Curious Creatures In Zoology - free ebook by John Ashton

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Curious Creatures In Zoology

John Ashton

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85 chapters

PREFACE.

PREFACE.

“Travellers see strange things,” more especially when their writing about, or delineation of, them is not put under the microscope of modern scientific examination. Our ancestors were content with what was given them, and being, as a rule, a stay-at-home race, they could not confute the stories they read in books. That age of faith must have had its comforts, for no man could deny the truth of what he was told. But now that modern travel has subdued the globe, and inquisitive strangers have poke

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Amazons.

Amazons.

The race of Amazons or fighting women, is not yet extinct, as the chronicles of every police court can tell, and as an organised body of warlike soldiers—the King of Dahomey still keeps them up, or did until very recently. According to Herodotus, the Greeks, after having routed the Amazons, sailed away in three ships, taking with them as many Amazons, as they had been able to capture alive—but, when fairly out at sea, the ladies arose, stood up for women’s rights, and cut all the Greeks in piece

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Pygmies.

Pygmies.

The antitheses of men—Dwarfs, and Giants—must not be overlooked, as they are abnormal, and yet have existed in all ages. Dwarfs are mentioned in the Bible, Leviticus xxi. 20, where following the injunction of “Let him not approach to offer the bread of his God”—are mentioned the “crookbackt or dwarf.” Dwarfs in all ages have been made the sport of Royalty, and the wealthy; but it is not of them I write, but of a race called the Pygmies, very small men who were descended from Pygmæus. They are no

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Giants.

Giants.

This last sentence seems almost a compendium of The History of Tom Thumb , for his wit enabled him to overcome the lubber-headed giants, in every conflict he was engaged in with them—they were no match for him. Take the Romances of Chivalry. Pacolet, and all the dwarfs, were endowed with acute wits, and there was very little they could not compass—but the giants! their ultimate fate was always to be slain by some knight, and their imprisoned knights and damsels set free. A dwarf was a cleanly li

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Early Men.

Early Men.

On the antiquity of man it is impossible to speculate, because we have no data to go upon. We know that his earliest existence, of which we have any cognisance, must have been at a period when the climate and fauna of the Western continent was totally different to their present state. Then roamed over the land, the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, the Bos-primigenius, the reindeer, the cave bear, the brown and the Arctic bears, the cave hyæna, and many other animals now quite extinct. We know

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Wild Men.

Wild Men.

Sometimes a specimen of humanity has got astray in infancy, and has been dragged up somehow in the woods, like Caspar Hauser, and Peter the Wild Boy, and fiction supplies other instances, such as Romulus and Remus, Orson, &amp;c. Some of them were credited with being hairy as are the accompanying wild man and woman, as they are portrayed in John Sluper’s book, where they are thus described:— When Cæsar came to Britain for the second time, he found the Britons, although to a great extent civi

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Hairy Men.

Hairy Men.

If, as we may conjecture from the above, the ancient Briton was “a rugged man, o’ergrown with hair,” his full-dress toilette must have occupied some time. But extreme hairiness in human beings is by no means singular, and very many cases are recorded in medical books. Many of us may remember the Spanish dancer, Julia Pastrana, whose whole body was hairy, and who had a fine beard. She had a child on whom the hair began to grow, like its mother; and, but a few years back, there was a hairy family

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The Ouran Outan.

The Ouran Outan.

Transition from hirsute humanity to the apes, is easy, and natural—and we need only deal with the Simiinæ, which includes the Orang, the Chimpanzee, and the Gorilla. These are the largest apes, and nearest approach to man—but, although they may be tailless, yet there is that short great toe which prevents any acceptation of their humanity. The orang is exclusively an inhabitant of Borneo and Sumatra, and in those two islands it may be found in the swampy forests near the coast. It grows to a lar

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Satyrs.

Satyrs.

He also mentions and delineates a curious Ape which closely resembles the classical Satyr: “Under the Equinoctiall , toward the East and South, there is a kind of Ape called Ægopithecus , an Ape like a Goate. For there are Apes like Beares, called Arctopitheci , and some like Lyons, called Leontopitheci , and some like Dogs, called Cynocephali , as is before expressed; and many other which have a mixt resemblance of other creatures in their members. “Amongst the rest there is a beast called PAN;

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The Sphynx.

The Sphynx.

“The Sphynga or Sphinx , is of the kind of Apes, but his breast up to his necke, pilde and smooth without hayre: the face is very round, yet sharp and piked, having the breasts of women, and their favor, or visage, much like them: In that part of the body which is bare with out haire, there is a certaine red thing rising in a round circle, like millet seed, which giveth great grace &amp; comeliness to their coulour, which in the middle part is humaine: Their voice is very like a man’s, but n

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Apes.

Apes.

