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+ padding-left: 2em; + text-indent: -2em; +} + +li.isub1 { + padding-left: 4em; + text-indent: -2em; +} + +p { + margin-top: 0.5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; + text-indent: 1em; +} + +table { + margin: 1em auto 1em auto; + max-width: 40em; + border-collapse: collapse; +} + +td { + padding-left: 2.25em; + padding-right: 0.25em; + vertical-align: top; + text-indent: -2em; + text-align: justify; +} + +.pad-top td { + padding-top: 0.75em; +} + +.tdc { + text-align: center; + padding: 0.75em 0.25em 0.5em 0.25em; + text-indent: 0; +} + +.tdpg { + vertical-align: bottom; + text-align: right; +} + +.center { + text-align: center; + text-indent: 0; +} + +figcaption p { + text-align: center; + margin-bottom: 1em; + font-size: 90%; + text-indent: 0; +} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.footnotes { + margin-top: 1em; + border: dashed 1px; +} + +.footnote { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 0.9em; +} + +.footnote .label { + position: absolute; + right: 84%; + text-align: right; +} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none; +} + +.hanging1 { + padding-left: 2em; + text-indent: -2em; +} + +.hanging2 { + padding-left: 4em; + text-indent: -2em; +} + +.hanging3 { + padding-left: 6em; + text-indent: -2em; + font-size: 90%; +} + +.larger { + font-size: 150%; +} + +.noindent { + text-indent: 0; +} + +.pagenum { + position: absolute; + right: 4%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; +} + +.poetry-container { + text-align: center; +} + +.poetry { + display: inline-block; + text-align: left; +} + +.poetry .stanza { + margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em; +} + +.poetry .verse { + padding-left: 3em; +} + +.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: -3.0em;} +.poetry .indent2 {text-indent: -2.0em;} +.poetry .indent4 {text-indent: -1.0em;} +.poetry .indent6 {text-indent: 0.0em;} +.poetry .indent8 {text-indent: 1.0em;} +.poetry .indent16 {text-indent: 5.0em;} +.poetry .indent20 {text-indent: 7.0em;} +.poetry .indent26 {text-indent: 10.0em;} +.poetry .indent28 {text-indent: 11.0em;} + +.right { + text-align: right; +} + +.smaller { + font-size: 80%; +} + +.smcap { + font-variant: small-caps; + font-style: normal; +} + +.allsmcap { + font-variant: small-caps; + font-style: normal; + text-transform: lowercase; +} + +.titlepage { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 3em; + text-indent: 0; +} + +.x-ebookmaker img { + max-width: 100%; + width: auto; + height: auto; +} + +.x-ebookmaker .poetry { + display: block; + margin-left: 1.5em; +} + +/* Illustration classes */ +.illowp80 {width: 80%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp80 {width: 100%;} +.illowp62 {width: 62%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp62 {width: 100%;} +.illowp46 {width: 46%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp46 {width: 100%;} +.illowp75 {width: 75%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp75 {width: 100%;} +.illowp68 {width: 68%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp68 {width: 100%;} +.illowp81 {width: 81%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp81 {width: 100%;} +.illowp83 {width: 83%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp83 {width: 100%;} +.illowp100 {width: 100%;} +.illowp57 {width: 57%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp57 {width: 100%;} +.illowp71 {width: 71%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp71 {width: 100%;} +.illowp64 {width: 64%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp64 {width: 100%;} +.illowp60 {width: 60%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp60 {width: 100%;} +.illowp92 {width: 92%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp92 {width: 100%;} +.illowp93 {width: 93%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp93 {width: 100%;} +.illowp42 {width: 42%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp42 {width: 100%;} +.illowp29 {width: 29%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp29 {width: 100%;} +.illowp96 {width: 96%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp96 {width: 100%;} + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77830 ***</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_i">[i]</span></p> + +<p class="center larger">NATURAL HISTORY LORE AND LEGEND</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_ii"></a><a id="Page_iii"></a>[iii]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<p class="titlepage larger">NATURAL HISTORY<br> +LORE AND LEGEND</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="line" style="max-width: 18.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/line.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p class="center">BEING SOME FEW EXAMPLES OF QUAINT AND BY-GONE BELIEFS<br> +GATHERED IN FROM DIVERS AUTHORITIES, ANCIENT AND<br> +MEDIÆVAL, OF VARYING DEGREES OF RELIABILITY</p> + +<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller">BY</span><br> +F. EDWARD HULME, F.L.S., F.S.A.<br> +<span class="smaller">AUTHOR OF<br> +“WAYSIDE SKETCHES,” “SUGGESTIONS IN FLORAL DESIGN,” “FAMILIAR<br> +WILD FLOWERS,” AND DIVERS OTHER BOOKS THAT NEED NOT<br> +HERE BE SET FORTH</span></p> + +<div class="poetry-container titlepage"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“As some delighte moste to beholde</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Eche newe devyse and guyse,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">So some in workes of fathers olde</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Their studies exercise.”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><i>“Historicall Expostulation” of John<br> + Halle, Chyrurgeon</i>, <span class="allsmcap">A.D</span> 1565</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="titlepage">BERNARD QUARITCH<br> +15 PICCADILLY, LONDON<br> +1895</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iv">[iv]</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage smaller">LONDON:<br> +G. NORMAN AND SON, PRINTERS, FLORAL STREET,<br> +COVENT GARDEN.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[v]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2> + +</div> + +<table> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="tdpg smaller">PAGES</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdc">CHAPTER I.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Mediæval naturalists honest searchers after truth—Sir + Emerson Tennant thereupon—Recent discoveries + confirm many statements once contested—“Travellers’ + tales”—Mediæval natural history largely + based upon ancient—Difference of aim between + modern and ancient and mediæval nature-study—The + moral treatment—Illustrations from the “Speculum + Mundi”—Falsification of natural facts justified by + the ecclesiastics—Ready credulity a mediæval characteristic—Two + examples thereof—The love of the + marvellous—Astrological influences—The mental + equipment of a mediæval surgeon—Quaint book + titles—The unchanging East—Suttee, Juggernaut, + &c. in the pages of mediæval writers—The “Mirabilia + descripta” of Bishop Jordanus—The “Voiage and + Travaile” of Maundevile—The coca plant—Burton’s + “Miracles of Art and Nature,”—The “Historia + Mundi” of Pliny—English editions of it—Herodotus—The + writings of Aristotle—The sources of information + in the Middle Ages—The praise of books—Books + of travel—Munster’s “Cosmography”—The + interest and beauty of old title-pages—Elephants in + lieu of towns in the old maps—A tale of a tub—Herbert’s + “Some Yeares Travels into Africa and + Asia the Great”—The travels of Marco Polo—Geography + of Peter Heylyn—Raleigh’s, Hakluyt’s, + Purchas’, Struys’, Acosta’s books of travels—Medical + books—Potter’s “Booke of Physicke”—Cogan’s + “Haven of Health”—Indifference to animal suffering—“Bestiare + Divin” of Guillaume—The “Bestiary” + of Philip de Thaun—The Armories of Guillim, Legh, + and Bossewell</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">1-53</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[vi]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdc">CHAPTER II.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The pygmies—Ancient and modern writers thereon—Conflicts + with the cranes—Counterfeits—Modern + travel, confirming the statements of the ancient geographers—Pygmy + races now existing—The “Monstrorum + Historia” of Aldrovandus—Crane-headed + men—Men with tails—The Gorilloi—The dog-headed + people—The canine king—The many-eyed + men—The giants of Dondum—The snake-eaters—The + Ipotayne—Mermaids—Syren myth—Storm-raisers—The + mermaids of artists and poets—Shakespeare + thereupon—As heraldic device—The mermaids + of voyagers—The seal and walrus theory—Mermaids + in captivity—Mermaids as food—Counterfeit + mermaids—Mermaid in Chancery—The + “Pseudodoxia Epidemica” of Browne—Oannes or + Dagon—Mermaids and Matrimony—Lycanthropy—The + “Metamorphoses” of Ovid—The fate of + Lykaon—Nine years of wolfdom—Wehr-wolves—Mewing + nuns—Olaus Magnus—The doctrine of + metempsychosis—Influence of enchantment—The + dragon maiden—The power of a kiss—Witchcraft—Scot + and Glanvil, for and against it—The good old + times</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">54-114</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdc">CHAPTER III.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The lion, king of beasts—Unbelievers in him—Aldrovandus + on the lion—The lion of the heralds—The + “Blazon of Gentrie”—Guillim as an authority—The + lion’s medicine—The lion’s antipathies—Why some + lions are maneless—De Thaun’s symbolic lion—Lion’s + cubs born dead—The theory of Creation held + during the Middle Ages—Degenerate lions of Barbary—The + Leontophonos—Hostility between lion and + unicorn—Literary references to the unicorn—Martin’s + “Philosophical Grammar”—How to capture the + unicorn—The value of the horn—The elephant—The + capture thereof—Feud between elephant and dragon—Use + of elephant in war—Performing elephants—Moon-worshippers—Knowledge + of the value of their<br> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[vii]</span> tusks—The first elephant seen in England—Sagacity + of the elephant—Kindliness to lost travellers—Ethiopian + huntresses—Difference between the + creations of Fancy and of Nature—Elephants cold-blooded—Hippopotamus + prescribing himself blood-letting—The + river-horse of Munster—The panther—Powers + of fascination—Beauty of coat—Fragrance—Red + panthers of Cathay—Aromatic spices as diet—Antipathies + between various animals—Antipathetic + medicines—Porta’s “Natural Magick”—The hyæna—Counterfeiting + human speech—The wolf—Producing + speechlessness—The dragon’s parentage—Enmity + between wolf and sheep—Value of wolf-skin + garments—The stag-wolf—The bear—Licking + cubs into shape—Bees and honey—The hare—Cruelty + of many mediæval remedies—The hedgehog—The + deer—Stories with morals—The boar—Swine-stone—The + ermine—The goat—The malevolent shrew-mouse—The + horse—Why oxen should drink before + horses—The donkey—The sparrow’s aversion—The + dog—The cat—Rats and mice</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">115-199</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdc">CHAPTER IV.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The phœnix—Various ancient and mediæval writers + thereon—The Bird of Paradise—The Museum of + Tradescant—The roc—The barnacle goose—The + eagle—Its power of gazing upon the sun—Its keenness + of vision—The pelican—The swan and its + death song—A favourite idea with the poets—Hostility + between the swan and the eagle—The + ostrich—Its digestive powers—How its eggs are + hatched—The cock—Antipathy between lion and + cock—Cock-broth and cock-ale for invalids—Incorporation + in man of various valued animal characteristics—The + stone alectorius—Animals haled before + the judges for offence against man—The deadly cockatrice—Cock-crow—The + “Armonye of Byrdes”—The + raven—How it became black—The raven-stone—The + owl—The swallow—Sight to the blind—Oil + of swallows as a remedy—The robin and the wren—Their<br> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">[viii]</span> pious care of the dead—The nightingale—The + doctrine of signatures—Thorn-pierced breast—Philomela—The + cuckoo—His voice-restorer—The + peacock—Its pride and its shame—The kingfisher—As + a weathercock—Sir Thomas Browne thereon—Halcyone—Halcyone + days—The filial stork—The + cautious cranes</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">200-263</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdc">CHAPTER V.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Forms reptilian and piscine—The basilisk—Shakespeare + and Spenser thereupon—King of serpents—The + dragon—Aldrovandus thereon—The dragon-stone—The + griffin—The scorpion—The “Newe Jewell of + Healthe”—Toads—Antipathy between toad and + spider—The toad-stone—How to procure it—The + weeping crocodile—Cockeram’s Dictionary—The + treacherous seal—The salamander—Its potent + venom—Its home in fire—Prester John and his + kingdom—Pyragones—The chamæleon—Its changing + colour—Serpents from air—The gift of invisibility—The + serpent-stone—Theriaca—Viper-Broth—Antidotal + herbs—The soil of Malta—The deaf + adder—The two-headed Amphisbæna—Aldrovandus + on serpents—Hairy serpents—The deadly asp—Monstrous + snails—Snail and spider remedies—Bees—Virgil + on their production—Glowworm ink—Marine + forms the counterparts of those on land—The + sea-monk—The sea-bishop—The sus marinus—The + brewers of the storm—The hog-fish—The + sea-elephant—The sea-horse—The sea-unicorn—The + remora—The dolphin, its special fondness for + man—Its love of music—Its changeful colouring—The + acipenser—The loving ray—The sargon—The + friendship between the oyster and the prawn—The + voracious swam-fish—Leviathan—Cause of the + crooked mouth of the flounder—The healing tench—Fish + medicaments—The vain cuttle-fish—The fish + that came to be eaten—Conclusion</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">264-339</a></td> + </tr> + <tr class="pad-top"> + <td>INDEX</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#INDEX">341-350</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[1]</span></p> + +<h1>NATURAL HISTORY<br> +<i>LORE AND LEGEND</i></h1> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p>Mediæval naturalists honest searchers after truth—Sir +Emerson Tennant thereupon—Recent discoveries confirm +many statements once contested—“Travellers’ tales”—Mediæval +natural history largely based upon ancient—Difference +of aim between modern and ancient and +mediæval nature-study—The moral treatment—Illustrations +from the “Speculum Mundi”—Falsification of +natural facts justified by the ecclesiastics—Ready credulity +a mediæval characteristic—Two examples thereof—The +love of the marvellous—Astrological influences—The +mental equipment of a mediæval surgeon—Quaint book +titles—The unchanging East—Suttee, Juggernaut, &c. +in the pages of mediæval writers—The “Mirabilia descripta” +of Bishop Jordanus—The “Voiage and Travaile” +of Maundevile—The coca plant—Burton’s “Miracles of +Art and Nature”—The “Historia Mundi” of Pliny—English +editions of it—Herodotus—The writings of +Aristotle—The sources of information in the Middle Ages—The +praise of books—Books of travel—Munster’s +“Cosmography”—The interest and beauty of old title-pages—Elephants +in lieu of towns in the old maps—A +tale of a tub—Herbert’s “Some Yeares Travels into Africa +and Asia the Great”—The travels of Marco Polo—Geography +of Peter Heylyn—Raleigh’s, Hakluyt’s, Purchas’, +Strays’, Acosta’s books of travels—Medical books—Potter’s +“Booke of Physicke”—Cogan’s “Haven of +Health”—Indifference to animal suffering—“Bestiare +Divin” of Guillaume—The “Bestiary” of Philip de Thaun—The +Armories of Guillim, Legh, and Bossewell.</p> + +</div> + +<p>In the following pages we propose to consider at +some little length the state of zoological knowledge +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[2]</span>in the Middle Ages, and in so doing we +shall, we doubt not, discover much of interest. +While we shall undoubtedly find from time to +time strange errors that greater opportunity of +observation has in these latter days rectified, and +encounter many things that may provoke a smile, +we must in the forefront of our remarks very +definitely assert that much of the literary work +of our ancestors in this branch of study is +worthy of high commendation, and that anything +approaching scorn or sneer is entirely out of +place. Strange, indeed, would it be if the modern +man of science, with all the advantages of travel +now so freely available, with the microscope, +with the great facilities for the interchange of +ideas or of specimens with kindred spirits, had +not made a marked advance, but we can never +look upon the works of the greater writers of +the mediæval period without the utmost respect. +The common people of that day were eagerly +searching after knowledge and the huge folios +and encyclopædias that were freely published +are a monument of the diligence and painstaking +zeal, of the courage and enthusiasm of their +teachers. That they made mistakes goes without +saying, but to the full extent of their light they +were honest seekers after truth.</p> + +<p>While the statements of these early writers +have been too frequently dismissed as fabulous +and unreliable, it is only just to them to recall +the fact that some of the details that have come +into reproach have after all been found authentic. +Sir Emerson Tennant in his work on Ceylon +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span>very justly observes that “we ought not to be +too hasty in casting ridicule upon the narratives +of ancient travellers. In a geographical point of +view they possess great value, and if sometimes +they contain statements which appear marvellous, +the mystery is often explained away by a more +minute and careful enquiry.” The Troglodytes +mentioned by Pliny, Aristotle and Herodotus +yet exist in the Bosjesmen of to-day and still +preserve many of the peculiarities and customs +that those early writers described. Du Chaillu +rediscovered the gorillas that Hanno, the ancient +Carthaginian, endeavoured to capture, and Stanley +encountered the pigmy tribes that are mentioned +by travellers of a thousand years before. We +accept in full faith the statements of such men +as Captain Cook and Dr. Livingstone, and we may +reasonably conclude that there have been many +other and earlier travellers as scrupulously truthful. +There have, undoubtedly, been travellers who +have too credulously accepted mere hearsay in +place of actual observation, and these, whether +ancient, mediæval, or modern, are responsible +for the stigma that has at times attached to +“Travellers’ tales”: all that we are at present +careful to assert is that the great bulk of travellers +and authors in the Middle Ages—as in all other +ages—were neither the fools nor the knaves that +the malicious or the hypercritical would sometimes +fain represent them.</p> + +<p>We speedily find, on opening any of the books +on natural history that were issued in the Middle +Ages, that such ancient writers as Pliny, Aristotle, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span>or Herodotus, and other venerable authorities are +held in great reverence, and that the prefatory +“as Pliny saith” gives at once dignity and +authenticity to any statement advanced. Mediæval +zoology is no more independent of the gatherings +of previous centuries than the dogmas of nineteenth +century Christianity are independent of +the writings of Isaiah.</p> + +<p>In comparing ancient or mediæval zoology +with modern, we are conscious of a difference +of aim and treatment. The study of the present +day is largely devoted to the life-history of the +creatures themselves, their structure, and so forth; +while in former times the writer strove ordinarily +after an entirely different aim, thinking much less +of these external facts, but dwelling upon the +value of the animal to mankind in one of two +directions. While we occasionally in books of +travels have the more modern and descriptive +treatment, the main bulk of the writings on +animals in mediæval days had ordinarily one of +two objects: the healing of the body, or the +saving of the soul. Hence the medical writers +sought anxiously for “the vertues” that indicated +their value to suffering humanity, and the theologians +sought with equal zeal to implant a moral, +and if the facts in this latter case did not lend +themselves very happily to this treatment so much +the worse for the facts.</p> + +<p>As an illustration of this moral-pointing +treatment we find in one of these old writers that +“polypus is a fish with many feet, and a rounde +head neare unto them: it is a great enemy to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span>lobster, and they can often change their colour, +and by that project devoure other fishes. Their +use and custom is to be lurking closely by the +sides and roots of rocks, changing themselves into +the colour of the same thing unto which they +cleave: insomuch that they seem as a part of +the rock; whither when the foolish fish swim +they fall into danger, for whilst they dread +nothing these polypodes suddenly prey upon them +and devoure them. And indeede this is the +constancie and unfeared treacherie which is often +found in many men, who will be anything for +their own ends. And nothing without them: +sparing none for their own purposes, nor loving any +but to effect them. Their heads, indeed, may well +be neare their feet; for they prize the trash we +trample on farre above the joyes of heaven; else +they would never work their fond purposes by +deceitfull meanes and damage others to help +themselves.” Another illustration of the same +kind states that “although the mole be blinde +all her lifetime, yet she beginneth to open +her eyes in dying: whiche is a prettie embleme. +This serveth to decypher the state of a worldly +man, who neither seeth heaven nor thinketh of +hell in his lifetime, untill he be dying: and then +beginning to feel that which before he either not +believed or not regarded, he looketh up and +seeth. For even against his will he is then +compelled to open his eyes and acknowledge his +sinnes, although before he could not see them.” +We have taken these two passages from the +“Speculum Mundi, or a Glasse representing the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span>Face of the World, whereunto is added a +Discourse of the Creation, together with a +Consideration of such things as are pertinent to +each dayes Worke.” It was written by one +John Swan, and the copy before us as we write +bears date 1635.⁠<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> It is a good typical example +of the theological treatment of natural history +that was long so much in vogue. Many parables +and fables in like manner deal with animals as so +much raw material to be shaped to such moral +end as the narrator or writer pleases.</p> + +<p>The idea that it was permissible to sacrifice a +lower truth to gain a higher one, and to make +whatever modification was needed to turn a good +moral into one still better was very frankly held, +as the goodness of the intention was considered +ample justification for any aberration from the +actual facts. Thus Hippeau writes: “N’oublions +pas que les pères de l’Eglise se préoccupèrent +toujours beaucoup plus de la pureté des doctrines +qu’ils avaient à développer, que de l’exactitude +scientifique des notions sur lesquelles ils les +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span>appuyaient. L’objet important pour nous, dit +Saint Augustin, àpropos de l’aigle, qui disait on +brise contre la pierre l’éxtrémité de son bec +devenue trop long, est de considérer la signification +d’un fait et non d’en discuter l’authenticité.” +This simple principle runs through the whole +series of “Bestiaries” published under ecclesiastical +influence, and, while it gives them a +special interest of their own, deprives them of +any scientific value.</p> + +<p>The zoological lore of the mediæval writers +was based, to some degree, upon actual observation, +but was still more often largely borrowed +from earlier writers, and was greatly influenced +by various external influences, such as astrology. +It was, moreover, a very credulous age, and men +in all good faith wrote or read statements of +wild improbability or of absolute impossibility; +statements, too, that could so readily be brought +to the test of experiment that one would have +thought it impossible to gain a week’s credence +for them, and yet which are gravely transferred +from one book to another for centuries. +Numerous examples of such statements will +necessarily crop up throughout our pages, but +we may by way of immediate illustration quote a +couple. These are both taken from a work +entitled “Alberti Parvi Lucii Libellus de +Mirabilibus Naturæ Arcanis,” which was once +very popular, was translated into French and +English, and held in high repute. We merely +quote these instances as we find them in the +first book that comes to our hand; it would be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span>easy from a score of other books to give a +hundred of like character. The first of these +would be invaluable to athletes if only it would +bear the test of experience. “Gather some of +the herb called motherwort, when the sun is +entering the first degree of the sign of Capricorn: +let it dry a little in the shade, and make some +garters of the skin of a young hare; that is to +say, having cut the skin of the hare into strips +two inches wide, double them, sew the before-mentioned +herb between, and wear them on +your legs. No horse can long keep up with a +man on foot who is furnished with those garters.” +There is evidently here an idea that the speed of +the hare can be somehow bestowed on the man +who wears its skin, and this notion of transfer +crops up repeatedly in these old recipes. Our +next extract points to a time of some little peril, +and gives welcome means of avoiding the evils +that might befall the traveller. “Gather, on the +morrow of All Saints, a strong branch of willow, +of which you will make a staff, fashioned to your +liking. Hollow it out, by removing the pith +from within, after having furnished the lower end +with an iron ferrule. Put into the bottom of the +staff the two eyes of a young wolf, the tongue +and heart of a dog, three green lizards, and the +hearts of two young swallows. These must all +be dried in the sun between two papers, having +been first sprinkled with finely ground saltpetre. +Besides all these, put into the staff seven leaves +of vervain, gathered on the eve of St. John the +Baptist, with a stone of divers colours, which you +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span>will find in the nest of the lapwing, and stop the +end of the staff with a panel of box, or of any +other material you please, and be assured that +this staff will preserve you from the perils which +befall the traveller, either from robbers, wild +beasts, mad dogs, or venomous animals. It will +also procure you the goodwill of those with +whom you lodge.” The dread of mad dogs, of +scorpions and other venomous creatures seems +to have been extreme in the Middle Ages, every +medical book and herbal abounding in preservatives +from, and antidotes for, such perils to the +traveller. It will be noted in these and such +like receipts that no little amount of trouble was +necessarily entailed in providing the necessary +ingredients, and in providing them at the special +season that increased their efficacy. The +necessary items in the foregoing receipt, a +calendar to tell when the Saints’ days come round, +a willow stick, a wolf, two swallows, and a dog to +be slain, lizards to be captured, paper, saltpetre, +iron ferrule and plug of box to be procured, +vervain leaves to be gathered, and lapwing’s +nest to be found and ransacked, are really few +in number and easy of attainment compared to +those required in many preparations. In the +famous vermifuge and antidote to all animal +poisons that was known as “Venice treacle,” +there were seventy-three ingredients. This was +retained in the London Pharmacopeia up to +little more than a century ago. The fourteenth-century +equivalent of the well-known legend of +the nineteenth-century chemist, “prescriptions +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span>carefully prepared,” must have carried with it a +tremendous responsibility in mediæval days.</p> + +<p>Another potent influence with the older +writers was the delight in what is abnormal and +wonderful, and here again a ready credulity +found ample material. The love of the marvellous +is deeply engraved in human nature. We +may see abundant proof of this in such classic +myths as the Sirens, in the monstrous forms +carved or depicted in the temples of Egypt or +Mexico, in the popularity of such books as the +Arabian Nights’ Tales, or the adventures of +Gulliver or Munchausen down to the fearful joy +of the youngsters in the nursery in the sanguinary +giant whose food was the blood of Englishmen.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Far away in the twilight time</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of every people, in every clime,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Dragons and griffins and monsters dire,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Born of water, or air, or fire,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Crawl and wriggle and foam with rage,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Through dark tradition and ballad age.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The fell harpies, the monstrous roc, the death-dealing +basilisk, the phœnix, the chimæra, the +monstrous kraken, the deadly cockatrice, the +fire-drake, dragon, half-man half-fish, the vulture-headed +Nisroch, the treacherous Lorelei, sweet +Queen Mab of Fairyland, fiery dragons, ghastly +wehr-wolves, mermaids, centaurs, together with +the great sea-serpent, the toad embedded for +countless centuries in the rock, and other +wonders that still turn up from time to time +during the dull season in the newspapers, are +but a few examples that at once occur to one’s +thoughts. Ovid and Pliny in their day went to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span>very considerable lengths to satisfy this love of +the marvellous; in the Middle Ages writers not +a few discoursed of dog-headed men, of pigmies, +of “the anthropophagi, and men whose heads +do grow beneath their shoulders,” while no +country fair in this present year of grace would +be considered by its patrons at all up to date +unless it included a giant and a dwarf, together +with a two-headed calf, or some such +monstrosity.</p> + +<p>The writings of Chaucer, Shakespeare, and +other poets abound in allusions to the folk-lore +of the time. Thus in the lines—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“When beggars die there are no comets seen,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes,”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">we have an interesting reference to the old +belief that all things, terrestrial or celestial, were +created for the service of man and were profitable +in some way or other to him. Much of the +early medical treatment was a strange mixture of +astrological, zoological and botanical lore. Thus +Chaucer tells us of his Doctour of Phisik that—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“In al this world ne was ther non him lyk</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To speke of phisik and of surgerye:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For he was grounded in astronomye.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Not only did he put his trust in “drugges and +letuaries,” but—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“He kepte his pacient wonderfully wel</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In houres by his magik naturel.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Wel coude be fortunen the ascendent</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of his ymages for his pacient.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>We have seen that it was a necessary condition +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span>in the preparation of the receipt that we have +given that the sun should be in a particular +position in the heavens prior to gathering one of +the ingredients, and the saturnine, jovial, martial, +or mercurial qualities of various substances +employed in the healing art owed their potency to +a due regard to the starry influences.</p> + +<p>In a quaint old book “Imprinted in London +at Flete Streate, nyghe unto Saint Dunstones +Churche,” by one Thomas Marshe, and published +by him in the year 1565, we have “goodlye +Doctrine and Instruction necessarye to be marked +and folowed of all true chirurgeons, gathered +and diligently set forth by John Halle, Chyrurgeon,” +under the title of “An Historicall Expostulation +against the Beastlye Abuses, both of +Chyrurgerie and Physicke in oure tyme.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> He +sums up the requirements of the “chyrurgeon” +properly equipped for his work in the following +lines—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Not onlye in chirurgery</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Thou oughtest to be experte,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But also in astronomye</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Bothe prevye and aperte.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">In naturall philosophye</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Thy studye shoulde be bente:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To knowe eche herbe, shrubbe, root, and tree,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Muste be thy good intente.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Eche beaste and foule, wyth worme and fishe,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And all that beareth lyfe:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Their vertues and their natures bothe</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With thee oughte to be rife.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The acquisition of this varied fund of knowledge +shall prove itself enjoyable, helpful, and profitable, +for—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Whereby of knowledge and greate skill</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Thou shalt obteine the fruit:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And men to thee in generall,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For helpe shall make their sute.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>One interesting result of searching in these +old tomes is that amidst much that the world has +now outlived one often finds interesting references +that show how unchanging some customs +are, and how some of the things that we have +regarded as recent discoveries were, after all, +well known centuries ago. It is somewhat +startling, for instance, to see the great African +lakes—the Victoria and Albert Nyanza, and +others that have only comparatively lately been +rediscovered—quite clearly marked in some +ancient maps; and the whole course of the Nile, +from source to sea, as definitely given as that of +Thames or Tiber.</p> + +<p>We speak of the “unchanging East,” and +adopt the phrase with more or less of thoughtful +acquiescence, but it is distinctly interesting in +the pages of Jordanus, for example, to find the +Parsee funeral customs and the Tower of Silence +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span>thus referred to:—“There be pagan folk in this +India who worship fire; they bury not their +dead, neither do they burn them, but cast them +into the midst of a certain roofless tower, and +there expose them totally uncovered to the fowls +of heaven.” He was present also at Suttee, for +he says:—“I have sometimes seen for one dead +man who was burnt, five living women take their +places on the fire with their dead, and for the +love of their husbands and for eternal life burn +along with them, with as much joy as if they +were going to be wedded.”</p> + +<p>This Jordanus was a missionary bishop in +India. He was appointed to the bishopric of +Columbum by Pope John XXII., by a Bull +bearing date April 5th, 1330. There are indications +that there was at that time a considerable +body of Christians at Columbum, but the locality +is now entirely unknown. Many conflicting +theories have been held, and each one demolished +as hopeless by the holders of the others. His +book, entitled “Mirabilia descripta,” was written +in Latin. “Like many other old writers,” very +justly observes Colonel Henry Yule, who published +an English translation of his book from +which we quote, “whilst endeavouring to speak +only truth of what he had seen, Jordanus retails +fables enough from hearsay. What he did see +in his travels was so marvellous to him that he +was quite ready to accept what was told him of +regions more remote from Christendom, when it +seemed but in reasonable proportion more +marvellous.” Of the truth of this we shall +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span>doubtless find illustration in subsequent references +to his book.</p> + +<p>Maundevile in like manner in his “Voiage and +Travaile” gives us another insight into the unchangeable +nature of the customs of the East. +We recognize at once the sacrifice made to +Juggernaut when we read that “at the thronynge +of the Ydole all the Contree aboute meten there +to gidere: and thei setten this Ydole upon a +Chare with gret reverence, wel arranged with +Clothes of gold, of riche Clothes of Tartarye and +other precyous Clothes: and thei leden him +aboute the Cytee with gret solempnytee. And +before the Chare gon first in processioun alle the +Maydennes of the Contree two and two to +gidere, fulle ordynately. Aftre the Maydennes +gon the Pilgrymes. And sume of hem falle down +undre the Wheles of the Chare and let the +Chare gon over hem, so that thei ben dede anon. +And sume hav here Armes or here Lymes alle +to broken and sume the sydes: and alle this +done thei for love of hire God, in gret Dovocioun. +And he thinkethe that the more peyne, and the +more tribulacioun that thei suffren for love of +here God the more ioye thei schulle have in +an other World.” We read also of the snake +charmers, of the small misshapen feet of the +Chinese ladies, the talon-like nails of their lords +and masters. He tells us too of the incubation +by artificial means, “withouten Henne, Goos or +Doke or ony other Foul,” of eggs “at Cayre,” +which our readers will readily recognize as +Cairo. It will no doubt be remembered by many +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span>who may scan these pages, how large a use +the French made of pigeons, when, during the +siege of Paris in the Franco-German war, they +desired to communicate with the outside world, +and this is clearly no new thing under the sun, +for Maundevile tells us that “in Judæa and +other Contrees beyonde thei hav a Custom, +whan thei schulle usen Werre, and whan men +holden Sege abouten Cytee or Castelle, and thei +with innen dur not senden out Messagers with +Letters for to aske Sokour thei bynden here +Lettres to the Nekke of a Colver⁠<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> and leten the +Colver flee, and the Colveren ben so taughte +that thei fleen with the Lettres to the verry +place that Men wolde sende hem to.”</p> + +<p>As we shall from time to time have occasion to +refer to Maundevile’s book, we may, on this first +mention of it, very advantageously introduce +some few details respecting it. The “Voiage +and Travaile” of Sir John Maundevile was professedly +a book for the guidance of pilgrims and +travellers journeying to Jerusalem, but on the +same principle that it has been asserted that all +roads lead to Rome so all seemed to have +centred in the capital of Judæa; hence his book +is comprehensive enough to include the “Marvayles +of Inde,” and a very full description of +China. The book was one of the most popular +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span>works of the Middle Ages, and passed through +many editions both in England and on the continent,⁠<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> +first in manuscript form and afterwards +as a printed book. Of no book, with the +exception of the Scriptures, can more MSS. +be found of the end of the fourteenth and +beginning of the fifteenth century. Nineteen +manuscript copies of it, four being in Latin and +nine in French, are in the library of the +British Museum, and others at Oxford, Cambridge, +and in various other libraries. In one of +the copies in the British Museum, a small +vellum folio of the fourteenth century, its <i>raison +d’être</i> is thus defined—“Here bygynneth the +book of John Maundevile, Knyght of Inglelond, +that was y-bore in the toun of Seynt Albons, +and travelide aboute in the worlde in manye +diverse countreis to se mervailes and customes +of countreis and diversiteis of folkys and diverse +shap of men and of beistis, and all the mervaill +that he say he wrot and tellitte in this book.” +The book is made up from his personal experiences, +supplemented by gossip and hearsay, +while at times he appropriated freely from the +works of other authors. Much of what he tells +of China and India is markedly similar, for +instance, to the narrative of Friar Odoric, the +narration of whose travels in those lands was +given to the world in the year 1331. When +Maundevile has an exceptionally improbable story +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span>to narrate he evades personal responsibility by +prefacing it with the formula, “thei seyn.” He +set out on his travels on Michaelmas day in 1322, +and was absent from England for thirty-four +years, being “ravished with a mightie desire to +see the greater part of the world,” and in that +lengthened period of absence going far towards +the attainment of his ideal.</p> + +<p>As regards the mention by various old authors +of divers things that we have a way of considering +quite recent discoveries we may give as an +illustration the coca plant. This has been within +the last few years brought to the front and +highly commended as a stimulant, from its undoubted +power of enabling one to sustain +strength and endurance during any exceptional +bodily exertion, but on taking down Burton’s +“Miracles of Art and Nature” from our bookshelf, +we find that over two hundred years ago +(our copy is dated 1678) all this was as +thoroughly known as it is to-day. After +mentioning in his description of Peru, divers +curious animals, he goes on to say—“Some as +deservedly account the coca for a wonder, the +leaves whereof being dried and formed into +Lozenges, or little pellets, are exceedingly useful +in a Journey: for melting in the mouth, they +satisfie both hunger and thirst, and preserve a +man in his strength and his Spirits in vigour: and +are generally esteemed of such Soveraign use +that it is thought no less than 100,000 Baskets +full of the leaves of this tree are sold yearly +at the Mines of Potosi only, each of which at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span>some other places would yield 12<i>d</i> or 18<i>d</i> +apiece.”</p> + +<p>Burton’s book, “Miracles of Art and Nature, +or a Brief Description of the several varieties of +Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Plants, and Fruits of other +Countreys, Together with Severall Remarkable +Things in the World,” contains much curious +and interesting matter, and we shall find occasion +to quote from it from time to time in our +subsequent pages. The scope and aim of the +book may be very well gathered from the following +extract from the preface—“Candid Reader, +what thou findest herein are Collections out of +severall Antient Authors, which (with no small +trouble) I have carefully and diligently Collected +and Comprised into this small Book at some +vacant hours, for the divertisement of such as +thyself, who are disposed to read it: For the +several Climates of the World, have not only +influenced the Inhabitants, but the very Beasts, +with Natures different from one another: So hast +thou here, not only a Description of the several +Shapes and Natures of Variety of Birds, Beasts, +Fishes, Plants, and Fruits: but also of the Dispositions +and Customs (though some of them Barbarous +and Inhuman) of severall People, who Inhabit +many pleasing and other parts of the World. I +think there is not a Chapter wherein thou wilt not +find various and remarkable things worth thy +observation: and such (take the Book throughout) +that thou canst not have in any one Author, at +least Modern, and of this Volume. ’Tis probable +they are not so Methodically dispos’d as some +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span>hands might have done: Yet for Variety and +Pleasure-sake, they are (I hope) pleasingly +enough intermixed. And as I find this accepted +so I shall proceed. Farewel.” That the disposition +is not altogether methodical is speedily +evident, as opening the book at random we find +chapters following each other on “Norwey, +Assiria, Quivira in California, Germany, Nova +Zelina.”</p> + +<p>The influence of Pliny is of immense weight +with the writers of mediæval days, and even +when the well-used formula “as Pliny saith,” is +not given, anyone who is familiar with his labours +will have no difficulty in recognizing the utilization +of his material by his successors. Thus +Pliny tells us that many wonderful things which +he specifies are to be found in Ethiopia, hence +Ethiopia has been discovered by many subsequent +writers to be a marvellous land, and the wondrous +things they detail of it have strange similarity +with those of the older writer. This need not in +all cases imply plagiarism; if a writer five +hundred years ago, in describing the Bay of +Naples, introduced a volcano into his description, +we do not resent all subsequent writers on +the subject also seeing it, but when an ancient +writer introduces a rank impossibility, and subsequent +writers see that too, we may reasonably +assume that they have been borrowing. As an +illustration we may mention that we read in the +pages of Pliny of single-footed men who possess +this solitary feature of so gigantic a size that its +owner utilizes it as a sunshade. Hence these +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span>people appear from time to time in the pages +of divers travellers. Maundevile, for instance, +without acknowledgment of the source of his +information, which he allows us to think is the +result of his personal observation, tells us that +“in Ethiope ben many dyverse folk,” and goes +on to specify that “in that Contree ben folk that +have but on foot: and thei gon so fast that it is +marvayle, and the foot is so large that it schademethe +all the Body agen the Sonne whanne thei +wole lye and reste hem.”</p> + +<p>That Pliny was at times imposed upon by +his informants is sufficiently obvious from the +illustration that we have given, but when all +deductions have been made his work was a very +wonderful and valuable one, and a monument +of painstaking industry, intellectual power and +enormous erudition. The great naturalist Cuvier, +no mean authority, calls it “one of the most +precious monuments that have come down to us +from ancient times.” Buffon, no mean authority +either, writes: “It is, so to say, a compilation +from all that had been written before his time: +a record of all that was excellent or useful: but +his record has in it features so grand, this compilation +contains matter grouped in a manner so +novel, that it is preferable to most of the original +works that treat upon similar subjects.”</p> + +<p>Seeing that it is the <i>fons et origo</i> of so much +subsequent work, we may well devote some +little space to its consideration, for mediæval +natural history is largely Pliny, either frankly +acknowledged, boldly appropriated without +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span>acknowledgment, or at least the nucleus around +which other observations of more or less value +are gathered.</p> + +<p>Pliny’s book is of the most comprehensive +character, and even his table of contents runs +into many pages. This table would appear at +the time of its issue to have been almost a literary +curiosity, as he prefaces it by saying that “as +you⁠<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> should be spared as far as possible from all +trouble, I have subjoined the contents of the +following books, and have used my best endeavours +to prevent your being obliged to read +them all through. And this, which was done +for your benefit, will also serve the same purpose +for others, so that anyone may search for what +he wishes, and may know where to find it. This +has been done before amongst us by Valerius +Soranus, in his book which he entitled ‘On +Mysteries.’”</p> + +<p>The following shortened list gives a notion of +the general character of the various sections of +this <i>magnum opus</i>. After the first book, which +is occupied entirely by the elaborate preface to +the Emperor, the author plunges at once into +his subject, and devotes the second book to a +general treatise on the elements and on the world +and the heavenly bodies. The third and fourth +books describe the great bays of Europe, while +the fifth and sixth deal with Africa and Asia +respectively. The seventh book is entirely +devoted to man, and the eighth and ninth are on +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span>land and aquatic animals. The tenth treats of +birds, and the eleventh of insects. The attention +of the author and reader is then turned to +matters botanical, and the twelfth book dwells +upon odoriferous plants. The thirteenth is +occupied with the consideration of the various +exotic trees then known, while the fourteenth +is devoted entirely to the vine, and the fifteenth +to fruit trees generally. In the next book, the +sixteenth, the author passes to a consideration of +the various kinds of forest trees, and in the +following, the seventeenth, to the plants raised +in nurseries and gardens. The eighteenth book +deals with the cultivation of corn and the general +pursuits of the husbandman. The treatise then +turns to economic and medicinal considerations, +section nineteen taking up flax and other commercial +plants, and twenty dealing with the +herbs cultivated for food or medicine. The +twenty-first and twenty-second are somewhat +æsthetic, and dwell upon the flowers and plants +proper for garlands. The twenty-third and +twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth are devoted to +the medicines made from cultivated trees, forest +trees, and wild plants respectively. The twenty-sixth +deals with new diseases and their appropriate +treatment by herbs, and the twenty-seventh +is a continuation and amplification of the +twentieth. The twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth +are devoted to the medicines derived from +animals, and the thirtieth chapter deals with +magic and the proper medicines for various parts +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span>of the body. The thirty-first and thirty-second +sections are given up to the economic uses of +various aquatic animals, one being entirely +devoted to their medicinal value, and the next +to their general commercial adaptability. The +remaining chapters deal with the mineral kingdom, +the thirty-third chapter being given up +wholly to gold and silver, and the thirty-fourth +to lead and copper. The thirty-fifth division is +given up to pictures and colours and the painters +and users thereof. The thirty-sixth chapter is +occupied with marbles and various kinds of +stone, while the concluding section deals with +gems.</p> + +<p>It will thus be seen that the work is of the +most comprehensive character, and however far +the world may since have travelled, and in its +revolutions disproved much that when this book +was written was held to be undoubted, the book +nevertheless remains a noble monument of the +zeal, energy, and thirst after knowledge of its +author.</p> + +<p>Caius Plinius Secundus, ordinarily called the +Elder to distinguish him from his nephew, who +was also an eminent man of letters, was born at +Verona or Como, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 23. As the son of a Roman +of noble family, he was early devoted to a +military career, and spent a considerable portion +of his life in the army, where he gained distinction +in various campaigns; and on his retirement from +actual service, was appointed by the Emperor +Procurator of Spain. Though much occupied in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span>public work he was an enthusiastic student, and +devoted all his intervals of relaxation to literature. +During dinner he was either being read to +or was busily engaged in taking notes, and when +travelling his secretary was in constant attendance +upon him. Even while enjoying his bath, he +was busy dictating or imbibing knowledge. He +was a tremendous worker, and besides the +“Natural History,” wrote a voluminous treatise +on the German Campaign and various other +books. He fell a victim to his love of science, +as while commanding the fleet he was witness of +the great eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed +Pompeii and Herculaneum, and while making +observations ashore he was overwhelmed in +thick sulphurous vapour.</p> + +<p>Pliny had an intense love of nature, and to his +own researches he added those of a great body +of other observers, sifting with infinite patience +from their labours whatever he deemed of value, +and accumulating vast stores of observation. +That he at times drew false conclusions is sufficiently +evident, but it is clearly not just to +apply a nineteenth-century standard to his +labours. He gave credence to many stories that +have since been proved erroneous, but he always +honestly strove after truth. When he tells us, +for example, that the appearance of an owl is +a portent of misfortune, he adds, “but I myself +know that it hath perched upon many houses of +private men and yet hath no evil followed.”</p> + +<p>At the beginning of each book Pliny is careful +to give the names of the authors that he has +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span>consulted for it.⁠<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> As the subjects that he treats +of are very varied the total list of authorities is +very large. Some of the names, such as Virgil, +Archimedes, and others, are those of men still +held in reverence; while many are naturally +now but little known, their works having perished. +As an illustration of the thoroughness of Pliny in +the matter we will give an illustrative list—that +which precedes his eighth book, dealing with +land animals. He divides his lists always into +two sections, and commences with the authors of +his own country. These in this particular +instance are Mutianus, Procilius, Verrius +Flaccus, L. Piso, Cornelius Valerianus, Cato the +Censor, Fenestella, Trogus, Actius, Columella, +Virgil, Varro, Metellus Scipio, Cornelius Celsus, +Nigidius, Trebius Niger, Pomponius Mela, and +Manlius Sura. His foreign authorities are considerably +more numerous, and are, naturally, +most of them Greek writers: Polybius, Onesicritus, +Isidorus, Antipater, Aristotle, Demetrius, +Democritus, Theophrastus, Euanthes, Hiero, +Duris, Ctesias, Philistus, Architas, Philarchus, +Amphilochus the Athenian, Anaxipolis the +Thasian, Apollodorus of Lemnos, Aristophanes +the Milesian, Antigonus the Cymæan, and twenty-three +others, whom it is needless to add to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span>list, as it is already quite long enough to illustrate +the care with which Pliny fortified his own +knowledge with the best aid that he could +procure.</p> + +<p>Though, doubtless, in some cases, the bearers +of these names were travellers and others who +contributed but one or two items to the store of +knowledge, the greater portion of the names are +those of men who, to the best of their ability, +were endeavouring to penetrate the secrets of +nature. It is a striking fact that at this early +period there should be such a body of scientific +opinion to draw upon. Pliny tells us that he has +dealt with twenty thousand subjects and that this +has necessitated the perusal of over two thousand +books.</p> + +<p>Though the quaintness of some of the ideas +we encounter in Pliny raises a smile, yet the +real wonder is that he was able to produce a +book so excellent, and the more one reads of +it the more this truth is impressed upon one’s +mind. In many of his ideas he appears to have +been far in advance of his age. Thus he +distinctly declares that the world is round, and +gives lucid reasons for his statement, and in an +age of abounding polytheism, when temples +innumerable each enshrined the image of some +deity, he had the courage to declare that “to +seek after any shape of God and to assign a +form or image to him is a proof of man’s folly. +For God, wheresoever he be and in what part +soever resident, all sense he is, all sight, all +hearing. He is the whole of the life and of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span>the soul, and to believe that there be gods +innumerable, and those according to man’s +virtues, as chastity, concord, understanding, +hope, honour, clemency, faith, these conceits +render men’s negligence the greater.”</p> + +<p>The unchanging nature of the East that we +have, already seen illustrated by extracts from +mediæval writers is even visible in the work of +this author of nearly two thousand years ago, +for Pliny mentions the people called Seres, +beyond Scythia, who fly the company of other +people and who are famous for the fine silk that +their woods yield. There can be no reasonable +doubt but that these exclusive folk were the +Chinese. He tells us that they collect this silk +from the leaves of the trees, and, having steeped +it in water, card it: it being a very pardonable +error to conclude that this silk was the product +of the tree itself rather than of the silkworm +that spun its cocoon amongst its foliage. The +men have feet of natural size, while the women’s +are so small that Pliny’s informant described +them as ostrich-footed. Here we can scarcely +doubt that the strange custom of the Chinese in +binding up the feet of the women is referred to, +and granting this it is an interesting proof of the +great antiquity of this barbarous proceeding.</p> + +<p>In India, too, it was reported to Pliny that there +were certain philosophers who from sunrise to +sunset persevere in gazing upon the sun without +once removing their eyes, and from morn to +eve stand upon one leg on the burning sand. It +is remarkable to observe how exactly these +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span>austerities and others of like severity and +uselessness are still practised by the Fakirs of +India. He tells us too of others who had +strange influence over venomous serpents, +doubtless the snake-charmers whose descendants +still exhibit their skill, and refers to the people +of India hunting and taming the elephants and +using them as beasts of burden, as valuable aids +to locomotion and for purposes of war.</p> + +<p>Pliny’s book has gone through many editions +and translations. Of these we need but mention +that of Dalecamp in 1599; De Laet in 1635, +Gronovius, 1669; Pinet, 1566; and Poinsinet de +Sivri, 1771. An English version of delightful +quaintness of language and expression is the +translation issued by Dr. Philemon Holland in +the year 1601. He is the only writer who has +given a complete rendering of Pliny’s book in +English.⁠<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> Bostock also, in 1828, began a +translation and issued the first and thirty-third +books as a specimen of a proposed rendering of +the whole work. His death prevented the +accomplishment of the task. The reader in +subsequent passages will readily detect for +himself from which source any quotation we +give is derived, as the diction of Holland is far +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span>more quaint and old-fashioned than that of the +later translator.</p> + +<p>Several other writers of antiquity influenced +the mediæval authors, but it is scarcely necessary +to detail their labours at any length, since if they +lived before Pliny he borrowed from them, and if +they lived afterwards they borrowed from him, +so that we practically in Pliny get the pith and +cream of all. Herodotus, the “Historiarum +parens,” as Cicero terms him, was, we read, +scarcely a historian, but one finds divers passages +from time to time in his descriptions of Egypt +and other lands that throw an interesting side-light +on the natural history of the country under +consideration, and these have a certain value. A +writer of greater direct importance is Aristotle, +one of the most illustrious naturalists of antiquity. +It will be remembered that his works supplanted +the love of gold, of sumptuous apparel, even +the charms of music in the breast of Chaucer’s +philosopher, and formed an all-sufficient solace for +a light cash box, a sparse wardrobe, and the missing +“fidel.” The passage is interesting as it indicates +the repute in which the works of the ancient +writer were held in the days of the poet:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“For him was lever han at his beddes hed</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A twenty bokes, clothed in black and red,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of Aristotle, and his philosophie,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Than robes rich, or fidel, or sautrie,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But all be that he was a philosopher</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Aristotle had very exceptional opportunities +of acquiring knowledge, as his royal patron and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span>friend, the potent Alexander the Great, was able +and willing to afford him aid that was invaluable +to him. Thousands of men, huntsmen, fishermen, +soldiers in distant garrisons of his far-stretching +realm, by royal command were instructed to keep +a keen outlook, and to forward to Aristotle +anything that was curious or rare, or to procure +him, if possible, any specimen he desired to +possess. His book “De animalibus,” though +naturally not free from a certain amount of +error, and the intrusion of second-hand hearsay, +is a mine of industry and research and not +unworthy of the special opportunities that gave +it birth.</p> + +<p>In the study of our subject during the Middle +Ages, several sources of information are open to +us. Of hooks on natural history, pure and simple, +there are none; their day was not yet. The love +of nature for its own sake was a later birth, but +the books of travels often detail the zoology and +botany of the lands journeyed through. Then there +are the medical books, containing the most extraordinary +remedies, or perhaps it would be safer to +say, prescriptions, for the ills of suffering humanity, +and which more or less fully describe the source +and origin of the various ingredients in their +gruesome pharmacopœia, and with these we may +class the books on social economics, dealing with +gastronomy, gardening, the distillation of essences, +and so forth, and which necessarily deal in some +degree with the life-history of the materials that +are introduced. In addition to these we have +what are termed bestiaries, books that treat the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span>animals and plants as so many lay figures to be +clothed upon with any moral that, with often scant +regard to facts, will serve to enforce a dogma. To +these must be added the armories or books on +heraldry, where the lions, elephants, bears, and +other devices of blazonry, are often very quaintly +and graphically described for the benefit of +those, doubtless a considerable majority, to whom +they were little more than a name; or to whom, +if they had seen them at the Tower of London +in the royal collection, further information on +creatures so strange was of great interest. In +addition to these sources of instruction of more +or less value we may fitly refer to the writings +of the poets, since in the pages of Chaucer, +Shakespeare and the lesser lights of poesy are +abundant allusions to the beliefs of the time, in +this as in other directions, and many of these are +of great interest and value.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Oh for a booke and a shady nooke</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Eyther in doore or out,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With the greene leaves whispering overhead,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or the streete cryes all about;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Where I maie reade all at my ease,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Both of the newe and old,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For a jollie goode booke whereon to looke</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Is better to me than golde.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span></p> + +<p>It must surely have been of some quaint book +of travel that this old English song-writer was +thinking when he thus discoursed on the pleasant +debt we owe to books, when in the stirring days +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span>of Frobisher, Drake and Raleigh, men’s minds +were expanding to all sorts of possibilities, and +they read with avidity of the Eldorado of the +west, and of the headless men, or those whose +heads do grow beneath their shoulders. Such as +were in all good faith held to be fairly represented +by our illustration (<a href="#figure01">fig. 1</a>) from one of these old +books. The writers of the day described too the +wondrous creatures that peopled the torrid plains +of Africa or India, or the lands of Prester John, +or far Cathay; where so many things were new +and true and wonderful that it seemed as if all +things were possible, and a mermaid no more an +unreasonable probability than a milkmaid.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="figure01" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure01.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 1.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Of Maundevile we have already made mention. +It would be manifestly undesirable to +dwell at the length that the ample materials to +hand would permit. We will mention but one or +two other books as samples of the bulk.</p> + +<p>Munster’s “Cosmography” is a book that all +bibliophiles whose tastes incline in this direction +should see. Sebastian Munster, the learned +author, died of the plague at Basel in the year +1552, at the comparatively early age of sixty-three, +almost immediately after he had completed +his book. The copy before us we see was +published at Basel in the year of his death. +Everyone consulting such a book should always +begin at the very beginning, as the old titles, as +we have already indicated, are often full of interest +and beauty. In the instance before us the centre +of the page is filled up with the title, given with +that elaborate fulness that is so characteristic of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span>early books. The upper part of the page is +devoted to the secular and spiritual princes of +the Roman Empire, the former crowned, the +latter wearing their mitres, and each having a +shield of arms. Amongst the secular princes we +find those of Cyprus, Ungar, Sicilia, Bohem, +Neapol and Polon. The sides of the page are +taken up with panels containing the rulers of +Turkey, Tartary and such-like outlandish places, +and at the bottom is a very comprehensive +picture indeed. In the foreground, resting +against a tree, is a man in grievous extremity, +naked and forlorn, and to him advances a warlike +savage with bow and arrow and, worse still, a +manifest inclination to use them to the detriment +of the traveller. Behind the prostrate figure is +an elephant, while in rear of the savage are three +trees, marked respectively Piper, Muscata and +Gariofili. In the background is a river, or arm +of the sea, from which dolphins emerge, and on +the further shore are two towns and a range of +mountains.</p> + +<p>The book is very freely illustrated with maps, +portraits, pictures of towns, animals, plants, and +so forth. Some of the figures are really very +good; there is one of the Moufflon, for instance, +that is full of character and truth, while others +are hopelessly wrong. The same pictures come +over and over again at intervals in the text, thus +a man with a great sword going to chop off the +head of a man kneeling before him, stands for +martyrdom or the doom of the traitor, and reappears +impartially on all occasions where the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span>text suggests such ideas. The same battle-scene +often crops up to illustrate the various conflicts +described, and there is a standard figure of a +bishop with mitre and pastoral crook that +serves as a portrait of divers ecclesiastics. The +same lantern tower that does duty for Lucerne +reappears for Alexandria. It argues a quaint +simplicity all round when the author could +gravely furnish and his readers as gravely accept +these few stock illustrations for all the varying +conditions.</p> + +<p>It is very interesting to see that in the map of +Africa⁠<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> the Nile takes its rise from three large +lakes far south of the equator, but the map of the +world is an extraordinary production, and shows, +sources of the Nile notwithstanding, a strange +ignorance of elementary facts. The South +Atlantic is almost entirely filled up from Brazil +to Africa by a great sea monster. In the map +of Africa a gigantic elephant is introduced, a +proceeding that was rather popular with these +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span>older writers, and which is satirized in the well-known +lines of Swift—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“So geographers, in Afric maps,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With savage pictures fill their gaps,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And o’er inhabitable downs</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Place elephants for want of towns.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">Even in the days of Plutarch a kindred device +was not unknown, as we find him in the +“Theseus” writing, “as geographers crowd into +the edges of their maps parts of the world which +they do not know about, adding notes in the +margin to the effect that beyond this lies nothing +but sandy deserts full of wild beasts and +unapproachable bogs.” Elsewhere in this map +of Africa we see trees with enormous parrots +(miles long if we judge them by the general +scale of the map) perched in their branches, and +the reputed home of the monoculi, the one-eyed +men, is indicated by the introduction of one of +them. In South America in the same way the +home of the Canibali is marked by a hut of tree +trunks and branches from which hang suspended, +as in a larder, a human leg and a man’s head. +Many old beliefs obtain curious illustration, +thus in one of the quaint pictures we see a man +using the divining rod to detect subterranean +water. That Swift knew the book seems +probable from his happy allusion to the +elephants in lieu of towns, and this probability +grows almost into a certainty, when we read, +in his “Tale of a Tub,” his assertion that +sea-men have a custom, when they meet a whale, +of flinging him out an empty tub by way of amusement, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span>to divert him from doing damage to the +ship. In the “Cosmography” there is the +picture of a ship to which a whale is approaching +somewhat too closely for the nerves of the crew, +and they are, therefore, represented as throwing +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span>a tub overboard for it to play with. Neither +the substitution of elephants for towns nor the +notion of the ship-preserving tub are, however, the +exclusive copyright of the Munster limners. The +former are seen in various other old maps and +the tub incident is introduced into the “Ship of +Fools” and other old books.</p> + +<p>The great value of these monsters, terrestrial or +marine, in filling up bare spaces, and in giving an +additional interest and reality, may be very well +seen in the accompanying illustration (<a href="#figure02">fig. 2</a>)—a +view of the Azores, where the strange water-monster +fills up very adequately indeed a space +where Nature failed to deposit an island. It is +impossible to decide its species; at first sight it +suggests the notion of a sawfish or water-unicorn. +The old draughtsman was unwilling that any of +it should be lost to us, so instead of placing it in +the water, it, with perhaps the exception of the +missing lower jaw, is entirely on the surface. +The mysterious something that crosses it suggests +the idea that the creature is going bathing, and +has thrown its towel, schoolboy-fashion, over its +back; but on fuller reflection we take it that +that is meant to indicate the wave and turmoil +that the creature makes in the otherwise placid +sea as it rushes through it, or rather over it.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp62" id="figure02" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure02.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 2.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The figure is a facsimile of a drawing of a +portion of the Azores, St. George and Flores +being omitted by us. It is extracted from Sir +Thomas Herbert’s book, “Some Yeares Travels +into Africa and Asia the Great, especially the +famous Empires of Persia and Industant.” The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span>edition we consult was printed in London in the +year 1677. After the usual dedicatory letter we +find the following appeal to the reader:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Here thou at greater ease than he</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Mayst behold what he did see;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Thou participat’st his gains,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But he alone reserves the pains.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">He travell’d not with lucre sotted,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">He went for knowledge, and he got it.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Then thank the Author: thanks is light,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Who hath presented to thy sight</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Seas, Lands, Men, Beasts, Fishes, and Birds,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The rarest that the world affords.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Personally we have much pleasure in paying +the suggested tribute of courteous thanks, and +we think that any of our readers who may +encounter the book will in like manner confess +their obligations to the old writer for his labours. +We would fain hope that the trip had many +brighter spots in it than he seems quite willing +to allow.</p> + +<p>It has been the custom with many writers to +depreciate the labours of Marco Polo,⁠<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> and to +impute to him a lack of trustworthiness; but it +appears to us, after a careful perusal of his book, +that such censure is scarcely deserved. He made +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span>mistakes, but he is poles asunder from such +writers as Maundevile or Pinto.⁠<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> His travels +in the east are narrated with much fidelity, +and are almost entirely free from the gross +misstatements that are met with so freely in +many books of travel, not only at this early date +but for centuries afterwards. The original was +probably written in the Venetian dialect, but the +earliest manuscript now known, that of 1320, is +in Latin. A copy of this is in the magnificent +library of the British Museum, another is in the +Royal Berlin Library, another in the Paris +Library, and some few others are in private +collections. Other MSS. of it exist, and it was +also freely printed on the advent of the printing +press, as for instance, at Basle in 1522; in Venice +in 1496, 1508, 1597, and 1611; in Brescia in +1500; Paris, 1556; Nuremberg, 1477; Strasburg, +1534; Leipzig, 1611; Lisbon, 1502; +Seville, 1520; London, 1597, 1625; Amsterdam, +1664. As these various editions were in +the languages of the respective places of publication +it indicates a widespread interest, and it +may be taken as a proof, too, that the book was +held to possess solid value: no book of the +Munchausen type can show such a record as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span>this. An excellent English edition, very freely +illustrated by notes, is that of William Marsden, +published in 1818: to this the editor prefixes a +very complete biography of the old author.</p> + +<p>Master Peter Heylyn, geographer, who +flourished during the reigns of Charles I., +Cromwell, and Charles II., tells us of many +marvellous journeys in his volume, and introduces +much that is curious in his notes of the natural +history of the countries visited. India was in +those days an inscrutable and little-known land, +where the wildest imagination had full play and +was in but little danger of being dispossessed by +cold reality. Wonderful, however, as the tales +were that came to Heylyn’s ears he found some +of them almost beyond credit, and after telling +us of “men with dogges heads: of men with one +legge onely, of such as live by sent; of men that +had but one eye, and that in their foreheads; +and of others whose eares did reach unto the +ground,” he is careful to add—“But of these +relations and the rest of this straine I doubt not +but the understanding reader knoweth how to +judge and what to believe.” He tells us, too, of +an Indian people that by eating dragon’s heart +and liver attain to the understanding of the +languages of beasts, who can make themselves, +when they will, invisible, and who have “two +tubbes, whereof the one opened yields winde, +and the other raine,” but here, too, he hesitates +to take the responsibility of these tales and +leaves their credence or rejection to the faith or +scepticism of his readers. In the Moluccas, too, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span>he hears of many wonders: a river, for instance, +that is plentifully stored with fish, yet the water +so hot that it immediately scalds the skin off +any beast that is thrown into it; of men with +“tayles”; of fruit, that whosoever eateth shall +for the space of twelve hours be out of his wits; +of “a tree which all the day-time hath not a +floure on it, but within half an hour after sunne-set +is full of them.” These, however, and several +other wonders of the land, he concludes by +embracing in one simple category—“All huge +and monstrous lies.” He tells of a people of +Libya, the Psylli, so venomous in themselves +that they could poison a snake! One can fancy +the immense disgust of some poisonous reptile of +death dealing powers when he found that he had +at length met more than his match, and that his +attempt on the life of one of these very objectionable +Libyans was recoiling with fatal effect upon +himself.</p> + +<p>The America of those days was a very different +place from the America of to day. Primeval +forest covered much of the land, the red man and +the buffalo were in full possession, and the pilgrim +fathers had but lately landed on its shores from +the little “Mayflower.” As the remote is always +associated with the wonderful, and monstrosities +and marvels flourish in such congenial soil, +Heylyn finds in America no less than in Asia +and Africa a rich crop of marvels. Into these we +need not, however, go; those who care to seek +out this old author will find much of quaint +interest, tradition blending with solid history and +fable with fact in his pages.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span></p> + +<p>Sir Walter Raleigh’s book on Guiana—“The +discoverie of the large, rich and bewtiful Empire +of Gviana, with a relation of the great and golden +City of Manoa, which the Spaniards call El +Dorado, performed in the year 1595,” gives much +curious information, and should not be overlooked. +We may read in it of the Amazons, the +Cannibals, the headless people, and other strange +creatures of this wondrous land. Hakluyt’s blackletter +folio, “The Principal Navigations, Voiages +and Discoveries of the English Nation, made by +Sea or over Land to the most remote and +farthest distant Quarters of the earth at any time +within the compasse of these fifteen hundred +yeeres,” published in 1589, and “Purchas his +Pilgrimage, or Relations of the World, Asia, +Africa, and America, and the Hands adiacent,” +published in London in the year 1614, are +both quaint and interesting old books. Struys’ +“Perillous and most Unhappy Voiages through +Moscovia, Tartary, Italy, Greece, Persia, and +Japan,” is another delightful old volume. It +was published in the year 1638, and is illustrated +by divers curious plates. To this list we need +only add the “Natvrall and Morall Historie of +the East and West Indies,” by Joseph Acosta, +published in 1604, and “Intreating of the Remarkable +things of Heaven, of the Elements, +Mettalls, Plants, and Beasts which are proper to +that Country.” Where we have given a date it +is simply that of the copy that has come under +our own cognisance; many of those works were +of sufficient popularity to run through several +editions, sometimes several years apart; still the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span>dates we give will afford an approximate notion +of the age of the books in question. This +slight sketch of mediæval books of travel might +very readily be extended; we do but introduce +them as illustrations and samples of the mass +of material available.