The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1913-01-24

4 ZZCEZ1T ~ 41ZTLY III AZZeDEH3, -EHG.
-z1ZI21z0 EEzZ2ySEZ 1853 -Z65l)
<wm@H HE differentiation between these
49, two animals is a subject OF unusual
interest 70 the sportsmannatural-
"a = ist To trace the origin OF the
popular misconcepuon that the two
f~---vV--7--0 I names are synonymous, mistake
Iii S\llD \ to which even some OF our best
SS%I:9 known sportsmen OF today must
III m :; plead guilty We have to dive into
g.. M..~J the not always limpid depths OF
- early medieval history. For the
event which has probably more TO
do than any other with the PRONUNCIATION Of this
error was the famous hunt given by Charlemagne
to the ambassadors OF Haroun-al-Rashd in the
dank Hercyian woods that surrounded his hunt-
ing lodge Heristallum. According to the original
account by the monk Eginhard of St. Gall, the
aurochs were of such terrorinstilling appearance
TO the men from the east that they could not
even bear the sight Of them, and fled from the
emperor's side. The latter attacked by the herc-
est of these monsters missed the vital spot
with the result that before brave Isambart could
slav it the emperor was slightly wounded in the
thigh and had his neither garment torn into
shreds Rushing 10 his side, the assembled cour-
tiers offered 10 divert themselves of their own
hose but the emperor laughingy rejected their
offers declaring that he intended to show him
self in his sorry plight to the fair Hdegarde,
say this adventure proved medieval scoop"
of the gaudiest kind but IN the course of I'M
numbered retellings the aurochs became wi
sent as was called the European bison and since
that time a perplexing confusion has reigned be-
tween these two animals. That the true aurochs.
which became extinct three hundred years ago.
was an entirely different animal from the bison
whose name alas. is also on the list of animals
about to share the auroch's fate. is now a fact
known to all scientific men To the writer the
poor old bison's pathetic fate appeals more par
ticularly, for when shooting in the Rockies in
the seventies of last century he still saw them in
herds of ten thousand But as the men who can
claim to have seen the same marvellous sight
will before long follow these lordly inhabitants
of the wilds to the happy hunting grounds, the
study of the past history of these two species
has for some people unusual attractions And
not the least interesting phase of 1t is the col
lectng of pictures made at a time when both
beasts were still roaming over the wastes Of
the earth" or had but recently disappeared,
OF the earliest of all pictures of what prob
ably meant to be the bison an interesting arti-
Gle which recently appeared in an illustrated week
ly, in which the roof pictures In the Altamira
Cave were reproduced g ave one capital idea.
After gap Of untold centuries we reach the
various pictorial records left to US by the CHS
4 els gravers or brushes OF the classic ages.
Among those who have made important discOv-
cries respecting the distribution of the aurochs.
, Professor Conrad Keller the well-known Zurich
I zoologist occupies a prominent place His dis
coyeres in the ruins of the ancient palace of
J King Minos in Crete OF no fewer than sixteen
horn cores and one skull of what unquestionably
was the original wild OK OF Europe aurochs,
show that it lived there at one period, and that
the famous legend of the minotaur has a sub
stratum of truth From his pages borrow an
illustration OF an important fresco in Knossos de
picting an aurochs in the act of impaling help
intirn gffi hp1I blrl1- 6o1ta fG
actually turning a somersault over the back of
the beast. a third, possibly female looker-on at
tempting to seize the bulls tail, the scene being
probably enacted in an arena. 1t is possible that
the Theseus story came from the slaughter Of
captives in such exhibitions. Several other pic
lures have been recently discovered which be-
long to the Minos period, j. e.. between 1000 and
1900 B. c. Professor Kellers highly instructive
writings contain many other illustrations OF Bos
primifenius
Skipping tens of centuries, We reach the Bes
tiaries the most ancient of which originated in
the period touched at the outset when speak
ing CT Charlemagnes aurochshunt. These eX
ceedingly primitive pictorial records do not add
much to our information the choice hurts one,
as Germans describe that state OF uncertainty in
regard 10 what the monastic artists meant &c
represent by their crude attempts. Skipping a
few more centuries we at last reach in the be
ginning of the fifteenth century fairly intelligent
accounts of the animals habitat. and fur
nished with drawings presenting features sufi
GENTLY distinct 10 indicate. even TO eyes accus
toned to Photographic accuracy the identity OF
the animal the picture means TO represent.
Very curious is the circumstance to which
by the way, nobody has far drawn attention
that none of the French sporting books of the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, such Roy
Modus" Castor Phoebus," "Gace de la Buigne'
. and "Fontaines-Guerin" mentions ether the