Sluper, who could soar to the height of delineating a Cyclops, is equal to the occasion when he has to deal with Apes, and here he gives us an Ape which, unfortunately, does not seem to have survived to modern times—namely, one which wove for itself coarse cloth, probably of rushes; had a cloak of skin, and walked upright, with the aid of a walking-stick, and was so genteel, that, having no boots, he seems to have blacked his feet. And thus he sings of it: Before quitting the subject of Apes, I

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Animal Lore.

Animal Lore.

We are indebted to Pliny for much strange animal lore—which, however, will scarcely bear the fierce light of modern investigation. Thus, he tells us of places in which certain animals are not to be found, and narrates some very curious zoological anecdotes thereon. “It is a remarkable fact, that nature has not only assigned different countries to different animals, but that even in the same country it has denied certain species to certain localities. In Italy, the dormouse is found in one part o

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The Manticora.

The Manticora.

Of curious animals, other than Apes, depicted as having some approach to the human countenance, perhaps the most curious is the Manticora. It is not a parvenu; it is of ancient date, for Aristotle mentions it. Speaking of the dentition of animals, he says:—“None of these genera have a double row of teeth. But, if we may believe Ctesias, there are some which have this peculiarity, for he mentions an Indian animal called Martichora, which had three rows of teeth in each jaw; it is as large and rou

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The Lamia.

The Lamia.

The Lamiæ are mythological—and were monsters of Africa, with the face and breast of a woman, the rest of the body like that of a serpent; they allured strangers, that they might devour them; and though not endowed with the faculty of speech, their hissings were pleasing. Some believed them to be evil spirits, who, in the form of beautiful women, enticed young children, and devoured them; according to some, the fable of the Lamiæ is derived from the amours of Jupiter with a beautiful woman, Lamia

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The Centaur.

The Centaur.

This extraordinary combination of man and animal is very ancient—and the first I can find is Assyrian. Mr. W. St. Chad Boscawen, in one of his British Museum Lectures (afterwards published under the title of From under the Dust of Ages ), speaking of the seasons and the zodiacal signs, in his lecture on The Legend of Gizdhubar , says:—“Gizdhubar has a dream that the stars of heaven are falling upon him, and, like Nebuchadnezzar, he can find no one to explain the hidden meaning to him. He is, how

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The Gorgon.

The Gorgon.

In the title-page of one edition of “The Historie of Foure-footed Beastes” (1607) Topsell gives this picture of the Gorgon; and he says, respecting this curious animal, the following:—“Among the manifold and divers sorts of Beasts which are bred in Affricke, it is thought that the Gorgon is brought foorth in that countrey. It is a feareful and terrible beast to behold: it hath high and thicke eie-lids, eies not very great, but much like an Oxes or Bugils, but all fiery bloudy, which neyther look

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The Unicorn.

The Unicorn.

What a curious belief was that of the Unicorn! Yet what mythical animal is more familiar to Englishmen? In its present form it was not known to the ancients, not even to Pliny, whose idea of the Monoceros or Unicorn is peculiar. He describes this animal as having “the head of a stag, the feet of an elephant, the tail of the boar, while the rest of the body is like that of the horse: it makes a deep lowing noise, and has a single black horn, which projects from the middle of its forehead, two cub

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The Rhinoceros.

The Rhinoceros.

The true Unicorn is, of course, the Rhinoceros, and this picture of it is as early an one as I can find, being taken from Aldrovandus de Quad, A.D. 1521. Gesner and Topsell both reproduce it, at later dates, but reversed . The latter says that Gesner drew it from the life at Lisbon—but having Aldrovandus and the others before me, I am bound to give the palm to the former, and confess the others to be piracies. It is certain, however, that whoever drew this picture of a Rhinoceros must have seen

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The Gulo.

The Gulo.

“The Inhabitants are not content to let these skins be transported into other Countries, because, in Winter, they use to entertain their more noble guests in these skins; which is a sufficient argument that they think nothing more comely and glorious, than to magnifie at all times, and in all orders their good guests, and that in the most vehement cold, when amongst other good turns they cover their beds with these skins. “And I do not think fit to overpasse, that when men sleep under these skin

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The Bear.

The Bear.

As Pliny not only uses all Aristotle’s matter anent Bears, but puts it in a consecutive, and more readable form, it is better to transcribe his version than that of the older author. “Bears couple in the beginning of winter. The female then retires by herself to a separate den, and then brings forth, on the thirtieth day, mostly five young ones. When first born, they are shapeless masses of white flesh, a little larger than mice; their claws alone being prominent. The mother then licks them into

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The Fox.

The Fox.

By Englishmen, the Fox has been raised to the height of at least a demigod—and his cult is a serious matter attended with great minutiæ of ritual. Englishmen and Foxes cannot live together, but they live for one another, the man to hunt the fox, the fox to be hunted. If there be a fox anywhere, even in the Campagna at Rome, and there are sufficient Englishmen to get up a scratch pack of hounds, there must “bold Reynard” be tortured with fear and exertion, only, in all probability, to die a cruel

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The Wolf.

The Wolf.