</p> + +<p>The medical treatises of our forefathers were +very numerous. Such books as Potter’s “Booke +of Phisicke and Chirurgery,” or Cogan’s “Haven +of Health,” may advantageously be consulted. +The copy of the first of these that lies open +before us as we write is dated “the yeare of our +Lorde God, 1610,” and like almost all these old +books is more or less of a compilation, full of +divers interesting matters “necessary to be +knowne and collected out of sundry olde written +bookes.” Cogan is very frank on this point. +He says, “Yet one thing I desire of all them +that shall reade this booke; if they finde whole +sentences taken out of Master Eliot his Castle of +Heath, or out of Schola Salerni, or any other +author whatsoever, that they will not condemne +me of vaine glorie, as if I meant to set forth for +mine owne workes that which other men have +devised; for I confess that I have taken verbatim +out of other wher it served for my purpose, but +I have so interlaced it with mine owne, that (as +I think) it may be the better perceived, and +therefore seeing all my travaile tendeth to common +commodity I trust every man will interpret +all to the best.” His statement that his ingenious +interweaving of other men’s work with his own +makes the plagiarism and appropriation the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span>more readily detected, is somewhat difficult to +follow.</p> + +<p>Cogan did, however, plagiarism notwithstanding, +take up a somewhat special ground that supplied +the <i>raison d’être</i> of his book, since he tells us +that “it was chiefly gathered for the comfort of +students, and consequently of all those that have +a care for their health.” There are repeated +references to the Oxford scholars: thus, under +the head of quinces he gives a receipt for +marmalade, “because the making of marmalade +is a pretty conceit, and may perhaps delight +some painefull student that will be his own +Apothecarie.” Elsewhere we are told of +“Cinamon-water” that “it hath innumerable +vertues, wherefore I reckon it a great treasure +for a student to have by him in his closet, to take +now and then a spoonfull.” One gets some +interesting side-light thrown on the University +life of that day—Cogan’s book we may mention +was published in 1636,—as for instance when we +are told that “when foure houres bee past after +breakefast a man may safely take his dinner, and +the most convenient time for dinner is aboute +eleaven of the clocke before noone. At Oxford +in my time they used commonly at dinner boyled +beefe⁠<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> with pottage, bread, and beere and no +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span>more. The quantitie of beefe was in value one +halfepenny for one man, and sometimes if hunger +constrained they would double their commons.” +Judging by the “battels” we have had the +felicity of paying we may take it that this tariff +has undergone considerable alteration since +1636.</p> + +<p>The working and superintendence of the +printing press has up to comparatively recent +years been considered such essentially masculine +labour that it is rather curious to find on the +title-page of Cogan’s book that it was “printed +by Anna Griffin for Roger Ball, and are to be +sold at his shop without Temple-Barre at the +Golden Anchor.”</p> + +<p>As the ingredients used as remedies by our +ancestors came largely from the animal and +vegetable kingdoms, we get in these medical +works a good deal, indirectly, of natural history +lore. Thus Cogan strongly commends the eating +of cabbage leaves as a “preservative of the +stomache from surfetting and the head from +drunkennesse.” “Raw Cabage with Vinegar so +much as he list.” The philosophy of the thing is +that “the Vine and the Coleworts be so contrarie +by Nature that if you plant Coleworts neare to the +rootes of the Vine of it selfe it will flee from +them, therefore it is no maruaile if Coleworts be of +such force against drunkennesse.” Macer tells +of the virtue of fennel as a restorative of youth, +and bases his treatment on the assertion that +“Serpentis whan thei are olde and willing to +wexe stronge, myghty, and yongly agean thei +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span>gon and eten ofte fenel and thei become +yongliche and myghty.” Coles, in his “Adam +in Eden,” commends the Eyebright as a remedy +for weak eyes, on the all-sufficient ground that +goldfinches, linnets, and other birds eat of this +plant to strengthen their sight.</p> + +<p>Many of these prescriptions of our grandfathers’ +great-grandfathers would have supplied +ample justification for action on the part of the +Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, +had so invaluable a society been extant in +those good old times of bull-baiting, cock-throwing +brutality. Thus, in one remedy, the +first step is to “take a red cock, pluck him alive, +and bruise him in a mortar,” in another we must +take a cat, cut off her ears and tail and mix the +blood thereof with a little new milk, while the +victim to tight boots must find relief for his +blistered heel by skinning a mouse alive and +laying the skin, while still warm, upon the +injured spot. Scores of such instances of selfish +indifference to suffering could readily be +adduced.</p> + +<p>We need scarcely pause to dwell on books +dealing with cookery, distillation, gardening, and +such like household economics, though it will be +readily seen how in these again the natural history +knowledge—or want of it—of our ancestors finds +room for its display, but pass on to the books +that deal with animals and the works of nature +generally, from the theological point of view.</p> + +<p>The “Bestiare Divin” of Guillaume, a Norman +priest, is a very good example of the attempts +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span>that were made by the ecclesiastics to show +that all the works of Nature were symbols and +teachers of great Divine truths. The MS. of +Guillaume dates from the thirteenth century, +and is at present preserved in the National +Library in Paris. The work has been very well +reproduced in a French dress by Hippeau, a +compatriot of the author of it. The statements of +the compiler of such a book as the one under consideration +are essentially unreliable, since it was +very difficult for him to ascertain the truth, and +he had in addition no great desire to be literally +exact, and was at any moment prepared to +sacrifice the actual facts for what he would consider +a higher stratum of truth. He could not be +accurate if he would, and would not if he could. +Hence Hippeau, in estimating the value of the +book, very justly says: “N’oublions pas que les +pères de l’Eglise se préoccupèrent toujours +beaucoup plus de la pureté des doctrines qu’ils +avaient à développer, que de l’exactitude scientifique +des notions sur lesquelles ils les appuyaient;” +and we have already seen that Augustine +considered the significance that could be wrung +out of a statement of very much more importance +than any adherence to the facts of the +case. “Dans la vaste étendue des Cieux, au sien +des mers profondes, sur tous les points du globe +terrestre, il n’est par un phénomène, pas une +étoile, pas un quadrupède, pas un oiseau, pas une +plante, pas une pierre, qui n’éveille quelque +souvenir biblique, qui ne fournisse la matière +d’un enseignement moral, qui ne donne lieu à +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span>quelqu’effusion du cœur, qui n’ait à révéler +quelque secret de Dieu.” It is evident that +whatever of value or interest may be evolved on +the strength of such sentiments, the result can +hardly be called natural history—a decision that +we have already arrived at in our consideration +of the “Speculum Mundi.”</p> + +<p>The “Bestiary” of De Thaun is a book of +like nature. Only one copy of the MS. is known, +that in the Cottonian collection. Of another of +his books, the “Livre des Creatures,” seven +copies are extant. The author had as his great +patron Adelaide of Louvain, the second queen of +Henry I. of England, and to her he dedicated +his books. The language in which they are +written is very archaic, but an excellent reproduction +of the book for English readers has been +made by Thomas Wright, <span class="allsmcap">F.S.A.</span> We give six +lines as an illustration of the original MS., and of +its rendering into the rugged English that best +gives its character:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“En un livre divin, que apelum Genesim,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Iloc lisant truvum que Dés fist par raisun</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Le soleil e la lune, e estoile chescune.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Pur cel me plaist à dire, d’ico est ma materie,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Que demusterai e à clers e à lai,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Chi grant busuin en unt, e pur mei perierunt.”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“In a divine book, which is called Genesis,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">There reading, we find that God made by reason</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The sun and the moon, and every star.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">On this account it pleases me to speak, of this is my matter,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Which I will show both to clerks and to laics,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Who have great need of it, and will perish without it.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>As an example of moral-making we may +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span>instance “the ylio, a little beast made like a +lizard,” and which we imagine must be the +salamander. De Thaun says that “it is of such +a nature that if it come by chance where there +shall be burning fire it will immediately extinguish +it. The beast is so cold and of such a quality that +fire will not be able to burn where it shall enter, +nor will trouble happen in the place where it +shall be. A beast of such quality signifies such +men as was Ananias, as was Azarias, as was +Misael: these three issued from the fire praising +God. He who has faith only will never have +hurt from fire.” Of the Aspis he tells us that +“it is a serpent cunning, sly and aware of evil. +When it perceives people who make enchantment, +who want to take and snare it, it will stop +very well the ears it has. It will press one +against the earth: in the other it will stuff its +tail firmly, so that it hears nothing. In this +manner do the rich people of the world: one ear +they have on earth to obtain riches, the other +Sin stops up: yet they will see a day, the day of +Judgment. This is the signification of the Aspis +without doubt.” In like manner a moral is +tacked on to every creature, and all creation is +shown to be a text-book wherein man may read +to some little degree of the mercy, but much +more fully of the penal judgments, of the God +the writer thus blindly professes to honour.</p> + +<p>The old Armories are a very happy hunting +ground for the student who would learn somewhat +of the beliefs of our ancestors on matters +zoological and botanical, as the writers while +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span>introducing the various creatures and plants as +charges often take the opportunity to add a few +explanatory details for the benefit of those to +whom they were unknown. Guillim’s book, “A +Display of Heraldrie, manifesting a more easie +accesse to the knowledge thereof than has beene +hitherto published by any,” is a mine of wealth +on this score. The original edition appeared in +the year 1611, but it was a very popular work +for a long time, and other copies bear the dates +1632, 1638, 1660, 1679, and 1724. Another +interesting book of the same class was the +“Accedence of Armorie” of Legh, a considerably +earlier work, as it first appeared in 1562. This +also was a very favourite book and was very +frequently reprinted, as for instance in 1568, +1576, 1591, 1597, &c. It is nevertheless now a +rare book. Bossewell’s “Works of Armorie,” +and many other quaint old volumes of this +character might readily be dwelt on, but our aim +is but to mention some few books in each +section, and we care not to make our list either +exhaustive or exhausting.</p> + +<p>Having then dwelt at some little length upon +various books from which we shall have occasion +later on to draw illustrations, we propose now to +deal with some few of the creatures more or less +familiar to these old writers, commencing with +mankind and touching successively upon beasts, +birds, fishes, and, finally, reptiles. Guillim in his +book before mentioned greatly prides himself +upon his “method.” For this he claims credit +over and over again. “Whosoever,” he says, for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span>example, “shall address himself to write of +Matters of Instruction, or of any other Argument +of Importance, it behoveth him that he should +resolutely determine with himself in what Order +he will handle the same, so shall he best accomplish +that he hath undertaken, and inform the +Understanding and help the Memory of the +Reader.” In the spirit of this teaching we would +humbly desire to walk, and having quite resolutely +determined the order of our going we +will endeavour so far as in us lies to make our +labour a profit to those who honour us with +their perusal.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p>The pygmies—Ancient and modern writers thereon—Conflicts +with the cranes—Counterfeits—Modern travel, confirming +the statements of the ancient geographers—Pygmy races +now existing—The “Monstrorum Historia” of Aldrovandus—Crane-headed +men—Men with tails—The Gorilloi—The +dog-headed people—The canine king—The many-eyed +men—The giants of Dondum—The snake-eaters—The +Ipotayne—Mermaids—Syren myth—Storm-raisers—The +mermaids of artists and poets—Shakespeare thereupon—As +heraldic device—The mermaids of voyagers—The +seal and walrus theory—Mermaids in captivity—Mermaids +as food—Counterfeit mermaids—Mermaid in Chancery—The +“Pseudodoxia Epidemica” of Browne—Oannes or +Dagon—Mermaids and Matrimony—Lycanthropy—The +“Metamorphoses” of Ovid—The fate of Lykaon—Nine +years of wolfdom—Wehr-wolves—Mewing nuns—Olaus +Magnus—The doctrine of metempsychosis—Influence of +enchantment—The dragon maiden—The power of a kiss—Witchcraft—Scot +and Glanvil, for and against it—The good +old times.</p> + +</div> + +<p>Shakespeare, whose writings form a mine of +wisdom from which one can dig an appropriate +wisdom-chip for every occasion, avers truly +enough in the “Merchant of Venice,” that +“Nature hath fram’d strange fellows in her +time,” while the credulity of mankind has added +to this goodly company many others too impossible +even for the wildest freaks of nature to +be held responsible for.</p> + +<p>Of some of these abnormal forms we propose +now to treat, and commence our chapter with +some short reference to the pygmies. References +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span>to these are to be found in the works of many +of the ancient writers, such as Homer, Pliny, +Herodotus, Philostratus, Oppian, Juvenal and +Aristotle. Strabo mentions them in his geography, +but regards the belief in them as a mere +fable, while some of the older authors suggest +that very possibly exceptionally large monkeys⁠<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> +might have been mistaken for exceptionally small +men. While most writers affirmed that such a +race was to be met with in Africa—Aristotle, for +instance, locating them at the head of the Nile—some +authors placed them in the extreme +north, where the rigour of the climate was held a +sufficient explanation of their stunted growth. +Philostratus assigned them a home on the banks of +the Ganges, and Pliny gave them local habitation +in Scythia. Shakespeare, not only the fount of +countless stores of quotation, but also the storehouse +of ancient and mediæval lore, mentions +the pygmies, though he gives us no hint as to +their home. “Will your Grace command me +any service to the world’s end? I will go on +the slightest errand now to the Antipodes that +you can devise to send me on: I will fetch you a +toothpicker now from the furthest inch of Asia; +bring you the length of Prester John’s foot; +fetch you a hair off the great Cham’s beard; do +you any embassage to the Pygmies!”</p> + +<p>Homer, in the third book of the Iliad, refers +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span>to the conflicts between the pygmies and the +cranes:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“When inclement winters vex the plain</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With piercing frosts, or thick-descending rain,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To warmer seas the cranes embodied fly,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With noise and order,⁠<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> through the midway sky:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To pygmy nations wounds and death they bring.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Our readers may possibly wonder, as we have +done, why the cranes should bear the pygmies +such ill-will, but Pliny in his seventh book +supplies the justification for the feud, as it +appears that in the spring-time the pygmies sally +forth in great troops, riding upon goats, searching +for and devouring the eggs of the cranes, a +state of things that no creature of proper parental +instincts could be expected to submit quietly to.</p> + +<p>Sir Thomas Browne, in his excellent book +on vulgar errors, says that “Homer, using +often similes as well to delight the ear as +to illustrate his matter, compareth the Trojanes +unto Cranes when they descend against the +Pigmies;⁠<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> which was more largely set out +by Oppian, Juvenall and many Poets since; and +being only a pleasant figment in the fountain, +became a solemn story in the stream and current +still among us.” He declines to give credence +to the pygmies and the tales that appertain to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span>them and says that “Julius Scaliger, a diligent enquirer, +accounts thereof but as a poeticall fiction. +Ulysses Aldrovandus, a most careful zoographer, +in an expresse discourse thereon, concludes the +story fabulous. Albertus Magnus, a man ofttimes +too credulous, was herein more than dubious,” +and though he quotes the statement of Pigafeta +that pygmies were found in the Moluccas, and that +of Olaus Magnus as to their being encountered +in Greenland, he declares that “yet wanting +confirmation in a matter so confirmable, their +affirmation carrieth but slow perswation.”</p> + +<p>Maundevile, of course, is as fully prepared to +believe in the existence of pygmies as of most +other things, provided they be sufficiently outside +ordinary experience. In his book he takes us +“throghe the Lond of Pigmaus, wher that the +folk ben of lytylle Stature, that ben but three +span long; and thei ben right faire and gentylle. +Thei maryen hem whan thei ben half Yere of +Age, and thei lyven not but six yeer or seven at the +moste, and he that lyvethe eight yeer men holden +him there righte passynge olde. Thei han often +times Werre with the Briddes of the Contree +that thei taken and eten. This litylle folk +nouther labouren in Londes ne in Vynes, but +thei han grete men amonges hem, of one Stature, +that tylen the Lond and labouren amonges the +Vynes for hem. And of the men of our Stature +han thei as grete skorne and wondre as we +wolde have among us of Geauntes if thei weren +among us. And alle be it that the Pygmeyes +ben lytylle yet thei ben full resonable aftre +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span>here Age: connen bothen Wytt and gode and +malice.” Another people of somewhat similar +character that Maundevile professed to have met +with in his travels were still more remarkable, +for they “ne tyle not, ne labouren not the Erthe +for thei eten no manere thing, and thei ben of +gode colour and of faire schap aftre hire gretnesse, +but the be smale as Dwerghes, but not so lytylle +as ben the Pigmeyes. These men lyven be the +smelle of wylde Apples, and whan thei gon ony +far weve thei beren the Apples with hem. For +if thei hadde lost the savour of the Apples thei +scholde dyen anon.” Unfortunately he can +only say of these interesting people that “thei +ne ben not full resonable, but thei ben symple +and bestyalle.”</p> + +<p>Bishop Jordanus, in his “Mirabilia descripta,” +tells of pygmies in “an exceeding great island +what is called Jaua,” which our readers who are +at all used to the substitution of the letter u for +v, will at once recognize as Java, “where are +many world’s wonders. Among which, beside +the finest aromatic spices, this is one, to wit, that +there be found pygmy men of the size of a boy +of three or four years old, all shaggy like a goat.” +He adds that they dwell in the woods, and we +may not unreasonably conclude that these hirsute +arboreals were a species of ape.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp46" id="figure03" style="max-width: 23.4375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure03.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 3.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>In the conflict of testimony, some affirming +and some denying the existence of such a people, +Marco Polo, writing it will be remembered in +the thirteenth century, warns us that we must +beware of counterfeits that are palmed off on +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span>the unwary as the real thing. “It should be +known,” says he, “that what is reported respecting +the dried bodies of diminutive human +creatures or pigmies, brought from India, is an +idle tale, such pretended men being manufactured +in the following manner. The country produces +a species of monkey of a tolerable size, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span>having a countenance resembling that of a man. +Those persons who make it their business to +catch them shave off the hair, leaving it only +about the chin and those other parts where it +naturally grows on the human body. They then +dry and preserve them with camphor and other +drugs, and having prepared them in such a mode +that they have exactly the appearance of little +men, they put them into wooden boxes and sell +them to trading people, who carry them to all +parts of the world. But this is an imposition, +and neither in India nor in any other country, +however wild or little known, have pigmies been +found of a form so diminutive as these exhibited.” +It will be noted that the very fact of a counterfeit +implies a something to be counterfeited, and +Marco Polo is clearly quite prepared to give in +his adhesion to the affirmative side.</p> + +<p>The belief in a pygmy race, first declared +centuries before the Christian era, was held most +fully in mediæval days; and modern travel and +research has amply proved that—various elements +of the marvelous stripped away—the belief was +a sound one. Du Chaillu in Western Equatorial +Africa met with a diminutive race of which the +average height of the individuals who would +submit to measurement was four feet five inches; +and readers of Stanley’s books will recall his +experiences with a similar people. On the +authority of Dr. Parke, the Mikaba average four +feet one inch, the Batwas four feet three inches, +and the Akkas four feet six inches. Related to +them in shortness of stature are the Bushmen of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span>Southern Africa, averaging about four feet seven +inches in height; and elsewhere, the Lapps, the +Fuegians, the Ainos of Japan, and the Veddahs—all +people of notoriously short stature.</p> + +<p>Probably the Bushmen, or Bosjesmen, are the +modern representatives of the Pygmaioi, for in +their cave-dwelling, reptile-eating, and other +peculiarities they agree entirely with the descriptions +given by Herodotus, Pliny, and other +ancient writers. The Bosjesmen are found, with +all the peculiarities of their dwarfish race intact, +as far north as Guinea. Winwood Reade, in his +“Savage Africa,” gives many interesting details +concerning them, and holds the view that they +were the aboriginal race in Africa. Dr. Stuhlmann, +Emin Pacha’s companion in many of his +wanderings, succeeded for the first time in +bringing pygmies alive to Europe, some members +of the Akka tribe being brought to Berlin, +where they were regarded with immense interest +by the professors of anthropology.</p> + +<p>The truthfulness of the ancient geographers +being thus confirmed, it is quite possible that the +tales of the conflicts of the pygmies with great +birds may have a more solid foundation of fact +than we are quite prepared to admit. The +Maori traditions tell of the contests with the +moa and other gigantic birds which formerly +inhabited the islands of New Zealand; while the +Jesuit missionaries give accounts of enormous +birds once found in Abyssinia and Madagascar. +All these are now extinct, but it may well be +that to a dwarf race, armed only with bows and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span>arrows, such birds would be foes by no means to +be despised. One finds the trustworthiness of the +old writers often so curiously confirmed that one +hesitates in the case of many of them to assume +too readily either gross credulity or a willful +misstatement.</p> + +<p>Amidst the millions of births in the animal +creation there is scarcely any conceivable malformation, +excess, or defect of parts, that has not +at some time or other occurred; anyone turning +to the medical and surgical journals will find +many strange illustrations of this, or our readers +may find much interesting information on this +subject, and given in a less technical form, in the +“Histoire Générale des Anomalies” of Geoffroi +de St. Hilaire. But such malformations occur +singly and at comparatively remote intervals; +the anomalous departure from the type, the +eccentricity of structure, is not hereditarily +produced, does not become the starting-point of +a new species. No natural malformation, allowance +being made for the very restricted influence +of hybridism, ever passes outside the species in +which it is found or combines with it the character +of any other creature, while even the limited +possibilities of hybridism have a tendency to die +out, owing to the sterility that is so marked a +characteristic. Such monsters as Aldrovandus +figures are utterly impossible, such as the body +of a man conjoined to the head of an ass, and +having one foot that of an eagle, and the other +that of an elephant.</p> + +<p>Abundant illustrations of the most un-natural +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span>history may be found in the works of Aldrovandus; +his voluminous works on animals are +very curious and interesting, and are richly +illustrated with engravings at least as quaint +in character as the text. His “Monstrorum +Historia,” published in folio at Bologna in 1642, +is a perfect treasure-house of rank impossibilities. +Another book of very similar character is Boiastuau’s +“Histoires Prodigeuses,” published in Paris +in the year 1561, a strange assemblage of curious +and monstrous figures.</p> + +<p>The wondrous creatures of Aldrovandus, and +it must be borne in mind that these are given in +the most perfect good faith as contributions +towards a better knowledge of natural history, +are divisible into three classes:—creatures that +are absolute impossibilities, such as <a href="#figure03">fig. 3</a>, a man +having the head and neck of a crane; secondly, +various species of malformation and abnormal +growth, which do undoubtedly occur from time +to time; and thirdly, other forms suggested by this +second class, but carried to altogether impossible +excess.</p> + +<p>It is of course easy, having realized that a +lizard with a forked tail is somewhat of a +curiosity, to make a much greater wonder by +representing, as he does, a ten-tailed lizard; and +while a boy born without arms is a painful +possibility, the wonder is undoubtedly greatly +increased by also cutting off his legs, as Aldrovandus +does, and replacing them with the tail of +a fish.</p> + +<p>The creature he calls hippopos, having the head, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span>arms, and body of a man, but terminating below +in the legs and hoofs of a horse, was (though +here only two-legged,) probably suggested by the +centaur myth. Amongst the other impossibilities +which we must nevertheless again remind our +readers the old writer brings forward in the +most perfect sincerity as valuable aids to a better +knowledge of the wonders of creation, is a man +of normal growth, except that he has the head of +a wolf, the lady, <a href="#figure04">fig. 4</a>, who is distinctly of harpy +type, a ram-headed individual, and a boy with the +head of an elephant.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp75" id="figure04" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure04.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 4.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>This notion of the substitution of heads has a +great charm for Aldrovandus. He gives us, elsewhere, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span>a bird-headed boy, and horses, goats, pigs, +and lions, all with human heads; while the +“monstrum triceps capite vulpis, draconis et +aquilæ” is, we venture to think, a creature that +neither Aldrovandus, nor anyone else, ever did +see or ever will see. According to the picture it +had a human body and legs, differing however from +those of ordinary humanity in being clothed with +large scales. One arm was like that of a man, +the other was the wing of an eagle, and a horse’s +tail in rear was another distinctly abnormal +growth, while surmounting all were three heads, +those of a wolf, a dragon, and an eagle. There +are many other such atrocities; while they are +curious as showing the depth of credulity our +forefathers could reach, it will readily be seen +that they are the dullest things possible. Anyone +with a slight knowledge of zoology could create +them by the score, placing, for instance, on the +neck of a giraffe the head of an elephant, giving +it the body of an alligator, and finishing off all +neatly with the tail of a peacock.</p> + +<p>The multiplication, or suppression, or distortion +of various parts is a very strong point with +Aldrovandus. He illustrates for our benefit +four-legged ducks and pigeons, and two-headed +pigs, sheep, cows, and fishes; calves, dogs, hares, +each walking erect on their hind legs and having +no front ones, and pigs, cats, dogs, chickens, +double-bodied but single-headed. He also tells +us of headless men, and gives us a drawing of +one, neckless, having the ears rising from the +shoulders, mouthless, the nose a proboscis a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span>foot or so in length; this and the eyes are on +the back of the figure. <a href="#figure05">Fig. 5</a> we may fairly +include as an example of distortion, while <a href="#figure06">fig. 6</a> +is a monstrosity produced by suppression. In +another place he gives a drawing of a man +having two eyes in their natural position, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span>beyond each of these another, so that we have +four in a row.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp68" id="figure05" style="max-width: 15.625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure05.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 5.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp81" id="figure06" style="max-width: 18.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure06.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 6.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>One quaint picture shows us two men wearing +large ruffs and habited in quite the costume of +“the upper ten” of the seventeenth century, but +their faces are covered with thickly matted hair, +their eyes peeping out like those of a skye-terrier. +This idea was too grotesque not to +utilize to the uttermost, so the next picture +in the book is that of a young lady in the same +plight.</p> + +<p>The notion of hairy men, tailed men, and +the like has no doubt arisen from the first +introduction of the early writers and voyagers to +various species of monkeys. Duris, one of the +ancients, professed to know of the existence of +an Indian tribe of shaggy, tailed men, while +Ctesias, not to fall short in this pursuit of the +marvellous, tells us of a certain Indian valley, or +more probably a very uncertain one and exceedingly +difficult to locate, where the inhabitants +lived two hundred years, having in their youth +white hair, which, with the ravages of time, +gradually became quite black. In the “Periplus” +of Hanno, about five hundred years before +the Christian era, we have an unquestionable +reference to the apes. “For three days,” says +the Carthaginian admiral, “we passed along a +burning coast, and at length reached a bay called +the Southern Horn. In the bottom of this bay +we found an island which was inhabited by wild +men. The greater number of those we saw were +females; they were covered with hair, and our +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span>interpreters called them Gorilloi.⁠<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> We were +unable to secure any of the men, as they fled to the +mountains, and defended themselves with stones. +As to the women we caught three of them, but +they so bit and scratched us that we found it +impossible to bring them along: we therefore +killed and flayed them, and carried their hides +to Carthage.” Rather a cool proceeding this, +granting either that they were really human or +that the Carthaginians regarded them as such. +We should at all events so regard it nowadays if, +for instance, the crew of a whaler flayed some +Eskimo ladies and brought their hides to Dundee.</p> + +<p>Burton and other early English writers thoroughly +believe in the existence of tailed men, +and it has long been an article of belief that +divers men even in this realm of England were +born with tails. The Devonshire men stoutly +contended that their Cornish neighbors were +thus distinguished. According to Polydore +Vergil, some at least of the men of Kent shared +this peculiarity, and he very definitely asserts +that it was a Divine judgment upon them for +insulting one of His servants, Thomas à Becket. +He tells us that when that prelate fell into +disgrace with his sovereign, many people treated +him with but little respect, and in Rochester he +met with such contempt that amongst other +marks of contumely the tail of the horse on +which he was riding was cut off. By this profane +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span>inhospitality they reaped deserved reproach, for +all the offspring of the men who did or connived +at this thing were born with tails like horses. +This mark of infamy we are told only disappeared +with the gradual extinction of those whose forefathers +had incurred this notorious and shameful +penalty. In the “Loyal Scot” of Andrew +Marvel we find the line, “For Becket’s sake, +Kent always shall have tails.” As a line or two +before this he has written “Deliver us from a +Bishop’s wrath,” it is sufficiently evident that the +passage alludes to the legend referred to.</p> + +<p>John Bale, the writer of the “Actes of English +Votaries,” is righteously indignant on the point. +He writes as follows in his book, “John Capgrave +and Alexander of Esseby sayth that for +castynge of fyshe tayles at thys Augustyne, +Dorsettshyre men had tayles ever after, but +Polydorus applieth it unto Kentish men at +Strood by Rochester, for cuttynge of Thomas +Becket’s horse’s tail. Thus hath England in all +other land a perpetual infamy of tayles by these +wrytten legendes of lyes. An Englyshman cannot +now travayle in another land by way of marchandyse +or any other honest occupynge, but it +is most contumeliously thrown in his teethe that +all Englyshmen have tayles. That uncomely +note and report hath the nation gotten, without +recover, by these laisy and idle lubbers, the +monkes and the priestes, which could find no +matters to advance their gaines by, or their +saintes, as they call them, but manifest lies and +knaveries.” John Bale was a post-Reformation +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span>Bishop, holding the see of Ossory during the +reign of Edward VI, and was especially notable +for his zeal in spreading the principles of the +Reformed Church.</p> + +<p>John Struys, a Dutchman, who visited Formosa +in the year 1677, gives a description of a tailed man +that is strongly suggestive of the monkey theory, +except that he endows him with intelligible +speech. He tells us that before he visited this +island he had often heard of men therein who +had long tails, but that he had never been able +to credit it. Seeing, however, is proverbially +believing. “I should now have difficulty in +accepting it,” he writes, “if my own senses had +not removed from me every pretence for doubting +the fact, by the following strange adventure. +The inhabitants of Formosa, being used to see us, +were in the habit of receiving us on terms which +left nothing to apprehend on either side; so that, +although mere foreigners, we always believed +ourselves to be in safety, and had grown familiar +enough to ramble at large without an escort, +when grave experience taught us that in so doing +we were hazarding too much. As some of our +party were one day taking a stroll, one of them +had occasion to withdraw about a stone’s-throw +from the rest, who being at the moment engaged +in an eager conversation, proceeded without +heeding the disappearance of their companion. +After awhile, however, his absence was observed, +and the party paused, thinking he would rejoin +them. They waited some time, but at last, tired +of the delay, they returned in the direction of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span>the spot where they remembered to have seen +him last. Arriving there, they were horrified to +find his mangled body lying on the ground. +While some remained to watch the dead body, +others went off in search of the murderer, and +these had not gone far when they came upon a +man of peculiar appearance, who, finding himself +enclosed by the exploring party, so as to make +escape from them impossible, began to foam with +rage, and by cries and wild gesticulations to +intimate that he would make anyone repent the +attempt who should venture to meddle with him. +The fierceness of his desperation, for a time, +kept our people at bay; but as his fury gradually +subsided they gathered more closely around him, +and at length seized him. As the crime was so +atrocious, and if allowed to pass with impunity +might entail even more serious consequences, +it was determined to burn the man. He was +tied up to a stake, where he was kept for some +hours before the time of execution arrived. It +was then that I beheld what I had never +thought to see. He had a tail more than a foot +long, covered with red hair, and very much like +that of a cow. When he saw the surprise that +this discovery created amongst the European +spectators, he informed us that his tail was the +effect of climate, for that all the inhabitants of +the southern side of the island, where they then +were, were provided with like appendages.” The +measure of burning the man to avoid any future +unpleasantness, seems a somewhat strong one, +and attended with a very considerable element +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span>of risk to themselves, besides the grave personal +inconvenience to the victim. The account is a +very circumstantial one; how is it to be explained? +One cannot accept the tail—or the tale; and yet +it is painful to feel that the alternative is to +brand John Struys as deliberately errant from +the truth; and brave men who take their lives +in their hands are above the meanness of +vapouring or lying. In such a case one agrees +entirely with Dr. Johnson: “Of a standing fact, +sir, there ought to be no controversy. If there +are men with tails, catch a homo caudatus.”</p> + +<p>Africa and India, the two great wonder-lands +of our forefathers, were the home of many +strange specimens of humanity. Far away +towards the sources of the Nile were the Nigriæ, +ruled by a king who had but one eye, and that +in the midst of his forehead. There, too, were +found the Agriophagi, a people who lived on the +flesh of lions and panthers: the Anthropophagi +that fed on the flesh of men, and the Pomphagi +that, like the modern schoolboy, eat all things. +In that mysterious land too dwelt the Cynamolgi, +whose heads were those of dogs. One old writer +tells us that there was a tribe of one hundred and +twenty thousand of these dog-headed men: they +wore the skins of wild animals as their clothing, +and carried on conversation in true canine style +by yelps and barks. Sir John Maundevile, of +course, knew all about these folk, since he found a +great and fair island somewhere, called Nacumera, +that was more than a thousand miles in circuit, and +which had no other population. He tells us that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span>they were a very reasonable people and of good +understanding, the only fault that he finds with +them being that they worship an ox as their god. +Jordanus, Burton and others locate these +peculiar people in India. Jordanus says that +there are many different islands in which the +men have the heads of dogs, but the women are +purely human, and, moreover, very beautiful, +whereat he very justly observes, “I cease not to +marvel.” Ibn Bakuta, describing the people of +Barah-nakar, says “their men are of the same +form as ourselves, except that their mouths are +like those of dogs, but the women have mouths +like other folks.” Aldrovandus naturally does +not miss such a chance as the dog-headed people +afford him. Vicentius places them in Tartary, +and Marco Polo heard of them in the island of +Angaman. In Ethiopia we hear of a tribe of +men that elected a dog as their king, and judged +as best they might by his actions and barking the +royal commands.</p> + +<p>Ethiopia was a land of marvels, the focus and +centre of all the wonders of Africa. It was held +that the strange and monstrous forms there produced +arose from “the agility of the fiery heat +to frame bodies and to carve them into strange +shapes.” It was reported by some that far +within the interior of the country were to be +found whole nations of noseless men, and that +others were without the upper lip, while others +again were without speech, and only made communication +by signs. It is easy to see how the +notion of a noseless people originated, since the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span>negro physiognomy often has the nose a very +flattened feature, while the people who could +only make signs to the strangers that came +amongst them evidently did so from a full +realization of the hopelessness of speech. The +negro lip is ordinarily a very conspicuous feature, +so that the lipless people were a legitimate +object of wonder. In one district all the four-footed +beasts were without ears, even the +elephants, the old author is careful to add, being +in the same plight. Our readers will doubtless +remember that the ears of the African elephant, +outside this district, are of enormous size, and +form one marked difference between him and his +Asiatic brother. Elsewhere in this wondrous +land we hear of men having three and four eyes, +but the old traveller carefully explains that this +tale merely arose—“not because they are thus +furnished, but because they are excellent +archers.” The “because” is not very evident, +as the keenness and excellence of sight that +would be of such value to an archer is scarcely +to be obtained by the multiplication of eyes: it +is quality rather than quantity that is needed +here, and the old writer is careful to add, “thus +much must I advertise my readers, that I will not +pawn my credit for many things that I shall +deliver.” What he saw for himself he could +vouch for, and these things were themselves so +strange that he could scarcely refuse to credit +some of the wonders that were by hearsay, but +he very justly declines responsibility.</p> + +<p>Another old writer, Burton, in the same way +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span>cautiously evades fathering all the wonderful tales +he tells of the men who live by scent alone,⁠<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> +of those who by eating the heart and liver of a +dragon attain to the understanding of the language +of beasts, of those who have the power of making +themselves “invisible, and so forth,” “but of +these I doubt not but that the understanding +reader knoweth how to judge and what to +believe.”</p> + +<p>On the isle called Dondum, an island that +Maundevile seems to have discovered, or +developed from his inner consciousness, are +“folk of gret stature, as Geauntes: and thei +ben hidouse for to loke upon: and thei han but +on eye, and that is in the myddylle of the Front, +and thei eten no thing but raw Flessche and raw +Fyssche. And in another yle towards the +Southe duellen folk of foule Stature and of +cursed kynde that han no Hedes: and here +Eyen ben in here Scholdres.” These are both +mentioned by Pliny, but this passage of +Maundevile must not be considered as confirmatory +of Pliny’s wonders, as it is considerably +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span>less probable that the mediæval writer had seen +these monsters than that he had seen the olden +book, and transferred its wonders to his own +pages. He, in fact, distinctly tells us that his +nerves would not stand an interview with these +giants, “sume of forty-five Fote or fifty Fote long. +I saghe none of tho, for I had no lust to go”! +He tells us, however, of the “Geauntes Scheep +als gret as Oxen here, and thei beren gret Wolle +and roughe. Of these Scheep I have seyn many +tymes.” These we may reasonably conclude to +have been Yak. As he tells us that men have +often seen “the Geauntes taken men in the Sea +out of hire Schippes and broughte hem to lond, +two in one hond and two in another, etynge hem +goynge alle rawe and alle quyk,” we can readily +understand his reluctance to visit them. Elsewhere +he professes to have found “wylde men +hidouse to loken on for thei ben horned, and +thei speken nought, but thei gronten as Pygges.” +In yet “another Yle ben folk,”—so at least +Maundevile tells us, though it may be but a +traveller’s tale,—that are “of such fasceon and +Schapp, that han the Lippe above the Mouthe +so gret that whan thei slepen in the Sonne thei +kovoren alle the face with that Lippe.” This +story again is probably less a personal experience +than a proof of scholarship, as Strabo describes +such a people in his writings.</p> + +<p>These great-lipped people have as neighbours +“lytylle folk that han no Mouthe, but in stede +therof thei han a lytylle round hole: and whan +thei schalle eten or drynken thei taken throughe +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span>a Pipe or a Penne or suche a thing and sowken +it in. Thei han no Tonge and therefor thei +speke not but thei maken a manner of hyssynge, +as a Neddre dothe.”</p> + +<p>Pliny, Isidore, Strabo and other ancient +authorities on the subject, tell of a tribe that +have ears so long and pendulous that they reach +to their knees, and therefore Maundevile knew +of them too, and as Pliny knew of the Hippopodes +so the mediæval writer tells us of “folk +that han Hors Feet.” These, thanks we may +assume to this peculiarity, are a nation of very +swift runners, easily beating the record of any of +our modern athletes, hence they are able to +capture “wylde Bestes with rennyng” and add +them to their bill of fare.</p> + +<p>Amongst other strange specimens of humanity +that we encounter in the pages of Maundevile, if +not in the flesh, are the peculiarly strange “folk that +gon upon hire Hondes and hire Feet as Bestes,⁠<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> +and thei ben all skynned and fedred, and thei +lepen als lightly in to Trees and fro Tree to Tree +as it were Squyrelles.” In one district the people +subsist chiefly on adders, partly because there is +“gret plentee” of them, but more especially from +appreciation. “Thei eten them at gret sollempnytees, +and he that makethe there a Feste, be it +nevere so costifous, and he han no Neddres, he +hathe no thanke for his travaylle.” It would in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span>fact be a parallel atrocity to a gathering of the +City Fathers at the Mansion House and no turtle +soup provided.</p> + +<p>The long-headed people that formed part of +the strange African fraternity we may reasonably +conclude to have owed their peculiarity to the +habit of employing pressure to mould the head +into the compressed and elongated form, in just +the same way that in recent times the heads of +some of the tribes of North American Indians +were manipulated. We may not unreasonably +conclude, too, that some at least of the various +curious people referred to by the ancient and +mediæval writers were but accidental monstrosities, +malformations of rare or casual occurrence. +Such an one appearing amongst strangers would +be regarded with great curiosity, and it would be +but a short step farther to the lover of the marvellous +to assume that somewhere or other in the +region from whence he sprang, was a whole tribe +or nation of such. The accidental resemblances, +too, that we sometimes see in the human physiognomy +to animals would be suggestive material to +those in search of the wonderful. Porta’s book, +“De Humana Physiognomonica,” gives many +illustrations of heads, animal and human, showing +resemblance of the men’s heads to those of the +owl, lion, ox, and other creatures. Some of these +are very clever, while others are absurdly forced +and exaggerated.</p> + +<p>Munster, under the section De mirabilibus et +monstrosis creaturis quæ in interioribus Africæ +inueniuntur, gives a picture in his book, where +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span>our old friend the man with the single immense +foot, the one-eyed man, a two-headed fellow, +the headless man with his eyes and other features +in his chest,⁠<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> whose acquaintance we have made +in <a href="#figure01">fig. 1</a>, and a wolf-headed man, are all grouped +together as a matter of course, leaving the +observer to conclude that anyone strolling +through Central Africa would any day expect +to come across such a gathering.</p> + +<p>The classic myth of the centaur crops up again +in the mediæval Ipotayne. These “dwellen +somtymes in the Watre and somtyme on the +Lond, and thei ben half Man and half Hors, and +thei eten men⁠<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> whan thei may take hem.” Pliny +writes of the Ægipanæ, half beasts, “shaped as +you see them commonly painted,” a terse description +that may have been amply sufficient for his +original readers, but which leaves later generations +considerably in the dark.</p> + +<p>The belief in the mermaid was to our ancestors +as real as the belief in the mackerel; and though +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span>we have in these later days surrounded all with +an air of romance, the mermaid was to them no +myth or poetic fancy, but as genuine an article of +credence as any other creature of earth, or air, or +sea. Phisiologus simply calls it “a beast of the +sea,” which is a very unpoetic definition indeed; +while Boswell in like manner calls it “a sea beast +wonderfully shapen.” Nowadays one’s notion +of a mermaid is of a fair creature, half woman +half fish, basking amongst the rocks or rocking on +the waves, and engaged in nothing more arduous +than alternately combing her flowing golden +tresses in the sunlight, and gazing in her constant +travelling companion, her mirror, to study the +effect of her work. The mediæval mermaid was +of sterner temper; one old writer says that +“they please shipmen greatly with their song +that they draw them to peril and shipwreck;” +while another affirms that “this beast is glad and +merry in tempest, and heavy and sad in faire +weather.” Bœwulf, the Saxon poet, styles the +mermaid—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The sea-wolf of the abyss,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The mighty sea-woman.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The syren myth of the ancients is clearly the +origin of this belief in the malevolence of the +mermaid. These syrens, to quote Spencer’s +“Fairie Queen,”</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Were faire ladies, till they fondly strived</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With th’ Heliconian Maides for mastery:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of whom they overcomen were depriv’d</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of their proud beautie, and th’ one moyity</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span> <div class="verse indent0">Transform’d to fish, for their bold surquedry:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But th’ upper half their hew retayned still,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And their sweet skill in wonted melody</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Which ever after they abused to ill,⁠<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></div> + <div class="verse indent0">T’ allure weake travellers whom gotten they did kill.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The writer of the “Speculum Mundi” believed +in mermaids as firmly as his contemporaries did, +but he departs somewhat from the traditional +lines of belief, and instead of making his mermaids +brewers of the storms, sees in them merely +rather exceptionally weather-wise and gifted +prophets of the coming tempest. He says of +them: “The mermaids and men-fish seem to me +the most strange fish in the waters. Some have +supposed them to be devils or spirits, in regard +of their whooping noise that they make. For (as +if they had power to raise extraordinary storms +and tempests) the windes blow, seas rage, and +clouds drop presently after they seem to call.” +This was the popular belief, but he explains +matters as follows:—“Questionlesse that Nature’s +instinct makes in them a quicker insight and more +sudden feeling and foresight of those things than +is in man, which we see even in other creatures +upon earth, as fowles, who feeling the alteration +of the aire in their feathers and quills, do plainly +prognosticate a change of weather before it +appeareth to us.” So that really the bellowing of +these maidens is brought down to the level of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span>cock-crowing, the braying of the ass,⁠<a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> or the +scream of the peacock, as indications of weather-changes.</p> + +<p>The classic writers limited the number of their +syrens to three ordinarily, though they were not +quite unanimous as to the exact number, while +the mediæval mermaids were simply as unnumbered +and as un-named denizens of the deep as +the cod-fish. In mediæval times the mermaidens +were not ordinarily credited with any particular +musical gifts, though we remember seeing a +Gothic carving of one playing on a violin. It +will be remembered that with their antique +prototypes the musical part of the entertainment +was a very conspicuous feature:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Withe pleasaunte tunes the syrenes did allure,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Vlisses wise, to listen to theire songe:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But nothinge could his manlie harte procure,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">He sailde awaie, and scaped their charming stronge,</div> + <div class="verse indent4">The face he likde; the nether parte did loathe,</div> + <div class="verse indent4">For woman’s shape, and fishes, had they bothe.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Which showes to us, when Bewtie seeks to snare</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The carelesse man, who dothe no daunger dreede,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That he should flie, and should in time beware,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And not on lookes his fickle fancie feede:</div> + <div class="verse indent4">Such Mairemaides liue, that promise onelie ioyes,</div> + <div class="verse indent4">But he that yeldes at lengthe him selffe distroies.“⁠<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>We will consider first the mermaid of the +artist and the poet, and then see how the poetic +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span>and artistic type tallies with, or differs from, the +mermaid as the ancient voyager vouches for her +from ocular demonstration. Naturally the poets +were unwilling to surrender the sweet song of +the mermaid, and the bellowing and whooping +of the matter-of-fact naturalists becomes with the +poets a “dulcet and harmonious breath.” All +our readers must be familiar with the beautiful +passage in the “Midsummer Night’s Dream”:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">“I sat upon a promontory,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And heard a mermaid on a dolphin’s back</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That the rude sea grew civil at her song;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And certain stars shot madly from their spheres</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To hear the sea-maid’s music.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Several other allusions to the mermaid will be +found in the writings of Shakespeare and many +others of our poets, though it would be somewhat +foreign to our purpose to quote them at +any length, fascinating as the subject would be. +Our present prosaic intent is but to introduce +the poets as witnesses to the widespread belief +in such a creature as the mermaid and to show +their sympathy with it.</p> + +<p>In mediæval heraldry the mermaid frequently +appears as a charge upon the shield, as a supporter +of the arms, and as the surmounting crest. +Any book upon heraldry will supply illustrations +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span>of this. We need only now refer to the allusive +use of the charge in the arms of the ancient +family of De La Mere, and to its occurrence as +one of the badges adopted by the Black Prince. +By his will in 1376 the Prince left to his son +some hangings “de worstede embroidery avec +mermyns de mier.” The mermaid is found, too, +sometimes on paving tiles, bells, and in Gothic +stone and wood-carving. It may be seen, for +example, in a boss at Exeter Cathedral. In +Winchester Cathedral the mermaid holds the +accustomed comb, while her companion merman +grasps a captured fish. In Lyons Cathedral a +mermaid, or we may perhaps more justly say a +mer-matron, nurses a mer-baby. A mermaid will +be found carved on one of the misereres of +Henry VII.’s chapel. Another may be seen at +Exeter Cathedral, and a very good one again +on a bench end at Sherringham church.⁠<a id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> It is +also well known as a tavern sign, and the first +literary club ever founded in England, including +amongst its members Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, +Beaumont, Fletcher, Selden and Carew, was +established in 1603 at the Mermaid in Bread +Street, Cheapside.</p> + +<p>Scoresby in his account of the arctic regions +says that the head of the young walrus is very +human in appearance; the creature has a way too +of rearing itself well out of water to gaze at +ships and other objects in a way that proves very +suggestive of the mermaid idea. “I have myself,” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span>he remarks, “seen one in such a position and +under such circumstances, that it required very +little stretch of imagination to mistake it for a +human being. So like, indeed, was it, that the +surgeon of the ship actually reported to me his +having seen a man with his head just appearing +above the water.” It is probable that the various +species of seals, too, are responsible for many +of the mermaid and triton stories, as at a little +distance, and amidst the spray dashing over the +rocks, they are very human-looking—at all +events, perhaps sufficiently so to satisfy the credulity +of those whose superstition made them +susceptible to such ideas. On the other hand, a +whaler or other old salt who has seen thousands +of seals should scarcely be imposed upon in this +way under any possible circumstances. Let us +turn, however, to some of the experiences of those +who profess to have seen the real thing in the way +of mermaids, and see what they can tell us.</p> + +<p>Hudson, the great navigator, whose narrative +is strikingly free from any touch of imagination, +and may in fact almost without fear of libel be +called dry and tedious, tells us, in the following +words, of a curious incident that happened to +them while forcing a passage through the ice +near Nova Zembla: “This morning one of our +company, looking overboard, saw a mermaid, and +calling up some of the company to see her, one +more came up, and by that time she was come +close to the ship’s side, looking earnestly on the +men. A little while after a sea came and overturned +her. From the navel upward her back +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span>and breast were like a woman’s, as they say that +saw her; her body as big as one of ours; her +skin very white, and long hair hanging down +behind, of colour black. In her going down they +saw her tail, which was like the tail of a porpoise, +and speckled like a mackerel. Their names +that saw her were Thomas Hilles and Robert +Rayney.” “Whatever explanation,” says Gosse, +in commenting on this story of the old +voyager in his “Romance of Natural History,” +“may be attempted of this apparition, the ordinary +resource of seal and walrus will not avail +here. Seals and walruses must have been as +familiar to these polar mariners as cows to a +milkmaid. Unless the whole story was a concocted +lie between the two men, reasonless and +objectless, and the worthy old navigator doubtless +knew the character of his men, they must have +seen some form of being as yet unrecognized.”</p> + +<p>In the “Speculum Regale,” an Icelandic work +of the twelfth century, we read of a creature +that was to be found off the shores of Greenland—“like +a woman as far down as her waist, long +hands, and soft hair, the neck and head in all +respects like those of a human being. The +hands seem to be long, and the fingers not +to be pointed, but united into a web like that +on the feet of water birds. From the waist +downwards this monster resembles a fish, with +scales, tail, and fins. This shows itself, especially +before heavy storms. The habit of this creature +is to dive frequently and rise again to the surface +with fishes in its hands. When sailors see it +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span>playing with the fish, or throwing them towards +the ship, they fear that they are doomed to lose +several of the crew; but when it casts the fish +from the vessel, then the sailors take it as a good +omen that they will not suffer loss in the impending +storm. This monster has a very horrible +face, with broad brow and piercing eyes, a wide +mouth and double chin.” This is clearly a creature +to be dreaded: we may, in fact, lay down the +broad principle that the attractive and fascinating +mermaid is the creation of the landsman and poet, +while the sterner type is that of the mariner.</p> + +<p>Pontoppidan, in his “Natural History of Norway,” +has his mermaid story, but it is too long to +quote, and it is, moreover, needless to do so, as +all these narratives follow much the same general +lines. Captain John Smith, too, in his account +of his expedition to America in 1614, has a +similar experience to relate, and many narratives +of like tenour might be found in various old +writers, but we will now turn to one or two that +not merely describe a mermaid and merman +seen, but the creature actually captured.</p> + +<p>The following news item, from the <i>Scots +Magazine</i> for the year 1739, refers to a creature +less piscine than the typical form, but coming +sufficiently near it for inclusion. “They write +from Vigo, in Spain, that some fishermen +lately took on that coast a sort of monster, +or merman, five feet and a half long from +its foot to its head, which is like that of a +goat. It has a long beard and moustachios, and +black skin somewhat hairy, a very long neck, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span>short arms, and hands longer than they ought to +be in proportion to the rest of the body: long +fingers like those of a man, with nails like claws; +very long toes, joined like the feet of a duck, +and the heels furnished with fins resembling +the winged feet with which painters represent +Mercury.” We get considerably nearer the +ideal in the seven mermaids that were said to +be entrapped by some fishermen in their nets +off Ceylon in the year 1560. Of these, several +Jesuits, and the physician to the Viceroy of Goa, +professed to be eye-witnesses, and the latter having +dissected them with great care asserts that both +the internal and external structure resembled +that of human beings. Of the piscine moiety he +appears to make no mention.</p> + +<p>In the “Speculum Mundi” we have a very +circumstantial account indeed of a mermaid who +drifted inland through a broken dyke on the +Dutch coast during a heavy storm, “and floating +up and down and not finding a passage out againe +(by reason that the breach was stopped after the +flood), was espied by certain women and their +servants as they went to milke their kine in the +neighbouring pastures, who at the first were +afraide of her, but seeing her often, they resolved +to take her, which they did, and bringing her +home, she suffered herself to be clothed and +fed with bread and milk and other meats, and +would often strive to steal again into the sea, +but being carefully watched, she could not: +moreover, she learned to spinne and perform +other pettie offices of women, but at the first +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span>they cleansed her of her sea-mosse, which did +sticke about her. She never spake, but lived +dumbe, and continued alive fifteene yeares; then +she died. They tooke her in the yeare of our +Lord, 1403.” One can scarcely wonder at the +poor sea-maid endeavouring to escape; the +scraping down to get off the seaweed and +barnacles prior to the introduction to the rough +dress of a Dutch peasant and the homely lessons in +spinning, bread-making, and other domestic cares, +were a sad contrast to the life of wild freedom +of yore amidst the rolling billows of the wild +North Sea. We read, too, that she was taught +to kneel before a crucifix—a task in itself, we +should imagine, of considerable difficulty to a +mermaid. When we read in another old author +that “in the island Mauritius they eat of the +mermaid, its taste is not unlike veal,” the last +vestige of the poetry of the belief vanishes, while +the added detail that “when they are first taken +they cry and grieve with great sensibility” seems +to bring the indulgence in such diet almost to +cannibalism.</p> + +<p>From veal to the “maiden clothed alone in +loveliness,” of whom the poet sings, is a contrast +indeed, and even the scraped mermaid turned +Dutch vrouw is a very different creature to her +whose—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Golden hair fell o’er her shoulders white</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And curled in amorous ringlets round her breasts;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Her eyes were melting into love, her lips</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Had made the very roses envious;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Withal a voice so full and yet so clear,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">So tender, made for loving dialoges.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span> <div class="verse indent0">And then she sang—sang of undying love</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That waited them within her coral groves</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Beneath the deep blue sea, and all the bliss</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That mortals made immortal could enjoy,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Who lived with her in sweet community.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>In an advertisement in the London <i>Daily +Post</i>, of January 23rd, 1738, we read that there +is “To be Seen, next door to the Crown Tavern +in Threadneedle Street, behind the Royal +Exchange, at One Shilling each, the Surprising +Fish or Maremaid, taken by eight Fishermen on +Friday the 9th of September last, at Topsham +Bar, near Exeter, and has been shewn to several +Gentlemen, and those of the Faculty, in the +Cities of Exeter, Bath, and Bristol, who declare +never to have seen the like, so remarkable is +this Curiosity amongst the Wonders of Creation. +This uncommon Species of Nature represents +from the Collarbone down the Body what the +Antients called a Maremaid, has a Wing to each +Shoulder like those of a Cherubim mentioned in +History, with regular Ribs, Breasts, Thighs, and +Feet, the Joints thereto having their proper +Motions, and to each Thigh a Fin; the Tail +resembles a Dolphin’s, which turns up to the +Shoulders, the forepart of the Body very smooth, +but the skin of the Back rough; the back part +of the Head like a Lyon, has a large Mouth, +sharp Teeth, two Eyes, Spout holes, Nostrils, +and a thick Neck.” This we may not uncharitably +assume was less a mermaid than a swindle. +While the advertisement tells us that the +creature in question has been seen by several of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span>the faculty, it does not tell us what the faculty +said when they saw it! This is a very serious +omission. This “Maremaid” does not altogether +conform to the accepted type, feet, spout-holes, +and cherubic wings being all abnormal developments.</p> + +<p>There are, of course, at all times plenty of +skilful knaves and unprincipled adventurers +ready in divers ways to take advantage of the +credulity of the public, and a belief in many +absurdities has been maintained by the apparent +evidence which the conniving of such persons has +from time to time furnished. To say nothing of +the impostures constantly practised at fairs and +by travelling show-people, it was announced in +the earlier days of the century that a party had +arrived from abroad with a mermaid, and that it +was to be exhibited in one of the leading streets +in the West End of London. A good round fee +was demanded for admission, and the dupes +were shown a strange-looking object in a glass +case, which was unblushingly declared to be a +mermaid. But the imposture was too gross to +last long; it was ascertained to be the dried +skin of the head and shoulders of a monkey +attached to the skin of a fish of the salmon kind, +with the head cut off, the whole being stuffed +and highly varnished. This grotesque object +was taken by a Dutch vessel from on board a +native Malacca boat, and from the reverence +shown it by the sailors it was probably an idol +or fetish, the incarnation of some river-god of +their mythology. Repulsive as the creature was, +we have an illustration of it before us in a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span>newspaper of the year 1836. It achieved a great +popularity, and the profits that accrued from +the exhibition were, for some time, considerable, +but the owners presently quarrelled amongst +themselves, and the unpoetic ending of this +monkey mermaiden was that she became the +subject of a suit in Chancery. When one +remembers the success that Barnum achieved +amongst the credulous in very much more recent +times with a stuffed mermaid, we can only feel +that Carlyle was right in his liberal percentage of +fools, and though in this case it was the cute +Yankee and not the unsuspecting Britisher that +succumbed, the truth of Southey’s assertion that +“man is a dupeable animal” holds equally good, +and is of far-reaching application.</p> + +<p>The “Pseudodoxia Epidemica, or Enquiries +into very many received Tenents and commonly +Presumed Truths, by Thomas Browne, Doctor of +Physick,” is a book far in advance of its time, and +very interesting in showing what extraordinary +beliefs were held at the time it was written. +The copy open before us is the second edition, and +is dated 1650. Some of the ideas combatted are +“that Crystall is nothing else but Ice strongly +congealed; the legend of the Wandering Jew; +that a diamond is made soft by the blood of a +goat; that an elephant hath no joynts; that a +salamander lives in the fire; that storks will +only live in republics.” To these fancies many +others might be added, and some few of them that +deal with the animal kingdom we shall have occasion +to touch upon in the course of our book.</p> + +<p>We naturally turn to Browne’s remarks upon +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span>mermaids, but we scarcely gather from them +any definite idea as to his belief in the matter. +Before quoting his remarks we must premise +that his style of composition is somewhat stilted +and pedantic. “Few eyes,” saith he, “have +escaped the Picture of Mermaids; that is, +according to Horace, his monster, with woman’s +head above and fishing extremity below; and +this is conceived to answer the shape of the +ancient Syrens that attempted upon Ulysses. +Which notwithstanding were of another description, +containing no fishy composure, but +made up of Man and Bird; the human mediety +being variously placed not only above but also +below. These pieces so common among us doe +rather derive their originall, and are indeed the +very description of Dagon; which was made +with humane figure above and fishy shape below, +of the shape of Atergates or Derceto with +the Phœnicians, in whose fishy and feminine +mixture as some conceive, were implied the Moon +and the Sun, or the Deity of the waters, from +whence were probably occasioned the pictures of +Nereides and Tritons among the Grecians.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span></p> + +<p>Browne had the wisdom at a period when +immense faith was attached to tradition to investigate +matters for himself whenever it was +possible, and the courage to declare the result +whether it fell in with the statements of previous +authorities or not. Thus he tells us that “the +Antipathy between a Toad and a Spider—and +that they poisonously destroy each other—is +very famous, and Solemne Stories have been +written of their combats, wherin most commonly +the Victory is given unto the Spider.” +This definite statement of antipathy would appear +to be an assertion very capable of proof or +disproof, but it never seems to have occurred to +the philosophers to bring the matter to test, it +being so much simpler to copy throughout the +centuries from each other.⁠<a id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> “But what we have +observed herein,” quoth Browne, “we cannot in +reason conceale; who having in a glasse included +a Toad with severall Spiders, we beheld the +Spiders without resistance to sit upon his head +and passe over all his body, which at last upon +advantage he swallowed down, and that in a few +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span>houres unto the number of seven.” Thus in ten +minutes of practical observation collapsed a +legend that had held its ground for over a +thousand years.</p> + +<p>Such results gave him full right to speak out, +and he analyses the works of the ancients very +freely, yet withal very justly and temperately. +Thus he terms Dioscorides “an Author of good +Antiquity, preferred by Galen before all that +attempted the like before him: yet all he +delivered therin is not to be conceived +oraculous.” Concerning Ælianus he tells us +that he was “an elegant Author, he hath left +two books which are in the hands of every one—his +‘History of Animals’ and his ‘Varia Historia,’ +wherein are contained many things suspicious, +not a few false, some impossible.” Of Pliny +himself, the great holdfast and sheet-anchor of +all previous writers on natural history, he writes: +“A man of great elegance and industry indefatigable, +as may appear by his writings, which +are never like to perish, not even with learning +itself. Now what is very strange, there is scarce +a popular error passant in our daies which is not +either directly expressed or diductively contained +in his ‘Natural History,’ which being in the +hands of most men, hath proved a powerful +occasion of their propagation.” The labours of +Browne should ever be held in great esteem, as +he had the true scientific spirit, and, regardless +of all minor considerations, sought eagerly for +the truth.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp83" id="figure07" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure07.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 7.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>In <a href="#figure07">fig. 7</a> we have a representation of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span>Oannes of the Chaldeans, the Philistine Dagon,⁠<a id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> +the fish On, as shown on one of the slabs from +the Palace of Khorsabad. While one may +readily admit that the mediæval mermaid is a +direct descendant from the tritons and sea-nymphs +of classic mythology and fancy, and that +these in turn may have descended from the yet +older civilizations and creeds of Egypt and +Assyria, we can hardly ascribe any close association +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span>between the Chaldean Oannes and the +popular notion as to mermaids. The former is +divine, and is necessarily but one, while the +latter claim no divinity and no individuality, +but are both numerous and nameless. The +work of Oannes was moreover wholly beneficent; +he taught men the arts of life—to +construct cities, to found temples, to compile +laws. He was a solar deity equivalent to Osiris +and Apollo, bringing light and life to all. He +was fabled to visit earth each morning, and at +evening to plunge into the sea; a poetic description +of the rising and setting of the sun. Hence +his semi-piscine form was an expression of the +belief that half his time was spent on earth +and half below the waves. Hence, too, the +moon-goddess, Derceto, that Browne refers to as +at times manifesting herself to the eyes of men, +at times plunged beneath the waves, was represented +as half-woman, half-fish, and may be thus +still seen on the coins of Ascalon. The kindly +influence of solar and lunar deities—in other +words, the beneficent influence of Nature and of +the times and seasons—on the works of men is +an altogether nobler idea than belief in classic +syren or mediæval Lorelei, who charm but to +destroy.</p> + +<p><a href="#figure08">Fig. 8</a> is a curious variant from the accepted +notion of a mermaid. We have extracted it +from one of the maps in Munster’s Cosmography. +It is placed where in more modern charts +Australia would be found, south of the islands +of “Iaua” and “Porne,” names which the discrimination +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span>of our readers, who are at all +accustomed to the transposition and substitution +of letters in these old records, will no doubt +readily resolve into Java and Borneo. One can +easily imagine that the double tail, like the twin +screws of an ironclad or ocean liner, might be of +great assistance in steering, though some few +millions of the lowlier inhabitants of the deep +have nevertheless for ages got along very fairly +without this special development.⁠<a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="figure08" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure08.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 8.