CHAP. 94.—DIVERSITIES IN THE DRINKING OF ANIMALS.
In drinking, those animals which have serrated [Note] teeth, lap;
and common mice do the same, although they belong to another
class. Those which have the teeth continuous, horses and
oxen, for instance, sup; bears do neither the one nor the other,
but seem to bite at the water, and so devour it. In Africa,
the greater part of the wild beasts do not drink in summer,
through the want of rain; for which reason it is that the mice
of Libya, when caught, will die if they drink. The ever-thirsting plains of Africa produce the oryx, [Note] an animal which,
in consequence of the nature of its native locality, never
drinks, and which, in a remarkable manner, affords a remedy
against drought: for the Gætulian bandits by its aid fortify
themselves against thirst, by finding in its body certain
vesicles filled with a most wholesome liquid. In this same
Africa, also, the pards conceal themselves in the thick foliage
of the trees, and then spring down from the branches on any
creature that may happen to be passing by, thus occupying
what are ordinarily the haunts of the birds. Cats too, with
what silent stealthiness, with what light steps do they creep
towards a bird! How slily they will sit and watch, and then
dart out upon a mouse! These animals scratch up the earth
and bury their ordure, being well aware that the smell of it
would betray their presence.