibos non appetet, proderit alium pinsitum cum oleo per nares infundere, vel sale, vel cunila defricare fauces, vel eandem partem alio tunso et hallecula linire. Sed haec si solum fastidium est.

If there are neither “frogs,” nor have the bowels been stirred, and nonetheless he does not have an appetite for food, it will be helpful to pour pounded garlic with oil through the nostrils, or to rub the throat with salt, or with cunila, or to smear the same part with pounded garlic and a little brine (hallecula). But these are [for use] if it is only fastidiousness.

IX. Febricitanti bovi convenit abstineri cibo uno die, postero deinde exiguum sanguinem ieiuno sub cauda emitti, atque interposita hora modicae magnitudinis doctos brassicae coliculos triginta ex oleo et garo salivati more demitti, eamque escam per quinque dies ieiuno dari. Praeterea cacumina lentisci aut oleae, vel tenerrimam quamque frondem, aut pampinos vitis obici; tum etiam spongia labra detergeri, et aquam frigidam ter die praeberi potandam.

CHAPTER 9. For a feverish ox it is fitting to abstain from food for one day; on the next, then, a small amount of blood is to be let out from the fasting animal beneath the tail, and, an hour having been interposed, thirty prepared shoots of cabbage of moderate size, with oil and garum, are to be sent down in the manner of salivation, and that food is to be given to the fasting animal for five days. Besides, the tops of the lentisk or the olive, or any very tender frond, or the pampins of the vine are to be offered; then also the lips are to be deterged with a sponge, and cold water is to be provided to drink three times a day.

[2] Quae medicina sub tecto fieri debet, nec ante sanitatem bos emitti. Signa febricitantis manantes lacrimae, gravatum caput, oculi compressi, fluidum salivis os, longior et cum quodam impedimento tractus spiritus, interdum et cum gemitu.

[2] This remedy ought to be done under a roof, nor should the ox be sent out before health is regained. The signs of the febrile one are flowing tears, a weighed-down head, compressed eyes, a mouth fluid with saliva, a longer respiration drawn with a certain impediment, sometimes even with a groan.

X. Recens tussis optime salivato farinae ordeaceae discutitur. Interdum magis prosunt gramina concisa, et his admista fresa faba. Lentis quoque valvulis exemptae, et minute molitae, miscentur aquae calidae sextarii duo, factaque sorbitio per cornu infunditur.

X. A recent cough is best dispersed by salivated barley flour. Sometimes cut grasses are more beneficial, and to these is added crushed bean mixed in. Lentils too, with the husks removed and ground finely, are mixed with two sextarii of hot water, and the draught thus made is poured in through a horn.

Veterem tussim sanant duae librae hyssopi macerati sextariis aquae tribus. Nam id medicamentum teritur, et cum lentis minute, ut dixi, molitae sextariis quattuor more salivati datur, ac postea aqua hyssopi per cornu infunditur.

Two pounds of hyssop, macerated in three sextarii of water, cure an old cough. For that medicament is ground, and, with lentils finely ground, as I said, it is given in four sextarii after the manner of a salivated preparation, and afterward the hyssop-water is poured in through a horn.

[2] Porri enim succus oleo, vel ipsa fibra cum ordeacea farina contrita remedio est. Eiusdem radices diligenter lotae, et cum farre triticeo pinsitae ieiunoque datae vetustissimam tussim discutiunt. Facit idem pari mensura ervum sine valvulis cum torrefacto ordeo molitum, et salivati more in fauces demissum.

[2] For leek-juice with oil, or the fiber itself crushed with barley flour, is a remedy. The roots of the same, carefully washed and pounded with wheat meal, and given to one fasting, drive off a very long-standing cough. The same is effected by vetch, in equal measure, without husks, ground with roasted barley, and, after the manner of a salivation, let down into the throat.

XI. Suppuratio melius ferro rescinditur, quam medicamento. Expressa deinde sanie sinus ipse, qui eam continebat, calida bubula urina eluitur, atque ita linamentis pice liquida et oleo imbutis colligatur. Vel si colligari ea pars non potest, lamina candenti sevum caprinum aut bubulum instillatur.

11. Suppuration is better cut open with iron than with a medicament. Then, the sanies having been expressed, the sinus itself which contained it is washed out with warm bovine urine, and thus it is bound with bandages soaked with liquid pitch and oil. Or, if that part cannot be bound, goat or ox tallow is dripped in by means of a glowing plate.

Quidam, cum vitiosam partem inusserunt, urina vetere eluunt, atque ita aequis ponderibus incocta pice liquida cum vetere axungia linunt.

Some, when they have cauterized the diseased part, wash it out with old urine, and thus smear it with liquid pitch cooked together in equal weights with old axunge.

XII. Sanguis demissus in pedes claudicationem affert. Quod cum accidit, statim ungula inspicitur. Tactus autem fervorem demonstrat; nec bos vitiatam partem vehementius premi patitur.

12. Blood, having descended into the feet, brings on claudication. When this happens, the hoof is examined at once. The touch, however, demonstrates fervor; nor does the ox permit the damaged part to be pressed more vehemently.

Sed si sanguis adhuc supra ungulas in cruribus est, fricatione assidua discutitur; vel cum ea nihil profuit, scarificatione demitur. At si iam in ungulis est, inter duos ungues cultello leviter aperies.

But if the blood is still above the hooves in the legs, it is dispersed by assiduous friction; or, when that has profited nothing, it is removed by scarification. But if it is already in the hooves, you will lightly open between the two hooves with a small knife.

[2] Postea linamenta sale atque aceto imbuta applicantur, ac solea spartea pes induitur, maximeque datur opera, ne bos in aquam pedem mittat, et ut sicce stabuletur. Hic idem sanguis nisi emissus fuerit, famicem creabit, qui si suppuraverit, tarde percurabitur; ac primum ferro circumcisus et expurgatus, deinde pannis aceto et sale et oleo madentibus inculcatis, mox axungia vetere et sevo hircino pari pondere decoctis, ad sanitatem perducitur.

[2] Afterwards, linen-strips (linaments) soaked with salt and vinegar are applied, and the foot is put into an esparto sandal; and special care is taken that the ox not put his foot into water, and that he be stabled dry. This same blood, unless it is let out, will create a phlegmon, which, if it has suppurated, will be slowly cured; and first, having been cut around with the iron and cleaned out, then with cloths soaked in vinegar and salt and oil packed in, soon, with old axle-grease and goat suet boiled together in equal weight, it is brought to health.

[3] Si sanguis in inferiore parte ungulae est, extrema pars ipsius unguis ad vivum resecatur, et ita emittitur, ac linamentis pes involutus spartea munitur. Mediam ungulam ab inferiore parte non expedit aperire, nisi eo loco iam suppuratio facta est. Si dolore nervorum claudicat, oleo et sale genua poplitesque et crura confricanda sunt, donec sanetur.

[3] If the blood is in the lower part of the hoof, the farthest part of the hoof itself is cut back to the quick, and so it is let out; and the foot, wrapped with bandages, is secured with esparto. It is not expedient to open the middle of the hoof from the lower side, unless in that place suppuration has already formed. If it limps from pain of the nerves, the knees, the hocks, and the legs must be rubbed with oil and salt, until it is healed.

[4] Si genua intumuerint, calido aceto fovenda sunt, et lini semen aut milium detritum conspersumque aqua mulsa imponendum; spongia quoque ferventi aqua imbuta et expressa litaque melle recte genibus applicatur, ac fasciis circumdatur. Quod si tumori subest aliquis humor, fermentum vel farina ordeacea ex passo aut aqua mulsa decocta imponitur; et cum maturuerit suppuratio, rescinditur ferro, eaque emissa, ut supra docuimus, linamentis curatur.

[4] If the knees have swollen, they are to be fomented with warm vinegar, and flaxseed or millet, ground and sprinkled/mixed with honey-water, is to be applied; a sponge too, soaked in boiling water, wrung out, and smeared with honey, is rightly applied to the knees, and it is bound with bandages. But if there is some humor underlying the swelling, leaven or barley flour, decocted with passum or honey-water, is applied; and when the suppuration has matured, it is cut open with iron, and, that having been let out, as we have taught above, it is treated with bandages.

[5] Possunt etiam, ut Cornelius Celsus praecipit, lilii radix aut scilla cum sale, vel sanguinalis herba, quam polygonon Graeci appellant, vel marrubium ferro reclusa sanare. Fere autem omnis dolor corporis, si sine vulnere est, recens melius fomentis discutitur; vetus uritur, et supra ustum butyrum vel caprina instillatur adeps.

[5] They can also, as Cornelius Celsus prescribes, the root of the lily or squill with salt, or the sanguinary herb, which the Greeks call polygonon, or marrubium (horehound), heal what has been opened with iron. Generally, moreover, every pain of the body, if it is without a wound, when recent is better dispersed by fomentations; an old one is cauterized, and upon the cauterized part butter or goat-fat is dripped.

XIII. Scabies extenuatur trito alio defricto; eademque remedio curatur rabiosae canis vel lupi morsus, qui tamen et ipse imposito vulneri vetere salsamento aeque bene sanatur. Et ad scabiem praesentior alia medicina est. Cunila bubula et sulphur conteruntur, admistaque amurca cum oleo atque aceto incoquuntur.

13. Scabies is attenuated by rubbing with crushed garlic; and by the same remedy the bite of a rabid dog or wolf is treated, which, however, is healed equally well by applying old brine to the wound. And for scabies there is another more present/effective medicine: pennyroyal (cunila bubula) and sulfur are pounded, and, amurca (olive lees) having been mixed in, they are cooked down with oil and vinegar.

Deinde tepefactis scissum alumen tritum spargitur. Id medicamentum candente sole illitum maxime prodest.

Then, when the parts have been warmed, pounded split alum is sprinkled. That medicament, when smeared on with the sun blazing, is most beneficial.

[2] Ulceribus gallae tritae remedio sunt. Nec minus succus marrubii cum fuligine. Est et infesta pestis bubulo pecori; coriaginem rustici appellant, cum pellis ita tergori adhaeret, ut apprehensa manibus deduci a costis non possit.

[2] For ulcers, ground galls are a remedy. No less so is the juice of marrubium with soot. There is also a hostile pest upon bovine cattle; the rustics call it coriaginem, when the hide so adheres to the back that, though grasped with the hands, it cannot be drawn away from the ribs.

Ea res non aliter accidit, quam si bos aut ex languore aliquo ad maciem perductus est, aut sudans in opere faciendo refrixit, aut si sub onere pluvia madefactus est.

This condition happens in no other way than if the ox has either been brought by some languor to emaciation, or, sweating in the doing of work, has been chilled, or if under a burden he has been soaked by rain.

[3] Quae quoniam perniciosa sunt, custodiendum est, ut cum ab onere boves redierint, adhuc aestuantes anhelantesque vino aspergantur, et offae adipis faucibus eorum inserantur. Quod si praedictum vitium inhaeserit, proderit decoquere laurum et ea calda fovere terga, multoque oleo et vino confestim subigere, ac per omnes partes apprehendere et attrahere pellem. Idque optime fit sub dio, sole fervente.

[3] Since these things are pernicious, care must be taken that, when the oxen have returned from their burden, while still seething and panting they be sprinkled with wine, and lumps of fat be inserted into their throats. But if the aforesaid disease has fastened on, it will be helpful to decoct bay (laurel) and with it, while hot, to foment the backs, and straightway with much oil and wine to work them in, and to seize and draw the skin through all its parts. And this is done best under the open sky, with the sun blazing.

Quidam fraces vino et adipi commiscent, eoque medicamento post fomenta praedicta utuntur.

Some mix bran with wine and with fat, and employ that medicament after the aforesaid fomentations.

