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
sextarii of vinegar, the hair to be well rubbed with the mixture in the
sun. According to Sornatius this preparation is, naturally, so
penetrating, that if females, when they apply it, do not take the
precaution of keeping some oil in the mouth, the teeth, even, will
become blackened thereby."
Olaus Magnus gives us the accompanying picture of the luxurious man in
his arm-chair by the river-side, catching his own leeches, and suffering
from gnats; and also his far more prudent friend, who makes the
experiment on the vile body of his horse, and thus saves his own blood;
but he gives us no account of its habits and customs.
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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 Graecian Baziliscos, and by the Latine, Regulus, because he seemeth to be... 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 reti... 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 d... 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 interesti... 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... The Chimaera
Aldrovandus gives us the accompanying illustration of a Chimaera, 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 re... 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 t... 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 pla... 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 ... 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 ... 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 minutiae of ritual. Englishmen and Foxes cannot live together, but they live for one another, the man to hunt the fox,... 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 ... 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 fou... The Gulo
Olaus Magnus thus describes the Gulo or Gulon:--"Amongst all creatures that are thought to be insatiable in the Northern parts of Sweden, the Gulo hath his name to be the principall; and in the vulgar tongue they call him Jerff, but in the Germ... 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... 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 hors... 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 ti... 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... The Horse
Aldrovandus gives us a curious specimen of a horse, which the artist has drawn with the slashed trunk breeches of the time. He says that Fincelius, quoting Licosthenes, mentions that this animal had its skin thus slashed, from its birth, and was t... 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-fi... 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 mos... The Lamia
The Lamiae 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, the... 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 powe... 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 ... 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 b... 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 pulc... 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,... 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 Apo... 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, shar... The Narwhal
generally called the Monoceros or Sea Unicorn, is thus shown in one place, by Gesner; and, rough though it is, it is far more like the Narwhal's horn than is the other, also, in his work, of a Sea Rhinoceros or Narwhal engaged in combat with an ou... The Orca
is probably the Thresher whale. Pliny thus describes it:--"The Balaena (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 periodica... 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 ... The Ouran Outan
Transition from hirsute humanity to the apes, is easy, and natural--and we need only deal with the Simiinae, which includes the Orang, the Chimpanzee, and the Gorilla. These are the largest apes, and nearest approach to man--but, although they may... 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 poss... The Phoenix
Pliny says of the Phoenix:--"AEthiopia and India, more especially produce birds of diversified plumage, and such as quite surpass all description. In the front rank of these is the Phoenix, that famous bird of Arabia; though I am not sure that its... 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, [Greek: Apo tou echein neas]. (From holding back ships.) It is believed that when this has attached itself to the... 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 Gesn... 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... 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... 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."... 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 s... 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 i... 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 a... 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. ...