and 
(and he had observed them with care,) this precious fact is an example of the influence of climate on a foreign colony.
Buffon (Hist. Nat. tom. iii. p. 433 - 437) collects the unanimous suffrage of naturalists and travellers. If, in the time of Herodotus, they were, in truth and (and he had observed them with care,) this precious fact is an example of the influence of climate on a foreign colony.