XIV. Est etiam illa gravis pernicies, cum pulmones exulcerantur. Inde tussis et macies et ad ultimum phthisis invadit. Quae ne mortem afferant, radix consiliginis ita, ut supra docuimus, perforatae auriculae inseritur, tum porri succus instar heminae pari olei mensurae miscetur, et cum vini sextario potandus datur diebus compluribus.

14. There is also that grave ruination, when the lungs are ulcerated. Thence a cough and wasting, and at last phthisis, invades. So that these may not bring death, the root of consiligo, as we taught above, is inserted into a perforated ear; then leek juice, to the amount of a hemina, is mixed with an equal measure of oil, and it is given to be drunk with a sextarius of wine for several days.

[2] Interdum et tumor palati cibos respuit, crebrumque suspirium facit, et hanc speciem praebet, ut bos in latus pendere videatur. Ferro palatum opus est sauciare, ut sanguis profluat, et exemptum valvulis ervum maceratum viridemque frondem, vel aliud molle pabulum, dum sanetur praebere.

[2] Sometimes too a tumor of the palate spits back foods, and it causes frequent suspiration, and presents this appearance, that the ox seems to hang to one side. With iron the palate must be wounded, so that blood may flow forth, and vetch, soaked and removed from its husks, and green foliage, or other soft fodder, should be offered until it is healed.

[3] Si in opere collum contuderit, praestantissimum est remedium sanguis de aure emissus; aut si id factum non erit, herba, quae vocatur avia, cum sale trite et imposita. Si cervix mota et deiecta est, considerabimus quam in partem declinet, et ex diversa auricula sanguinem detrahemus. Ea porro vena, quae in aure videtur esse amplissima, sarmento prius verberatur.

[3] If at work it has bruised the neck, the most excellent remedy is blood let from the ear; or, if that has not been done, the herb which is called avia, pounded with salt and applied. If the neck has been shifted and cast down, we shall consider to which side it inclines, and from the opposite auricle we shall draw blood. Moreover, that vein which in the ear seems to be the most ample is first beaten with a vine-twig.

Deinde cum ad ictum intumuit, cultello solvitur; et postero die iterum ex eodem loco sanguis emittitur, ac biduo ab opere datur vacatio. Tertio deinde die levis iniungitur labor, et paulatim ad iusta perducitur.

Then, when it has swollen at the blow, it is relieved with a little knife; and on the next day blood is again let from the same place, and a vacation from work for two days is given. Then on the third day light labor is enjoined, and little by little it is brought to proper duties.

[4] Quod si cervix in neutram partem deiecta est, mediaque intumuit, ex utraque auricula sanguis emittitur. Qui cum intra triduum, cum bos vitium cepit, emissus non est, intumescit collum, nervique tenduntur, et inde nata durities iugum non patitur.

[4] But if the neck has been cast down to neither side, and has swollen in the middle, blood is let from each ear. If this has not been done within three days from when the ox incurred the defect, the neck swells, the sinews are stretched taut, and a hardness arising thence does not endure the yoke.

[5] Tali vitio comperimus aureum esse medicamentum ex pice liquida et bubula medulla et hircino sevo et vetere oleo aequis ponderibus compositum atque incoctum. Hac compositione sic utendum est. Cum disiungitur ab opere, in ea piscina, ex qua bibit, tumor cervicis aqua madefactus subigitur, praedictoque medicamento defricatur et illinitur.

[5] For such a defect we have found a golden medicament made from liquid pitch, bovine marrow, hircine tallow, and old oil, compounded in equal weights and cooked together. This composition is to be used thus. When it is disjoined from work, in the pool from which it drinks the swelling of the neck, moistened with water, is worked down, and it is rubbed and smeared with the aforesaid medicament.

[6] Si ex toto propter cervicis tumorem iugum recuset, paucis diebus requies ab opere danda est. Tum cervix aqua frigida defricanda et spuma argenti illinenda est. Celsus quidem tumenti cervici herbam, quae vocatur avia, ut supra dixi, contundi et imponi iubet.

[6] If on account of the swelling of the neck he altogether refuses the yoke, rest from work must be given for a few days. Then the neck is to be rubbed with cold water and smeared with litharge (the “foam of silver”). Celsus indeed orders that for the swelling neck the herb which is called avia, as I said above, be crushed and applied.

Clavorum, qui fere cervicem infestant, minor molestia est; nam facile oleo per ardentem lucernam instillato curantur.

The clavi, which for the most part infest the neck, are a lesser annoyance; for they are easily cured by instilling oil dripped from a burning lamp.

[7] Potior tamen ratio est custodiendi, ne nascantur, neve colla calvescant, quae non aliter glabra fiunt, nisi cum sudore aut pluvia cervix in opere madefacta est. Itaque cum id accidit, lateritio trito prius quam disiungantur colla conspergi oportet; deinde cum id siccum erit, subinde oleo imbui.

[7] The preferable method, however, is prevention: that they not arise, nor that the necks grow bald, which become glabrous only when, at work, the neck has been soaked with sweat or rain. And so, when that happens, before the necks are unyoked, they ought to be sprinkled with ground brick; then, when that is dry, to be anointed from time to time with oil.

XV. Si talum aut ungulam vomer laeserit, picem duram et axungiam cum sulphura et lana succida involutam candente ferro supra vulnus inurito. Quod idem remedium optime facit exempta stirpe, si forte surculum calcaverit, aut acuta testa vel lapide ungulam pertuderit; quae tamen si altius vulnerata est, latius ferro circumciditur, et ita inuritur, ut supra praecepi; deinde spartea calceata per triduum suffuso aceto curatur.

15. If the ploughshare has injured the ankle or the hoof, burn in over the wound with a white-hot iron hard pitch and axle-grease (axunge) mixed with sulphur and wrapped in raw wool. This same remedy works very well, the splinter removed, if by chance he has trodden on a shoot, or a sharp potsherd or a stone has pierced the hoof; which, however, if it has been wounded more deeply, is cut around more broadly with iron, and thus cauterized as I prescribed above; then, shod with esparto, for three days it is treated with vinegar poured on.

[2] Item si vomer crus sauciarit, marina lactuca, quam Graeci tithymalon vocant, admisto sale imponitur. Subtriti pedes eluuntur calefacta bubula urina; deinde fasce sarmentorum incenso, cum iam ignis in favillam recidit, ferventibus cineribus cogitur insistere, ac pice liquida cum oleo vel axungia cornua eius linuntur. Minus tamen claudicabunt armenta, si opere disiunctis multa frigida laventur pedes; et deinde suffragines, coronae, ac discrimen ipsum, quo divisa est bovis ungula, vetere axungia defricentur.

[2] Likewise, if the plowshare has wounded the leg, sea-lettuce, which the Greeks call tithymalon, with salt mixed in, is applied. The chafed feet are washed with warmed bovine urine; then, a bundle of prunings having been set alight, when the fire has now fallen back into embers, it is made to stand on the seething ashes, and its hooves are smeared with liquid pitch with oil or axle-grease. The herds will, however, limp less, if, when released from work, the feet are bathed with much cold water; and then the fetlocks, the coronets, and the very cleft by which the ox’s hoof is divided, are rubbed with old axle-grease.

XVI. Saepe etiam vel gravitate longi laboris, vel [cum] in proscindendo, aut duriori solo, aut obviae radici obluctatus, convellit armos. Quod cum accidit, et prioribus cruribus sanguis mittendus est; si dextrum armum laesit, in sinistro; si laevum, in dextro; si vehementius utrumque vitiavit, item in posterioribus cruribus venae solventur.

16. Often also either by the weight of long labor, or [when] in plowing, whether in harder soil or having wrestled with a root met in the way, it wrenches the shoulders. When this happens, blood must be let from the forelegs; if it has injured the right shoulder, then from the left; if the left, from the right; if it has impaired both more severely, likewise the veins will be opened in the hind legs.

[2] Praefractis cornibus linteola sale atque aceto et oleo imbuta superponuntur, ligatisque per triduum eadem infunduntur. Quarto demum axungia pari pondere cum pice liquida, et cortice pineo, levigata imponitur. Et ad ultimum cum iam cicatricem ducunt, fuligo infricatur.

[2] With the horns broken off, little linen cloths soaked with salt and vinegar and oil are laid on, and, with them tied in place, the same are poured on for three days. On the fourth at last, a mixture, ground smooth, of axle-grease in equal weight with liquid pitch and pine bark is applied. And at the end, when they are already drawing a scar, soot is rubbed in.

Solent etiam neglecta ulcera scatere vermibus; qui si mane perfunduntur aqua frigida, rigore contracti decidunt, vel si hac ratione non possunt eximi, marrubium aut porrum conteritur, et admisto sale imponitur. Id celeriter necat praedicta animalia.

Neglected ulcers are also wont to teem with worms; which, if in the morning they are perfused with cold water, contracted by the rigor they fall off; or, if by this method they cannot be removed, horehound or leek is crushed, and with salt admixed is applied. This quickly kills the aforesaid animals.

[3] Sed expurgatis ulceribus confestim adhibenda sunt linamenta cum pice et oleo vetereque axungia, et extra vulnera eodem medicamento circumlinienda, ne infestentur a muscis, quae, ubi ulceribus insederunt, vermes creant.

[3] But with the ulcers cleansed, bandages must immediately be applied with pitch and oil and old lard, and outside the wounds they are to be smeared around with the same medicament, lest they be infested by flies, which, when they have sat down upon ulcers, create worms.

XVII. Est etiam mortiferus serpentis ictus, est et minorum animalium noxium virus. Nam et vipera et caecilia saepe cum in pascuo bos improvide supercubuit, lacessita onere morsum imprimit. Musque araneus, quem Graeci mygalen appellant, quamvis exiguis dentibus non exiguam pestem molitur.

17. There is also the deadly stroke of a serpent, and there is the noxious venom of lesser animals. For both the viper and the caecilia, often when on pasture an ox has improvidently lain down upon them, provoked by the weight they press in a bite. And the shrew, whom the Greeks call mygale, although with tiny teeth, contrives no small pest.

Venena viperae depellit super scarificationem ferro factam herba, quam vocant personatam, trita et cum sale imposita.

The herb which they call personata, crushed and applied with salt, drives off viper-venom when set over a scarification made with iron.

[2] Plus etiam eiusdem radix contusa prodest, vel si montanum trifolium invenitur, quod confragosis locis efficacissimum nascitur, odoris gravis, neque absimilis bitumini, et idcirco Graeci eam asphalton appellant; nostri autem propter figuram vocant acutum trifolium; nam longis et hirsutis foliis viret, caulemque robustiorem facit, quam pratense.

[2] Even more, the contused root of the same is beneficial, or, if the mountain trifolium is found—which is born most efficacious in craggy places, of a grave odor, and not unlike to bitumen, and therefore the Greeks call it asphalton; our people, however, on account of the figure, call it the sharp trefoil; for it is green with long and hirsute leaves, and makes a more robust stalk than the meadow kind.

[3] Huius herbae succus vino mistus infunditur faucibus, atque ipsa folia cum sale trita malagmatis more, scarificationi intenditur; vel si hanc herbam viridem tempus anni negat, semina eius collecta et levigata cum vino dantur potanda, radicesque cum suo caulae tritae, atque hordeaceae farinae et sali commistae ex aqua mulsa scarificationi superponuntur.

[3] The juice of this herb, mixed with wine, is infused into the fauces; and the leaves themselves, ground with salt, are applied, in the manner of a malagma, to the scarification; or, if the season of the year denies this herb fresh, its seeds, collected and levigated, are given to be drunk with wine; and the roots, ground with their own stalk, and commixed with barley flour and salt, are superposed upon the scarification with honeyed water.

[4] Est etiam praesens remedium, si conteras fraxini tenera cacumina quinque librarum, cum totidem vini et duobus sextariis olei, expressumque succum faucibus infundas; itemque cacumina eiusdem arboris cum sale trita laesae parti superponas. Caeciliae morsus tumorem, suppurationem molitur. Idem facit etiam muris aranei.