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>We are told in mediæval story that a young +man wandering along the rocky beach suddenly +encountered a mermaid and seized her before +she was able to reach the water. Her personal +charms so worked upon his ardent temperament +that he then and there proposed matrimony, and +his suit was successful. Would that we could +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span>conclude in true story-book style, and declare +that they lived happy ever after! After years of +wedded bliss, a great longing came over her to +see her own people once more, and, on the +distinct understanding that the parting was to be +a very short one, she embraced her husband and +children and plunged into the sea and never +reappeared, it being charitably assumed by those +responsible for the story that the waters, like +those of Lethe, washed away all remembrance of +the past, and buried in oblivion the years she +had spent so happily on earth.</p> + +<p>The power that this story and the next one +we propose to tell presupposes—the power of +being able to change one’s nature—is responsible +for some of the most terrible beliefs, +notably those where men and women were +changed into animals, such as dragons or the +wehr-wolf. In the following story, though the +outcome was lamentable, the weird horror of so +many of these tales is absent. Like the previous +story, it deals with the tender passion, and the +ardent lover and the charming damsel reappear +on our page. The lady, before acceding to the +wishes of her suitor, stipulated that she should +have, without question, the whole of every +Saturday to herself, and the request was acceded +to and honourably observed for some years. At +last one day, stung by the remarks of some +mischief-makers, he intruded upon his wife’s +privacy, and found her in mermaid form disporting +herself in her bath. She gave one piercing +shriek, and then vanished for ever. In <a href="#figure09">fig. 9</a> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span>we see in the foreground the astonished husband, +and to the left of the picture the meddlesome +neighbour riding off, while, with the quaint <i>naïveté</i> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span>of Gothic art, all that intervenes between us and +the chamber of mystery is removed, and there is +unmistakable evidence that the fatal and final +Saturday, after years of wedded bliss, has dawned. +The tempting peep-hole that facilitated the +tragedy will be seen by the side of the man’s +head, and it speaks well for the honourable +feeling of the promise-giver that so easy a means +of clearing up the weekly mystery was for years +unused. It is difficult now to realize that such a +story could ever be seriously believed, and that +the possibility of some such incident might befall +oneself, or occur, quite as a matter of course, in +the circle of one’s friends.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp57" id="figure09" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure09.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 9.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The terrible belief in lycanthropy, the transmutation +of men into wolves, was one of the +most widely spread of the weird fancies of the +Middle Ages. The idea of the changing of +men into various animals is a very ancient one. +Herodotus tells us that the Scythians affirm that +the whole nation of the Neuri change themselves +once a year into wolves, and our readers +will readily recall the transformation of the +companions of Ulysses into swine, of Actæon +into a stag, and divers other gruesome stories +of like nature. Ovid, for example, in the +“Metamorphoses” tells how Zeus visited +Lykaon, the King of Arcadia, and how the +king placed a dish of roasted human flesh before +his guest to test his omniscience. The daring +experiment was promptly detected, and the +monarch as a punishment was changed into a +wolf by the offended deity in order that henceforth +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span>he should himself feed on the flesh he had +so impiously offered.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“In vain he attempted to speak; from that very instant</div> + <div class="verse indent0">His jaws were bespluttered with foam, and only he thirsted</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For blood, as he ranged amongst flocks and panted for slaughter.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">His vesture was changed into hair, his limbs became crooked,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A wolf—he retains yet large trace of his ancient expression,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Hoary he is as afore, his countenance rabid,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">His eyes glitter savagely still, the picture of fury.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Euanthes, an early Greek writer, tells a very +circumstantial story indeed of a certain tribe +where one of its members must each year be +chosen by lot to become a wolf. Why this +should be at all necessary he does not stop to +explain. The conditions are very precise. The +day and the man having been selected he is +taken to the border of a large lake, and his +clothes removed, and hung upon an oak tree. +He then swims across the lake and disappears +into the gloomy woods that come down on the +further side to the water’s edge, and then and +there changes into a wolf. Should he forbear +for nine years to eat the flesh of man he may +return to the lake and recross it, changing back, +as he lands, into his manhood again, and only +differing from his former self in the fact that he +will look nine years older. Should he, on the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span>general principle of doing at Rome as the Romans +do, share with his vulpine companions in any +feast of human flesh, a wolf he must remain to +the end of his days. As very probably, however, +he would find amongst his comrades some few +who, like himself, were human beings undergoing +this temporary metamorphosis, he would +be encouraged to persevere in this restriction of +his diet by their example and encouragement, +and also escape the painful singularity that his +genuinely wolf associates would very possibly +resent.</p> + +<p>One Fabius, having an inquiring mind and +fired with curiosity as to why the man should +carefully suspend his clothes in an oak tree, is +able to add as the result of his inquiries, that +those are the clothes that the man resumes when +he emerges from the lake. Whether they had +been miraculously preserved or whether they +had undergone such deterioration as would +otherwise arise from their suspension in a tree +exposed to all weathers for nine years he +does not inform us. The point is a distinctly +interesting one, and especially to the man +reclaiming his wardrobe.</p> + +<p>One great feature of terror in the belief in +lycanthropy and such like metamorphosis is +that the man still retains his human reason, +memory, and knowledge of himself and his +surroundings, and is, in addition, imbued with +the fierce animal instincts of the ravenous brute +into which he has been transformed.</p> + +<p>The wolf is the prominent animal in the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span>history of this belief in Europe, since in this +part of the world it was the creature that +caused the greatest devastation, but in India +the transformation is to the tiger or the serpent, +in South America to the jaguar, in Africa to the +lion, the leopard, or the hyæna. In some cases +this change would appear to be a terrible punishment +for wrong done, in others a transformation +at pleasure by wicked men seeking in the new +guise to inflict terror, loss, and death. Amongst +some peoples it was believed that brave and noble +men became lions and eagles, while mean and +treacherous ones changed to snakes, jackals, or +hyænas. The belief in one form or another reappears +in endless fables in circulation amongst +the natives of almost every country the wide +world over.</p> + +<p>Insanity, monomania, bodily disease, hydrophobia, +are doubtless responsible for much in +this matter. In many cases, we can scarcely +doubt, the people charged with being wehr-wolves +were entirely innocent of offence, the +charge, like that of witchcraft, being brought +against them by those who either in blind terror +and superstition or some motive of craft or greed +were desirous to get them removed out of the way. +In some cases fierce lunatics, not as now confined +in asylums, but roaming the country at large, +in homicidal mania destroyed human life and +became invested in the eyes of men with strange +and terrible powers. Often, too, the reputed +wehr-wolves under pressure of torture would in +their agony confess to anything their tormentors +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span>suggested, simply as a means of obtaining some +temporary respite for their sufferings, or in the +ravings of delirium utter things that superstition +could readily distort into admission and confession. +We must remember, too, that many of +the most horrible stories are narrated by writers +whose veracity is by no means on a par with +their credulity, and while their statements, outrageous +as they are, were no doubt in most cases +honestly intended, the reader must by no means +suspend the right of private judgment.</p> + +<p>It is historic fact that in the year 1600 +multitudes of men were seized with the hallucination +that they were changed into wolves, +and retreating into caves and dark recesses of +the forests, issued thence howling and foaming +in mad lust of blood.⁠<a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> Many helpless men, +women, and children were destroyed by them +during this frightful epidemic, and many hundreds +of those possessed were executed on +their own confession or on the testimony of the +panic-stricken.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“In those that are possess’d with’t there o’erflows</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Such melancholy humour they imagine</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Themselves to be transform’d into woolves;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Steale forth to churchyards in the dead of night,</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span> <div class="verse indent0">And dig dead bodies up; as, two nights since</div> + <div class="verse indent0">One met the Duke ’bout midnight, in a lane</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Behind St. Markes Church, with the leg of a man</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Upon his shoulder; and he howl’d fearfully;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Said he was a woolfe; only the difference</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Was, a woolfes skinne is hairy on the outside,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">His on the inside, bade them take their swords,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Rip up his flesh and try. Straight I was sent for;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And, having ministered unto him, found his Grace</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Very well recover’d.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Some commentators have held that Nebuchadnezzar, +when driven from the presence of man, +was suffering from a like form of madness, and +fancying himself to be a beast.</p> + +<p>It was a common belief in ancient times that +the wehr-wolf simply effected the change from +man to beast by turning his skin inside out, +hence he was sometimes called Versipellis, a +term equivalent to skin-turner. In mediæval +days it was thought that the wolf’s skin was +beneath the human, and any unfortunate individual +who was suspected of lycanthropy was +very likely to find himself being hacked at by +seekers after truth in search of this inner hairy +covering.</p> + +<p>Olaus Magnus,⁠<a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> in the early part of the sixteenth +century, tells us a story of a nobleman +and his retinue who lost their way in journeying +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span>through a wild forest and presently found themselves +hopelessly foodless and shelterless. In +the urgency of their need, one of his servants +disclosed to him in confidence that he had the +power of turning himself at will into a wolf, and +doubted not but that, if his master would kindly +excuse him awhile, he would be able to find the +party some provision. Permission being given, +the man disappeared into the forest under +semblance of a wolf, and very quickly returned +with a lamb in his mouth, and then, having +fulfilled his mission, resumed his human shape. +The forest would provide unlimited fuel, while +their knives would supply the cutlery. Some +member of the party, it is to be hoped, had +a tinder-box, or the repast after all would have +to consist of cold raw lamb. As hunger is +proverbially said to be the best sauce, the +absence of mint would be of little moment at +this vulpine banquet.</p> + +<p>The belief in man’s power thus to change his +form and nature is obviously derived from the +widely-spread doctrine of metempsychosis, the +passing of the soul after the human life is ended +into an animal, or a series of animals. This +change is ordinarily in harmony with the +character of the deceased, the timid nervous +folk reappearing on earth as hares and such-like +creatures, the gluttonous as swine or vultures and +other foul-feeders. Thus the soul, the eternal +principle, in the words of the poet:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Fills with fresh energy another form,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And towers an elephant or glides a worm</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span> <div class="verse indent0">Swims as an eagle in the eye of noon</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or wails a screech-owl to the deaf cold moon,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or haunts the brakes where serpents hiss and glare,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or hums, a glittering insect, in the air.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>John of Nuremberg relates, in his book “De +Miraculis,” how a man, lost at night in a strange +country, directed his steps towards a fire that he +saw before him. On reaching it he found a wolf +sitting enjoying its warmth, and was informed by +him that he was really as human as himself, but +that he was compelled for a certain number of +years, like all his countrymen, to assume the +shape of a wolf. A strange country, indeed, +where wolves when the evenings grow chilly +light a fire, and in the comfort of its ruddy glow +are found quite ready to entertain the passing +traveller with their conversation.</p> + +<p>In the year 1573 one Garnier, a native of Lyons, +who had led a very secluded life, excited the suspicions +of his neighbours, and was dragged before +the tribunals on the charge of being a <i>loup-garou</i>, +the French equivalent term for wehr-wolf. It was +affirmed that he prowled about at night and in +vulpine form devoured infants. He was arrested, +and put to the torture, confessed everything that +was charged against him, and was burnt at the +stake. It was no joke in mediæval days to be a +little retiring in disposition: the worst construction +was put upon it, and one’s neighbours, at +short notice, were able to report having seen a +black cat about the place, or some equally convincing +proof of evil possession, and from thence +it was a short passage to the river or the fire.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span></p> + +<p>Within a few years afterwards a man named +Roulet was tried at Angers on the charge of +having slain and partially devoured a boy. +Evidence was given that he was seen in wolf +form tearing the body, and on being pursued, he +took refuge in a thicket. Here he was surrounded +and captured, but when caught he had +resumed the human form. He was condemned +to death, but the sentence was afterwards +changed to life-long confinement.</p> + +<p>In Auvergne in 1588, a nobleman, in returning +from the chase, was stopped by a stranger, who +told him that he had been furiously attacked by +a savage wolf, but had been fortunate enough to +save himself by slashing off one of its fore-paws. +This he produced as a trophy, when, to the +astonishment of both, it was found to have +become the delicate hand of a lady. The noble +felt so sure that he recognized a ring upon it, +that he hurried to the castle, and there found +his wife sitting with her arm tied up, and on +removing the wrappers the hand was missing. +She had to stand her trial as a <i>loup-garou</i>, and +being convicted, perished at the stake. Stories of +the type of those given might readily be multiplied +indefinitely.</p> + +<p>A belief in enchantment introduced a new +complication. Things we are taught are not +always what they seem, and certainly in the +writings of the Middle Ages we find many +illustrations of the truth of this adage, since the +pages of those authors abound with examples +of the transformation of men and women into +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span>various uncanny creatures by mystic spells. +The story of Beauty and the Beast is a survival +of these. Sir John Maundevile, to give +but one illustration, tells us, in his very wonderful +travels, of a dragon that was to be seen in the +island of Cos, a creature which the people +of the island called the Lady of the Land, +being in fact “the Doughtre of Ypocras +in forme and lykenesse of a gret Dragoun, +that is an hundred Fadme of lengthe. Sche +lyethe in an old Castelle, in a Cave, and +schewethe twyse or thryes in the yeer. Sche +was thus chaunged and transformed from a fayre +Damysele in to lykenesse of a Dragoun be a +Goddesse that was clept Deane.” This Deane +our readers may perhaps scarcely recognize as +Diana. How it was that Damysele and Deane +had between them brought about such a state of +things the history does not tell us. Centuries +after Deane was an exploded myth we find this +evidence of a by-gone feud still in existence, +testifying to the virulence of the goddess’s +temper and the power of enchantment. “Men +seyn that sche schalle so endure in that forme of +a Dragoun unto the tyme that a Knyghte come +that is so hardy that dare come to hir and kisse +hir on the mouthe, and then schalle sche turne +agen to hire owne Kynde and ben a Woman +agen. It is not long sith then that a Knyghte +of Rodes that was hardy and doughtie in Armes +seyde that he wolde kyssen hire, and whan he +entred into the Cave the Dragoun lifte up hire +Had agenst him, and whan the Knyghte saw +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span>hire in that Forme so hidous and so horrible he +fleyghe awey.” The dragon-maiden naturally +resented this slight upon her charms, and pursued +and killed him. Presently, a young man who +knew nothing of all this, for “he wente out of a +Schippe” and was a stranger in those parts, +came to the cave, and there found a charming +“Damysele that Kembed hire Hede and lokede +in a Myrour.” She asked him if he were a +knight, and when he answered her that he was +but a poor mariner, she told him to go and get +knighted, and come again on the morrow, “and +kysse hir on the Mouthe and have no Drede, +for I schalle do the no maner harm, alle beit +that thou see me in Lykenesse of a Dragoun.” +She went on to assure him that she was the +victim of enchantment, and that if he would free +her from this he should be her lord, and have +in addition much treasure. How his “Felowes +in the Schippe” were able to dub him knight +does not appear; but he, at all events, presented +himself on the morrow “for to kysse this +Damysele.” But his nerve failed him at the +critical moment, for “whan he saughe hir comen +out of the Cave so hidouse and so horrible, he +hadde so gret dred that he flyhte agen to +the Schippe.” For anything we learn to the +contrary, the charm was never broken, for all +that Maundevile can tell us more is that “whan +a Knyghte comethe that is so hardy as to kysse +hir he schalle not dye, but he schalle turne the +Damysele in to hir righte Forme and Kyndely +Schapp, and he schal be Lord of alle the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span>Contreye and Isles.” In our illustration, <a href="#figure10">fig. 10</a>, +we see the newly-made knight making his way +back again to his vessel with all convenient +speed, his courage having entirely failed him at +the critical moment.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp75" id="figure10" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure10.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 10.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>A belief in witches, fairies, and divers other +uncanny folk was a strong article of faith with +our ancestors, but to go at any just length into +these points would lead us further afield than +our title would perhaps justify. As we have +already referred to the suspicion that attached +itself to anyone who led a life somewhat outside +the ordinary groove, we append an excellent +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span>illustrative passage from Spenser’s “Faerie +Queene,” as it admirably conveys the popular +idea. There in a gloomy hollow glen she +found:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“A little cottage built of sticks and reedes</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In homely wise, and walled with sod around,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In which a Witch did dwell, in loathly weedes</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And wilful want, all careless of her needes;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">So choosing solitarie to abide</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Far from all neighbours, that her devilish deedes</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And hellish arts from people she might hide,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And hurt far off unknowne whom ever she envide.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Those who care to look the subject up may +turn to Reginald Scot’s “Discoverie of Witchcraft,” +“wherein the lewde dealing of Witches +and Witchmongers is notablie detected, the +knauerie of coniurors, the Curiositie of figure-casters, +and many other things are opened which +have long lien hidden;”⁠<a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> or perhaps, better still, +to the book entitled “Saducismus Triumphatus, +or full and plain Evidence concerning Witches +and Apparitions, proving partly by Holy Scripture, +partly by a choice Collection of modern +Relations, the Real Existence of Apparitions, +Spirits and Witches, by Jos. Glanvil, late Chaplain +to His Majesty, and Fellow of the Royal +Society.” The copy before us is dated 1658, +and is full of tales of familiar spirits in the forms +of toads, rabbits, hares, dogs, &c., diver incantations +to provoke evil or to shield from it, and the +like, all gravely narrated. The author, in fact, +holds it rank atheism to doubt such tales, since +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span>witches are moved by evil spirits, and if people +do not believe in one they do not in the other, +and therefore not in spirits at all, and therefore +not in God!</p> + +<p>In the days of our forefathers the ideas held +were of a very primitive and unscientific character, +and what knowledge there was was largely +mixed up with mysticism, gross superstition, +rank credulity, sheer guesswork. The common +people saw in everything outside their common +experience some grave portent, some prophecy +of coming evil, and filled the forest glades, the +wild moorland, the dark recesses of the mine, +the air, the waters, with strange forms of life, +sometimes in sympathy with mankind, but more +frequently hostile. We may, on the whole, be +very thankful that our lot was not cast in the +“good old times.”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p>The lion, king of beasts—Unbelievers in him—Aldrovandus on +the lion—The lion of the heralds—The “Blazon of Gentrie”—Guillim +as an authority—The lion’s medicine—The +lion’s antipathies—Why some lions are maneless—De +Thaun’s symbolic lion—Lion’s cubs born dead—The theory +of Creation held during the Middle Ages—Degenerate +lions of Barbary—The Leontophonos—Hostility between +lion and unicorn—Literary references to the unicorn—Martin’s +“Philosophical Grammar”—How to capture the +unicorn—The value of the horn—The elephant—The capture +thereof—Feud between elephant and dragon—Use of elephant +in war—Performing elephants—Moon-worshippers—Knowledge +of the value of their tusks—The first elephant seen +in England—Sagacity of the elephant—Kindliness to lost +travellers—Ethiopian huntresses—Difference between the +creations of Fancy and of Nature—Elephants cold-blooded—Hippopotamus +prescribing himself blood-letting—The +river-horse of Munster—The panther—Powers of fascination—Beauty +of coat—Fragrance—Red panthers of Cathay—Aromatic +spices as diet—Antipathies between various +animals—Antipathetic medicines—Porta’s “Natural +Magick”—The hyæna—Counterfeiting human speech—The +wolf—Producing speechlessness—The dragon’s +parentage—Enmity between wolf and sheep—Value of +wolf-skin garments—The stag-wolf—The bear—Licking +cubs into shape—Bees and honey—The hare—Cruelty of +many mediæval remedies—The hedgehog—The deer—Stories +with morals—The boar—Swine-stone—The +ermine—The goat—The malevolent shrew-mouse—The +horse—Why oxen should drink before horses—The +donkey—The sparrow’s aversion—The dog—The cat—Rats +and mice.</p> + +</div> + +<p>Having in the preceding chapters dealt with +some few of the abnormal forms of humanity, +we propose now to give some little consideration +to the ideas that have clustered round various +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span>animals, dealing first with the beasts, the royal +lion, the elephant, and various others; then +passing through the various stages of birds, +fishes, and reptiles, to the conclusion of our +labours.</p> + +<p>The lion claims our first regard, since he +has, by the naturalists, poets, moralists, fable-writers, +been unanimously crowned the King +of Beasts, and has been duly accredited with +every royal virtue, such as magnanimity, courage, +generosity; while in art he has always taken +the same exalted position, crowning the gates of +Mycenæ, flanking the entrances of the palaces of +Nineveh, enhancing the dignity of the Pharaohs, +guarding the steps of the throne of Solomon, +typifying in the lion of Lucerne undaunted +bravery, and around the column of Nelson in +Trafalgar Square, or on the Royal Standard of +England, symbolising all that Britons associate +with the grandeur and might of their country.</p> + +<p>The lion alone of all wild beasts, we are told, +is gentle to those that humble themselves to +him, and even when his wrath is awakened, +and the pangs of hunger call for relief, his +chivalrous nature is such that he will not attack +a woman without the greatest provocation or +necessity. Another interesting fact that the +ancient writers ascertained is that the blood of +the lion is black. That he is not in any derogatory +sense black-hearted, is one of the most +heartily accepted articles of belief since the +magnanimity of the lion is the trait in his +character that is most fully dwelt upon.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span></p> + +<p>There have, nevertheless, arisen unbelievers +in these latter days who have endeavoured to +belittle the royal beast, and to make out that +he is, after all, not much better than a sneaking +coward, that his courage springs from a knowledge +of his superior power, and that his forbearance +and generosity are but indications that the +creature at the time he displayed these estimable +qualities had lately dined. Even in the following +passage from an early writer we get some little +hint of this feeling: “He despiseth the darts +and defendeth himself by his terror only, and, as +if bearing witness that he is forced to his own +defence, he riseth up in fury, not as at last compelled +by the peril, but is made angry by their +folly. But this more noble display of courage +is shown in that, however great may be the +strength of hounds and hunters, while in the +open plains, and where he may be seen, he +retireth only by degrees, and with scorn; but +when he hath got amongst the thickets and +woods, then he hurrieth away, as if the place +concealed his shame.” Perhaps, however, we +should assign this strategic movement to the +rear to the discretion that we are proverbially +told is such an excellent supplement to mere +valour, or a wise acquiescence in the dictum: +“He that fights and runs away will live to fight +another day.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> The ideal lion, however, is a +very noble beast indeed, and very few of the +early writers do aught but sing his praises.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span></p> + +<p>Aldrovandus in his book on animals—not the +“Monstrorum Historia,” but the volume that +treats of matter-of-fact creatures—deals very fully +with his subject. The Lion stands first, and our +readers will gather some notion of the fulness of +the treatment when we state that the royal beast +takes up sixty-three folio pages. The book is +written wholly in Latin, and the various details +are arranged in sections. Amongst these we +find “Descriptio, Anatomica, Differentiæ, Locvs, +Natvra, Mores, Magnanimitas, Vox, Sympathia +et Antipathia, Historica, Mystica et allegorica, +Hieroglyphica, Moralia, Nvmismata, Insignia +Gentilitia et Militaria, Simvlacra statvæ, Fabvlosa, +Proverbia, Vsvs in Medicina, Vsvs in Lvdis +et Trivmphis, Vsvs in Venatione et in Bello.” +Even this does not exhaust the exceedingly comprehensive +treatment, though amply sufficient to +illustrate it. The leopard, lynx, dog, and other +beasts are in proportion as fully treated of, +though the subjects of the sections of course +vary; thus in the dog we find much information +under the heading Fidelitas and Amor, sections +that would be entirely out of place in the +description of the wolf.</p> + +<p>The Aldrovandus picture of the lion is rather +a poor one, while the tiger is very fairly good, +and the wolf is capital. It is rather curious too +that the hippopotamus, the first living specimen +of which, as far as we know, came to Europe +over two hundred years after the publication of +the book in question, is represented by very fair +figures, by which it can readily be identified. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span>There are three of these altogether, and one of +them has seized a crocodile by the tail. Several +of the beasts are also given in skeleton form, +thus we have the osteology of the wolf, squirrel, +mole, and many others carefully rendered. The +effect is sometimes rather quaint, thus, for instance, +the skeleton of the hare is given, and the creature +in this osseous condition is represented as gnawing +a plant. The mole is figured with very +conspicuous eyes. Any plant that can be at all +associated with an animal is always introduced, +thus we have a very good drawing of the +rabbit nibbling clover, and the legend appended +“cuniculus cinereus cum trifolio pratensi, quo +maxime delectatus,” a statement that many a +luckless farmer would very heartily endorse; +then we have the weasel standing by a +plant of rue, and the legend “qua omnes +mustelæ adversus serpentes se defendunt,” in +allusion to the old belief that a weasel well +fortified with rue was able to wage successful +war against venomous serpents. Many kinds +of dogs are shown, the greyhound, the water +spaniel, the poodle with his collar, and so +forth; one, to show his fidelity to his master, +carries two keys in his mouth, while another is +termed “canis bellicosus,” and certainly looks the +character.</p> + +<p>“The Lyon,” says Ferne, in his “Blazon of +Gentrie, 1586,” “is the most worthiest of all +beastes; yea, he standeth as the king, and is +feared above all the beastes of the fielde. So +that by the Lyon is signified principallitie, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span>dominion, and rule. Fortitude and magnanimity +is denoted in the Lyon.” Coats, another heraldic +authority of somewhat later date, affirms that “the +lion is the most magnanimous, the most generous, +the most bold and fierce of all the four-footed +race, and therefore he has been chosen to represent +the greatest heroes. This noble creature +represents also Command and Monarchical +Dominion, as likewise the Magnanimity of +Majesty, at once exercising Awe and Clemency, +subduing those that resist, and sparing those that +humble themselves.” In the “Indice Armorial” +of Geliot, published in Paris in the year 1635, +we read: “Si ca est auec raison que les anciens +ont donné a l’aigle la qualité de Roy des oyseaux +et au dauphin celuy des poissons, il y a plus de +sujet de qualifier du nom de Roy le lyon, non +seulement pour estre plus fort et le plus genereux +des animaux terrestres, mais principalement à +cause des qualitez royales qui sont en luy. Le +lyon ne dort iamais, ou bien s’il dort c’est auec +si peu de repos qu’il ne laisse pas d’auoir les +yeux ouverts. C’est ce que l’on remarque de +genereux au lyon que iamais il n’offence ceux +qui s’humilient deuant luy, qu’il ne touche point +aux petits enfants et porta qu’entre les hommes et +les femmes il s’addresse plutost aux hommes, et +entre ceux qui les prouoquent il choisira +tousiours celuy qui l’aura blessé, comme mespriant +les autres.” Guillim, in his “Display of +Heraldry,” a most popular book, running through +many editions, scarcely gives so exalted an idea +of the king of beasts, since he tells us that “the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span>lion, when he mindeth to assail his enemy, +stirreth up himself by often beating of his back +and sides with his tail, and thereby stirreth up +his courage to the end to do nothing faintly or +cowardly. The lion, when he is hunted, carefully +provideth for his safety, labouring to +frustrate the pursuit of the hunters by sweeping +out his footsteps with his tail as he goeth, that +no appearance of his track may be discovered. +When he hunteth after his prey he roareth +vehemently, whereat the beasts, being astonished, +do make a stand, while he with his tail makes a +circuit around them in the sand, which circle +they dare not transgress, which done, out of +them he maketh choice of prey at his leisure.” +Thus the lion’s tail is at once a stimulus to +valour, an aid to concealment when the valour +has oozed away, and a ring-fence for the +enclosure of his prey.</p> + +<p>Gerard Legh, author of the “Accedens of +Armorie,” a book originally published in 1562, +and so popular that within half a century five +editions were called for, tells us that when lions +are born “they sleepe continually three long +Egyptian daies. Whereat the Lyonesse, making +such terrible roring as the erth trembleth therewith, +raiseth them by force thereof out of that +deadlie sleepe, ministering foode, which of sleepe +before they could not take. Aristotle writeth +that in his marching he setteth foorth his right +pawe first, and beareth in himselfe a princelie +port. When he pursueth aunie beast he rampeth +on them, for then he is in most force. In +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span>nothing so much appeareth the princelie minde +of the haughtie Lyon as in this, that where other +beastes do herd and rowte together the Lyon +will not do so, neither will hee haue any +soueraigne, such is the haughtie courage of his +high stomache that he accomteth himselfe +without peere; when he is sicke he healeth +himselfe with the bloud of an Ape.⁠<a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> In age +when his strength faileth him he becommeth +enemie to man, and not before, but neuer to +children. There is little marrow in his bones, +for when they are smitten together fier flieth out +of them as from a flint stone. Therefore in the +olde time they made shields for horsemen of +Lyon’s bones.” Another old writer tells us that +“the lion is never sick but of loathing.” This we +may presume is a kind of biliousness or sick +headache, and a general disinclination for food. +Whatever it may be, the Faculty are equal to +the occasion, as the simple “way to cure him +is to tie to him the apes, which with their +wanton mocking drive him to madness, and +then when he hath tasted their blood it acts as +a remedy.” Legh’s remedy and this one do not +quite agree, but this latter is clearly intended +for the lion in a state of captivity, when his +unnatural surroundings necessitate severer treatment.</p> + +<p>When a lion is wounded we are told that he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span>has a remarkable quickness of observation in +detecting which amongst the hunters is to be +held responsible for the injury, and, no matter +what the size of the hunting party, he singles +out this particular individual for his attack, but +if a man has merely thrown a dart at him without +wounding him it is sufficient punishment +for his audacity to be struck down and well +shaken. Lions, Pliny tells us, are destitute of +craft and suspicion; “they never look aslant, +and they love not to be looked at in that +manner.” The lion was believed by the ancients +to be afraid at the turning of a wheel, +and more especially at the crowing of a cock. +These ancient naturalists had excellent opportunities +of studying the lion. For one thing +he was found in Greece, Palestine, and many +other districts where he is now never seen, +and then, too, the sports and combats of the +amphitheatre and the desire of the rulers to +gain popularity by pleasing the multitude with +various shows led to their free introduction. +Thus we read that Pompey the Great caused +six hundred lions to be exhibited together to +the Roman people, while Cæsar the Dictator +exhibited four hundred, and many others in +authority had smaller collections gathered together +for the gratification of the populace.</p> + +<p>That there were maneless lions was a fact +known to the ancient writers, as they are mentioned +by Pliny, Aristotle, and others, but the +reason they give for this peculiarity, that they had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span>panthers as their sires, is erroneous.⁠<a id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> The lions +found in Persia and Arabia are almost maneless, +and the lions of Gujerat have simply on the +middle line of the back of the neck some hairs +that stand erect like the mane of a quagga. It +would probably be one or both of these varieties +that had come under the notice of the ancient +authors. Amongst other mixed breeds that these +writers believed in was the camelopardilis, the +reputed offspring of the camel and the leopard +or panther, and the hartebeest, springing from +the union of the antelope and the buffalo.</p> + +<p>In the “Livre des Creatures,” the quaint old +MS. of Philip de Thaun, the lion is treated +symbolically, and as this tone of thought greatly +influenced the art and literature of the period we +may very legitimately quote the passage. “The +lion,” writes our old author, “in many ways +rules over many beasts, therefore is the lion +king. He has a frightful face, the neck great +and hairy; he has the breast before square, +hardy and pugnacious; his shape behind is +slender, his tail of large fashion, and he has flat +legs, and haired down to the feet; he has the +feet large and cloven, the claws long and curved. +When he is hungry or ill-disposed he devours +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span>animals without discrimination, as he does the +ass which resists and brays. Now hear, without +doubt, the significance of this. The lion signifies +the Son of Mary. He is King of all people +without any gainsay. He is powerful by nature +over every creature, and fierce in appearance, +and with fierce look He will appear to the Jews, +when He shall judge them. The square breast +shows strength of the Deity. The shape which +he has behind, of very slender make, shows +humanity, which He had with the Deity. By +the foot, which is cloven, is demonstrance of +God, who will clasp the world and hold it in His +fist.” It is needless to follow De Thaun any +further in his laboured mysticism; the passage +quoted suffices to show the method adopted. +The idea that the lion’s cubs were brought to +life three days after their birth was a belief that +very readily became transformed into a symbolism +of the Resurrection of Christ from the sleep of +death,⁠<a id="FNanchor_37" href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> while the notion that the lion always +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span>slept with its eyes open made it a symbol of +watchfulness, and led to its introduction in the +sculptures of early Christian churches, and +especially those under Lombard influence, where +it is not infrequently found as a sentinel at the +doors, as the base to pillars, or at the foot of +the pulpits.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp71" id="figure11" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure11.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 11.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span></p> + +<p>According to Burton, in his “Miracles of Art +and Nature,” in Barbary “’tis said they have +Lyons so tame that they will gather up Bones in +the Street like Dogs, without hurting any Body; +and other Lyons that are of so cowardly a +Nature that they will run away at the Voice +of the least child.” Munster’s notion of the +African lion, <a href="#figure11">fig. 11</a>, is impressive, though it is +perhaps less nearly allied to the lion of real life +than to the lion of the herald, of which <a href="#figure12">fig. 12</a>, +from the effigy of Prince John of Eltham, +brother of Edward III, in Westminster Abbey, +may be taken as a characteristic example. +Munster’s lion⁠<a id="FNanchor_38" href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> would satisfy even the country +heraldic painter, who was so irate when shown +a lion in a travelling menagerie. “What!” +cried he, “tell me that’s a lion! Why I’ve +painted lions rampant, lions passant, and all soils +of lions these five-and-twenty years, and for sure +I ought to know what a lion is like better than +that!” This lion of Munster is a very different +beast to the degenerate lions of Barbary that find +a precarious sustenance in collecting discarded +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span>bones from the gutter, and slink away at the +chiding-of some Arab brat who is inclined to +break in upon their sordid repast.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp64" id="figure12" style="max-width: 18.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure12.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 12.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Nature, when not interfered with by man, +ever keeps the balance true: hence “the Leontophonos +is only bred where lions are found,” +and if the old writers may be trusted (and there +is much virtue in an “if”), we have in this an +excellent antidote to the bane that a plague of +lions would undoubtedly be. The king of beasts, +we are told, regards the leontophonos with deadly +hatred and crushes the life out of it with its paw, as +the smallest portion of its flesh is immediate death +to him. To checkmate this decisive action of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span>the lion, we learn from our ancient author that +in districts that have a plague of lions the people +of the place burn the leontophonos and sprinkle +the ashes on other pieces of flesh, and these they +lay about as a bait with fatal effect. By this +happy arrangement they are free at once of Leo +and Leontophonos.</p> + +<p>One of the greatest enemies of the lion would +appear to be the unicorn; for though the two +appear to get on amicably enough as supporters of +the royal arms, appearances, it is well known, are +often deceptive, and they are really deadly foes. +Gesner, in his “History of Animals,” gives the +whole story in a nutshell, for he tells us that +“the Unicorn and the Lion being enemies by +nature, as soon as the lion sees the unicorn he +betakes himself to a tree.” This strikes one as +being a rather feeble performance on the part of +the king of beasts—in fact, decidedly <i>infra dig.</i>; +but the end is considered to justify the means, +for “the unicorn in his fury, and with all the +swiftness of his course, running at him, sticks +his horn fast in the tree, and then the lion falls +upon him and kills him.” The indiscreet valour +of the unicorn seems distinctly a nobler thing +than the calculating craft of the lion. Spenser, +in the “Faerie Queene,” introduces the story +as evidently a well-known fact in natural +history:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Like as a Lyon whose imperial powre</div> + <div class="verse indent2">A proud rebellious unicorn defyes,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">T’avoid the rash assault and wrathful stowre</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Of his fiers foe, him to a tree applyes,</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span> <div class="verse indent0">And when him ronning in full course he spyes</div> + <div class="verse indent2">He slips aside: the whiles that furious beast</div> + <div class="verse indent0">His precious horne, sought of his enemyes⁠<a id="FNanchor_39" href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></div> + <div class="verse indent2">Strikes in the stocke, ne thence can be releast,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">But to the mighty victor yields a bounteous feast.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_40" href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>In “Timon of Athens” Shakespeare writes: +“Wert thou the Unicorn pride and wrath would +confound thee, and make thine own self the +conquest of thy fury;” and in “Julius Cæsar” +we find the line: “Unicorns may be betray’d +with trees,” both passages evidently referring to +this legend.</p> + +<p>Most furious of all beasts was the Monoceros; +or, as Ælian calls it, the Cartazonos, a creature +still having literary and heraldic existence as +the unicorn; though in some few points the +beast, as described by Pliny and others, does not +altogether resemble in form the creature of the +heralds that is so well known to us as joint +supporter with the lion of our national arms. +The ancient monoceros had the body of a horse, +the head of a stag, the feet of an elephant, and +the tail of a boar, and from the middle of his +forehead projected a single horn.</p> + +<p>The Monoceros, Unicornu, or Einhorn is described +in Jonston’s “Historia Naturalis,” published +in 1657, and Munster, in his description of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span>Asia,⁠<a id="FNanchor_41" href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> gives a picture of the unicorn, a beast in +all respects like a horse, save that it has one +tremendous horn. Barrow, in his “Travels in +Southern Africa,” gives the figure of a head of a +unicorn which he saw drawn on the side of a +cavern, and appears to entertain no doubt that +such an animal exists, while Burton tells us that +in Æthiopia “some Kine there are which have +Horns like Stags, others but one Horn only, and +that in the Forehead, about a foot and a half +long, but bending backwards,” a departure this +from the recognized type.</p> + +<p>Figures of the unicorn are found on the +archaic cylinder seals of Assyria and Babylonia, +and throughout the whole course of ancient and +mediæval history we find belief in the creature +as much a matter of course as belief in horse +or elephant, and it would not be difficult to +bring forward a score or more of authors who +have written even in comparatively recent times +on the existence of the unicorn.⁠<a id="FNanchor_42" href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> + +<p>In a curious old book on our shelf, the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span>“Philosophical Grammar” of Benjamin Martin, +published in 1753, the author raises the question +as to whether such creatures as the phœnix, +syrens, dragons, mermaids, fairies, and many +others that he mentions really exist, and in the +matter of the unicorn he evidently suspends +judgment. “Most naturalists,” he says, “have +affirmed that there have been such creatures +and give descriptions of them; but the sight +of the creatures or credible relations of them +having been so rare, has occasioned many to +believe there never were any such animals in +nature; at least it has made the history of them +very doubtful. In all such ambiguous pieces of +history ’tis better not to be positive, and +sometimes to suspend our belief rather than +credulously embrace every current report.” In +another book, however, published in 1786, +and therefore not much more than a century +ago, the unicorn is described in all sober +seriousness as having equine body, a voice +like the lowing of an ox, and his horn “as +hard as iron and as rough as any file” to the +touch.</p> + +<p>Guillim declares that the unicorn cannot be +taken alive, “the greatness of his mind is such +that he chuseth rather to die,” while De Thaun +gives full directions for its capture. It would +appear that the animal is of a particularly +impressionable nature, and is always prepared +to pay homage to maiden beauty and innocence, +hence fierce as it is the wily hunter by taking +advantage of this amiable trait in its character +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span>effects its capture, for “when a man intends +to hunt and ensnare it he goes to the forest +where is its repair, and there places a virgin. +Then it comes to the virgin, falls asleep on +her lap, and so comes to its death. The man +arrives immediately and kills it in its sleep, or +takes it alive, and does as he will with it.” +As this must be rather a trying experience for +the young lady, “the Indian and Ethiopians,” +says a later writer, “catch of these unicornes +which be in their country after the following +manner. They take a goodly-strong and beautifull +young man, whom they clothe in the +apparell of a woman, besetting him with divers +flowers and odoriferous spices, setting him where +the Unicornes use to come, and when they see +this young man they come very lovingly and +lay their heads down in his lap (for above all +creatures they do great reverence to young +maids), and then the hunters having notice +given them, suddenly come, and finding him +asleep, they will deal so with him, as that +before he goeth he must leave his horn behind +him” and fall a victim to his guileful foes. +Spenser speaks of “the maiden Unicorne,” and +Dallaway, too, refers to “their inviolable attachment +to virginity,” and many other writers speak +in the same sense, or shall we rather say lack +of it!</p> + +<p>The horn was in great demand as it was made +into drinking vessels that were held to possess +the invaluable gift of detecting poison. Thus in +the “Speculum Mundi” we read of it that “it +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span>hath many soveraigne virtues, insomuch that, +being put upon a table furnished with many +junkets and banqueting dishes, it will quickly +descrie whether there be any poyson or venime +among them, for if there be, the horne is +presently covered with a kinde of sweat or +dew.” This belief in the efficacy of the horn +of the unicorn as a test for poisons is seen +by the frequent appearance of it in mediæval +inventories. We gather from these no clue, no +alternative name, for instance, to guide us, as to +what the material so valued really was. In a +book of travels by one Hentzner, a foreigner +who visited England in the year 1598, mention +is made of a horn of the unicorn that he was +shown at Windsor Castle, and which he says was +valued at over £1000, as indeed it very well +might be, if Decker’s line, “the unicorn whose +horn is worth a city,” written in 1609, gives +anything like a fair estimate of its worth. In +the “Comptes Royaux” of France for 1391 we +find the entry: “Une manche d’or d’un essay +de lincourne pour attoucher aux viandes de +Monseigneur le Dauphin,” and in the year 1536 +in the inventory of the treasures of Charles V., +we have: “Une touche de licorne, garnie d’or, +pour faire essay.” Many other examples of a +similar nature might readily be brought forward. +It seems strange that a belief in the efficacy of +the horn of the unicorn to detect the presence +of poisons should have endured for hundreds of +years, when practical experiment would in half +an hour have convicted the thing, whatever +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span>it was, of being a mockery, a delusion, and a +snare.</p> + +<p>Many curious beliefs have clustered around +the elephant, his sagacity, great strength, and +association with the wonderful countries of Africa +and India giving occasion for much that is marvellous. +One old writer tells that “the elephant +is a beast of great strength, but greater wit, and +greatest ambition; insomuch that some have +written of them that if you praise them they +will kill themselves with labour, and if you +command another before them they will break +their hearts with emulation. The beast is so +proud of his strength that he never bows himself +to any, and when he is once down (as it usually +is with proud great ones) he cannot rise up +again.” The female elephant was supposed to +rear her young one in deep water, for fear lest +the dragon should find and devour it. Physiologus +says that when the bone of an elephant +shall be burnt, or his hair singed, the smell of it +shall drive away serpents and all poison. Isidore +informs us that the elephant is beyond measure +great, and that it has the form of a goat, a statement +that leads us to imagine that he writes +rather from hearsay than from personal knowledge. +He further tells us that the creature +cannot lie down, a statement that is entirely +opposed to fact, as they may be seen rolling to +and fro with the greatest ease when bathing, and +after their ablutions recovering their feet with +great readiness. This supposed inability to lie +down necessitated the elephant’s leaning against +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span>a wall or tree while sleeping, and the people of +the land, when they desired to capture one, had +only to fell the tree or undermine the wall, +while the elephant was in happy unconsciousness +of the rude awakening that they were preparing +for him.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The elephant so huge and strong to see</div> + <div class="verse indent0">No perill fear’d but thought a sleepe to gaine;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But foes before had underminde the tree,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And down he falls, and so by them was slaine.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">First trye, then truste; like goulde the copper showes;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And Nero oft in Numa’s clothinge goes.”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Whitney’s</span> <i>Emblems</i>.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>They are provoked to madness at the sight +of blood or of the juice of the mulberry +tree. They eat both leaves and stones, but if +by inadvertence they swallow a chameleon the +result is fatal, unless they can immediately afterwards +eat some olives. As no elephant, being a +vegetarian, would eat a chameleon knowingly, +we are reduced to the alternative that he must +eat him unconsciously, and would therefore feel +nothing of the need of a prompt administration +of antidote until the olives came too late.</p> + +<p>In the family feud which was held to exist +between the elephant and the dragon the reptile +endeavoured to twist himself round the ponderous +beast’s feet and so bring him to the ground, but +the sagacity of the elephant here stood him in +good stead, and when he saw that his fall was +inevitable, he also saw the great advantage of +flattening the life out of his foe by falling with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span>all his huge bulk upon him. The blood produced +by these sanguinary combats soaked into +the earth and thus yielded the cinnabar of commerce. +Possibly some early observer may have +seen a deadly struggle in the jungle between an +elephant and some huge python or boa, and +being content to view from some little distance, +may have filled in the details from imagination +and thus set the story afloat. When a tale of +this nature once gained credence, one old writer +after another inserted it in his work without +further question. The elephant was said to be +afraid of a mouse, though the ancient authors +unfortunately fail to satisfy our very legitimate +curiosity as to why this should be so; in an old +romance, dealing with the wars of the great +Alexander, the elephants of the enemy are put +to rout by the squeaking of a herd of swine +brought for the nonce on to the tented field.</p> + +<p>The elephant was first used in war by Pyrrhus, +who, <span class="allsmcap">B.C.</span> 280, employed these animals in the war +with Tarentum against the Romans. We learn +also that the Carthaginians, in the time of +Hannibal, <span class="allsmcap">B.C.</span> 210, employed them in their wars; +and we have modern illustrations of the like +service amongst the various princes of India. +When the Romans in Leucania first saw +the elephants in the battle array of Pyrrhus, +they called them Leucanian oxen. “Next +the Poeni taught the horrible Leucanian oxen, +with lowered body and snake-like head, to +endure the wounds of war, and to throw into +confusion the mighty ranks of Mars.” Later on +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span>the Romans introduced them into their own +service, and in one of the triumphal entries +of Cæsar into Rome his chariot was drawn by +forty elephants.</p> + +<p>A little later on we read of their appearance in +the arena, dancing and wrestling with each other, +walking on stretched ropes, four of them carrying +a fifth on their shoulders reposing on a litter +or couch, and generally going through those performances +that from the earliest times to the +travelling show of to-day have been received by +the vulgar with such favour. Both Pliny and +Plutarch tell us that if any one elephant in such +a gathering for any reason fails to do what is +required of him he will study by night, in what +a workman would call “his own time,” to achieve +success, and go through the performance of his +own accord when the rest of the world is +sleeping, until he has mastered it.</p> + +<p>Sir John Maundevile, in his “Voiage and Travaile,” +give’s an interesting mediæval reference +to an Eastern potentate having “14,000 Olifauntz +or mo. In cas that he had ony Werre +agenst ony other Kynge aboute him than he +makethe certyn men of Armes for to gon up +in to the Castelles of Tree, made for the Werre, +that craftily ben set uppe on the Olifauntes +Bakkes, for to fryghten agen hire Enemyes.” +How very craftily these are set up may be +seen in our illustration, <a href="#figure13">fig. 13</a>, from an early +edition of the book. As we may reasonably +assume from the look of the Castelle of tree +that it is built in two storeys, we may judge +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span>the bulk of the elephant from imagining the +size that the men must be who are quartered +in the upper storey. It will be noticed that +there is no suggestion of any method of fastening +the Castelle to the Olifaunte. Were we amongst +the men of arms who were expected to take up +a position in this fortress, we should regard this +as a peculiarly weak point in the arrangements. +In marked contrast with this massive beast +Munster has a funny picture of a man ploughing +with an elephant, the elephant being, in proportion +to the man, of about the size of a Shetland pony.</p> + +<p>The ancient writers believed, or taught, that +the elephant indulged in moon-worship. Ælian, +amongst others, states that at the increase of the +moon these creatures gathered long branches +of trees in the forest, and held them up in +adoration, with uplifted trunks, to the queen +of night. Pliny, too, writes that “they have +withall religious reverence, with a kind of +devotion; not only the starres and planets but +the sunne and moone they also worship, and +in very truth, writers there be who report thus +much of them—that when the new moone beginneth +to appeare fresh and bright,⁠<a id="FNanchor_43" href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> they come +doune by whole herds to a certaine river named +Amelus in the deserts and forests of Mauritania, +where, after that they are washed and solemnlie +purified by sprinkling and dashing themselves all +over with the water, and have saluted and adored +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span>after their manner their planet, they returne +againe unto the woods and chases, carrying +before them their young calves that be wearied +and tired”—a grand and pious pilgrimage of +pachyderms.</p> + +<p>Another strange idea of the ancients was that +the elephant when pursued by the hunters beats +its tusks against the trees until they drop off, as +he has a shrewd suspicion that it is his ivory rather +than himself that they want. The elephant, +sagacious beast, would appear to have as good a +notion of the value of his tusks to the hunter +as his pursuer himself has. We are told that +“when they chance to be environed and compassed +round with hunters they set foremoste +in the ranke to bee seene those of the heard +that have the least teeth, to the end that their +price might not be thought worth the hazard +and venture in chace for them. But afterwards, +when they see the hunters eager and themselves +over-matched and wearie, they breake them with +running against the hard trees, and, leaving them +behind, escape by this ransome as it were, out +of their hands.” Another curious fact is that +“their skin is covered neither with haire nor +bristle, no, not so much as in their taile, which +might serve them in goode steade to driue away +the busie and troublesome flie (for as vast and +huge a beast as he is, the flie haunteth and +stingeth him), but full their skinne is of crosse +wrinckles lattiswise: and besides that, the smell +thereof is able to draw and allure such vermine +to it, and therefore when they are laid stretched +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span>along, and perceive the flies by whole swarmes +settled on their skin, sodainly they draw those +cranies and crevices together close, and so crush +them all to death. This serues them instead +of taile, maine and long haire,”—one striking +instance the more of the wonderful compensatory +powers of Nature!</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp60" id="figure13" style="max-width: 12.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure13.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 13.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>It is by no means an incurious subject to +trace the sources of information possessed by our +ancestors of subjects of natural history that have +now become so familiar as to create a surprise that +fables respecting them should so long have been +currently received. In regard to the elephant, +the earliest notions the people of the Middle +Ages had of it must have been from the narratives +of pilgrims and other travellers from the East. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span>The first instance, after classic times, of an +elephant being brought to the West occurred in +the year 807, when one was sent as a present +from the famous Caliph Haroum al Raschid +to the Emperor Charlemagne, and must have +occasioned no small degree of astonishment. +Matthew Prior mentions that the Soldan of +Babylon, Malek el Kamel, sent an elephant as +a choice present to the Emperor Frederic II. in +the year 1229, but it was not till 1255 that +the first specimen was seen in England: this +was a present from the King of France to our +Henry III. The chronicler, John of Oxenedes, +gives full details of the arrival of this animal +in London, and tells us of the enormous crowds +that flocked together to behold it. The writ +is still existing that was sent to the Sheriff of +Kent, dated February 3rd, 1255, directing him +to go in person to Dover, together with John +Gouch, the king’s servant, to arrange in what +manner the king’s present might most conveniently +be brought over, and to find for the +said John a ship and all things necessary; and +if, by the advice of mariners and others, it +could be brought by water, directing it to +be so conveyed. It was, however, eventually +landed at Sandwich, and walked thence to +London. Another writ, dated the 26th of the +same month, ordered the Sheriffs of London to +cause to be built at the Tower a house for it, +forty feet in length and twenty in breadth. +The elephant itself was ten feet in height and +ten years old. It only lived two years. Of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span>this elephant Matthew Prior made a very +good representation and his original drawing +may still be seen amongst the Cottonian MSS. +in the British Museum; this he expressly +tells us was taken from the life <i>ipso elephante +exemplariter assistente</i>. An equally good, but +smaller, drawing occurs at the close of the +chronicle of John de Walingeford, a monk in +the Abbey of St. Albans. This also may be +seen amongst the Cottonian collection. The +historians of the time regarded the new arrival +as a perfect prodigy, as they very well might +do, when we remember how the British public, +comparatively satiated with wild beasts, flocked +in hundreds of thousands some few years ago +to see the first hippopotamus. They gave long +and detailed accounts of the habits of the +elephant in a wild state, details which were +eagerly read by the great multitude seeking +for some information on this strange monster +in their midst; these more or less trustworthy +facts, though mingled with many obvious absurdities, +would seem to show that a fair amount +of knowledge of the creature had penetrated +thus far. Some of the information was at least +curious, as, for instance, that elephants will not +enter a ship to cross the sea until an oath is taken +before them by their conductor that they shall +return, and that if they meet a man in the +desert who has lost his bearings they will very +courteously conduct him to the right path. +Either of these indicate a high degree of +sagacity, and a good knowledge of human +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span>speech. The latter proceeding was probably +a delicate way of conveying to the wandering +botanist or prospecting engineer that he was +a trespasser on their domain, and a gentle hint +to him that he would-be on the right path when +he took his leave and left them in undisturbed +possession.⁠<a id="FNanchor_44" href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></p> + +<p>There is no record in modern times of an +African tribe endeavouring to domesticate the +wild elephant, or to utilize it in warfare, but +Marco Polo mentions that in the South-East of +Africa the people are very warlike, and fight—having +no horses—upon elephants and camels. +Upon the backs of the former he tells us that +they place castles capable of containing from +fifteen to twenty armed men, and that, previous +to the conflict, they give the elephants draughts +of wine to make them more spirited and furious +in the assault.⁠<a id="FNanchor_45" href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> “There is no creature,” saith +the writer of the “Speculum Mundi,” “amongst +all the beasts of the world which hath so great +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span>and ample demonstration of the power and +wisdom of Almighty God as the Elephant, both +from proportion of body and disposition of spirit; +and it is admirable to behold the industrie of our +ancient forefathers, and noble desire to benefit +us their posteritie, by searching into the qualities +of every beast, to discover what benefits and +harms may come by them to mankinde; having +never been afraid of the wildest, but they tamed +them; and the greatest, but they also set upon +them: witness this beast of which we now +speak, being like a living mountaine in quantitie +and outward appearance, yet by them so handled +as no little dog could be made more serviceable, +tame, and tractable.”</p> + +<p>According to the belief of one mediæval +writer, at least, the capture of the elephant is +not a matter of much difficulty, though, having +caught him, he seems to find no better use for +him than to kill him as so much raw material for +the dyer’s vat, instead of utilizing his gigantic +strength and magnificent willingness for work⁠<a id="FNanchor_46" href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> +in the service of man. Nowadays, the men do +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span>most of the elephant-catching, but “among the +Ethiopians,” says one ancient authority on the +subject, Bartholomew Anglicus, “in some +countries elephants be hunted in this wise. +There go in the desert two maidens, and one of +them beareth a vessel and the other a sword. +And these maidens begin to sing alone; and the +beast hath liking when he heareth their song, and +cometh to them, and falleth asleep anon for +liking of the song,” an explanation of the +drowsiness that would scarcely nowaday be held +satisfactory at any concert or social function of +the kind; “then the one maid sticketh him in +the throat or in the side with a sword, and the +other taketh his blood in a vessel. And with +that blood the people of the country dye cloth, +and done colour it therewith.” The writer +prefaces his story by the assertion that it is “full +wonderful;” and so it is, when regarded from +our modern standpoint, but to anyone who could +believe that unicorns could be captured in a very +similar way, we should have thought that the +narrative would have seemed most matter-of-fact +and prosaic. The ladies of Ethiopia must have +been of considerably stouter heart than some +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span>fair maidens of the present day, who dare not +enter where the presence of mouse or cockroach +is suspected.</p> + +<p>Great good-natured beast as the elephant is, +he has more than one most merciless and +vindictive foe. “There ben Bestes,” or Maundevile +is in error, “men clepen hem Loerancz, +and thei han a blak Hed and thre longe Hornes +trenchant in the Front, scharpe as a Sword, and +the body is sclender. And he is a fulle felonous +Best, and he chacethe and sleethe the Olifaunt.” +What can have ever prompted and suggested the +idea of such a very unpleasant tricorn it is +impossible to say. In real life the elephant +and the rhinoceros are sometimes at feud, but +clearly the massive rhinoceros cannot be this +very slender and objectionable three-horned +beast. We have seen, too, that the dragon +cannot let the elephant alone; he is to the +full as “felonous” as the Loerancz. Pliny +held that this constant unpleasantness on the +part of the reptile was a “sport of nature.” In +other words, that Nature,—personified, as the +Romans personified the winds, the mountain +streams, and so forth,—felt a real delight in seeing +a downright fight between two such doughty +antagonists. As the dragon was always the +aggressor, while the elephant only wished to +be let alone, and merely used his strength in +self-defence when so wantonly attacked, one’s +sympathies must necessarily be with the latter.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp92" id="figure14" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure14.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 14.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>As this view degraded Nature to the level of +an emperor feasting his eyes on the sanguinary +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span>horrors of a gladiatorial show, or to that of a bull-baiter +or other member of “the fancy,” it was +not altogether acceptable to thinking men, as it +must have been difficult to worship at the shrine +of the Creator and Sustainer of all, and yet +feel that one was in the grasp of a power so +capricious, relentless, and unfair. Nor was the +narration even fair to the dragon, as there was +no suggestion in it that the attack was made for +the legitimate purpose of obtaining food; the +story as it stood pointed to a depth of sheer +vindictiveness that even a dragon with any self-respect +would resent the imputation of. The +theory therefore was started that while during +the great heats of the dry season the dragon’s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span>blood was almost at boiling point the blood of +the elephant was singularly and exceptionally +cold, and thus made the creature a most welcome +prey. The dragon, with parched throat and +molten veins, therefore went as naturally for an +elephant as the members of a picnic-party in July +go for the iced lemonade or claret-cup.</p> + +<p>Our ancestors had immense faith in blood-letting, +but there is nothing new under the +sun, and Pliny tells us that a hippopotamus, +when good living has told upon him and he is +suffering from plethora, goes ashore to where +he has seen that the river reeds have been newly +cut, and presses one of the sharp edges of a +stem into his leg, and thus vigorously bleeds +himself. When the process has given him the +desired relief, and there is no immediate fear +of gout or apoplexy, he smears the wound +over with the Nile mud and quickly heals it. +Munster’s idea of the hippopotamus, as shown +in his book, from which we have made the +facsimile <a href="#figure14">fig. 14</a>, is a much more genuine +notion of a river-horse than the beast as we see +him in the Zoological Gardens. The way he is +dashing up the stream around him as he gallops +through the water is a caution.</p> + +<p>The panther was believed to have an especial +power of fascination, a gift ascribed by some to +the beauty of his coat and by others to his odour. +The savour of the larger species of felidæ, as we +find it in zoological collections, is malodorous +rather than fascinating, though the creatures +could doubtless plead in their own defence that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span>they were placed under artificial circumstances. +In one of Spenser’s sonnets we find the first +theory upheld in the lines:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The panther knowing that his spotted hide</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Doth please all beasts, but that his looks them fray,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Within a bush his dreadful head doth hide</div> + <div class="verse indent2">To let them gaze, while he on them may prey.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>In the eighth book of Pliny’s “Natural History,” +the second theory is maintained. “It is said that +all four-footed beasts are wonderfully delighted +and enticed by the smell of panthers; but their +hideous looke and crabbed countenance, which +they bewray so soone as they show their heads, +skareth them as much againe; and therefore +their manner is to hide their heads, and when +they have trained other beasts within their reach +by their sweet savour, they flee upon them and +worrie them.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_47" href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> In a MS. presented by Sir +William Segar to King James I. and now No. +6085 in the Harleian collection, we come across +a combination of the theories, the result being +a fascination of the most killing description:—“The +panther is admired of all beasts for the +beauty of his skyn, being spotted with variable +colours, and beloued and followed of them for +the sweetnesse of his breath, that streameth +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span>forth of his nostrils and ears like smoke, +which our paynters mistaking corruptlie, doe +make fire.” This detail is given in the manuscript +in explanation of one of the badges of +King Henry VI.—a panther passant guardant +argent, spotted of all colours, with vapour +issuant from his mouth and ears.⁠<a id="FNanchor_48" href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></p> + +<p>Sir John Maundevile professed to see in the +capital of far Cathay a palace with its halls +“covered with red skins of animals called +panthers, fair beasts and well-smelling; so that +for the sweet odour of the skins no evil air may +enter into the palace. The skins are as red as +blood and shine so bright against the sun that a +man may scarce look at them. And many people +worship the beasts when they meet them first +in a morning, for their great virtue and for the +good smell that they have; and the skins they +value more than if they were plates of fine gold.” +This is very clearly not a statement springing +from personal observation. Some old writers of +imaginative turn of mind regarded the panther +as the emblem of providence and foresight, the +number of eye-like spots on his coat suggesting the +idea that he was well able to look before, behind, +and around him; while others declared that he +bore on his shoulder one particular spot of the +shape of the moon, and that this passed through +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span>the various phases of form from crescent to full +circle simultaneously with the moon itself.</p> + +<p>The tastes of the panther would appear to +be considerably more refined than those of the +other great carnivoræ—an idea that we base on +the statement of the author of the “Speculum +Mundi.” “Now, the reason why these beasts +have such a sweet breath is in regard that they +are so much delighted with the kinde of spices +and daintie aromaticall trees; insomuch that (as +some affirm) they will go many hundred miles in +time of the yeare when these things are in +season, and all for the love they bear to them. +But above all, their chief delight is in the +gumme of camphire, watching that tree very +carefully, to the end they may preserve it for +their owne use.” The notion of the panther +prowling round and keeping his eye on the +camphor the while is distinctly quaint.</p> + +<p>Porta tells us that the hyæna and the panther +are in continual enmity, and that even the skin +of a dead hyæna makes the panther run away, +though we should ourselves have thought that +the live hyæna, skin and all, would have been no +match for the panther. Nay, this feeling is so +intense, that one old author tells us that even if +one hangs up the two skins together the antipathy +outlives death itself, and the panther’s skin +will lose all the hair.</p> + +<p>This notion of antipathy between various +animals is a very strong point with old writers. +“A lion’s skin wasteth and eating out the skins +of other beasts; and so doth the wolves skin eat +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span>up the lambs skin. Likewise the feathers of +other fowles, being put among eagles feathers +do rot and consume of themselves. The beast +Florus and the bird Ægithus are at such mortal +enmity that when they are dead their blood +cannot be mingled together.” Porta is very +learned on this matter, and tells us that an +elephant is afraid of a ram. This must clearly +be from some invincible feeling of antipathy, +for there is little doubt but that in fair fight the +ram would be nowhere; yet we learn that, +unmanageable as an elephant may be, “as soon +as ever he seeth a ram he waxeth meek, and +his fury ceaseth.” One can only wonder, over +and over again, how it comes that such ideas +should gain credence for centuries, when the +whole matter could so readily be brought to the +touchstone of experience.</p> + +<p>The doctrine of sympathy and antipathy, +and more especially the latter half of it, was of +immense value in mediæval medicine. As an +example of sympathy we may instance the affection +that was held to exist between the goat and +the partridge; hence for whatever one of them +was a remedy the other became equally available. +The prescriptions were interchangeable, and one +used one or the other in full faith that either was +equally valuable, as indeed might very possibly +be the case. As examples of the antipathetic +treatment, one may instance the following:—“The +Ape of all things cannot abide a Snail; +now the Ape is a drunken beast, for they are +wont to take an Ape by making him drunk +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[154]</span>and a Snail well wash’d is a remedy against +drunkenesse. The Wolf is afraid of the Urchin; +thence if we wash our mouth and throat with +Urchin’s blood it will make our voice shrill, +though before it were hoarse and dull like a +Wolves voice. The Hart and the Serpent are +at continuall enemity; the Serpent as soon as +he seeth the Hart gets him into his hole, but +the Hart draws him out again with the breath +of his nostrils and devours him; hence it is +that the fat and the blood of Harts, and the +stones that grow in their eyes, are ministered +as fit remedies against the biting and stinging +of Serpents. Likewise the breath of Elephants +draws Serpents out of their dens, and therefore +the members of Elephants burned, drive +away Serpents. So also the crowing of a +Cock affrights the Basilisk, and he fights with +Serpents to defend his hens, hence the broth of +a Cock is good remedy against the poison of +Serpents. The Stellion, which is a beast like +a Lyzard, is an enemy to the Scorpions, and +therefore the Oyle of him being purified is +good to anoint the place which is stricken by +the Scorpion. A Swine eats up a Salamander +without danger, and is good against the poison +thereof.” All these and many other hints of +like value may be found in the pages of Porta.