SOME INFLUENCES 



who went by the name of Physiologus or " Naturalist." 

 The book was probably compiled by an Alexandrian 

 Greek, was translated into Latin, and in its many 

 versions and variants became the basis of the Schemes 

 of the Universe which were so characteristic of the 

 unifying mind of the thirteenth century. It dealt with 

 the nature and properties of all known and some 

 unknown creatures from a moral and highly imaginative 

 point of view. The eagle renewing its youth and the 

 parental devotion of the pelican are instances of 

 symbolism which come from Physiologus, and which 

 were then received as sober facts of natural history. 



In the period of the systematising of knowledge which 

 came in with the thirteenth century men were seized 

 with a passion for grasping the universe as a whole, 

 exploring or at least tabulating every part of it and 

 bringing it into logical relation with the rest. Indeed 

 they were set upon such a synthesis as, with an equip- 

 ment of more exact knowledge, we are making for 

 to-day. 



We see this worked out in stone on the Cathedrals 

 of Chartres and Amiens : it is written in such books 

 as the Speculum of Vincent of Beauvais, the De 

 Animalibus of Albertus Magnus, the works of our 

 English Bartholomew, or of Brunetto Latini. All 

 these dealt largely with animals, their nature and 



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