[4] There is also a present remedy, if you grind the tender tips of the ash tree, five pounds, with an equal amount of wine and two sextarii of oil, and pour the expressed juice into the throat; likewise, you place the tips of the same tree, ground with salt, upon the injured part. The bite of the caecilian promotes swelling and suppuration. The same is done also by the shrew-mouse.

Sed illius sanatur noxa subula aenea, si locum laesum compungas, cretaque cimolia ex aceto linas.

But its noxa is healed by a bronze awl, if you prick the injured place, and smear Cimolian chalk with vinegar.

[5] Mus perniciem, quam intulit, suo corpore luit; nam animal ipsum oleo mersum necatur, et cum imputruit, conteritur, eaque medicamine morsus muris aranei linitur. Vel si id non adest, tumorque ostendit iniuriam dentium, cuminum conteritur, eique adicitur exiguum picis liquidae et axungiae, ut lentorem malagmatis habeat.

[5] The mouse pays with its own body for the destruction it has brought; for the animal itself, plunged in oil, is killed, and when it has putrefied, it is crushed, and with that medicament the bite of the shrew-mouse is anointed. Or if that is not at hand, and the swelling shows the injury of the teeth, cumin is crushed, and to it there is added a small amount of liquid pitch and lard, so that it may have the stickiness of a malagma (poultice).

[6] Id impositum pernicem commovet. Vel si antequam tumor discutiatur, in suppurationem convertitur, optimum est ignea lamina conversionem resecare, et quicquid vitiosi est, inurere, atque ita liquida pice cum oleo linire. Solet etiam ipsum animal creta figulari circumdari; quae cum siccata est, collo boum suspenditur.

[6] That, when applied, moves the pernicious affection. Or if, before the swelling is dispelled, it is converted into suppuration, it is best with a fiery blade to cut back the conversion, and to burn in whatever is unsound, and thus to smear with liquid pitch together with oil. It is also customary for the animal itself to be surrounded with potter’s clay; when this has dried, it is hung from the necks of oxen.

Ea res innoxium pecus a morsu muris aranei praebet.

This measure keeps the herd unharmed from the bite of the shrew-mouse.

[7] Oculorum vitia plerumque melle sanantur. Nam sive intumuerunt, aqua mulsa triticea farina conspergitur et imponitur; sive album in oculo est, montanus sal Hispanus vel Ammoniacus vel etiam Cappadocus, minute tritus et immistus melli vitium extenuat. Facit idem trita sepiae testa, et per fistulam ter die oculo inspirata.

[7] The defects of the eyes are for the most part healed by honey. For whether they have swollen, honeyed water is sprinkled with triticeous (wheat) flour and applied; or if a white spot is in the eye, mountain salt—Spanish, or Ammoniac, or even Cappadocian—minutely ground and mixed with honey attenuates the blemish. The same effect is produced by the ground shell of the cuttlefish, blown into the eye through a tube three times a day.

Facit et radix, quam Graeci silphion vocant, vulgus autem nostra consuetudine laserpitium appellant.

The root also is effective, which the Greeks call silphion, but the common folk, according to our usage, call laserpitium.

[8] Huius quantocumque ponderi decima pars salis ammoniaci adicitur, eaque pariter trita oculo similiter infunduntur, vel eadem radix contusa et cum oleo lentisci inuncta vitium expurgat. Epiphoram supprimit polenta conspersa mulsa aqua, et in supercilia genasque imposita, pastinacae quoque agrestis semina, et succus armoraceae, cum melle laevigata oculorum sedant dolorem.

[8] To whatever weight of this, a tenth part of sal ammoniac is added, and these, ground together equally, are likewise instilled into the eye; or the same root, pounded and anointed with oil of lentisk, cleanses the defect. It suppresses epiphora when polenta (barley-meal), sprinkled with honeyed water and laid upon the eyebrows and cheeks; likewise the seeds of wild parsnip, and the juice of horseradish, smoothed with honey, soothe the pain of the eyes.

[9] Sed quotiescumque mel aliusve succus remediis adhibetur, circumliniendus erit oculus pice liquida cum oleo, ne a muscis infestetur. Nam et ad dulcedinem mellis aliorumque medicamentorum non hae solae sed et apes advolant.

[9] But whenever honey or some other juice is applied in remedies, the eye must be smeared around with liquid pitch with oil, lest it be infested by flies. For to the sweetness of honey and of other medicaments not these alone but bees as well fly toward.

XVIII. Magnam etiam perniciem saepe affert hirudo hausta cum aqua. Ea adhaerens faucibus sanguinem ducit et incremento suo transitum cibis praecludit. Si tam difficili loco est, ut manu trahi non possit, fistulam vel arundinem inserito, et ita calidum oleum infundito; nam eo contactum animal confestim decedit.

18. Great harm is often also brought by a leech swallowed with water. Adhering to the fauces, it draws blood and, by its increase, precludes the transit of foods. If it is in so difficult a place that it cannot be drawn by hand, insert a tube or a reed, and thus infuse hot oil; for the creature, upon contact with it, immediately detaches.

[2] Potest etiam per fistulam deusti cimicis nidor immitti; qui ubi superponitur igni, fumum emittit, et conceptum nidorem fistula usque ad hirundinem perfert; isque nidor depellit haerentem. Si tamen vel stomachum vel intestinum tenet, calido aceto per cornu infuso necatur. Has medicinas quamvis bubus adhibendas praeceperim, posse tamen ex his plurima etiam maiori pecori convenire nihil dubium est.

[2] The reek of scorched bedbugs can also be sent in through a tube; which, when it is set over the fire, gives off smoke, and the tube carries the received reek all the way to the leech; and that reek drives off the one clinging fast. If, however, it holds the stomach or the intestine, it is killed by hot vinegar poured in through a horn. Although I have prescribed these remedies to be applied to oxen, nevertheless there is no doubt that very many of them can also suit larger livestock.

XIX. Sed et machina fabricanda est, qua clausa, iumenta bovesque curentur, ut et tutus accessus ad pecudem medenti sit, nec in ipsa curatione quadrupes reluctando remedia respuat. Est autem talis machinae forma. Roboreis axibus compingitur solum, quod habet in longitudinem pedes novem, et in latitudinem pars prior dupondium semissem, pars posterior quattuor pedes.

19. But also a machine must be fabricated, in which, once closed, draft-animals and oxen may be cared for, so that there may be a safe access to the beast for the healer, and the quadruped may not, by struggling during the very treatment, reject the remedies. Now the form of the machine is as follows. The floor is fastened together with oaken beams, which has in length 9 feet, and in breadth the front part 2 and a half feet, the back part 4 feet.

[2] Huic solo septenum pedum stipites recti ab utroque latere quaterni applicantur. Ii autem in ipsis quattuor angulis affixi sunt, omnesque transversis sex temonibus quasi vacerrae inter se ligantur, ita ut a posteriore parte, quae latior est, velut in caveam quadrupes possit induci, nec exire alia parte prohibentibus adversis axiculis. Primis autem duobus statuminibus imponitur firmum iugum, ad quod iumenta capistrantur, vel boum cornua religantur.

[2] To this base, straight stakes of seven feet are applied, four on each side. These, moreover, are fixed at the very four corners, and all are bound to one another by six transverse poles, like wattles, such that from the posterior part, which is wider, the quadruped can be led in as if into a cage, and cannot exit by the other part, being barred by opposing little axle-pins. And upon the first two uprights a firm yoke is set, to which the draft-animals are haltered, or the horns of oxen are bound.

Ubi potest etiam numella fabricari, ut inserto capite descendentibus per foramina regulis cervix catenetur.

Where a collar may also be fabricated, so that, with the head inserted, with little bars descending through the holes, the neck may be chained.

[3] Ceterum corpus laqueatum et distentum temonibus obligatur, immotumque medentis arbitrio est expositum. Haec ipsa machina communis erit omnium maiorum quadrupedum.

[3] Moreover, the body, laced and stretched by the poles, is bound, and, motionless, is presented to the medic’s discretion. This very machine will be common to all greater quadrupeds.

XX. Quoniam de bubus satis praecepimus, opportune de tauris vaccisque dicemus. Tauros maxime membris amplissimis, moribus placidis, media aetate probandos censeo. Cetera fere omnia eadem in his observabimus, quae in bubus eligendis.

20. Since we have given sufficient instructions about oxen, opportunely we will speak about bulls and cows. I judge bulls chiefly to be approved for the amplest members, placid manners, and middle age. As for the rest, we shall observe in these almost all the same things as in selecting oxen.

Neque enim alio distat bonus taurus a castrato, nisi quod huic torva facies est, vegetior aspectus, breviora cornua, torosior cervix, et ita vasta, ut sit maxima portio corporis, venter paulo substrictior, qui magis rectus et ad ineundas feminas habilis sit.

For a good bull does not differ from a castrate in any other respect, except that he has a grim countenance, a more lively aspect, shorter horns, a more muscular neck, so massive that it is the greatest portion of the body, and a belly somewhat more drawn in, which should be straighter and fit for mounting females.

XXI. Vaccae quoque probantur altissimae formae longaeque, maximis uteris, frontibus latissimis, oculis nigris et patentibus, cornibus venustis et levibus et nigrantibus, pilosis auribus, compressis malis, palearibus et caudis amplissimis, ungulis modicis, et modicis cruribus. Cetera quoque fere eadem in feminis, quae et in maribus, desiderantur, et praecipue ut sint novellae, quoniam, cum excesserunt annos decem, foetibus inutiles sunt. Rursus minores bimis iniri non oportet.

21. Cows too are approved of the loftiest stature and long in build, with very large udders, very broad foreheads, black and open eyes, horns graceful, smooth, and blackish, hairy ears, compressed jaws, very ample dewlaps and tails, moderate hoofs, and moderate legs. The remaining points too in females are almost the same as are desired in males, and especially that they be young, since, when they have exceeded 10 years, they are useless for offspring. Conversely, those younger than two years ought not to be covered.

[2] Si ante tamen conceperint, partum earum removeri placet, ac per triduum, ne laborent, ubera exprimi, postea mulctra prohiberi.

[2] If, however, they have conceived earlier, it is deemed proper that their offspring be removed, and for three days, lest they labor, the udders be expressed; afterward, milking is to be prohibited.

XXII. Sed et curandum est omnibus annis [in hoc] aeque in reliquis gregibus pecoris, ut delectus habeatur. Nam et enixae et vetustae quae gignere desierunt, summovendae sunt, et utique taurae, quae locum fecundarum occupant, ablegandae vel aratro domandae, quoniam laboris et operis non minus quam iuvenci, propter uteri sterilitatem, patientes sunt.

22. But it must also be cared for every year [in this], equally in the remaining herds of livestock, that a selection be held. For both those that have brought forth and the aged that have ceased to beget must be removed, and in any case the taurae, which occupy the place of the fecund, must be sent away or broken by the plough, since, on account of sterility of the womb, they are patient of labor and work no less than bullocks.

[2] Eiusmodi armentum maritima et aprica hiberna desiderat; aestate opacissima nemorum ac montium alta magis quam plana pascua. Nam melius nemoribus herbidis et frutetis et carectis, * * * . . . quoniam siccis ac lapidosis locis durantur ungulae. Nec tam fluvios rivosque desiderat, quam lacus manu factos; quoniam et fluvialis aqua, quae fere frigidior est, partum abigit, et caelestis iucundior est.

[2] A herd of this kind desires maritime and sunny winter-quarters; in summer, the shadiest parts of the groves and the high pastures of the mountains rather than the level fields. For it does better in grassy groves and thickets and sedge-beds, * * * . . . since in dry and stony places the hooves are hardened. Nor does it so much desire rivers and rivulets as ponds made by hand; for river water, which is generally colder, drives off the fetus, and that which is from the sky is more agreeable.

