ity, avoids consort with men, retires into
the woods, and there diverts herself with hunting, whence she is
reckoned the goddess of the woods and the chase. Pallas is esteemed
the goddess of shepherds and pasture, and is the reputed inventress of
corn, and is thought by some to be Ceres or Vesta. Flora is the
goddess of flowers. By a vile trade, she accumulated a vast amount of
money, and made the people of Rome her heirs, who, in return, placed
her among the divinities.

Ferona and Pomona are two goddesses of trees and fruits. The latter
was advised by the god Vertumnus to enter the matrimonial state in the
guise of a hagged old woman; but without success, till he appeared to
her as a fair young man, and then she felt the power of love, and
yielded to his wishes. The Nymphs are a company of neat charming
virgins, living near the gardens of Pomona. They are of three
classes:--1st the Celestial Nymphs, called Genii, who guide the
spheres and dispense the influences of the stars to things on earth.
2nd, the Terrestrial Nymphs, as Dryades, who preside over the woods
and live in the oaks; and Hamadryades, who are born and die with the
oaks; the Oreades, who preside over the mountains; the Napaeae, who
preside over the groves and valleys; the Limnatides, who look after
the meadows and fields. 3rd, Marine Nymphs.

As the chief of the marine and river gods and goddesses, Neptune
stands at the head. He is represented with black hair and blue eyes,
arrayed in a mantle of azure, holding a trident in his right hand, and
embracing his queen with his left arm. He stands upright in his
chariot, drawn by sea horses, and is attended by nymphs. Proteus is
the son of Neptune, but some say he is the offspring of Oceanus and
Tethys. His business is to tend the sea-calves. He can turn himself
into any shape. Triton, the son and trumpeter of Neptune, is a man to
the middle and a dolphin below; he has two fore feet, like those of
horses, and is provided with two tails. Oceanus is the son of C[oe]lum
and Vesta, husband to Tethys, god of the sea, and father of the rivers
and springs. Nereus, also the son of Oceanus and Tethys, is father of
fifty daughters, called Nereides or Sea Nymphs. Palaemon and his mother
Ino, together with the fisherman Glaucus, are reckoned among the sea
deities. The Sirens resemble mermaids, having the faces of women, but
bodies of flying fish. They are reported to be excellent songsters,
that play on the Sicilian coa