# History of Monsters. 217

that they could in no way be distinguished from one another; indeed, their identical gestures, same emotional dispositions, and the very same voice and speech increased the wonder—especially since both would fall ill at the same time and be cured at the same time. On this subject, we read in Fulgosus that Medardus, Bishop of Noyon, and Ghilardus, Bishop of Rouen, were brothers born of a single birth, installed in their episcopal seats on the same day, died on the same day, and were enrolled among the saints together. Regarding them, we read in Maiolus a hexastich to this effect:

One day brought them birth, another gave them the miter, Another gave them death, and both were gathered among the saints. Happy brothers, whose origin, life, crown, Passing, glory, and feast day were shared. Indeed, their mind and heart were as one: but tell me, Can two bodies truly be ruled by a single heart?

On the other hand, Pliny marvels at the great diversity of faces in human nature, since among so many thousands of people, he could not observe two faces of the exact same configuration. He quite rightly attributes the cause of this to the imagination, which is very active during human generation; this does not happen in brute animals, as they lack reason. Thus, man, endowed with free will, has a very swift and mobile mind, and for this reason, it is impossible for two men to share the exact same physical configuration.

Marvelous things are also told of the agility and lightness of the human body. Maiolus brings forward a man originating from the Canary Islands who, standing on the sole of his left foot for a distance of eight paces, would expose himself to those wishing to pelt him with stones. By sometimes ducking his head, sometimes raising it, now pulling his whole body back, now shifting his legs, he avoided every incoming blow with extreme agility. Then there was Philetus of Cos, an elegiac poet and former weaver, whose body was so light and thin that he found it necessary to wear lead weights tied to the soles of his feet so that he would not be carried off by a gust of wind. Pliny, however, records many who excelled at running due to their lightness and agility, such as Philippides, who ran 240 stadia from Athens to Sparta. There was also another who covered seventy-five miles between noon and evening. Recent authors in the history of the New World report that Mexican couriers run with no less speed than horses, and there were some who "flew" across seventy leagues in four days—to say nothing of the tightrope walkers, who daily perform many wonders of body agility worthy of great admiration. To these may be added those who were most agile in the water: Pontanus and Alexander ab Alexandro record that in their time there was a man in the city of Catania in Sicily named "Calanus the Fish," who spent almost the entire course of his life in the water. Even when a great storm raged at sea, he would swim through the waves without danger. Pedro Mexía mentions another of the same nature called "Nicholas the Fish," who feared death if he did not remain in the water.

Regarding fasting and eating, wonders are also related. Pontanus writes that there was a man who never at any time drank wine or water. We know from Strabo that the Ethiopians are never tormented by thirst as long as they use the lotus herb. They mention a certain man living in Venice who fasted for more than forty-six consecutive days, though he was endowed with a very cold bodily temperament. According to Textor, a certain Philinus used no food or drink while he lived but milk alone, just as others have used only urine. Indeed, in the year 1552, as reported by Schenck, a sixty-year-old man from Lyon named François Pelusius was digging a well forty feet deep when the earth collapsed from above to a depth of thirty-five feet. The digger was buried alive and lived there for seven days and nights without food, refreshing his stomach only by drinking his own urine. Finally, when the earth was dug up so that he might be buried, he was found alive. Pliny testifies that humans can endure a fast for a period of eleven days, although a person supported by divine aid can maintain a much longer fast. Finally, it should be noted that just as there have been some who endured starvation, there were likewise those who devoured things that are not edible at all. We knew a certain porter here in Bologna in the year 1626 who, either willingly or incited by a reward, would eat jars, glass, nails, leather, wood,