</p> + +<p>The edition of “Natural Magick,” by John +Baptist Porta, from which we have made these +extracts, is a somewhat late one,⁠<a id="FNanchor_49" href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> as the preface +begins:—“Courteous Reader,—If this work +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[155]</span>made by me in my youth, when I was hardly +fifteen years old, was so generally received, and +with so great applause, that it was forthwith +translated into many Languages, as Italian, +French, Spanish, Arabick; and passed through +the hands of incomparable men; I hope that +now coming forth from me that am fifty years +old, it shall be more dearly entertained. For +when I saw the first fruits of my Labours received +with so great Alacrity of mind, I was moved +by these good Omens, and therefore have +adventured to send it once more forth, but +with an Equipage more Rich and Noble. From +the first time it appeared it is now thirty-five +years, and (without any derogation of my +Modesty be it spoken) if ever any man laboured +earnestly to disclose the secrets of Nature it +was I.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_50" href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> After nearly forty years, therefore, of +reflection, observation, and criticism he feels +that his medical hints on this subject of antipathy +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[156]</span>have borne the test of time, and may +well take their place amongst the other secrets +of Nature divulged for the benefit of humanity.</p> + +<p>The hyæna was held to possess the power of +counterfeiting man’s speech, and of turning the +gift to profitable account by going up at night +to a shepherd’s or woodman’s hut and calling +out the man’s name.⁠<a id="FNanchor_51" href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> Upon the man’s going +forth to see who wanted him, he was promptly +torn to pieces. The Manticora also, according +to Juba, possessed this uncanny power of +imitating human speech, and turned its conversational +powers to the same treacherous +use. It was also held that if a hyæna made a +circuit three times round any animal its victim +lost all power of escape, and could not stir a +foot. According to some ancient writers the +animal had a stone called hyænia in its eye, +and this being placed under a man’s tongue +imparted to him the gift of prophecy. Aristotle +taught that the eyes of this creature could change +colour a thousand times a day, and this is but a +sample of many other curious and absurd stories +concerning the beast. Sir Gardner Wilkinson +mentions a strange fancy believed in by the +Abyssinians that a race of people who inhabited +their country had the power of changing their +form at pleasure, being sometimes men and at +others hyænas.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[157]</span></p> + +<p>In the Middle Ages the wolf seems to +have been in decidedly bad odour; he was +probably too well-known to be respected, and +in the long dreary nights of winter proved +himself a terribly bad neighbour, and a very +undesirable travelling companion for those who +had to cross amidst the snows the almost trackless +wastes. Amongst the Scandinavians the +wolf held a conspicuous place in tradition and +mythology. Eclipses of the sun and moon were +held to be caused by two great wolves that +were always pursuing them through the heavens.⁠<a id="FNanchor_52" href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> +The wolf, too, was the companion of Odin, the +god of war, and at his feet these creatures +crouched while he fed them with the flesh of +his enemies.</p> + +<p>It was an accepted belief that if a man +encountered a wolf, and the creature caught +sight of him before he saw it, he became dumb. +Scott refers to this old notion in his “Quentin +Durward,” where, in the eighteenth chapter, +Lady Hameline exclaims, “Our young companion +has seen a wolf, and has lost his tongue +in consequence.” “The ground or occasionall +originall thereof,” Browne in his “Exposure of +Vulgar Errors” would endeavour to persuade +us, “was probably the amazement and sudden +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[158]</span>silence the unexpected appearance of wolves doe +often put upon travellers, not by a supposed +vapour or venomous emanation, but a vehement +fear which naturally produceth obmutescence, and +sometimes irrecoverable silence”; but it would +appear to be a still simpler procedure, and one +with a good deal to recommend it, to deny that +there is an atom of truth in the story. In another +old natural history before us, we read that “the +wolf when he falls upon a hog or a goat, or such +small beast, does not immediately kill them, +but leads them by the ear, with all the speed he +can, to a crew of ravenous wolves, who instantly +tear them to pieces.” We should have thought +that the reverse had been more probable, and +that the wolves that had nothing would have +come with all the speed they could upon their +more successful comrade; but if the old writer’s +story be true, it opens out a fine trait of hitherto +unsuspected unselfishness in the character of +the wolf.</p> + +<p>John Leo, in his “History of Africa,” declares +that the dragon is the progeny of the eagle and +wolf. Perhaps this may be so, but probably the +conception that most of our readers have of the +dragon is that he was a considerably more +formidable beast than such a parentage, fierce +as it is, quite suggests.</p> + +<p>An old heraldic author tells us “how that +the wolfe procureth all other beasts to fight and +contention. He seeketh to deuour the sheepe, +that beaste which is of all others the most +hurtlesse, simple, and void of guile, thirsting +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[159]</span>continually after their blood. Yea, Nature hath +planted so inveterate an hatred atweene the +wolfe and the sheepe, that being dead, yet in +the secrete operation of nature appeareth there +a sufficient trial of their discording natures, so +that the enimity betweene them seemeth not to +dye with their bodies; for if there be put vpon a +harp or any such like instrument strings made of +the intrailles of a sheepe, and amongst them but +onely one made of the intraills of a wolfe, be the +musician never so cuning in his skil, yet can he +not reconcile them to an vnity and concorde of +sounds, so discording alwayes is that string of the +wolfe.” The inveterate enmity between the two +creatures is scarcely in accordance with the facts, +for the wolf, from its appreciation of mutton as +an article of diet, is really partial to the sheep, +and is always glad to make its acquaintance.</p> + +<p>Another old herald tells us that “the wolfe +loveth to plaie with a child, and will not hurt +it till it be extreme hungrie, what time he will +not spare to devour it.” He dwells also upon +some of the animal’s prejudices, as that “he +watcheth much, and feareth fier and stones to be +wherled at him,” a feeling that one finds no +difficulty in sympathizing with, and adds that +“there is nothing that he hateth so much as +the knocking togither of two flint stones, the +which he feareth more than the hunters.” He +also mentions the curious physiological fact that +“the wolf may not bend his neck backward in no +moneth of the yere but in May,” but gives us no +inkling as to the reason for this.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[160]</span></p> + +<p>The wearing of wolf-skin was held to be a +valuable preservative against epilepsy, but those +who were unable to procure this, found an equally +serviceable remedy in wearing a small portion of +an ass’s hoof in a ring. The wolf-skin coat also +was in request as a preservative against hydrophobia, +and there was nothing better in the good +old times than a wolfs head under the pillow +to secure a good night’s rest. Albertus Magnus, +in his work “De Virtutibus Herbarum,” tells us +that if we wrap the tooth of a wolf in a bay +leaf and carry it about with us no one will have +the power to vex or annoy us.</p> + +<p>According to Porta—and he, we have seen, +professes to have gone into the secrets of nature +as deeply as most men who pose as authorities⁠<a id="FNanchor_53" href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a>—the +rook is killed by eating “the reliques of flesh +the wolf hath fed on.” This would appear to be +a discovery of Porta’s own: we do not find any +suggestion of it, so far as we are aware, in any +other author.</p> + +<p>A creature called the stag-wolf, if we may +credit these ancient authors (and there is much +saving virtue in this if), had the curious peculiarity +that if, while he was devouring his prey, he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[161]</span>chanced to look backward, he straightway forgot +that he was already provided with a dinner, and +would at once start off for one with all the +zeal that his supposititious famishing condition +called for.</p> + +<p>The bear has not escaped the observation of +the lover of the marvellous, though we should +have thought that our forefathers, with their +bear-baiting proclivities, would have had a sufficient +knowledge of the creature to protect them +from falling into gross error. One of the most +firmly accepted beliefs in ancient and mediæval +days was that the cubs were born a merely shapeless +mass, and owed what after-beauty of form they +possessed to the assiduous care of their mother. +Hence, an ancient scribe hath it, “At the firste +they seeme to be a lumpe of white flesh without +any forme, little bigger than rattons, without +eyes, and wanting hair. This rude lumpe, with +licking, they fashion by little and little into some +shape.” Shakespeare it will be remembered +compares Gloucester, in King Henry VI., +to “an unlick’d bear-whelp,” while Dryden +writes:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The cubs of bears a living lump appear</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When whelp’d, and no determined figure wear.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The mother licks them into shape, and gives</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As much of form as she herself receives.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The device of the great Venetian painter, +Titian, was a she-bear licking her cubs into shape.⁠<a id="FNanchor_54" href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[162]</span>Our readers will probably recall the lines in +“Hudibras”:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“A bear’s a savage beast, of all</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Most ugly and unnatural;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Whelp’d without form, until the dam</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Has lick’d it into shape and frame.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">“Which opinion notwithstanding,” quoth Browne +in his assault on the vulgar errors of his day, +“is not only repugnant unto the sense of everyone +that shall enquire into it, but of exact and +deliberate experiment. It is, moreover, injurious +unto reason, and much impugneth the course and +providence of nature to conceive a birth should +be ordained before there is a formation. Besides, +what few take notice of, men do hereby in a +high measure vilifie the works of God, imputing +that unto the tongue of a Beast.” Browne’s +ideas were, we have already seen, far in advance +of his time, and he took the trouble to do what +many who wrote on the subject before him failed +to do, went to look at some young bears. Though +the belief in the idea has died away, the remembrance +of the superstition still survives in the +notion of licking youngsters into shape at school +by such appeals to body or mind as may seem +most efficacious and persuasive.</p> + +<p>It was held that the bear found no little nutriment +in sucking his own paws, and in old books +on natural history he may often be found thus +figured. Beaumont and Fletcher embody the old +belief in their “Bonduca,” where we read of +those—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Just like a brace of bear-whelps, close and crafty,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Sucking their fingers for their food.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[163]</span></p> + +<p>It has long been an accepted belief in rural +England, that a child who has had a ride upon a +bear will escape whooping cough, a belief that +has had great pecuniary value to the Savoyards +and others, who take a dancing bear through +the villages, as the rustics gladly fee them for +the privilege of a ride for their children, and +the attendant immunity from one of the most +infectious and distressing of the minor ailments +of childhood.</p> + +<p>We have long been familiar with the idea that +bears attacked bee-hives, but we have accepted +the notion that the bears did so from an appreciation +of the honey that they found therein. It +appears, however, that the bear does it really as +a kind of stimulant, the stinging of the angry +bees giving him just a welcome titillation, and +arousing him from a certain torpidity that at +times oppresses him, and which he rightly feels +should be fought against. Others tell us that +the outraged bees, justly angry at the overturning +of their home and the pillage of their store, +supply, by the energy of their attack and the +keenness of their stings, just that pleasant piquant +set-off to the epicurean bear that the over-richness +and cloying sweetness of the honey +seems to call for. Yet a third theory is that +“they are many times subject to dimnesse of +sight, for which cause especially they seeke after +honeycombes, that the bees might settle upon +them, and with their stings make them bleed +about the head, and by that meanes discharge +them of that heavinesse which troubleth their +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[164]</span>eyes.” Possibly three more equally reasonable +theories might be forthcoming on searching for +them in the various old tomes in which the +wisdom of our forefathers is enshrined.</p> + +<p>A considerable amount of folk-lore has gathered +round the hare. It was held to be a favourable +omen to meet certain beasts early in the morning, +but it was especially unfortunate to meet a hare. +“Sume Bestes han gode meetynge, that is to +seye for to meete with him first at Morne; and +sume Bestes wykked meetynge: and that thei +han proved ofte tyne tat the Hare hathe fulle +evylle meetynge, and Swyn, and many othere +Bestes. The Sparhauke and other Foules of +Raveyne whan thei fleen aftre here preye and +take it before men of Armes, it is a gode Signe; +and if he fayle of takynge his preye it is an evylle +sygne, and also to such folke it is an eville +meetynge of Ravennes.” Carew, in his “Survey +of Cornwall,” mentions that “to talk of hares or +such uncouth things” was regarded as omnious +of coming ill by the fishermen; and at some +places on the coast until quite recently—or +possibly even till to-day, for such notions die out +very slowly—if a fisherman going down to his boat +were to see a hare cross his path, he would not +that day go to sea.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“How superstitiously we mind our evils!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The throwing down of salt, or crossing of a hare,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Bleeding at nose, the stumbling of a horse,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or singing of a cricket, are of power</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To daunt whole man in us.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>This superstition arose from the belief that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[165]</span>witches sometimes transformed themselves into +hares. In Ellison’s “Trip to Benwell,” we find +the following congratulatory lines:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Nor did we meet, with nimble feet,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">One little fearful lepus;⁠<a id="FNanchor_55" href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></div> + <div class="verse indent0">That certain sign, as some divine,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of fortune bad to keep us.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>In Aubrey’s “Remaines of Gentilisme and +Judaisme,” written in the year 1586, it is stated, +as “found by Experience, that when one keepes +a Hare alive and feedeth him till he have occasion +to eat him, if he telles before he killes him that +he will doe so the hare will thereupon be found +dead, having killed himself.” One really scarcely +sees what the creature gains by this proceeding.</p> + +<p>Old writers tell us that when the hare is +fainting with the heat, a state of things that +one may hope does not often occur, it recruits +its strength by munching up sowthistle. Topsell +says that there is no leporine ailment that +this plant will not cure, and that directly the +hare feels a little unwell he seeks sowthistle and +goes in for a course of diet. Askham goes so +far as to say that “yf a hare eate of this herbe +in somer when he is mad he shal be hole,” +but as hares are proverbially held to be specially +<i>non compos mentis</i> in March, the treatment seems +to come a little late. All boys who have kept +rabbits will recall how appreciatively they nibble +up the succulent sowthistle leaves and stems, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[166]</span>probably it is just as welcome to the hares, not +as a medicinal herb or a help to sanity, but as a +toothsome item in the daily fare.</p> + +<p>It will be remembered that in 1 Henry IV. +i. 2, Shakespeare uses the expression “Melancholy +as a hare,” and as it was believed in +mediæval days that those who partook of the +flesh of any animal thereby partook also of its +nature, the flesh of the hare was supposed +to generate melancholia, and was therefore +avoided. Why the hare should be considered of +a desponding temperament no one seemed to +know.</p> + +<p>It seems curious in face of such an expression +as “Mad as a March Hare” and such an epithet +as “hare-brained” applied to anything especially +wild and foolhardy, to find the great Bacon in +his “Natural History” recommending the brains +of hares as invaluable for strengthening the +memory⁠<a id="FNanchor_56" href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> and brightening up the faculties. +Those who have “frekels,”⁠<a id="FNanchor_57" href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> and would like to +get rid of them, should “take the bloude of an +hare, anoynte them with it, and it will doe them +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[167]</span>awaye.” Another eccentric prescription is for +the benefit of sufferers from rheumatism, and if +it were only efficacious, its simplicity would be a +great point in its favour, as it merely consists in +the carrying in the pocket of the right fore-foot +of a hare, the only caution to be exercised being +that in the case of a man it must be the foot of a +female hare, while a male hare must supply the +remedy if the patient be a woman. Cogan, in +his “Haven of Health,” declares “thus much +will I say as to the commendation of the hare, +and of the defense of hunters’ toyle, that no +beast, be it never so great, is profitable to so +many and so diverse uses in Physicke as the +hare,” and he then proceeds to give numerous +prescriptions in which it is the principal feature. +“The knee-bone of an Hare taken out alive and +worne abute the necke is excellent against Convulsion +fitts,”⁠<a id="FNanchor_58" href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> we are told, and perhaps it may +be so, but the point that more especially strikes +us, and it impresses one over and over again in +these mediæval recipes, is the cold-blooded +cruelty and indifference to animal suffering that is +shown in so many of them. Fried mice were considered +a specific in small-pox, but it was necessary +that they should be fried alive; while for cataract +a fox should be captured, his tongue cut out, and +the animal released; the member thus barbarously +procured was placed in a bag of red cloth +and hung round the man’s neck. For erysipelas +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[168]</span>a favourite old remedy was to cut off one-half of +the ear of a cat and let the blood drop on the +part affected, while for fits one popular recipe +was to take a mole alive, cut the tip of his nose +off, and let nine drops of the blood fall on to a +lump of sugar: the swallowing of this was held +to be a certain cure. It would be easy to +multiply these illustrations of atrocious cruelty +by the score, since one comes across such +barbarities in abundance.</p> + +<p>Edward Topsell, in his “Historic of Foure-footed +Beastes,” published in the year 1607, +discusses thus quaintly and pleasantly of the +Hedgehog: “It is about the bignesse of a Cony, +but more like to a Hogge, being beset and +compassed all ouer with sharpe thorney haires, +as well on the face as on the feete. When she +is angred or gathereth her foode, she striketh +them vp by an admirable instinct of nature, as +sharp as pinnes or needles: these are haire at +the beginning, but afterwards grow to be prickles, +which is the lesse to be maruelled at, because +there be Mise in Egypt which haue haire like +Hedgehogs. His meate is Apples, Wormes, and +Grapes. When he findeth Apples or Grapes on +the earth he rowleth himselfe vppon them, vntill +he haue filled all his prickles, and then carrieth +them home to his den. And if it fortun that one +of them fall off by the way, he likewise shaketh +off all the residue and waloweth vpon them +afresh vntill they all be settled vpon his backe +againe, so foorthe he goeth, makyng a noyse like +a cart wheele. And if there be any young ones in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[169]</span>his nest they pull off his load wherewithall he is +loaded, eating thereof what they please, and +laying uppe the residue for the time to come.”</p> + +<p>In the “Workes of Armorie” of Bossewell, +published some thirty years or so before Topsell’s +book, we find an account so similar that we may +conclude that some one or other wrote a sketch +of the hedgehog that was considered so +satisfactory that it became the nucleus for +anybody else who wanted to deal with the +subject. “The little Hiricion, with his sharpe +pykes, is almost the least of all other Beastes. +And of vs Englishmen he is termed an Irchin +or Urcheon, a beast so-called for the roughness +and sharpnesse of his pykes, which nature hath +giuen him in steade of haire. And such hys pykes +couereth his skinne, as the haire doth the other +beastes, and be his weapon or armour wherewith +he pricketh and greeveth them that take or touch +him. He is a beaste of witte and good puruciance, +for he clymeth vpon a Vine or an Apple tree, +and biteth of their branches and twiggs, and +when they be fallen doune he waloweth on them, +and so they sticke to his prickles, and he beareth +them into a hollow tree, or some other hole, and +keepeth them for meate for himselfe and his +young ones. If after he is so charged there happe +any to fal from his pricks, then for indignation +he throweth from his backe all the other and +eftsoones returneth to the tree to charge him +againe of newe.”</p> + +<p>These two old authors both refer, too, to the +belief that the hedgehog had distinct gifts as a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[170]</span>wind and weather prophet. Bossewell asserts +that “the Urcheon is witty and wise in his knowledge +of comming of Winds, North and South, +for he changeth his Denne or hole, when he is +ware that such windes come;” while Topsell has +it that “when they hide themselves in their den +they haue a naturall vnderstanding of the turning +of the wind. They have two holes in their +caue, the one North, the other South, obseruing +to stop the mouth against the winde, as the +skilful mariner to stiere and turn the rudder and +sailes, for which some haue held opinion that +they do naturally foreknow the change of +weather.”</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The hedgehogge hath a sharp quicke thorned garment,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That on his backe doth serue him for defence;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">He can presage the winds incontinent,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And hath good knowledge in the difference</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Between the southerne and the northerne wind.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">These virtues are allotted him by kind,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Whereon in Constantinople, that great city,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A merchant in his garden gaue one nourishment;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">By which he knew that winds true certainty,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Because the hedgehog gaue him just presagement.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>So at all events declares Chester in his +“Love’s Martyr”; and Bodenham in the +“Belvedere, or Garden of the Muses,” <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> +1600, testifies to the same belief in the lines:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“As hedgehogs doe foresee ensuinge stormes,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">So wise men are for fortune still prepared.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The author of “Poor Robin’s Almanack,” at +the much more recent date of 1733, takes what +one may consider quite a professional interest +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[171]</span>in the hedgehog as a weather prophet, and +exclaims:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“If by some secret art the hedgehog know,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">So long before, which way the winds will blow,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">She has an art which many a person lacks,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That thinks himself fit to make almanacks.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">A remark that is certainly most true, though +for the honour of the craft we should hardly +have expected a calendar-maker to admit as +much.</p> + +<p>The medicinal virtues of the hedgehog were +held to be very considerable in the days of faith, +and some of the preparations were abominably +nasty. “The flesh being stale,” says one of +these old authorities, “giuen to a madde man +cureth him.” Putrid hedgehog fetched out of a +ditch and given as food or medicine to a man! +The flesh salted, dried, beaten to a powder and +then drank in vinegar was held in high repute as +a remedy for dropsy, and for “Leprosie, the +Crampe, and all sicknesse in the nerves,” and +the fat beaten up with honey was deemed an +excellent strengthener for a weak voice.</p> + +<p>Topsell states that “the left eie of a Hedgehog +being fried with oyle, yealdeth a liquor which +causeth sleep, if it bee infused into the eares with +a quill. Warts of al sorts are likewise taken +away by the same. If the right eie be fryed with +the oile of lineseed and put in a vessell of red +brasse, and afterward anoint his eies therewith, +as with an eie-salue, he shal see as well in the +darke as in the light.” The distinction is often +a very important one in these old recipes +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[172]</span>between left or right, hind leg or front, male +or female, and the like, and an error in any of +these details completely upsets all hope of any +benefit being derived; thus we see in this last +receipt that a man might fry the left eye for ever, +and never get any nearer the gift of nocturnal +vision. In the same way “tenne sprigs of Laurell, +seauen graines of Pepper, and the skin of the +ribs of an hedgehog dryed and beaten, cast into +three cups of water and warmed, so being drunk +of one that hath the Collicke, and let rest, he +shall be in perfect health; but with this exception, +that for a man it must bee the membrane of +a male hedgehog, and for a woman a female.”</p> + +<p>Porta declares that the ancients made their +hair grow by using the ashes of a land-hedgehog. +As no one ever heard of a water-hedgehog this +stipulation seems almost needlessly precise. In +another recipe we are told to “take the body of +a hedgehog burnt to powder,⁠<a id="FNanchor_59" href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> and if you adde +thereto Beares-grease it will restore unto a bald +man his heade of haire againe, if the place be +rubbed vntil it be ready to bleed.” Bear’s grease +pure and simple has long had a reputation +amongst hair-dressers, and if this be as potent +as they would have us believe, the rest of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[173]</span>prescription can scarcely claim much of the +credit. The writer adds that “some mingle red +Snailes,” but this is clearly optional, and we +should certainly avail ourselves of the option.</p> + +<p>Epilepsy was to be cured by wearing a ring +in which a portion of the hoof of a deer was +enclosed. It may interest anyone with a partiality +for venison to know that “Deer’s flesh that +is catcht in Summer is poyson; because then +they feed on Adders and serpents: these are +venemous creatures, and by eating of them they +grow thirsty; and this they know naturally, for +if they drink before they have digested them +they are killed by them; wherefore they will +abstain from water, though they burn with thirst. +Wherefore Stag’s flesh eaten at that time is +venemous and very dangerous.” Shakespeare +refers to the weeping of the deer, and tells +how</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The big round tears</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Cours’d one another down his innocent nose</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In piteous chace.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>It was an old belief that the deer wept every year +for the loss of their horns, “a likeness of those who +grieve for the loss of their worldly possessions. +So, too, should a penitent and watchful sinner not +cease to weep when he is overtaken.” This +straining after a moral, as we have already seen, +is a very marked feature amongst the old writers. +Sometimes the moral sentiment flows fairly +naturally, but more often it is terribly laboured. +Thus, for example, we read that “the ferret is a +bold and audacious beast (though little), and an +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[174]</span>enemie to all other, and when they take a prey +their custome and manner is onely to suck the +bloud as they bite it, and not to eat the flesh; +and if at any time their prey shall be taken from +them they fall a squeaking and crying. Such are +the rich men of this world, who yell and crie out +when they part with their riches, weeping and +wailing for the losse of such things as they have +hunted after with as much greedinesse as want of +pitie.”</p> + +<p>In like manner we learn that “when the +Squirrell is hunted she cannot be driven to the +ground, unlesse extremitie of faintnesse cause +her to do so through an unwilling compulsion, +for such is the stately mind of this little beast +that while her limbes and strength lasteth she +tarrieth and saveth herself in the tops of tall +trees, disdaining to come down for every harm +or hurt which she feeleth; knowing, indeed, her +greatest danger to rest below amongst the dogs +and busie hunters. From whence may be gathered +a perfect pattern for us, to be secured from all +the wiles and hungrie chasings of the treacherous +devil: namely, that we keep above in the loftie +palaces of heavenlie meditations, for there is +small securitie in things on earth; and greatest +ought to be our fear of danger, when we leave +to look and think of heaven.”</p> + +<p>The fabulists and moralists of ancient and +mediæval days regarded animals as so much raw +material to be modelled into whatever form best +suited their ends. They were little, if at all, +concerned in giving a true picture of animal life, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[175]</span>but used the various creatures in such conventional +and allegorical way as most readily adapted +itself to the moral or political end in view in their +writings. Art has often pursued much the same +course, and instead of giving us the real animal +nature has introduced an entirely foreign element, +and represented the creatures as swayed by purely +human considerations. Æsop and La Fontaine +make the animals speak as though they were +influenced by human feelings and motives, while +Landseer, for example, in some of his noble +pictures employs his dogs and other animals to +simulate humanity, as in “Laying Down the +Law,” “Alexander and Diogenes,” and other +well-known works of the master. The result +is quaint, grotesque, delicious, humorous; but +these law-givers, philosophers, and so forth, are +canine in form alone, and are but puppets +acting a part that is a good-natured satire on +humanity.</p> + +<p>It was a very old belief that when the wild +boar was hunted its tusks grew so hot in its rage +and excitement as to actually burn the dogs if +they came within the terrible sweep of them. +Xenophon tells us in his description of the chase +of the boar that hairs laid upon the tusks shrivel +up even after the brute is slain. This belief has +been handed down from generation to generation +of writers on so-called natural history, and even +in a book in our possession, published in London +in 1786, we find the statement only very slightly +qualified by a preliminary “it is said.” “It is +said that when this creature is hunted down his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[176]</span>tusks are so inflamed that they will burn and +singe the hair of the dogs.” Shakespeare says +that the “ireful boar” does not even fear the +lion, and Guillim says that “he is counted the +most absolute Champion amongst Beasts, for +that he hath weapons to wound his foe, which +are his strong and sharp Tusks, and also his +Target to defend himself: for which he useth +oft to rub his shoulders and sides against Trees, +wherewith to harden them against the stroke of +his Adversary.”</p> + +<p>Herbert states in his book of travels that there +are on the African coast, opposite Madagascar, +vast herds of wild swine that are greatly esteemed +by the natives of those parts, not only for their +flesh, but more especially for a stone that is +found often within them, which is “very soveraign +against poison.” The Spaniards, he tells us, call +it Pietro del Porco. The virtue of this stone is +supposed to arise from their feeding upon certain +medical herbs.</p> + +<p>The ermine was believed to prefer death to +defilement, and if placed within a wall or ring of +mud, would kill itself rather than contaminate its +spotless fur. It is on this account that ermine is +selected as the robe of prince and judge—an +emblem of unspotted purity. Beaumont and +Fletcher, in their “Knight of Malta,” refer to +this in the line:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Whose honour, ermine-like, can never suffer spot.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>In a portrait of Queen Elizabeth at Hatfield, +an ermine is represented as running up her +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[177]</span>arm, as a delicate compliment to the Virgin +Queen.</p> + +<p>It was reported that goats see as well by night +as by day, hence those people who are unable to +see after dark can be cured of their infirmity by +eating the liver of a goat; while for those who +suffered from insomnia no remedy was held in +better repute than the horn of a goat: this +placed beneath the head of the patient speedily +brought refreshing sleep. Porta affirms that +“goats, when their eyes are blood-shotten, let +out the blood; the she-goat by the point of a +bullrush, the he-goat by the pricking of a thorn.” +Such examples of animal sagacity have a great +attraction for this old author, and he gives many +instances in support of his contention, that +“living creatures, though they have no understanding, +yet their senses are quicker than ours, +and by their actions they teach us Physick, +Husbandry, the art of Building, the disposing of +Household Affairs, and almost all Arts and +Sciences. The beasts that have no reason, do by +their nature strangely shun the eyes of witches +and hurtfull things; the Doves, for a preservative +against inchantment, first gather some little +Bay-tree boughs, and then lay them upon their +nests to preserve their young; so do the Kites +use brambles, the Turtles swordgrasse, the Crows +withy, the Lapwings Venus-hair, the Ravens ivy, +the Herns carrot, the Blackbirds myrtle, the +Larkes grasse, for the same purpose. In lyke +manner they have shewed us preservatives against +poysons; the Elephant having by chance eaten a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[178]</span>Chameleon, against the poyson thereof eats of +the wilde Olive; the Tortoise, having eaten a +Serpent, dispels the poyson by eating the herb +Origan. There is a kind of Spider which destroyeth +the Harts, except permitting they eat wilde Ivy; +and whensoever they light upon any poysonous +food they cure themselves with the artichoke; +and against Serpents they prepare and arm themselves +with wilde Parsneps.” We need not +further pursue matters with our author. Suffice +it to say, that he brings forward an enormous +number of examples, and amply proves his case +to his satisfaction, as indeed he should have no +difficulty in doing, when it is once understood +that facts are of secondary importance.</p> + +<p>One strange notion of antiquity was that the +blood of the goat would dissolve the diamond. +The statement is found in Pliny, Solinus, +Albertus, Cyprian, Isidore, and many other +writers, right away down to comparatively +recent days. Legh, for instance, states, without +hesitation, “The Diamonde, which neither iron +nor fier wil daunt, the bloud of the gote softneth +to the breaking.” Maundevile, of course, receives +it as an undoubted truth; while even Browne +writes: “We hear it in every mouth, and in many +good Authors reade it, that a Diamond, which is +the hardest of stones, not yeelding unto Steele, +Emery or any other thing, is yet made soft and +broke by the bloud of a Goat.”</p> + +<p>That things are not always what they seem +must have been a mere truism in the Middle Ages. +Thus Aubrey in his “Remains of Gentilisme and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[179]</span>Judaism,” introduces the goat in an entirely new +character. “A conceit there is that ye devil +commonly appeareth with a cloven hoof, wherein +though it seem excessively ridiculous there may +be something of truth, and ye ground at first +might be his frequent appearing in the shape of +a goat, which answers that description. This +was the opinion of ancient Xtians concerning ye +apparition of Fauns and Satyrs. The devil most +often appears in the shape of a goat, nor did he +only assume this shape in olden times, but commonly +in later times, especially in ye place of his +worship, if there be any truth in the confession of +witches. And therefore a goat is not improperly +made an hieroglyphic of ye devil.”</p> + +<p>The shrew-mouse, one of the most inoffensive +of creatures, was by our ancestors held to be of +terribly poisonous nature. Its bite was thought to +be most venomous, and even contact with it in any +way was accounted extremely dangerous. Cattle +and horses seized with any malady that appeared +to cause any numbness of the legs were at once +reputed shrew-struck. “It is a ravening beast,” +quoth Topsell, “feigning itself gentle and tame, +but being touched it biteth deep and poysoneth +deadly. It beareth a cruel minde, desiring to +hunt anything, neither is there any creature that +it loveth.” On whatever limb it crept was +“cruel anguish,” often ending in paralysis. These +calumnies have prevailed in many countries and +for many ages, the Romans being as firmly convinced +of the deadly nature of the shrew-mouse, as +any British rustic of a century ago. The shrew-mouse, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[180]</span>according to the author of the “Speculum +Mundi,” “hath a long and sharp snout like a +mole. In Latine it is called Mus araneus, +because it containeth in it poison or venime like +a spider, and if at any time it bite either man or +beast the truth of this will be too apparent. But +commonly it is called a Shrew-mouse, and from +the venimous biting of this beast we have an +English imprecation, I beshrew thee; in which +words we do, indeed, wish some such evil. And +again, because a curst scold or brawling wife is +esteemed none of the least evils; we, therefore, +call such a one a Shrew.” Hence Shakespeare, +dealing with such a character, entitled one of his +plays the Taming of the Shrew.</p> + +<p>Happily there was a certain antidote against the +evil wrought by this malevolent beast. A large +ash-tree being chosen, a deep hole was made in its +trunk, and after certain incantations were made +a shrew-mouse was thrust alive into the opening, +and the hole securely plugged. “A shrew-ash,” +says Gilbert White in his “Natural History of +Selborne,” “is an ash whose twigs or branches, +when gently applied to the limbs of cattle, will +immediately relieve the pain which a beast +suffers from the running of a shrew-mouse over +the part affected. Against this accident, to which +they were continually liable, our provident forefathers +always kept a shrew-ash at hand, which +when once medicated would maintain its virtue +for ever.” One of these shrew-ashes, now but a +fragment of what was evidently once a massive +stately tree, may still be seen near the Sheen +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[181]</span>Gate in Richmond Park, and there are those still +living who can remember cattle and horses being +brought to it for its healing virtues.</p> + +<p>The horse does not seem to have so much unnatural +history associated with him as we might +have anticipated, such stories as that of the +feeding of the horses of Diomed with human +flesh, or of the milk-white steed, Al Borak, of +Mohammed, each of whose strides was equal +to the furthest range of human vision, being +altogether fabulous and mythical. Diomed, the +tyrant of Thrace, seems to have held out very +little encouragement to immigrants or wandering +tourists, if the legend be true that he utilized +them as fodder.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Here such dire welcome is for thee prepared</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As Diomed’s unhappy strangers shared;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">His hapless guests at silent midnight bled,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">On their torn limbs his snorting coursers fed.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_60" href="#Footnote_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>One meets with many famous steeds in classical +and mediæval literature, but these, of course, are +individual examples of the race, and anything +told of them can scarcely be considered as +testifying to the general though erroneous +notions entertained on the subject of horses +generally. The horse Bayard, for example, the +property of the four Sons of Aymon, had a most +useful peculiarity in that he grew larger or +smaller in fair proportion to his rider, according +as the big stalwart brother of six feet high, or +the little fellow not yet in his teens got astride +him. One of the horses of Achilles is said to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[182]</span>have announced to his master his impending +death. It is sufficiently evident that expanding, +contracting, and talkative horses are altogether +outside the ordinary pale.</p> + +<p>According to a small manuscript of the twelfth +century, called “Mappæ clavicula,” “if oxen drink +first, then there will be enough water for both +oxen and horses: but if the horses drink first +there will not be sufficient either for horses or +oxen.” Horses are afraid of elephants until +they get used to them, and there is also some +little antipathy between camels, bears and horses. +Porta declares that “Horses will burst if they +tread upon the Wolf’s footing. If Drums be +made of an Elephant, Camel, or Wolves skin, +and one beat them, the Horses will then run +away and dare not stand. By the same reason, if +you will drive away Bears, a Horse hath a capital +hatred with a Bear: he will know his enemy +that he never saw before, and presentlie provide +himself to fight with him, and I have heard that +Bears have been driven away in the Wildernesse +by the sound of a Drum, when it was made of +Horse’s skin.”</p> + +<p>It has for centuries been a belief in many parts +of the country that the hairs from a horse’s tail, +when dropped in the water, become endued +with life, and turn into small eels. A horsehair +tied round a wart has been held to be of potent +efficacy for its removal; and horsehair spread on +bread and butter has been prescribed as a remedy, +even in quite recent times, for worms. For +sciatica, according to one Dr. Floyer, once on a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[183]</span>time one of the shining lights of the medical profession, +the finest preparation is “the marrow of +a horse (kill’d by chance, not dying of any +disease) mixed with some rose-water. Chafe it in +with a warme hand for a quarter of an houre, then +putt on a Scarlett cloth, broad enough to cover +ye part affected, and go into a warme Bed.” As +personal experience is so valuable in all such +cases, he adds: “It cured my Aunt Lakes, who +went yearly to the Bath for ye Sciatica, but +never went after she knew and used this +medicine.”</p> + +<p>In Winstanley’s “Book of Knowledge,” a book +that went through several editions (our copy we +see is dated 1685),⁠<a id="FNanchor_61" href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> he deals with many strange +matters, and gives receipts for various extraordinary +requirements: to make men seem +headless, to make it that men shall not find the +door, and so forth; but amongst rather more +reasonable items we find, “to make one dance.” +The <i>modus operandi</i> is sufficiently simple, though +perhaps a trifle disgusting; it is as follows:—“Cut +the Hoof of a Horse in pieces, seethe it +with Oyl and anoint the Table or any other +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[184]</span>place, and lay his head thereon, when you would +have him to dance.” Such is a sample of the +best that this storehouse of knowledge could +yield to those who sought its help.</p> + +<p>Horse-shoes were at one time often nailed on +doors as a protection against witches and malignant +spirits, and “The horse-shoe nailed, each +threshold’s guard”⁠<a id="FNanchor_62" href="#Footnote_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> may often still be seen on +old country houses. John Aubrey, writing some +two hundred years ago, says: “Most houses at +the West End of London have a horse-shoe on +the threshold.” Dwellers in town, however, have +not the same dread of the mysterious as the more +lonely dwellers in the country, though many a +man who is brave enough on the gas-lighted +pavement would feel a little “creepy” when the +shrill scream of a trapped hare, or the wild cry +of the peewit, broke upon the stillness of the +night and found him in some country lane or on +the open downland. It is a firm article of belief, +however, with all who have faith in the efficacy +of the horse-shoe that it must be picked up, not +bought. Whatever virtue may reside in one +that is found is wholly wanting in one that is +purchased.</p> + +<p>The humble donkey has its share of quaint +associations. The conspicuous cross upon its +back is popularly supposed to date from the +day that our Saviour rode in Jerusalem upon an +ass. It is, however, more probable that the +ass that brayed and browsed in Eden bore a +similar mark.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[185]</span></p> + +<p>Amongst the ancient Egyptians the ass was +dedicated to the evil spirit Typho, and once a +year, if we may believe Plutarch, the people +sacrificed an ass to this foul deity by hurling it +over a precipice. The people of Lycopolis carried +their antipathy so far that they excluded the +trumpet from their festivals and military service +from a fancy that its sound was a little too +suggestive of the asinine vocal performances. +The asses of the East are of a more tawny +colour than those with which we are familiar +in England; as this red tint was associated in +people’s minds with a creature devoted to the +Evil One, it was but a step further to ascribe an +evil association to the colour itself; hence +anyone who was so unfortunate as to have an +especially ruddy countenance, or a more than +usually deep shade of red in the hair, was at +once held to be in an uncomfortably close +relationship with Typho. The dun-colour of +our British specimens gave them their name. +Chaucer, for instance, calls the donkey the dun, +as we may see in the “Canterbury Tales”—“Dun +is in the mire.”</p> + +<p>According to De Thaun, “The wild Ass, when +March in its course has completed twenty-five +days, brays twelve times, and also in the night, +for this reason, that that season is the equinox—days +and nights are of equal length. By the +twelve times that it makes its braying and +crying it shows that night and day have twelve +hours in their circuit. The ass is grieved when +he makes his cry that the night and the day have +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[186]</span>equal length, for he likes better the length of the +night than of the day.” One can only read such +an extract as this with a feeling of utter wonder; +in the first place, how De Thaun could believe +such a thing himself, and in the second place, +how he could expect anyone else to do so. The +exact accuracy of the wild ass as to the day of the +month, and his twelvefold bray of regret as each +recurring year brings it round again, are triumphs +of the imaginative faculty. We may probably +infer that when the twenty-ninth day of September +has come round again the balance is +redressed, hope springs again, and the twelve +brays this time are of a peculiarly jubilant and +sonorous character.</p> + +<p>Asses’ hair was in the Middle Ages held to be +a sterling remedy for ague, though one must have +been credulous indeed to try it. It is interesting +more especially perhaps as a foreshadowing of +that doctrine of homœopathy which deals with +the cure of like by like. Great healing powers +are attributed to the hairs from the cross on the +donkey’s back: hairs cut from it and suspended +in a bag round a child’s neck were a potent +influence in the prevention of fits and convulsions. +Another famous remedy was the cure of whooping +cough by passing the sufferer three times under +the belly and three times over the back of a +donkey. In Sussex a standard remedy for the +same distressing complaint was procured by cutting +some of the hair out of the cross, chopping it +up finely, and spreading it on bread and butter +for the breakfast of the patient; while in Dorsetshire +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[187]</span>prevention was rightly considered better +than cure, and though the rustics may have +doubted the efficacy of vaccination as a remedy +against small-pox, they had no hesitation whatever +in getting their children astride on the +donkey’s back as early as possible as a preventative +to their ever catching whooping cough. +One meets with remedy after remedy of the +same general nature, and all owing their efficacy +to some mysterious connection between this +particular complaint and donkey-hair, but what +this occult influence can be is wholly unknown +to us.</p> + +<p>The old herald, Legh, says of the ass—“As +he is not the wisest so is he the least sumptuous, +especially in his diet, for his feeding is on +Thistles, Nettles, and Briers, and therefore small +birdes hate him, especially the Sparrowe is most +enemie unto him,” as they see him stolidly +devouring the plants that they visit for their own +sustenance. The ancient author with ponderous +humour finishes his account of the ass by +saying, “I could write much of this beast, but +that it wolde be thought it were to mine owne +glorie.”</p> + +<p>The dog, the friend and companion of man, was +said to see ghosts, and their howling at untoward +times portended death or conflagration or some +such grave event, and has, therefore, for many +centuries been held of evil omen, and no doubt +in remote country districts the feeling still remains. +The cries were said to be often in terror of sights +invisible to man. Rabbi Menachem declares in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[188]</span>his exposition of the Pentateuch that “when the +Angel of Death enters into a city the dogs do +howl,”⁠<a id="FNanchor_63" href="#Footnote_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> and he records an instance of a dog that +fled in terror from before the angel, and that someone +kicked it back and it died, but whether from +the effects of a too vigorous kick, or from being +thrust into the path of the destroying angel, he +does not venture to pronounce.</p> + +<p>If a child has whooping cough some of its +hair must be placed between slices of bread and +given to a dog. Should the dog cough, as he +most probably will, it is an indication that the +disease has passed from the child to the dog. +The same idea may be seen in the old custom of +giving some of the hair of anyone attacked with +scarlet fever to a donkey. Should the animal +swallow it the disease was supposed then and +there to pass from the one ass to the other.</p> + +<p>Coles, in his “Art of Simpling,” says that “the +herb called Hound’s tongue will tye the Tongues +of Houndes, so that they shall not bark at you, +if it be laid under the bottom of your foot.” A +little hare’s fur somewhere about the person was +held to be equally valuable, and no doubt it was. +One authority hath it that a dog will not bark if +another dog’s tongue be carried under the great +toe, and the carrying of a dog’s heart in one’s pocket +is another capital idea to the same end. “The tail +of a young Wheezel put under your foot is also +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[189]</span>recommended,” and if none of these methods are +available, the dog may be equally well silenced +by giving him a frog to eat, artfully secreted in a +piece of meat.</p> + +<p>During the Middle Ages it was held that the +head of a mad dog pounded up and drank in +wine was a specific for jaundice. If, on the +other hand, the head was burnt and the powdered +ashes put to a cancer, it was held a sure remedy, +and, naturally, on the homœopathic principle of +like to like, these ashes, if given to a man who +had been bitten by a rabid dog, “casteth out all +the venom and the foulness, and healeth the +maddening bites.” The liver of the dog was +equally efficacious. A gipsy preventative of +hydrophobia was to take some hairs from the dog +that gave the bite, a very risky operation by the +way, and fry them in oil, applying them with +a little green rosemary to the wound. To eat +churchyard grass⁠<a id="FNanchor_64" href="#Footnote_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> was esteemed also a good +thing in the case of anyone bitten by a rabid +dog. So lately as the year 1866 it came out at +the inquest held on the body of a child that had +died of hydrophobia, that one of the relatives +fished up out of the river the dead body of the +dog that had done the mischief, in order that its +liver might be cooked and eaten by the child. +In spite of this the patient died.</p> + +<p>It was held that if a cat were in a cart, a state +of things that need rarely happen one would +imagine, the horses would soon tire if the wind +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[190]</span>blew from Pussy to them, and that in like manner +the steed would soon flag that was ridden by +a man who had any cat’s fur in his dress, and that +anyone swallowing the hair of a cat would be +subject to fainting fits. On the other hand, it +was believed that nothing was better as a cure +for whitlow than to put the ailing finger for a +quarter of an hour each day into the ear of a +cat. Anything that touches a cat’s ear is received +with such marked disfavour that we imagine this +remedy is simply unworkable, as the cat would +never be a consenting party. Three drops of +blood from a cat’s tail were held to be a cure for +epilepsy, while a sovereign remedy for those who +would preserve their sight was to burn the head +of a black cat to ashes, and then blow a little of +the dust three times a day into the eyes. This, +we imagine, should rather be classed amongst +the methods of injuring the sight.</p> + +<p>To cure a stye our forefathers had great faith +in rubbing it with hairs from a cat’s tail,⁠<a id="FNanchor_65" href="#Footnote_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> two +essential points being that the cat should be a +black one, and that the operation should take +place on the first night of the new moon; but to +cure warts the hairs must be taken from the tail +of a tortoiseshell cat, and even then the remedy +is only efficacious during the month of May. +Another strange belief was that a cat having +three colours in its fur was a great protection +against fire. It is an old idea that the brains +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[191]</span>of cats are of destructive malignity, and that +anyone desiring to quietly get rid of an enemy +has only to invite him to a repast in which some +of the delicacies have an imperceptible fragment +of this poison added.</p> + +<p>Cats see well by night, and were often, and +especially black ones, believed to be the witches’ +familiars, and therefore regarded with fear and +aversion. It was held that they had power to +raise a gale, and on board ship the malevolent +disposition with which they were credited has +made them in an especial degree unpopular shipmates. +Pussy was thought to particularly provoke +a storm by playing with any article of wearing +apparel, by rubbing her face, or by licking her +fur the wrong way; she was sheltered from +rough usage however by the belief that provoking +her would bring a gale, while drowning her +would cause a regular tempest. In Germany +there is a belief that anyone who makes a cat his +enemy will be attended at his funeral by rats, +and heavy rain. As cats see well by night, and +are given to wandering abroad at unholy hours, +they were connected with the baleful influences +of the moon. Freye, the Norse goddess, was +attended by cats, and Friday, her especial day, +was always considered unlucky. The ruffling of +the water by the rising wind is called a cat’s paw, +and cats are said to smell a coming gale, while all +must be familiar with that tempestuous state of +affairs known as “raining cats and dogs.” In +Cornwall, and on some other parts of the coast, +the people say that a spectral dog, called Shony, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[192]</span>is sometimes seen, and that this always predicts a +storm.</p> + +<p>Some persons have a marked antipathy to cats. +Henry III. of France fainted if he caught sight +of one, and Napoleon I. had almost as strong a +feeling and failing. Shylock, in the Merchant +of Venice it will be remembered, says:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Some men there are that love not a gaping pig,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Some that are mad if they behold a cat.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>It is well known that cats have a wonderful +knack of falling on their feet, and they are so +tenacious of life that they are ordinarily credited +with having nine lives, though it is proverbially +held that care will kill even a cat. Not only +does Shakespeare refer to cat-lore in Macbeth +in “the poor cat i’ the adage,” but in Romeo and +Juliet this old belief in the strong hold that +Pussy has on life is distinctly referred to in the +first scene of the third act:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“What would’st thou have with me?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The cat again appears in the legend of the +indomitable cats of Kilkenny that fought till a +little fluff was all the record of that sanguinary +struggle, and we have all of us heard of the +special power of facial expression of the cats of +Cheshire.</p> + +<p>The Grimalkin of Shakespeare’s Macbeth was +one of the witch’s familiar spirits, and the cat, the +reputed companion of these unlovely and unloved +personages, often therefore receives this name. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[193]</span>Aubrey, writing in 1686, tells a story that smacks +strongly of witchcraft and the black cat. “Mrs. +Clarke, a Herefordshire woman, told me,” he +says, “to bury the head of a black Catt with a +Jacobus or a piece of gold in it, and put into +the eies two black beanes (what was to be +done with the beanes she hath forgott), but it +must be done on a Tuesday at twelve o’clock at +night, and that time nine nights after the piece +of gold must be taken out, and whatsoever you +buy with it (always reserving some part of the +money) you will have money brought into your +pockett, perhaps the same piece of gold again.” +Unfortunately, he does not seem to have tried +it, so we never learn what success might have +attended the experiment.</p> + +<p>The description of pussy by Bartholomew +Anglicus is most graphic, and is an evident study +from the life. “He is a full lecherous beast +in youth,” saith he, “swift, pliant, and merry, and +leapeth and reseth on everything that is afore +him, and is led by a straw and played therewith, +and is a right heavy beast in age and full sleepy, +and lieth slyly in wait for mice, and is aware +where they be more by smell than by sight, and +hunteth and reseth on them in privy places, and +when he taketh a mouse he playeth therewith, +and eateth him after the play. In time of love +is hard fighting for wives, and one scratcheth and +rendeth the other grievously with biting and with +claws; and he maketh a rueful noyse and ghastful +when one proffereth to fight with another, +and hardly is he hurt when he is thrown down +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[194]</span>off an high place.⁠<a id="FNanchor_66" href="#Footnote_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> And when he hath a fair +skin he is, as it were, proud thereof, and goeth +fast about, and is oft for his fair skin taken of the +skinner and slain and flayed.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_67" href="#Footnote_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> This is clearly +the description of a close and accurate observer.</p> + +<p>The description in the “Speculum Mundi,” +though much shorter, is almost equally happy. +“The common or vulgar Cat is a creature well +known, and being young it is very wanton and +sportfull: but waxing older is very sad and +melancholy. It is called a Cat from the Latine +word signifying wary, for a Cat is a watchfull +and warie beast, seldome overtaken, and +most attendant to her sport and prey.” John +Bossewell says of the cat that “he is slie and +wittie and seeth so sharply that he overcommeth +darknesse of the nyghte by the shynynge lyghte +of his eyne. He doth delighte that he enjoyeth +his libertie.” Men may come and men may go, +but cat-nature is evidently unchanging.</p> + +<p>Cats naturally suggest rats and mice. It was +an ancient belief that these sprang spontaneously +from any mass of putrefaction. “Mice excell +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[195]</span>all living creatures,” writes one of the ancient +authorities, “in the knowledge and experience +of things to come: for when any old house, +habitation, tenement, or other dwelling place +waxeth ruinous and ready to fall, they perceive +it first, and out of that their foresight they make +present avoidance from their holes, and betake +themselves to flight even as fast as their little +legs will give them leave, and so they seek some +other place wherein they may dwell with more +securitie.” Our readers will naturally recall the +proverbial belief that rats desert the sinking ship. +Swift, in his epistle to Mr. Nugent, writes of +those that “fly like rats from sinking ships,” and +the desertion of the losing side has received the +opprobrious name of “ratting” on this account.</p> + +<p>Maundevile, amongst many other wonderful +things that he saw or heard of in his travels, +came to a place where the rats were as large +as dogs;⁠<a id="FNanchor_68" href="#Footnote_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> requiring great mastiffs for their +capture, as they were altogether beyond the +power of the cats of the place to deal with. +“And ther ben Myse als grete as Houndes, +and yalowe Myse als grete as Ravennes.” If +the rats and mice kept the proportion between +their respective sizes that we are familiar with, +and the mice were as big as hounds, we can +readily understand that the rats must have been +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[196]</span>very formidable creatures indeed, and quite +beyond the power of ordinary terrier or pussy +to cope with.</p> + +<p>Jordanus brought home a story of rats in India +as large as foxes. The creatures he saw were +probably bandicoots,⁠<a id="FNanchor_69" href="#Footnote_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> very rat-like animals, +though not quite so big as foxes, even though +the Indian foxes are much smaller than the +species we have in England. A bandicoot is +about twenty-one inches long, full measure, +about five inches of this being tail. According +to Herodotus, it was not the rats that were equal +in size to foxes in India, but the ants. We can +recall an absurd picture of these in one of the +mediæval natural history books, where a couple +of Europeans stand at a very respectful distance +from a large mound that is covered with ants as +big as cats, the effect of the ant-form when thus +magnified being very quaint.</p> + +<p>It was a very ancient belief that oysters, +mussels, cockles, and all shell fishes grew or +diminished according to the phases of the moon. +“Some have found it out by diligent search that +the fibres in the livers of rats and mice answer +in number to the days of the month’s age.” +This was really a very curious discovery to +make, or shall we rather say—a very curious +assertion to be responsible for?</p> + +<p>It is impossible to mention a tithe of the +strange facts got together by the industry of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[197]</span>the men of science of the past; sometimes introducing +to our notice the most extraordinary +creatures, at others presenting the most ordinary +creatures in an extraordinary way. What can +we say, for instance, of the Catoblepas, a beast +bred in Lybia, “a fearful and terrible beast to +look upon”? His eyes “very fierie, as it were +of a bloudie colour, and he never useth to look +directly forward, nor upward, but always down +to the earth.” He has a long mane and cloven +feet, and his body covered with scales. “As for +his meat, it is deadly and poysonfull herbes, and +he sendeth forth a horrible breath which poysoneth +the aire over his head and about him, +inasmuch that such creatures as draw in the +breath of that aire are grievously afflicted, and +losing both voice and sight, they fall into deadly +convulsions.” What shall we say of the Oryges, +the only beast in creation that has his hair growing +reversed and turning towards the head? Or +of the Lomie in the forests of Bohemia, “which +hath hanging under its neck a Bladder always +full of scalding water, with which, when she is +hunted, she so tortureth the Dogs that she thereby +maketh her escape”? Or of the wonderful Eale +of Ethiopia as large as a hippopotamus, and having +horns that he can incline backwards or forwards +at any angle to suit the exigencies of conflict? +Or of the Manticora, having the face of a man and +the body of a lion, and voice like the blending of +flute and of trumpet? Or of fifty other creatures +equally extraordinary? It is painful to think that +such stories were deliberate inventions, and that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[198]</span>knaves devised them and fools accepted them; +and we must, we believe, conclude that almost +every story had a grain of truth in it, but that +the love of the marvellous, the tendency to exaggeration, +the change that took place as the +story travelled, and received almost unconsciously +here an additional graphic touch and +there a little more fully developed detail, made +the fully matured statement an entirely different +thing to the modest seed from which it sprang.</p> + +<p>We have already encountered many instances +of how the most ordinary creatures are described +in a way that leads one to suppose that the two +great virtues in a naturalist, observation and +experiment, were almost entirely wanting at any +period for the last two thousand years or more. +How else could such a belief as that the badger +has his two legs on one side shorter than the +other two have ever gained credence? or that +the ram “when he slepeth, from spring-time +till harvest he lyeth on the one side, and from +harvest till spring-time againe on the other +side”? Or, to travel a little further afield, that +the whiskers of a tiger are mortal poison, causing +men to die mad if given to them in meat? Or +that the camel is so ashamed of its ugliness that +before drinking in a stream it always fouls the +water so that it may not see the reflection of +itself? Or fifty other statements equally at +variance with the facts? The respect for those +who by the vigour and uncompromising directness +of their assertions became regarded as great +authorities was so tremendous and all-embracing +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[199]</span>that no one seemed to dare to challenge statements +made by them, while the ease and +comfort to subsequent writers of having all +responsibility taken off their own shoulders by +merely copying instead of testing had a fatal +fascination, the result being that many assertions +have had a vigorous vitality for centuries that +could have been readily disproved in a week or +even an hour of honest personal investigation.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[200]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p>The phœnix—Various ancient and mediæval writers thereon—The +Bird of Paradise—The Museum of Tradescant—The +roc—The barnacle goose—The eagle—Its power of gazing +upon the sun—Its keenness of vision—The pelican—The +swan and its death song—A favourite idea with the poets—Hostility +between the swan and the eagle—The ostrich—Its +digestive powers—How its eggs are hatched—The cock—Antipathy +between lion and cock—Cock-broth and cock-ale +for invalids—Incorporation in man of various valued +animal characteristics—The stone alectorius—Animals +haled before the judges for offences against man—The +deadly cockatrice—Cock-crow—The “Armonye of Byrdes”—The +raven—How it became black—The raven-stone—The +owl—The swallow—Sight to the blind—Oil of swallows +as a remedy—The robin and the wren—Their pious +care of the dead—The nightingale—The doctrine of signatures—Thorn-pierced +breast—Philomela—The cuckoo—His +voice-restorer—The peacock—Its pride and its shame—The +kingfisher—As a weathercock—Sir Thomas Browne +thereon—Halcyone—Halcyon days—The filial stork—The +cautious cranes.</p> + +</div> + +<p>Though a belief in the phœnix has long since +died away it was for a thousand years or more as +much an article of credence as a swan or an +eagle. As far as we are aware, the first reference +to it is found in the pages of Herodotus, and the +story, as he tells it in the seventy-third chapter +of the second book of his history, was the basis +upon which for centuries a vast superstructure of +fabledom was reared.</p> + +<p>Even Tacitus, one of the most cautious and +reliable of authors, seems to have felt no difficulty +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[201]</span>in believing in the existence of the phœnix. +Erroneous as his account is, we feel at once on +reading it that we have the opinions of one +honestly seeking the truth, a very different sort of +man to such a credulous old fellow, for example, +as Maundevile. Tacitus writes that “in the course +of the year⁠<a id="FNanchor_70" href="#Footnote_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> the miraculous bird known to the +world by the name of the phœnix, after disappearing +for a series of ages, revisited Egypt. A +phenomenon so very extraordinary could not fail +to produce abundance of speculation. The facts, +about which there seems to be a concurrence of +opinions, with other circumstances in their nature +doubtful, yet worthy of notice, will not be unwelcome +to the reader. That the phœnix is +sacred to the Sun, and differs from the rest of +the feathered species in the form of its head and +the tincture of its plumage, are points settled by +the naturalist. Of its longevity the accounts are +various. The common persuasion is that it lives +five hundred years, though by some writers the +date is extended to fourteen hundred and sixty-one. +It is the custom of the phœnix when its +course of years is finished, and the approach of +death is felt, to build a nest in its native clime, +Arabia, and there deposit the principles of life, +from which a new progeny arises. The first care +of the young bird, as soon as fledged and able to +trust to its wings, is to perform the obsequies +of its father. But this duty is not undertaken +rashly. He collects a great quantity of myrrh, +and to try his strength, makes frequent excursions +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[202]</span>with a load on his back. When he has +made his experiment through a great tract of +air, and gains sufficient confidence in his own +vigour, he takes up the body of his father and +flies with it to the Altar of the Sun, where he +leaves it to be consumed in flames of fragrance. +Such is the account of this wonderful bird. It +has, no doubt, a mixture of fable; but that the +phœnix from time to time appears in Egypt +seems to be a fact satisfactorily ascertained.”</p> + +<p>Pliny feels no difficulty in describing the +phœnix, declaring that it is about the size of +an eagle, the neck being of a golden sheen, the +body purple, and the tail of an azure blue, though +he admits feeling a doubt as to whether it can be +true that only one is in existence at one time. +According to Maundevile, “he hathe a Crest of +Fedres upon his Hed more gret than the Poocok +hathe, and his Nekke is yalowe aftre colour of +an Orielle, that is a Ston well schynynge, and his +Bek is coloured Blew, and his Wenges ben of +purpre colour, and the Taylle is yelow and red. +And he is a fulle fair Brid to loken upon, for he +schynethe full nobely.” One wonders at first +how this old writer is able to give such very +precise details, but as he tells us that “this Bryd +men sene often tyme fleen in the Countrees,” he +would have no difficulty in getting a full description +of it from some of these countrymen to +whom it was a familiar sight.</p> + +<p>Maundevile does not fail in his book of +“Voiage and Travaile” to recite the whole +wonderful story. He tells us that “in Egypt is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[203]</span>the Cytee of Elyople,⁠<a id="FNanchor_71" href="#Footnote_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> that is to seyne, the +Cytee of the Sonne. In that Cytee there is a +Temple made round, after the schappe of the +Temple of Jerusalem. The Prestes of that +Temple have alle here Wrytynges, under the +Date of the Foul that is clept Fenix, and there +is non but one in alle the Worlde. And he +comethe to brenne him selfe upon the Awtre of +the Temple at the end of five hundred Yeer: +for so longe he lyvethe. And at the five +hundred Yeres ende the Prestes arrayen here +Awtere honestly and putten there upon Spices +and Vif Sulphur and other thinges that wolm +brenne lightly. And then the Bryd Fenix +comethe and brenneth him self to Ashes. And +the first Day aftre Men fynden in the Ashes a +Worm; and the seconde Day next aftre Men +finden a Brid quyk and perfyt; and the thridde +Day next aftre he fleethe his wey. And so there +is no more Briddes of that Kynde in alle the +World but it alone.”</p> + +<p>This belief in the phœnix is found not only +through heathen and mediæval literature, but in +the Rabbinical writings, and those of the early +Fathers of the Christian Church. By these latter +it was accepted as a symbol of the resurrection +of the dead, and it may not unfrequently +be found figured in the mosaics that adorn +the basilicas of the primitive Church. The +Rabbins tell us that all the birds, save the +phœnix, shared in the sin of Eve, and eat of the +forbidden fruit; hence the phœnix, as a reward, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[204]</span>obtained this modified form of immutability. +Philippe de Thaun, in his “Bestiary,” writes of +the mystic bird: “Know this is its lot; it comes +to death of its own will, and from death it comes +to life: hear what it signifies. Phœnix signifies +Jesus, Son of Mary, that he had power to die of +his own will, and from death came to life. Phœnix +signifies that to save his people he chose to suffer +upon the cross.” “God knew men’s unbelief,” +writes St. Cyril, “and therefore provided this +bird as evidence of the Resurrection.” St. +Ambrose says, too, that “the bird of Arabia +teaches us, by its example, to believe in the +Resurrection.” Other passages of like tenour +could be quoted from Tertullian and others of +the writers of the early Christian Church, and all +alike show the most unquestionable belief in the +existence of the bird.⁠<a id="FNanchor_72" href="#Footnote_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></p> + +<p>It was suggested by Cuvier that at remote +intervals a golden pheasant from China might +have strayed as far west as Arabia or Egypt, and +given rise to the legend; but gorgeous as the +bird is, and fully capable of making a considerable +sensation on its appearance in a land where it +was previously unknown, one feels that such an +appearance goes but a very little way indeed +towards clearing up the mass of myth that still +remains to be some way accounted for.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[205]</span></p> + +<p>Browne, in his excellent dissection of the +vulgar errors of his day, approaches the Phœnix +story tenderly, but feels bound to declare against +it, though he rather takes refuge in the Scottish +verdict of “not proven” than slaughters it in +cold blood. “That there is but one Phœnix in +the world,” saith he, “which after many hundred +yeares burneth itself, and from the ashes thereof +ariseth up another, is a conceit not new or altogether +popular, but of great Antiquity: not only +delivered by humane Authors, but frequently +expressed by holy Writers; by Cyril, Epiphanius, +and others. All which, notwithstanding, we +cannot presume the existence of this Animall, +nor dare we affirm there is any Phœnix in +Nature. For, first, there wants herein the +definite test of things uncertain—that is, the +sense of man. For though many writers have +much enlarged hereon, there is not any ocular +describer, or such as presumeth to confirm it +upon aspection. Primitive Authors, from whom +the stream of relations is derivative, deliver +themselves dubiously, and either by a doubtful +parenthesis, or a timorous conclusion, overthrow +the whole relation. As for its unity or conceit +that there should be but one in Nature, it seemeth +not only repugnant unto Philosophy, but also +Holy Scripture, which plainly affirmes there went +of every sort two at least into the Ark of Noah. +Every fowle after his kinde, every bird of every +sort, they went into the Ark, two and two of all +flesh wherein there is the breath of life. It +infringeth the Benediction of God concerning +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[206]</span>multiplication. God blessed them, saying Be +fruitfull and multiply and let fowls multiply in +the earth, which terms are not applicable unto +the Phœnix, whereof there is but one in the +world, and no more now living than at the first +benediction. As for longevity that it liveth a +thousand years or more, besides that from imperfect +observations and rarity of appearance no +confirmation can be made, there may probably +be a mistake in the compute. For the tradition +being very ancient the conceit might have its +originall in times of shorter compute. For if +we suppose our present calculation, the Phœnix +now in nature will be the sixt from the Creation, and +but in the middle of its years, and, if the Rabbine’s +prophecy succeed, it shall conclude its daies not +in its own, but in the last and generall flames.”