THEORY OF THE EARTH. 71 



cartazonon, or wild ass, armed with a long horn 

 on its forehead *. 



Ctesias, who has described these as real animals, 

 has been looked upon by many authors as an in- 

 ventor of fables ; whereas he has merely attribut- 

 ed an actual existence to emblematical figures. 

 These imaginary compositions have been seen in 

 modern times sculptured upon the ruins of Per- 

 sepolis f . What they were intended to signify 

 we shall probably never know ; but of this much 

 we are certain, that they do not represent actual 

 beings. 



Agatharchidas, another fabricator of animals, 

 drew his information in all probability from a si- 

 milar source. The ancient Egyptian monuments 

 still furnish us with numerous fantastic representa- 

 tions, in which the parts of different species are 

 combined : gods are often figured with a human 

 body and the head of an animal, and animals are 

 seen with human heads ; thus giving rise to the 

 cynocephali, sphinxes, and satyrs of ancient natu- 

 ralists. The custom of representing in the same 

 painting men of very different sizes, of making the 



* jElian, xvi, 20. Photius, Bibl., art. 72. Ctes. Indie. 



t See Corneille Lebrun, Voyage en Muscovie, en Perse et 

 aux Indes, torn. ii. See also the German work by M. Hee- 

 ren, on the Commerce of the Ancients. 