The Wolf, as a beast of prey, is invested with a terror peculiarly its own; when solitary, it is not much dreaded by, and generally shrinks from, man, but, united by hunger into packs, they are truly to be dreaded, for they spare not man nor beast. They lie, too, under the imputation of magic, and have done so from a very early age. Their cunning, instinct, or reasoning powers, are almost as well developed as in the fox, and, of all the authorities I have consulted, the one best fitted to discou

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Were-Wolves.

Were-Wolves.

But of all extraordinary stories connected with the Wolf, is the belief which existed for many centuries, (and in some parts of France still does exist, under the form of the “Loup-garou,”) and which is mentioned by many classical authors—Marcellus Sidetes, Virgil, Herodotus, Pomponius Mela, Ovid, Pliny, Petronius, &amp;c.—of men being able to change themselves into wolves. This was called Lycanthropy , from two Greek words signifying wolf, and man, and those who were thus gifted, were digni

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The Horse.

The Horse.

“Horsses are afraid of Elephants in battaile, and likewise of a Cammell, for which cause when Cyrus fought against Crœsus , he overthrew his Horse by the sight of Camels, for a horse cannot abide to looke upon a Camell. If a Horse tread in the footpath of a Wolfe, he presently falleth to be astonished; Likewise, if two or more drawing a Charriot, come into the place where a Wolfe hath trod, they stand so still as if the Charriot and they were frozen to the earth, sayth Ælianus and Pliny . Æscula

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The Mimick Dog.

The Mimick Dog.

“The Mimicke or Getulian Dogge,” is, I take it, meant for a poodle. It was “apt to imitate al things it seeth, for which cause some have thought that it was conceived by an Ape, for in wit and disposition it resembleth an Ape, but in face, sharpe and blacke like an Hedgehog, having a short recurved body, very long legs, shaggy haire, and a short taile: this is called of some Canis Lucernarius . These being brought up with apes in their youth, learne very admirable and strange feats, whereof ther

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The Cat.

The Cat.

Aldrovandus gives us a picture of a curly-legged Cat, but, beyond saying that it was so afflicted (or ornamented) from its birth, he gives no particulars. Topsell, too, is singularly silent on the merits of Cats; but yet he mentions some interesting particulars respecting them:—“To keepe Cats from hunting of Hens, they use to tie a little wild rew under their wings, and so likewise from Dove-coates, if they set it in the windowes, they dare not approach unto it for some secret in nature. Some ha

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The Lion.

The Lion.

Of the great Cat, the Lion, the ancients give many wonderful stories, some of them not altogether redounding to his character for bravery:—“A serpent, or snake doth easily kill a lion, where of Ambrosius writeth very elegantly. Eximia leonis pulchritudo, per comantes cervicis toros excutitur, cum subito a serpente os pectore tenus attolitur, itaque Coluber cervum fugit sed Leonem interficit. The splendant beautie of a lion in his long curled mane is quickly abated, and allayed, when the serpent

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The Leontophonus—The Pegasus—The Crocotta.

The Leontophonus—The Pegasus—The Crocotta.

The Lion has a dreadful enemy, according to Pliny, who says:—“We have heard speak of a small animal to which the name of Leontophonus 36 has been given, and which is said to exist only in those countries where the Lion is produced. If its flesh is only tasted by the Lion, so intensely venomous is its nature, that this lord of the other quadrupeds instantly expires. Hence it is that the hunters of the Lion burn its body to ashes, and sprinkle a piece of flesh with the powder, and so kill the Lion

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The Leucrocotta—The Eale—Cattle Feeding Backwards.

The Leucrocotta—The Eale—Cattle Feeding Backwards.

“There are oxen, too, like that of India, some with one horn, and others with three; the leucrocotta, a wild beast of extraordinary swiftness, the size of the wild ass, with the legs of a Stag, the neck, tail, and breast of a lion, the head of a badger, a cloven hoof, the mouth slit up as far as the ears, and one continuous bone instead of teeth; it is said, too, that this animal can imitate the human voice. “Among the same people there is found an animal called the eale; it is the size of the r

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Animal Medicine.

Animal Medicine.

We have already seen some of the wonderfully curative properties of animals—let us learn something of their own medical attainments—as described by Pliny. “The hippopotamus has even been our instructor in one of the operations of medicine. When the animal has become too bulky, by continued overfeeding, it goes down to the banks of the river, and examines the reeds which have been newly cut; as soon as it has found a stump that is very sharp, it presses its body against it, and so wounds one of t

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The Su.

The Su.

Topsell mentions a fearful beast called the Su. “There is a region in the new-found world, called Gigantes , and the inhabitants thereof, are called Patagones; now, because their country is cold, being far in the South, they cloath themselves with the skins of a beast called in their owne toong Su , for by reason that this beast liveth for the most part neere the waters, therefore they cal it by the name of Su , which signifieth water. The true image thereof, as it was taken by Thenestus , I hav

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The Lamb-Tree.

The Lamb-Tree.