Omnes tamen externi frigoris tolerantior equino armento vacca est, ideoque facile sub dio hibernat.

Yet, of all, the cow is more tolerant of external cold than the equine herd, and therefore readily hibernates under the open sky.

XXIII. Sed laxo spatio consepta facienda sunt, ne in angustiis conceptum altera alterius elidat, et ut invalida fortioris ictus effugiat. Stabula sunt optima saxo aut glarea strata, non incommoda tamen etiam sabulosa: illa, quod imbres respuant; haec, quod celeriter exsorbeant transmittantque. Sed utraque devexa sint, ut humorem effundant; spectentque ad meridiem, ut facile siccentur, et frigidis ventis non sint obnoxia.

23. But enclosures must be made with ample space, lest in narrow quarters the conception one of another be dashed out, and so that the weak may escape the blows of the stronger. Stables are best when floored with stone or gravel, yet sandy ones are not unsuitable either: the former, because they repel rains; the latter, because they swiftly absorb and transmit them. But both should be sloping, so that they shed moisture; and they should face toward the south, so that they may dry easily, and not be exposed to cold winds.

[2] Levis autem cura pascui est. Nam ut laetior herba consurgat, fere ultimo tempore aestatis incenditur. Ea res et teneriora pabula recreat, et sentibus ustis fruticem surrecturum in altitudinem compescit.

[2] But the care of pasture is slight. For, in order that the grass may rise more luxuriant, it is burned almost at the last season of summer. That practice both renews more tender fodder, and, with the brambles scorched, restrains the shrub-growth that would rise to a height.

Ipsis vero corporibus affert salubritatem iuxta conseptum saxis et canalibus sal superiectus, ad quem saturae pabulo libenter recurrunt, cum pastorali signo quasi receptui canitur.

But to the bodies themselves it brings salubrity: salt strewn near the enclosure of stones and channels, to which, sated with fodder, they gladly recur, when with a pastoral signal, as it were for the recall, it is sung.

[3] Nam id quoque semper crepusculo fieri debet, ut ad sonum buccinae pecus, si quod in silvis substiterit, septa repetere consuescat. Sic enim recognosci grex poterit, numerusque constare, si velut ex militari disciplina intra stabulorum castra manserint. Sed non eadem in tauros exercentur imperia, qui freti viribus per nemora vagantur, liberosque egressus et reditus habent, nec revocantur nisi ad coitus feminarum.

[3] For this too ought always to be done at twilight, so that at the sound of the buccina the herd, if any has lingered in the woods, may be accustomed to return to the enclosures. Thus indeed the herd can be recognized, and the number stand consistent, if, as by military discipline, they have remained within the camp of the stables. But the same commands are not exercised upon the bulls, who, relying on their strength, wander through the groves, and have free egress and return, nor are they recalled except for the couplings of the females.

XXIV. Ex his, qui quadrimis minores sunt, maioresque quam duodecim annorum, prohibentur admissura: illi, quoniam quasi puerili aetate seminandis armentis parum idonei habentur; his, quia senio sunt effeti. Mense Iulio feminae maribus plerumque permittendae, ut eo tempore conceptos proximo vere adultis iam pabulis edant.

24. Of these, those who are younger than four years, and those older than twelve years, are prohibited from admittance to coupling: the former, since at a quasi-puerile age they are held little suitable for the breeding of herds; the latter, because they are exhausted by old age. In the month of July the females should for the most part be permitted to the males, so that those conceived at that time may give birth the next spring, when the fodders are already adult.

[2] Nam decem mensibus ventrem proferunt, neque ex imperio magistri, sed sua sponte marem patiuntur. Atque in id fere quod dixi tempus, naturalia congruunt desideria, quoniam satietate verni pabuli pecudes exhilaratae lasciviunt in venerem, quam si aut femina recusat, aut non appetit taurus, eadem rationem, qua fastidientibus equis mox praecipiemus, elicitur cupiditas odore genitalium admoto naribus.

[2] For they are pregnant for ten months, and not at the command of the master, but of their own accord do they allow the male. And at about the time which I have said, natural desires concur, since, by the satiety of vernal fodder, the cattle, exhilarated, are wanton in love; but if either the female refuses, or the bull does not desire, desire is elicited, by the same method which we shall presently prescribe for fastidious horses, by the odor of the genitals brought to the nostrils.

[3] Sed et pabulum circa tempus admissurae subtrahitur feminis, ne eas steriles reddat nimia corporis obesitas; et tauris adicitur, quo fortius ineant. Unumque marem quindecim vaccis sufficere abunde est. Qui ubi iuvencam supervenit, certis signis comprehendere licet, quem sexum generaverit, quoniam, si parte dextra desiluit, marem seminasse manifestum est; si laeva, feminam.

[3] But fodder around the time of the mating is withdrawn from the females, lest excessive corpulence of body render them sterile; and it is added to the bulls, that they may mount more vigorously. And one male is abundantly sufficient for fifteen cows. And when he comes upon the heifer, it is permitted by certain signs to comprehend what sex he has generated, since, if he dismounted on the right side, it is manifest that he has sown a male; if on the left, a female.

Id tamen verum esse non aliter apparet, quam si post unum coitum forda non admittit taurum; quod et ipsum raro accidit.

That, however, appears to be true only if, after a single coitus, the pregnant cow does not admit the bull; and this itself happens rarely.

[4] Nam quamvis plena foetu non expletur libidine. Adeo ultra naturae terminos etiam in pecudibus plurimum pollent blandae voluptatis illecebrae! Sed non dubium est, ubi pabuli sit laetitia, posse omnibus annis partum educari; at ubi penuria est, alternis submitti; quod maxime in operariis vaccis fieri placet, ut et vituli annui temporis spatio lacte satientur, nec forda simul operis et uteri gravetur onere.

[4] For although pregnant, she is not satisfied in libido. To such a degree, beyond the termini of nature, even in herd-beasts the seductive allurements of voluptuous pleasure prevail! But there is no doubt that, where there is a luxuriance of fodder, the offspring can be reared every year; but where there is penury, they are put to the bull in alternate years; which it is most approved to do especially in working cows, so that the calves may be sated with milk for the space of a year, and the pregnant cow be not burdened at the same time with the load of work and of the womb.

Quae cum partum edidit, nisi cibis fulta est, quamvis bona nutrix, labore fatigata nato subtrahit alimentum.

When she has brought forth the offspring, unless she is supported by foods, although a good nurse, wearied by labor she withdraws aliment from her newborn.

[5] Itaque et foetae cytisus viridis et torrefactum ordeum, maceratumque ervum praebetur, et tener vitulus torrido molitoque milio, et permixto cum lacte salivatur. Melius etiam in hos usus Altinae vaccae parantur, quos eius regionis incolae Cevas appellant. Eae sunt humilis staturae, lactis abundantes, propter quod remotis earum foetibus, generosum pecus alienis educatur uberibus; vel si hoc praesidium non adest, faba fresa, et vinum recte tolerat, idque praecipue in magnis gregibus fieri oportet.

[5] And so to the newly-calved cow green cytisus and torrefied barley and macerated ervum (bitter vetch) are provided, and the tender calf is allowed to lap torrefied and milled millet mixed with milk. Better suited also for these uses are the Altinian cows, which the inhabitants of that region call Cevae. They are of low stature, abundant in milk, wherefore, their offspring having been removed, the high-bred stock is reared at others’ udders; or, if this assistance is not at hand, it tolerates crushed bean and wine well, and this ought especially to be done in large herds.

XXV. Solent autem vitulis nocere lumbrici, qui fere nascuntur cruditatibus. Itaque moderandum est, ut bene concoquant; aut si iam tali vitio laborant, lupini semicrudi conteruntur, et offae salivati more faucibus ingeruntur. Potest etiam cum arida fico et ervo conteri herba Santonica, et formata in offam, sicut salivatum demitti.

25. Worms are wont to harm calves, which for the most part arise from crudities. Therefore the regimen must be moderated, so that they may concoct (digest) well; or, if they are already laboring under such a defect, half-raw lupines are crushed, and boluses, after the manner of the salivatum, are inserted into the throat. The Santonic herb also can be crushed with a dried fig and ervum (vetch), and, formed into a bolus, can be sent down just like the salivatum.

Facit idem axungiae pars una tribus partibus hyssopi permista. Marrubii quoque succus et porri valet eiusmodi necari animalia.

The same is effected by one part of axunge mixed with three parts of hyssop. The juice of horehound and of leek also avails to kill animals of this kind.

XXVI. Castrare vitulos Mago censet, dum adhuc teneri sunt; neque id ferro facere, sed fissa ferula comprimere testiculos et paulatim confringere. Idque optimum genus castrationum putat, quod adhibetur aetati tenere sine vulnere.

26. Mago judges that calves should be castrated while they are still tender; and that this should not be done with iron, but by compressing the testicles with a split ferule and gradually breaking them. And he considers this the best kind of castration, which is applied to a tender age without a wound.

[2] Nam ubi iam induruit, melius bimus quam anniculus castratur. Idque facere vere vel autumno luna decrescente praecipit, vitulumque ad machinam deligare; deinde prius quam ferrum admoveas, duabus angustis ligneis regulis veluti forcipibus apprehendere testium nervos, quos Graeci krematheras ab eo appellant, quod ex illis genitalis partes dependent. Comprehensos deinde testes ferro reserare, et expressos ita recidere, ut extrema pars eorum adhaerens praedictis nervis relinquatur.

[2] For when it has now hardened, the two‑year‑old is better castrated than the yearling. And he prescribes to do this in spring or in autumn, with the moon waning, and to tie the calf to the machine; then, before you apply the iron, to seize with two narrow wooden rulers, as if with forceps, the nerves (i.e., cords) of the testes, which the Greeks call krematheres from the fact that from them the genital parts hang down. Then, the testes having been grasped, to unbar them with iron, and to cut off the expressed ones in such a way that their end part, adhering to the aforesaid nerves, is left behind.

[3] Nam hoc modo nec eruptione sanguinis periclitatur iuvencus, nec in totum effeminatur adempta omni virilitate; formamque servat maris cum generandi vim deposuit; quam tamen ipsam non protinus amittit. Nam si patiaris eum a recenti curatione feminam inire, constat ex eo posse generari. Sed minime id permittendum, ne profluvio sanguinis intereat.

[3] For in this way the young bull is not endangered by an eruption of blood, nor is he wholly effeminated with all virility taken away; and he preserves the form of a male when he has laid aside the power of begetting; which, however, he does not at once lose. For if you allow him, after a recent treatment, to enter a female, it is agreed that offspring can be generated from him. But this is by no means to be permitted, lest he perish through a profuse outflow of blood.

Verum vulnera eius sarmenticio cinere cum argenti spuma linenda sunt, abstinendusque eo die ab humore, et exiguo cibo alendus.

However, his wounds are to be smeared with brushwood ash together with the spume of silver, and he must on that day be kept from moisture, and be nourished with scant food.

[4] Sequenti triduo velut aeger cacuminibus arborum et desecto viridi pabulo oblectandus, prohibendusque multa potione. Placet etiam pice liquida et cinere cum exiguo oleo ulcera ipsa post triduum linere, quo et celerius cicatricem ducant, nec a muscis infestentur. Hactenus de bubus dixisse abunde est.

[4] In the following three days, as though sick, he is to be indulged with the tree-tops of trees and with cut green fodder, and to be kept from much drinking. It also pleases to smear the very ulcers after three days with liquid pitch, and with ash combined with a small amount of oil, whereby they may more swiftly draw a cicatrix and not be infested by flies. Thus far it is enough to have spoken about oxen.

XXVII. Quibus cordi est educatio generis equini, maxime convenit providere auctorem industrium, et pabuli copiam; quae utraque vel mediocria possunt aliis pecoribus adhiberi, summam sedulitatem et largam satietatem desiderat equitium. Quod ipsum tripartito dividitur. Est enim generosa materies, quae circo sacrisque certaminibus equos praebet.