</p> + +<p>Some medical enthusiasts held that a bird of +such singular and noble properties must be of +sovereign virtue for the ills of mankind, and did +not hesitate to assign its several healing properties. +On these mistaken individuals Browne +descends heavily. “Surely,” quoth he, “they +were not wel-wishers unto Physick or remedies +easily acquired, who derived Medicines from the +Phœnix, as some have done. It is a folly to +finde out remedies that are not recoverable under +a thousand years, or propose the prolonging of +life by that which the twentieth generation may +never behold. More veniable is a dependence +upon the Philosopher’s stone, potable gold, or +any of those Arcanas whereby Paracelsus, that +died himself at fourty seven, gloried that he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[207]</span>could make men immortall, which, although +exceedingly difficult, yet they are not impossible: +nor doe they (rightly understood) impose any +violence on Nature. And, therefore, if strictly +taken for the Phœnix, very strange is that which +is delivered by Plutarch, that the brain thereof +is a pleasant morsel, but that it causeth the headach.” +The amount of headache caused by too +free an indulgence in Phœnix must have been +infinitesimal.</p> + +<p>The Phœnix may still be considered to have a +literary existence, and remains part of the stock-in-trade +of the orator and poet as an emblem of +something especially choice and rare. Fletcher +writes of</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“That lone bird in fruitful Arabie,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When now her strength and waning life decays,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Upon some airy rock or mountain high,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In spicy bed (fir’d by near Phœbus’ rays)</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Herself and all her crooked age consumes:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Straight from her ashes, and those rich perfumes,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A newborn Phœnix flies, and widow’d place resumes.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Ariosto, in his “Orlando Furioso,” refers to +the bird in the Voyage of Astolfo in the following +lines:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Arabia, nam’d the happy, now he gains,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Incense and myrrh perfume her grateful plains:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The Virgin Phœnix there in search of rest</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Selects from all the world her balmy nest.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>In the two foregoing extracts the Phœnix has +been represented as maiden and as widow, and in +the first line of Ariosto the pronoun is masculine, +and in the fourth line feminine. Ovid, and many +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[208]</span>other writers, in describing him, her, or it, select +the masculine as the most appropriate. Thus +Ovid, in the translation of Dryden, sings:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“All these receive their birth from other things,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But from himself the Phœnix only springs:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Self-born, begotten by the parent flame</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In which he burn’d, another and the same.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>It is needless to give the rest of the reference, +as the ancient poet naturally follows in the lines +of the recognized tradition: the funeral pyre, the +infant Phœnix rising from the ashes, the dutiful +removal of the paternal remains to Heliopolis, +all taking their proper and accustomed place in +the narrative.</p> + +<p>Shakespeare frequently refers to the mythical +bird in his writings, and seems to have thoroughly +mastered all that could be said on the subject. +Some half-dozen passages naturally rise to one’s +mind as illustrations of this: thus Rosalind says +in As You Like It:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“She calls me proud; and that she could not love me,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Were man as rare as Phœnix.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">And the idea of its unique character is again +brought out in Cymbeline, in the passage “If +she be furnished with a mind so rare, she is alone +the Arabian bird.” The destruction of the bird +on its own funeral pyre, and the resurrection of +its successor therefrom, are several times referred +to. Thus in 1 Henry VI. we read: “But from +their ashes shall be reared a Phœnix that shall +make all France afeared,” and in 3 Henry VI.: “My +ashes, as the Phœnix, may bring forth a bird that +will revenge upon you all.” Some little doubt +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[209]</span>of its existence at all is suggested by the words +of Sebastian in the Tempest. Now I will +believe</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“That there are unicorns: that in Arabia</div> + <div class="verse indent0">There is one tree, the Phœnix throne; one Phœnix</div> + <div class="verse indent0">At this time reigning there.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">Notwithstanding the doubts as to the reality of +this creature that were freely expressed in the +seventeenth century, two feathers that were said +to be from the tail of a Phœnix were amongst +the treasures of Tradescant’s Museum.⁠<a id="FNanchor_73" href="#Footnote_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a></p> + +<p>It was held a firm article of belief during the +Middle Ages that the Bird of Paradise fed upon +nothing more gross than the dew of Heaven and +the odours of flowers, and that it had no feet, nor +ever rested on earth at all.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Thou art still that Bird of Paradise</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Which hath no feet, and ever nobly flies.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>It is a sadly prosaic explanation of this to +recall that its footless condition simply arose +from the fact that the natives of Molucca in +sending the skins to Europe removed the legs +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[210]</span>and feet as needless additions, seeing that the +beauty of the plumage was the reason for their +export.</p> + +<p>Tavernier relates that “the Birds of Paradise +come in flocks during the nutmeg season to the +South of India. The strength of the nutmeg +odour intoxicates them, and while they lie in this +state on the earth, the ants eat off their legs.” +Saving the last terrible detail and shocking +instance of what may befall those who stray +from the paths of temperance, Moore evidently +adopts this account in Lalla Rookh in the +lines:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Those golden birds that in the spicetime drop</div> + <div class="verse indent0">About the gardens, drunk with that sweet fruit</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Whose scent hath lured them o’er the summer flood.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Literary allusions to the Bird of Paradise +are not unfrequent, and testify to the general +acceptance of the myth that has grown up around +the prosaic facts of the case. Francis Thynne, +in his “Emblemes and Epigrames,” <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1600, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[211]</span>takes the somewhat exceptional view that the +bird is to be pitied:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“There is a birde which takes the name of Paradise the fair,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Which allwaies lives beatinge the winde and flienge in the Ayre,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For envious Nature him denies the helpe of resting feete</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Wherby hee forced is in th’ayre incessantlie to fleete.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The Roc or Rukh, though associated nowadays +in our minds with the “Thousand and One +Nights,” and regarded as simply an illustration +of the lengths that the Eastern love of the +wonderful can be carried to, was an article of faith +with our ancestors. Marco Polo, in his wonderfully +interesting book on his travels in Eastern +lands, refers to this remarkable bird; but it will +be noted that he merely gives the account as +hearsay, and protects himself more than once +from any admission of personal belief in the +creature. He states respecting it as follows: +“The people of the island⁠<a id="FNanchor_74" href="#Footnote_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> report that at a +certain season of the year an extraordinary kind +of bird, which they call a rukh, makes its +appearance from the southern region. In form +it is said to resemble the eagle, but it is incomparably +greater in size; being so large and +strong as to seize an elephant with its talons, and +to lift it into the air, from whence it lets it fall +to the ground, in order that when dead it may +prey upon the carcase. Persons who have seen +this bird assert that when the wings are spread +they measure sixteen paces in extent from point +to point, and that the feathers are eight paces in +length and thick in proportion. The Grand +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[212]</span>Khan, having heard this extraordinary relation, +sent messengers to the island on the pretext of +demanding the release of one of his servants +who had been detained there, but in reality to +examine into the circumstances of the country, +and the truth of the wonderful things told of it. +When they returned to the presence of his +Majesty they brought with them (as I have +heard) a feather of the Rukh, positively affirmed +to have measured ninety spans. This surprising +exhibition afforded his Majesty extreme pleasure, +and upon those to whom it was presented he +bestowed valuable gifts.”</p> + +<p>The existence of such a bird seems to have +been universally credited in the East. While the +tale passes all belief as it stands, or rather as +it lies, it may possibly be that it is grossly +exaggerated rather than entirely fabulous, as it +may have originated from the occasional sight +of some bird of vast, though not miraculous, +dimensions, such as the albatross, birds of fierce +aspect, measuring many feet from tip to tip of +their wings, though with strength and power of +grip considerably short of transporting elephants +from their umbrageous retreats to mid-air. The +sixteen paces that are given by the informants of +Marco Polo as the measurement of the wings +would be about forty feet, while the wing-measurement +of the albatross would not exceed +fifteen or sixteen feet, thus leaving a handsome +balance to be put to the credit of the love of the +marvellous.</p> + +<p>Jordanus brought back from India the story of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[213]</span>“certain birds which are called Roc, that are so +big that they easily carry an elephant into the +air.” He did not himself see one of these, the +nearest he is able to approach to this being, +“I have seen a certain person who said that he +had seen one of these birds.” The Roc was said +to lay an egg equal in bulk to one hundred +and forty-eight hen’s eggs. The precision of this +estimate should disarm criticism: one feels in +face of it that to have said one hundred and fifty +would have been a fatal yielding to the charm of +round numbers and a palpable exaggeration.</p> + +<p>Mr. Lane refers to an Arab, one Ibou el +Wardee, for authority for the statement that +Rocs are found in an island in the Chinese Sea +that have each wing ten thousand fathoms long.⁠<a id="FNanchor_75" href="#Footnote_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[214]</span>These birds find no difficulty in carrying an eagle +in their beak, plus two others in their talons. +Wardee also knew of a Roc’s egg, or said he +did—which is, perhaps, not quite the same thing—on +one of these islands that looked like an +enormous white dome over a hundred cubits +high and as firm as a mountain.</p> + +<p>Many of the beliefs of our forefathers had a +refreshing quaintness about them, and one of +the quaintest, perhaps, of these was the notion +that a particular kind of goose sprang from the +barnacles that cluster in salt water on submerged +wood. Butler, in his “Hudibras,” tells of those</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Who from the most refined of saints</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As naturally turn miscreants</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As barnacles turn Soland geese</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In the islands of the Orcades.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp75" id="figure15" style="max-width: 21.875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure15.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 15.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Gerarde, in 1597, in his “Historie of Plants,” +of which there are many editions—our own copy, +we see, being dated 1633,—gives in all good faith +a description and an illustration of the barnacle-goose +tree. The former Gerarde shall give in +his own words, the latter we have reproduced in +<a href="#figure15">fig. 15</a> in facsimile from his book. We see in it +the branch bearing barnacles, and by its side a +bird, which stands for the resulting goose. This +“wonder of England, for the which God’s name +be ever honoured and praised,” he thus discourses +upon—“Hauing trauelled from the grasses +growing in the bottom of the fenny waters, the +woods and mountaines, euen unto Libanus it +selfe, and also the sea and bowels of the same, +wee are arriued at the end of our Historie; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[215]</span>thinking it not impertinent to the conclusion of +the same, to end with one of the maruells of this +land, we may say of the world. The historie +wherof to set forth according to the worthinesse +and ranke therof would not only require a large +and peculiar volume, but also a deeper search +into the bowels of Nature than mine intended +purpose will suffer me to wade into, my sufficience +also considered, leauing the historie therof +rough hewn unto some excellent men learned in +the secrets of Nature, to be both fined and +refined; in the meantime, take it as it falleth +out, the naked and bare truth, though vnpolished. +There are found in the North parts of Scotland +and the islands adiacent, called Orchades, +certaine trees whereon do grow certaine shells of +a white colour tending to russett, wherein are +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[216]</span>contained little liuing things, which shells in time +of maturitie do open, and out of them do grow +those little liuing creatures, which falling in the +water do become fowles, which we call Barnakles, +and in Lancashire tree-geese, but the +others that do fall upon the land perish and +come to nothing. Thus much by the writings of +others, and also from the mouths of people of +those parts, which may very well accord with +truth.</p> + +<p>“But what our eyes haue seene and hands haue +touched, we shall declare. There is a small +island in Lancashire, called the pile of Foulders, +wherein we find the broken pieces of old and +bruised ships, some wherof haue been cast +thither by shipwracke, and also the trunks and +bodies with the branches of old and rotten trees +cast up there likewise; whereon is found a +certaine spawne or froth that in time breedeth +unto certain shels, in shape like those of the +muskle, but sharper-pointed, wherein is contained +a thing in forme like a lace of silke finely +wouen together as it were. One end thereof is +fastened into a rude masse or lumpe, which in +time commeth to the shape and form of a Birde. +When it is perfectly formed the shel gapeth +open, and the first thing that appeareth is the +foresaid lace or string: next come the legs of +the bird hanging out, and as it groweth greater +it openeth the shel by degrees til at length it is +all come forth and hangeth onely by the bill: in +short space after it commeth to ful maturitie, +and falleth into the sea, when it gathereth +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[217]</span>feathers and groweth to a Fowle bigger than a +Mallard and lesser than a Goose, hauing blacke +legs and bill and beake, and feathers blacke and +white, spotted in such manner as is our magpie, +which the people of Lancashire call by no other +name than a tree-goose: which place therof +and all those parts adioining doe so much abound +therewith that one of the best is bought for +threepence. For the truth wherof, if any doubt, +may it please them to repair unto me, and I +shall satisfie them by the testimony of good +witnesses.”</p> + +<p>On reading the foregoing one can only wonder +what the old fellow really did see on this wild +sea shore amidst the wreckage: that he wrote in +the most perfect good faith, and in the strongest +belief in this “Maruell,” is perfectly evident. +That he has no desire to practise on our credulity +is patent, but it is equally patent that his own +credulity got the better of his judgment. He +goes on to tell us that on another occasion, near +Dover, he found on the sea shore an old tree-trunk +covered with “thousands of long crimson +bladders, in shape like unto puddings newly filled, +and at the nether end therof did grow a shelfish +fashioned somewhat like a small muskle.” +Many of these shells he brought back with him +to London, and on opening them he tells us +that he found “liuing things that were very +naked, shaped like a bird: in others the birds +couered with a soft doune, the shel halfe open, +and the bird ready to fall out; which no doubt +were the fowles called Barnakles.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[218]</span></p> + +<p>Soon after Gerarde’s death, Thomas Johnson, +“Citizen and Apothecarie of London,” brought +out another edition of the “Historie of Plants,” +in which he adds the following note to Gerarde’s +statement: “The Barnakles, whose fabulous +breed my Author here sets downe and diuers +others have also deliuered, were found by some +Hollanders to haue another originall, and that +by egges, as other birds have: for they in their +third voyage to find out the North-East passage +to China and Mollocos, found little islands, in +the one of which they found an abundance of +these geese sitting upon their egges, of which +they got one goose and tooke away sixty egges.” +Here again one can only feel that the explanation +needs explaining, as it hardly seems necessary to +sail for China to find the home of the birds that +were to be had retail in any quantity on the +Lancashire coast, for the by no means extravagant +price of sixpence a brace.</p> + +<p>In a description of West Connaught by Roderic +O’Flaherty, published in the year 1684, the barnacle +is thus mentioned: “There is the bird +engendered by the sea, out of timber long lying +in the sea. Some call these birds Clakes and +Solan’d geese, and some puffins, others barnacles.” +And in the “Divine Weekes and +Workes” of Du Bartas we find another reference:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“So Sly Bootes underneath him sees</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In y’ cycles, those goslings hatcht of trees,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Whose fruitfull leaues falling into the water</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Are turn’d, they say, to liuing fowles soon after.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[219]</span> <div class="verse indent0">So rotten sides of broken ships do change</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To barnacles! O transformation strange!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">’Twas first a greene tree, then a gallant hull,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Lately a mushroom, now a flying gull.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="figure16" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure16.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 16.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Another version of the barnacle-tree is given +in <a href="#figure16">fig. 16</a>. We have extracted it from Parkinson’s +“Theater of Plants,” a book that achieved +considerable popularity and ran through several +editions. Our own copy, from which we have +reproduced the illustration, is dated 1640. Parkinson, +we see, classes the barnacle-tree with +“Marsh, Water, and Sea Plants, with Mosses and +Mushrooms.” It seems curious that he should +have inserted it at all, as his remarks thereupon +are not at all those of a believer. “To finish +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[220]</span>this treatise of sea-plants,” he writes, “let me +bring this admirable tale of untruth to your consideration, +that whatever hath formerly been related +concerning the breeding of these Barnakles +to be from shels growing on trees is utterly +erroneous, their breeding and hatching being +found out by the Dutch and others, in their +navigations to the Northward.” This second +reference to the Dutch shows that the matter +had caused some little stir outside England, +and we may perhaps not too uncharitably +assume that the foreigner did not feel altogether +displeased when so great a British wonder was +reduced to a very commonplace and everyday +affair indeed.</p> + +<p>The “Cosmography” of Munster supplies us +with the graceful illustration which we have +reproduced in facsimile in <a href="#figure17">fig. 17</a>. It is a far +more charming representation than either of the +others we have given. In the drawing the whole +process may be clearly traced, from the immature +and unopened fruit to that sufficiently ripe to +give some indication of its strange contents in +the form of the protruding head of the coming +bird, and then on again to the geese actually +fallen in the water, and more or less freeing +themselves from the encumbering husk, until +finally we see them in all respects fit and proper +subjects for the ornithologist or the salesman of +Leadenhall Market. Munster states in his book +that “in Scotland we find trees, the fruit of +which appears like a ball of leaves. This fruit, +falling at its proper time into the water below, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[221]</span>becomes animated, and turns to a bird which +they call the tree-goose.”</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="figure17" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure17.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 17.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Æneas Sylvius, afterwards better known to the +world as Pope Pius II., visited Scotland in the +year 1468, and while there made diligent inquiry +concerning this wonderful tree, but found that +no one could point it out to him. As the +general impression that one gathers on reading +his account of his travels is that he appeared +in Scotland rather as a seeker after knowledge +than as the recipient of a wonderful story till +then unknown to him, we must conclude that the +myth had spread considerably beyond the land +of its origin. In fact, as we often find even unto +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[222]</span>the present day, in divers matters the intelligent +stranger is often able to enlighten the natives +on matters in which we might reasonably have +expected to find them well informed. Who, for +instance, would ever dream of asking the nearest +resident to a cathedral anything of its history, +or seeking from “the Shepherd of Salisbury +Plain” any light on the mysterious origin of +Stonehenge?</p> + +<p>William Turner, one of the earliest writers on +ornithology, described the barnacle-goose as +being produced from “something like a fungus +growing from old wood lying in the sea,” and +quotes Giraldus Cambrensis as his authority. +“Having uncomfortable misgivings I asked,” he +writes, “a certain clergyman named Octavianus, +by birth an Irishman, whom I knew to be +worthy of credit, if he thought the account of +Giraldus was to be believed. He, swearing +by the Gospel, declared that which Giraldus had +written about the bird was most true: that he +had himself seen and handled the young unformed +birds, and that if I would remain in +London a month or two he would bring me +some of the brood.” Whether Turner was satisfied +by the very unsatisfying proof of the +production of some dubious ducks in London, +or by the solemn declaration and oaths taken +on the Gospels by his reverent informant, we +have no means of knowing, but as he inserts the +wonder in his book, he was evidently relieved +from his previous doubt of the veracity of the story.</p> + +<p>In a land even beyond far distant Cathay, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[223]</span>according to Maundevile, “growethe a maner of +Fruyt as thoughe it weren gowrdes, and whan +thei ben rype men kutten hem a to and fynden +with inne a lytylle Best in Flessche, in Bon and +Blode, as though it were a lytylle Lamb with +outen Wolle. And Men eten bothe the Fruyt +and the Best, and that is a gret Marveylle. Of +that Frut I have eten, alle thoughe it were +wondirfulle, but that I knowe wel that God is +marveyllous in his Werkes. And nathles I tolde +hem that in oure Contree weren Trees that beren +a Fruyt that becomen Briddes fleeynge, and tho +that fellen in the Water lyven, and thei that fellen +on the Erthe dyen anon, and thei ben righte gode +to Mannes mete. And here of had thei als gret +marvaylle that sume of hem trowed it were an +impossible thing to be.” One would have thought +that people who were quite familiar with the sight +of a lamb-tree would have found no great difficulty +in believing in a goose-tree. Anyone who +can credit the one should feel no hesitation +in accepting the other.</p> + +<p>Saxo Grammaticus, Lobel, Valcetro, and many +other writers, refer to the barnacle-tree, some +with full belief in it, others more dubiously, but it +is, of course, needless to quote a multiplicity of +authors. Should any of our readers themselves +feel any doubt in the matter, they may very advantageously +pay a visit to a good museum, where +probably, even if they fail to find a goose-tree, +they may see much else that will be almost +equally a wonder and a delight to them.</p> + +<p>The ancients thoroughly believed that the +eagle proved her young by forcing them to gaze +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[224]</span>upon the sun, discarding any that failed to face +the test, and the belief survived well into the +Middle Ages. “Before that her little ones bee +feathered she will beat and strike them with her +wings, and thereby force them to looke full +against the sunne beames. Now if shee see any +one of them to winke or their eies to water at +the raies of the sunne shee turnes it with the +head foremost out of the nest as a bastard and +none of hers, but bringeth up and cherisheth +that whose eie will abide the light of the +sunne as she looketh directly upon him.” It +will be remembered that Shakespeare, in King +Henry VI., refers to this old belief when the +Duke of Gloucester addresses the young prince +in the words—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Nay, if thou be that princely eagle’s bird,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Show thy descent⁠<a id="FNanchor_76" href="#Footnote_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> by gazing ’gainst the sun.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>In Ariosto, again, we have the same reference, +where he styles the eagle</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent28">“The bird</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That dares with steadfast eyes Apollo’s light.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">And Dryden exclaims in his “Britannia Rediviva,”</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Truth, which is light itself, doth darkness shun,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the true eaglet safely dares the sun.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The keenness of vision of the eaglet⁠<a id="FNanchor_77" href="#Footnote_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> has been +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[225]</span>noted in all ages, and its powers sometimes made +even more astonishing than facts can justify. It +has been asserted that when the eagle has soared +into the air to a height that has rendered it +perfectly invisible to human eye, it can discern +the motions of the smaller animals upon the +earth, and swoop down upon them from the +sky, and Homer, in the “Iliad,” it will be recalled, +describes Menelaus as</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The field exploring, with an eye</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Keen as the eagle’s, keenest eyed of all</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That wing the air, whom, though he soar aloft,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The lev’ret ’scapes not hid in thickest shades.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But down he swoops, and at a stroke she dies.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The eastern writers, ever given to hyperbole, +have assigned to the eagle powers of vision of a +far more astonishing character than this. One of +them, Damir, quoted by Burckhardt, declares that +the eagle can discern its prey at a distance of +four hundred parasangs—more than a thousand +miles—and poets of all periods have drawn +striking images from the wonderful power of +vision of the king of birds. Mediæval naturalists +have asserted that this magnificent eyesight was +strengthened even beyond its natural powers by +a diet on the eagle’s part of wild lettuce, in the +same way that the linnet cleared its sight by +means of the eyebright, the swallow through use +of the celandine, and divers other birds through +use of some special herb that they had proved to +be of value to them.</p> + +<p>Our readers will doubtless remember the fine +passage in the “Areopagitica” of Milton: +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[226]</span>“Methinks I see in my mind a noble and +puissant nation rousing herself like a strong man +after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks: +methinks I see her as an eagle renewing her +mighty youth, and kindling her undazzled eyes at +the full midday beam.” It was one of the beliefs +of our forefathers that the eagle had this power of +rejuvenescence. The description of the process +has a very prosaic sound about it, but the result +is highly successful. When the eagle “hathe +darknesse and dimnesse in eien and hevinesse in +wings against this disadvantage she is taught by +kinde to seeke a well of springing water, and +then she flyeth up into the aire as farre as she +may, till she bee full hot by heat of the aire and +by travaile of flight, and so then by heat the +pores be opened, and the feathers chafed, and +she falleth sideinglye into the well, and there the +feathers be chaunged and the dimnesse of her +eien is wiped away and purged, and she taketh +againe her might and strength.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_78" href="#Footnote_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a></p> + +<p>It was a strange belief of the writers of +antiquity on these natural history topics that the +feathers of the eagle, when placed amongst those +of other birds, in a short space of time entirely +consumed them.</p> + +<p>While the king of beasts has been credited +with generosity and other royal virtues, the eagle, +king of birds, seems not to have developed, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[227]</span>either in nature or in fable, any such regal +qualities. The most favourable estimate we +have encountered is that of the “Speculum +Mundi,” and even that leaves much to be +desired. “The Eagle,” writes our authority, +“is commended for her faithfulnesse towards +other birds in some kinde, though sometimes +she show herselfe cruell. They all stand in +awe of her; and when she hath gotten meat +she useth to communicate it unto such fowls +as do accompany with her; onely this some +affirme, that when she hath no more to make +distribution of, then she will attack some of her +guests, and for lack of food, dismember them.”</p> + +<p>The eagle is often depicted as bearing the +thunderbolts of Jove, from an ancient belief +that “of all flying fowles the ægle only is +not smitten nor killed with lightening.”</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Secure from thunder, and unharm’d by Jove.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_79" href="#Footnote_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">A man clothed in the skins of seals, or crowned +with bay-leaves, enjoyed like immunity.</p> + +<p>The pelican has been pressed into the service +of religious symbolism, from a belief that it +nourished its young with its own blood, and +hence it was made the emblem of loving +sacrifice.⁠<a id="FNanchor_80" href="#Footnote_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> “The pelicane, whose sons are +nursed with bloude, stabbeth deep her breast, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[228]</span>self-murdresse through fondnesse to hir broode,” +and the Shakespearian student will recall the +lines in Hamlet:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“To his good friends thus wide I’ll ope my arms,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And, like the kind, life-rendering pelican,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Refresh them with my blood.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The whole myth is based upon a very slender +basis indeed, as it is conjectured that it arose +from the habit of the bird pressing its breast +feathers with its bill, the bill itself having a +crimson spot at its extremity that suggested the +idea of blood. When the bird is represented in +ecclesiastical work, or as a charge in heraldry, +it is always shown in this position, and is known +technically as “a pelican in her piety.” Many of +the early writers accept the legend in the most +perfect good faith, and no more doubted that the +young pelicans were reared on the blood of the +mother bird, than that hens would eat barley, +or sparrows come for bread-crumbs. Some +ecclesiastical writers, whom we cannot quite +exonerate from acting on the principle that it +is lawful to do ill if good flows from it, added +the detail that when the young of the pelican +were destroyed by serpents, the mother pelican +shed her blood upon them, and brought them to +life again, and hence became a striking symbol +of the restoration to life of those dead in trespasses +and sin by the vivifying blood of the +Redeemer of mankind.</p> + +<p>It was for many centuries a belief that the +swan, mute through life, sang melodiously at its +death.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[229]</span></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Sweet strains he chaunteth out with’s dying tongue,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And is the singer of his funerall song.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>“Wherein,” writes the author of the “Speculum +Mundi,” “he is a perfect embleme and +pattern to us, that our death ought to be cheerfull, +and life not so deare unto us as it is.” +Martial writes of the swan’s “joyful death, and +sweet expiring song,” and Virgil, Lucretius, +Horace, Ovid, and other ancient authors all +refer to the belief. Cicero compared the +excellent discourse which Crassus made in the +senate a few days before his death to the +melodious singing of a dying swan, while Socrates +declared that good men ought to imitate swans, +who, perceiving by a secret instinct what gain +there was in death, die singing with joy.</p> + +<p>Shakespeare refers frequently to the belief: +thus in the Merchant of Venice Portia says: +“Then if he lose he makes a swan-like end, +fading in music.” After King John is poisoned +his son, Prince Henry, is told that in his dying +frenzy he sang; whereupon the prince replies:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“’Tis strange that death should sing,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I am the cygnet to this pale faint swan,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Who chants a doleful hymn to his own death;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And from the organ-pipes of frailty sings</div> + <div class="verse indent0">His soul and body to their lasting rest.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Many similar passages might be quoted from the +poets; it will suffice to give but one example:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Place me on Sunium’s marbled steep,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Where nothing, save the waves and I,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">May hear our mutual murmurs sweep.</div> + <div class="verse indent2">There, swan-like, let me sing and die.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_81" href="#Footnote_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[230]</span></p> + +<p>Though the ordinary swan of our English +lakes and rivers would appear to be without +a grain of music in its composition, the black +swan of Australia,⁠<a id="FNanchor_82" href="#Footnote_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> now naturalized in our +midst, has a really very musical note, and one, +too, which it very readily utters, not by any +means reserving it as a pæan of approaching +dissolution.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[231]</span></p> + +<p>It was a firm article of belief with the older +writers, such as Pliny, Aristotle, and Ælian, that +the swan was especially exposed to attack from +the eagle, and that when thus assailed it fought +with extreme determination, and never failed to +come off victor in the fray.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp60" id="figure18" style="max-width: 18.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure18.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 18.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>To the ostrich was accredited the power of +digesting iron. How such an idea could have +arisen, it is now impossible to explain. In +allusion to this myth the bird, when introduced +in blazonry, as in <a href="#figure18">fig. 18</a>, from a mediæval flagon, +ordinarily has a horse-shoe in its mouth.⁠<a id="FNanchor_83" href="#Footnote_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> The +artist who thus represented the bird was evidently +by no means oblivious of the fact that the +plumage of the ostrich was another very characteristic +feature. Shakespeare, in his Henry VI., +makes Jack Cade declare “I’ll make thee eat +iron like an ostrich, and swallow my sword like +a great pin;” while Munster, in his “Cosmography,” +gravely gives a picture of an ostrich with +an immense key in his mouth, and at his feet, as +second course, a horse-shoe. Cogan, the author +of the very popular “Haven of Health,” finds +apt simile herein. “The fat of flesh,” he says, +“alone without leane is unwholesome and cloyeth +the stomack and causeth lothsomnes, yet have I +knowne a country man that would feed onely +of the fat of Bacon or Pork, without leane, but +that is not to bee marvelled at, considering that +many of them have stomackes like the bird that +is called an Ostridge, which can digest hard +Iron.”</p> + +<p>It was held that the ostrich never hatches her +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[232]</span>eggs by sitting upon them, but by the rays of +warmth and light from her eyes. Southey +alludes, it will be remembered, to this old fancy +in the lines:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“With such a look as fables say,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The mother ostrich fixes on her eggs,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Till that intense affection</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Kindle its light of life.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_84" href="#Footnote_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>A considerable body of folk-lore is associated +with the cock. One strange notion that crops +up in the books of the mediæval writers is that +the lion has a strong antipathy to this bird, and +that the crowing of chanticleer will effectually +put to the rout the king of beasts. One can +readily imagine that the lion, prowling in the +darkness round some human habitation, would +naturally resent the shrill clarion of the cock, +and that this idea might, with the delight in +mysticism and symbolism of the Middle Ages, +be readily transferred to the roaring lion, seeking +whom he may devour, thwarted by the vigilance +of which the cock is the emblem. Even so +early, however, as the pre-Christian days of +Pliny we find this belief in the antagonism +between the two creatures in full operation, for +this ancient author prescribes the broth from a +stewed cock as an excellent outward application +for those in peril from wild beasts, declaring +confidently that whosoever shall bathe himself in +this shall fear no harm from lion or panther.</p> + +<p>Gerard Legh, in his “Accedence of Armorie,” +affirms that “the Cocke is the royallest birde +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[233]</span>that is, and of himself a king, for Nature hath +crowned hime with a perpetuall Diademe, to +him and to his posteritie for ever. He is the +valiantest in battle of all birdes, for he will +rather die than yeelde to his aduersarie.” And +one old writer goes so far as to declare that the +lion, whom we have always been taught to regard +as generosity itself, feels his royal title somewhat +impaired by the rivalry of the barn-door fowl, +and that the pretension to royalty suggested by +the scarlet crest is distasteful to the king of +beasts, who can brook no idea of a rival.</p> + +<p>There was throughout the Middle Ages an +idea that one was able to incorporate⁠<a id="FNanchor_85" href="#Footnote_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> any +desirable quality by looking around for some +creature of which it was a characteristic, and +then promptly making some culinary preparation +of which this creature’s flesh should be a leading +ingredient. “If,” says one of these sages, “you +would have a man talkative give him tongues, +and seek out for him water-frogs, wilde geese +and ducks, and other such creatures, notorious +for their continual noise-making,” and thus the +sturdy self-assertion and valour of the cock +naturally suggested the idea that the weakly and +retiring would find in him valuable nutriment. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[234]</span>In an old cookery book we find “how to still +a cocke for a weak body that is in consumption, +through long sicknesse.” The cock selected +must be a red one,⁠<a id="FNanchor_86" href="#Footnote_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> and not too old. Having +cut him into quarters, he must be put into an +earthenware pot with “the rootes of Fennell, +Parcely and Succory, Corans, whole Mace, +Annise seeds, and liquorice scraped and slyced.” +Half a pint of rose-water and a quart of white +wine are then to be added, together with “two +or three cleane Dates, a few prunes and raysons,” +and then all must stew gently for the space of +twelve hours. Finally, “streine out the broth +into some cleane vessell, and give thereof unto +the weak person morning and evening, warmed +and spiced as pleaseth the patient.” Our +ancestors, even when in rude health, quaffed +a beverage known as cock-ale, in order that they +might preserve their vigour. This drink—strong +ale mixed with the broth of a boiled cock—is +mentioned in the old plays, such as “Woman +turned Bully,” written in the year 1675; in +Digby’s book of receipts—“The Closet Open,”—published +in 1648, and divers other medical and +culinary works of the Middle Ages.</p> + +<p>In these same “good old times,” the liver of +a male goat, the tail of a shrew-mouse, the brain +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[235]</span>and comb of a cock, the worm under the tongue +of a mad dog, pounded ants, cuckoo-broth, were +all suggested as remedies for hydrophobia, though, +like the fish-brine of Pliny or the pounded crab +of Galen, they must have been but sorry reeds +to rest upon in the dreadful paroxysms of this +terrible malady.</p> + +<p>The ancient Romans believed in the existence +of a crystalline stone which they called alectorius, +as large as a bean, and to be found in +the gizzard of a cock, though not by any means, +discoverable in every fowl cut open. This +stone was held to have the wonderful property +of rendering the human possessor of it invisible. +It may indeed have had the same effect on +the original owner, as there could scarcely be an +authentic instance of a stone of such peculiar +property being found, but if the fowl itself could +not be seen it is scarcely to be wondered at that +the stone within it should be equally invisible. +The belief in some such stone was one of the +numerous articles of faith of the Middle Ages, +but instead of the property of invisibility being +attached to its possessor they sometimes substituted +for it the much more prosaic idea that +its owner could never feel thirsty, while the way +to discover the bird that possessed it was +simplicity itself, it being only necessary to +discover which fowl at feeding time never drank. +The first belief is much the more tenable, and +is in fact impossible of refutation, as the world +may be full of the owners of alectorius, invisible +to us, and therefore unknown.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[236]</span></p> + +<p>The cock was at one time supposed to possess +the power of laying eggs from which were reared +the deadly cockatrice. “When the cock is past +seven years old an egg grows within him, whereat +he greatly wonders. He seeks privately a +warm place, and scratches a hole for a nest, to +which he goes ten times daily. A toad privily +watches him, and examines the nest every day to +see if the egg be yet laid. When the toad finds +the egg he rejoices much, and at length hatches +it, bringing forth an animal with the head, neck, +and breast of a cock, and from thence downward +the body of a serpent.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_87" href="#Footnote_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> In the year 1474 a +cock at Basle was publicly accused of having +laid one of these very objectionable eggs, and +after a short trial⁠<a id="FNanchor_88" href="#Footnote_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> was sentenced to death and +burnt, together with the egg, in the market +place, amid a great concourse of the towns-folk, +who were right joyfully thankful to feel that a +great peril had been averted by the prompt +action of their rulers, for a cockatrice was +indeed no laughing matter to those who thought +it one of the possibilities of life. In England +the hens have entirely usurped the egg-laying +department, and we are therefore spared the +mortification of finding that our hoped-for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[237]</span>chick has assumed the less welcome form of +a cockatrice.</p> + +<p>The poison of a cockatrice was without cure, +and the air was in such a degree affected by it +that no creature could live near it. It killed, +we are assured, not only by its touch, for even +the sight of the cockatrice, like that of the +basilisk, was death. We read, for instance, in +Romeo and Juliet of “the death-darting eye of +cockatrice,” and again in King Richard III., +“a cockatrice hast thou hatched into the world +whose unavoided eye is murtherous;” while in +Twelfth Night we find the passage, “this will +so fright them both, that they will kill one +another by the look like cockatrices.” The +good people of Basle might therefore, believing +all this, very heartily congratulate themselves on +their escape from a fearful peril.</p> + +<p>The baleful cockatrice is often referred to in +literature. Thus in the book entitled “Some +Yeares Trauels into Africa and Asia the Great,” +written by Sir Thomas Herbert, and published +in London in the year 1677, the writer says +that Mohamed, on finishing his Koran, was “so +transported, that to Mecca he goes to have it +credited; but therein his predictions fail him, +for so soon as the Arabs perceived his design +(being formerly acquainted with his birth and +breeding) they banish him, and (but for his +Wives’ relations) there had crushed him and +his Cockatrice egg, which was but then hatching.”</p> + +<p>Legh, in his “Curiosities of Heraldry,” gives +the usual details of the death-dealing cockatrice, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[238]</span>but adds, “Though he be venome withoute +remedye whilest he liueth, yet when he is dead +and burnt to ashes he loseth all his malice, and +the ashes of him are good for alkumistes in +turnyng and chaungyng of metall.” Practically, +therefore all that stands, or shall we say lies, +between ourselves and wealth beyond the +dreams of avarice is but a cockatrice moribund. +Orthography was not a strong point in these old +writers, and the word which is now established +as cockatrice, may be met with as cocatrice, +cokatrice, kokatrice, kocatrice, cockatryse, cocatryse, +cocautrice, cockautrice, coccatryse, cocatris, +kokatrix, chocatrix, and many other forms.</p> + +<p>It has long been a belief in many parts of the +country that if a cock crow at midnight the +Angel of Death is passing over the house, and +that if he delays to strike it is but for a short +season. It is evident however that a score or +more of different households may hear the same +cock-crow, and we can scarcely conclude that it +is to be fatal to all, since such wholesale slaughter +would quickly depopulate whole hamlets, and +we might really almost as well have the dread +cockatrice at once.</p> + +<p>Cock-crowing in mediæval days received +mystical importance from a belief that it was +in the dawn of the morning that our Saviour +was born; it was regarded, too, as a warning +voice telling of the coming of the day of Judgment,⁠<a id="FNanchor_89" href="#Footnote_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> +and from its association with St. Peter’s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[239]</span>grievous denial of his Master a warning +against self-sufficiency and base cowardice. It +was thought that during the hours of darkness +evil spirits and the souls of the departed were +abroad and that these fled at daybreak: hence +Shakespeare makes the ghost of Hamlet’s father +vanish at this season—“It faded on the crowing +of the cock.” To the belief that on Christmas +Eve the night was entirely free from any such +spiritual manifestation he refers in the beautiful +lines:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Some say that ever ’gainst that season comes</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The bird of dawning singeth all night long,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">So hallow’d and so gracious in the time.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>In the quaint and delightful “Armonye of +Byrdes” with its mingled Latin and English:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The Cock dyd say:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I use alway</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To crow both first and last.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Lyke a Postle I am,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For I preache to man</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And tell him the nyght is past.⁠<a id="FNanchor_90" href="#Footnote_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a></div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[240]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“I bring new tydyngis</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That the king of kynges</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In tactu profundit chorus:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Then sang he, mellodious,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Te Gloriosus,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Apostolorum chorus.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>This poem, of which only one ancient copy is +in existence, has been reproduced by the Percy +Society. The author is unknown, but is conjectured +to be John Skelton. No date appears +on it, but the name of the printer, John Wyght, +shows that it must have been published somewhere +about the year 1550. The poem begins:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Whan Dame Flora</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In die Aurora</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Had covered the meadow with flowers,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And all the fylde</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Was over dystylde</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With lusty Aprell showers,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For my desporte</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Me to comforte</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Whan the day began to spring</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Foorth I went</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With a good intent</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To hear the byrdes syng.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The poem then goes on to tell us of the birds +all “praisyng Our Lorde without discord, with +goodly armony,” the popyngay, the mavys, partryge, +pecocke, thrusshe, nyghtyngale, larke, +egle, dove, phenix, wren, the tyrtle trew, the +hawke, the pellycane, the swalowe, all singing +in quaint blending of Latin and English the praise +of God.</p> + +<p>The raven, “the hoarse night-raven, trompe of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[241]</span>doleful drere,”⁠<a id="FNanchor_91" href="#Footnote_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> has been at almost all periods +regarded with superstitious awe. Shakespeare, +for instance, writes of the raven “that croaks the +fatal entrance of Duncan,”⁠<a id="FNanchor_92" href="#Footnote_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> and again, in Othello, +we find the illustrative passage—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“It comes o’er my memory</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As doth the raven o’er the infected house,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Boding to all.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">Marlowe, in like spirit, in his “Rich Jew of +Malta,” dwells on the sad presaging raven</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent26">“That tolls</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The sick man’s passport in her hollow beak,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And in the shadow of the silent night</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Doth shake contagion from her sable wings.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The whole field of literature teems with references +of the same ominous character. It will +suffice to add but one more illustration, where +Gay, in “The Dirge,” notices the evil presage in +the lines—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The boding raven on her cottage sat,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And with hoarse croakings warned us of our fate.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The raven is sometimes called the devil’s bird. +It is believed that it was originally white, but +that it was changed to black for its disobedience. +What this disobedience was appears to be a very +moot point. The old Greeks believed that +Apollo once sent it to a fountain to fetch water, +and the bird on arrival found a fig-tree with very +nearly ripe fruit, and determined to wait until +they were quite so. As this was a matter of +some few days, it became necessary to invent +some plausible explanation of the delay, so he +took a water-snake out of the fountain and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[242]</span>brought it in the pitcher to the god, and +explained that this creature had drunk the +reservoir dry. Apollo, declining to accept this +explanation, turned the disobedient raven black, +condemned it to be always plagued with thirst, +and changed its once melodious voice into the +monstrous croak⁠<a id="FNanchor_93" href="#Footnote_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> that it has ever since been +uttering as token of its punishment. Mediæval +writers do not accept this story at all, but declare +that the real reason that the raven exchanged its +snow-white plumage for the sable garb was the +consequence of its disobedience when, instead of +returning to the ark to Noah, it stayed to feed on +the bodies of the drowned.⁠<a id="FNanchor_94" href="#Footnote_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> It will be seen that +in each case disobedience was the offence, and +appetite the occasion thereof.</p> + +<p>It is rather startling after this to read in +the quaint pages of Legh that “the Rauen +delighteth so much in her owne bewty that when +her birds are hatched she will giue them no +meate vntill she see whether they will bee of her +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[243]</span>owne colour or no.” Guillim, another writer, +like Legh, on matters heraldic, entirely supports +this statement, declaring that “it hath bene an +ancient received opinion, and the same also +grounded vpon the warrant of the Holy Scriptures +that such is the property of the Raven, that from +the time his young ones are hatched or disclosed, +untill he seeth what colour they will be of, he +never careth of them nor ministereth any food +unto them, therefore it is thought that they are +in the meane space nourished with the heavenly +dew. And so muche also doth the kingly +prophet, David, affirme, ‘which giveth fodder +unto the catell and feedeth the young Ravens +that call upon him.’ The Raven is of colour +blacke, and when he perceiveth his young ones +to be pennefeathered and black like himself, +then doth he labour by all means to foster and +cherish them from thence forward.”</p> + +<p>Surprising as it is to find that the sable +plumage that we regard as the mark of disgrace +is to the bird himself or herself (for Legh refers +to the maternal pride and Guillim to the paternal) +a beauty that no bastard brood can attain to, it is +still more surprising to find that this “devil’s +bird” and messenger of woe is really not by any +means so black as he is painted, and is, indeed, +possessed of deep religious feeling. Maundevile +in his pilgrimage to Mount Sinai saw and heard +of many wonderful things, and certainly what he +heard in that sacred spot of the ravens must have +greatly astonished him. He tells us that at the +shrine of St. Catherine he found many lamps +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[244]</span>burning, and the monks rejoicing in an abundance +of “Oyle of Olyves both for to brenne in here +Lampes and to ete also, and that plentee have +thei of the Myracle of God, for the Ravennes +and the Crowes and the Choughes and other +Fowles of the Countree assemble hem there ones +every yeer, and fleen thider as in pilgrymage, and +everyche of hem bringethe a Braunche of the +Olyve in here Bekes in stade of offryng and +leven hem there: of the whyche the monkes +maken gret plentee of Oyle, and this is a gret +marvaylle.” The monkish moral to the story is +obvious—that if “Foules that han no kyndely +wytt ne Resoun” thus willingly offer to the +maintenance of the church how much more +should the sons of men give of their substance +to so excellent a cause. One can indeed only +feel that it is more probable that the story was +made to fit the moral than the moral to fit the +story.</p> + +<p>Like most other things in mediæval days the +raven found a place in the pharmacopœia, for it +would appear that there was scarely anything +better “for ye Gowte” than raven-broth, but to +make it effectually one or two points that appear +in themselves of little importance had to be +scrupulously observed. For those who care to +make trial of it we append the recipe: “Take +Rauynys bryddys all quyke owte of here neste +and loke yat yei towche not the erth nor yat yei +comy in non hows, and brene hem in a new potte +all to powdir and gif it ye seke man to drynkeyn.”</p> + +<p>The talisman known as the raven-stone was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[245]</span>held to confer on its holder invisibility, and we +may remark in passing on the curious attraction +that in the Middle Ages this gift of invisibility +possessed, whether used as a means of shielding +one’s self from dangers, as a means of inflicting +without detection injuries on others, or the +dishonourable desire of secretly spying upon +their proceedings. It appears to point to a +somewhat unwholesome state of things, too +suggestive of cowardice and treachery to be at +all an object to be sought after. There were +many such kinds of talisman, all doubtless of +equal efficacy, and all of them, naturally, presenting +considerable difficulties in acquisition. +The raven-stone was no exception. It was +necessary first to discover a nest, then to climb +the tree and to take from the brood one of the +nestlings and kill it. The victim must be a male +bird and not more than six weeks old. So far, +with reasonable powers of observation, a fair +amount of agility, and sufficient sense to visit the +nest at a time when one might reasonably expect +to find young birds therein, there would appear +to be no great difficulty; but unless the parent +birds were at least a hundred years old, all this +preliminary trouble was of no avail. Having +descended the tree in safety, the slaughtered +nestling had to be placed at its foot, and watch +kept for the return of the parent raven. On its +return it will be observed to place a stone in the +throat of its offspring, whereupon nothing remains +but to secure the treasure and proceed to +exercise its mystic power. How many persons +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[246]</span>actually put the matter to the test it is of course +impossible to say, but full belief in its efficacy +was for generations an article of faith to +thousands.</p> + +<p>The owl, like the raven, was regarded by our +forefathers with great awe as an omen of misfortune +and death; thus in Shakespeare we find +several allusions to this superstitious belief—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Out on ye owls! nothing but songs of death,”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">and the “boding scritch owl,” as he is called in +Henry VI., reappears in Macbeth in the passage:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“It was the owl that shriek’d; that fatal bellman</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Which giv’st the stern’st good night.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The idea dates from time immemorial. Pliny +says, in the tenth book of his “Natural History,” +that “the scritch-owle betokeneth alwaies some +heavie newes, and is most execrable and accursed. +He keepeth ever in the deserts, and loveth not +only such unpeopled places, but also those that are +horrible hard of accesse. In summer, he is the +verie monster of the night, neither crying, nor +singing out cleare, but uttering a certaine heavie +grone of dolefull moning. And, therefore, if he +be seene within citties or otherwise abroad in +any place it is not for good, but prognosticateth +some fearfull misfortune.”</p> + +<p>Raven-like again, the owl is a specific for the +gout, all that is necessary being to “take an owl, +pull off her feathers, salt her well for a weak, +then put her into a pot and stop it close, and +put her into an oven, that so she may be brought +into a mummy.” This has then to be beaten into +a powder and mixed with boar’s grease, and “the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[247]</span>grieved place” well anointed with this preparation. +Owl-broth has in many rural districts of England +been regarded as invaluable in whooping cough.</p> + +<p>The notion of stones of mystic virtue being +found in divers animals is a very common one in +ancient and mediæval lore. We have already +referred to the raven-stone, and many others +were sought after. The interior of a fowl was +said to yield a precious stone called alectorius; +the chelidonius came from a swallow, geranites +from a crane, and draconites from a dragon; +while corvia was the name of the stone obtained +from the crow. Anyone who cares to penetrate +farther into this mass of rubbish will find +plenty of it in the “Mirror of Stones” of +Camillus. A stone from the hoopoe, when laid +upon the breast of a sleeping man, forced him to +reveal any rogueries he might have committed. +The swallow was believed by some people to +have two of these precious stones stowed away +somewhere in its interior; one of these was a +red one, and cured insanity; while the other, a +black one, brought good fortune. Others said +that the swallow found by some inspiration a +particular kind of stone on the seashore, and +that this stone restored sight to the blind. It +will be remembered that Longfellow, in his +“Evangeline,” refers to this fancy in the lines:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Seeking with eager eyes that wondrous stone which the swallow</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Brings from the shore of the sea, to restore the sight of her fledglings.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_95" href="#Footnote_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[248]</span></p> + +<p>Hence people assumed, not unreasonably, that +what the bird found of such value to its young +ones could scarcely fail to be of equal value for +suffering humanity. Sometimes the association +of the swallow with blindness is much more +recondite. Thus Marcellus, writing in the year +of our era, 480 <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span>, advises one who fears that +he is going blind to “look out for the first +swallow, then run silently to the nearest spring, +wash your eyes, and pray God that you may be +free from it that year;” and then, with the +callousness that is so characteristic of so many +of these folk-lore remedies, very needlessly +adds, “and that all the pain may pass into the +swallow.”</p> + +<p>On referring to our copy of Winstanley’s +“Book of Knowledge,” edition of 1685, to find +out how far he confirms these wondrous cures +of insanity, impecuniosity, and ophthalmia, we +find that he does not even recognize their +existence, but supplies in their place other facts +equally striking. “Take a Swallow on the +Wednesday,” he writes, “and bind him with a +silken thread by the foot, then cut him in the +midst, and thou shalt find three stones, a white, +a red, and a green; take the white and put it +into thy mouth, and it shall make thee fair; put +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[249]</span>into thy mouth the red, and thou shalt have +favour from her thou lovest; put the green into +thy mouth, and thou shalt never be in peril.” If +none of these inducements prevail or appeal to +the reader, the author can supply another recipe +of equal value. “Take a swallow in the moneth +of August, look in her breast, and you shall find +there a stone of the bignesse of a pease: take it +and put it under your tongue, and you shall have +such eloquence that no man shall have power to +deny thy request.” Such a gift would often be +invaluable, and it seems distinctly unfortunate +for the legal profession that it can only be +utilised during the Long Vacation, unless, indeed, +this wondrous stone can be in some way preserved +without losing its efficacy; but of this the +recipe gives no hint. In an old receipt book +before us oil of swallows is pronounced “exceeding +soveraign” for broken bones, or “any grief +in the sinews.” It is procured by pounding the +swallows in a mortar, and adding thereto divers +herbs.</p> + +<p>For one that is, or will be, drunken, it is +well to have at hand some preparation that may +be deterrent, and here is the very thing! +“Take swallowes and burne them, and make +a powder of them; and give the dronken man +thereof to drinke, and he shall never be dronken +hereafter.” There is a certain sense of incompleteness +here, as one does not quite realize how +this powder becomes drinkable.</p> + +<p>The ill-luck that attended those who hurt the +robin or the wren was an article of faith with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[250]</span>our forefathers, and probably still remains so in +rural districts. In the “Six Pastorals,” written +in the year 1770, we find the belief very clearly +expressed in the lines:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“I found a robin’s nest within our shed,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And in the barn a wren has young ones bred:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I never take away their nest, nor try</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To catch the old ones, lest a friend should die.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Dick took a wren’s nest from the cottage side,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And ere a twelvemonth pass’d his mother dy’d.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The belief that they, “with leaves and flowers, +do cover the friendless bodies of unburied men” +has no doubt had much to do with the kindly +feeling extended to them. As Drayton hath +it:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Covering with moss the dead’s unclosed eye</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The little red-breast teacheth charity.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Its fearless confidence, too, in visiting the +habitations of men has begotten a kindly feeling +for it, while one ancient legend tells us that +when our Saviour hung forsaken on the cross +the robin strove to draw out the cruel nails, and +thus imbrued its breast in the Sacred Blood, an +act of piety of which from thenceforth it bore the +token in its ruddy feathers.</p> + +<p>Though there are divers quaint beliefs associated +with the wren which we need not here +particularize, we may perhaps assume that the +main reason for its association with the robin +lies in the love of alliteration, for though the +actual spelling of the words is against this theory, +the sound to the ear favours it, and the two R’s of +the Robin and the ’Ren are certainly not more far-fetched +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[251]</span>than the three R’s that were once held +to cover the whole field of rustic scholarship, +Reading, Riting and Rithmetic.</p> + +<p>“The eyes and heart of a nightingale laid +about men in bed,” according to the “Magick of +Kirani,” serve to “keep them awake, and to make +one die for sleep. If anyone dissolve them and give +them secretly to anyone in drink, he will never +sleep, but will so die, and it admits of no cure.” +It was a belief in the Middle Ages, and termed +the doctrine of signatures, that every plant bore +stamped upon itself, though men’s eyes were in +some cases too blind to detect it, an indication +of its value to humanity, thus the spots in the +inside of a foxglove flower were a sign that +this plant was of value for ulcerated sore-throat; +the buds of the forget-me-not bent round in a +spiral somewhat suggestive possibly of the tail of +a scorpion, gave the plant its mediæval name of +scorpion-grass, and were held a clear indication +that anyone stung by a scorpion would find in +this herb his remedy. In a like spirit we see +that the eyes and heart of the nightingale, a +bird awake when most other creatures are sleeping, +were held to be, on application, a cause of +wakefulness to anyone coming within their subtle +influence.</p> + +<p>It was a very common and widespread belief +that the nightingale when singing pierced its +breast with a thorn, but whether this was to keep +it awake, or to give its song the sad character +that the poets will insist most wrongfully in +attributing to it, seems an open question. Sir +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[252]</span>Philip Sidney in one of his sonnets appears to +reflect the popular belief—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The nightingale, as soon as April bringeth</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Unto her rested sense a perfect waking,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While late bare earth, proud of her clothing, springeth,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Sings out her woes, a thorn her song book making:</div> + <div class="verse indent2">And mournfully bewailing</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Her throat in times expresseth,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While grief her heart oppresseth.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The author of the “Speculum Mundi” also +refers to “the nightingale sitting all the night +singing upon a bough, with the sharp end of a +thorn against her breast,” assigning, as the +reason, “to keep her waking.” The bird is a +great favourite with the poets, but in most cases +their invocations are somewhat misplaced: it is +not the “sweet songstress” that so delights us, +for though her notes are sweet, the real flood of +melody wells from the heart of her lord. ’Tis +he, to quote the words of Coleridge—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“That crowds, and hurries, and precipitates</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With thick fast warble his delicious notes,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As he were fearful that an April night</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Would be too short for him to utter forth</div> + <div class="verse indent0">His love-chant, and disburden his full soul</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of all its music.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The error as to sex, and the error as to the +pensive character of the song, have a common +origin and date back from the ancient time +when Ovid declared that Philomela, the daughter +of Pandion, King of Athens, mourning for her +children, was turned into a nightingale: hence +Virgil uses the word “Philomela” when speaking +of the bird, and the mediæval and modern poets +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[253]</span>have continued the usage; and on this same +account, the song of the nightingale has by +poetic fiction been deemed pensive and melancholy. +Thus Shelley refers to “the nightingale’s +complaint,” and Drayton writes of “our mournful +Philomela,” while Milton calls the bird +“most musical, most melancholy.” Coleridge, +Clare, and others refuse however to follow this +precedent.</p> + +<p>When the peasant of mediæval days heard the +cuckoo for the first time in each year, he rolled +himself vigorously on the grass, and thus secured +himself for the rest of the year from pains in the +back. Much of the virtue of this remedy, we +should imagine, would depend upon how damp +the grass might be. We could easily imagine a +state of things when this rolling process would +be provocative rather than preventative. It was +generally believed that the cuckoo sucked the +eggs of other birds.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The cuckoo, he sings in the spring of the year,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And he sucks little birds’ eggs to make his voice clear.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Hence so soon as the general nesting season is +over, and this selfish ovisuction fails him, the +cuckoo to a great extent loses his song.⁠<a id="FNanchor_96" href="#Footnote_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> It was +a generally accepted belief, too, that the cuckoo +repaid the care of his foster parents, when he +had no further occasion for it, by swallowing +them. This belief dates from very early times. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[254]</span>Aristotle refers to it, for instance, while in later +days it crops up in the various books on so-called +Natural History. On turning again to Shakespeare, +who rarely fails us when any quaint folk-lore +has to be illustrated, we find an interesting +reference to it in King Lear: “The hedge-sparrow +fed the cuckoo so long that it had its +head bit off by its young”—and again in the first +part of King Henry IV., where Worcester, +reminding the king of his broken word, says:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“And being fed by us, you used us so,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As that ungentle gull, the cuckoo’s bird,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Useth the sparrow; did oppress our nest;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Grew by our feeding to so great a bulk,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That even our love durst not come near your sight</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For fear of swallowing.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Those, it was believed, who turned their money +over in their pockets when they each year first +heard the cuckoo, would have good fortune +throughout the rest of the year, and keep their +pockets well supplied until the recurring spring +necessitated a re-turning of the contents.</p> + +<p>It was a curious fancy of many of the old +writers on such matters, that the peacock, though +arrayed in such splendour, was ashamed of his +feet, the mortification at the latter being more +than a set-off to his pride in his plumage. “The +peacock,” says, for instance, one of these ancient +authorities, “is a bird well-known and much +admired for his daintie coloured feathers, which, +when he spreads them against the sunne, have +a curious lustre, and look like gemmes. Howbeit +his black feet make him ashamed of his fair +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[255]</span>tail: and therefore when he seeth them, (as +angrie with nature, or grieved for that deformitie) +he hangeth down his starrie plumes, and walketh +slowly in a discontented fit of solitary sadnesse, like +one possest with dull melancholy.” The peacock +was throughout the Middle Ages the symbol of +pride, and doubtless those who started and those +who accepted such a story as this saw in it a +happy illustration of the haughty spirit that goeth +before a fall, and very gladly added it to the great +body of moral teaching that the works of creation +were required to furnish.</p> + +<p>A large mass of legend and folk-lore is associated +with the halcyon or kingfisher. One +curious old superstition is that if a dead kingfisher +is suspended from the roof it will always +turn its breast in the direction from which the +wind blows.⁠<a id="FNanchor_97" href="#Footnote_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> On looking over any old works on +natural history one is repeatedly struck by the +way in which the writers all copy each other, +and reproduce the most outrageous statements, +without ever seeming to care to bring the +matters they deal with to the easy test of actual +proof. It is, therefore, the more refreshing to +find the old writer, Sir Thomas Browne, the +author of the “Enquiry into Vulgar Errors,” very +wisely declining to accept the statement without +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[256]</span>proof, but actually getting a kingfisher for himself, +and seeing what would befall. His reflections +and experience are so graphically and +quaintly given in his book that we make no +apology for transferring them to our own pages. +He says “that a Kingfisher hanged by the bill, +sheweth in what quarter the winde is by an +occult and secret property, converting the breast +to that point of the horizon from whence the +winde doth blow, is a received opinion and very +strange, introducing naturall Weathercocks, and +extending magneticall positions as far as animall +natures: a conceit supported chiefly by present +practice, yet not made out by reason or experience. +Unto reason it seemeth very repugnant +that a carcasse or body disanimated should be so +affected by every winde as to carry a conformable +respect and constant habitude thereto. For +although in sundry animals we deny not a kinde +of naturall Meteorology or innate præsention +bothe of winde and weather, yet that proceeding +from sense receiving impressions from the first +mutations of the air, they cannot in reason retain +their apprehension after death: as being affections +which depend upon life and depart upon disanimation. +And therefore with more favourable +reason may we draw the same effect or sympathie +upon the Hedgehog, whose præsention of +windes is so exact that it stoppeth the North or +Southern hole of its nest, according to prenotion +of these windes ensuing; which some men +observing, have been able to make predictions +whiche way the winde should turn, and been +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[257]</span>esteemed hereby wise men in point of weather. +Now this proceeding from sense in the creature +alive, it were not reasonable to hang up an +Hedgehog dead and to expect a conformable +motion unto its living conversion. Thus Glowe-wormes +alive project a lustre in the dark, which +fulgour notwithstanding ceaseth after death; and +thus the Torpedo, which being alive stupifies at +a distance, applied after death produceth no +such result.”