As a change from this awful animal, let us examine the Planta Tartarica Borometz —which was so graphically delineated by Joannes Zahn in 1696. Although this is by no means the first picture of it, yet it is the best of any I have seen. A most interesting book 37 on the “Vegetable Lamb of Tartary” has been written by the late Henry Lee, Esq., at one time Naturalist of the Brighton Aquarium, and I am much indebted to it for matter on the subject, which I could not otherwise have obtained. The word

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The Chimæra.

The Chimæra.

Aldrovandus gives us the accompanying illustration of a Chimæra, a fabulous Classical monster, said to possess three heads, those of a lion, a goat, and a dragon. It used so to be pictorially treated, but in more modern times as Aldrovandus represents. The mountain Chimæra , now called Yanar, is in ancient Lycia, in Asia Minor, and was a burning mountain, which, according to Spratt, is caused by a stream of inflammable gas, issuing from a crevice. This monster is easily explained, if we can beli

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The Harpy and Siren.

The Harpy and Siren.

The conjunction of the human form with birds is very easy, wings being fitted to it, as in the case of angels—and as applied to beasts, this treatment is very ancient, vide the winged bulls of Assyria, and the classical Pegasus, or winged horse. With birds, the best form in which it is treated in Mythology is the Harpy. This is taken from Aldrovandus, and fully illustrates the mixture of bird and woman, described by Shakespeare in Pericles (iv. 3):— Then, also, we have the Siren, shown by this i

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The Barnacle Goose.

The Barnacle Goose.

Of all extraordinary beliefs, that in the Barnacle Goose, which obtained credence from the eleventh to the seventeenth centuries, is as wonderful as any. The then accepted fact that the Barnacle Goose was generated on trees, and dropped alive in the water, dates back a hundred years before Gerald de Barri. Otherwise Giraldus Cambrensis wrote in 1187, about these birds, the following being a translation:— “There are here many birds which are called Bernacæ, which nature produces in a manner contr

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Remarkable Egg.

Remarkable Egg.

No wonder that a credulous age, which could see nothing extraordinary in the Barnacle goose, could also, metaphorically, swallow such an egg, as Licetus, first of all, and Aldrovandus, after him, gives us in the accompanying true picture. The latter says that a goose’s egg was found in France, (he leaves a liberal margin for locality,) which on being broken appeared exactly as in the picture. Comment thereon is useless....

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Moon Woman.

Moon Woman.

One would have imagined that this Egg would be sufficient to test the credulity of most people, but Aldrovandus was equal to the occasion, and he gives us a “Moon Woman,” who lays eggs, sits upon them, and hatches Giants; and he gives this on the authority of Lycosthenes and Ravisius Textor....

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The Griffin.

The Griffin.

There always has been a tradition of birds being existent, of far greater size than those usually visible. The Maoris aver that at times they still hear the gigantic Moa in the scrub—and, even, if extinct, we know, by the state of the bones found, that its extinction must have been of comparatively recent date. But no one credits the Moa with the power of flight, whilst the Griffin, which must not be confounded with the gold-loving Arimaspian Gryphon, was a noble bird. Mandeville knew him:—“In t

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The Phœnix.

The Phœnix.

Pliny says of the Phœnix:—“Æthiopia and India, more especially produce birds of diversified plumage, and such as quite surpass all description. In the front rank of these is the Phœnix, that famous bird of Arabia; though I am not sure that its existence is not a fable. “It is said that there is only one in existence in the whole world, and that that one has not been seen very often. We are told that this bird is of the size of an eagle, and has a brilliant golden plumage around the neck, whilst

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The Swallow.

The Swallow.

Olaus Magnus answered this question, according to his lights, and when, discoursing on the Migration of Swallows he says:—“Though many Writers of Natural Histories have written that Swallows change their stations; that is, when cold Winter begins to come, they fly to hotter Climats; yet oft-times, in the Northern Countries, Swallows are drawn forth, by chance by Fishermen, like a lump cleaving together, where they went amongst the Reeds, after the beginning of Autumn, and there fasten themselves

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The Martlet, and Footless Birds.

The Martlet, and Footless Birds.

Of the Martin, or, as in Heraldry it is written, Martlet , Guillim thus writes:—“The Martlet, or Martinet, saith Bekenhawh, hath Legs so exceeding short, that they can by no means go: ( walk ) And thereupon, it seemeth, the Grecians do call them Apodes, quasi sine pedibus; not because they do want Feet, but because they have not such Use of their Feet, as other Birds have. And if perchance they fall upon the Ground, they cannot raise themselves upon their Feet, as others do, and prepare themselv

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Snow Birds.

Snow Birds.

But we must leave warm climes, and birds of Paradise, and speak of “Birds shut up under the Snow.” “There are in the Northern Countries Wood-Cocks, like to pheasant for bigness, but their Tails are much shorter, and they are cole black all over their bodies, with some white feathers at the end of their Tails and Wings. The Males have a red Comb standing upright; the Females have one that is low and large, and the colour is grey. These Birds are of an admirable Nature to endure huge Cold in the W

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The Swan.

