The Yale expositor., 1913-01-23

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<aM9 HE differentiation between these
two animals is subject % unusual
IA interest to the sportsman-natura
" ist. To trace the origin of the
49, popular misconception that the two
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fCs|-T-YV---..1 names synonymous, q mistake
Iii NSklD il to which some of our best
;E..f;%H3S3 known sportsmen of today must
III TN Il plead guilty, we, have to dive into
| l..a U...:O 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-a Rashid in the
dank Hercyian woods that surrounded his hunt
ing lodge, Heristaum. According to the original
account by the monk Eginhard of st. Gall, the
aurochs Of such terror-instilling appearance
to the men from the east that they could not
even bear the sight of them and fed from the
emperors side. The latter attacked by the flerc-
est of these Monsters missed the vital spot,
with the result that before brave Isambart could
Stay it the emperor was slightly wounded in the
thigh and had his neither garment torn into
shreds. Rushing to his side, the assembled cour
tiers offered to divert themselves of their
hose, but the emperor laughingly rejected their
offers declaring that he intended to show him.
self in his sorry plight to the fair Hildegarde
who great hunress herself, Needless TO
say, this adventure proved a medieval scoop"
of the gaudiest kind, but in the of I'M
numbered retellings the aurochs became wi.
sent as called the European bison and since
that time perplexing confusion has reigned be-
tween these two animals. That the true aurochs.
which became extinct three hundred years ago.
entirely different animal from the bison.
whose name. alas! is also the list of animals
ohn1t 70 cboro tho "a fatp lie
known to all scientific To the writer the
poor old bison's pathetic fate appeals par
tcularly, for when shooting in the Rockies in
the seventies of last century he still them in
herds of ten thousand. But the men who
claim to have the 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 people unusual attractions. And
not the least interesting phase of it is the col
lecting of pictures made at 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 was 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 Altamra
Cave were reproduced. ave one capital idea.
After q gap OF untold centuries reach the
various pictorial records left to US by the CHS
els, gravers or brushes Of the classic ages.
Among those who have made important discov-
Professor Conrad Keller the well-known Zurich
zoologst. occupies prominent place. His dis
coveres in the ruins Of the ancient palace OF
King Mnos In Crete Of fewer than sixteen
horn-cores and one skull Of what unquestionably
was the original wild of Europe, aurochs.
show that it lived there at period, and that
the famous legend of the mnotaur has sub
stratum Of truth. From his pages we borrow an
illustration Of important fresco in Knossos de-
plotting aurochs in the act Of mpaling help
Restocking victim, while bold bullfghter is
actually turning somersault over the back OF
the beast third, possibly female lookeron at
tempting to seize the bulls TAIL the scene being
probably enacted In 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, /. e., between 1000 and
1900 B. c. Professor Keller's highly instructive
writings contain many other illustrations of Bos
primifenius.
Skipping tens of centuries, reach the Bes-
tiaries the most ancient of which originated in
the period we touched at the outset when speak
ing OF Charlemagne's aurochs-hunt 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 to what the monastic artists meant to
represent by their crude attempts. Skipping
few more centuries we at last reach, in the be-
ginning OF the fifteenth century, fairly intelligent
accounts Of the animals habitat and are fur
nlshed with drawings presenting features sum
GENTLY distinct to 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 SO far drawn attention
that none of the French sporting books OF the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, such as Roy
Modus" Castor Phoebus," "Gace de la Buigne
and "3ontaines. Guerin,' mentions either the