29 
NovemMBer 7TH. 
The following paper was read by Mr. F. Gell :— 
MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
‘Tn introducing a subject of so much interest, both from natural 
history and antiquarian points of view, it is perhaps better if we 
first enquire into the probable origin of the creatures as a whole, 
than to go into the details of the particular species which we 
shall have time to notice this evening. There seems to be no 
doubt from the fossil remains that have been discovered from time 
to time, of antediluvian animals, that our ancestors had consider- 
able grounds to go upon if by chance they had met at any time. 
with a solitary specimen of those frightful monsters prowling 
about. And indeed, prehistoric man himself, may have been 
familiar with the sight of these animals, which undoubtedly were 
of appalling proportions, and were provided with powers of des- 
truction, which to-day, are rarely met with, except in a few cases; 
such for example as the elephant, the alligator, the boa con- 
strictor, and rhinoceros, &c. 
Now the mind of man is necessarily imaginative, it requires 
but a very small foundation of fact to raise up a tremendous 
superstructure of fiction upon, and where there are no facts at all, 
the mind easily conceives an ideal fact, as an imagined idea, 
which he thinks ought to be a fact, and he then builds up his 
superstructure upon that. Hence “castles in the air” passes 
into a proverb. 
Don Quixote as we all know, sallied forth on his faithful steed 
“ Rosinante,” in order to slay giants and monsters of all kincs, 
which existed solely in his imagination. Primitive man hears a 
ery in the darkened forest at night ;—it is a voice! it is a spirit! 
it is a form! it is a being! 
So the evolution of thought goes on; to himit is a real being, 
to be feared because it may injure him, to be worshipped for the 
same reason, to be sacrified to since it needs must eat, and we 
have the voice of the forest resolved into a mythical monster, 
clothed with flesh, eyes to see, ears to hear, and talons perhaps to 
tear, and possessing abnormal powers of digestion. 
The most curious observation with regard to the study of these 
beasts is, that they are in every case, a portraiture of the minds 
. of those who thought them. Thus in Assyria, we have the gods 
altogether in harmony with the surroundings of that mighty 
nation, and the beast is built up precisely as assuredly no one but 
an Assyrian would do. In Greece it is the same, in Italy the 
same, in Africa the same, and in fact, everywhere the same. 
