That is, Yoking oxen for the plough.

Procreation of children was among the ancients frequently called Ploughing and Sowing. Hence the allusions in this paragraph. So, too, Shakspere, "Measure for Measure," Act i. Sc. iv. 41-44.

The reference is to the rites of Cybele. See Lucretius, ii. 618.

See Erasmus, "Adagia." The French proverb is "La nuit tous les chats sont gris."

"Laws," p. 729, C.