The Swan.

The ancient fable so dear, even to modern poets, that Swans sing before they die—was not altogether believed even in classical times, as saith Pliny:—“It is stated that at the moment of the swan’s death, it gives utterance to a mournful song; but this is an error, in my opinion; at least, I have tested the truth of the story on several occasions.” That some swans have a kind of voice, and can change a note or two, no one who has met with a flock or two of “hoopers,” or wild swans, can deny. Olau

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The Alle, Alle.

The Alle, Alle.

“There is also in this Lake ( the White Lake ) a kind of bird, very frequent; and in other Coasts of the Bothnick and Swedish Sea, that cries incessantly all the Summer, Alle, Alle , therefore they are called all over, by the Inhabitants, Alle, Alle . For in that Lake such a multitude of great birds is found, (as I said before) by reason of the fresh Waters that spring from hot springs, that they seem to cover all the shores and rivers, especially Sea-Crows, or Cormorants, Coots, More Hens, two

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The Hoopoe and Lapwing.

The Hoopoe and Lapwing.

Whether the following bird is meant for the Hoopoe, or the Lapwing, I know not. The Latin version has “De Upupis,” which clearly means Hoopoes—and the translation says, “Of the Whoups or Lapwings”—I follow the latter. “ Lapwings , when at a set time they come to the Northern Countries from other parts, they foreshew the nearnesse of the Spring coming on. It is a Bird that is full of crying and lamentation, to preserve her Eggs, or young. By importunate crying, she shews that Foxes lye hid in the

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The Ostrich.

The Ostrich.

Modern observation, and especially Ostrich farming, has thoroughly exploded the old errors respecting this bird. We believe in its powers of swallowing anything not too large, but not in its digesting everything, and certainly not, as Muenster would fain have us believe, that an Ostrich’s dinner consists of a church-door key, and a horse-shoe. As matters of fact, we know that, when pursued, they do not bury their heads in the sand, or a bush; and instead of covering their eggs with sand, and lea

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The Halcyon.

The Halcyon.

Of this bird, the Kingfisher, Aristotle thus discourses:—“The halcyon is not much larger than a sparrow; its colour is blue and green, and somewhat purple; its whole body is composed of these colours as well as the wings and neck, nor is any part without every one of these colours. Its bill is somewhat yellow, long and slight; this is its external form. Its nest resembles the marine balls which are called halosachnæ ( probably a Zoophyte , Alcyonia) except in colour, for they are red; in form it

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The Pelican.

The Pelican.

The fable of the Pelican “in her piety, vulning herself,” as it is heraldically described—is so well known, as hardly to be worth mentioning, even to contradict it. In the first place, the heraldic bird is as unlike the real one, as it is possible to be; but the legend seems to have had its origin in Egypt, where the vulture was credited with this extraordinary behaviour, and this bird is decidedly more in accordance with the heraldic ideal. Du Bartas, singing of “Charitable birds,” praises equa

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The Trochilus.

The Trochilus.

This bird, as described by Aristotle, and others, is of a peculiar turn of mind:—“When the Crocodile gapes, the trochilus flies into its mouth to cleanse its teeth; in this process the trochilus procures food, and the other perceives it, and does not injure it; when the Crocodile wishes the trochilus to leave, it moves its neck that it may not bite the bird.” Giovanni Leone—before quoted—says, respecting this bird:—“As we sayled further we saw great numbers of crocodiles upon the banks of the il

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Woolly Hens.

Woolly Hens.

Sir John Maundeville saw in “the kingdome named Mancy, which is the best kingdome of the worlde—(Manzi, that part of China south of the river Hoang-ho ) whyte hennes, and they beare no feathers, but woll as shepe doe in our lande.”...

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Two-Headed Wild Geese.

Two-Headed Wild Geese.

Near the land of the Cynocephali or dog-headed men, there were many islands, and, “Also in this yle, and in many yles thereabout are many wyld geese with two heads.” But these were not the only extraordinary breed of wild geese, extant. Aristotle mentions the Crane as another stone-bearing bird:—“Among birds, as it was previously remarked, the Crane migrates from one extremity of the earth to the other, and they fly against the wind. As for the story of the stone, it is a fiction, for they say t

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Four-Footed Duck.

Four-Footed Duck.

Gesner describes a four-footed duck, which he says is like the English puffin, except in the number of its feet: but Aldrovandus “out-Herods Herod” when he gives us “A monstrous Cock with Serpent’s tail.” If we can believe Pliny, there are places where certain birds are never found:—“With reference to the departure of birds, the owlet, too, is said to lie concealed for a few days. No birds of this last kind are to be found in the island of Crete, and if any are imported thither, they immediately

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Fish.

Fish.

