24 ^ T^hilologkal EJfay concerning 



The Title of BarthoUne's eighth and laft Chapter is, Argumenta eorum 

 qui Vyg7n£orurfi HiBoriamfabnlofam ce7tfent^rec}tantur & refittantitr. Where 

 he tells us, the onlyPerfon atnongft the Ancients that thought the Sto- 

 ry of the Pygmies to be fabulous was Strabo ; but amongft the Moderns 

 there are feveral, as Cardan, Bud£us, Aldrovandu^, FuUerus ■xndioxhtxs. 

 The firft Objedion (he faith) is that of Sfigelitff and others ^ that fince 

 ; the whole World is now difcovered, how happens it, that thefe Fyg- 

 fnies are not to be met with > He has feven Anfwers to this Objeftion ; 

 how fatisFadory they are, the Reader may judge, if he pleafes, by per- 

 •ufing them amongft the Quotations (a). Cardans fccond Objedion (he 

 faith) is, that they live but eight years, whence feveral Inconveniences 

 would happen, as Cardan Chews 5 he anfwers that no good Author af- 

 fertsthis^ and if there was, ytt^hzt Cardan urges would not follow 5 

 and inftances out of Artemidorm in 'Pliny (b)^ as a Parallel in the Calin- 

 g4S a Nation of India, where the Women conceive when five years old, and 

 do not live above eight. Gey^zer fpeaking of the Py^^^/ej-, faith, Vtt£ an- 

 tem longitudo atzni arciter 0UO ut Albertus refert. Cardan perhaps had his 

 Authority from Albertus, or it may be both took it from this palTage in 

 Fliny, which I think would better agree to ^/^ej- than Afe». But Arten/i- 

 doruf being an Indian Hijiorian, and in the fame place telling other Ro- 

 mances, the lefs Credit is to be given to him. The third Objedion, he 

 faith, is of Cornelius a Lapide, who denies the Pygmies , becaufe Homer 

 was the firft Author of them. The fourth Objedion he faith is, becaufe 

 Authors differ about the Place where they ftiould be : This , he tells us, 

 he has anfwered already in the fifth Chapter. The fifth and laft Objedion 

 he mentions is, that but few have feen them. He anfwers, there are a 

 great many Wonders in Sacred and Profane Hiftory 'that we have not 

 leen, yet muft not deny. And he inftances in three 3 As the Formic<e 

 Indic£, which are as bigs as great Dogs : The Cornii Plantabile in the 

 Ifland Goa, which when cut off from the Beaft, and flung upon the 

 Ground, will take root like a Cabbage : And the Scotland Geefe that 

 ■grow upon Trees, for which he quotes a great many Authors, and fo 

 concludes. 



Now how far Bartholine in thisTreatife has made out that the Pygmies 

 of the Ancients were real Men, either from the Authorities he has quo- 

 ted, or his Reafonings upon them, T fubmit to the Reader. I ftiall pro- 

 ceed now (as 1 promifed) to confider the Proof they pretend from Ho- 



(a) Reffondeo i. Contrariumteftari Mercatorum Relatknem apud Amniam fupraCap. 4. 2. Et licet 

 mn mventi ejjent vivt i qmlibet, pari jure Monocenta fy alia mgare liceret. 3. Sui maria pernaijigant,vix 

 eras paucas maritimas luftrant, ade'o non terras omnes a mart diffitas. 4. Neque in Oris illos habitare mari- 

 timii ex Capite qulnto manifejium eft. ^. Quit teftatumfe oinnem adhibuijfe diligentiam in inquirendo eos ut 

 inveniret. 6 Ita in terra habitant, ut in Antris vitam toterare dicantur, 7. Si vel maxime omni abomni- 

 bw diligentia qiLifiti fHiffent, nee inventi ; fieri poteft, Kt injiar Oiganpum jam defterlntnecfintampliui. 



(b) r//nrj^//}..iV<!^lib. 7. cap.a.p. iri. 14. 



