252 



ANIMALS OF THE 



of a glazed blackish colour, found in the sto- 

 mach, or the intestines of some animal, and 

 brought over to us from the East- Indies. 

 Like all other animal concretions, it is found 

 to have a kind of nucleus, or hard substance 

 Avithin, upon which the external coatings were 

 formed ; for, upon being sawed through, it is 

 seen to have layer over layer, as in an onion. 

 This nucleus is of various kinds; sometimes 

 the buds of a shrub, sometimes a piece of 

 stone, and sometimes a marcasite. This stone 

 is from the size of an acorn to that of a pigeon's 

 egg; the larger the stone, the more valuable 

 it is held; its price increasing, like that of a 

 diamond. There was a time when a stone of 

 four ounces sold in Europe for above two 

 hundred pounds ; but, at present, the price is 

 greatly fallen, and they are in very little es- 

 teem. The bezoar is of various colours; 

 sometimes of a blood colour, sometimes of a 

 pale yellow, and of all the shades between 

 these two. It is generally glossy, smooth, and 

 has a fragrant ^raiel!, like that of ambergris, 

 probably arising from the aromatic vegetables 

 upon which the animal that produces it feeds. 

 It has been given in vertigoes,epilepsies, palpi- 

 tations of the heart, cholic, jaundice ; and in 

 those places, Avhere the dearness and not the 

 value of medicines is consulted, in almost 

 every disorder incident to man. In all, per- 

 haps, it is equally efficacious, acting only as 

 an absorbent powder, and possessing rirtues 

 equal to common chalk, or crabs' claws. Ju- 

 dicious physicians have therefore discarded 

 it; and this celebrated medicine is now chief- 

 ly consumed in countries where the knowledge 

 of Nature has been but little advanced. When 

 this medicine was in its highest reputation, 

 many arts were used to adulterate it; and 

 many countries endeavoured to find out a 

 bezoar of their own. Thus we had Occiden- 

 tal bezoar, brought from America ; German 

 bezoar, which has been mentioned before; 

 cow bezoar, and monkey bezoar. In fact, 

 there is scarce an animal, except of the car- 

 nivorous kinds, that does not produce some 

 of these concretions in the stomach, intestines, 

 kidneys, bladder, and even in the heart. To 

 these ignorance may impute virtues that they 

 do not possess ; experience has found but 

 few cures wrought by their efficacy : but it is 

 well known, that they often prove fatal to the 



animal that bears them. These concretions 

 are generally found in cows, by their practice 

 of licking off their hair, winch gathers in the 

 stomach into the shape of a ball, acquires a 

 surprising degree of hardness, and sometimes 

 a polish like leather. They are often as large 

 as a goose-egg : and when become too large 

 to pass, block up the passage of the food, 

 and the animal dies. The substance of these 

 balls, however, is different from the bezoar 

 mentioned above ; being rather a concretion 

 of hair than oi'stone. There is a bezoar found 

 in the gall-bladder of a boar, and thence cal- 

 led hog bezoar. in very great esteem ; but per- 

 haps with as little justice as any of the former. 

 In short, as we have already observed, there 

 is scarce an animal, or scarce a part of their 

 bodies, in which concretions are not formed; 

 and it is more than probable, as Mr. Buffbn 

 justly remarks, that the bezoar so much in 

 use formerly, was not the production of the 

 pazar, or any one animal only, but that of the 

 whole gazelle kind; who feeding upon odo- 

 riferous herbs and plants, gave this admira- 

 ble fragrance to the accidental concretions 

 which they were found to produce. As this 

 medicine, however, is but little used at pre- 

 sent, our curiosity is much abated as to the 

 cause of its formation. To return, therefore, 

 to the varieties in the gazelle tribe, the ninth 

 is called the ranguer, and is a native of Sene- 

 gal. This differs somewhat in shape and co- 

 lour f. om the rest ; but particularly in the 

 shape of its horns, which are straight near to 

 the points, where they crook forward, pretty 

 much in the same manner as in the shammoy 

 they crook backward. The tenth variety of 

 the gazelle is the antelope, so well known to 

 the English, who have given it the name. 

 This animal is of the size of a roe-buck, arid 

 resembles the gazelle in many particulars, 

 but differs in others : it has deeper eye-pits 

 than the former; the horns are formed diffe- 

 rently also, being about sixteen inches long, 

 almost touching each other at the bottom, and 

 spreading as they rise, so as at their tips to 

 be sixteen inches asunder. They have the 

 annual prominences of their kind, but not so 

 distinguishable as in the gazelle : however, 

 they have a double flexure, which is very 

 remarkable, and serves to distinguish them 

 from all others of their kind. At the root 