Terrestrial and Aerial animals were far more familiar to the Ancients than were the inhabitants of the vast Ocean, and not knowing much about them, their habits and ways, took “omne ignotum pro magnifico.” We have seen the union of Man and Beast, and Man and Bird; and Man and Fish was just as common, and perhaps more ancient than either of the former—for Berosus, the Chaldean historian, gives us an account of Oannes, or Hea, who corresponded to the Greek Cronos, who is identified with the fish-h

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“The Sea-Mouse.

“The Sea-Mouse.

“The Sea-Mouse makes a hole in the Earth, and lays her Eggs there, and then covers them with Earth: on the 30th day she digs it open again, and brings her young to the Sea, first blind, and, afterwards, he comes to see....

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“The Sea-Hare.

“The Sea-Hare.

“The Sea-Hare is found to be of divers kinds in the Ocean, but so soon as he is caught, onely because he is suspected to be Venemous, how like so ever he is to a Hare, he is let loose again. He hath four Fins behind his Head, two whose motion is all the length of the fish, and they are long, like to a Hare’s ears, and two again, whose motion is from the back, to the depth of the fishes belly, wherewith he raiseth up the weight of his head. This Hare is formidable in the Sea; on the Land he is fo

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The Sea-Pig.

The Sea-Pig.

Again we are indebted to Gesner for the drawing of this Sea Monster. Olaus Magnus, speaking of “The Monstrous Hog of the German Ocean ,” says:—“I spake before of a Monstrous Fish found on the Shores of England , with a clear description of his whole body, and every member thereof, which was seen there in the year 1532, and the Inhabitants made a Prey of it. Now I shall revive the memory of that Monstrous Hog that was found afterwards, Anno 1537, in the same German Ocean , and it was a Monster in

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The Walrus.

The Walrus.

Of the Walrus, Rosmarus, or Morse, Gesner draws, and Olaus Magnus writes, thus:—“The Norway Coast, toward the more Northern parts, hath a great Fish, as big as Elephants, which are called Morsi , or Rosmari , may be they are (called) so from their sharp biting; for, if they see any man on the Sea-shore, and can catch him, they come suddenly upon him, and rend him with their Teeth, that they will kill him in a trice. Therefore these Fish called Rosmari , or Morsi , have heads fashioned like to an

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The Ziphius.

The Ziphius.

This Voracious Animal, whose size may be imagined by comparison with the Seal it is devouring, is thus described by Magnus:—“Because this Beast is conversant in the Northern Waters, it is deservedly to be joined with other monstrous Creatures. The Swordfish is like no other, but in something it is like a Whale. He hath as ugly a head as an Owl: his mouth is wondrous deep, as a vast pit, whereby he terrifies and drives away those that look into it. His Eyes are horrible, his Back Wedge-fashion, o

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“The Saw Fish.

“The Saw Fish.

“The Saw fish is also a beast of the Sea; the body is huge great, the head hath a crest, and is hard and dented like to a Saw. It will swim under ships and cut them, that the Water may come in, and he may feed on the men when the ship is drowned.”...

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The Orca

The Orca

is probably the Thresher whale. Pliny thus describes it:—“The Balæna ( whale of some sort ) penetrates to our seas even. It is said that they are not to be seen in the ocean of Gades ( Bay of Cadiz ) before the winter solstice, and that at periodical seasons they retire and conceal themselves in some calm capacious bay, in which they take a delight in bringing forth. This fact, however, is known to the Orca, an animal which is particularly hostile to the Balæna, and the form of which cannot be i

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The Dolphin.

The Dolphin.

Pliny says:—“The Dolphin is an animal not only friendly to man, but a lover of music as well; he is charmed by melodious concerts, and more especially by the notes of the water organ. He does not dread man, as though a stranger to him, but comes to meet ships, leaps and bounds to and fro, vies with them in swiftness, and passes them even when in full sail. “In the reign of the late Emperor Augustus, a dolphin which had been carried to the Lucrine Lake, conceived a most wonderful affection for th

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The Narwhal,

The Narwhal,

The earlier voyagers who really saw the Narwhal, fairly accurately described it; as Baffin, whose name is so familiar to us by the bay called after him:—“As for the Sea Unicorne, it being a great fish, having a long horn or bone growing forth of his forehead or nostrill, such as Sir Martin Frobisher, in his second voyage found one, in divers places we saw them, which, if the horne be of any good value, no doubt but many of them may be killed;” and Frobisher, as reported in Hakluyt, says:—“On thi

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The Swamfisck.

The Swamfisck.

The accompanying illustration, though heading the chapter in Olaus Magnus regarding the Swamfisck and other fish, does not at all seem to elucidate the text:—“The Variety of these Fish, or rather Monsters, is here set down, because of their admirable form, and many properties of Nature, as they often come to the Norway Shores amongst other Creatures, and they are catcht for their Fat, which they have in great plenty and abundance. For the Fisher-men purge it, by boyling it like flesh, on the fir

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“The Sahab.

“The Sahab.