27. For those to whom the education of the equine race is at heart, it is most fitting to provide an industrious director and a copious supply of fodder; both of which, even if moderate, can be applied to other flocks, but the equine stud demands the utmost assiduity and a bountiful satiety. This itself is divided threefold. For there is a generous (well-born) stock which furnishes horses for the Circus and for sacred contests.

Est mularis, quae pretio foetus sui comparatur generoso. Est et vulgaris, quae mediocres feminas maresque progenerat. Ut quaeque est praestantior, ita ubere campo pascitur.

There is the mule-kind, which, in the price of its own offspring, is compared with the well-born. There is also the vulgar kind, which begets middling females and males. As each is more preeminent, so it is pastured on a more fertile field.

[2] Gregibus autem spatiosa et palustria, nec [non] montana pascua eligenda sunt, rigua, nec umquam siccanea, vacuaque magis quam stirpibus impedita, frequenter mollibus potius quam proceris herbis abundantia.

[2] For the herds, spacious and marshy, and also [not] mountainous pastures must be chosen, irrigated and never dry, open rather than impeded by growths, frequently abounding in soft rather than tall herbs.

[3] Vulgaribus equis passim maribus ac feminis pasci permittitur, nec admissurae certa tempora servantur. Generosis circa vernum aequinoctium mares iungentur, ut eodem tempore, quo conceperint, iam laetis et herbidis campis post anni messem parvo cum labore foetum educent. Nam mense duodecimo partum edunt.

[3] For common horses it is permitted that males and females graze everywhere indiscriminately, nor are fixed times of covering observed. For the well-bred, around the vernal equinox the males are to be joined, so that at the same time at which they conceived, after the year’s harvest, in fields now joyful and grassy, they may rear the offspring with little labor. For they bring forth in the 12th month.

Maxime itaque curandum est praedicto tempore anni, ut tam feminis quam admissariis desiderantibus coeundi fiat potestas, quoniam id praecipue armentum si prohibeas, libidinis exstimulatur furiis, unde etiam veneno inditum est nomen hippomanes, quod equinae cupidini similem mortalibus amorem accendit.

Therefore it must be most carefully attended to at the aforesaid time of the year, that both the females and the admissary stallions, when desiring to couple, be given the power to do so, since, if you forbid the herd especially in this, it is goaded by the furies of libido; whence even a venom has been given the name hippomanes, which enkindles in mortals a love similar to equine desire.

[4] Nec dubium, quin aliquot regionibus tanto flagrent ardore coeundi feminae, et etiam si marem non habeant, assidua et nimia cupiditate figurantes sibi ipsae venerem, cohortalium more avium, vento concipiant. Neque enim poeta licentius dicit:

[4] Nor is it doubtful that in several regions the females burn with so great an ardor of coupling, and even if they do not have a male, by constant and excessive desire fashioning for themselves their own Venus, after the manner of courtyard birds, they conceive by the wind. For the poet does not speak more licentiously:

[5] scilicet ante omnes furor est insignis equarum;
et mentem Venus ipsa dedit, quo tempore Glauci
Potniades malis membra absumpsere quadrigae.
Illas ducit amor trans Gargara transque sonantem
Ascanium; superant montes et flumina tranant.

[5] surely above all the frenzy of mares is remarkable;
and Venus herself gave them this disposition, at the time when the Potnian four-horse team with their jaws devoured the limbs of Glaucus.
Love leads them across Gargara and across resounding Ascanium; they surmount mountains and swim across rivers.

[6] Continuoque, avidis ubi subdita flamma medullis
vere magis, quia vere calor redit ossibus, illae
ore omnes versae in Zephyrum stant rupibus altis,
exceptantque leves auras, et saepe sine ullis
coniugiis vento gravidae mirabile dictu
saxa per et scopulos et depressas convalles
diffugiunt, non Eure, tuos neque solis ad ortus,
in Borean Caurumque, aut unde nigerrimus Auster
nascitur, et pluvio contristat frigore caelum.

[6] And straightway, when the flame implanted beneath their eager marrow is stronger in spring—since in spring heat returns to the bones—they, all with their faces turned toward the Zephyr, stand on high cliffs,
and catch the light breezes, and often, without any conjugal unions, pregnant by the wind—marvelous to say—
they scatter over rocks and crags and sunken valleys,
not, Eurus, toward your quarters nor toward the risings of the sun,
but toward Boreas and Caurus, or whence the blackest Auster is born,
and with showery chill he saddens the sky.

[7] Cum sit notissimum etiam in Sacro monte Hispaniae, qui procurrit in occidentem iuxta Oceanum, frequenter equas sine coitu ventrem pertulisse foetumque educasse, qui tamen inutilis est, quod triennio, prius quam adolescat, morte absumitur. Quare, ut dixi, dabimus operam, ne circa aequinoctium vernum equae desideriis naturalibus angantur.

[7] Since it is very well known even on the Sacred Mountain of Spain, which runs out toward the west beside the Ocean, that mares frequently, without coitus, have carried pregnancy and have reared the fetus— which, however, is useless, because within a triennium, before it comes of age, it is consumed by death— therefore, as I said, we shall take pains that around the vernal equinox the mares be not anguished by natural desires.

[8] Equos autem pretiosos reliquo tempore anni removere oportet a feminis, ne aut cum volent ineant aut, si id facere prohibeantur, cupidine sollicitati noxam contrahant. Itaque vel in longinqua pascua marem placet ablegari, vel ad praesepia contineri, eoque tempore, quo vocatur a feminis, roborandus est largo cibo, et appropinquante vere ordeo ervoque saginandus, ut veneri supersit, quantoque fortior inierit, firmiora semina praebeat futurae stirpi.

[8] Moreover, it is proper to remove the prized stallions from the females for the remainder of the year, lest either they mount whenever they wish, or, if they are prohibited from doing that, stirred by desire they incur harm. Therefore it is desirable either to send the male away to distant pastures, or to confine him at the mangers; and at the time when he is called by the females, he must be strengthened with ample food, and, as spring approaches, he must be fattened on barley and vetch, so that he may have surplus for venery, and the stronger he goes in, the firmer seeds he may offer to the future stock.

[9] Quidam etiam praecipiunt eodem ritu, quo mulos, admissarium saginare, ut hac sagina hilaris pluribus feminis sufficiat. Verum tamen nec minus quam quindecim, nec rursus plures quam viginti, unus debet implere, isque admissurae post trimatum usque in annos viginti plerumque idoneus est.

[9] Some also prescribe that, in the same rite as for mules, the breeding-stallion be fattened, so that by this fattening, being cheerful, he may suffice for more females. But nevertheless one ought to service not fewer than 15, nor again more than 20; and he is for covering, after three years of age, for the most part suitable up to 20 years.

[10] Quod si admissarius iners in venerem est, odore proritatur, detersis spongia feminae locis et admota naribus equi. Rursus si equa marem non patitur, detrita scilla naturalia eius linuntur, quae res accendit libidinem. Nonnumquam ignobilis quoque ac vulgaris elicit cupidinem coeundi.

[10] But if the admissary (stud-stallion) is inert in venery, let him be provoked by the odor, the female’s parts having been wiped with a sponge and the sponge brought to the horse’s nostrils. Conversely, if the mare does not permit the male, her natural parts are smeared with pounded squill, a thing which ignites libido. Sometimes even an ignoble and vulgar one elicits the desire of coupling.

Nam ubi admotus fere tentavit obsequium feminae, abducitur, et iam patientiori generosior equus imponitur. Inde maior praegnantibus adhibenda cura est, largoque pascuo firmandae.

For when, once brought near, he has almost attempted the service of the female, he is led away, and now a more well-bred horse is set upon the more patient one. Thereafter greater care must be applied to the pregnant females, and they are to be strengthened by ample pasture.

[11] Quod si frigore hiemis herbae defecerint, tecto contineantur, ac neque opere neque cursu exerceantur, neque frigori committantur, nec in angusto clauso, ne aliae aliarum conceptus elidant; nam haec omnia incommoda foetum abigunt. Quod si tamen aut partu aut abortu equa laboravit, remedio erit felicula trita, et aqua tepida permista, dataque per cornu.

[11] But if by the frigidity of winter the grasses have failed, let them be kept under a roof, and neither be exercised by work nor by course, nor be committed to the cold, nor in a narrow enclosure, lest some dash out the conceptions of others; for all these inconveniences drive away the fetus. But if nevertheless the mare has suffered either in parturition or by abortion, there will be a remedy: felicula, ground fine and mixed with tepid water, and given through a horn.

[12] Sin autem prospere cessit, minime manu contingendus pullus erit. Nam laeditur etiam levissimo contactu. Tantum cura adhibebitur, ut et amplo et calido loco cum matre versetur, ne aut frigus adhuc infirmo noceat, aut mater in angustiis eum obterat.

[12] But if it has turned out prosperously, the foal must by no means be touched by hand. For he is harmed even by the very slightest contact. Only this care shall be applied: that he be with his mother in a spacious and warm place, lest either cold harm him, still infirm, or the mother crush him in confined quarters.

Paulatim deinde perducendus erit, providendumque, ne stercore ungulas adurat. Mox cum firmior fuerit, in eadem pascua, in quibus mater est, dimittendus, ne desiderio partus sui laboret equa.

Little by little then he must be brought along, and provision must be made that he not scorch his hooves with dung. Soon, when he is stronger, he must be turned out into the same pastures in which the mother is, lest the mare suffer from longing for her offspring.

[13] Nam id praecipue genus pecudis amore natorum, nisi fiat potestas, noxam trahit. Vulgari feminae solemne est omnibus annis parere. Generosam convenit alternis continere, quo firmior pullus lacte materno laboribus certaminum praeparetur.

[13] For this kind of livestock especially, out of love for its offspring, unless leave be granted, incurs harm. It is customary for the common female to bear every year. It is proper to keep the well‑bred one back in alternate years, so that the foal may be stronger, prepared by maternal milk for the labors of contests.

XXVIII. Marem putant minorem trimo non esse idoneum admissurae, posse vero usque ad vigesimum annum progenerare; feminam bimam recte concipere, ut post tertium annum enixa foetum educet; eandemque post decimum non essse utilem, quod ex annosa matre tarda sit atque iners proles. Quae sive ut femina sive ut masculus concipiatur, nostri arbitrii fore Democritus affirmat, qui praecipit ut, cum progenerari marem velimus, sinistrum testiculum admissarii lineo funiculo aliove quolibet obligemus; cum feminam, dextrum. Idemque in omnibus paene pecudibus faciendum censet.

28. They think the male, if younger than three years, is not idoneous for admission, but can progenerate up to the twentieth year; the female at two years rightly conceives, so that after the third year, having brought forth, she may rear the foal; and the same, after the tenth, is not useful, because from an aged mother the offspring is tardy and inert. Whether it be conceived as female or as male will be at our discretion, Democritus affirms, who prescribes that, when we wish a male to be progenerated, we bind the left testicle of the stallion with a linen cord or with any other whatsoever; when a female, the right. And he judges the same should be done in almost all herd-beasts.

XXIX. Cum vero natus est pullus, confestim licet indolem aestimare, si hilaris, si intrepidus, si neque conspectu novae rei neque auditu terretur, si ante gregem procurrit, si lascivia et alacritate interdum et cursu certans aequales exsuperat, si fossam sine cunctatione transilit, pontem flumenque transcendit. Haec erunt honesti animi documenta.

29. When the foal is born, straightway it is permitted to assess his indole, if he is cheerful, if intrepid, if he is not terrified either by the sight of a new thing or by a sound, if he runs out before the herd, if, with playfulness and alacrity and by competing at the run, he sometimes surpasses his equals, if he leaps a ditch without hesitation, and crosses a bridge and a river. These will be proofs of a noble spirit.

