New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-04-26
GEOLOGICAL MYTHS.
ANTIQUE ERRORS IN NATURAL HISTORY

il is proper sometimes to say Of book that IL
should have been something else than it is, that It's
author shonld have had a broader purpose ana a
higher aim. This objection can he made with
special force against M. Ashton's readable mscel-
lany. With manifest liking for the ianciful and
legendary and for the Taciness Of the old English
prose and verse he has compiled what authors OF
less sophisncated times had TO say about wonder
full creatures that dwelt on earth. in air. In the
sea- lie has practically reproduced form III
literature that was popular in the sixteenth cen
fury Plainly the book. as the author says, can
not be Judged as q learned dsquisiton, but merely
as a collection of geological curlosltleS. AT that
level il challenges 10 criticism But the author S
wide reading should have led him to higher plane.
The work would not have seemed any more pc
DANTE than it now does with its array OF Greek
Latin and medieval names. II he had digese1 it
into systematic study, a thoroughgoing effort TO
scparat, facts Of observation, whether stated cor
rectly or incorrectly, from mere freaks of the
Imagination There is hardly a specimen in the
fauna of ancient or medieval times In the de
scfiption of which fact and fiction are not woven
tocctbcr Roth the fact and the fiction are of
high value when freed from ENHANCEMENT with
each other. but it is several hundred years since
they have been Of any use in combination. In
some obvious cases, like those Of the rhinoceros,
the wolverine the krakcn and others, there Is sat
isfactory comment bringing out the truth that
undcray all the exaggcratiOn Of travellers tales
and sailors yarns but these explanations seem TO
be put in only because the sources we're IN easy
reach from which they could be drawn.
In the case Of men like Pliny and Aldrovandus
who were honestly determined to write with ac-
curacv. and who did write with all the accuracy
possible to the times in which they lived. it is
mere matter Of justice 10 analyzc the accounts
they give of various animals or Of human beings,
70 mike sure of their meaning and 10 trace. If this
can he done. an error to its origin. Often this
process leads 10 a fact worth knowing. Thus Mr..
Ashton aIludcs 10 the description ny EudoVus. as
quoted in Tliny. Of n place in Southern India
where the women had such small feet mat ih"y
were called "eparrow-footed' Now there Is no
such place, nor any record Of such place" In
India: but The statement. even as il stands shows
that the Chinese in the time Of Eudoyus. a cen
fury and half before tie Christian era. were no
torious for n custom which he's remained nm
changed to the present day and II shows also that
Cpropcars Gained what knowledge they had Of
Eastern Asia by communication with the lands bor-
dcrinc the Indian Ocean. Sometimes Mr.. Ashton
docs not allow Pliny the benefit Of his own eN-
plantations. For example in the list Of places
Of animal. the Roman cyclopacdist included the
island Of Ebusus where no rabbits could be found
But there is nothing strange about this when IL
is balanced by Plinv's own counter statement that
the island of Ebusus was oycrrun with scrpenlS;
for rabbit and serpent can dwell together only
when one is inside OF tho other. Of cou-s' Ilerod-
otus could not expect better treatment than Pluy
received He declared that the Ethiopian cave
jewellers ate scrpcnts. With no explanation This
looks ike fiction; but there IS every reason 10
believe that Il is precise statement - fact re-
srccting an important element in some forms Of
animal worship. relics OF which are 10 be found
even in so advanced a religion as tha; Of Islam.
Less than sixty years ago Lane saw Garwecshcs in
Egypt dcvour snakes. while the creatures wrig
plcd in their grasp. alive and eager 10 escape. II
merely enlargcs popular Ignorance 10 leave such
remarks rs this one OF IIcrodotus without hint Of
comparative study
But the injustice Of This method is still more
marked in the case Of Ulysses Aidrovnndus His
devotion 10 natural sciencc cost him all his wealth.
Everything that man II large resources. Of
boundc>s industry, Of great learning. could do q
make modern science possible. he did. II IS not
too much 10 say that without an Aldrovandus and
a Gesncr. there would have been neither Lin
nacus nor 70 Cuvicr BOT only all the errors but
al INV uIN'DNtIfN VI lIl' lto' 'Vi''li'l- flHS
creatures were gathered and arranged in the costly
volumes which he published. After him the task
was easy compared 10 what he had accomplished,
for he lifted the burden which men Of science had
staggered under. The completeness OF his achieve
mcnt darkcned his fame; hc made the past M
necessary that men, forgetting the body Of death 10
which they had been fcitcrcd, forgot also him who
Lad wrough; their freedom II is 10 such a man
that Mr. Ashton refers as "Aldrovaudus de Quad
The uulcarncd reader might suppose that the
author had in mind some person whose name was
Quad: but. as Il matter Of fact, he only means 10
say that Aldrovandus in his book De Quadru-
pcdibus Bsulcs7 has picture of The rhiuoccroS
which is reproduced for the benefit OF tn modern
curiosity seeker We are bound 10 say that the
reproduction is praiscworthy for It's faithlulucss.
The unusual method of citation adopted by Mr.
Ashton cannot be defended rs an abbrcyiation.
since Aldrovandus wrote more than one volume on
quadruprds. and no Authorization would be Of any
value that did not specify the book to which Tie
reader referred.
In one at least il is far from clear that the
author knew the meaning Of the engraving which
hc reproduced. In this cut there was first a turtle
which was contemplating a curious struggle be-.
tween an animal like a seal and another resembling
an enormous eel. over the heads Of thc,r TWO
creatures was something that looked as much like
"a hood anything that could he imagined. H.
was not easy 10 see. however. 10 which of the two
this appcndagc belonged. The fight took place on
the surface of the sea. Curiousiy enough there
was a cord around the neck of the eel, and this
was held by one Of two men who were in boat at
the background Of the picture. Apparently Mr.
Ashton copied this from Conrad Gcsncr's History
OF Animals" But Gcsncr, who was a man Of cN-
traordinary learning, TO whom Aldroyandus him
self owed much, would not make the mistake Of
connecting any Of the creatures in this picture
with either polyps or calamarcs nor did lie mean
the picture itself 10 represent the unsuccessful
tact, Of a squid on conGcr eel Fortunately Al
drovandus put the same picture in his work on
fishes leaving out Only the boat, the mrn and the
cord He obtained il. he said. from print rca.
tive to voyages in the New World, and added that
the eel or scrpent-lillc fish was peculiar to the