South America, 



465 



com j^ounB images of the winged serpent, the dragon, iatid the 

 griffin, with trie beak of an eagle and the claws of ^ lion. 

 This last figure, our author conceives, was originally the 

 guardian monster of the treasures of the Ural Mountains, 

 the Cordilleras of the Argipeans ; and that its represj^ntatlon 

 arid its fabulous history were conveyed tq the Grecians by 

 the intervention of the Scythians, mingled with tH^ traditions 

 respectinfij the richness of the gold mines, in a mariner con- 

 lormable with the spirit ot ^the times. ^ ..... ^ ,} ^. 



This aniriial Lfi^i, 93.<2f)i as it' Is ej^ent by tft niiisirVtions 



Jiooj'f I'jud j<93 r'cd Yi 



I 

 f^^uoiijij; : r-jiio', 



.noitPf)ff?!i> 



l(h 



.r* f. 



rih 



of M. Rb^Rn sj^n:i^n[iQir^ which we have copied, possesses in 

 its general outline a close resemblance to the tapir in a sit- 

 ting attitude (b.) ; and that learned naturalist thus accounts 

 for its possession of the various addenda of w^ngs, crest, 

 and tail : — It is evident, says he, that the original image of 

 the griffin, when introduced into Greece, was destitute of 

 wings ; as Herodotus, the oldest author who describes it, does 

 not mention them, and his very important silence upon that 

 point is a sufficient proof of the fact. But the more ancient 

 dragons pf the caverns of Greece, were nearly all furnished 

 with those; members ; and, therefore, upon the introduc- 

 tion of a new monster, it would naturally appear requisite, 

 according to the preconceived notions of the people, to add 

 themt to.its figure ; and it was no very great stretch of imagin- 

 atipri to accord the wings of an eagle to an animal which 

 seemed already to possess its head ; for the proboscis of the 

 tapir, when bent down in its usual position, bears no little 

 similitude to the beak of that bird. 



The sculptors, who considered the griffin in a picturesque 

 point of view, employing it in their arabesque ornaments, 

 again contributed to alter its original form. To bestow addi- 

 tional gracefulness to its neck, they surmounted it with a mane 

 like that which decked their horses ; making the hairs short, 

 straight, and erect ; or it is not impossible that they might 



Vol. v.— -No. 27. hh 



