128 BARON WALKENAER ON THE 



injurious to the vine, we will turn to vt'hat the Greeks have 

 said on the subject. 



6. Ips. — Iks. 



I have placed these two words together, because, as we shall 

 see, they cannot be separated in this discussion. 



The word ips occurs in ancient authors as the name of an 

 insect injurious to the vine in particular; but it is also 

 employed by Homer, St. Chrysostom, and the lexicogra- 

 phers and grammarians of the middle ages, to designate an 

 insect which eats horn ; and in neither of these acceptations 

 can it be a worm, properly so called, which is named otherwise 

 in Greek. 



We will first consider the ips mentioned in Homer ; it is in 

 the Odyssey, b. xxi. v. 295. They have given Ulysses, while 

 as yet he is unknown to his friends, his formidable bow. The 

 poet says : — " The hero took the bow, examined it attentively, 

 and bent it in every direction, fearful lest the horn should have 

 been eaten by the ips in the absence of the master." 



If we wish to know what kind of horn Homer's ips attacked, 

 we have only to find out the animal whose horns were used in 

 the time of Homer to make bows of the best description, such 

 as would be suitable for the use of a king like Ulysses. On this 

 point Homer himself gives us information. In the Iliad, b. iv. 

 V. 105, et seq. we are told that the bow of the divine Pindar 

 was made of the horns of the aigos, or crgagre, or wild goat ; 

 that these horns were sixteen hands in length ; and that a 

 skilful workman, after having polished and joined them care- 

 fully, had gilded their extremities. 



The horns of the aegagre are frequently three feet and a 

 half long ; they bend naturally, and if united as Homer men- 

 tions, would form a bow of the size alluded to. 



The aegagre, or wild goat, is found, though very rarely, 

 in the mountains of western Europe : one was killed during 

 my stay among the Pyrennees, and I saw horns of this 

 animal which measured two feet and a half: it is, however, 

 very common in the East. In Persia it is called paseng. 

 Burckhardt tells us that the Arabs of Syria give it the name of 

 bidin (beden) : that traveller also informs us they have been 

 seen in troops of forty or fifty in that country. Their flesh 

 is in high esteem, and they are also sought for their horns. 



