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,... 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... 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 ... 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 its... 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 ... 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 tot... 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... 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 pl... 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. Pacol... 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 recor... 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 t... 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 b... 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 l... 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 AEgopithecus, an Ape like a Goate. For there are Apes like Beares, called ... 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 Mimick Dog The Crocodile The Lamb-tree The Gorgon Satyrs The Halcyon The Unicorn Snow Birds

The Harpy And Siren The Saw Fish Four-footed Duck Senses Of Fishes The Hornet The Trochilus The Swallow Remarkable Egg