</p> + +<p>“As for experiment we cannot make it out by +any we have attempted, for if a single Kingfisher +be hanged up with silk in an open room and +where the aire is free, it observes not a constant +respect unto the winde, but vainly converting +doth seldome breast it right. If two be suspended +in the same room they will not regularly +conform their breasts, but oftimes respect the +opposite points of heaven. And if we conceive +that for exact exploration they should be suspended +where the air is quiet and unmoved, that +clear of impediment they may more freely +convert upon this naturall verticity, we have also +made this way of inquisition, suspending them +in large and spacious glasses closely stopped; +wherein, neverthelesse, we observed a casuall +station, and that they rested irregularly upon +conversion.”</p> + +<p>It was formerly held that if the dead bodies +of these birds were put away in chests they +protected garments from the ravages of moths, +and it was believed that the feathers of a dead +kingfisher were renewed in all their splendour +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[258]</span>every year. It was an article of faith, too, that +the plumage of the kingfisher was injurious to +the eyes of those who gazed too long and too +intently upon it, while the possession of even a +feather was a protection against lightning.</p> + +<p>According to the old Greek myth, Halcyone +was the daughter of Æolus. Her husband, +Ceyx, king of Trachyn, was drowned in the +Ægean Sea, and the widowed Halcyone, +wandering on the shore, saw afar the dead body +of her husband. The gods, in pity, turned her +into a bird, which with eager wings bore her +spirit across the waste of waters, and that Ceyx +might be able to return the love she lavished +upon him, he, too, was permitted the same +transformation.</p> + +<p>It was an old belief that during the space of +fourteen days, while the young kingfishers were +being hatched, a great calm fell upon all things, +and this period of quietness and security is +referred to by many of our writers.⁠<a id="FNanchor_98" href="#Footnote_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a> A very +beautiful illustration may be found in Milton’s +“Hymn on the Nativity,” where he describes +how:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Peaceful was the night</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Wherein the Prince of Light</div> + <div class="verse indent2">His reign of peace upon the earth began;</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[259]</span> <div class="verse indent0">The winds with wonder whist,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Smoothly the waters kiss’d,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Whispering new joys to the wild ocean,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Which now hath quite forgot to rave,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmed wave.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The word halcyon is Greek and signifies +brooding on the sea, as it was formerly believed +that the kingfisher laid its eggs in a floating nest +upon the sea. Drayton writes, for example, of</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The halcyon, whom the sea obeys</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When she her nest upon the water lays.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">While Dryden, to quote one more instance, says:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Amidst our arms as quiet you shall be</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As halcyon brooding on a winter’s sea.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>This exceptional favour fair Halcyone owes to +her close relationship with Æolus, since with +him rested the power to lash the waves to fury +or to soothe them to rest. This beautiful Greek +myth doubtless underlies the superstition as to +the dead body of the kingfisher indicating the +direction of the wind, though probably it never +occurs to the rustic meteorologist as he watches +his revolving kingfisher that any idea of the +loving Halcyone turning to greet the coming +Æolus enters into the philosophy of his test.</p> + +<p>It was for centuries a belief that storks fed +with filial care their aged parents. Thus Heywood, +writing in the year 1635, asserts in “The +Hierachie of the Blessed Angells” that</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The indulgent storke, who builds her nest on hye</div> + <div class="verse indent0">(Observ’d for her alternat pietie),</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Doth cherish her unfeather’d young and feed them,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And looks from them the like, when she should need them.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[260]</span> <div class="verse indent0">(That’s when she grows decrepit, old, and weake)</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Nor doth her pious Issue cov’nant breeke:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For unto her, being hungry, food she brings,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And being weake, supports her on her wings.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>One meets with the same notion again in +Beaumont, where he asserts that</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The stork’s an emblem of true piety:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Because, when age has seized and made his dam</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Unfit for flight, the grateful young one takes</div> + <div class="verse indent0">His mother on his back, provides her food,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Repaying thus her tender care for him,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Ere he was fit to fly.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The extraordinary idea that storks were +found only in countries having a republican +form of government held its ground for a +considerable time, though it would appear as +though nothing could have been simpler than its +prompt disproof.</p> + +<p>Cranes, it was believed, bore stones with them +when they were migrating, in order that they +might not be swept out of their course by the +wind. A somewhat parallel notion was that +swallows in their annual migrations carried in +their bills, when about to cross the sea, a piece +of stick, to be laid upon the water from time to +time as a convenient resting place. The idea of +the cranes steadying themselves in flight by a +ballasting of small rock was too quaintly happy +a conception not to bear amplification, so we +find that the bees, the never-failing emblems +of industry and wisdom, were equally ready +to avail themselves of the notion. “Bees that +are emploied in carrying of honie chuse alwaies +to have the wind with them if they can. If +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[261]</span>haply there do arise a tempest whiles they bee +abroad they catch up some little stonie greet to +ballaise and poise themselves against the wind. +Some say that they take it and lay it upon their +shoulders.” How the little stony grit maintains +this latter position the old authors do not stop +to explain. In the Georgics of Virgil we find +a reference to this, which evidently even then +was an old and unchallenged belief, in the +lines:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“And oft with pebbles, like a balanced boat,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Poised through the air on even pinions float”—</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">and the idea reappears from time to time as a +fact in natural history. There is so much that +is legitimately wonderful in bee-arrangements +that it is scarcely strange that some of the details +given by ancient and mediæval naturalists in +praise of their sagacity, and other estimable +qualities, should overreach the possibilities, and +fail in the not unimportant element of truth.⁠<a id="FNanchor_99" href="#Footnote_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a></p> + +<p>The sagacious cranes seem to have found +several valuable uses for their pieces of rock. +We are told that while the main body are +resting at night, sentinels are posted to guard +against surprise, so that the flock or covey, or +whatever else may be the proper technical term +to use, rest in full assurance of safety. To +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[262]</span>insure the necessary vigilance, these sentinels +stand upon one foot, and hold in the other a +large stone.⁠<a id="FNanchor_100" href="#Footnote_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a> Should they inadvertently nod, +the muscles relax and the stone drops, and by +the slight noise it makes awakens them to a +proper sense of their duty and their temporary +lapse from it.</p> + +<p>A third valuable use that the cranes seem to +have found for stones was to put them in their +mouths when migrating, so that thus gagged +they might not make a noise, and by their cries +bring the eagles and other birds of prey upon +themselves.⁠<a id="FNanchor_101" href="#Footnote_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> In the “Euphues,” we find a +passage that admirably illustrates the belief in +these two latter uses of the stone, as the author +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[263]</span>would naturally not use similes that would be +unfamiliar to his readers. “What I haue done,” +he writes, “was onely to keep myselfe from +sleepe, as the Crane doth the stone in hir foote; +and I would also, with the same Crane, that I had +been silent, holding a stone in my mouth.”</p> + +<p>It will be sufficiently evident that the birds +we have mentioned are but few in number. It +would be extremely difficult to make our treatment +exhaustive, extremely easy to make it +exhausting; we would desire in pity to our +readers to avoid either of these alternatives. +We would therefore steer straight for the proverbial +third course, and trust that it may be +held that we have found a happy medium in +resting satisfied with the comparatively few +species of birds that are here brought under +notice.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[264]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p>Forms reptilian and piscine—The basilisk—Shakespeare and +Spenser thereupon—King of serpents—The dragon—Aldrovandus +thereon—The dragon-stone—The griffin—The +scorpion—The “Newe Jewell of Healthe”—Toads—Antipathy +between toad and spider—The toad-stone—How +to procure it—The weeping crocodile—Cockeram’s +Dictionary—The treacherous seal—The salamander—Its +potent venom—Its home in fire—Prester John and his +kingdom—Pyragones—The chamæleon—Its changing +colour—Serpents from air—The gift of invisibility—The +serpent-stone—Theriaca—Viper-broth—Antidotal herbs—The +soil of Malta—The deaf adder—The two-headed +Amphisbæna—Aldrovandus on serpents—Hairy serpents—The +deadly asp—Monstrous snails—Snail and spider +remedies—Bees—Virgil on their production—Glowworm +ink—Marine forms the counterparts of those on land—The +sea-monk—The sea-bishop—The sus marinus—The +brewers of the storm—The hog-fish—The sea-elephant—The +sea-horse—The sea-unicorn—The remora—The +dolphin, its special fondness for man—Its love of music—Its +changeful colouring—The acipenser—The loving ray—The +sargon—The friendship between the oyster and the +prawn—The voracious swam-fish—Leviathan—Cause of +the crooked mouth of the flounder—The healing tench—Fish +medicaments—The vain cuttle-fish—The fish that +came to be eaten—Conclusion.</p> + +</div> + +<p>We turn in conclusion to forms reptilian and +piscine, and to “such small deer” as may call +for a parting word or two in drawing our labours +to a close; and here we find no great amount +of material to deal with, for though our section +includes such fabulous monsters as the basilisk +and the dragon, the general knowledge of reptiles +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[265]</span>and fish was naturally by no means so extensive +as that of the more readily visible beasts and +birds.</p> + +<p>The basilisk, a wingless dragon, according to +some authorities—a serpent, if we may credit +others—was a peculiarly objectionable creation, +not of nature, but of man. Like all such +creatures, it is extremely difficult to get a very +definite idea of it, since imagination has run +rampant in dealing with it. It was but twelve +fingers’ breadth long, according to some writers; +this we may take to mean some eight or nine +inches long,⁠<a id="FNanchor_102" href="#Footnote_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> but, unfortunately, its powers of +mischief were out of all proportion to its size. +It wore a diadem upon its head, as a sign of its +kingship over all other serpents, and its poison +was death without remedy. Pliny, however, +shall be allowed to describe the venomous little +monster in his own way, as he does so with a +vivid force that it is impossible to surpass:—“With +his hies he driveth away other serpents; +he moveth his body forward not by multiplied +windings like other serpents, but he goeth with +half his body upright and aloft from the ground; +he killeth all shrubs not only that he toucheth, +but that he breatheth upon; he burns up herbs +and breaketh the stones, so great is his power +for mischief. It is received of a truth that one +of them being killed with a lance by a man +on horseback, the poison was so strong that it +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[266]</span>passed along the staff and destroyed both horse +and man.” Its touch caused the flesh to fall +from the bones of the animal with which it +came in contact, and even the glance of its +eye was death upon whomsoever it fell. It +will be remembered that Shakespeare refers to +this belief in the utterance of the Lady Ann in +response to Richard’s observation on her eyes—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Would that they were basilisk’s to strike thee dead.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">In 2 Henry VI. (act iii. sc. 6) the king exclaims,</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Come, basilisk, and kill the innocent gazer with thy sight,”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">—while in Henry V. (act iii. sc. 2) Queen Isabel +says—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Your eyes, which hitherto have borne in them</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Against the French, that met them in their bent</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The fatal balls of murthering basilisks.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Suffolk in cursing his enemies invokes against +them the deadly basilisk, while Gloster boasts +that he will “slay more gazers than the basilisk.” +Spenser in like manner mentions one who—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Secretly his enemies did slay</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like as the Basilisk, of serpent’s seede</div> + <div class="verse indent0">From powerful eyes close venim did convey</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Into the looker’s hart, and killed farre away.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The writer of the “Speculum Mundi” hath it +that “the Basilisk is the King of Serpents, not +for his magnitude nor greatnesse, but for his +stately pace and magnanimous minde.” Of this +magnanimity, however, he gives no illustration +or proof, but simply goes on to give the creature +as black a character as all other writers do. +“His eyes are red in a kinde of cloudy thicknesse, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[267]</span>as if fire were mixt with smoke. His poyson is a +very hot and venimous poyson, drying up and +scorching the grasse as if it were burned, infecting +the aire round about him, so as no other +creature can live near him. His hissing, likewise, +is said to be as bad, in regard that it blasteth +trees, killeth birds, &c., by poysoning of the +aire, and if anything be slaine by it the same +also proueth venimous to such as touch it,”—an +altogether unloving and unlovely brute. It +must be borne in mind that whilst we in this +nineteenth century simply regard such a creature +as a weird fancy, countless generations of mankind +have accepted the basilisk as a very grim +reality indeed, that might in all its fearful power +some day cross their paths.</p> + +<p>Even Sir Thomas Browne, who demolished in +his book so many common beliefs, is prepared to +accept the Basilisk, for while he declares that +“many opinions are passant concerning the +basilisk, or little King of Serpents, some affirming, +others denying, most doubting the relations +made thereof,” he, himself, adds “that such an +animal there is, if we evade not the testimony of +Scripture and humane writers, we cannot safely +deny.” For his Scriptural proofs he quotes +Psalm xci.: “Super aspidem et Basilicum +ambulabis,” and Jeremiah viii., ver. 17: “For +behold I will send serpents, cockatrices among +you, which will not be charmed, and they shall +bite you.” Many of the old writers we may +mention in passing, consider the basilisk and the +cockatrice the same creature. That by death-dealing +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[268]</span>glance a basilisk may empoison is not to +Browne a thing impossible, “for eies receive +offensive impressions from their objects, and +may have influences destructive to each other. +For the visible species of things strike not our +senses immaterially, but streaming in corporall +raies doe carry with them the qualities of the +object from whence they flow. Thus it is not +impossible what is affirmed of this animall; the +visible raies of their eies carrying forth the +subtilest portion of their poison, which, received +by the eie of man or beast, infecteth first the +brain, and is thence communicated to the heart.” +Again he says, “that deleterious it may be at +some distance, and destructive without corporall +contaction, there is no high improbability,” and +he proceeds, not by any means without thought +or shrewdness, to give reasons for his belief in +the possibility of such a thing. “For,” says he, +“if plagues or pestilentiall Atomes have been +conveyed in the air from different Regions, if +men at a distance have infected each other, if +the shaddowes of some trees be noxious, if +Torpedoes deliver their opinion at a distance +and stupifie beyond themselves, we cannot +reasonably deny that (besides our grosse and +restrained poisons requiring contiguity unto their +actions) there may proceed from subtiller seeds +more agile emanations, which contemn those +laws, and invade at distance unexpected.”</p> + +<p>The belief in the dragon was one of the articles +of faith of our ancestors. In another of our books, +“Symbolism in Christian Art,” we have dwelt +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[269]</span>at considerable length upon the various legends in +which the dragon figures, and the symbolic use +made of the monster as representative of the +evil principle that all are called upon to combat, +but our forefathers had a very real belief in the +veritable existence of the dragon, not by any +means regarding it as a symbol merely, a figure +of speech or apt allegory, but as one of the quite +definite perils that the adventurous traveller in +distant lands might be called upon to face,⁠<a id="FNanchor_103" href="#Footnote_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a> +while preparations of the dragon were a recognized +feature in the pharmacopœia. “Scale of +dragon, tooth of wolf,” and many other horrible +ingredients are found in the witches’ cauldron in +Macbeth.</p> + +<p>In a mediæval work we are told that “the +turning joint in the chine of a dragon doth +promise an easy and favourable access into the +presence of great lords.” One can only wonder +why this should be, all clue and thread of connection +between the two things being now so +hopelessly lost. We must not, however, forget +that, smile now as we may at this, there was a +time when our ancestors accepted the statement +with the fullest faith, and many a man who +would fain have pleaded his cause before king +or noble, bewailed with hearty regret his want +of draconic chine, the “turning-point” of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[270]</span>dragon and of his own fortunes. Another +valuable recipe runs as follows: “Take the +taile and head of a dragon, the haire growing +upon the forehead of a lion, with a little of his +marrow also, the froth, moreover, that a horse +fomethe at the mouth who hath woon the victorie +in running a race, and the nailes besides of a +dog’s feete; bind all these together with a piece +of leather made of red deer’s skin, with the +sinewes partly, of a stag, partly of a fallowe +deere, one with another; carry this about with +you, and it will work wonders.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_104" href="#Footnote_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> It seems almost +a pity that the actual benefits to be derived from +the possession of this compound are not more +clearly defined, as there is no doubt that a +considerable amount of trouble would be involved +in getting the various materials together, +and the zeal and ardour of the seeker after this +wonder-working composition would be somewhat +damped by doubt as to its actual utility. +Mediæval medicine-men surely must have been +somewhat chary of adopting the now familiar +legend of “prescriptions accurately dispensed” +when the onus of making up such a mixture +could be laid upon them.</p> + +<p>In spite of the familiarity with the appearance +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[271]</span>of the creature that the obtaining of its head and +tail would suggest, the various authorities differ +very widely in describing it. Some writers say +that dragons are of “a yellow fierie colour, +having sharp backs like saws,” and some tell +us that “their scales shine like silver.” Some +dragons are said to have wings and no feet, some +again have both feet and wings, others have neither +one nor the other, and are only distinguished +from the common sort of serpents by the combs +growing upon their heads. Father Pigafetta in +his book declares that “Mont Atlas hath plentie +of dragons, grosse of body, slow of motion, and +in by ting or touching incurably venomous. In +Congo is a kind of dragons like in bygnesse unto +rammes with wings, having long tayles and +divers jawes of teeth of blue and greene, painted +like scales, with two feete, and feede on rawe +fleshe.” John Leo, in his “History of Africa,” +says that the dragon is the progeny of the eagle +and wolf. Others affirm that it is generated +by the great heat of India, or springs from the +volcanoes of Ethiopia.</p> + +<p>After reading about almost every possible +variation of structure that is open to a dragon, +winged, serpentine, two-legged, four-legged, and +the like, it is rather quaint to find that Pliny +feels that there is a point after all where one +must draw the line. He says that “in Ethiopia +there are produced as great dragons as in India, +being twenty cubits long. But I chiefly wonder +at one thing: why Juba should think they were +crested.” This suggestion of the crass ignorance +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[272]</span>of Juba was certainly a little hard on him, as +when so very much was believed a crest was a +very little extra item to credit, besides as a +matter of fact dragons as such, Ethiopian or +otherwise, were often described by ancient +authorities as having this feature. It really +seems like accepting the sheeted spectre of the +country churchyard, and then growing sceptical +because its hollowed turnip head was still +crowned with a little of the foliage that rustic +haste or indifference to the verities had failed +to cut away.</p> + +<p>Aldrovandus, in his “History of Serpents and +Dragons,” published in 1640, goes very thoroughly +indeed into the subject.⁠<a id="FNanchor_105" href="#Footnote_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a> The work is in +folio size, and the portion devoted to the dragon +extends from pages 312 to 360. It must be +duly noted that Aldrovandus entirely accepts +the dragon as a reality; that this is so is obvious +from his dealing with it in this volume instead +of placing it in his “Historia Monstrorum.” +The book is written in Latin, and amongst the +various sections concerning the dragon we find +Differentiæ, Forma et Descriptio, Mores, Locus, +Antipathia (unlike most other creatures treated +by the old author, his vindictive savagely forbids +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_273"></a><a id="Page_274"></a>[274]</span>the usual chapter on Sympathia), and Usus in +Medicina. <a href="#figure19">Fig. 19</a> is one of the draconic +forms illustrated in the book; the varieties +given are very numerous, and of widely differing +nature.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="figure19" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure19.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 19.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Our ancestors used always to prescribe divers +kinds of herb-teas to be drunk in the Spring-time, +and it is a curious example of instinct in a reptile +that the dragon likewise, whom he feels at this +season of the year a certain loathing of meat, +physics himself into rude health again with the +juice of the wild lettuce. Many animals have, or +at all events had, if we may credit the wisdom +of our forefathers, considerable faith in the +medicinal value of herbs. Thus pigeons and +blackbirds when suffering from loss of appetite +eat bay leaves as a tonic. The bay leaf, too, was +a most valuable thing for internal application +against the poison of the chameleon, though the +elephant when he had inadvertently swallowed +one of these creatures, a mistake that seems to +have not unfrequently happened, probably from +the resemblance in colour of the reptile to the +foliage amongst which he was ensconced, pinned +his faith in the wild olive leaf.</p> + +<p>As the toad, ugly and venomous, bore yet +in popular belief a precious jewel in its head, +so we find in the writings of various authorities +a belief that the still uglier and more venomous +dragon bore in like manner the lustrous carbuncle. +Jordanus tells us, for example, that in +India the dragons that there abound are thus +gifted, a fact that the natives turn to their +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[275]</span>advantage. “These dragons,” he declares, +“grow exceeding big, and cast forth from the +mouth a most infectious breath, like the thickest +smoke rising from fire. These animals come +together at the destined time, develop wings, +and begin to raise themselves in the air, and +then, by the judgment of God, being too heavy, +they drop into a certain river which issues from +Paradise, and perish there. But all the regions +round about watch for the time of the dragons, +and when they see that one has fallen they wait +for seventy days, and then go down and find the +bare bones of the dragon, and take the carbuncle +which is rooted in the top of his head.”</p> + +<p>Even the dragon, however, may not be quite +so black as he is painted, for we read in one old +author of a child in Arcadia that had a dragon +for its playmate. There was much affection +between them, but presently a considerable +dread of the dragon’s powers gained possession +of the boy, and he compassed the brilliant idea +of beguiling his companion well out into the +desert and then slipping away. In the very +consummation of this plan a new danger arose, +as the stripling found himself in an ambush of +robbers, whereupon he was only too thankful to +call out to his discarded playmate, who immediately +came to the rescue and very effectually +scattered his despoilers. At this point the +history unfortunately stops, but we may perhaps +conclude that it follows on the lines of most +stories of the affections, and that “they lived +happy ever after.” However this may be, it is a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[276]</span>charming narrative, and opens out quite a new +trait of dragon disposition.</p> + +<p>Amongst the many strange creatures that were +held to inhabit Ethiopia, the griffins were perhaps +the most conspicuous amidst the weird +fauna of that marvellous land. “Some men +seyn,” and Maundevile in his quaint book of +travels fully endorses the idea, “that Griffounes +han the Body upward as an Egle and benethe as +a Lyoun and treuly thei ben of that schapp. But +a Griffoun hathe the body more gret and is more +strong thanne eight Lyouns and more gret and +stronger than an hundred Egles such as we han +amonge us. For a Griffoun ther wil bere, fleynge +to his Nest, a gret Hors or two Oxen yoked +togidere as thei gon at the Plowghe.”</p> + +<p>Chaucer, in the “Canterbury Tales,” says of +one of his characters:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Blake was his berd, and manly was his face,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The cercles of his eyen in his hed</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They gloweden betwixten yelwe and red,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And like a griffon loked he about.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Ctesias describes the griffin in all sober +earnestness as a bird with four feet of the size +of a wolf, and having the legs and claws of a +lion, their feathers being red upon the breast +and black on the rest of the body. Glanvil says +of it: “the claws of a griffin are so large and +ample that he can seize an armed man as easily +by the body as a hawk a little bird.” The griffin +is often met with in heraldry past and present, +either as a crest, charge, or supporter of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[277]</span>arms. A very familiar example of its employment +in the latter service may be seen in the +arms of the City of London, or exalted on lofty +pedestal, where, in lieu of Temple Bar, it marks +the westward civic boundary. Shakespeare, +Milton, and others of our poets and writers, +refer to the griffin.</p> + +<p>Anyone reading the herbals of Gerard, Parkinson, +and others, or the various medical books of +the Middle Ages, will scarcely have failed to +notice how frequently reference is made to the +scorpion. In these later days a man might well +journey from John o’ Groats to the Land’s End, +and run no peril of an encounter, but in the +earlier times we have referred to, the sting +of the scorpion was a very present dread, and +numerous remedies for it were devised. The +beautiful blue forget-me-not of our streams is in +all herbals and floras till the beginning of this century +called the scorpion-grass,⁠<a id="FNanchor_106" href="#Footnote_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a> from its supposed +virtue as a cure, a remedy that was supposed to +be sufficiently indicated from its head of flowers +and buds being rolled round into some more or +less satisfactory resemblance to a scorpion’s tail. +Cogan, in his “Haven of Health,” tells how “a +certaine Italian, by often smelling the Basill, had +a scorpion bred in his braine, and after vehement +and long paines he died therof.”</p> + +<p>In the “Newe Iewell of Health, gathered out +of the best and most approved Authors by that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[278]</span>excellent Doctor Gesnerus,”⁠<a id="FNanchor_107" href="#Footnote_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> we find some +extraordinary preparations. Most of these are +of a botanical nature, but we also have “Oyle +holy⁠<a id="FNanchor_108" href="#Footnote_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a> prepared out of dead men’s bones, Oyle or +distilled lycour gotten out of the Gray, Oyle +marveylous gotten out of the Beuer, Oyle of +frogges ryght profitable to such as are payned of +ye gout, Oyle of antes egges,” and many other +strange remedies for the ills that the flesh is heir +to. Among them, a forerunner of the ideas of +Hahnemann, and the notion of like curing like, +we find “Oyle of Scorpion’s distilled against +Poysons.” Apropos of the oil from dead men’s +bones, we may point out the special charm that +our ancestors seemed to find in anything associated +with the charnel house—thus one favourite +remedy was the moss that grew on a dead man’s +skull, another was a pill compounded from the +brains of a man that had been hanged; powder of +mummy in like manner was in high repute, and +to those who found pill or powder too nauseous +a draught of spring water from the skull of a +murdered man was at once refreshing and health-giving. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[279]</span>The following recipe⁠<a id="FNanchor_109" href="#Footnote_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a> for the cure of a +wound seems to show that our forefathers had no +great fear of blood poisoning: “Take of the +moss of the skull of a strangled man two ounces, +of the mumia of man’s blood one ounce and +a halfe, of earth wormes washed in water or +wine and dryed, one ounce and a halfe, of the +fatte of a Boare two drams, of oyle of Turpintine +two drams: pound them and keepe them in a +longe narrow pott, and dippe into the oyntment +the yron or wood, or some sallowe sticke made +wet with blood in opening the wound.” The +medicine and surgery of the Middle Ages must +have been a powerful influence in checking +redundance of population.</p> + +<p>Toads were in great repute in sickness. “In +time of common contagion,” writes Sir Kenelm +Digby in 1660, “men use to carry about with +them the powder of a toad, and sometimes a +living toad or spider⁠<a id="FNanchor_110" href="#Footnote_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a> shut up in a box, which +draws the contagious air, which otherwise would +infect the party,” and many other illustrations of +their employment as preventives or remedies +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[280]</span>might be given. The spider and the toad seem +to have been each regarded as most venomous +creatures, and in many of the old remedies one +or other of them at will are recommended, either +alternative being regarded as equally efficacious; +thus for whooping cough, if one cannot find a +toad to thrust up the chimney, two spiders in a +walnut shell will serve equally well.</p> + +<p>There was held to be mortal antipathy between +the toad and the spider, and the result of a +meeting between them was a conflict fatal to +one or both of the antagonists. The <i>Aster +Tripolium</i>, a well-known English wild plant, was +originally called the toad-wort. “When a spider +stings a toad, and the toad is becoming vanquished, +and the spider stings it thickly and +frequently, and the toad cannot avenge itself, +it bursts assunder,” at least, the author of the +“Ortus Sanitatis” says it does, but whether this +arises from venom or from vexation he does not +explain. “If such a burst toad be near the +toad-wort, it chews it and becomes sound again; +but if it happens that the wounded toad cannot +get to the plant, another toad fetches it and gives +it to the wounded one.” Topsell, in his “Natural +History,” vouches for this having been actually +witnessed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[281]</span></p> + +<p>That the skin of the toad gives forth an acrid +secretion which serves the creature as a defence is +established beyond doubt, but its hurtful properties +have been greatly exaggerated. Dryden +refers to the lady “who squeezed a toad into +her husband’s wine,” the inference being she was +in heart murderous. Spenser makes Envy ride +upon a wolf and chew “between his cankred +teeth a venomous tode,” while Diodorus declares +that toads were generated by the heat of the +sun from the dead bodies of ducks putrefying in +mud.⁠<a id="FNanchor_111" href="#Footnote_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a></p> + +<p>Lily, in his “Euphues,” declares that “the +foule toade hath a faire stone in his head,” an +idea that Shakespeare has immortalized in the +beautiful lines that remind us how:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Sweet are the uses of adversity,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Yet wears a precious jewel in its head.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The crapaudine, or toad-stone, is of a dull +brown colour. It was believed to possess +sovereign virtue against poison from its changing +colour when in the presence of any noxious +thing: hence it was often worn as a protection +in finger rings. <a href="#figure20">Figs. 20 and 21</a> are good examples +of this use. They are both from rings in the +Londesborough collection. The belief in the +virtues of the toad-stone was not only popular in +England, but was one of the fallacies accepted +throughout Europe. Though the stone is well-known +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[282]</span>to geologists as a variety of trap-rock, +the accepted belief was that it was found only in +the head of the toad. Fenton, writing in 1569, +affirms that “there is found in the heads of old +and great toads a stone which they call borax or +stelon,” and Lupton, some fifty years afterwards, +writes: “the crepaudia or toad-stone is very +valuable, touching any part envenomed by the bite +of a rat, wasp, spider, or other poisonous beast +it ceases the pain and swelling thereof.” Ben +Jonson also refers to it in his play of “The Fox.” +Albertus Magnus, writing about 1275, adds the +great wonder that this stone when taken out of +the creature’s head has the figure of a toad upon +it, while others declare that the stone itself is of +the form of a toad. It is a treasure not easily to +be procured, for the toad “envieth much that +man should haue that stone,” declares Lupton, +the author of “A Thousand Notable Things,” +hence it was very necessary to beware of useless +counterfeits, and this old writer gives us a ready +means of detecting them. “To know,” says he, +“whether the toad-stone called crepaudia be the +righte and perfect stone or not, holde the stone +before a toad so that he may see it, and if it be a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[283]</span>right and true stone the toad will leap towards it, +and make as though he would snatch it from +you,” a proceeding that must have required a +considerable amount of nerve on the part of +anyone duly impressed with the fear of the +deadly venom of the creature.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="figure20" style="max-width: 12.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure20.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 20.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp93" id="figure21" style="max-width: 12.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure21.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 21.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The same ancient authority on the subject +very obligingly gives “a rare good way to get +the stone out of the toad.” It suffices to “put +a great or overgrown toad, first bruised in divers +places, into an earthen pot: put the same into +an ant’s hillocke, and cover the same with earth, +which toad at length the ants will eat, so that the +bones of the toad and stone will be left in the +pot.” This certainly seems simplicity itself, but, +unfortunately, most authorities agree in saying +that the stone, to have any real virtue, should be +obtained while the creature is yet alive. Porta +has his doubts on the whole matter, nevertheless +he gives some hints that might be of value to +those of greater faith. “There is a stone,” he +says, “called Chelonites—the French name it +Crapodina, which they report to be found in the +head of a great old Toad; and if it can be gotten +from him while he is alive, it is soveraign against +poyson. They say it is taken from living toads +in a red cloth, in which colour they are much +delighted; for while they sport themselves upon +the scarlet the stone droppeth out of their head +and falleth through a hole made in the middle +into a box set under for the purpose, else they +will suck it up again. But I never met with a +faithfull person who said that he had found it: +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[284]</span>nor could I ever find one, though I have cut up +many. Nevertheless, I will affirm this for truth +that those stones which are pretended to be +taken out of Toads are minerals. But the value +is certain: if any swallow it down with poyson it +will preserve him from the malignity of it, for it +runneth about with the poyson and asswageth +the power of it that it becometh vain and of +no force.” Boethius tells us how he watched +throughout a whole night an old toad that he +had placed on a piece of scarlet cloth, but is +obliged to confess that nothing occurred to +“gratify the great pangs of his whole night’s +restlessness,” as the toad entirely declined to +be lured into any frivolities that might cause +him the loss of his precious jewel.</p> + +<p>Browne, in his exposure of the various popular +errors current in his time, presently arrives at +this belief, but finds himself unable to express +any very definite opinion, and takes refuge in +compromise. “As for the stone,” quoth he, +“commonly called a Toad-stone, which is presumed +to be found in the head of that animall, +we first conceive it not a thing impossible, nor +is there any substantiall reason why in a Toad +there may not be found such hard and lapideous +concretions; for the like we daily observe in the +heads of Fishes, as Codds, Carps, and Pearches. +Though it be not impossible, yet it is surely very +rare, as we are induced to believe from inquiry +of our own; from the triall of many who have +been deceived and the frustrated search of +Porta, who, upon the explorement of many, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[285]</span>could scarce finde one.⁠<a id="FNanchor_112" href="#Footnote_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a> Nor is it only of +rarity, but may be doubted whether it be of +existency, or really any such stone in the head +of a Toad at all. For though Lapidaries and +questonary enquires affirm it, yet the writers of +Mineralls and natural speculators are of another +belief, conceiving the stones which bear this +name to be a Minerall concretion, not to be +found in animalls but in fields. What therefore +best reconcileth these divided determinations +may be a middle opinion; that of these stones +some are minerall and to be found in the earth; +some animall, to be met with in Toads, at least +by the induration of their cranies. The first are +many and manifold, to be found in Germany⁠<a id="FNanchor_113" href="#Footnote_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a> and +other parts, the last are fewer in number, and in +substance not unlike the stones in Carps’ heads. +This is agreeable unto the determination of +Aldrovandus, and is also the judgment of the +learned Spigelius in his Epistle unto Pignorius.” +If only a toad with an indurated cranium could +be discovered, everything would fall into its +right place!</p> + +<p>Through the Middle Ages men believed that +the toad exercised the power of fascination not +only upon its insect prey, but upon all other +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[286]</span>creatures, including man himself, and even so +far back as the days of the classical writers it +was a fully accepted belief that whosoever had +the misfortune to be looked squarely in the eyes +by a toad would find that, basilisk-like, the gaze +to him meant death.</p> + +<p>The belief that the crocodile shed tears over +his prey is a very ancient one; various motives +have been assigned for this grief, but the +generally accepted belief is that the whole +proceeding is a fraud, perpetrated with the +idea of attracting sympathetic passers-by within +reach of his formidable jaws; hence he has been +accepted as a symbol of dissimulation. We get +an excellent illustration of this in Shakespeare’s +King Henry VIII., where Henry is said by +Queen Margaret to be—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Too full of foolish pity; and Gloster’s show</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Beguiles him, as the mournful crocodile</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With sorrow snares relenting passengers.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_114" href="#Footnote_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Spenser, in the Faerie Queene,⁠<a id="FNanchor_115" href="#Footnote_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a> deals equally +clearly and explicitly with the same fancy in the +lines—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“As when a wearie traveiler, that strayes</div> + <div class="verse indent0">By muddy shore of broad seven-mouthed Nile,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Unweeting of the perillous wandring wayes,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Doth meete a cruell craftie Crocodile,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Which in false grefe hyding his harmefull guile,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Doth weepe full sore, and sheddeth tender teares;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The foolish man, that pities all this while</div> + <div class="verse indent0">His mournful plight, is swallowed up unawares,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Forgetfull of his owne that mindes an other’s cares.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>“Thereupon,” ungallantly adds an old writer, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[287]</span>“came this proverb that is applied unto women +when they weep. Lachrymæ Crocodili, the +meaning whereof is, that as the Crocodile when +he crieth goeth about most to deceive, so doth +a woman most commonly when she weepeth.” +Thus Othello misanthropically exclaims—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“If that the earth could teem with woman’s tears,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>In the same spirit Barnfield, in his “Cassandra,” +written in the year 1595, has the following +passage:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“He, noble lord, fearlesse of hidden treason,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Sweetely salutes this weeping Crocodile;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Excusing every cause with instant reason</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They kept him from her sight so long a while;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">She faintly pardons him; smiling by art,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For life was in her lookes, death in her hart.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The author of the “Speculum Mundi,” who is +ever seeking a moral⁠<a id="FNanchor_116" href="#Footnote_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a> or an opportunity of +improving the occasion, declares that “the +crocodile when he hath devoured a man and +eaten all up but the head, will sit and weep +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[288]</span>over it⁠<a id="FNanchor_117" href="#Footnote_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a> as if he expressed a great portion of +sorrow for his cruel feast, but it is nothing so, +for when he weeps it is because his hungrie +paunch wants such another prey. And from +hence the proverb took beginning, viz. Crocodiles’ +tears; which is then verified when one +weeps cunningly without sorrow, dissembling +heaviness out of craftinesse; like unto many +rich men’s heirs who mourn in their gowns +when they laugh in their sleeves; or like to +other dissemblers of the like nature who have +sorrow in their eyes, but joy and craftiness in +their hearts.” However this may be, the supposititious +tears of the crocodile have been +turned to abundant literary and moral account. +The tears of the crocodile were supposed, +according to some who were great authorities +in their day and generation, to crystallize into +gems, but as supposititious tears could only produce +supposititious gems the actual value would +be but small.</p> + +<p>In an early Bestiary it states that “if a +crocodile comes across a man it kills him, but +it remains inconsolable the rest of its life;” but +why it suffers this life-long remorse we are not +told. This old writer also tells us of the hydra, +“a very wise animal who understands well how +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[289]</span>to injure the crocodile.” The <i>modus operandi</i> +is very simple, and the injury inflicted seems +beyond question:—“When the hydra sees the +crocodile go to sleep it covers itself over with +slimy mud, and wriggles itself into the crocodile’s +mouth, penetrates into its stomach, and then +tears it assunder.” The dolphin appears to be +another foe to be by no means despised. Pliny +tells us that when these desire to pass up the +Nile the crocodiles, who regard the river as +their peculiar preserve, greatly resent their +presence, and endeavour to drive them back. +As the dolphins fully realize that they are no +match for their foes in fair fight, they take refuge +in their superior activity and craft, and having +a dorsal fin as sharp edged as a knife, they +swim swiftly beneath the crocodiles, and as +the under portion of these creatures is unprotected +by the armour that is so conspicuous +on the upper parts of their bodies, with one +sharp gash they rip the crocodile completely +open.</p> + +<p>It was a Greek superstition that beneath the +visible exterior of the seal was concealed a +woman, and that when a swimmer ventured too +far he ran great risk of being seized by a seal +and strangled. The creature then carried the +lifeless body to some desert shore and wept +over it, from which arose the popular saying +that when a woman shed false tears she cried +like a seal. As the desert shore implies absence +of spectators, it seems difficult to tell what +authority there is for the statement as to what +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[290]</span>went on there, and even when this initial +difficulty is overcome it seems equally impossible +to suggest any satisfactory reason for +the gruesome proceedings of this weird woman-seal +or seal-woman, either in the preliminary +murderous attack or the subsequent lamentation. +Whatever strange idea may have originally +started the story, it is a curious parallel to that +of the weeping crocodile.</p> + +<p>The salamander received its full mythical +development in mediæval days, though the +older writers refer to it occasionally, and we +note in the writings of such men as Pliny the +first steps taken towards the erection of that +fabric of fancy and superstition that later on +became so conspicuous. The ancients asserted +that the salamander was never seen in bright +weather, but only made its appearance during +heavy rain, and that it was of so frigid a nature +that if it did but touch fire it quenched it as +completely as if ice were piled thereon. It was, +moreover, declared to be so venomous that the +mere climbing of a tree by the animal is amply +sufficient to poison all the fruit, so that those +who afterwards eat thereof perished without +remedy, and that if it entered a river the stream +was so effectually poisoned that all who drank +thereof must die. Glanvil, an English writer +in the thirteenth century, roundly declares as +historic fact that four thousand men and two +thousand horses of the army of Alexander the +Great were killed by drinking from a stream that +had been thus infected.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[291]</span></p> + +<p>It was in the Middle Ages an article of faith +that the salamander was bred and nourished in +fire,⁠<a id="FNanchor_118" href="#Footnote_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a> hence when the creature is represented it +is always placed in the midst of flames. Our +illustration, <a href="#figure22">fig. 22</a>, from Porta, is a fair typical +example. How the creature should be nourished +in the flames, while its mere contact with them +suffices to extinguish them, seems a practical +difficulty, but the contradiction of ideas does not +seem to have troubled our forefathers, and the +two mutually destructive statements rest side +by side equally unquestioned in the writings of +all the authorities. Pliny, having his doubts, +thrust a salamander into the fire, and the +unfortunate victim of science was quickly +shrivelled up and consumed.⁠<a id="FNanchor_119" href="#Footnote_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a> One would +have thought that this crucial test of actual +experiment would have settled the whole +matter, and reduced the fire-extinguishing theory +to oblivion, but it takes much more than that to +kill an old and well-established belief, as we may +see even in our own day where many superstitions +still flourish in spite of common sense, +education, and experience arrayed against them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[292]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp42" id="figure22" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure22.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 22.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>De Thaun in his “Bestiary” declares that +“the Salamander is of such a nature that if it +come by chance where there shall be burning +fire it shall at once extinguish it. The beast is +so cold and of such a quality that fire will not +be able to burn where it shall enter, nor will +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[293]</span>trouble happen where it shall be.” This latter +statement is entirely at variance with the +general belief in its deadliness, but all these +statements are dwelt on, exaggerated, or suppressed, +as occasion and the moral to be deduced +requires. As in this particular case the pious +writer desired to see in the creature an emblem +of Azarias, Ananias and Misael praising God +without hurt in the fiery furnace, any reference +to its noxious properties was clearly out of +place, and on the strength of this association +it even receives a somewhat negative form of +commendation on its virtues as a peace-producer. +This we are bound to say is the only good word +we have ever seen ascribed by any of the writers +of the past to this unfortunate creature, and it +beyond doubt only receives even this solitary +commendation because the exigencies of what +the old writers thought the greater truth +appeared to call for it.</p> + +<p>Asbestos was, from its incombustible property, +long held to be the wool of the salamander. In +the Middle Ages popular imagination was greatly +exercised over a mysterious Ruler in the East +known as Prester John. He was held to be a +Christian, and to bear sway in Asia over a widely-extended +empire, but the stories of returning +travellers showed that the idea had no foundation +in fact, and the scene of the monarchy was then +shifted to Abyssinia. The first reference to this +sovereign would appear to be in the Chronicle of +one Otto of Freisingin, who wrote about the +middle of the twelfth century, and afterwards +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[294]</span>allusions to this mysterious monarch frequently +recur. In the Chronicle of Albericus, about a +hundred years later than that of Otto, we read +that “Presbyter Joannes sent his wonderful +letter to various Christian princes, and especially +to Manuel of Constantinople, and Frederic, the +Roman Emperor.” In this letter, a very lengthy +one, he claims to be Lord of Lords, and to +receive the tribute and homage of seventy-two +kings. “In the three Indies,” saith he, “our +Magnificence rules, and our land extends beyond +India: it reaches toward the sunrise over the +wastes, and it trends towards deserted Babylon, +near the Tower of Babel.” Whatever of +credence, much or little, we may give to this +letter, it is at least interesting to us as showing +the set of opinion on, amongst other matters, +things zoological, and therefore comes within the +scope of our book. He gives many details as to +the plants, the gold, and precious stones, and so +forth, and also states that “our land is the home +of elephants, dromedaries, camels, crocodiles, +metacollinarum, cammetennus, tensevetes, white +and red lions, white bears, crickets, griffins, +lamias, wild horses, wild men, men with horns, +one-eyed, men with eyes before and behind, +centaurs, fauns, satyrs, and pygmies; it is the +home, too, of the phœnix, and of nearly all +living animals. In one of our lands, hight +Zone, are worms called in our tongue salamanders. +These worms can only live in fire, and +they build cocoons like silkworms, which are +unwound by the ladies of our palace and spun +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[295]</span>into cloth and dresses, which are worn by our +Exaltedness. These dresses, when we would +wash them and clean, are cast into flames.” +Browne, in his exposure of vulgar errors, gravely +denies the existence of wool on a salamander at +all, truly pointing out that “it is a kinde of +Lizard, a quadruped corticated and depilous, that +is, without woolle, furre, or haire,” an altogether +hopeless animal to shear.</p> + +<p>Porta mentions that some peculiar creatures +called “Pyragones be generated in the fire: +certain little flying beasts so called because they +live and are nourished in the fire, and yet they +fly up and down in the air. This is strange; but +that is more strange, that as soon as ever they +come out of the fire into any cold air presently +they die.” Porta of course uses the word +presently in the older sense of at this present +moment, so that it really is, as he says, a wonder +that these creatures are able to fly about in the +air, when its effect upon them is immediate death. +We have ourselves been gravely told that if the +fires at the great iron-works in the Midland +Counties were not occasionally extinguished an +uncertain but fearful something would be generated +in them, and it seems only natural that after +the imagination has peopled earth and sea with +strange monsters, and placed in the upper regions +of the air the paradise-birds and other creatures +that derived all needful sustenance from that +element alone, that the remaining element, fire, +should also have its peculiar inhabitants and +monsters.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[296]</span></p> + +<p>The chamæleon was for centuries supposed to +live only on air, while its property of changing +colour under the influence of its surroundings +was greatly exaggerated.</p> + +<p>Shakespeare, the great storehouse of mediæval +folk-lore, makes Speed, in the Two Gentlemen +of Verona, exclaim:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Tho’ the chamæleon Love can live on the air,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I’m one that am nourish’d by my victuals,”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">while Gloster, in King Henry VI., boasts that +he could “add colours to the chamæleon.”</p> + +<p>Gower, in like manner, asserts that vainglory +is</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Lich unto the Camelion</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Whiche upon every sondry hewe</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That he beholt he mote newe</div> + <div class="verse indent0">His colour.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Hence, again, other moralists declare that men +and women inconstant and fickle are like unto +chamæleons.</p> + +<p>It has been asserted by Avicenna that a +decoction of chamæleon put into a bath will +make him green-coloured that stayeth long +therein, but that by degrees this verdant hue +will pass away, and the man recover his natural +colour, while Porta declares that “with the +Gall of a Chamæleon cut into water Wheezles +will be called together.” Why anyone should +want to call a wheezle together he does not +explain, so that the receipt, simple as it is, seems +to be of no great practical value.</p> + +<p>It has been rather a disgusting belief that if a +man will lick a lizard all over he will not only be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[297]</span>safe from the personal inconvenience of having a +lizard go down his throat some day when he +might be sleeping in the fields, but that he will +have the power henceforward of healing any sore +to which he applies his tongue.</p> + +<p>Our ancestors held many strange beliefs respecting +serpents and snakes—one of these was +they were created from hair, “women’s hairs +especially”—as one old writer is careful to +emphasize—“because they are naturally longer +than men’s.” One old authority, our oft-quoted +Porta, hesitates not to say that “we have +experienced also that the hairs of a horse’s mane +laid in the waters become serpents, and our +friends have tried the same,” and he goes on to +mention as a truism to be almost apologized for +from its self-evident character, that “no man +denies but that serpents are easily gendred of +man’s flesh, specially of his marrow.” Ælianus +in like manner declares that a dead man’s marrow, +being putrified, becomes a serpent. Florentinus +affirms that basil chewed and laid in the sun will +engender serpents.⁠<a id="FNanchor_120" href="#Footnote_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a></p> + +<p>Another strange idea was that serpents conferred +the power of invisibility. Thus John +Aubrey, an antiquary and author, and one of the +earliest Fellows of the Royal Society, gives in +full faith the following recipe: “Take on Midsummer +night at xii, when all the planets are +above the earth, a serpent, and kill him, and +skinne him, and dry him in the shade, and bring +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[298]</span>it to a powder. Hold it in your hand, and you +will be invisible.” His book entitled “Remaines +of Gentilisme and Judaisme” is a perfect storehouse +of old-world superstitions, an inexhaustible +mine of quaint imaginings.</p> + +<p>The “pretious stone” theory that we have +already encountered in one or two other cases, +the toad being the most notable, is in full force +again amongst the various strange notions concerning +serpents. The recipe for its possession, +given by Jacobus Hollerius, is simplicity itself, as +it is merely necessary that the “snake be tyed +by the tayle with a corde, and hanged up, and a +vessell full of water set below; after a certayne +time he will avoyde out of his mouth a stone.” +The stone is of great medicinal value; for instance, +“it fullye and wholelye helpes the partye that +hath the dropsye,” by merely being attached to +the body of the sufferer, and in divers other ways +that we need not stay to particularize, proves itself +a stone of price. Jordanus, amongst his other +Indian experiences, came across serpents with +horns, evidently the cerastes or horned viper, +and others with precious stones. Tennant tells +us that the Cingalese believe that the stomach of +the cobra contains a stone of inestimable value, +and this belief, absurd as we deem it, is really +hardly more far-fetched than such a story as pearls +being found in oyster-shells would appear to a +man who heard it for the first time.</p> + +<p>Snakes and serpents, like most other repulsive +things, have found their way into the pharmacopœia +and the menu. Galen tells us that the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[299]</span>Egyptians used to eat vipers as other people did +eels, and it is a very old-world superstition that +viper’s flesh is an antidote to the viper’s poison. +In classic and mediæval days a famous remedy, +originally known as mithridate or theriaca, and +later on as Venice treacle, was held to owe much +of its virtue as a vermifuge and antidote to all +kinds of poison to the vipers that formed one of +its ingredients. It was retained in the London +Pharmacopœia until about a hundred years ago. +Its constituent parts changed somewhat from time +to time; at one period we see it contained seventy-three +ingredients. The vipers were added to the +horrible mess by Andromachus, the physician to +the Emperor Nero,⁠<a id="FNanchor_121" href="#Footnote_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a> and became a leading element +in the prescription. The name treacle was at one +time applied to any confection or syrup, and it +is only in these latter days that the name has +become associated exclusively with the syrup of +molasses: it is derived from the Greek Therion, +a name given to the viper, so that the schoolboys’ +lunch of bread and treacle is the direct etymological +outcome of the abominable adder’s broth +of the Roman emperor.⁠<a id="FNanchor_122" href="#Footnote_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[300]</span></p> + +<p>One often sees in these ancient remedies a +foreshadowing of the homœopathic notion of like +to like; thus Porta prescribes “a present +remedy” for the poison of the viper, declaring +that “the viper itself, if you slay her, and strip +off her skin, cut off her head and tail, cast away +all her entrails, boil her like an Eele, and give +her to one that she hath bitten, it will cure him,” +but in another place he says “for serpent’s bites +I have found nothing more excellent than the +earth which is brought from the isle of Malta, +for the least dust of it put into their mouths kills +them presently.” There is evidently here some +sort of connection endeavoured to be established +between the escape of St. Paul while in Malta +from the evil effects of the poison of a viper and +this present prescription, and it no doubt arose +from the old legend that, like St. Patrick in +Ireland, St. Paul, after his experience of them, +banished all snakes from the island. Once +granted that a serpent cannot live on the soil +of Malta, it follows almost as a matter of course +that a little of this same soil administered to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[301]</span>it anywhere the wide world over will prove +fatal to it. The recipe is, nevertheless, a little +vague, as it deals exclusively with the destruction +of the serpent, which is not at all the same thing +as the restoration to health of the sufferer from +its poison fangs.</p> + +<p>Prevention being better than cure, the hint +that Cogan gives in his “Haven of Health” +should prove of value. “The setting of Lauender +within the house in floure pots must needes +be very wholesome, for it driueth away venemous +wormes, both by strawing and by the sauour of +it,” and he adds that “being drunke in wine it is +a remedie against poyson.” Tusser, in his book +on Husbandry, gives a long list of “strowing +herbes,” their fragrance and remedial value being +held in high esteem by our forefathers:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“No daintie flowre or herbe that growes on grownd,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">No arborett with painted blossoms drest,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And smelling sweete, but there it might be fownd</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To bud out faire, and throwe her sweet smels al around.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_123" href="#Footnote_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The bunches of flowers that are still presented +to the Judges on the opening of the Law Courts +are the graceful and now happily needless developments +of the bunches of herbs that were +once placed on their desks to avert the dangers +of the gaol fever, that with its noxious breath +slew not the hapless prisoners alone, but the +judges on the bench, and administered wild +justice on all alike for the contempt of sanitary +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[302]</span>laws, and for the brutality that was rampant and +supreme.⁠<a id="FNanchor_124" href="#Footnote_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a></p> + +<p>Fennel was, according to our forefathers, held +in esteem by the serpents themselves, and one +scarcely wonders that this should be so, if it be +true that “so soone as they taste of it they +become young again, and with the juice thereof +repair their sight.” How this juice is applied +externally by the serpent is not explained, but it +very naturally suggested the idea to the medical +men of the Middle Ages that what was so good +for serpents might prove equally valuable to +suffering humanity, hence “to repair a man’s +sight that is dim” nothing better than fennel +could be found, though they hesitated to promise +also to the human subject rejuvenescence.</p> + +<p>The Syrians, according to one venerable +authority, had a most singular defence for their +country, the land being full of snakes that would +do no harm to the natives even if they trod upon +them, but which eagerly assailed the people of +any other nation and destroyed them. Naturally +therefore the Syrians cherished such a valuable +protection, though such a state of things would +hardly accord with modern notions of free trade +and the intercourse of nations. The discovery +of one wonder frequently leads to knowledge of +others, and Aristotle has a companion story in his +“History of Animals,” of scorpions that in Caria +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[303]</span>sting to death the natives of the country, but do +no harm to strangers. In like manner, according +to Maundevile, in the island called Silha, wherever +that may be, “the men of that yle seen +comonely that the Serpentes and the wilde +Bestes of that Countree nee will not don non +harm, ne touchen with evylle, no strange man +that entreth into that Contree, but only to men +that ben born of the same Countree.” This +differential treatment seems distinctly hard on +the aborigines.⁠<a id="FNanchor_125" href="#Footnote_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a></p> + +<p>“It is observable,” quoth the author of the +“Miracles of Art and Nature,” that “in Crete +there is bred no Serpents or Venomous Beasts +or Worms, Ravenous or hurtful Creatures, so +their Sheep graze very securely without any +Shepheard; yet if a Woman happen to bite a +Man anything hard he will hardly be cured of it,” +a statement which brings forth the very natural +conclusion that “if this be true, then the last +part of the Priviledge foregoing (of breeding no +hurtful Creature) must needs be false.”</p> + +<p>Amongst various familiar country beliefs +lasting even to the present day is the one +summed up in the well-known expression, “deaf +as an adder.” It has for centuries been an +accepted belief that the adder lays one ear upon +the ground, and closes the other with its tail, and +it doubtless has its origin in that passage in the +psalms of David where it states that “the deaf +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[304]</span>adder stoppeth her ears, and will not heed the +voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely,” +and we meet with this idea over and over again +in our own literature. Thus Shakespeare writes +in King Henry VI.—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“What! art thou, like the adder, waxen deaf?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Be poisonous too.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">And, again, in his Troilus and Cressida we find +the passage—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Pleasure and revenge have ears more deaf than adders.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">In Orlando Furioso, too, we find an interesting +reference to the old fancy:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“He flies me now, nor more attends my pain</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Than the deaf adder heeds the charmer’s strain.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Many varieties of serpents were known to the +ancients, and some of them, as the Cerastes, are +quite recognizable from the descriptions given, +but of others we have no means of identification. +The two-headed Amphisbæna, for example, that +was credited with such venomous malignity that +nothing but twice the normal power of offence +sufficed for its deadly attack. The Amphisbæna +was an article of faith with Nicander, who +was the first to introduce it to the scientific +world of his name, and it is referred to by Galen, +Pliny, Ælian, and many other ancient writers, +who gravely describe this especially objectionable +reptile, “a small kind of serpent which moveth +backward and forward, and hath two heads, one +at either extreme.” The creature is now entirely +lost to science.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[305]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="figure23" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure23.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 23.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Aldrovandus, in his history of serpents, gives +an illustration of the basilisk, a serpentine form, +but having eight legs, and on its head a crown. +Another of his figures shows us a serpentine +form again, this time with two legs, the moderation +in this direction being fully compensated by +the gift of seven heads of human form, while +another has the serpent-like body, but to this +are added two legs and feet like those of a cock, +and the creature has six cocks’ heads. All these +creatures are put forth and described in all seriousness, +so it is evident that the author must either +himself have been excessively credulous, or that +he must have expected to find his readers so. It +is manifest that such inventions are of the lamest +possible type. Nothing could be easier or more +fatuous than to fill a folio volume with serpents +having three cats’ heads, five lions’ heads, seven +bisons’ heads, or twenty rats’ heads, and distribute +legs in the same liberal and senseless manner. +His drawing, <a href="#figure23">fig. 23</a>, of a two-headed lizard is +the nearest approach we can give our readers to +the Amphisbæna.</p> + +<p>Burton tells us that in Samogitia, a small +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[306]</span>province in Poland, the people nourish amongst +them “a kind of four-footed serpents, above +three handfuls in length, which they worship as +their household gods, and if mischance do happen +to any of their family, it is imputed presently to +some want of due observations of these ugly +creatures.” Some old writers tell us of hairy +serpents, and depict a thing something like the +well-known larva of the tiger-moth, the caterpillar +popularly known as the “woolly bear,” and +familiar enough to all dwellers in the country, +the only difference, though that a very serious +one, being that the woolly bear is barely three +inches long, while the hairy serpents are stretched +to any number of feet that the credulity of the +narrator will permit.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="figure24" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure24.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 24.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><a href="#figure24">Fig. 24</a> is a facsimile from one of the illustrations +in Munster’s “de Africæ regionibus,” and +represents the sort of thing that he would have +us believe was to be found in his days in Africa, +that great home of the weird and mysterious. +The perspective effect of the coils of the upper +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[307]</span>creature, as they recede in the distance towards +the horizon, suggests a terrific length, something +far exceeding any of the possibilities of the +present day, but this may be only a slip of +draughtmanship, or a polite desire on the part of +the two-headed reptile not to crowd up its +three-headed companion.</p> + +<p>The asp, from being freely found in Egypt and +other parts of North Africa, was well known to +the naturalists of Greece and Rome, and its +deadly nature fully understood, though the facts +are perhaps rather against them when they assert +that they are such affectionate creatures that they +are always found in pairs and cannot live without +their mates. We are told that should one of +the pair be killed, this sweet connubial bliss is +exchanged for deadly ferocity and instant revenge. +The unhappy man is closely pursued and relentlessly +tracked, and finds no safety amongst his +fellows, as the avenger knows him from all others, +and will not be turned aside. Distance is no +object, and difficulties no hindrance, and all that +the luckless individual can do is to take to his +heels with all celerity, and at the earliest +opportunity embark in a boat or swim a river, +and thus shake off his relentless pursuer.</p> + +<p>Democritus tells us that if we mingle the +blood of certain birds together a serpent will +be engendered. Whoso eateth of this serpent +shall know the language of birds, and be able to +join in the conversation of any or all of the great +feathered host, singing with the lark, cawing +with the rook, hooting with the owl, and being +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[308]</span>thoroughly conversant with all that passes +between them.</p> + +<p>Maundevile tells us, in his wonderful “Voiage +and Travaile,” of an island where one finds “a +kynde of Snayles that ben so grete that many +persones may loggen hem in hur Schelles, as +men woulde done in a litylle Hous”—a sufficiently +striking feature in the landscape of that now +unknown land.</p> + +<p>Snails entered largely into the rustic Materia +Medica, and not only indeed into rural practice +but into the most courtly and exclusive circles, for +we find Sir John Floyer, the physician to Charles +II., prescribing thus for dulness of hearing: +“Take a grey snaile, pricke him, and putt ye +water which comes from him into ye eare and stop +it with black woole, and it will cure.” He left +behind him a folio volume of such-like valuable +recipes, and the manuscript may yet be seen in +the Cathedral Library at Lichfield. He was a +native of that city.</p> + +<p>Spiders were also deemed of great remedial +value. When a child has whooping cough, +one of the parents should catch a spider and +hold it over the head of the patient, repeating +three times, “Spider, as you waste away, +whooping cough no longer stay.” The spider +must then be hung up in a bag over the mantel-piece, +and when it has dried up the cough will +have disappeared.⁠<a id="FNanchor_126" href="#Footnote_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[309]</span></p> + +<p>Burton, the author of the “Anatomy of Melancholy,” +writes: “Being in the country in the +vacation time, not many years ago, at Lindley in +Leicestershire, my father’s house, I first observed +this amulet of a spider in a nutshell wrapped in +silk, so applied for an ague by my mother. This +methought was most absurd and ridiculous. I +could see no warrant for it, till at length, rambling +amongst authors, as I often do, I found this very +medicine in Dioscorides, approved by Matthiolus, +and I began to have a better opinion of it, and to +give more credit to amulets when I saw it in +some parties answer to experience.” Gerarde, +in his “Historie of Plants,” found that such +a remedy, however good in theory, however +supported by ancient authority, would not bear +the strain of actual use. He shall however +speak for himself in his own refreshingly quaint +way. “It is needlesse,” he writes, “here to +alledge those things that are added touching the +little wormes or magots, found in the heades of +the Teasell,⁠<a id="FNanchor_127" href="#Footnote_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> which are to be hanged about the +necke, for they are nothing else but most vaine +and trifling toies, as my selfe haue proved a little +before, hauing a most grieuous ague, and of long +continuance: notwithstanding physicke charmes, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[310]</span>these wormes hanged about my necke, spiders +put into a nutshell and divers such foolish toies +that I was constrained to take by phantasticke +people’s procurement: notwithstanding, I say, +my helpe came from God himselfe, for these +medicines, and all other such things, did me no +good at all.” It is passing strange that such +so-called remedies, so easily proved valueless, +should have held their ground for centuries, and +are doubtless even now in the byways of our +land as firmly believed in as they were nigh +two thousand years ago. When one of our own +family was ailing, a woman in the little Wiltshire +village where we were then staying strongly +advised us to drop some peas down the well as +an infallible means of restoration to health!