“There is also another Sea-Monster, called Sahab , which hath small feet in respect of its great body, but he hath one long one, which he useth in place of a hand to defend all his parts; and with that he puts meat into his mouth, and digs up grass. His feet are almost gristly, and made like the feet of a Cow or Calf. This Creature swimming in the water, breathes, and when he sends forth his breath, it returns into the Ayr, and he casts Water aloft, as Dolphins and Whales do....

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“The Circhos.

“The Circhos.

“There is also another Monster like to that, called Circhos , which hath a crusty and soft Skin, partly black, partly red, and hath two cloven places in his Foot, that serve for to make three Toes. The right foot of this Animal is very small, but the left is great and long; and, therefore, when he walks all his body leans on the left side, and he draws his right foot after him: When the Ayr is calm he walketh, but when the Wind is high, and the Sky cloudy, he applies himself to the Rocks, and re

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The Remora.

The Remora.

Of this fish Pliny writes:—“There is a very small fish that is in the habit of living among the rocks, and is known as the Echeneis, Ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔχειν νῆας. ( From holding back ships. ) It is believed that when this has attached itself to the keel of a ship, its progress is impeded, and that it is from this circumstance that it takes its name. For this reason, also, it has a disgraceful repute, as being employed in love philtres, and for the purpose of retarding judgments and legal proceedings.... I

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The Dog-fish and Ray.

The Dog-fish and Ray.

Olaus Magnus writes of “The cruelty of some Fish, and the kindness of others. There is a fish of the kind of Sea-Dogfish, called Boloma , in Italian , and in Norway , Haafisck , that will set upon a man swimming in the Salt-Waters, so greedily, in Troops, unawares, that he will sink a man to the bottome, not only by his biting, but also by his weight; and he will eat his more tender parts, as his nostrils, fingers, &amp;c., until such time as the Ray come to revenge these injuries; which run

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The Sea Dragon.

The Sea Dragon.

Of the Ray tribe of fishes, the Sea Dragon is the most frightful-looking, but we know next to nothing about it. Pliny only cursorily mentions it thus:—“The Sea Dragon again, if caught, and thrown on the sand, works out a hole for itself with its muzzle, with the most wonderful celerity.” Olaus Magnus simply copies Pliny almost word for word. Gesner, from whom I have taken this illustration, merely classes it among the Rays, and gives no further information about it; neither does Aldrovandus, fro

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The Sting Ray.

The Sting Ray.

Pliny mentions the Sting Ray, and ascribes to it marvellous powers, which it does not possess:—“There is nothing more to be dreaded than the sting which protrudes from the tail of the Trygon , by our people known as the Pastinaca , a weapon five inches in length. Fixing this in the root of a tree, the fish is able to kill it; it can pierce armour, too, just as though with an arrow, and to the strength of iron it adds all the corrosive qualities of poison.”...

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Senses of Fishes.

Senses of Fishes.

He also tells us about the senses of fishes, and first of their hearing:—“Among the marine animals, it is not probable that Oysters enjoy the sense of hearing, but it is said that immediately a noise is made, the Solen ( razor-sheath ) will sink to the bottom; it is for this reason, too, that silence is observed by persons while fishing at sea. Fishes have neither organs of hearing, nor yet the exterior orifice. And yet it is quite certain that they do hear, for it is a well-known fact, that in

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Zoophytes.

Zoophytes.

Writing on the lower phases of Marine Animal life, he says:—“Indeed, for my own part, I am strongly of opinion that there is sense existing in those bodies which have the nature of neither animals nor vegetables, but a third, which partakes of them both:—sea-nettles, and sponges, I mean. The Sea Nettle wanders to and fro by night, and at night changes its locality. These creatures are by nature a sort of fleshy branch, and are nurtured upon flesh. They have the power of producing an itching, sma

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“Sponges.

“Sponges.

“We find three kinds of sponges mentioned; the first are thick, very hard, and rough, and are called tragi: the second are thick, and much softer, and are called mani: of the third, being fine, and of a closer texture, tents for sores are made; this last is known as Achillium . All of these sponges grow on rocks, and feed upon shell and other fish, and slime. “It would appear that these creatures, too, have some intelligence; for, as soon as ever they feel the hand about to tear them off, they c

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The Kraken.

The Kraken.

This enormous monster, peculiar to the Northern Seas, is scarcely a fable, because huge Calamaries are not infrequently seen. Poor Pontoppidan has often been considered a Danish Ananias, but there are authentic accounts of these enormous Cuttle-fish; for instance, in 1854, one was stranded at the Skag, in Jutland, which was cut in pieces by the fishermen in order to be used as bait, and filled many wheelbarrows. Another, either in 1860 or 1861, was stranded between Hillswick and Scalloway, on th

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Crayfish and Crabs.

Crayfish and Crabs.

Pliny tells us that in the Indian Ocean are Crayfish four cubits in length (six feet), and he claims for crabs a sovereign specific against bites of scorpions and snakes:—“River-Crabs taken fresh and beaten up and drunk in water, or the ashes of them, kept for the purpose, are useful in all cases of poisoning, as a counter poison; taken with asses’ milk they are particularly serviceable as a neutralizer of the venom of the scorpion; goat’s milk or any other kind of milk being substituted, where

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The Sea-Serpent.

