38 



History of Nature. 



[Bdoic VIII, 



a Dog arid a Wolf; they crush every Thing with their 

 Teeth ; and a Thing is no sooner devoured but presently it is 

 passed through the Body ; and Cercopithecse, 1 with black 

 Heads, and Hair like Asses, differing from other (Apes) in 

 their Voice : also Indian Oxen with 

 one Horn, 2 arid others with three. 

 Also the Leucrocutse, 3 a very swift 

 Beast, almost as big as an Ass, with 

 Legs like a Deer ; with a Neck, 

 Tail, and Breast of 

 a Lion, the Head of 



a Badger, with a clo- 

 ven Foot ; the Gape 

 of his Mouth reach- 

 ing to his Ears ; and 

 instead of Teeth, an 

 entire Bone. They 

 report that this Beast 

 They have among them, also, 



From the Pavement of the Temple of Fortune at Palestrina. 

 Montf. torn. iv. pi. 60. 



imitateth the human Voice. 



attributed to it ; but among other accomplishments it was said to imitate 

 the language of men, in order to draw to it shepherds, whom it devoured 

 at leisure, and to have the power of charming dogs, so that they became 

 dumb ; and the early modern naturalists repeat the fables of the ancients. 

 See ch. 30, and ^Elian, Book i. ch. 25 ; Book vi. ch. 14; Book vii. ch. 22. 

 Wern. Club. 



1 Cercopithecus Griseus. F. Cuv. The Grey Guenon. It has been 

 usual to consider the term " Cercopithecus," as employed generically by 

 the ancients. The Greeks and Romans, however, were acquainted with 

 only two species of Cercopithecus, viz., that here alluded to, and the Cepus 

 (Cercopithecus Ruber). It is, therefore, highly improbable that they 

 should have had a generic term for these two animals, and we therefore 

 consider it most likely that Pliny here referred to the present species. 

 See " Natural History of Monkeys," in " Library of Entertaining Know- 

 ledge." Wern. Club. 



2 The reader is referred to the note on the Oryx, Lib. xi. c. 46 ; and 

 also to Vol. i. p. 75, note. Wern. Club. 



3 The best editions of Pliny have Leucocrota, and the animal intended 

 was probably a species of antelope. Leocrocota would imply a fabulous 

 monster deriving its origin from the Hyaena and the Lioness. See 

 chap. 30. Wern. Club. 