[2] Corporis vero forma constabit exiguo capite, nigris oculis, naribus apertis, brevibus auriculis et arrectis, cervice molli lataque nec longa, densa iuba et per dextram partem profusa, lato et musculorum toris numeroso pectore, grandibus armis et rectis, lateribus inflexis, spina duplici, ventre substricto, testibus paribus et exiguis, latis lumbis et subsidentibus,

[2] But the form of the body will consist of a small head, black eyes, open nostrils, short and erect ears, a neck soft and broad and not long, a thick mane flowing over the right side, a chest broad and with numerous bundles of muscles, large and straight shoulders, indrawn sides, a double spine, a belly somewhat drawn up, testicles equal and small, broad and sloping loins,

[3] cauda longa et setosa crispaque, aequalibus atque altis rectisque cruribus, tereti genu parvoque neque introrsus spectanti, rotundis clunibus, feminibus torosis ac numerosis, duris ungulis et altis et concavis rotundisque, quibus coronae mediocres superpositae sunt. Sic universim corpus compositum, ut sit grande, sublime, erectum, ab aspectu quoque agile, et ex longo, quantum figura permittit, rotundum. Mores autem laudantur, qui sunt ex placido concitati, et ex concitato mitissimi.

[3] a tail long and bristled and wavy, legs even and tall and straight, a rounded and small knee not looking inward, rounded haunches, thighs brawny and well-furnished, hooves hard and high and concave and rounded, upon which moderate coronets are set. Thus, in general, the body is composed so that it be large, sublime, erect, agile even in aspect, and, in the length, as much as the figure permits, rounded. As for temper, those are praised which are from placid easily aroused, and from aroused very gentle.

[4] Nam hi et ad obsequia reperiuntur habiles, et ad certaminum labores patientissimi. Equus bimus ad usum domesticum recte domatur; certaminibus autem expleto triennio; sic tamen ut post quartum demum annum labori committatur. Annorum notae cum corpore mutantur.

[4] For these are found both apt for obedience, and most enduring for the labors of contests. A two-year-old horse is rightly tamed for domestic use; but for contests after the third year has been completed; yet in such a way that only after the fourth year is he committed to labor. The marks of the years are changed along with the body.

Nam dum bimus et sex mensium est, medii dentes superiores et inferiores cadunt. Cum quartum agit annum, iis, qui canini appellantur, deiectis, alios affert. Intra sextum deinde annum, molares superiores cadunt.

For while he is two years and six months old, the middle superior and inferior teeth fall out. When he is in his fourth year, having cast those which are called canines, he gets others. Then within the sixth year, the superior molars fall out.

[5] Sexto anno, quos primos mutavit, exaequat. Septimo omnes explentur aequaliter, et ex eo cavatos gerit. Nec postea quot annorum sit, manifesto comprehendi potest.

[5] In the sixth year, he equalizes those which he changed first. In the seventh, all are filled out equally, and from then he bears them hollowed. Nor thereafter can how many years he is be clearly ascertained.

Decimo tamen anno tempora cavari incipiunt, et supercilia nonnumquam canescere, et dentes prominere. Haec, quae ad animum et mores corpusque et aetatem pertinent, dixisse satis habeo. Nunc sequitur curam recte et minus valentium demonstrare.

In the tenth year, however, the temples begin to be hollowed, the eyebrows sometimes to grow hoary, and the teeth to become prominent. These things, which pertain to the mind and character and the body and age, I hold it sufficient to have said. Now there follows to demonstrate the care of the well and of the less strong.

XXX. Si sanis est macies, celerius torrefacto tritico quam ordeo reficitur. Sed et vini potio danda est, ac deinde paulatim eiusmodi cibi subtrahendi immistis ordeo furfuribus, dum consuescat faba et puro ordeo ali. Nec minus cotidie corpora pecudum quam hominum defricanda sunt; ac saepe plus prodest pressa manu subegisse terga, quam si largissime cibos praebeas.

30. If in the healthy there is leanness, it is more quickly restored by torrefied wheat than by barley. But also a draught of wine should be given, and then gradually foods of this sort are to be withdrawn, with bran mixed into the barley, until it becomes accustomed to be fed on bean and on pure barley. Nor less are the bodies of livestock than of men to be rubbed daily; and often it profits more to knead the backs with a pressed hand than if you were to supply food most lavishly.

Paleae vero equis stantibus substernendae.

Straw, indeed, ought to be spread beneath horses as they stand.

[2] Multum autem refert robur corporis ac pedum servare. Quod utrumque custodiemus, si idoneis temporibus ad praesepia, ad aquam, ad exercitationem pecus duxerimus; curaeque fuerit ut stabulentur sicco loco, ne humore madescant ungulae. Quod facile evitabimus, si aut stabula roboreis axibus constrata, aut diligenter subinde emundata fuerit humus, et paleae superiectae.

[2] But it matters much to preserve the strength of the body and of the feet. Both of which we shall keep, if at suitable times we lead the herd to the mangers, to the water, to exercise; and it will be a care that they be stabled in a dry place, lest by moisture the hooves become sodden. Which we shall easily avoid, if either the stables are floored with oaken beams, or the ground has been diligently cleaned from time to time, and straw thrown over.

[3] Plerumque iumenta morbos concipiunt lassitudine et aestu, nonnumquam et frigore, et cum suo tempore urinam non fecerint; vel si sudant, et a concitatione confestim biberint; vel si cum diu steterint, subito ad cursum exstimulata sunt. Lassitudini quies remedio est, ita ut in fauces oleum vel adeps vino mista infundatur. Frigori fomenta adhibentur, et calefacto oleo lumbi regantur, caputque et spina tepenti adipe vel vino liniuntur.

[3] For the most part draft-animals contract maladies from lassitude and heat, sometimes also from cold, and when they have not made urine at its proper time; or if they are sweating and, from agitation, drink immediately; or if, after they have stood for a long while, they are suddenly goaded to a run. For lassitude, rest is the remedy, with oil or fat mixed with wine poured into the throat. For cold, fomentations are applied, and the loins are treated with heated oil, and the head and spine are anointed with tepid fat or with wine.

[4] Si urinam non facit, eadem fere remedia sunt. Nam oleum immistum vino supra ilia et renes infunditur; et si hoc parum profuit, melle decocto et sale collyrium tenue inditur foramini, quo manat urina, vel musca viva, vel thuris mica, vel de bitumine collyrium inseritur naturalibus. Haec eadem remedia adhibentur, si urina genitalia decusserit.

[4] If it does not make urine, the same remedies are almost in place. For oil intermixed with wine is poured over the flanks and the kidneys; and if this has profited too little, a thin collyrium with boiled honey and salt is inserted into the opening through which the urine flows, or a live fly, or a grain of frankincense, or a bituminous collyrium is inserted into the natural parts. These same remedies are applied if urine has chafed the genitals.

[5] Capitis dolorem indicant lacrimae quae profluunt, auresque flaccidae et cervix cum capite aggravata et in terram summissa. Tum rescinditur vena, quae sub oculo est, et os calda fovetur, ciboque abstinetur primo die. In postero autem potio ieiuno tepidae aquae praebetur ac viride gramen, tum vetus foenum vel molle stramentum substernitur, crepusculoque aqua iterum datur, parumque ordei cum vicialibus, ut per exiguas portiones cibi ad iusta perducantur.

[5] Tears that flow forth indicate a headache, and the ears are flaccid, and the neck with the head is weighted down and lowered to the ground. Then the vein that is under the eye is opened, and the mouth is fomented with warm water, and food is abstained from on the first day. On the next day, while fasting, a potion of tepid water is offered and green grass; then old hay or soft litter is laid beneath; and at twilight water is given again, and a little barley with vetches, so that through scant portions of food they may be brought up to proper rations.

[6] Si equo maxillae dolent, calido aceto fovendae, et axungia vetere confricandae sunt, eademque medicina tumentibus adhibenda est. Si armos laeserit, aut sanguinem demiserit, medio fere in utroque crure venae solvantur, et thuris polline cum eo qui profluit, sanguine immisto, armi linantur, et ne plus iusto exinaniatur, stercus ipsius iumenti fluentibus venis admotum fasciis obligetur.

[6] If the horse’s jaws ache, they are to be fomented with warm vinegar and rubbed with old axle‑grease, and the same medicine is to be applied to parts that are swollen. If he has injured the shoulders, or has let blood, let the veins be opened nearly in the middle of each leg, and let the shoulders be smeared with the powder of frankincense, with the blood that has flowed mixed in; and lest he be drained more than is right, let the dung of the very beast itself, applied to the flowing veins, be bound on with bandages.

[7] Postero quoque die ex iisdem locis sanguis detrahatur, eodemque modo curetur, ordeoque abstineatur, exiguo foeno dato. Post triduum deinde usque in diem sextum porri succus instar trium cyathorum mistus cum olei hemina faucibus per cornu infundatur. Post sextum diem lente ingredi cogatur, et cum ambulaverit, in piscinam demitti eum conveniet, ita ut natet; sic paulatim firmioribus cibis adiutus ad iusta perducetur.

[7] On the following day as well let blood be drawn from the same places, and let him be treated in the same way, and let barley be withheld, a small amount of hay being given. After three days then, up to the sixth day, juice of leek to the measure of three cyathi, mixed with a hemina of oil, is to be poured into the throat through a horn. After the sixth day let him be forced to go slowly, and when he has walked, it will be fitting to let him down into a pool, in such a way that he swims; thus, little by little, aided by firmer foods, he will be brought to the proper measure.

[8] At si bilis molesta est iumento, venter intumescit, nec emittit ventos. Manus uncta inseritur alvo et obsessi naturales exitus adaperiuntur, exemptoque stercore, postea cunila bubula et herba pedicularis cum sale trita et decocta melli miscentur, atque ita facta collyria subiciuntur, quae ventrem movent bilemque omnem deducunt.

[8] But if bile is troublesome to the beast of burden, the belly swells, and it does not emit winds. A greased hand is inserted into the bowel and the obstructed natural outlets are opened, and when the dung has been removed, afterward cunila bubula (field savory) and herba pedicularis (lousewort), ground with salt and boiled, are mixed with honey, and collyria (suppositories) thus made are inserted, which move the belly and draw off all the bile.

[9] Quidam myrrhae tritae quadrantem cum hemina vini faucibus infundunt, et anum liquida pice oblinunt. Alii marina aqua lavant alvum, alii recenti muria. Solent etiam [vermes quasi] lumbrici nocere intestinis; quorum signa sunt, si iumenta cum dolore crebro volutantur, si admovent caput utero, si caudam saepius iactant.

[9] Some pour into the throat a quarter‑measure of ground myrrh with a hemina (half‑pint) of wine, and smear the anus with liquid pitch. Others wash the bowels with sea‑water, others with fresh brine. Worms—the so‑called [vermes quasi] lumbrici—are also wont to harm the intestines; the signs are, if the draught animals roll themselves frequently in pain, if they bring their head to the belly, if they toss the tail rather often.

[10] Praesens medicina est, ita ut supra scriptum est, inserere manum, et fimum eximere; deinde alvum marina aqua, vel muria dura lavare, postea radicem capparis tritam cum sextario aceti faucibus infundere; nam hoc modo praedicta intereunt animalia.

[10] The present medicine is, just as it has been written above, to insert the hand and remove the dung; then to wash the belly with sea-water or with strong brine, afterwards to pour into the throat the root of the caper, ground, with a sextarius of vinegar; for in this way the aforesaid animals perish.

XXXI. Omni autem imbecillo pecori alte substernendum est, quo mollius cubet. Recens tussis celeriter sanatur, pinsita lente et a valvulis separata minuteque molita. Quae cum ita facta sunt, sextarius aquae calidae in eandem mensuram lentis miscetur et faucibus infunditur; similisque medicina triduo adhibetur, ac viridibus herbis cacuminibusque arborum recreatur aegrotum pecus.

