or Zoological Recollections, 405 



exquisite acuteness. They are able to live an incredible time 

 without food, and in an atmosphere highly noxious to animal 

 life : and are so tenacious of life, that, if the head be cut off, 

 or the chest opened, they survive many days; and have even 

 the power of reproducing parts which have been destroyed or 

 lost. Instead of bones, the skeleton consists of cartilage. 



All the horrible fables of antiquity seem to be taken from 

 this singular class of beings. Satan, when he tempted the 

 parent of mankind, put on the form of the wily serpent, the 

 most dreadful of all created beings ; or sometimes appeared, 

 as represented by Milton, " squat like a toad." The siren 

 was a kind of lizard, supposed to possess a voice of such ex- 

 quisite attraction as to entice its hearers within its reach to 

 their destruction : and the crocodile, at certain seasons, utters, 

 in the night, sobs and cries of bewailing, so bitter and pathetic 

 as to imitate the most distressing lamentations of human 

 misery and woe ; and is hence fabled to weep and shed tears 

 over her victims : affected appearances of grief are hence 

 called crocodile's tears. The chameleon is said to live on air, 

 from its long endurance of life without food ; and to change 

 its colour at pleasure, because its naked shining body reflects 

 various hues, according to the change of its position in the 

 light. The salamander, another kind of lizard, is reported 

 to resist the power of fire, and even to quench it, because, 

 like many of its tribe, the body is extremely cold, and covered 

 with a slimy exudation. The basilisk, or cockatrice, a spe- 

 cies of serpent, was thought to be of such malignancy of vision, 

 as suddenly to destroy those upon whom it fastened its eyes. 



THE BADGER. 



This animal, which burrows generally in the side of a hill, 

 is to be found throughout Great Britain, but is particularly 

 abundant in Scotland. When attacked it emits a fetid odour, 

 which appears to be the effect of fright, rather than as in- 

 tended as a means of defence. So intolerably offensive is 

 this odour, that it has passed into a proverb, which is applied 

 to any peculiarly disagreeable smell. The colour of the 

 coat is greyish brown, whence we say of a person whose 

 hair begins to show signs of old age, that he is as grey as a 

 badger. 



Baiting the badger with dogs is still a common diversion ; 

 and hence originates the phrase of badgering a person, ap- 

 plied in cases where one is made the butt of mani/. Its skin 

 is so loose and tough, that the dogs can make but little im- 

 pression on the animal, except upon the belly, which sensi- 

 tive part the animal guards with such extreme care that it 



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