en compared with that from the fountain
in Eretria.

That water is really nutritious is plain from the fact that some animals
are nourished by it alone, as for instance grasshoppers. And there are
many other liquids that are nutritious, such as milk, barley water, and
wine. At all events, animals at the breast are nourished by milk; and
there are many nations who drink nothing but milk. And it is said that
Democritus, the philosopher of Abdera, after he had determined to rid
himself of life on account of his extreme old age, and after he had
begun to diminish his food day by day, when the day of the Thesmophorian
festival came round, and the women of his household besought him not to
die during the festival, in order that they might not be debarred from
their share in the festivities, was persuaded, and ordered a vessel full
of honey to be set near him: and in this way he lived many days with no
other support than honey; and then some days after, when the honey had
been taken away, he died. But Democritus had always been fond of honey;
and he once answered a man, who asked him how he could live in the
enjoyment of the best health, that he might do so if he constantly
moistened his inward parts with honey, and the outer man with oil. And
bread and honey was the chief food of the Pythagoreans, according to the
statement of Aristoxenus, who says that those who eat this for breakfast
were free from disease all their lives. And Lycus says that the Cyrneans
(a people who live near Sardinia) are very long-lived, because they are
continually eating honey; and it is produced in great quantities
among them.

AN ACCOUNT OF SOME GREAT EATERS

From the Deipnosophistae

Heraclitus, in his 'Entertainer of Strangers,' says that there
was a woman named Helena who ate more than any other woman ever did. And
Posidippus, in his 'Epigrams,' says that Phuromachus was a great eater,
on whom he wrote this epigram:--

This lowly ditch now holds Phuromachus,
Who used to swallow everything he saw,
Like a fierce carrion crow who roams all night.
Now here he lies wrapped in a ragged cloak.
But, O Athenian, whosoe'er you are,
Anoint this tomb and crown it with a wreath,
If ever in old times he feasted with you.
At last he came _sans_ teeth, with eyes worn out,
And livid, swollen eyelids; clothed in skins,
With but one single cruse, and that scarce full;
Far from the gay Lenaean Games