LIBER XI · CAPUT 49
THE SEXUAL PARTS.—HERMAPHRODITES
Latine · Mayhoff 1906
pumilionum genus in omnibus animalibus est, atque etiam inter volucres.
Genitalia maribus quibus essent retrorsa diximus. ossea sunt lupis, vulpibus, mustelis, viverris, unde etiam calculo humano remedia praecipua. urso quoque, simul atque expiraverit, cornescere aiunt. camelino arcus intendere orientis populis fidissimum. nec non aliqua gentium quoque in hoc discrimina et sacrorum etiam, citra perniciem amputantibus Matris deum Gallis. contra mulierum paucis prodigiosa adsimulatio, sicut hermaphroditis utriusque sexus, quod etiam quadripedum generi accidisse Neronis principatu primum arbitror. ostentabat certe hermaphroditas subiunctas carpento suo equas, in Treverico Galliae agro repertas: ceu plane visenda res esset principem terrarum insidere portentis.
Testes pecori armentoque ad crura decidui, subus adnexi. delphino praelongi ultima conduntur alvo; et elephanto occulti. ova parientium lumbis intus adhaerent, qualia ocissima in venere. piscibus serpentibusque nulli, sed eorum vice binae ad genitalia a renibus venae. buteonibus terni. homini tantum iniuria aut sponte naturae franguntur, idque tertium ab hermaphroditis et spadonibus semiviri genus habent.— Mares in omni genere fortiores sunt praeterquam pantheris et ursis.
English · Bostock & Riley 1855–57
There are dwarfs to be found among all animals, and among birds even.
We have already spoken sufficiently at length of those animals, the males of which have the sexual parts behind. In the wolf, the fox, the weasel, and the ferret, these parts are bony; and it is the genitals of the last-mentioned animal that supply the principal remedies for calculus in the human bladder. It is said also that the genitals of the bear are turned into a horny substance the moment it dies. Among the peoples of the East the very best bow-strings are those which are made of the member of the camel. These parts also, among different nations, are made the object of certain usages and religious observances; and the Galli, the priests of the Mother of the gods, are in the habit of castrating themselves, without any dangerous results. On the other hand, there is in some few women a monstrous resemblance to the male conformation, while hermaphrodites appear to partake of the nature of both. Instances of this last conformation were seen in quadrupeds in Nero’s reign, and for the first time, I imagine; for he ostentatiously paraded hermaphrodite horses yoked to his car, which had been found in the territory of the Treviri, in Gaul; as if, indeed, it was so remarkably fine a sight to behold the ruler of the earth seated in a chariot drawn by monstrosities!
In sheep and cattle the testes hang down to the legs, while in the boar they are knit up close to the body. In the dolphin they are very long, and are concealed in the lower part of the belly. In the elephant, also, they are quite concealed. In oviparous animals they adhere to the interior of the loins: these animals are the most speedy in the venereal congress. Fishes and serpents have no testes, but in place of them they have two veins, which run from the renal region to the genitals. The bird known as the “buteo,” has three testes. Man is the only creature in which the testes are ever broken, either accidentally or by some natural malady; those who are thus afflicted form a third class of half men, in addition to hermaphrodites and eunuchs. In all species of animals the male is more courageous than the female, with the exception of the panther and the bear.