31. Moreover, for all feeble cattle bedding must be laid deep beneath, so that it may lie more softly. A fresh cough is quickly cured by lentil pounded, separated from the valves (husks), and ground minutely. When these things have thus been done, a sextarius of warm water is mixed into the same measure of lentil and is poured into the throat; and a similar medicine is applied for three days, and the sick herd is refreshed with green herbs and the leafy tips of trees.

Vetus autem tussis discutitur porri succo trium cyathorum cum olei hemina faucibus infuso, iisdemque, ut supra monuimus, cibis praebitis.

But a chronic cough is dispelled by pouring into the throat the juice of leek, of 3 cyathi, together with a hemina of oil, and by supplying the same foods, as we have advised above.

[2] Impetigines, et quicquid scabies occupat, aceto et alumine defricatur. Nonnumquam, si permanent, paribus ponderibus permistis nitro et scisso alumine, cum aceto linuntur. Papulae ferventissimo sole usque eo strigile raduntur, quoad eliciatur sanguis.

[2] Impetigoes, and whatever scabies occupies, are rubbed with vinegar and alum. Sometimes, if persist, nitre and cleft alum, mixed in equal weights, are smeared on with vinegar. Papules are scraped with a strigil in the most fervent sun until blood is drawn.

Tum ex aequo miscentur radices agrestis hederae, sulfurque et pix liquida cum alumine. [Et] eo medicamine praedicta vitia curantur.

Then in equal parts are mixed the roots of wild ivy, sulfur, and liquid pitch with alum. [And] by that medicament the aforesaid blemishes are cured.

XXXII. Intertrigo bis in die subluitur aqua calida. Mox decocto ac trito sale cum adipe defricatur, dum sanguis emanet. Scabies mortifera huic quadrupedi est, nisi celeriter succurritur; quae si levis est, inter initia candenti sub sole vel cedria vel oleo lentisci linitur, vel urticae semine et oleo detritis, vel unguine ceti, quod in lancibus sallitus thynnus remittit.

32. Intertrigo is washed twice in the day with warm water. Soon it is scrubbed with boiled and ground salt with fat, until blood issues. Scabies is deadly to this quadruped, unless swift succor is brought; which, if it is slight, at the outset is anointed beneath a glowing sun either with cedar-oil or with oil of the lentisk, or with nettle-seed ground and with oil, or with the whale-unguent which salted tuna yields upon the platters.

[2] Praecipue tamen huic noxae salutaris est adeps marini vituli. Sed si iam inveteraverit, vehementioribus opus est remediis. Propter quod bitumen et sulfur, veratrum pici liquidae axungiaeque veteri commista, pari pondere incoquuntur, atque ea compositione curantur, ita ut prius scabies ferro erasa perluatur urina.

[2] Especially, however, salutary for this noxious condition is the fat of the sea-calf. But if it has already become chronic, more vehement remedies are needed. For which reason bitumen and sulfur, hellebore mixed with liquid pitch and old axle‑grease, are cooked together in equal weight, and by that composition they are treated, in such a way that first the mange, scraped off with iron, is thoroughly washed with urine.

[3] Saepe etiam scalpello usque ad vivum resecare et amputare scabiem profuit, atque ita factis ulceribus mederi liquida pice atque oleo, quae expurgant et replent vulnera aeque. Quae cum expleta sunt, ut celerius cicatricem et pilum ducant, maxime proderit fuligo ex aheno ulceri infricata.

[3] Often too it has proved useful to resect and amputate the scab/mange with a scalpel down to the quick, and thus, with ulcers having been made, to treat with liquid pitch and oil, which expurgate and replenish the wounds alike. When these are filled up, so that they may more quickly produce a cicatrix and hair, it will be most helpful for soot from a bronze vessel to be rubbed into the ulcer.

XXXIII. Muscas quoque vulnera infestantes summovebimus pice et oleo vel unguine mistis et infusis. Cetera ervi farina recte curantur. Cicatrices oculorum ieiuna saliva et sale defricatae extenuantur; vel cum fossili sale trita sepiae testa, vel semine agrestis pastinacae pinsito, et per linteum super oculos expresso.

33. We will also drive away flies infesting wounds with pitch and oil, or with ointment, mixed and instilled. The rest are properly treated with ervil (vetch) flour. Scars of the eyes, rubbed with fasting saliva and salt, are made thinner; or with cuttlefish shell ground with fossil (rock) salt; or with the seed of wild parsnip pounded, and expressed through linen over the eyes.

[2] Omnisque dolor oculorum inunctione succi plantaginis cum melle acapno, vel si id non est, utique thymino celeriter levatur. Nonnumquam etiam per nares profluvium sanguinis periculum attulit, idque repressum est infuso naribus viridis coriandri succo.

[2] And every pain of the eyes is quickly alleviated by an inunction of plantain juice with acapnon honey, or, if that is not at hand, at any rate with thyme. Sometimes too a profuse outflow of blood through the nostrils has brought peril, and this has been checked by instilling into the nostrils the juice of green coriander.

XXXIV. Interdum et fastidio ciborum languescit pecus. Eius remedium est genus seminis quod git appellatur. Cuius duo cyathi triti diluuntur olei cyathis tribus et vini sextario, atque ita faucibus infunduntur.

34. Sometimes the livestock languishes from fastidiousness for food. Its remedy is a kind of seed which is called gith. Two cyathi of it, ground, are diluted with three cyathi of oil and a sextarius of wine, and thus are poured into the throat.

Et nausea discutitur etiam, si caput alii tritum cum vini hemina saepius potandum praebeas. Suppuratio melius ignea lamina, quam frigido ferramento reseratur, et expressa postea linamentis curatur.

And nausea is dispelled also, if you furnish for drinking rather often a head of garlic crushed with a hemina of wine. Suppuration is better opened with a glowing blade than with cold iron, and, the matter having been pressed out, afterward it is treated with bandages.

[2] Est etiam illa pestifera labes, ut intra paucos dies equae subita macie et deinde morte corripiantur; quod cum accidit, quaternos sextarios gari singulis per nares infundere utile est, si minoris formae sunt; nam si maioris, etiam congios. Ea res omnem pituita per nares elicit, et pecudem expurgat.

[2] There is also that pestiferous blight, such that within a few days mares are seized by sudden wasting and then by death; when this happens, it is useful to pour through the nostrils into each four sextarii of garum, if they are of smaller build; but if of larger, even congii. This draws out all the pituita through the nostrils, and expurgates the animal.

XXXV. Rara quidem, sed et haec est equarum nota rabies, ut cum in aqua imaginem suam viderint, amore inani capiantur, et per hunc oblitae pabuli, tabe cupidinis intereant. Eius vesaniae signa sunt, cum per pascua veluti exstimulatae concursant, subinde ut circumspicientes requirere ac desiderare aliquid videantur. Mentis error discutitur, si deducas ad aquam.

35. Rare indeed, but this too is a noted rabies of mares: that when they have seen their image in water, they are seized by vain love, and through this, forgetful of fodder, they perish by the wasting of desire. The signs of this insanity are, when through the pastures, as if goaded, they run to and fro, again and again so that, looking around, they seem to seek and desire something. The error of the mind is dispelled, if you lead her down to the water.

[2] Tum demum speculatae deformitatem suam, pristinae imaginis abolent memoriam. Haec de universo equarum genere satis dicta sunt. Illa proprie praecipienda sunt iis, quibus mularum greges curae est submittere.

[2] Then at last, having beheld their own deformity, they abolish the memory of the former image. These things about the whole genus of mares have been said enough. Those precepts are to be given particularly to those for whom it is a concern to submit herds for mule-breeding.

XXXVI. In educando genere mularum antiquissimus est diligenter exquirere atque explorare parentem futurae prolis feminam et marem; quorum si alter alteri non est idoneus, labat etiam quod ex duobus fingitur.

36. In rearing the mule-breed, the most ancient rule is to diligently seek out and explore the parent of the future progeny, the female and the male; if either is not suitable to the other, even that which is fashioned from the two wavers.

[2] Equam convenit quadrimam usque in annos decem amplissimae atque pulcherrimae formae, membris fortibus, patientissimam laboris eligere, ut discordantem utero suo generis alieni stirpem insitam facile recipiat ac perferat, et ad foetum non solum corporis bona, sed et ingenium conferat. Nam cum difficulter iniecta genitalibus locis animentur semina, tum etiam concepta diutius in partum adolescunt, atque peracto anno mense tertiodecimo vix eduntur, natisque inhaeret plus socordiae paternae quam vigoris materni.

[2] It is fitting to choose a mare from four years up to ten, of the most ample and most beautiful form, with strong members, most patient of labor, so that she may easily receive and carry a discordant stock of an alien kind grafted into her womb, and may contribute to the fetus not only the goods of the body but also disposition. For since the seeds, when cast into the genital places, are with difficulty animated, then too, once conceived, they mature into birth more slowly, and, the year completed, in the thirteenth month they are scarcely brought forth; and in the newborn there clings more of the father’s sloth than of the mother’s vigor.

[3] Verum tamen ut equae dictos in usus minore cura reperiuntur, ita maior est labor eligendi maris, quoniam saepe iudicium probantis frustratur experimentum. Multi admissarii specie tenus mirabiles pessimam sobolem forma vel sexu progenerant. Nam sive parvi corporis feminas fingunt, sive etiam speciosi plures mares, quam feminae reditum patrisfamiliae minuunt.

[3] Yet indeed, just as mares for the aforesaid uses are found with less care, so the labor is greater of choosing the male, since often the experiment frustrates the approver’s judgment. Many stud-stallions, marvelous in appearance only, beget the worst progeny in form or in sex. For whether they fashion females of small body, or—even if handsome—produce more males than females, they diminish the paterfamilias’s return.

At quidam contempti ab aspectu pretiosissimorum seminum feraces sunt. Nonnumquam aliquis generositatem suam natis exhibet, sed hebes in voluptate, rarissime sollicitatur ad venerem.

But some, despised in appearance when compared with the most precious sires, are fertile. Sometimes an individual displays his nobility to his offspring, but dull in pleasure, he is very rarely stirred to venery.

[4] Huiusce sensum magistri lacessunt admota generis eiusdem femina, quoniam similia similibus familiariora fecit natura. Itaque obiectae asinae cum superiectu eblanditi sunt, velut incensum et obcaecatum cupidine, subtracta quam petierat, fastiditae imponunt equae.

[4] The masters provoke this one’s sense by bringing near a female of the same kind, since nature has made similar things more familiar to similar. And so they have coaxed him to the she-ass set before him, with a covering thrown over, and, as if incensed and blinded by cupidity, when the one he had sought has been withdrawn, they set him upon the mare he had disdained.

XXXVII. Est et alterum genus admissarii furentis in libidinem, quod nisi astu inhibeatur, affert gregi perniciem. Nam et saepe vinculis abruptis gravidas inquietat, et cum admittitur, cervicibus dorsisque feminarum imprimit morsus. Quod ne faciat, paulisper ad molam vinctus amoris saevitiam labore temperat, et sic veneri modestior admittitur.

37. There is also another kind of breeding-stallion raging into libido, which, unless it be restrained by craft, brings perdition to the herd. For often, having burst his bonds, he harasses the gravid females, and when he is admitted, he imprints bites on the necks and backs of the females. That he may not do this, bound for a little while to the mill, he tempers the savagery of love by labor, and thus he is admitted to Venus more modestly.

[2] Nec tamen aliter admittendus est etiam clementioris libidinis, quoniam multum refert naturaliter sopitum pecudis ingenium modica exercitatione concuti atque excitari, vegetioremque factum marem feminae iniungi, ut tacita quadam vi semina ipsa principiis agilioribus figurentur.

