On the Furia infernalis. 41 



examined the worms which he minutely describes. Notwith- 

 standing these high authorities, the accounts of so extraordinary 

 an animal were received with caution, and the default of actual 

 specimens rendered them still more suspicious. More matured 

 experience, however, induced Linnaeus to alter the opinion he 

 had first entertained, and led him, many years before his death, 

 to express his conviction of the error intot^vhich he had been 

 drawn in respect to this supposed animal ; and by the Swedish 

 naturalists of the present day, its existence is regarded as entire- 

 ly fabulous. It may be observed, meanwhile, that the Acade- 

 my of Sciences at Stockholm, with an anxious desire to discover 

 the truth, has promised, on several occasions, a considerable re- 

 ward to whoever should lay before it a specimen of the animal 

 in question ; none, however, have been presented to their notice, 

 but what, upon examination, have been proved to be fictitious. 

 With this information I have been favoured by Mr Retzius of 

 Stockholm, son of the late distinguished naturalist. This gen- 

 tleman has informed me, that he has himself made frequent 

 searches to no purpose on the borders of the Maler, and other 

 Swedish lakes, in the hopes of discovering this formidable being ; 

 and he adds, that, with regard to the Gordius aquaticus, or 

 hair-worm, the bite of which has been supposed to be danger- 

 ous, his own personal experience has convinced him, that it is 

 perfectly harmless ; for, during the space of ten years, when he 

 resided at Carlberg, as physician of the military academy, he 

 was daily accustomed to see the young cadets of the establish- 

 ment bathing in places where these animals were to be seen in 

 thousands, and yet no accident was ever the result. 



Against these reasons for doubt, in respect to the furia, we 

 have, indeed, the conflicting testimony of our own celebrated 

 traveller Dr Clarke, who supposes himself to have been w^ound- 

 ed by this very creature, during his progress in Sweden. He 

 had been reading the life of Linnaeus, in the open travelling 

 waggon, as he proceeded on his route ; and was giving an ac- 

 count to his companion of the marvellous manner in which that 

 celebrated naturalist had nearly lost his life, in consequence of 

 being wounded by a worm, said to have fallen from the air ; 

 expressing, at the same time, his increduUty as to the existence 

 of such an animal, and of course his disbelief of the fact. A 



