306 ANIMALS AT WORK AND PL A Y 



that it was rejected with derision. No mediaeval 

 naturalist would have refused the account of the 

 < tsetse-fly ' a place in his pages, any more than he 

 did that of the ' oxen-born bees/ whose history and 

 modern extension of range to the New World have 

 recently been investigated by a Russian diplomatist.* 

 Mediaeval natural history is now mainly interesting 

 to the student who uses it to check the progress 

 of ancient voyages and travel. But from the journals 

 of the old discoveries, and even in those of Columbus, 

 it will be found that these beliefs had practical effects 

 on the conduct and guidance of early exploration. 



* Baron C. R. Osten Sacken. 



