Liberty advocate. [volume] (Liberty, Miss.) 1835-1866, 1839-01-17

lest ages consecrated TO the gods, and there is
reason TO suppose that the first collections OF
natural curosities were preserved in the TEN.
pie. There they were guarded with pous
reverence which secured them from neglect,
and being handed down to succeeding genera
tions, they at length accumulated to an amount
that may be considered large in the then infant
state of natural history. Some account OF
brief enumeration of a few among them may
not prove wholly undressing.
Among other curiosities, the temple Of Juno,
at Carthage, contained the skins of two Of the
hairy women discovered by Hanno on the Cor
gades Islands, and which he deposited there,
on his return, as memorial Of his voyage:-
The enormous horns the wild bulls, which
committed such havoc in Macedonia, were hung
up by order of King Philip in the temple OF
Hercules; and in the temple ofDelphi there were
suspended the horns Of Scythian animal, in
which the Stygian water that consumed every
other vessel could be contained these were pre-
sented by the Emperor Alexander, and the in
scription by Elan
In the temple Of Hercules, at Erythris, were
the horns of the supposed Indian ants and in
that of Isis, at Cesarea, the skeleton of the
crocodile that was found in the attempt 10 dis
cover the sources olthe Nie:--
The skin of the serpent destroyed by the
Roman army in Africa during the first Punic
war, and which both Pliny and Vaerius Max
linus describe as being 1870 feet in length, was
hung up in one Of the temples at Rome, where
its awbones remained until moro than cen.
fury aiterward;-
In the temple Of Juno, in the island Of Melita
uaha) a pair Of Elephants teeth, Of monstrous
size, were deposited; and these having been
carried away by the admiral Of Massanlssa's
fleet, were alterward restored on its being found
that they belonged to sacred place:
In one o(the temples Of Diana, the head ola
basiisk was shewn; and the bones Of that sea-
monster to which Andromeda was supposed to
have been exposed, were preserved at JoPpa
whence they were aitcrward carried to Rome:
The hide ofthe celebrated Calydonian boar
was exhibited in one Of the temples Of Greece
in the time of Pausanius and the huge tusks
of the animal were aiterward brough. to Rome
by order of the Emperor Augustus, and placed
in the temple Of Bacchus.
But the most extraordinary fall was, doubt
less, the hippocentaur, which is mentioned by
several writer's, and which, as we are assured
by Pliny, the naturalist, was preserved, in h'
time, in the cabinet ofthe Emperor. The ami
NAL was said to have been caught in Arabia
and to have been brought Egypt where having
died, it was preserved in brine, and transmltte'
to Rome To those who, not outstanding TIT
authority Of this respectful author, may still b
inclined 10 consider the existence OF such
creature as fabulous, it may be observed, tina
st. Jerome, who wrote in the fifth century
also mentions another hppocentaur, in his li'
d OF Paul. the hermit; in which he describes thu
monster, and says that it was notorious to TIT
whole world that, in the reign OF Constantine
lit was brought alive 10 Alexandria, where l
was publicly exhibited, and on its death was
preserved in salt, and sent to the Emperor at
Antioch.
These curiosities were, however, rather KEEP
in the temples as public memorials, or relics o
ancient times, than to serve the purposes o
science; and it does not appear that the learned
among the ancients formed private collections
ofther own. The Emperor Alexander, indeed
ordered all huntsmen, fowlers, and fishermen
to send whatever rare animals they obtained e
Aristotle; and we know That Pliny took every
opportunity to procure rare productions OF ma
ture, in order to note their peculiarlles; bu
!. still we hear Of nothing like museum OF natu
raj curiosities until the time Of the Empero
Augustus, who, as we are informed by Suction
Jus; had one in his palace.
One ofthe chcfcauses, no doubt, that render
; ed such collections rare among the ancents
was the imperfect knowledge they possessed o
, the mode Of preserving those objects that wer
. subject to decay. The only methods with which
they were acquainted, were those OF immersion
lin brine, or in honey, or Of covering with wax
all Of which were defective, and far inferior t
that by spirits of wine, which combines the ad
) vantage Of preventing putretaction with that
!, perfect Transparency. The more sc!entln
modern process employed in anatomical prepare
tons was wholly unknown.
or the methods then in use to prevent cor
, ruption, that by means of salt was the mos
, ancient, as it certainly was the most apparent
and the easiest of execution. II has been sur
D posed to have originated in Persia; and W
have the authority OF Dion Cassus, that whe
' Pharnaces sent the body of his father. Mithr
: dates, to Pompey, he had it placed in brine ou
it seems probable that, in the East nltre wa
more frequently employed for this purpos
, than common salt. AT later period, we lear
0 that the heads of The early martyrs were pre-
, served in salt by the monks; and Slgebert, VIII
/. died in lll3, tells US that similar process
;. was used with the body Of St. Guirbeft.
The custom Of preserving dead bodies in hor
fey was also employed at very early perlo'
o The remains Of several of the Spartans wn
}. died in foreign countries we're thus prepare
for transmission 10 their native home. In