214 Ulisse Aldrovandi

was heard at Olympia, despite the vast distances of sea and land between them; Orosius recounts a similar marvel when discussing the war of Xerxes.

Regarding the sense of hearing, Hippocrates mentions a certain Aicanor who was so terrified by the sound of a flute when invited to banquets at night that he would not go, though he was completely unaffected by the same sound during the day. Scaliger also records a remarkable and rather humorous trait of a man who, upon hearing the sound of a lyre or lute, was immediately compelled to urinate.

Now we must report wonders related to the tongue and teeth. Atys, the son of Croesus, according to Ravisius Textor, spoke from his cradle at just six months old when he saw a sword threatening his father’s throat. Similarly, according to the same author, Aegles, a Samian athlete, had always been mute until he saw a lot being drawn unfairly among his companions; seized by a great rage, he suddenly spoke. Conversely, the wife of Nausimenes of Athens lost her voice, struck dumb by the horror of catching her sons in an act of incest. Pliny even claimed that some people's tongues contain poison; Isidore wrote that in Africa there are certain families whose words cause cattle to die, trees to wither, and infants to perish. In our own century, a soldier wandered through Catalonia who, by uttering praises while pursuing something, would utterly destroy it.

Regarding teeth, some are observed to be born with them already present, while others have a solid bone in place of individual teeth, such as a certain son of Prusias, the King of Bithynia. Timarchus, son of Mestor of Cyprus, was armed with a double row of teeth on both sides, as was Drepsima, the daughter of Mithridates. Ion of Chios, cited by Caelius, even attributes a triple row of teeth to Hercules. This is perhaps not so unbelievable, as the famous modern anatomist Columbus mentions a boy who possessed a triple row of teeth.

The sense of smell also holds its wonders. Amatus Lusitanus recorded that in his time there lived a monk of the Dominican Order, a noble Venetian of the Barbarigo family, who would fall into a faint at the scent of a rose. Indeed, Venerio, once a Doge of Venice, was nearly killed by the smell of roses. Marcello Donato knew a vigorous soldier who could not bear the smell of rue in any way and would immediately flee from it. There have even been some who were more effectively purged by the mere smell of a medicine than if they had swallowed it. Finally, we must mention those whose bodily excretions gave off a pleasant scent; Quintus Curtius, in his history of the deeds of Alexander the Great, relates that a most sweet fragrance emanated from Alexander's sweat.

Regarding taste, there are several points to touch upon. Lusitanus writes of people who so loathed eating fish that if fish meat were secretly mixed into other food, they would immediately suffer severe distress, vomiting, and diarrhea. Brasavola knew Julia of Aragon, the younger daughter of King Federico of Naples, who could not bear the taste of meat; if she tasted it by accident, she would fall into a violent faint. The "Conciliator" [Pietro d'Abano], according to Matteo Gradenigo, so detested milk that he could not even look at people eating it without feeling nauseous. Similarly, Marcello Donato knew a nobleman in Mantua who could not bring himself to taste, or even look at, that kind of preserved roe made from sturgeon eggs commonly called caviar. He observed a similar reaction in others toward another type of preserved roe known as botarga. What we have said of food also applies to drink; Pontano writes that in his time there was a man who abstained from wine his entire life. In fact, during the reign of King Ladislaus of Naples, this man suffered great harm after merely touching wine to his lips. Conversely, Andron of Argos was almost never troubled by thirst; indeed, while traveling through the arid Libyan desert, he never required a drink.

The wonders of other body parts should not be passed over in silence. Pliny, citing Crates of Pergamum, reports that in the Hellespont there lived a group of people called the Ophiogenes, who could heal snake bites by touch alone, as explained in the *History of Serpents*. Furthermore, according to Pliny, the big toe of the right foot of King Pyrrhus of Epirus could cure those suffering from spleen ailments by touch alone. For this reason, when his body was cremated on a funeral pyre and the rest of his remains were consumed, that toe alone remained unburned.