Part 32

“This stone is that which in auncient time was called Batrachites, and they attribute unto it a vertue besides the former, namely, for the breaking of the stone in the bladder, and against the Falling sicknes. And they further write that it is a discoverer of present poyson, for in the presence of poyson it will change the colour. And this is the substaunce of that which is written about this stone. Now for my part I dare not conclude either with it, or against it, for many are directlie for this stone ingendered in the braine or head of the Toade: on the other side, some confesse such a stone by name and nature, but they make doubt of the generation of it, as others have delivered; and therefore, they beeing in sundry opinions, the hearing whereof might confound the Reader, I will referre him for his satisfaction unto a Toade, which hee may easily every day kill: For although when the Toade is dead, the vertue thereof be lost, which consisted in the eye, or blew spot in the middle, yet the substance remaineth, and, if the stone be found there in substance, then is the question at an end; but, if it be not, then must the generation of it be sought for in some other place.”

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 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.

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 always ready to strike, and ceases not for an instant to menace, so that no opportunity may possibly be lost....

“In Scythia, the Scorpion is able to kill even the swine, with its sting, an animal which, in general, is proof against poisons of this kind in a remarkable degree. When stung, those swine which are black, die more speedily than others, and more particularly if they happen to throw themselves into the water. When a person has been stung, it is generally supposed that he may be cured by drinking the ashes of the Scorpion mixed with wine. It is the belief also that nothing is more baneful to the Scorpion than to dip it in oil.... Some writers, too, are of opinion that the Scorpion devours its offspring, and that the one among the young which is most adroit avails itself of its sole mode of escape, by placing itself on the back of the mother, and thus finding a place where it is in safety from the tail and sting. The one that thus escapes, they say, becomes the avenger of the rest, and, at last, taking advantage of its elevated position, puts its parents to death.”

Topsell has some marvels to relate concerning the generation of Scorpions:--“And it is reported by Elianus, that about Estamenus in India, there are abundance of Scorpions generated, onely by corrupt raine water standing in that place. Also, out of the Baziliske beaten into peeces, and so putrified, are Scorpions engendred. And when as one had planted the herbe Basilica on a wall, in the roome or place thereof hee found two Scorpions. And some say that if a man chaw in his mouth, fasting, this herbe Basill before he wash, and, afterwards, lay the same abroade uncovered where no sun commeth at it for the space of seaven nights, taking it in all the daytime, he shall at length find it transmuted into a Scorpion, with a tayle of seaven knots.

“Hollerius, to take away all scruple of this thing, writeth that in Italy, in his dayes, there was a man that had a Scorpion bredde in his braine, by continuall smelling to this herbe Basil; and Gesner by relation of an Apothecary in Fraunce, writeth also a storie of a young mayde, who by smelling to Basill, fell into an exceeding head-ach, whereof she died without cure, and, after her death, beeing opened, there were found little Scorpions in her braine.

“Aristotle remembreth an herbe which he calleth Sisimbriæ, out of which putrified Scorpions are engendered. And wee have showed already, in the history of the Crocodile, that out of the Crocodile’s egges doe many times come Scorpions, which at their first egression doe kill theyr dam that hatched them.”

There is a curious legend, that if a Scorpion is surrounded by fire, so that it cannot escape, it will commit suicide by stinging itself to death.

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 Dardæ. It has the colour of a cat, and is in size as large as an Egyptian wolf. This gold, which it extracts in the winter, is taken by the Indians during the heats of summer, while the Ants are compelled, by the excessive warmth, to hide themselves in their holes. Still, however, on being aroused by catching the scent of the Indians, they sally forth, and frequently tear them to pieces, though provided with the swiftest Camels for the purpose of flight; so great is their fleetness, combined with their ferocity, and their passion for gold!”

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.

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.

FOOTNOTES.

Supposed to be Sumatra.

γης κλειθρον, meaning the limit or boundary of the earth.

The Gryphon must not be confounded with the Griffin, as will be seen later on.

The Roman cubit was eighteen inches, so that these men were nearly eight feet high.

From ἀπὸ τοῦ μονοῦ κώλου, “from having but one leg.”

From Σκιαποῦς, “making a shadow with his foot.”

See illustration, p. 9.

Sparrow footed, from στροῦθος, a sparrow.

Probably cotton.