[2] Nor, however, is he to be admitted otherwise even when of gentler libido, since it matters greatly that the nature of the beast, naturally lulled, be shaken and aroused by moderate exercise, and that the male, made more vigorous, be joined to the female, so that by a certain silent force the seeds themselves may be figured with more agile beginnings.

[3] Mula autem non solum ex equa et asino, sed ex asina et equo, itemque onagro et equa generatur. Quidam vero non dissimulandi auctores, ut Marcus Varro, et ante eum Dionysius ac Mago prodiderunt mularum foetus regionibus Africae adeo non prodigiosos haberi, ut tam familiares sint incolis partus earum, quam sunt nobis equarum.

[3] The mule, moreover, is engendered not only from a mare and an ass, but from a she-ass and a horse, and likewise from an onager and a mare. Certain authors not to be passed over, such as Marcus Varro, and before him Dionysius and Mago, have handed down that the offspring of mules in the regions of Africa are held as not prodigious, to such a degree that their births are as familiar to the inhabitants as those of mares are to us.

[4] Neque tamen ullum est in hoc pecore aut animo aut forma praestantius, quam quod seminavit asinus. Posset huic aliquatenus comparari, quod progenerat onager, nisi et indomitum et servitio contumax silvestris more, strigosum patris praeferret habitum. Itaque eiusmodi admissarius nepotibus [magis] quam filiis utilior est.

[4] Nor, however, is there any in this stock more preeminent either in spirit or in form than that which the ass has sired. Somewhat comparable to this might be that which the onager begets, were it not that, untamed and contumacious toward servitude after the manner of the wild, it displays the rough-coated appearance of its father. Accordingly, a covering-stallion of this sort is more useful for grandsons [more] than for sons.

Nam ubi asina et onagro natus admittitur equae, per gradus infracta feritate, quicquid ex eo provenit, paternam formam et modestiam, fortitudinem celeritatemque avitam refert.

For when one born of a she-ass and an onager is admitted to a mare, with the ferocity broken by degrees, whatever comes from him bears the paternal form and modesty, and the ancestral fortitude and celerity.

[5] Qui ex equo et asina concepti generantur, quamvis a patre nomen traxerint, quod hinni vocantur, matri per omnia magis similes sunt. Itaque commodissimum est asinum destinare mularum generi seminando, cuius, ut dixi, species experimento est pretiosior.

[5] Those who are generated, conceived from a horse and a she‑ass, although they have drawn their name from the father, since they are called hinnies, are in all respects more similar to the mother. Therefore it is most commodious to destine the ass, for breeding, to the breed of mules, whose species, as I said, is by experience more precious.

[6] Verum tamen ab aspectu non aliter probari debet, quam ut sit amplissimi corporis, cervice valida, robustis ac latis costis, pectore musculoso et vasto, feminibus lacertosis, cruribus compactis, coloris nigri vel maculosi. Nam murinus cum sit in asino vulgaris, tum etiam non optime respondet in mula.

[6] Yet, nevertheless, by appearance it ought not otherwise to be approved than that it be of a most ample body, with a strong neck, with robust and broad ribs, with a muscular and vast chest, with brawny thighs, with compact legs, of black or dappled color. For mouse-colored, though it is common in the ass, yet also does not respond very well in the mule.

[7] Neque nos universa quadrupedis species decipiat, si qualem probamus, conspicimus. Nam quemadmodum arietum quae sunt in linguis et palatis maculae, plerumque in velleribus agnorum deprehenduntur; ita si discolores pilos asinus in palpebris aut auribus gerit, sobolem quoque frequenter facit diversi coloris, qui et ipse, etiam si diligentissime in admissario exploratus est, saepe tamen domini spem decipit. Nam interdum etiam citra praedicta signa dissimiles sui mulas fingit.

[7] Nor let the overall species (appearance) of the quadruped deceive us, just because we behold the sort we approve. For just as the maculae that are on the tongues and palates of rams are very often detected in the fleeces of lambs, so if an ass carries varicolored hairs on the palpebrae (eyelids) or ears, he likewise frequently produces progeny of diverse color; and he himself, even if he has been most diligently examined as a stud (admissary), nevertheless often disappoints the master’s expectation. For sometimes even without the aforesaid signs he begets mules unlike himself.

Quod accidere non aliter reor, quam ut avitus color primordiis seminum mixtus reddatur nepotibus.

I think this happens in no other way than that the ancestral color, mixed with the first-beginnings of the seeds, be rendered back to the grandchildren.

[8] Igitur qualem descripsi asellum, cum est a partu statim genitus, oportet matri statim subtrahi, et ignoranti equae subici. Ea optime tenebris fallitur. Nam obscuro loco partu eius amoto, praedictus quasi ex ea natus alitur.

[8] Therefore the little donkey such as I have described, when he is straightway born from the birth, ought to be immediately withdrawn from his mother, and put under a mare who is unaware. She is most effectively deceived by darkness. For in a dark place, with her own offspring removed, the aforesaid is nourished as if born from her.

Cui deinde cum decem diebus insuevit equa, semper postea desideranti praebet ubera. Sic nutritus admissarius equas diligere condiscit. Interdum etiam, quamvis materno lacte sit educatus, potest a tenero conversatus equis familiariter earum consuetudinem appetere.

Then, when within ten days the mare has become accustomed to him, thereafter she always offers her teats to him when he desires. Thus nourished, the breeding-stallion learns thoroughly to love mares. Sometimes even, although he has been reared on maternal milk, he can, from tender years, having consorted with horses familiarly, desire their consuetude.

[9] Sed non oportet minorem trimo nec maiorem decenni admitti. Atque id ipsum si concedatur, vere fieri conveniet, cum et desecto viridi pabulo, et largo ordeo firmandus, nonnumquam etiam salivandus erit. Nec tamen tenerae feminae committentur.

[9] But it is not proper that one younger than a three-year-old nor older than a ten-year-old be admitted. And even if this very thing be conceded, it will be fitting to be done in spring, since he must be strengthened both with cut green fodder and with plentiful barley, and sometimes even be made to leap. Nor, however, are tender females to be entrusted.

Nam nisi prius ea marem cognovit, adsilientem admissarium calcibus proturbat, et iniuria depulsum etiam ceteris equis reddit inimicum. Id ne fiat, degener et vulgaris asellus admovetur, qui sollicitet obsequia feminae; neque is tamen inire sinitur. Sed si iam est equa veneris patiens, confestim adacto viliore, pretioso mari iungitur.

For unless she has first known the male, she drives off with kicks the admissary-stallion as he leaps up, and, repelled with this injury, he is made hostile even to the other horses. Lest that happen, a degenerate and common little ass is brought near, to solicit the compliance of the female; yet he is not allowed to enter. But if the mare is now patient of Venus, immediately, the cheaper one having been brought up, she is joined to the precious male.

[10] Locus est ad hos usus exstructus (machinam vocant rustici) qui duos parietes adverso clivulo inaedificatos habet, et angusto intervallo sic inter se distantes, ne femina conluctari aut admissario ascendenti avertere se possit. Aditus est ex utraque parte, sed ab inferiore clatris munitus; ad quae capistrata in imo clivo constituitur equa, ut et prona melius ineuntis semina recipiat, et facilem sui tergoris ascensum ab editiore parte minori quadrupedi praebeat. Quae cum ex asino conceptum edidit, partum sequenti anno vacua nutrit.

[10] There is a place constructed for these uses (the rustics call it a machine) which has two walls built on an opposing slope, and at a narrow interval thus distant from each other, so that the female cannot grapple or turn herself away from the admissary as he ascends. There is an entry from either side, but on the lower side it is fortified with bars; at these the mare, haltered, is positioned on the lowest part of the slope, so that, leaning forward, she may better receive the seed of the one entering, and from the higher side may offer an easy ascent upon her back to the smaller quadruped. When she has produced a conception from a donkey, she, kept empty, nourishes the offspring the following year.

Id enim utilius est quam quod quidam faciunt, ut et foetam nihilominus admisso equo impleant.

For this is more useful than what some do, namely that they nonetheless fill even the one that has conceived with the admitted horse.

[11] Annicula mula recta a matre repellitur, et amota montibus aut feris locis pascitur, ut ungulas duret, sitque postmodum longis itineribus habilis. Nam clitellis aptior mulus. Illa quidem agilior; sed uterque sexus et viam recte graditur, et terram commode proscindit; nisi si pretium quadrupedis rationem rustici onerat, aut campus gravi gleba robora boum deposcit.

[11] The yearling she-mule is straightway driven off from the mother, and, removed, is pastured on mountains or in wild places, so that she may harden her hooves and afterwards be fit for long journeys. For the mule is more apt for pack-saddles. She indeed is more agile; but each sex both walks the road rightly and conveniently furrows the earth, unless the price of the quadruped burdens the rustic’s reckoning, or the field, with heavy glebe, demands the strength of oxen.

XXXVIII. Medicinas huius pecoris plerumque iam in aliis generibus edocui; propria tamen quaedam vitia non omittam, quorum remedia subscripsi. Febrienti mulae cruda brassica datur. Suspiriosae sanguis detrahitur, et cum sextario vini atque olei thuris semuncia, marrubii succus instar heminae mistus infunditur.

38. The medicines for this livestock I have for the most part already set forth in other kinds; nevertheless I will not omit certain proper ailments, whose remedies I have subjoined. To a feverish mule raw cabbage is given. From a panting mule blood is drawn, and, together with a sextarius of wine and of oil, and a half-ounce of frankincense, the juice of horehound, mixed to the measure of a hemina, is poured in.

[2] Suffraginosae ordeacea farina imponitur, mox suppuratio ferro reclusa linamentis curatur; vel gari optimi sextarius cum libra olei per narem sinistram demittitur, admisceturque huic medicamini trium vel quattuor ovorum albus liquor separatis vitellis.

[2] For one with a fetlock-complaint, barley flour is applied; soon the suppuration, opened with iron, is treated with linen bandages; or a sextarius of the best garum with a pound of oil is let down through the left nostril, and to this medicament is admixed the white liquid of three or four eggs, the yolks having been separated.

[3] Femina secari et interdum inuri solent. Sanguis demissus in pedes, ita ut in equis emittitur; vel si est herba, quam veratrum vocant rustici, pro pabulo cedit. Est et hyoskyamos, cuius semen detritum et cum vino datum praedicto vitio medetur.

[3] The female parts are wont to be cut and sometimes to be cauterized. Blood is sent down into the feet, so that it is let out as in horses; or, if there is the herb which rustics call veratrum, it serves in place of fodder. There is also hyoscyamus, whose seed, ground and given with wine, remedies the aforesaid malady.

Macies et languor submovetur saepius data potione, quae recipit semunciam sulphuris ovumque crudum, et myrrhae pondus denarii. Haec trita vino admiscentur, atque ita faucibus infunduntur.

Wasting and languor are more often driven off by a potion given, which contains a half-ounce of sulphur, a raw egg, and myrrh of the weight of a denarius. These, ground and mixed with wine, are then infused into the throat.

[4] Sed et tussi dolorique ventris eadem ista aeque medentur. Ad maciem nulla res tantum quantum Medica potest. Ea herba viridis celerius, nec tarde tamen arida foeni vice saginat iumenta; verum modice danda, ne nimio sanguine stranguletur pecus.

[4] But these same things equally heal cough and pain of the belly. For emaciation, nothing so much as Medica can. That herb, green, more quickly—and not slowly, however, when dry in the stead of hay—fattens the draft-animals; but it must be given in moderation, lest the herd be strangled with excessive blood.

Lassae et aestuanti mulae adeps in fauces demittitur, merumque in os suffunditur. Cetera exsequemur in mulis sic, ut prioribus huius voluminis partibus tradidimus, quae curam boum equarumque continent.

To a weary and sweltering mule, fat is let down into the throat, and pure wine is poured into the mouth. For the rest, we shall proceed with mules in this way, as we have handed down in the earlier parts of this volume, which contain the care of oxen and mares.