The Book Of Curiosities Part 14

Not many years ago, on fis.h.i.+ng a pond belonging to Mr. Pitt, of Encomb, Dorsets.h.i.+re, great numbers of the carp were found, each with a frog mounted on it, the hind legs clinging to the back, and the fore legs fixed to the corner of each eye of the fish, which were thin and greatly wasted, teased by carrying so disagreeable a load. The croaking of frogs is well known; and from that, in fenny countries, they are distinguished by ludicrous t.i.tles,--thus they are styled _Dutch nightingales_, and _Boston waites_. Yet there is a time of the year when they become mute, neither croaking nor opening their mouths for a whole month; this happens in the hot season, and that is in many places known to the country people by the name of the paddock-moon. It is said, that during that period their mouths are so closed, that no force (without killing the animal) will be capable of opening them. These, as well as other reptiles, feed but a small s.p.a.ce of the year. Their food is flies, insects, and snails. During winter, frogs and toads remain in a torpid state; the last of which will dig into the earth, and cover themselves with almost the same agility as the mole.

Not less remarkable is THE COMMON TOAD.--This is the most deformed and hideous of all animals. The body is broad, the back flat, and covered with a pimply dusky hide; the belly large, swagging, and swelling out; the legs short, and its pace laboured and crawling; its retreat gloomy and filthy: in short, its general appearance is such as to strike one with disgust and horror. Yet it is said that its eyes are fine. aelian and other ancient writers tell many ridiculous fables of the poison of the toad.

This animal was believed by some old writers to have a stone in its head fraught with great virtues, medical and magical: it was distinguished by the term of, the reptile, and called the toad-stone, bufonites, krottenstern, and other names, but all its fancied powers vanished on the discovery of its being nothing but the fossil tooth of the sea-wolf, or of some other flat-toothed fish, not unfrequent in our island, as well as several other countries. But these fables have been long exploded. And as to the notion of its being a poisonous animal, it is probable that its excessive deformity, joined to the faculty it has of emitting a juice from its pimples, and a dusky liquid from its hind parts, is the foundation of the report. That it has any noxious qualities, there seem to be no proofs in the smallest degree satisfactory, though we have heard many strange relations on that point. On the contrary, many have taken them in their naked hands, and held them long without receiving the least injury. It is also well known that quacks have eaten them, and have squeezed their juices into a gla.s.s, and drank them with impunity. They are also a common food to many animals; to buzzards, owls, Norfolk plovers, ducks, and snakes, which would not touch them, were they in any degree noxious.

The fullest information concerning the nature and qualities of this animal is contained in letters from Mr. Arscott and Mr. Pitfield to Dr. Milles, communicated to Mr. Pennant; concerning a toad that lived above thirty-six years with them, was completely tame, and became so great a favourite that most of the ladies in the neighbourhood got the better of their prejudices so far as to be anxious to see it fed. Its food was insects, such as millepedes, spiders, ants, flies, &c. but it was particularly fond of flesh worms, which were bred on purpose for it. It never appeared in winter, but regularly made its appearance in the spring, when the warm weather commenced, climbing up a few steps, and waiting to be taken up, carried into the house, and fed upon a table. Before it attacked the insects, it fixed its eyes on them, and remained motionless for a quarter of a minute, when it attacked them by an instantaneous motion of its tongue, darted on the insect with such rapidity that the eye could not follow it, whereby the insect stuck to the tip of its tongue, and was instantly conveyed to its mouth. This favourite toad at last lost its life, in consequence of being attacked by a tame raven, which picked out one of its eyes; and although the toad was rescued, and lived a year longer, it never recovered its health or spirit. It never showed any signs of rage, being never provoked.

