Note 33 — Chapter II
Reading edition
A celebrated oracle; those who entered the cave are commonly said never to have smiled again. It appears, however, from Pausanias, that this loss of the important faculty which is said to distinguish men from brutes was only temporary. The method of consulting the oracle was singular. The aspirant descended into a cave, where was a small crevice, into which he proceeded to insinuate himself feet foremost. So soon as he had got his knees in, the whole body was sucked forwards by an overpowering force, and after passing through the circuit of the mysteries, he was ejected, feet foremost, at the place where he had entered.