</p> + +<p>Bees were held to be bred out of putrefying +carcases, an idea that doubtless arose in very early +times, as we find it referred to by Virgil and other +ancient authors, and the Biblical story of the +swarm of bees found by Sampson in the carcase +of the lion that he slew would be held as +confirmation, though anyone reading the story⁠<a id="FNanchor_128" href="#Footnote_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a> +carefully would see that no such inference could +be drawn from it. Many weeks had elapsed +between the slaying of the lion and the discovery +of the honey, ample time for the birds and beasts +of prey to have cleared away the flesh, and for +the heat of the sun to have dried up all putrefaction +and rendered the skeleton a sufficiently +cleanly and suitable place for the wild bees to +form their combs within. Herodotus tells us +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[311]</span>that when the Amathusians revenged themselves +on Onesilus, by whom they had been besieged, +by cutting off his head and hanging it over one +of their city gates, the skull presently alone +remained, and in this hollow chamber a swarm +of bees settled and filled it with honeycomb.</p> + +<p>The fourth Georgic of Virgil, which is devoted +to the subject of bees, gives account of a simple +method whereby the race of bees, if diminished +or lost, might be replenished. He speaks of it +as an art practised in Egypt, and it is easy to see +that it originated in accounts of bees swarming +in the dead bodies of animals. The process was +to kill a young bullock by stopping up his nostrils, +so that the skin should be unbroken by any +wound, and then leaving it for nine days in a +position where it would be undisturbed, when:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Behold a prodigy, for from within</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The broken bowels and the bloated skin,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A buzzing sound of bees the ear alarms:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Straight issuing through the sides assembling swarms.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Dark as a cloud they make a wheeling flight,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Then on a neighbouring tree descending, light.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like a large cluster of black grapes they show,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And make a large dependence from the bough.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_129" href="#Footnote_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>In this account we see clearly enough that the +belief in the generation of the bees from the +putrefying body is frankly accepted. The author +of the “Speculum Mundi,” hundreds of years after +the Georgics were written, declares that a dead +horse breeds wasps, that from the body of an ass +proceed humble bees, while a mule produces +hornets. Those who would have bees must seek +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[312]</span>them in a dead calf, though he adds the curious +limitation, “if the west winde blow.” He goes on +to say “whether the bees in Samson’s dead lion +were bred anywhere else no man knoweth.” As +an Englishman, more familiar with the possibilities +of a dead calf than with those of a dead lion, +he declines to commit himself to an opinion as +to what is or is not possible in far distant lands +over sea.⁠<a id="FNanchor_130" href="#Footnote_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a></p> + +<p>The strange association of ideas that we have +seen in many other instances may be well seen +again in the notion that if one pounds up those +luminous creatures of the night, glowworms, the +result will be an ink that will render any writing +performed by its aid visible in the dark. Winstanley, +in his “Pathway to Knowledge,” gives a +simple receipt for the manufacture of this useful +ink, and other writers are content to copy him, +or each other, in the laudable desire to spread +abroad the knowledge of this luminous fluid. +One can easily realize that such a preparation +might at times be really very useful.</p> + +<p>Turning, in conclusion, our attention to the +creatures of sea and stream, we at once encounter +the favourite mediæval theory that all +creatures of the land had their marine counterparts. +“There is nothing,” says the comparatively +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[313]</span>modern writer, Camden, “bred in any part of +Nature, but the same is in the sea;” while Olaus +Magnus affirms that “there be fishes like to dogs, +cows, calves, horses, eagles, dragons, and what +not.” These mysterious denizens of the deep +were an unfailing resource in the romances and +poems of the Middle Ages, and an article of +faith with the writers on natural history. On +the Assyrian slabs we see the monster “upward +man and downward fish,” while the mermaid we +all recognize as a most familiar instance of the +presence of creatures at least semi-human in the +broad and mysterious expanse of ocean. Bœwulf, +the Saxon poet, writes of “the sea-wolf of the +abyss, the mighty sea-woman.” The quotation +is not altogether complimentary in its sentiment: +no lady of one’s acquaintance would feel flattered +on being addressed as a sea-wolf. But while a +certain halo of romance has in these later days +gathered round the idea of the mermaid, those +who really believed in her gave her credit for +deeds considerably more heinous than combing +her flowing hair in the sunlight, since her beauty +was a snare and destruction to all who came +within its fatal influence.</p> + +<p>Sir Thomas Browne, in his merciless dissection +of the vulgar beliefs of his day, writes, with his +accustomed quaintness and equally accustomed +sound common sense, “that all Animals of the +Land are in their kinde in the Sea, although +received as a Principle, is a tenet very questionable +and that will admit of restraint. For some in +the Sea are not to be matcht by any enquiry at Land +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">[314]</span>and hold those shapes which terrestrious formes +approach not, as may be observed in the Moonfish +and the severall sorts of Raias, Torpedos, +Oysters, and many more, and some there are in +the Land which were never mentioned to be in +Sea, as Panthers, Hyænas, Cammells, Molls, and +others, which carry no name in Ichthology, nor +are to be found in the exact descriptions of +Rondoletius, Gesner, and Aldrovandus. Again, +though many there be which make out their +nominations, as the Sea-serpents and others, yet +there are also very many that bear the names of +Animalls at Land, which hold no resemblance in +corporall configuration, wherein while some are +called the Fox, the Dog, or Frog-fish, and are +known by common names with those at Land, +as their describers attest, they receive not these +appellations from a totall similitude in figure, +but any concurrence in common accidents, in +colour, condition, or single conformation. As +for Sea-Horses, which much confirm this assertion +in their common descriptions, they are but +Grotesco delineations which fill up empty spaces +in Maps, and meer pictoriall inventions, not any +Physicall shapes. That which the Ancients +named Hippocampus is a little animall about six +inches long, and not preferred beyond the classis +of Insects. That they termed Hippopotamus, +an amphibious animall about the River Nile, so +little resembleth an horse that, except the feet, +it better makes out a swine. Although it be not +denied that some in the water doe carry a justifiable +resemblance to some at Land, yet are the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[315]</span>major part which bear their names unlike, nor +doe they otherwise resemble the creatures on +earth than they on earth the constellations which +passe under Animall names in heaven: nor the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[316]</span>Dogfish at Sea much more make out the Dog of +the Land than that his cognominall or namesake +in the heavens.” He then goes on to show that +this belief restrains Omnipotence and abridges +the variety of creation, making the creatures of +one element but a counterpart of the other.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp29" id="figure25" style="max-width: 17.1875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure25.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 25.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>This belief in sea-monsters of all kinds +was naturally not a chance that a man like +Aldrovandus could miss. He gives his imagination +full scope, or perhaps we should rather +say his credulity, as he introduces these creatures +to us as things as real as a rabbit; his sea-monk, +for instance, with tonsured human head, arms +replaced by fins, and legs by fishy tail, being +as matter of fact as one’s vicar. <a href="#figure25">Fig. 25</a> is +given by him in all good faith as the true +presentment of a sea-bishop, though not at all +our notion of a bishop in his see. The right +hand, it will be seen, is giving the benediction. +The dragon of the deep, shown in <a href="#figure26">fig. 26</a>, aims +at being terrible, but merely succeeds in being +feeble. We cannot but feel that the draughtsman +here failed to reach our ideal; for one has +certainly seen, many representations of land-dragons +far more fear-inspiring than this bloated +monster with ears like a King Charles spaniel, +and tail like a rat. This illustration is from +another source, the work of Ambrosinus on the +same subject, published “permissu superiorum” +in the year 1642. While the book is as quaint +and grotesque as any of its rivals, the skill of +the artist has in divers cases not paralleled the +gifts of description of the author.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[317]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="figure26" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure26.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 26.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The “monstrosus sus marinus,” or terrible +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[318]</span>sow of the sea, or more especially perhaps of +Aldrovandus (<a href="#figure27">fig. 27</a>), will surely fully come up +to everyone’s expectation of what a marine pig +should be like. Catching a weasel asleep should +be a comparatively easy task to circumventing +sus marinus; it seems such a peculiarly wide-awake +animal. Possibly in the struggle for +existence in the watery depths its toothsome +flesh may place it in jeopardy, and Nature may +have bestowed upon it these numerous eyes +to enable it to evade dragons and other foes +having a penchant for pork; a rather unexpected +addition to the various better-known examples +of that comfortable doctrine for the well-to-do, +the survival of the fittest.</p> + +<p>Purchas tells us of a fish called the Angulo or +Hog-fish. “It hath,” he says, “as it were two +hands, and a tail like a target, which eateth +like pork, and whereof they make lard, and it +hath not the savour or taste of fish. It feedeth +on the grasse that groweth on the banks of the +river and never goeth out; it hath a mouthe like +the mozell of an ox, and there be of them that +weigh five hundred pound a piece.” This is +found, he tells us, in the River Congo.</p> + +<p>Another of the strange creatures of ocean is +shown in <a href="#figure28">fig. 28</a>. It is somewhat startling to +reflect that our ancestors had at least the +expectation that such a monster might at any +moment rise alongside their vessel and address +them in the peremptory tones that the figure +suggests: and it must be borne in mind that +these illustrations are not a tithe of the strange +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">[319]</span>imaginings that even this one old book sets forth, +though it is needless to multiply examples from it. +We have carefully drawn our figures in facsimile +from the originals, and have naught +extenuated, nor set down aught in malice. +They are fairly typical examples of the sort of +thing that is encountered on page after page.⁠<a id="FNanchor_131" href="#Footnote_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="figure27" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure27.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 27.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>In the excellent book of Rondeletius (doctoris +medici et medicinæ in schola monspeliensi +professoris regii), published in the year 1554, +on the subject of marine fishes, the illustrations +are full of spirit and life. Amongst these fish of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">[320]</span>the ocean we find the sea-bishop, sea-monk, &c., +all over again, and such creatures as the sea-lion, +<a href="#figure29">fig. 29</a>; this latter, except for his scaly hide, has +nothing very suggestively aquatic about him. +The book, in addition to such impossibilities, +contains very good and life-like representations +of the sun-fish, sturgeon, hammer-headed shark, +ray, and many others.</p> + +<p>The author of the “Speculum Mundi” confirms +all these wonders, and adds his quota to the general +store. He affirms that, “In the year 1526 there +was taken in Norway, neare to a seaport called +Elpoch, a certain fish resembling a mitred bishop, +who was kept alive six days after his taking, +and there was, as the author of Du Bartas his +summarie reporteth, one Ferdinand Alvares, +Secretarie to the storehouse of the Indians, +who faithfully witnesseth that he had seene not +farre off from the Promontorie of the Moon, a +young Sea-man coming out of the Waters, who +stole fishes from the fishermen and ate them raw. +Neither is Olaus Magnus silent on these things, +for he also saith there be monsters in the sea, as +it were imitating the shape of a man, having a +dolefull kinde of sounde or singing. There be +also sea-men of an absolute proportion in their +whole body; these are sometimes seene to +climbe up the ships in the night times, and +suddenly to depresse that part upon which +they sit; and if they abide long the whole ship +sinketh. Yea (saithe he), this I adde from the +faithfull assertions of the Norway fishers, that +when such are taken, if they be not presently let +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">[321]</span>go again, there ariseth such a fierce tempest, with +an horrid noise of those kinde of creatures and +other sea-monsters there assembled, that a man +would think the verie heaven were falling, and +the vaulted roofe of the world running to ruine, +insomuch that the fishermen have much ado to +escape with their lives; whereupon they confirmed +it as a law amongst them that if any +chanced to hang such a fish upon his hook he +should suddenly cut the line and let him go on. +But these sudden tempests are very strange, and +how they arise with such violent speed exceeds +the bounds of ordinary admiration. Whereupon +it is again supposed that these monsters are verie +devils, and by their power such strange storms +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[322]</span>are raised. Howbeit for my part I think otherwise, +and do much rather affirm that these storms, +in my judgment, are thus raised, namely, by the +thickening and breaking of the aire; which the +snortling, rushing, and howling of these beasts, +assembled in an innumerable companie, causeth. +For it is certain that sounds will break and alter +the aire (as I have heard it of a citie freed from +the plague by the thundering noise of cannons), +and also I suppose that the violent rushing of +these beasts causeth much water to flie up and +thicken the aire, and by their howling and +snortling under the waters they do blow up, +and as it were attenuate the waves, and make +them arise in a thinner substance than at other +times; so that Nature, having all these helps, +in an instant worketh to the amazement of the +mariners, and often to the danger of their lives. +Besides, shall we think that spirits use to feed, +and will be so foolish as to go and hang themselves +on an hook for a bait? They may have +occult properties (as the loadstone hath) to +work strange feats, and yet be neither spirits +nor devils; for experience likewise teacheth +that they die sooner or later after their taking, +neither can a spirit have flesh and bones as +they have.”</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="figure28" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure28.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 28.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The monsters of the deep are best seen at the +times of the equinox, “for then,” says Pliny, +“by the whirlwinds, rains and tempests which +rush with violence from the rugged mountains, +the seas are turned up from the very bottom, and +thus the billows roll and raise these beasts out of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[323]</span>the deep parts of the ocean.” It certainly seems +a much more reasonable theory that the storms +produce the beasts than that the beasts produce +the storms.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="figure29" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/figure29.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FIG. 29.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>On an antique seal we remember to have seen +a sea-elephant, a creature having the forelegs, +tusks, trunk, and great flapping ears of the +African elephant, yet terminating in the body of +a fish, and duly furnished with piscine tail and +fins. This outrageous combination would seem +to indicate the limit possible to absurdity in +this direction. When the ancient writers would +desire to people the vast unknown of air and sea, +their thoughts naturally turned to those creatures +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">[324]</span>of the land with which they were more familiar. +Hence, the denizens of the air or ocean are not +really creations at all, but adaptations, wings or +fins being added to horses, lions and the like, +according to the new element in which they +were to figure. Of these the sea-horses that +drew the chariot of Neptune through the waves, +or the winged steed Pegasus, are examples that +at once occur to one’s mind.</p> + +<p>The sea-horse according to some authorities is +found floating on the ice between Britain and Norway, +and is taken by the whalers for the oil he +contains. He is described as having a head like +a horse, and as sometimes neighing, but his hoofs +are said to be cloven like those of a cow, while +his hinder parts are those of a fish. This +creature would appear to be now quite lost +to science. The sea-horse naturally suggests +the idea of the sea-unicorn, depicted as of +equine form, but having the hinder parts piscine +in character. The horn of the sea-unicorn +occasionally brought home by merchants and +mariners was probably the “sword” of the +swordfish or the tusk of the narwhal, as it is +often mentioned that it was able to penetrate the +ribs of ships, and later experience has proved +that an encounter between swordfish or narwhal +and ships has occasionally taken place. The tusk +of the narwhal is a spiral tapering rod of ivory, +sometimes attaining to the length of eight or ten +feet. Purchas mentions a horn of a sea-unicorn +that was presented by Frobisher to his sovereign, +and preserved at Windsor, and the name of this +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[325]</span>great arctic voyager naturally suggests that this +horn was the tusk of a narwhal, a creature of the +northern seas. One old writer speaks of the +horn as a “wreathy spire,” a description which +admirably accords with the narwhal tusk. The +fact once established that there were creatures in +the sea with horns like unicorns, it was at once +assumed that they had the horse-like form +assigned to the land-unicorn, and in some of the +old authors the sea-unicorn is represented as of +purely equine form, plus the horn.⁠<a id="FNanchor_132" href="#Footnote_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a></p> + +<p>In a book published in 1639, entitled “A +Helpe to Memorie and Discourse,” we find this +question asked, “Whether doth a dead body in +a shippe cause the shippe to sail slower, and if it +doe, what is thought to be the reason thereof?” +The answer to the query is that “the shippe is as +insensible of the living as the dead, and as the +living make it goe the faster, so the dead make +it not goe the slower; for the dead are no +Rhemoras to alter the course of her passage, +though some there be that thinke so, and that by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[326]</span>a kind of mournful sympathy.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_133" href="#Footnote_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a> The potent +influence of the remora or sucking-fish to arrest +the progress of a ship by merely adhering to its +keel is a curious fancy that has been handed on +for centuries. Pliny and many other ancient +writers had full belief in this foe to the mariner, +and references to it in much more recent authors +are by no means uncommon. Thus Ben Jonson +alludes to it in the lines—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent16">“I say a remora,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For it will stay a ship that’s under sail.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">While Spenser in his “Visions of the World’s +Vanity,” writes—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Looking far forth into the ocean wide,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">A goodly ship, with banners bravely dight,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And flag in her top-gallant I espied,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Through the main sea making her merry flight:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Fair blew the wind into her bosom right,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">And th’ Heavens looked lovely all the while</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That she did seem to dance, as in delight,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">And at her own felicity did smile:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">All suddenly there clove unto her keel</div> + <div class="verse indent2">A little fish that we call remora,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Which stopt her course, and held her by the heel,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">That wind nor tide could move her thence away.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>We may indeed be thankful that this +mysterious power, worse even than the more +prosaic barnacles and other sea impedimenta +that plague the modern shipowner by fouling +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">[327]</span>the bottom of his good ship, and so retarding her +course, seems to be no longer exercised. The +merchantman speeding home with perishable +cargo, the yachtsman burning to carry off the +challenge cup, the great record-breaking Atlantic +liner, carrying under heavy penalty for delay Her +Majesty’s mails, would all be terribly hampered +in their several ambitions in presence of so +potent yet so apparently insignificant a foe. +Well might Spenser add—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Strange thing meseemeth that so small a thing</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Should able be so great an one to wring.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>One old writer feeling the impossibility of +giving a satisfactory explanation of the marvel is +content to say “of which there can be no more +reason given than of the loadstone drawing iron; +neither is it possible to shew the cause of all +secrets in Nature,” a statement as true to-day as +the day it was written, though this particular +secret of Nature has in the interval been disestablished.</p> + +<p>That the dolphin was the swiftest of all living +creatures, more rapid than a bird, swifter than an +arrow shot from a bow, will probably be an +entirely new idea to most of our readers, yet +such was the ancient belief. The dolphin occurs +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[328]</span>very freely in blazonry, on ancient coinage, and +in classic and renaissance decoration, and it is +almost always represented either as “embowed,” +that is to say, bent round like a bow, such being +the significance of the heraldic term, or else it is +introduced with its lithe body coiled gracefully +round an anchor or trident. In either case +the representation suggests an easy-going and +leisurely state of affairs that is very different +to the picture conjured up by the arrowy rush +of the creature through the waves, as Pliny +paints it for us.⁠<a id="FNanchor_134" href="#Footnote_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a></p> + +<p>It is a very old belief that the dolphin has an +especial fondness for man. “Of a man he is +nothing afraid, neither avoideth from him as a +stranger: but of himselfe meeteth their ships, +plaieth and disporteth himselfe, and fetcheth a +thousand friskes, and gambols before them. He +will swimme along by the mariners, as it were +for a wager, who should make way most speedily, +and alwaies outgoeth them, saile they with never +so good a forewind.” The representation of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">[329]</span>dolphin with the anchor is not simply a type of +maritime supremacy, but is a distinct illustration +of this belief in the dolphin’s kindly regard for +man. Thus Camerarius asserts that “when tempests +arise, and sea-men cast their anchor, the +dolphin, from its love to man, twines itself round +it, and directs it, so that it may more safely lay +hold of the ground.”</p> + +<p>The works of the ancient writers abound with +illustrations of the friendly regard of the dolphin +for mankind. Thus in one wonderful story we +have a schoolboy, the son of a poor man, who +had to travel each day from Baianum to Puteoli, +who used at the water’s edge to call a dolphin to +his aid. The dolphin would at once respond to +the call, and the boy used to mount upon his +back and be taken across the sea, and be brought +back again at night. This went on for some +years, and at last, when the boy fell sick and +died, his constitution probably not being able +to stand the constant wetting and exposure, the +dolphin was inconsolable, and promptly died +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">[330]</span>of a broken heart. In another story, equally +veracious, the rider was so unfortunate as to +pierce himself with one of the sharp spines of +the dorsal fin, and an artery being severed, he +bled to death. The dolphin, seeing the water +stained with blood, and finding that his rider did +not sit on his back in the light and active way +that had been his wont, concluded that some +catastrophe had happened, and when he realized +the full truth, resolved not to outlive him whom +he had affectionately loved, and therefore ran +himself with all his might upon the shore, and +so perished. Pliny, Mecænas, Fabianus, Flavius +Alfius, Ælian, Aulus Gellius, Apion, Egesidemus, +Theophrastus, and many other old writers, +all give equally surprising illustrations of this +wonderful love of the dolphin for mankind.</p> + +<p>The dolphin is also a great lover of music, and +equally wonderful stories are told in illustration +of this taste also. Another well-known belief in +connection with it is the imaginary brilliancy of +its changeful colours when dying. The idea has +been a favourite one with poets in all ages: an +example from Byron’s “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” +will suffice as an illustration:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent20">“Parting day</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Dies like the dolphin, whom each pang imbues</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With a new colour as it gasps away;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The last still loveliest, till ’tis gone, and all is gray.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Another strange fish believed in by our forefathers +was the Acipenser, “a fish of an unnatural +making and quality,” as an old writer terms him; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">[331]</span>and indeed he may very well do so, as we are +told that “his scales are all turned towards his +head.” We are not therefore much surprised +to learn that “he ever swimmeth against the +stream,” though we might well be more astonished +if we ever found him swimming at all.</p> + +<p>The amiable dolphin stands not alone in its +friendship with man. The ray too, if we may +believe a mediæval authority, is “a loving fish +to man: for swimming in the waters, and being +greedily pursued by the devouring Sea-dogs, the +Ray defends him, and will not leave him untill he +be out of danger.” Sometimes the friendship is +with some other creature; thus Porta gives an +unfailing recipe for catching a sargon, whatever +that may be, by taking advantage of this kindly +trait in its character. “The Sargi,” he declares, +“love Goats unmeasurably: and they are so mad +after them that when so much as the shadow of a +Goat that feeds neer the shore shall appear neer +unto them they presently leap for joy and swim +to it in haste, and they imitate the goats, though +they are not fit to leap, and thus they delight to +come unto them. They are, therefore, catcht by +those things that they so much desire. Whereupon +the Fisher, putting on a Goat’s skin with +the horns, lies in wait for them, having the Sunne +behind his back and paste made wet with the +decoction of Goat’s flesh: this he casts into the +Sea where the Sargi are to come: and they, as +if they were charmed, run to it, and are much +delighted with the sight of the Goat’s skin and +feed on the paste. Thus the Fishermen catcheth +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">[332]</span>abundance of them.” Porta gives no suggestion +that this affection is reciprocal.</p> + +<p>Another mediæval writer has a still more +extraordinary story of the kind, and in this case +it is pleasant to know that the loving feeling is +mutual. “Amongst the severall sort of shell +fishes,” saith he, “the glistering Pearl-fish +deserves remembrance, not only in respect of +herself but also in regard of the Prawn, another +fish and her companion: for between these two +there is a most firm league of friendship, much +kindnesse, and such familiaritie as cannot but +breed admiration in the reader. They have a +subtill kinde of hunting, which being ended, they +divide their prey in loving manner: for seeing +they one help the other in the getting of it, they +likewise joyn in the equall sharing. And, in few +words, thus it is—when the Pearl-fish gapeth +wide, she hath a curious glistering within her +shell, by which she allureth her small fry to come +swimming unto her: which when her companion +the Prawn perceiveth, he gives her a secret touch +with one of his prickles, wherupon she shuts her +gaping shell, and so incloseth her wished prey: +then (as I said) they equally share them out and +feed themselves. And thus, day by day, they +get their livings, like a combined knot of cheaters, +who have no other trade than the cunning deceit +of quaint consenage: hooking in the simpler sort +with such subtill tricks, that be their purses stuft +with either more or less, they know a way to sound +the bottome and send them lighter home: lighter +in purse, though heavier in heart.” The moral +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">[333]</span>seems perhaps needlessly severe, and we trust +that henceforth our readers, after reading this +romance of the deep, will have a kindlier feeling +for these faithful friends, the artful oyster and +the watchful prawn. The only drawback to the +sentiment of the thing seems to be that this loving +alliance has a somewhat low motive as its basis. +One at least of the partners is capable of a more +tender passion, as we have the authority of +Sheridan for saying that an oyster may be crossed +in love.</p> + +<p>Olaus Magnus gives an awful example of +voracity in the swam-fish, one of the most greedy +cravens of the denizens of the sea, and cites +many stories of it that amply justify the bad +character bestowed on it. Another old writer +affirms that when danger threatens “he will so +winde up himselfe and cover his head with the +skinne and substance of his own body that he is +then bent like unto a piece of dead fish, and +nothing like himself.” The plan however appears +to have its drawbacks, as the venerable and +veracious author goes on to say that this feat +“he seldome doth without hurt or damage, for +still fearing that there be those about him who +will prey upon him and devoure him, he is +compelled for lack of meat to feed upon the +substance of his own body, choosing rather to be +devoured in part than to be consumed by other +more strong and powerful fishes”—at best a +most painful alternative.</p> + +<p>In the account of the Creation the forming of +the whale is specially dwelt upon: “And God +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">[334]</span>created great whales and every living creature +that moveth, which the waters brought forth +abundantly after their kind.” Luther, commenting +on this, says that the creation of whales +is specified by name, lest affrighted with their +greatness we should believe them to be only +visions or fancies. Though later commentators +have decided that the leviathan of the Bible is +the crocodile, it was long held to be the whale. +Milton, in the first book of the “Paradise Lost,” +writes of that sea beast—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Leviathan, which God of all his works</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Created hugest that swim the ocean stream,”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">and the Jews had a legend that the first whales +were so immense in bulk, so formidable in attack, +so voracious, that there was considerable risk of +their overtoppling the rest of creation; so while +as yet there were but two of them in existence, +one was destroyed in order that the race might +not be continued and the general balance of +Nature upset.</p> + +<p>Our ancestors found apt moral against the +scornful in the reason assigned for the mouth +of the flounder being on one side. It appears +that at one time the flounder’s mouth was as fair +to see as any other, but that it lost all its beauty +through contemptuous flouting of the herring, and +it has borne this evil mark of its jealousy ever +since, and will probably so bear it to the end of +time. At the vague date known as once upon +a time we are told that all the fishes of the sea +assembled to choose a king, and that the herring +was elected to this dignified position. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">[335]</span>flounder, on account of his red spots and other +features that were evidently more appreciated by +himself than by the main body of electors, had +strong hope that he should himself be chosen, +and the unlovely grimace with which he saluted +his sovereign was, as a judgment upon him, made +a fixture for all time as a punishment to himself +and a warning to others.</p> + +<p>The tench was commonly called the physician, +for it was believed by our forefathers that when +the other fish were in any way hurt and required +the aid of surgeon or physician, they healed +themselves by rubbing against the tench, finding +the slime of his body to be a “soveraigne salve” +for their needs. For the sufferings of humanity +the beasts, birds, and plants appear to have +supplied a sufficient materia medica, and the +less accessible creatures of the waters were +but rarely pressed into the mediæval pharmacopœia. +The blood of the eel was rubbed +upon unwelcome warts, and a cruel remedy for +bad eyes, the cruelty being, as we have seen +over and over again in those old remedies, by +no means an exceptional feature, was to capture +a crab alive, cut out its eyes and then let it go.⁠<a id="FNanchor_135" href="#Footnote_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a> +The eyes were then bound upon the neck of the +man, woman, or child, and a satisfactory result +was speedily anticipated, though very possibly +not so speedily forthcoming.</p> + +<p>The Cuttle fish is scarcely one’s ideal of beauty, +yet it is by its vanity and belief in its personal +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">[336]</span>attractions that it is most readily captured. Porta +tells us that pieces of looking glass are let down +by the fishermen into the waters, and that the +Cuttle seeing his image reflected, clasps the glass +around, and while he is still enamoured with the +reflection of his charms is drawn to the surface +by the wily fishermen. In the “Pathway to +Knowledge,” published in the year 1685, we are +told that if we take the juice of Nettles and +Houseleek, and anoint our hands therewith, the +fish will gather round and “you may take them +out at your pleasure.” This seems almost as +simple a method as the catching of birds by +placing a pinch of salt on their tails.</p> + +<p>If we may credit Maundevile, and the “if” is +a most important point, in one favoured land +instead of the people going for the fish, the +fish come to the people. In a certain isle, or +we may perhaps more truthfully say an uncertain +isle, called Calonak, many wonderful things were +to be seen, but one of these he especially, and +very justly, calls “a gret Marvayle,” and when he +goes on to add that “it is more to speke of than +in ony partie of the World,” one is loath to +gainsay his opinion. He tells us that “alle +manere of Fissches that ther ben in the See +abouten hem, comen ones in the Yeer, eche +manere of dyverse Fissches, one maner of +kynde aftre another; and thei casten hem selfe to +the See Banke of that Yle in so gret plentee and +multitude that no man may see but Fissche, and +ther thei abyden thre dayes, and euerie man of +the Countree takethe of hem als many as him +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">[337]</span>lykethe, and that maner of Fissche aftre the +thridde day departeth and gothe in to the +See. And aftre hem comen another multitude +of Fissches of anothre kynde and don in the +same maner as the firste diden othre three dayes. +And aftre hem another, tille alle the dyverse +maner of Fissches have ben there, and that men +have taken of hem that hem lykethe. And no +man knowethe the cause wherfore it may ben. +But thei of the Contree seyn that it is for to do +reverence to here Kyng, that is the most worthi +Kyng that is in the World, as thei seyn.” +The reason assigned for the king’s special +worthiness is a somewhat peculiar one, and +though it is duly set forth at full length by +the old author, other times have brought other +manners and ideas, and one can scarcely insert +in a book of the present day many things, and +this amongst them, that were set forth in the +greatest simplicity and directness of language +in books of earlier date.</p> + +<p>At all events this “most worthie Kyng” was +so far under the special care of Providence that +“God sendethe him so the Fissches of dyverse +kyndes, of all that ben in the See, to be taken at +his wille, for him and alle his peple. And therfore +all the Fissches of the See comen to make +him homage as the most noble and excellent +Kyng of the World, and that is best beloved of +God as thei seyn.” Well may Maundevile say, +as he realized the idea of the various finny tribes +of Ocean thus sacrificing themselves in so orderly +a sequence, that “this me semethe is the most +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">[338]</span>merveylle that evere I saughe. For this mervaylle +is agenst kynde, that the Fissches that +have fredom to environe all the Costes of the +See at here owne list comen of hire owne +wille to profren hem to the dethe with outen +constreynynge of man.” It must have been +an immense convenience to have known thus +readily what was in season, and even if in this +Hobson’s choice of diet one did not happen to +be very partial to plaice or conger, there was +always the happy knowledge that next Tuesday +or possibly Thursday week, soles or turbot +would be “in.” We may conclude that a fresh +series of herrings, mackerel, or whatever they +might be, would come ashore on each one of +the three days that they were due, or by the +termination of that period they would certainly +all be smelt.</p> + +<p>After this great marvel the cruel pontarf that +beguiled children away to sport with them and +finally to eat them, the silurus that at the rising +of the dog-star is struck insensible, the dead +crabs that turn to scorpions, the eels that rub +themselves against stones, and, in so doing, +scrape off fragments that come to life, and are +the only cause and means of their increase, the +fish that swim in the boiling water of some +tropical stream that is now unknown, all sink +as wonders into insignificance.</p> + +<p>The whole world has now been so ransacked +that there is little room in these times for the +imagination to play; but in mediæval days +travellers brought back such wonderful stories, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">[339]</span>some of them true, and others, perhaps, a little +wanting in that respect, of the things that they +had seen, that almost anything seemed a possibility. +Of this our present pages may be considered +some little indication, though it will be +abundantly evident that we have not used up +one hundredth part of the great store of folk-lore +and ancient and mediæval science that is +open to investigation.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="deco1" style="max-width: 12.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/deco1.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="footnotes"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">[340]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="FOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES</h2> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> The title pages of these old books should by no means be +overlooked, as they are often full of interest and meaning. In +the one before us we have at the top the Hebrew name for +Jehovah within an equilateral triangle, and this again within a +circle of rays. On one side is the sun shining in full splendour, +on the other the moon and stars. From the triangle issues a +narrow track that broadens as it goes, and finally returns to the +triangle, its point of emergence being marked Alpha and the point +of re-entry Omega. In the centre of this track is the world being +rolled along by the foot of Time. On one side is a sitting figure, +Theologia, book on knee, and having the tables of the law in one +hand, and in the other a lantern, and on the other we find +“Philosophia” with globe and compasses.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> The titles of many of these old books are sufficiently +quaint and striking. Sometimes a spade is called a spade with +the most startling directness; while at others the title is a +mystical conceit that needs interpretation. The following are +some few that we have come across:—“The flaming sword of +Justice unsheathed,” “Matches lighted at the Divine Fire,” +“The shop of the Spiritual Apothecary,” “The Scraper of +Vanity, a Spiritual Pillow necessary to exterpate Vice and to plant +Virtue.” There would appear to be here some little confusion +of metaphor: anyone desiring to plant anything would scarcely +find a pillow a serviceable tool for the purpose.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> Culver is derived from the Anglo-Saxon culfre, a pigeon. +The Culver cliffs in the Isle of Wight are so called from the +great numbers of wild pigeons that nest there, while the Columbine, +Lat. Columba, a pigeon, so named from the resemblance +of its flowers to a ring of birds, is also known as the Culverwort.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> Thus we find a Strasburg copy dated 1484; Bologna, 1488; +Venice, 1491; Florence, 1492; Antwerp, 1494; Venice again, +1496; Milan, 1497; another Bologna edition, 1497; and so on.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> The Emperor Titus Vespasian, to whom the book was +dedicated.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> “I conceive it,” he says, “to be courteous, and to indicate +an ingenious modesty, to acknowledge the source whence we +have derived assistance, and not act as most of those have done +whom I have examined. For I must inform you that in consulting +various authors I have discovered that some of the most +grave and of the latest writers, have transcribed word for word, +from former works without making any acknowledgment.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> He only used one pen throughout, a circumstance which +he deemed sufficiently remarkable to be celebrated in these +lines which are prefixed to his book:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“With one sole pen I wrote this book,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Made of a grey goose quill.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A pen it was when I it took,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">A pen I leave it still.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> “I would rather be a poor man in a garret with plenty of +books than a king who did not love reading.”—<i>Macaulay.</i> Sir +John Herschell in like manner tells us—“Were I to pay for a +taste that should stand me in stead under every variety of circumstances, +and be a source of happiness and cheerfulness to +me during life, and a shield against its ills, however things +might go amiss and the world frown upon me, it would be a +taste for reading. Give a man this taste and the means of +gratifying it, and you can hardly fail of making him a happy +man; unless, indeed, you put into his hands a most perverse +selection of books. You place him in contact with the best +society in every period of history—with the wisest, the wittiest, +the tenderest, the bravest, and the purest characters who have +adorned humanity. You make him a denizen of all nations, a +contemporary of all ages. The world has been created for him.” +But we must bear in mind, while we subscribe to the dictum +of Carlyle, “Of all things which men do or make here below, +by far the most momentous, wonderful, and worthy are the +things we call books,” the wise line of Shakespeare: +“Learning is but an adjunct to oneself,” lest haply we be +classed with “the bookful blockhead” of Pope—ignorantly read, +“with loads of learned lumber in his head.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> There are separate maps for the leading countries, giving +towns, rivers, forests, mountains, and other features. The +towns are not only named, but have actual buildings represented. +We notice that in the map of Germany “Holand” and +“Flandria” are at the bottom right-hand corner, but this arises +from the reversal of the whole thing, the north being at the +bottom of the page instead of the top. It is as Germany +would look if we imagine the point of view in Southern +Denmark. Italy in the same way shows Venice at the bottom +of the map and Sicily at the top. In the description of Spain +the so-called pillars of Hercules are treated as two actual pillars +and in the illustration look very like two pawns from a set +of chessmen.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> His accounts were at the time considered so incredible, +that the Venetians gave him the <i>sobriquet</i> of “Millioni,” from +the frequent recurrence of millions in his statements; and +amongst other traducers Herbert says that “Geographers have +filled their maps and globes with the names of Tenduc, Tangutt, +Tamfur, Cando, Camul, and other hobgobling words +obtruded upon the World by those three arrant Monks, Haython, +Marc Parc the Venetian, and Vartoman, who fearing no imputations +make strange discoveries as well as descriptions of +places.” This from the sea-monsterist of the Azores!</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="label">[11]</a> Ferdinand Mendez Pinto was a celebrated Portuguese +navigator, who published a description of his travels of so +marvellous a nature that his name became a synonym for +extravagant fiction. We meet with him, for instance, in +Congreve’s play of “Love for Love,” where the passage occurs: +“Ferdinand Mendez Pinto was but a type of thee, thou liar of +the first magnitude.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="label">[12]</a> “Beefe is a good meate for an Englysshe man, so be it the +beest be yonge, and that it be not kowe-flesshe: for olde beefe +and kowe-flesshe doth ingender melancholye and leperouse +humoures. Yf it be moderatly powderyd, that the groose blode +by salte may be exhaustyd it doth make an Englysshe man +stronge.”—<i>Andrew Boorde’s “Dyetary.”</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="label">[13]</a> There can be little question but that the ancient fictions of +satyrs, cynocephali and other supposed monstrous forms of +humanity arose in vague accounts of different species of apes.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="label">[14]</a></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Marking the tracts of air, the clamorous cranes</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Wheel their due flight in varied ranks descried;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And each with outstretched neck his rank maintains</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In marshalled order through the ethereal void.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="label">[15]</a> The word is spelt sometimes as pigmy, and at others as +pygmy; the latter is the more correct, as the word is from the +Greek name for them, the pygmaioi.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="label">[16]</a> These great anthropoid apes are found in the forests that +extend southward for a thousand miles or so from the gulf of +Guinea. The gorilla is not found beyond this limit.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="label">[17]</a> Burton probably got this notion from Megasthenes, an old +writer who, not to be outdone in the introduction of the +marvellous, tells us of a nation in the extreme East of India that +are wholly mouthless, and that live only by the smells that they +draw in at their nostrils, partaking of no food whatever, but +flourishing on the pleasant odours given off by various roots, +blossoms, and fruits that they are careful to carry about with +them when travelling. Unfortunately, if the scent be too strong +it deprives them of life and they die as effectually of a surfeit of +good things as the famous British sovereign who overdid his +devotion to lamprey stew.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="label">[18]</a> These doubtless would be some of the larger apes, that, +sufficiently human in general form to suggest the notion of a +man, drop upon their fore-paws and travel across the open spaces +of the forest as quadrupeds.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="label">[19]</a></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Who would believe that there were mountaineers,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Dewlapped like bulls, whose throats had hanging at them</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Wallets of flesh? Or that there were such men</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Whose heads stood in their breasts?”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Gonzale</span> <i>in the “Tempest.”</i></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="label">[20]</a> Robertson, in his “History of America,” Vol. II., p. 525, +says of the Spaniards, “that they and their horses were objects +of the greatest astonishment to all the people of New Spain. +At first they imagined the horse and his rider, like the +centaurs of the ancients, to be some monstrous animal of a +terrible form. Even after they had discovered the mistake they +believed the horses devoured men in battle, and when they +neighed, thought that they were demanding their prey.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="label">[21]</a> In the “Eastern Travels of John of Hesse,” amongst perils +of voyage, we read:—“We came to a stony mountain, where we +heard syrens singing, meermaids who draw ships into danger by +their songs. We saw there many horrible monsters and were +in great fear.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="label">[22]</a> As the old adage hath it:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“When that the ass begins to bray,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Be sure we shall have rain that day.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="label">[23]</a></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“A maiden strangely fair, but strangely formed,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Rises from out the pool, and by her songs</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And heavenly beauty lures to shameful death</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The luckless wight who hears her melodies.”—<i>Kirke.</i></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="label">[24]</a> Allusive to Mary Queen of Scots and to the Duke of +Norfolk, and the Earls of Westmoreland and Northumberland, +who fell from their allegiance to Elizabeth by the witchery of +Mary. She was celebrated for the melody of her singing. +The reference to the dolphin alludes to her marriage with the +Dauphin of France.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="label">[25]</a> See some good figures, too, in the “Book of Emblems” +of Alciatus, 1551.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="label">[26]</a> A writer in the <i>Gentleman’s Magazine</i>, in the year 1771, +says of Browne’s book on “Vulgar Errors,” “Of all the books +recommended to our youth after their academical studies, I do +not know a better than this of Sir Thomas’s to excite their +curiosity, to put them upon thinking and inquiring, and +to guard them against taking anything upon trust from +opinion and authority. His language has, indeed, a little air of +affectation which is apt to disgust young persons, and it would +be doing a very great service to that class if some gentlemen of +learning would take the pains to smooth and adapt it a little +more to modern ears,”—a comment which we do not at all +endorse, as the individual style of the old writer has a quaint +charm of its own.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="label">[27]</a> “There is scarce any tradition or popular error but stands +also delivered by some good authors, who though excellent and +usefull, yet being merely transcriptive, or following common +relations, their accounts are not to be swallowed at large, or +entertained without a prudent circumspection. In whome the +<i>ipse dixit</i>, though it be no powerfull argument in any, is yet +lesse authentick than in many others, because they deliver not +their own experiences, but others’ affirmations.”—<i>Browne.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28" class="label">[28]</a> “Dagon his name, sea-monster, upward man, and downward, +fish.”—<i>Milton.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29" class="label">[29]</a> A very similar figure may be seen amongst the designs of +the mosaic pavements at the Roman villa discovered at Brading.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30" class="label">[30]</a> Agriopas tells a gruesome story of a man who, at the +sacrifice of a human being to the gods, surreptitiously tasted a +piece of the flesh and was turned into a wolf. Whether as a +punishment for his cannibalism, or because by abstracting a +portion of the victim he was sacrilegiously robbing the altar, we +are not informed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31" class="label">[31]</a> Such hallucinations are often very contagious. A nun in +a large convent got the idea into her head that she was a cat, +and began to mew. Shortly afterwards other nuns also mewed, +until at last the great majority of them were mewing for hours +at a time. The matter got to the ears of the town authorities, +and on the removal of the monomaniac and the promise of a +good whipping to anyone who mewed again, the concert at +once died out.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32" class="label">[32]</a> “There is a book, De Mirabilibus narrationibus, written by +Antigonus, another also of the same title by Trallianus, which +make good the promise of their titles, and may be read with +caution, which if any man shall likewise observe in the Lecture +of Philostratus, or not only in ancient Writers but shall carry a +wary eye on Paulus Venetus, Olaus Magnus, and many another, +I think his circumspection laudable, and he may hereby decline +occasion of Error.”—<i>Browne.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33" class="label">[33]</a> The first edition of Scot’s book was published in the +year 1584.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34" class="label">[34]</a> “The Lion is not so fierce as painted.”—<i>Thos. Fuller.</i></p> + +<p>“The Lion is not so fierce as they paint him.”—<i>Herbert.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35" class="label">[35]</a> “A lion being sick of a quartane Ague eats and devours +Apes, and so is healed; hence we know that Apes’ blood is +good against an ague.”—<i>Porta.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_36" href="#FNanchor_36" class="label">[36]</a> A much later writer, Porta, includes some strange animals +in his treatise: thus the leopard is the offspring, according to +him, of the panther and lioness: the crocuta of the hyæna and +lioness; the thoes of the panther and the wolf; the jumar of +the bull and ass; the musinus of the goat and ram; the cinirus +of the he-goat and ewe. The figures of-these are sufficiently +curious.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_37" href="#FNanchor_37" class="label">[37]</a> “However erroneous it may now be considered, the theory +of creation held during the Middle Ages, was both beautiful and +noble, and in a fairly accurate manner may be summarized as +follows: On the fall of the tenth legion of the citizens of +heaven, God resolved to create man to take the place of the +fallen angels. He evolved this world for the home of the new +creation, and all things that He then made. The celestial bodies, +the vegetable and animal kingdoms were formed solely and +entirely for man alone, as the centre round which the whole of +creation revolved. There was no idea then that the world in +which man was placed formed only one of many such inhabited +homes, and that our sphere was simply an insignificant fragment +of a vast universe. The celestial bodies, it was held, were +created not only to give light and heat to generate metals and +precious stones, but to govern the affairs of men, and enable +them to foretell events. The vegetable kingdom was to furnish +food and medicine not only for man’s body but likewise for his +mind. Lastly, the animal creation provided him with servants, +with food for his bodily wants, and with moral lessons and +examples for those of his soul. This I venture to advance as a +tolerably accurate summary of the theory of creation held during +the Middle Ages and until nearly the close of the seventeenth +century, and, if correct, it will appear from it that each part of +creation was viewed not only in an outward and material +manner, but also in an interior and spiritual one.”—<i>André.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_38" href="#FNanchor_38" class="label">[38]</a> “De leonibus, quaram copia est in Africa.” The illustration +is a facsimile of the one given in this section of Munster’s +book.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_39" href="#FNanchor_39" class="label">[39]</a> Bussy D’Amboise, 1607, writes—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“An angry unicorne in his full career</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Charged with too swift a foot a jeweller</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That watch’d him for the treasure of his brow,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And ere he could get shelter of a tree</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Nail’d him with his rich antler to the earth.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_40" href="#FNanchor_40" class="label">[40]</a> Ctesias says that its flesh is so bitter that it cannot be +eaten.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_41" href="#FNanchor_41" class="label">[41]</a> “Topsell nameth two kingdomes in India (the one called +Niem, the other Lamber), which he likewise stored with them.”—<i>Speculum +Mundi.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_42" href="#FNanchor_42" class="label">[42]</a> As for example: Bacci’s book “Discorso dell’ Alicorno,” +published at Florence in 1573, and the “De Unicornu Observationes +novæ” of Thomas Bartholinus, bearing date 1645. +Caspar Bartholinus had already, in 1628, written “De Unicornu +ejusque affinibus.” Then we have Bereus’ “De Monoceroti,” +11667; Catelan’s “Histoire de la Licorne,” 1624; Frenzel, “De +Unicornu,” 1675; Stolbergk’s “Exercitatio de Unicornu,” +1652; Sachs’ “Monocerologia,” 1676; and the “Notice en refutation +de la non-existence de la Licorne” of Laterrade, bearing +the very recent date of 1826.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_43" href="#FNanchor_43" class="label">[43]</a> Mutianus tells us that when the moon is on the wane the +monkeys are sad, but that they adore the new moon with +liveliest manifestations of delight.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_44" href="#FNanchor_44" class="label">[44]</a> “When trauaylers are out of their way the Oliphaunt will +do all that hee can by familiar tokens to bring them in again. +He is of much vertue and verie seruiceable with loue towardes +man.”—<i>Legh.</i> “Even the wilde ones living in deserts will +direct and defend strangers and travellers. For if an Elephant +shall finde a man wandering in his way, first of all that he may +not be affrighted, the Elephant goeth a little wide out of the +path and standeth still, then by little and little going before him, +he shews him the way; and if a Dragon chance to meet this +man thus travelling, the Elephant then opposeth himself to the +Dragon and powerfully defendeth the helplesse man who is not +able to defend himself.”—<i>Speculum Mundi.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_45" href="#FNanchor_45" class="label">[45]</a> “And to the end they might provoke the elephants to +fight they shewed them the blood of grapes and mulberries.”—1 +<i>Maccabees</i> vi. 34.</p> + +<p>“And upon the beasts there were strong towers of wood, +which covered every one of them, and were girt fast unto them +with devices; there were also upon every one two and thirty +strong men that fought upon them, besides the Indian that +ruled him.”—1 <i>Macc.</i> vi. 37.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_46" href="#FNanchor_46" class="label">[46]</a> Miss Cobbe, in discussing the moral difference between the +creatures of Fancy and those of Nature, remarks very truly that +“the instincts which man has lent to the offspring of his +imagination are infinitely worse and lower than those which are +to be found in real eagles and tigers, which slay and eat their +natural prey to satisfy their hunger, and there make an end. +But the perfidious and cruel Sphinxes, and Harpies, and Gorgons, +and Gnomes, and Dragons, do mischief for mischief’s sake, and +are altogether merciless. The brutes of Fancy are merely +brutal, with a spice of human malignity superadded. Man has +created filthy Harpies, and relentless Hydras, and subtle and +vindictive Sphinxes, but he has never, even in thought, created +such an animal as the sagacious and friendly elephant, the +kindly-natured horse, or the affectionate dog.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_47" href="#FNanchor_47" class="label">[47]</a> The panther was one of the beasts that was brought in +great numbers to Rome. Pompey, for instance, exhibited to +the citizens over four hundred of them on one occasion. The +beast is figured in mosaic pavements, in the fresco paintings of +Pompeii, &c., and was evidently so well under observation that +it is remarkable how such erroneous ideas concerning it could +have become current or stood their ground as articles of belief +even for a day.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_48" href="#FNanchor_48" class="label">[48]</a> At a state banquet given by Gaston the Fifth we read that +“there was brought in (for an enter-course) the shape of a +beast called a Tiger, which by cunning art disgorged fire from +his mouth and nostrils.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_49" href="#FNanchor_49" class="label">[49]</a> It is dated 1658. The author was a Neapolitan.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_50" href="#FNanchor_50" class="label">[50]</a> The “Natural Magick” is divided into what is called +twenty Books, equivalent really to chapters, and they receive +various headings according to their contents, but the twentieth +Porta calls “Chaos,” and he explains it by saying: “I +determined from the beginning of my Book to unite +Experiments that are contained in all Natural Sciences, but by +my business that called me off, my mind was hindered, so that +I could not accomplish what I attended. Since, therefore, I +could not do what I would, I must be willing to do what I can. +Therefore, I shut up in this Book those Experiments that could +be included in no Classes, which were so diverse and various +that they could not make up a Science or a Book; and, therefore, +I have here them altogether confusedly as what I had over-passed, +and, if God please, I will another time give you a more +perfect Book. Now you must rest content with these.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_51" href="#FNanchor_51" class="label">[51]</a> We see this notion so lately as in a book entitled “An +English Expositour,” issued in 1680 by John Hayes, Printer to +the University of Cambridge.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_52" href="#FNanchor_52" class="label">[52]</a> The northern peoples believed also in an enormous wolf, +called Fernris, who was the offspring of Loki, the evil principle. +This creature until the end of the world would be the cause of +unnumbered ills to humanity, but at the crack of doom would, +after a fearful struggle, be vanquished by the Gods, and a reign +of universal peace would succeed his overthrow.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_53" href="#FNanchor_53" class="label">[53]</a> “Wherefore, studious Readers, accept my long Labours, +that cost me much Study, Travel, Expense, and much Inconvenience, +with the same Mind that I publish them; and +remove all Blindness and Malice, which are wont to dazle the +sight of the Minde, and hinder the Truth; weigh these Things +with a right Judgement when you try what I have Written, for +finding both Truth and Profit, you will (it may be) think better +of my Pains.”—<i>End of the Preface to Porta’s “Natural +Magick.”</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_54" href="#FNanchor_54" class="label">[54]</a> In Dryden’s poem, “The Hind and Panther,” we find the +reference:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The bloody bear, an independent beast,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Unlick’d to form, in groans her hate expressed.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_55" href="#FNanchor_55" class="label">[55]</a> The scientific name of the hare is <i>Lepus timidus</i>. Dryden, +in the “Hind and Panther,” places “amongst the timerous +kind the quaking hare.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_56" href="#FNanchor_56" class="label">[56]</a> Magliabechi, the learned librarian, pinned his faith upon +treacle to make his memory retentive. Grataroli, a famous +physician of the sixteenth century, wrote a Latin treatise, “The +Castle of Memory,” wherein, amongst an enormous number of +recipes, we find the internal application of bear’s grease, a hazelnutful +of mole’s fat, and calcined human hair, strongly recommended +by the learned author.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_57" href="#FNanchor_57" class="label">[57]</a> It was held by our ancestors that freckles came in the early +part of the year when the birds were laying their eggs, and that +the same mysterious influence of Nature that spotted the eggs +of the chaffinch, wren, robin, thrush, and other birds, freckled +the human skin.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_58" href="#FNanchor_58" class="label">[58]</a> In another popular remedy for “fitts” one has to “take +the furr of a living Bear’s belly, boil it in Aqua Vitæ, take it +out, squeeze it, and wrap it upon ye soales of ye Feete.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_59" href="#FNanchor_59" class="label">[59]</a> A mole skinned, dried in the oven, and then powdered, was +held in the fen districts to be a specific for ague. It may still +be in vogue—it certainly was in use twenty years ago. The mole +must be a male. As much of the powder as would lie on a +shilling was to be taken every day, for nine days, in gin. Nine +days were then to be omitted, and then the remedy was to be +resumed for nine days, by which time a cure was supposed to +be effected.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_60" href="#FNanchor_60" class="label">[60]</a> The “Lusiad”; Camoens.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_61" href="#FNanchor_61" class="label">[61]</a> Published therefore in the reign of Charles II., “Our most +undoubted and lawful King.” We have most of us formed an +opinion on the character of this wearer of the spotless ermine; +and the fulsome verse of Winstanley, written, not when the +reign was commencing and the national hopes were high, but +as it neared its end, is somewhat startling:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Long may he live who now doth wear the Crown</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To tread all Heresies and Schismes down.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Great God, let not his prayers e’er return empty,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But Crown his Head with Years and Years with plenty.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_62" href="#FNanchor_62" class="label">[62]</a> Gay’s Fables.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_63" href="#FNanchor_63" class="label">[63]</a> “In the Rabbinical book it saith the dogs howl when with +icy breath Great Sammael, the Angel of Death, takes through the +town his flight.”—<span class="smcap">Longfellow</span>, <i>Golden Legend</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_64" href="#FNanchor_64" class="label">[64]</a> The butter made from the milk of a cow fed in a churchyard +was held to be a potent remedy for consumption.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_65" href="#FNanchor_65" class="label">[65]</a> As this led to vigorous protests from the cat, and very possibly +a good scratching, a gold ring or coin was often substituted, +and found to be equally beneficial.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_66" href="#FNanchor_66" class="label">[66]</a> “It is also watchful, dextrous, swift, pliable, and has such +good nerves that if it falls from never so high it still lights +upon its feet, and therefore may denote those that have so +much foresight that whatever befalls them they are still upon +their guard.”—<i>Coats</i>, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1747.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_67" href="#FNanchor_67" class="label">[67]</a> The skin of the cat is the only portion of the animal that +can be turned to any use. According to mediæval belief, +Satan once thought he could make a man, but only succeeded +in turning out a skinless cat. St. Peter, filled with compassion +for the miserable object, bestowed on it a fur coat, its only +valuable possession, and a queer-tempered beast it has turned out.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_68" href="#FNanchor_68" class="label">[68]</a> He does not specify what dogs—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Mastiff, greyhound, mongrel, grim,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Hound, or spaniel, black, or lym,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or bob-tail tike, or trundle tail,”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">though this is clearly not an unimportant detail.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_69" href="#FNanchor_69" class="label">[69]</a> The name is said by Sir E. Tennent, in his “Natural +History of Ceylon,” to be from the Telegu words: Pandi-koku, +the pig-rat.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_70" href="#FNanchor_70" class="label">[70]</a> A.U.C. 787, equivalent to <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_71" href="#FNanchor_71" class="label">[71]</a> Heliopolis.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_72" href="#FNanchor_72" class="label">[72]</a> Even so comparatively recently as the time of Maundevile +we meet with the same symbolic significance, as we find this +author declaring that “men may well lykne that Brid unto God: +because that there hys no God but on; and also that oure Lord +aroos fro Dethe to Lyve the thridde Day.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_73" href="#FNanchor_73" class="label">[73]</a> “I know,” writes Izaak Walton, in his “Complete Angler,” +“we islanders are averse to the belief of wonders, but there be +so many strange creatures to be now seen, collected by John +Tradescant, who keeps them carefully and methodically at his +house near to Lambeth. I will tell you some of the wonders +you may now see, and not till then believe, unless you think fit. +You may see there the hog-fish, the dogfish, the dolphin, the coney +fish, the parrot fish, the shark, the poison fish, the swordfish; and +not only other incredible fish, but you may there see the salamander, +several sorts of barnacles, of Solan geese, and the bird of +paradise; such sorts of snakes, and such birds’ nests, and of +so various forms, and so wonderfully made, as may beget +wonder and amazement in any beholder.” Walton, as an +enthusiastic angler naturally, it will be noted, dwells most upon +the strange fish. Charles I. and his queen, together with Archbishop +Laud, and many others of rank and influence, visited the +museum and assisted by contributing to its stores, and we find in +Evelyn’s Diary, September 17th, 1657, that he, too, visited it. +The brothers Tradescant were the first well-known collectors of +natural curiosities in England, and portraits of them may be +seen in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. The Tradescant +collection was on December 15th transferred to Elias Ashmole. +The botanical genus, <i>Tradescantia</i>, is so called in honour of +John Tradescant.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_74" href="#FNanchor_74" class="label">[74]</a> Madagascar.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_75" href="#FNanchor_75" class="label">[75]</a> The Eastern love of the wonderful may be readily seen +in the well-known “Arabian Nights,” in the Koran, and in +Oriental literature generally. Mohammed tells us, in his sacred +book, that he saw in Heaven infinite companies of angels, each +a thousand times bigger than the globe of the earth: each had +ten thousand heads; every head threescore and ten thousand +tongues; and every one of those tongues praised God in seven +hundred thousand languages. The throne of Allah was +supported by seven angels, each so great that a falcon, if he +were to fly a thousand years, could not get so far as the distance +from one of their eyes to the other. Gabriel, the doorkeeper of +Paradise, has seventy thousand keys which pertain to his office, +every key being seven thousand miles long. This exaggerated +balderdash is but childish stuff; it contains no element of +grandeur or sublimity; and, in reading it, one only wonders, +when astonishment and awe were to be excited by an artifice so +commonplace, that, while he was about it, all the numbers were +not doubled, quadrupled, multiplied ten or a hundred fold; so +that we finally come to the conclusion that, with all the arithmetical +possibilities open to him, he was but a poor bungler at +his business after all.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_76" href="#FNanchor_76" class="label">[76]</a> “She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the +rock, and the strong place. From thence she seeketh the prey +and her eyes behold afar off.”—<i>Job</i> xxxix. 28, 29.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_77" href="#FNanchor_77" class="label">[77]</a> “The nature of the Eagle is to bend her eyes full into the +sunne beams. So strong is her sighte that she can even see +into the great and glaring sunne.”—<span class="smcap">Ferne</span>, <i>The Blazon of +Gentrie</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_78" href="#FNanchor_78" class="label">[78]</a></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“As eagle fresh out of the ocean wave</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Where he hath left his plumes, all hoary grey,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And decks himself with feathers, youthful, gay.”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Spenser.</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_79" href="#FNanchor_79" class="label">[79]</a> Dryden.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_80" href="#FNanchor_80" class="label">[80]</a> Hence Dante terms the Saviour of the World “Nostro +pelicano;” and an enthusiastic admirer of Charles I., and an +evident believer in the idea that he shed his blood for his +people, wrote in the year 1649, a book on that king, entitling +him “the Princely Pelican.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_81" href="#FNanchor_81" class="label">[81]</a> Byron.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_82" href="#FNanchor_82" class="label">[82]</a> It is curious that until this species was discovered at the +Antipodes a black swan was regarded both by ancient and +mediæval writers as the very emblem and type of extravagant +impossibility, so that those who found no difficulty in believing +in centaurs, mermaids, and fifty other extravagances, felt that +they really must draw the line at this.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_83" href="#FNanchor_83" class="label">[83]</a> In “Camden” we read that the device of Anne, queen of +Richard II., was “an ostrich with a nayle in his beake.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_84" href="#FNanchor_84" class="label">[84]</a> Thalaba.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_85" href="#FNanchor_85" class="label">[85]</a> While actual incorporation was doubtless regarded as the +most effectual, mere possession was not by any means to be +despised. Thus Porta tells us that “if you would have a man +become bold and impudent, let him carry about him the skin or +eyes of a Lion or a Cock, and he will be fearlesse of his enemies—nay, +he will be very terrible unto them.” Scores of equally +valuable hints may be gathered from these old authors.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_86" href="#FNanchor_86" class="label">[86]</a> In another book we consulted, “Notes for Cookerie, +gathered from experienced Cookes,” published in 1593, it is +equally emphatic that “a Cock to be stewed to renew the +weake” must be a red one. There is naturally here a connection +suggested between the colour of the bird and the ruddy +hue of health that is to be hoped for after such a dietary.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_87" href="#FNanchor_87" class="label">[87]</a> MS. No. 10,074 in the Royal Library, Brussels.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_88" href="#FNanchor_88" class="label">[88]</a> In the Middle Ages animals were frequently haled before +the judges for various offences. In 1266 a pig was burnt at +Fontaney, near Paris, for having killed a child, and in 1386, at +Falaise, a sow was condemned to death for a similar offence. +Horses and cattle were solemnly tried before the magistrates for +manslaughter, and either expiated their offence on the gallows +or were burned.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_89" href="#FNanchor_89" class="label">[89]</a> Aubrey tells us that in his younger days people had “some +pious ejaculation when the cock did crow, which put them in +mind of ye Trumpet at ye Resurrection.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_90" href="#FNanchor_90" class="label">[90]</a></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent8">“The peasants’ trusty clock,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">True morning watch, Aurora’s trumpeter,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The lion’s terror, true astronomer,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Who leaves his bed when Sol begins to rise</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And when Sunne sets then to his roost he flies.”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><i>Speculum Mundi.</i></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent8">“O chanticleer,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Your clarion blow, the day is near.”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Longfellow</span>, <i>Daybreak</i>.