Our next subject is an animal of great bulk, THE RHINOCEROS.--This quadruped is exceeded in size only by the elephant. Its usual length, not including the tail, is twelve feet, and the circ.u.mference of its body nearly the same. Its nose is armed with a h.o.r.n.y substance, projecting, in the full-grown animal, nearly three feet, and is a weapon of defence, which almost secures it from every attack. Even the tiger, with all his ferocity, is but very rarely daring enough to a.s.sail the rhinoceros. Its upper lip is of considerable length and pliability, acting like a species of snout, grasping the shoots of trees and various substances, and conveying them to the mouth; and it is capable of extension and contraction at the animal's convenience. The skin is, in some parts, so thick and hard as scarcely to be penetrable by the sharpest sabre, or even by a musket-ball. These animals are found in Bengal, Siam, China, and in several countries of Africa; but are far less numerous than the elephant, and of sequestered solitary habits. The female produces only one at a birth; and at the age of two years the horn is only an inch long, and at six only of the length of nine inches. The rhinoceros is not ferocious, unless provoked, when he exhibits paroxysms of rage and madness, and is highly dangerous to those who encounter him. He runs with great swiftness, and rushes through brakes and woods with an energy to which every thing yields. He is generally, however, quiet and inoffensive. Its food consists entirely of vegetables, the tender branches of trees, and succulent herbage, of which it will devour immense quant.i.ties. It delights in retired and cool situations, near lakes and streams, and appears to derive one of the highest satisfactions from the practice of rolling and wallowing in mud,--in this respect bearing a striking resemblance to the hog.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RHINOCEROS.--Page 162.

Many varieties of this formidable animal are found in Asia and Africa. The above figure represents the Asiatic variety, which has but one horn.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: RHINOCEROS.--Page 162.

Of the African rhinoceros, Mr. c.u.mming, the famous hunter, describes several kinds. The above figure represents the two-horned kind, which is found nowhere but in Africa. Mr. c.u.mming killed many of this kind.]

This animal was exhibited, by Augustus, to the Romans, and is supposed to be the unicorn of the scripture, as it possesses the properties ascribed to that animal, of magnitude, strength, and swiftness, in addition to that peculiarity of a single horn, which may be considered as establis.h.i.+ng their ident.i.ty. This animal can distinguish, by its sight, only what is directly before it, and always, when pursued, takes the course immediately before it, almost without the slightest deviation from a right line, removing every impediment. Its sense of smelling is very acute, and also of hearing, and, on both these accounts, the hunters approach him against the wind. In general, they watch his lying down to sleep, when, advancing with the greatest circ.u.mspection, they discharge their muskets into his belly. The flesh is eaten both in Africa and India.

We now proceed to THE CROCODILE.--This animal is a native both of Africa and Asia, but is most frequently found in the former, inhabiting its vast rivers, and particularly the Niger and the Nile. It has occasionally been seen of the length of even thirty feet, and instances of its attaining that of twenty are by no means uncommon. It princ.i.p.ally subsists on fish, but such is its voracity, that it seizes almost every thing that comes within its reach. The upper part of its body is covered with a species of armour, so thick and firm, as to be scarcely penetrable with a musket-ball; and the whole body has the appearance of an elaborate covering of carved work. It is an oviparous animal, and its eggs scarcely exceed in size those of a goose. These eggs are regarded as luxuries by the natives of some countries of Africa, who will also with great relish partake of the flesh of the crocodile itself. When young, the small size and weak state of the crocodile prevent its being injurious to any animal of considerable bulk or strength; and those which have been brought living to England have by no means indicated that ferocious and devouring character which they have been generally described to possess; a circ.u.mstance probably owing to the change of climate, and the reducing effect of confinement.

In its native climate its power and propensity to destruction are unquestionably great, and excite in the inhabitants of the territories near its haunts a high degree of terror. It lies in wait near the banks of rivers, and, with a sudden spring, seizes any animal that approaches within its reach, swallowing it with an instantaneous effort, and then rus.h.i.+ng back into its watery recesses, till renewed appet.i.te stimulates the repet.i.tion of its insidious exertions. These animals were occasionally exhibited by the Romans among their collections of the natural wonders of the provinces; and Scaurus and Augustus are both recorded to have entertained the people with a sight of these new and formidable objects.

It is reported by some travellers, that crocodiles are capable of being tamed, and are actually kept in a condition of harmless domestication at the grounds and artificial lakes of some African princes, chiefly as appendages of royal splendour and magnificence. A single negro will often attack a crocodile, and by spearing it between the scales of the belly, where it is easily penetrable, secure its destruction. In some regions these animals are hunted by dogs, which, however, are carefully disciplined to the exercise, and are armed with collars of iron spikes.

