The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1880-09-24
PalIacies Of the Lelrned.

Sir Thomas Browne, IN MS vulgar
Errors,n enumarates vast number OF
amusing mistakes, which owe their
origin not so much to the ignorance OF
the people at large as 10 The strange
wrong-headedness of individual men OF
learning.
Seneca, Claudian, Basil, Augustine,
Gregory, Jerome, and perhaps Thucy-
dides, agreed in the belief that crystal
Is simply ice strongly CONCEALED; and
such men as Scaliger. Albertus Magnus
and Brassavolus assented TO the propo-
sition. 1t is, however, but fair to say
that there were always opponents to this
theory. As for astronomical and geo.
graphical fAllacies, their nameis legion.
xenophanes asserted that the earth had
no bottom, Thales Milesus averTed that
1t foated In water, and almost every
old writer had his own pet craze about
the problem. Eusebus NieremberEids,
d learned Spaniard. had his own private
craze. He imagined that the human
body, left to turn as it would, would
always point Its head to the north (;
and it is hard TO understand how this
and most of the other fallscies connected
with the loadstone escaped detection by
experiment.
That the diamond may be broken or
softened by the b.ood of goat was at
one time matter of almost universal
belief Pliny, Solinus, Albertu9, Isidore,
Augustine and Cyprian ali express their
faith in 1t.
1t may astonish some people to learn
how wrong headed even Aristotle was
in similar matters. He asserted, among
other things, that a vessel full Of ashes
will contain as much wafer as 1t will
when empty; and in another passage he
states, with perhaps grrater show of
reason, that bolts and arrows grow red
hot in the course of rapid fight through
the air. This, however, is, we know,
incorrect. A candle may be fired from
q gun so as to pass through a board (;
and although leaden bullet or an iron
ball may splash and even melt upon
impact on hard substance, it is not the
motion, but the sudden arrest Of that
motion, which generates the rec ssary
amount OF heat. Another common arti-
Gle of belief with ancient sages was that
coral is soft under water, and only hard
ems whom exposed to the air. The ame-
thyst was said to prevent drunkenness; q
diamond placed beneath wife's pillow
was supposed to betray her infdelity;
the sapphire was considered preserva-
tive against entertainments; and the
smoke of the agate was relied on to
avert tempest, Most ofthe writers of
the middle ages believed that cinnamon,
ginger, cloves and nutmegs are the
produce ofthe same tree; that the bay,
the fig tree, eagles and sealskins afford
protection from lightning; and that the
use of bitter almonds is an effectual
guard against intoxication.
Ctesias, the Cnidian, who lived A D.
$50, reported that the elephant has no
Joints, that consequently it is unable
to lie down, and is in the habit
of sleeping as 1t rests against Tree in
its native forest. This popularity, he
stated, is taken advantage Of by the
hunters, who cut down the tree,
whereupon the huge beast rolls help.
lessly over on his back, and is easily
captured or dispatched. The real facts
are that elephants often sleep standing,
and that the wilder ones seldom lie
down. Yet tame elephants as often
sleep lying as standing. Chistophorus
a Costa declared that elephants have
been known to speak; and this question
is one which even Sir Thomas Browne
never ventured TO contradict-ht
thought it might be possible.
The vulgar error that moles are blind
is derived from the statements of Aris-
totle and Pliny; but there Is actually In
Greece an indigenous animal, known
as the rat-mole, which is blind. Alexan'
der Ross innocently expresses his con,
viction that the eyes of the English
mole are for ornament and nothing else
and in connection with this matter the
wary Sir Thomas Browne commits
himself by declaring that no anima
can possess more than two eyes. Pliny
Solinus and Ovid held that the chame
lon lives entirely upon air. Similarly
general was the idea that the ostrich il
able to digest iron. Plato appears to b'
primarily responsible for the notion
that swans sing very sweetly before
death; ard the idea took deep root
although Pliny denied it, as he did the
belief that storks will live only II
republics and free states. There was {
prevalent idea that the lion is afraid o
the cock; and Camerarius, to aontradicI
it, cited the case of lion springing into
a farmyard and devouring all the
poulty. Wbereupon Ross confidently
averred that the lion In question must
have been mad. Such wrong-headeC
reasoning as this it was that kept alive
these and SIMILAR fallacies in the brains
of men who ought TO have known
better.