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_91" href="#FNanchor_91" class="label">[91]</a> Spenser.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_92" href="#FNanchor_92" class="label">[92]</a> Macbeth.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_93" href="#FNanchor_93" class="label">[93]</a> An old writer, one Fulgentius, declares that so far from +this croak being monotonous “the Raven hath sixty-four sundry +chaunges of her voice.” No other observer seems to have +detected this.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_94" href="#FNanchor_94" class="label">[94]</a> A fourteenth-century MS., the “Cursor Mundi,” says of +the raven’s exit from the ark:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Than opin Noe his windowe</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Let ut a rauen and forth he flow</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Dune and vp sought here and thare</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A stede to sett upon somequar.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Vpon the water sone he fand</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A drinkled best ther flotand.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of that fless was he so fain</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To schip came he neuer again.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_95" href="#FNanchor_95" class="label">[95]</a> This notion of the sightlessness of the young swallow +was a very popular one. The chelidonium, or swallow wort, +according to Aristotle and Dioscorides was so called because +the swallows use it to give sight to their young. Goldfinches, +linnets, and other birds, in like manner were believed to use the +eyebright; while the hawks strengthened their vision, we are +told, by means of the plant that was hence called the hawkweed, +and still retains that name.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_96" href="#FNanchor_96" class="label">[96]</a> “He was but as a cuckoo is in June,” says Shakespeare in +reference to Richard II., that is to say, he had lost the power to +attract, his utterances no longer commanded attention.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_97" href="#FNanchor_97" class="label">[97]</a> Thus Christopher Marlowe enshrines the old belief in the +lines:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“But how now stands the wind?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Into what corner peers my halcyon’s bill?”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>While Shakespeare, in King Lear, refers to the time-servers +who “turn their halcyon beaks with every gale and vary of their +masters.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_98" href="#FNanchor_98" class="label">[98]</a> The idea is at least as old as Pliny, as he mentions it in his +“Natural History” as a recognized fact too well-known to need +any apology or explanation. Theocritus in his seventh idyll +dwells on it, and it is found in the writings of Pliny and many +other ancient authors.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_99" href="#FNanchor_99" class="label">[99]</a> A quaint little octavo on this subject is that of Dr. Warder, +“The true Amazons or the Monarchy of Bees,” being a new +discovery and Improvement of those wonderful creatures. The +book went through several editions. The one that came under +our notice is the third; it is dated 1716.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_100" href="#FNanchor_100" class="label">[100]</a> Ammianus Marcellinus has put it upon record that in +imitation of the ingenuity of the crane in assuring vigilance, +Alexander the Great was accustomed to rest with a silver ball in +his hand, so that on the slightest movement it might fall and +wake him. This is certainly heroic treatment, since even such +an one as Alexander might fairly claim the necessity that other +mortals feel of uninterrupted rest. It reminds one of the +dictum of the great Duke of Wellington in defence of his +camp-bedstead, accommodation so confined that one could +scarcely turn round in it, that directly a man begins to think of +turning round it is time to turn out.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_101" href="#FNanchor_101" class="label">[101]</a> In “A Mirror for Mathematics, a Golden Gem for +Geometricians, a sure Safety for Saylers, and an auncient +Antiquary for Astronomers and Astrologians,” by Robert +Tanner, Gent, Practitioner in Astrologie and Physic, a book +published in the year 1587, we find an “Epistle dedicatourie” +to Lord Howard of Effingham, commencing:—“The Cranes +when they fly out of Cilicia, over the mountain Taurus, carrie +in their mouths a pebble stone, lest by their chattering they +should be ceased upon by the eagles, which birds, Right +Honourable, might teach me silence,” &c., &c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_102" href="#FNanchor_102" class="label">[102]</a> “This creature is in thicknesse as big as a man’s wrist, +and of length proportionable to that thicknesse.”—<i>Speculum +Mundi.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_103" href="#FNanchor_103" class="label">[103]</a> The “Annals of Winchester,” for the year 1177, inform us +that “in this yeare Dragons were sene of many in England.” +In 1274 it is recorded that there was an earthquake on the Eve +of St. Nicholas’ Day, and that there appeared “a fiery dragon +which frightened the English.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_104" href="#FNanchor_104" class="label">[104]</a> In the “Magick of Kirani,” a Persian book that appeared +in an English dress in 1685, we find the representation of a +dragon employed as a charm. “If therefore any man engrave +a woodpecker on the stone dentrites, and a sea-dragon under its +feet, every gate will open unto him; savage beasts will also +obey him and come to tameness; he shall also be loved +and observed of all, and whatever he hath a mind to, he shall +perform.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_105" href="#FNanchor_105" class="label">[105]</a> On its noble title-page we see on either side of the title of +the book a powerful dragon, beneath one is inscribed Dominium, +and below the other Vigilantia. At the base a third dragon +supports two shields. On one is represented the serpent +twining round a staff, the well-known symbol of Æsculapius, +inscribed Salus, and on the other the equally familiar symbol +of eternity, the serpent with its tail in its mouth, inscribed +Immortalitatis.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_106" href="#FNanchor_106" class="label">[106]</a> Thus Lyte tells us that in his day, 1578, it had “none +other knowen name than this.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_107" href="#FNanchor_107" class="label">[107]</a> “Wherein is contained the most excellent Secretes of +Phisicke and Philosophie deuided into fower Bookes. In the +which are the best approued remedies for the diseases as well +inwarde as outwarde, of all the partes of Man’s bodie: treating +very amplie of all Dystillacions of Waters, of Oyles, Balmes, +Quintessences, with the vse and preparation of Antimonie and +Potable Gold.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_108" href="#FNanchor_108" class="label">[108]</a> The “holy” has, of course, no reference to the sacred +character of the mess in question: it is merely the free and +easy mediæval way of spelling the word wholly.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_109" href="#FNanchor_109" class="label">[109]</a> Extracted from the “Arcana Fairfaxiana,” a facsimile +reproduction of a manuscript book of recipes some three +hundred years old, found in an old lumber room at the ancestral +seat of the Fairfax family.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_110" href="#FNanchor_110" class="label">[110]</a> Our readers will remember the use that Longfellow makes +of this fancy in his “Evangeline:”—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Only beware of the fever, my friends! Beware of the fever!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For it is not like that of our cold Acadian climate,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Cured by wearing a spider hung round one’s neck in a nutshell.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>In the diary of Elias Ashmole we find that on May 11th, +1651, he was suffering from ague. He writes: “I took early +in the morning a good dose of elixir, and hung three spiders +about my neck, ague away, Deo Gratias!” Sometimes a pill +made up of spider web is taken, and in some parts of the south +of England a favourite remedy for jaundice was the living spider +itself rolled up with butter into a pill.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_111" href="#FNanchor_111" class="label">[111]</a> Another of these ancient authorities affirmed that mud +engendered frogs that lack feet. In other words, he made +acquaintance with tadpoles!</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_112" href="#FNanchor_112" class="label">[112]</a> It will be noted on turning back to our quotation from +Porta, that this “scarce one” is altogether too favourable to the +belief in the jewelled cranium of the toad. Porta, it will be +seen, says, “nor could I finde one,” an entirely different state +of things.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_113" href="#FNanchor_113" class="label">[113]</a> It will be seen from this that the state of things involved +in the too familiar legend, “Made in Germany,” is of ancient +date.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_114" href="#FNanchor_114" class="label">[114]</a> Act iii., sc. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_115" href="#FNanchor_115" class="label">[115]</a> Book I., Canto V.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_116" href="#FNanchor_116" class="label">[116]</a> A very good illustration of this treatment may be seen in +the statement that “the dogs in Egypt use to lap their water +running when they come to Nilus, for fear of the crocodiles +there, which cannot but be a fit pattern for us in the use of +pleasures; for true it is, we may not stand to take a heartie +draught, for then delights be dangerous, howbeit we may +refresh ourselves with them as we go on our way, and may +take them, but may not be taken by them; for when they +detain us, and cause us to stand still, then their sweet waters +have fierce Crocodiles; or if not so, they have strange +Tarantulas, whose sting causeth to die laughing.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_117" href="#FNanchor_117" class="label">[117]</a> We meet a like precision of statement in Cockeram’s +Dictionary, a quaint old volume, wherein “all such as desire +to know the plenty of the English” will find some very +strange illustrations of it. He says, edition of 1623, that “the +crocodile having eaten the body of a man, will, in fine, weep +over the head.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_118" href="#FNanchor_118" class="label">[118]</a> Readers of Shakespeare will recall how Falstaff rails at +Bardolph, calling him the “Knight of the Burning Lamp,” and +other sarcasms inspired by the effects of strong liquor on his +rubicund countenance. “Thou hast saved me a thousand +marks in links and torches, walking with thee in the night. +I have maintained that Salamander of yours with fire any time +this two-and-thirty years.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_119" href="#FNanchor_119" class="label">[119]</a> Galen, in one of his prescriptions, includes the ashes of a +salamander, an ingredient impossible to obtain if fire had no +power to destroy the creature.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_120" href="#FNanchor_120" class="label">[120]</a> A parallel idea is that if the body of a crab be laid in the +sunshine while the sun is in Cancer it will generate scorpions.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_121" href="#FNanchor_121" class="label">[121]</a> “Andromachus a voulu changer le nom de Mithridate en +celuy de Theriaque, à cause des vipères, auxquelles il a attribué +le nom, et lesquelles il a ajouté pour la base principale de cette +composition.” (Chares, “l’histoire des Animaux etc. qui entrent +dans la Theriaque,” Paris, 1868.) See also Heberden’s “Antitheriaca.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_122" href="#FNanchor_122" class="label">[122]</a> A viper drowned in a bowl of wine gave the draught great +healing virtues for leprosy. This happy discovery, like many +others of still greater value, was the result of accident. Some +mowers found on going to their provisions that a viper had got +into the wine, so they, very naturally, “contented themselves +with water; but when they had finished their day’s work, and +were to go out of the field, as it were out of pity they gave a +leprous man the wine wherein the viper was drowned, supposing +it better for him to die than to live on in that misery, but he, +when he had drank it, was miraculously cured,” at least, so we +read in the “Miracles of Art and Nature,” Galen being referred +to as the original authority for the story. The first essential +in many of these ancient remedies appeared to be that they +should be most improbable and unreasonable, and, secondly, +that they should be as repulsive as possible.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_123" href="#FNanchor_123" class="label">[123]</a> Spenser.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_124" href="#FNanchor_124" class="label">[124]</a> In “the Ceremonies to be observed at the Coronation of +His most Excellent Majesty King George IV.,” the order of +the procession is given, the first item of all being “the King’s +Herbwoman with her six maids, strewing the way with Herbs.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_125" href="#FNanchor_125" class="label">[125]</a> In this mysterious isle also “there ben wylde gees that +han two Hedes, and ther ben Lyouns all white and als grete +as oxen, and many othere dyverse Bestes.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_126" href="#FNanchor_126" class="label">[126]</a> There is a notion in Cheshire that this complaint can be +cured by holding a toad or frog for a few minutes within the +child’s mouth, at the imminent risk, one would imagine, of +choking the patient. In Norfolk, they had greater faith in giving +the child milk to drink that a ferret had previously lapped at.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_127" href="#FNanchor_127" class="label">[127]</a> “The knops or heads are holow within, and for the most +part hauing wormes in them, the which you shall find in cleaning +the heads. The small wormes that are founde within the knops +of teasels do cure and heale the quartaine ague, to be worne or +tied about the necke or arme.”—<i>Lyte’s translation of Dodœns</i>, +<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1586.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_128" href="#FNanchor_128" class="label">[128]</a> Judges, chap. xiv.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_129" href="#FNanchor_129" class="label">[129]</a> Dryden’s Translation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_130" href="#FNanchor_130" class="label">[130]</a> This old writer, not being aware of the various stages of +egg, larva, pupa, and imago through which butterflies and moths +pass, is much perplexed over the silkworm, “whether I may +name it a worme or a flie,” he says, “I cannot tell. For sometimes +it is a worm, sometimes a flie, and sometimes neither +worm nor flie, but a little seed which the dying flies leave +behinde them.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_131" href="#FNanchor_131" class="label">[131]</a> Apart from these various monsters, and the hundreds of +others that bear them company, Aldrovandus seems to have +been always accessible to anyone who would bring him one +wonder the more; hence he also figures a bunch of grapes +terminating in a long beard; representations of cloud-warriors +in conflict in the sky; comets like blazing swords, and many +other wonderful things that set our ancestors wondering in fear +and amazement as to what such portents should signify.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_132" href="#FNanchor_132" class="label">[132]</a> “To be shewn at the Royal Infirmary of this city, price +sixpence, the largest and most beautiful lion that was ever +seen in this country. Also an Egyptian mummy, lately sent as +a present to the Infirmary by Alexander Drummond, Esq., +Consul of the Turkey Company at Aleppo. Likewise a very +large horn of a sea unicorn, which all connoisseurs acknowledge +to be a remarkable curiosity.</p> + +<p>“N.B.—As the money collected on this occasion is to be +applied solely for the relief of the Indigent Sick in the said +Hospital, therefore if persons of Substance and Distinction shall +give more, it will be thankfully accepted on behalf of the +distressed Patients.”—<i>Edinburgh Chronicle</i>, 1758.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_133" href="#FNanchor_133" class="label">[133]</a> In the travels of Boullaye le Gouz, published in 1657, we +find a reference to this notion. He says, “I had among my +baggage the hand of a Syren, or fisherwoman, which I threw, +on the sly, into the sea, because the captain, seeing that we +could not make way, asked me if I had not got some mummy +or other in my bags which hindered our progress, in which case +we must return to Egypt to carry it back again. Most of the +Provençals have the opinion that the vessels which transport the +mummies from Egypt have great difficulty in arriving safe at +port: so that I feared, lest coming to search my goods, they +might take the hand of this fish for a mummy’s hand, and +insult me on account of it.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_134" href="#FNanchor_134" class="label">[134]</a> “That dolphins are crooked is not only affirmed by the +hand of the painter, but commonly conceived their naturall or +proper figure, which is not only the opinion of our times, but +seems the belief of older times before us: for besides the +expressions of Ovid and Pliny, their Portraicts in ancient +Coynes are framed in this figure, as will appear in some +thereof in Gesner, others in Goltzius, and Lævinus Hulsius in +his description of Coynes. Notwithstanding, to speak strictly, +in their naturall Figure they are streight, nor have they their +spine convexed or more considerably embowed than Sharkes, +Porposes, or Whales, and therefore what is delivered of their +incurvity must either be taken Emphatically, that is, not really, +but in appearance; which happeneth when they leap above +water or suddenly shoot down again: which is a fallacy of +vision, whereby streight bodies in a sudden motion protruded +obliquely downward appear to the eye crooked, and this is the +construction of Bellonius: or, if it be taken really, it must not +be universally and perpetually, that is, not when they swimme +and remaine in their proper figures, but only when they leape or +impetuously whirle their bodies anyway: and this is the opinion +of Gesnerus. Or, lastly, it must be taken neither really nor +emphatically, but only emblematically; for being the Hieroglyphic +of Celerity, and swifter than other animalls, men best +expressed their velocity by incurvity, and under some figure of +a bowe, and in this sense probably do Heralds also receive it.”—<i>Browne.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_135" href="#FNanchor_135" class="label">[135]</a> In Sussex no better remedy could be found for tooth-ache +than the application of a paw cut from a living mole.</p></div> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">[341]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="INDEX">INDEX.</h2> + +</div> + +<ul> + +<li class="ifrst">“Accedence of Armorie,” <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Acipenser, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Acosta, “travels in the Indies,” <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Acrid secretion in skin of toad, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Actes of English votaries,” <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Adam in Eden,” <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Adder, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Adder eaters, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ælianus, works of, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Agriophagi, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ague, specifics for, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ainos of Japan, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Albert Nyanza in old maps, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Albertus Magnus, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Alciatus, Book of Emblems, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Aldrovandus, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Alectorius, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> + +<li class="indx">All creation a moral text book, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ambrosinus, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Amphisbæna, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Anatomy of Melancholy,” <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Anchor and Dolphin, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> + +<li class="indx">André on theory of Creation, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Andrew Marvel’s “Loyal Scot,” <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Andromachus, physician to Nero, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Angulo or Hog-fish, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Animals in art and fable, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Annals of Winchester,” <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Anthropophagi, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Antipathies, animal, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, + <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Antipathy and sympathy, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ant’s eggs, oil of, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ants of India, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ape, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Apollo and Raven, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Arcana Fairfaxiana,” <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Arena, lions in the, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Areopagitica,” <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ariosto, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Aristotle, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Armonye of Byrdes,” <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Armories, Natural History in, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Arms of the City of London, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Art, animals in, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Art of simpling,” <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Asbestos, its supposed nature, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ashmole, diary of, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Askham on hare, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Asp, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“As Pliny saith,” <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Assyrian seals, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Astrological influences, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“As you like it,” <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Aubrey, extract from, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Augustine on higher and lower truths, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Authors consulted by Pliny, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Avicenna on chamæleon, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Azores in old map, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Bacci on unicorn, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bacon’s “Natural History,” <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Badge, panther, of King Henry VI., <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Badger, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bale on scandalous reports, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ballasting of cranes and bees, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">[342]</span>Bandicoot, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Barbary, lions of, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Barnacle goose, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Barnfield, “Cassandra,” <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Barrow, “Travels in Africa,” <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bartholinus on unicorn, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Basilisk, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bay-leaf as medicine, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bearded grapes, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bear, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Beaumont and Fletcher, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Beaver, oil from the, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bee, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Beef, the praise of, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bee-hives attacked by bears, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Belvedere” of Bodenham, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bereus on unicorn, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Bestiare Divin” of Guillaume, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bestiaries of Middle Ages, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Blackbird, Sagacity of, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Black Swan, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Blazon of Gentrie,” <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Blood of lion black, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Boar, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bœwulf on Mermaid, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Boiling river, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Bonduca,” extract from, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Book of Emblems,” <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Book of Knowledge,” Winstanley, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Boorde’s “Dyetary,” <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bosjesmen, ancient Troglodytes, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bossewell’s “Armorie,” <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bostock on Pliny, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Browne on Vulgar Errors, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, + <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, + <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Buffon on Pliny, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Burton, “Miracles of Art and Nature,” <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, + <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bussy d’Amboise on Unicorn, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Butler, Hudibras, extract from, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Byron, extract from, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Cabbage, the praise of, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Camel, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Camelopardilis, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Camerarius on dolphin, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Camillus, “mirror of stones,” <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cammetennus, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Camoens, extract from, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Camphor-tree, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cancer, specific for, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Canibali, home of the, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Canterbury Tales,” <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Capture of elephant, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Carbuncle borne by dragon, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Carew, extract from, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Carlyle on books, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Carrier pigeons, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cartazonos, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Cassandra,” extract from, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Castle of Memory,” <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cat, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Catelan on Unicorn, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cathay, palace at, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Catoblepas, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Centaur, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cerastes or horned viper, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ceylon, mermaids of, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Ceylon, Natural History of,” <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chameleon, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chanticleer, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chares on Theriaca, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chaucer, extract from, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chelidonius, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chelonites of Porta, <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chester’s “Love’s Martyr,” <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage,” <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chinese referred to by Pliny, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Churchyard grass, remedial virtues of, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cinirus, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cinnabar, how produced, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Coats, extract from, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cobbe on the creation of monsters, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cobra stone, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Coca plant, properties of, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cock, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cock-ale, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cockatrice, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cockeram’s Dictionary, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cockle, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cogan, “Haven of Health,” <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Coleridge on Nightingale, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">[343]</span>Cole’s “Adam in Eden,” <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + <li class="isub1">“Art of simpling,” <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Colours of dying dolphin, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Comets like blazing swords, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Composition of Venice Treacle, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Coney-fish, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Convulsions, remedy for, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Coolness of blood of elephant, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cornishmen tailed, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Corvia, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cos, dragon of, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Cosmography,” Munster’s, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, + <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Crabs’ eyes a remedy, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Crabs generating scorpions, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Crane, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Crapaudine, or toad stone, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Creatures of the fire, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Crippled feet of Chinese ladies, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Crocodile, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Crocuta, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cross on donkey’s back, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Crow, sagacity of, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cruelty in preparation of recipes, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ctesias on griffin, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">on unicorn, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cubs of bear a shapeless mass, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cuckoo broth, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Culverwort, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Curiosities of Heraldry,” <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Cursor Mundi,” extract from, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cuttle-fish, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cuvier on phœnix, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">on Pliny, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Cymbeline,” extract from, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cynamolgi, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Dagon, the fish god, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Daily Post</i>, advertisement from, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dallaway on unicorn, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dead animals generating other creatures, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dead men’s bones, oil from, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Deaf as an adder, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“De Animalibus” of Aristotle, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Death song of the swan, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Death-dealing cocatrice, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Decker on unicorn’s horn, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Deer, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“De Humana Physiognomonica,” <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“De Miraculis,” story from, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Democritus on serpent generation, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Derceto, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> + +<li class="indx">De Thaun, “Bestiary” of, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, + <a href="#Page_292">292</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Devil’s-bird, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“De Virtutibus Herbarum,” <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Diamond dissolving, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Differences in aim in zoological study, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Digby, “The Closet Open,” <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Dirge,” extract from Gay’s, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dioscorides, writings of, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Discoverie of witchcraft,” <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Display of Heraldrie,” Guillim, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Divining rod in use, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Doctrine of Signatures, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dodœns, extract from, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dog, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dog-headed men, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dog-king, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dolphin, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Donkey, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Double-bodied animals, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dove, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Draconites, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dragon, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dragon-maiden, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dragon and elephant, feud between, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Drayton, extract from, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dropsy, remedy for, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Drunkenness, to avert, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dryden, extract from, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, + <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Du Bartas on barnacle-goose, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Du Chaillu on gorilla, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">on pygmies, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dulness of hearing, remedy for, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dust of Malta a remedy, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Dyetary” of Boorde, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Eagle, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">[344]</span>Eale of Ethiopia, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Earless animals, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Earthworms in medicine, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Eastern love of the wonderful, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Eastern Travels of John of Hesse, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Eel’s blood for warts, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Eels from hairs, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Effects of climate on human tail growth, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Egyptians and the ass, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Einhorn, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li class="indx">El Dorado of Raleigh, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Elephant, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, + <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Elephant-headed boy, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Elizabeth, portrait of Queen, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ellison, “Trip to Benwell,” <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Emblemes and Epigrames,” <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Emblems” of Whitney, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li class="indx">England, first elephant seen in, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Epilepsy, cure for, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ermine, the spotless, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ethiopia, land of marvels, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Euphues,” extract from, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Evangeline,” extract from, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Evil spirit in donkey, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Eyebright for the sight, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Fable, animals in, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Fairie Queen,” extract from, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fakirs of India mentioned by Pliny, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Famous horses of antiquity, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fascination, power of, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fennel, value of, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fenton on toad stone, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ferne, “Blazon of Gentrie,” <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ferret, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Feuds, animal, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Filial love of storks, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fishes choosing a king, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fletcher on phœnix, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Flounder the wry-mouthed, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fondness of dolphin for man, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Forget-me-not, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Formosa men with tails, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Four-eyed men, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Four-footed ducks and pigeons, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Four-legged serpents, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fox, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Foxglove, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Freckles, cure for, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Frenzel on Unicorn, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Frog, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fulgentius on note of Raven, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fuller, extracts from, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Galen, prescription of, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Garden of the Muses,” extract from, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Garnier, the loup-garou, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gay, extract from, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Geliot’s “Indice Armorial,” <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Gentleman’s Magazine</i>, extract from, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Geranites, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gerarde, extract from, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gesner’s “History of Animals,” <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Giants, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gift of eloquence, To acquire, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gift of invisibility, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gilbert White’s “Selborne,” <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Glanvil, assertions of, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Glowworm, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Goat, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Golden Gem for Geometricians,” <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gonzale on monstrous men, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gorilla mentioned by Hanno, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gosse, “Romance of Natural History,” <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gout, remedy for, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gray, oil from the, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Great-lipped men, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Green lizards in mediæval recipe, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Grimalkin, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Guiana of Sir W. Raleigh, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Guillaume, “Bestiare Divin” of, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">[345]</span>Guillim’s “Display of Heraldrie,” <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, + <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gujerat, lions of, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Hairy men, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hairy serpents, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hakluyt’s “Voyages,” <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Halcyone, myth of, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Halle on knowledge for Chirurgeons, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Hamlet,” extract from, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hanno’s pursuit of gorilla, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hare, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Harpy, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hartebeest, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Haven of Health,” Cogan’s, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hawkweed, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Headless men, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Heberden’s “Antitheriaca,” <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hedgehog, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hentzner on horn of unicorn, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Heraldic animals, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Herbert’s book of travels, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Herb-tea in the Spring, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Herodotus, writings of, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Herring, the king of fishes, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Herschell on love of books, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Heylyn, travels of, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Heywood on stork, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Hind and Panther,” extract from, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hippeau on theological treatment, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hippocampus, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hippopotamus, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Histoire des Anomalies” of St. Hilaire, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Historia Naturalis” of Jonston, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Historie of Plants,” Gerarde, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“History of America,” Robertson, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“History of Animals,” Gesner, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“History of Serpents and Dragons,” Aldrovandus, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hog-fish, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Holland, English version of Pliny, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hollerius on snake stone, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Homer on eagle, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">on pygmies, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hoopoe, stone from, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Horned men, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Horned viper, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hornets from dead mule, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Horn of unicorn, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Horse, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, + <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Horse-shoe, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hound’s-tongue, value of, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Howling of dogs an evil omen, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li class="indx">How serpents are developed, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> + +<li class="indx">How tempests may arise, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li> + +<li class="indx">How the raven became black, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> + +<li class="indx">How to procure toad-stone, <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hudibras, quotation from, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hudson on mermaids, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Humble bees from dead ass, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hyæna, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Men turned into, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hydrophobia, treatment of, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Hymn on the Nativity,” Milton, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Iliad, extract from, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Incubators mentioned by Jordanus, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Indian customs mentioned by Pliny, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Indice Armorial,” <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Indifference to animal suffering, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Inhabitants of the sea-depths, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Insomnia, specific for, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Instances of sagacity in birds, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Invisibility, gift of, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ipotayne, half-man, half-horse, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Izaak Walton, extract from, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Jaguars, men turned to, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Jaundice, specific for, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Java, home of the pygmies, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Jewel-bearing toad, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Job on the eagle, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">[346]</span>John of Hesse, travels of, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Jonston’s “Historia Naturalis,” <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Jordanus, extract from, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, + <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Juggernaut, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Julius Cæsar,” extract from, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Jumar, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Keen sight of eagle, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Kentish men tailed, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Kingfisher, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“King Henry IV.,” extract from, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“King Henry VI.,” extract from, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, + <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“King Henry VIII.,” extract from, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“King Lear,” extract from, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li> + +<li class="indx">King of beasts, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">of birds, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">of fishes, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">of serpents, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Kite, sagacity of, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Knight of Malta,” extract from, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Lady loup-garou, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lalla Rookh, extract from, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lamia, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lamb-tree, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Land of the pygmies, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Landseer’s animal painting, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Language of beasts, to learn, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lapwing, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lark, sagacity of, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Larva of tiger-moth, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Laterrade on the unicorn, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lavender as a remedy, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Legend of the robin, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Legh, “Accedence of Armorie,” <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, + <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Leo, “History of Africa,” <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Leontophonos, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Leopards, men turned to, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Leviathan, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Licking little bears into shape, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lightning, protection against, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Like to like, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lily, “Euphues” of, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lion, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, + <a href="#Page_310">310</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lipless men, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Livre des Creatures” of De Thaun, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lizard, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lomie, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Long-eared men, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Long-headed men, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Longfellow, extract from, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Loup-garou, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Love of the marvellous, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Love’s Martyr” of Chester, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Loyal Scot” of Andrew Marvel, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Luminous ink, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lupton, extract from, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Lusiad” of Camoens, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Luther on whale, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lycanthropy, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">“Macbeth,” extract from, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Macaulay on books, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Maccabees,” extract from, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Macer on fennel, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mad as a March hare, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mad dog, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Magick of Kirani,” <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Maneless lions, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Manticora, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Manufacture of mermaids, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">of pygmies, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Maori traditions, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Mappæ Clavicula,” extract from, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Marcellus, cure of blindness, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Marco Polo, travels of, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Marlowe, extract from, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Marmalade for students, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Martin’s “Philosophical Grammar,” <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Marvellous Isle of Dondum, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Matthew Prior, drawing of elephant, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Maundevile, extract from, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, + <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, + <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mauritius veal, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Medical zoology, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mediæval theory of creation, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Melancholia, its cause, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">[347]</span>Men who lived on odours, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mendez Pinto the marvellous, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mermaid, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Metacollinarum, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Merchant of Venice,” extract from, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Metamorphoses,” Ovid, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Metempsychosis, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mewing nuns, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Midsummer night’s dream,” extract from, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Milton, extract from, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Miracles of Art and Nature,” extract from, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Mirror for Mathematics,” <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mirror of stones, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mithridate, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mole, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Monoceros, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Monstrorum Historia” of Aldrovandus, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Moon-worshipping elephants, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Moore, Extract of, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Moral-pointing treatment of zoology, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, + <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Moss from dead man’s skull, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Moufflon in Munster’s book, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mouse, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mouthless men, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Munster’s “Cosmography,” <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, + <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Music, dolphins love of, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Musinus, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mussel, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mutianus on monkeys, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Narwhal tusk, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Natural History,” Bacon’s, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Natural History of Norway,” <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Natural History of Selborne,” <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Natural Magick,” <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“New Jewell of Health,” <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Nightingale, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Nile represented in old maps, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Noah and the raven, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Noseless men, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Oannes the fish-god, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Odin’s wolf, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Oil of swallows, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Oils of medicinal repute, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Olaus Magnus, writings of, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Omens from animals, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + +<li class="indx">One-legged men, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Orlando Furioso,” extract from, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Ortus Sanitatis,” extract from, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Oryges, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ostrich devouring iron, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Othello,” Extract from, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ovid, the “Metamorphoses” of, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Owl, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Oxford life in the year 1636, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Oyster, the susceptible, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Panther, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Paradise lost,” extract from, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Parkinson, on barnacle goose, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Parrot-fish, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Parsee funeral customs, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Pathway to Knowledge,” extract from, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Peacock, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pearl-fish, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pegasus, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pelican, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Percy Society Publications, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Performing elephants, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Periplus” of Hanno, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Philomela, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Philosophical Grammar,” Martin, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Philostratus on pygmies, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Phisiologus on the mermaid, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Phœnix, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Physician-tench, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pietro del Porco, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pillars of Hercules, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pinto, liar of first magnitude, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Plagiarism, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Playmate, dragon as a, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pliny’s “Natural History,” <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">[348]</span>Plutarch, quotation from, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Poison fish, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Polypus and the significance thereof, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pomphagi, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pontarf, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pontoppidan, writings of, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Poor Robin’s Almanack,” extract from, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pope on learned blockheads, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Porta, extract from, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, + <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, + <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Potter’s “Booke of Phisicke,” <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Powdered mummy, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Praise of method, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Prawn, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Prester John, kingdom of, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Pseudodoxia Epidemica,” <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Purchas his Pilgrimage,” <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pygmies, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pyragones, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">“Quentin Durward,” extract from, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Rabbit, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Raleigh, Sir Walter, on Guiana, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ram, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ram-headed man, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rat, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Raven, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Raven-stone, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ray, its love for man, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Reginald Scot, “Discoverie of Witchcraft,” <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rejuvenescence of the eagle, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Relentless asp, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme,” <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Remedies for hydrophobia, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Remora, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rheumatism, remedy for, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Rich Jew of Malta,” extract from, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rings bearing toad-stone, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Robbers checkmated, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Robertson, “History of America,” <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Robin, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rochester rudeness to A. Becket, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Roc or Rukh, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Romance of Natural History,” Gosse, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Roman mosaic at Brading, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Romeo and Juliet,” extract from, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rondoletius, book of, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Roulet, the loup-garou, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Sachs on unicorn, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Saducismus Triumphatus,” <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sagacity of the crane, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Salamander, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sargon, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Savage Africa,” Winwood Reade, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sciatica, specific for, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Scoresby on mermaids, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Scorpion, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Scorpion-grass, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Scots Magazine</i>, extract from, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Screech-owl, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sea elephant, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sea horse, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Seal, Greek superstition respecting, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Serpent, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Serpentine monstrosities, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Shakespeare, extract from, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, + <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, + <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, + <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Shakespeare on learning, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sheep as great as oxen, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Shelley on nightingale, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Ship of Fools,” <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Shony, the storm-dog, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Shrew-ash, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Shrew-mouse, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Silkworm, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Silurus, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Single-footed men, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sir Emerson Tennant on travellers’ tales, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Six Pastorals,” extract from, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Skelton’s poem on birds, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sleeplessness, to cause, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Snail-shells as houses, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">[349]</span>Snake charmers mentioned by Pliny, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Song of the nightingale, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Southey, extract from, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Speculum Mundi,” extract from, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, + <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, + <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Speculum Regale,” <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Speechless men, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Spenser, quotation from, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, + <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sphinx, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Spider, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Squirrel, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Stag-wolf, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Stanley rediscovering pygmies, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Stellion, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Stolbergk on unicorn, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Stone in lapwing’s nest, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Stones of magic virtue, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Stork, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Storm-raisers, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Strabo on the pygmies, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Strewing herbs, <a href="#Page_302">302</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Struys’ voyages and travels, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Subjects dealt with by Pliny, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sucking fish or remora, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Survey of Cornwall,” extract from, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sus Marinus, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Suttee an ancient usage, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Swallow, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Swallow-wort, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Swam-fish, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Swan-song, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Swift, quotation from, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Symbol of resurrection, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sympathy and antipathy, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Syrens, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Tacitus on phœnix, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tailed men, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Tale of a Tub,” Swift, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Taming of the Shrew,” extract from, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tavernier on bird of paradise, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tears of the crocodile, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Teasel-heads, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Tempest,” extract from, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tench, the physician fish, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tennant on works of ancient travellers, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tensevetes, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ten-tailed lizard, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Theater of plants,” <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Theocritus on halcyon calm, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Theologians, a study of zoology, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Theriaca, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Thoes, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Thousand notable things,” <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Three-eyed men, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Three-headed monster, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Thynne’s “Book of Emblems,” <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tiger, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tiger-men, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Timon of Athens,” extract from, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Titian, device of, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Title-pages full of interest, old, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Titles of old books, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Toad, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Toad-stone, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Toad-wort, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li> + +<li class="indx">To catch Sargi, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tooth-ache, remedy for, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Topsell, extract from, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Torpedo, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tortoise, sagacity of, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tradescant’s museum, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Transfer of valuable animal properties to man, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Travellers’ tales, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Travels in Africa,” Barrow, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Travels of Le Gouz, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Treachery of the shrew mouse, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Trip to Benwell,” extract from, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Troglodytes mentioned by Pliny and others, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Troilus and Cressida,” extract from, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tusser’s “Husbandry,” <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">[350]</span>“Two Gentlemen of Verona,” extract from, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Two-headed animals, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Unchangeableness of old customs, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Urcheon, urchin, or hedgehog, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Use of elephant in war, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Value of personal observation, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Varia Historia,” extract from, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Venice treacle, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Venomous men, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Versipellis, the skin-turner, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Vervain in recipe, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Victoria Nyanza in old maps, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Viper in medicine, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Virgil on bees, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Voiage and Travaile” of Maundevile, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, + <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Warder, Dr., on bees, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Wart, to cure, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Wasps from dead horse, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Waters of Lethe, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Weasel, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Weather prognostics, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Weeping of deer, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Wehr-wolves, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Whales pacified with tubs, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + +<li class="indx">When venison should be avoided, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Whitney’s “Emblems,” <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Whooping cough, remedy for, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Why bears attack bee-hives, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Winstanley’s “Book of Knowledge,” <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Wolf, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Wolf-headed man, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Wondrous beasts of mediæval fancy, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Woolly bear, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Wren, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Wright’s translation of De Thaun, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Xenophon on boar, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Ylio of De Thaun, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Yule’s translation of Jordanus, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> +</ul> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp96" id="deco2" style="max-width: 10.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/deco2.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p class="center smaller">G. NORMAN AND SON, PRINTERS, FLORAL STREET, COVENT GARDEN.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<p class="right"><i>May, 1895.</i></p> + +<p class="center larger"><i>Valuable Books on Sale</i><br> +<span class="smaller"><span class="smaller">BY</span></span><br> +BERNARD QUARITCH,<br> +<span class="smaller"><i>15 Piccadilly, London, W.</i></span></p> + +<p class="hanging1">MR. WILLIAM MORRIS’S PRODUCTIONS +of the <span class="smcap">Kelmscott Press</span>.</p> + +<p class="hanging2">THE GOLDEN LEGEND. Translated by +<span class="smcap">William Caxton</span>. 3 vols. large 4to., <i>printed with the type specially +cut from Mr. Morris’s patterns, with ornamental letters and borders +designed by William Morris, and 2 full-page woodcuts from designs by</i> +<span class="smcap">E. Burne-Jones</span>, <i>bds.</i>, £5. 5<i>s</i> 1892</p> + +<p class="hanging2">THE RECUYELL OF THE HISTORIES +OF TROYE. Translated by <span class="smcap">William Caxton</span>. A new Edition of +the First Book printed in English, black letter, 2 vols. sm. folio, +<i>in black and red, vellum</i>, £7. 7<i>s</i> 1893</p> + +<p class="hanging2">THE HISTORYE OF REYNARD THE +FOXE. Translated from the Dutch by <span class="smcap">William Caxton</span>. +Reprinted from the edition of 1481, sm. folio, 4to., black letter, +<i>vellum</i>, £4. 4<i>s</i> 1893</p> + +<p class="hanging1">—— the above three works, of which but few +copies remain, if bought in one transaction, £15.</p> + +<p class="hanging2">THE BOOK OF WISDOM AND LIES. +Translated by Oliver Wardrop from the original of Sulkhan-Saba +Orbeliani. 8vo., 250 <i>printed in black and red, vellum</i>, £2. 2<i>s</i> 1894</p> + +<p class="center smaller">A BOOK OF TRADITIONAL STORIES from GEORGIA, <i>in Asia</i>.</p> + +<p class="hanging2">THE SAGA LIBRARY. By William Morris, +Author of “The Earthly Paradise,” with the assistance of <span class="smcap">Eirikr +Magnusson</span>, crown 8vo. <i>Roxburghe</i> 1890-93</p> + +<p class="hanging3">Each Volume, 7<i>s</i> 6<i>d</i>; or <span class="smcap">Large Paper</span>, royal 8vo., <i>hf. bd. morocco</i>, +£1. 11<i>s</i> 6<i>d</i></p> + +<p class="hanging3">Vol. I.: 1. <span class="smcap">Story of Howard the Halt</span>; 2. <span class="smcap">Story of the Banded +Men</span>; 3. <span class="smcap">The Story of Hen Thorir</span>, 7<i>s</i> 6<i>d</i> 1891</p> + +<p class="hanging3">Vol. II: THE EYRBIGGIA SAGA, or, The Story of the Ere +Dwellers, with the Story of the Heath-Slayings, with notes and +three Indexes, 7<i>s</i> 6<i>d</i> 1892</p> + +<p class="hanging3">Vol. III.: THE HEIMSKRINGLA, or, The Stories of the Kings of +Norway, called the Round World (Heimskringla), done into English +out of the Icelandic, Vol. I, <i>with a large map of Norway</i>, 7<i>s</i> 6<i>d</i> 1893</p> + +<p class="hanging3">Vol. IV.: THE HEIMSKRINGLA, Vol. II, 7<i>s</i> 6<i>d</i> 1894</p> + +<p class="center smaller">The Purchaser of the Large Paper issue binds himself to take the entire Series.</p> + +<p class="center smaller">The Large Paper issue consists of 125 numbered copies, printed by hand-press,<br> +on +Whatman Paper, at Whittingham’s Chiswick Press.</p> + +<p class="hanging1">BEWICK (Thomas) WORKS: +The Memorial Edition of the Works of THOMAS BEWICK, in +five vols, royal 8vo., <i>cloth, uncut</i>, £5. 5<i>s</i> 1885-87</p> + +<p class="hanging3">Vols. I, II. History of British Birds; Land Birds and Water Birds, +with the woodcuts of the Supplements incorporated, 2 vols.</p> + +<p class="hanging3">Vol. III. History of Quadrupeds, 1 vol.</p> + +<p class="hanging3">Vol. IV. Æsop’s Fables, 1 vol.</p> + +<p class="hanging3">Vol. V. Memoir of Thomas Bewick, written by himself, with +numerous woodcuts prepared for a projected History of British +Fishes, 1 vol.</p> + +<p class="hanging1">BLAKE (William) WORKS: Poetic, Symbolic, +and Critical. Edited, with Lithographs of the Illustrated +“Prophetic Books” and a Memoir, by <span class="smcap">Edwin John Ellis</span>, <i>Author of +“Fate in Arcadia,” etc.</i>, and <span class="smcap">William Butler Yeats</span>, <i>Author of the +“Wandering of Oisin,” “The Countess Kathleen,” etc.</i>, 3 vols. large 8vo., +<i>with portraits and 290 Facsimiles of Blake’s privately-printed and coloured +works, symbolical cloth binding</i>, £3. 3<i>s</i> 1893</p> + +<p class="hanging1">—— The same, Large Paper, 3 vols. 4to. +<i>half bound morocco, gilt top</i>, £4. 14<i>s</i> 6<i>d</i> 1893</p> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77830 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/77830-h/images/cover.jpg b/77830-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..75b0881 --- /dev/null +++ b/77830-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/77830-h/images/deco1.jpg b/77830-h/images/deco1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c767082 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