Aristotle appears to have been the first who a.s.serted that the under jaw of the crocodile was immoveable, and from him it was transmitted and believed for a long succession of ages. But the motion of the jaw in this animal is similar to that of all other quadrupeds. The ancients also thought it dest.i.tute of a tongue; an idea equally false. The tongue, however, is more fixed in this than in other animals, to the sides of its mouth, and less capable, therefore, of being protruded.--The eggs of the crocodile are deposited in the mud or sand of the banks of rivers, and immediately on being hatched, the young move towards the water; in their pa.s.sage to which, however, vast numbers are intercepted by ichneumons and birds, which watch their progress.

The ALLIGATOR, or AMERICAN CROCODILE, has a vast mouth, furnished with sharp teeth; from the back to the end of the tail, it is serrated; its skin is tough and brown, and covered on the sides with tubercles. This dreadful species, which grows to the length of 17 or 18 feet, is found in the warmer parts of North America, and is most numerous, fierce, and ravenous, towards the south. Yet, in Carolina, it never devours the human species, but on the contrary, shuns mankind; it, however, kills dogs as they swim the rivers, and hogs which feed in the swamps. It is often seen floating like a log of wood on the surface of the water, and is mistaken for such by dogs and other animals, which it seizes, draws under water, and devours. Like the wolf, when pressed by long hunger, it will swallow mud, and even stones, and pieces of wood. They often get into the wears in pursuit of fish, and do much mischief by tearing them to pieces. They are torpid during winter, in Carolina, and retire into their dens, which they form by burrowing far under ground. They make the entrance under water, and work upwards. In spring they quit their retreats, and resort to the rivers, and chiefly seek their prey near the mouth, where the water is brackish. They roar and make a dreadful noise at first leaving their dens, and against bad weather. The female lays a vast number of eggs in the sand, near the banks of lakes and rivers, and leaves them to be hatched by the sun: mult.i.tudes are destroyed as soon as hatched, either by their own species, or by fish of prey. In South America, the carrion vulture is the instrument of Providence to destroy mult.i.tudes; and it thus prevents the country from being rendered uninhabitable.

The following account of EASTERN ALLIGATORS is extracted from Forbes's Oriental Memoirs.

The eastern districts of Travancore, intersected by lakes and rivers, abound with amphibious animals, especially alligators and seals. There seems to be no essential difference between the alligator of India, and the Egyptian crocodile; lacerta alligator, and lacertus crocodilus.

Naturalists seem to confine the alligator to South America, the crocodile to Asia and Africa; but in India the lacerta crocodilus, generally called the alligator, is from five to twenty feet long, shaped like the genus to which he belongs; the back is covered with impenetrable scales; the legs short, with five spreading toes on the fore feet, and four in a straight line on the hinder, armed with claws: the alligator moves slowly, its whole formation being calculated for strength, the back bone firmly jointed, and the tail a most formidable weapon: in the river, he eagerly springs on the wretch unfortunately bathing within his reach, and either knocks him down with his tail, or opens his wide mouth for his destruction, armed with numerous sharp teeth of various lengths; by which, like the shark, he sometimes severs the human body at a single bite: the annals of the Nile and Ganges, although wonderful, are not fabulous. The upper jaw only of the alligator was thought to be moveable; but that is now completely disproved: the eyes are of a dull green, with a brilliant pupil, covered by a transparent pellicle, moveable as in birds: from the heads of those of large size, musk is frequently extracted.

It may not be improper in this place to introduce to the reader's notice, one of the greatest curiosities of its kind, which late ages have produced; that is, a FOSSIL CROCODILE.

