Barer than a slough

Explanation

Aristophanes has, "Blinder than a slough." A slough is the cast-off hide of a snake or cicada. Properly, the slough is that in which the calf's foetus is contained; this too is utterly blind, for it has only the sockets where the eyes should be. They use the word also of the cicada, and generally of those that cast off their old skin. The proverb is recorded in three forms: "blinder than a slough," "emptier than a slough," and "barer than a slough."