. A book of mortals ; being a record of the good deeds and good qualities of what humanity is pleased to call the lower animals. Animal intelligence; Animals, Folklore. THE UNICORN lo- Between the eyebrows it bears a single horn, not smooth, but with a natural twist in it ; and it is of a black colour, and is pointed at the end. This animal is said to have a voice very loud and discordant, and to be forbearing and gentle towards other animals, but quarrelsome towards its own kind. It is said, moreover, that not only are the males given to butting and fighting one another, but they show the sam
. A book of mortals ; being a record of the good deeds and good qualities of what humanity is pleased to call the lower animals. Animal intelligence; Animals, Folklore. THE UNICORN lo- Between the eyebrows it bears a single horn, not smooth, but with a natural twist in it ; and it is of a black colour, and is pointed at the end. This animal is said to have a voice very loud and discordant, and to be forbearing and gentle towards other animals, but quarrelsome towards its own kind. It is said, moreover, that not only are the males given to butting and fighting one another, but they show the same disposition against the females, and carry their love of fighting even to the death. The animal is very powerful in all its frame, and the strength of its horn is invincible. A nomad by nature, it delights in desert places, and wanders alone ; but in the pairing season it is quite gentle towards the female, and they pasture together ; but as soon as the time is over and the female is with young, he becomes wild again ; for this Indian cartazonos is a solitary creature. And it is told that foals are taken quite young and brought to the King of the Prairie, and made to show oiT" their strength against one another at times of festival ; but no man remembers that a full-grown specimen was ever caught alive," —Aelian. De Natura Animalium. Book XVI. Ch. HOUGH from the very beginning of time until the very last century of it, there is to be found throughout the world a genuine belief in the existence of the unicorn, there is also no doubt that its history is the history of a mistake. Even that primary mention of it in the Bible which had read to so many generations " between the horns of the unicorns," has been set aside as a mis-translation. Ctesias again, and Aelian, who are recorded in so many books as describers of the unicorn, make no mention of it save as a wild Indian ass ; and yet " the unicorn, whose home is worth a citie," has held its
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