This is the skeleton of a large crocodile, almost entire, found at a great depth under ground, bedded in stone. This was in the possession of Linkius, who wrote many pieces in natural history, and particularly an accurate description of this curious fossil. It was found in the side of a large mountain in the midland part of Germany, and in a stratum of black fossil stone, somewhat like our common slate, but of a coa.r.s.er texture, the same with that in which the fossil fishes in many parts of the world are found. This skeleton had the back and ribs very plain, and was of a much deeper black than the rest of the stone; as is also the case with the fossil fishes, which are preserved in this manner. The part of the stone where the head lay was not found; this being broken off just at the shoulders, but that irregularly; so that in one place a part of the back of the head was visible in its natural form. The two shoulder-bones were very fair, and three of the feet were well preserved: the legs were of their natural shape and size; and the feet preserved even to the extremities of the five toes of each.

Our next subject is named THE ORNITHORHYNCHUS PARADOXUS, and is a very singular quadruped, remarkable for its structure. The head is similar to that of a duck, which would lead to the supposition that it belonged to an aquatic bird. Both jaws are as broad and low as those in a duck, and the calvaria has no traces of a suture, as is generally the case in full-grown birds. In the cavity of the skull there is a considerably bony falx, which is situated along the middle of the os frontis, and the ossa bregmatis.

The mandible of this animal consists of a beak, the under part of which has its margin indented as in ducks, and of the proper instrument for chewing that is situated behind within the cheeks. Dr. Shaw says it has no teeth, though Mr. Home found, in a specimen examined by him, two small and flat molar teeth on each side of the jaws. The fore part of this mandible, or beak, is covered and bordered with a coriaceous skin, in which three parts are to be distinguished, within the proper integument of the beak.

Into these three parts of that membrane numerous nerves are distributed, intended, probably, as the organs of feeling, a sense which, besides men, few mammalia enjoy; that is, few animals possess the faculty of distinguis.h.i.+ng the form of external objects and their qualities, by organs destined for that purpose,--a property very different from the common feeling, by which every animal is able to perceive the temperature and presence of sensible objects, but without being informed, by the touch, of their peculiar qualities. Thus the skin in the wings of the bat, and its ear, are supposed the organs of common feeling, by means of which they are enabled to flutter, after being blinded, without flying against any thing.

The whiskers of many animals appear likewise to serve the same purpose of informing them of the presence of sensible bodies, and hence they have been compared to the antennae of insects.

But to return to the ornithorhynchus: It is an animal which from the similarity of its abode, and the manner of searching for food, agrees much with the duck, on which account it has been provided with an organ for touching, viz. with the integument of the beak, richly endowed with nerves. This instance of a.n.a.logy in the structure of a singular organ of sense in two species of animals, from cla.s.ses quite different, is a most curious circ.u.mstance in comparative physiology, and hence the ornithorhynchus is looked upon as one of the most remarkable phenomena in zoology.

We shall close this chapter with an account of THE MARMOT, or MOUNTAIN-RAT OF SWITZERLAND.--This rat is almost the size of a leveret, and resembles a common rat very much in appearance. These little creatures live together in societies, and have different dwellings for winter and summer; their fore paws are remarkably strong, which qualifies them for scooping out their burrows. The same form is always preserved in the construction of their dwellings, which consist of a long pa.s.sage, just big enough to let the marmot enter, leading to two apartments; the largest of these serves the whole family for a chamber, where they lie close together, in a torpid state, rolled up like hedge-hogs, during the cold season, as dormice do in England. When they betake themselves to their winter quarters, after having lined their chamber with soft hay, they carefully stop up the entrance with a sort of cement, which they make of earth, mixed with stones and dry gra.s.s. Before they collect the gra.s.s, either for food, or for their winter habitations, they form themselves into a circle, sitting on their hind legs, looking with a cautious eye on every side. If the least thing stirs that alarms them, the first which perceives it makes a particular kind of cry, which its next neighbour repeats, and so on till it goes round, when they hastily make their escape. They are often seen upon the slopes of the Alps, where gra.s.s is in plenty; but they love a warm sheltered situation, and change their residence according to the season.

CHAP. XIV.

CURIOSITIES RESPECTING ANIMALS.--(_Continued._)

_The Elephant--Fossil Elephant--The Chameleon--The Common Tortoise--Orang-Outang--The Unicorn--The Common Seal--The Ursine Seal--American Natural History._

Let no presuming impious railer tax Creative wisdom, as if aught was form'd In vain, or not for admirable ends.

