Bestiary: the hippopotamus, ibis and stag
Animal self-cures: bloodletting, the clyster, and crabs against venom
A full page of inverted mirror script continuing the bestiary. The hippopotamus, when gorged, cuts a vein on a sharp reed to bleed itself and then seals the wound in mud, and is described as horse-like with cloven hoof, boar's teeth and a mane. The ibis, akin to the stork, gives itself an enema with its beak, while the stag eats crabs to cure the bite of the phalangium spider.
On this page
The hippopotamus that bleeds itself
Feeling overladen, the hippopotamus rubs a vein against thorns or cut reeds until it bleeds, draws off the blood it needs, then heals the wound with mud. Its form is likened to a horse, with cloven hoof, twisted tail, boar's teeth and a maned neck, and its hide cannot be pierced unless first wetted. It even enters its lair backwards so as to appear to be leaving it.
The ibis and the stag as physicians
The ibis, resembling the stork, fills its craw with water when sick and administers itself a clyster with its beak. The stag, bitten by the spider called phalangium, eats crabs and so frees itself of the venom.