The Sea-Serpent.

Of the antiquity of the belief in the Sea-Serpent there can be no doubt, for it is represented on the walls of the Assyrian palace at Khorsabad, more than once, in the sculpture representing the voyage of Sargon to Cyprus, thus giving it an authentic antiquity of over 2600 years: but as its existence must then have been a matter of belief, it naturally comes that it must be much older than that. Aristotle, who wrote nearly 400 years later, speaks of them, and their savage disposition:—“In Libya,

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Serpents.

Serpents.

Of Serpents Topsell has written a “Historie,” which, if not altogether veracious, is very amusing; and I shall quote largely from it, as it shows us “the latest thing out” in Serpents as believed in, and taught, in the time of James I. He begins, of course, with their creation, and the Biblical mention of them, and then passes to the power of man over them in charming and taming them. Of the former he tells the following tale:— “ Aloisius Cadamustus , in his description of the New World, telleth

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The Crocodile.

The Crocodile.

The largest of the Saurians which we have left us, is the Crocodile; and it formerly had the character of being very deceitful, and, by its weeping, attracted its victims. Sir John Mandeville thus describes them:—“In this land, and many other places of Inde, are many cocodrilles, that is a maner of a long serpent, and on nights they dwell on water, and on dayes they dwell on land and rocks, and they eat not in winter. These serpents sley men, and eate them weeping, and they have no tongue.” On t

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The Basilisk and Cockatrice.

The Basilisk and Cockatrice.

Aldrovandus portrays the Basilisk with eight legs. Topsell says it is the same as the Cockatrice, depicts it as a crowned serpent, and says:—“This Beast is called by the Græcian Baziliscos , and by the Latine, Regulus , because he seemeth to be the King of Serpents, not for his magnitude or greatnesse: For there are many Serpents bigger than he, as there be many foure-footed Beastes bigger than the Lyon, but, because of his stately pace, and magnanimious mind: for hee creepeth not on the earth l

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The Salamander.

The Salamander.

Many writers have essayed this fabled creature, but almost all have approached the subject with diffidence, as if not quite sure of the absolute entity of the animal. Thus, Aristotle does not speak of it authoritatively:—“And the Salamander shews that it is possible for some animal substances to exist in the fire, for they say that fire is extinguished when this animal walks over it.” Pliny, on Salamanders, writes:—“We find it stated by many authors, that a serpent is produced from the spinal ma

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The Toad.

The Toad.

Toads were always considered venomous and spiteful, and they had but one redeeming quality, which seems to be lost to its modern descendants:— Pliny says of these animals:—“Authors quite vie with one another in relating marvellous stories about them; such, for instance, as that if they are brought into the midst of a concourse of people, silence will instantly prevail; as also that, by throwing into boiling water, a small bone that is found in their right side, the vessel will immediately cool,

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The Leech.

The Leech.

The Leech has, from a very early age, been used as a means of letting blood; but, among the old Romans, it had medicinal uses such as we know not of now. It was used as a hair dye. Pliny gives two receipts for making it, and it must have been powerful stuff, if we can believe his authority:—“Leeches left to putrify for forty days in red wine, stain the hair black. Others, again, recommend one sextarius of leeches to be left to putrefy the same number of days in a leaden vessel, with two sextarii

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The Scorpion.

The Scorpion.

Of the Scorpion, Pliny says:—“This animal is a dangerous scourge, and has a venom like that of the serpent; with the exception that its effects are far more painful, as the person who is stung will linger for three days before death ensues. The sting is invariably fatal to virgins, and nearly always so to matrons. It is so to men also, in the morning, when the animal has issued from its hole in a fasting state, and has not yet happened to discharge its poison by an accidental stroke. The tail is

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The Ant.

The Ant.

No one would credit the industrious Ant, whose ways we are told to consider, and gather wisdom therefrom, was avaricious and lustful after gold; but it seems it was even so, at least, in Pliny’s time; but then they were abnormally large:—“The horns of an Indian Ant, suspended in the temple of Hercules at Erythræ ( Ritri ) have been looked upon as quite miraculous for their size. This ant excavates gold from holes, in a country to the north of India, the inhabitants of which are known as the Dard

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The Bee.

The Bee.

The Busy Bee, too, according to Olaus Magnus, developed, in the regions of the North, a peculiarity to which it seems a stranger with us, but which might be encouraged, with beneficial effect, by the Temperance Societies. The Bees infested drunkards, being drawn to them by the smell of the liquor with which they had soaked their bodies, and stung them....

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The Hornet.

The Hornet.

So also, up North, they seem to have had a special breed of Hornets, which must have been ferocious indeed, sparing neither man nor beast, as is evidenced by the corpses, and by the extremely energetic efforts of the yet living man to cope with his enemies....

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