_Thomson._

THE ELEPHANT.--This is a very wonderful animal; and has, both in ancient and modern times, been duly estimated in the Eastern world. His virtues are thus enumerated by Buffon:--To form a just estimation of the elephant, he must be allowed to possess the sagacity of the beaver, the address of the ape, the sentiment of the dog, together with the peculiar advantages of strength, largeness, and long duration of life. Neither should we overlook his arms or tusks, which enable him to transfix and conquer the lion! We should also consider that the earth shakes under his feet; that with his trunk, as with a hand, he tears up trees; that by a push of his body he makes a breach in a wall; that, though tremendous in strength, he is rendered still more invincible by his enormous ma.s.s, and by the thickness of his skin; that he can carry on his back an armed tower, filled with many warriors; that he works machines, and carries burdens, which six horses are unable to move; that to this prodigious strength he adds courage, prudence, coolness, and punctual obedience; that he preserves moderation even in his most violent pa.s.sions; that he is constant and impetuous in love; that when in anger, he mistakes not his friends; that he never attacks any but those who offend him; that he remembers favours as long as injuries; that having no appet.i.te for flesh, he feeds on vegetables alone, and is born an enemy to no living creature; and, in fine, that he is universally beloved, because all animals respect, and none have any reason to fear him!

The following account is extracted from Forbes's Oriental Memoirs, a highly interesting work.

"The largest Elephants are from ten to eleven feet in height, some are said to exceed it; the average is eight or nine feet. They are fifty or sixty years before they arrive at their full growth; the female goes with young eighteen months, and seldom produces more than one at a birth, which she suckles until it is five years old: its natural life is about one hundred and twenty years. The Indians are remarkably fond of these animals, especially when they have been long in their service. I have seen an elephant valued at twenty thousand rupees: the common price of a docile well-trained elephant is five or six thousand; and in the countries where they are indigenous, the Company contract for them at five hundred rupees each, when they must be seven feet high at the shoulders. The mode of catching and training the wild elephants is now well known; their price increases with their merit during the course of education. Some, for their extraordinary qualities, become in a manner invaluable; when these are purchased, no compensation induces a wealthy owner to part with them.

"The skin of the elephant is generally of a dark grey, sometimes almost black; the face frequently painted with a variety of colours; and the abundance and splendour of his trappings add much to his consequence. The Mogul princes allowed five men and a boy to each elephant: the chief of them, called the mahawut, rode upon his neck, to guide him; another sat upon his rump, and a.s.sisted in battle; the rest supplied him with food and water, and performed the necessary services. Elephants bred to war, and well disciplined, will stand firm against a volley of musketry, and never give way unless severely wounded. I have seen one of those animals, with upwards of thirty bullets in the fleshy parts of his body, perfectly recovered from his wounds. All are not equally docile; and when an enraged elephant retreats from battle, nothing can withstand his fury; the driver having no longer a command, friends and foes are involved in undistinguished ruin."

The elephants in the army of Antiochus were provoked to fight by shewing them the blood of grapes and mulberries. The history of the Maccabees informs us, that "to every elephant they appointed a thousand men, armed with coats of mail, and five hundred hors.e.m.e.n of the best: these were ready at every occasion; wherever the beast was, and whithersoever he went, they went also; and upon the elephant were strong towers of wood, filled with armed men, besides the Indian that ruled them."

"Elephants in peace and war know their duty, and are more obedient to the word of command than many rational beings. It is said they can travel, on an emergency, two hundred miles in forty-eight hours; but will hold out for a month at the rate of forty or fifty miles a day, with cheerfulness and alacrity. I performed many long journeys upon an elephant given by Ragobah to Colonel Keating. Nothing could exceed the sagacity, docility, and affection, of this n.o.ble quadruped: if I stopped to enjoy a prospect, he remained immoveable until my sketch was finished; if I wished for ripe mangoes growing out of the common reach, he selected the most fruitful branch, and breaking it off with his trunk, offered it to the driver for the company in the houdah, accepting of any part given to himself with a respectful salem, by raising his trunk three times above his head, in the manner of the Oriental obeisance, and as often did he express his thanks by a murmuring noise. When a bough obstructed the houdah, he twisted his trunk around it, and, though of considerable magnitude, broke it off with ease, and often gathered a leafy branch, either to keep off the flies, or as a fan to agitate the air around him, by waving it with his trunk; he generally paid a visit at the tent door during breakfast, to procure sugar-candy or fruit, and be cheered by the encomiums and caresses he deservedly met with; no spaniel could be more innocent, playful, or fonder of those who noticed him, than this docile animal, that on particular occasions appeared conscious of his exaltation above the brute creation."

The following account of the docility of the elephant, from ancient writers, will interest the reader.

"They have been taught to adore the king, says Aristotle, to dance, to throw stones at a mark, to cast up stones at a mark, to catch them again in their fall, and to walk upon ropes: Galba was the first, says Suetonius, that exhibited this at Rome. And these things they learned with such care, that they have often been found practising in the night what had been taught them in the day. They write too, says Pliny, speaking of one which wrote in the Greek tongue, _Ipse ego haec scripsi et spolia lettica dicavi_. I myself saw, says aelian, one of them writing Roman letters on a tablet with his trunk; and the letters he made were not ragged, but straight and even; and his eyes were fixed upon the tablet, as one that was serious. And in the plays that Germanicus Caesar shewed at Rome, there were twelve elephants, six males and six females; these were clothed as men and women. At the command of their keeper, they danced, and performed all the gestures of a mimic. At last they were brought where they were to feast; a table was covered with all kinds of dainties, and beds were covered with purple carpets, after the manner of the Roman eating, for them to lie upon. Upon these they lay down, and, at the signal given, they reached out their trunks to the table, and with great modesty fell to eating, and ate and drank as civil men would do."

This seems to be the most proper place for introducing an account of THE MAMMOTH.

The Mammoth is a fossil Elephant; a most remarkable one of which was found in the ice, at the mouth of the river Lena, in Siberia.

The following account is extracted from an abridgment of a paper by Dr.

Tilesius, from the Journal of Science.

"In the year 1805, when the Russian expedition under Krusenstern returned for the third time to Kamschatka, Patagof, master of a Russian s.h.i.+p, bringing victualling stores from Okotsk, related that he had lately seen a mammoth elephant, dug up on the sh.o.r.es of the Frozen Ocean, clothed with a hairy skin; and shewed, in confirmation of the fact, some hair three or four inches long, of a reddish black colour, a little thicker than horse hair, which he had taken from the skin of the animal: this he gave to me, says Dr. Tilesius, and I sent it to professor Blumembach. No further knowledge has been obtained on this subject, and unfortunately Patagof was not employed by any of our Societies to return to Siberia. Thus was this curious fact consigned to oblivion; nor should we now possess any information respecting the carcase of the mammoth, if the rumour of its discovery had not reached Mr. Adams, a man of great ardour in pursuit of science, who undertook the labour of a journey to these frozen regions, and of preparing these gigantic remains, and transporting them to a great distance.

"The preservation of the flesh of the mammoth through a long series of ages, is not to be wondered at, when we recollect the constant cold and frost of the climate in which it was found. It is a common practice to preserve meat and berries throughout the winter, by freezing them, and to send fish, and all other provisions, annually at that period, from the most remote of the northern provinces, to St. Petersburg, and other parts of the empire.

"I was told, at Jakutsk, says Mr. Adams, by the merchant Papoff, chief of the body of merchants in that town, that there had been discovered on the sh.o.r.es of the Frozen Ocean, near the mouth of the river Lena, an animal of extraordinary magnitude. The flesh, the skin, and the hair, were in a state of preservation, and it was supposed that the fossil production known under the name of mammoth's horns, must have belonged to an animal of this species. The news of this interesting discovery determined me to hasten the journey which I had in contemplation, for the purpose of visiting the sh.o.r.es of the Lena, as far as the Frozen Ocean; wis.h.i.+ng to preserve these precious remains, which might otherwise be lost.

"The third day of our journey we pitched our tents, at some hundred paces distant from the mammoth, on a hill, called Kembisaga-Shaeta. Schumachof, a Tungusian chief, related to me, nearly in these terms, the history of the discovery of the mammoth.