234 



SCIENCE 



N. S. Vol. XXX. No. 764 



alive from India, which they call a Rhinoceros. 

 For the wonder's sake I have had to send you a 

 likeness of it. It has a color like a tortoise and 

 is covered nearly all over with thick scales, and 

 in size is like the elephant but lower, and is the 

 elephant's mortal enemy. It has in front on its 

 nose a strong sharp horn, and when the beast 

 comes at the elephant to fight him it has always 

 first whetted its horn sharp against the stones, 

 and runs at the elephant with its head between 

 his forelegs, and rips him up where he has the 

 skin thinnest and so kills him. The elephant is 

 very badly afraid of the rhinoceros, for it kills 

 the elephant whenever it comes at him, for it is 

 so well armed, and very lively and active. This 

 beast is called " Rhinoceros " in Greek and Latin, 

 but in Indian, " Ganda." 



In writing this inscription Diirer simply 

 copied the most pertinent extracts from the 

 letter of his correspondent at Lisbon. The 

 original, like so many of Diirer's letters, was 

 probably destroyed, for nothing of it appears 

 in Thausing's work on the artist's literary 

 remains." 



According to Hausmann five different edi- 

 tions of Diirer's cut of the rhinoceros ap- 

 peared, distinguished by varying German 

 text, besides those in other languages. The 

 Library of Congress possesses an impression 

 of the seventh edition with inscription in 

 Flemish, and a reproduction of the first Ger- 

 man edition. The translation of this German 

 edition follows closely that on the original 

 drawing, omitting only the last sentence, in 

 which the names of the animal are given. 

 The Flemish inscription also follows the Ger- 

 man of the dtawing and of the woodcut, with 

 the exception of the following statement: 



This Rhinoceros mentioned above was sent by 

 the King to Germany, to the Emperor Maxi- 

 millian, and was drawn from life by the renowned 

 Albrecht Diirer, as here represented. 



Both of these statements are erroneous, and 

 are curiously contradicted by Diirer's own 

 note to which they are appended. 



The remark that this animal was sent to the 

 •Emperor of Germany has been repeated by 

 other writers, but is refuted "by the unani- 



' " DUrers Briefe, Tagebiicher und Reime," 

 Moriz Thausing, Wien, 1872. 



mous testimony of the Portuguese historians, 

 Barros, Correa and Albuquerque the Younger, 

 who stated that Manuel sent the creature, on 

 account of its rarity, to the Pope (Leo X.), 

 but that it perished by shipwreck before 

 reaching Rome." Heller in his life of Diirer 

 also discredits the statement, since no men- 

 tion of the fact is made either in the German 

 inscription, quoted above, or in the life of 

 Maximillian. 



Gesner must have read the printed inscrip- 

 tion on Diirer's original engraving, of which 

 he made use, but he either did not have it at 

 hand, or used a trimmed copy when writing 

 the note for his History, for he misdates it, 

 and gives additions from other sources. 



It must be admitted that Diirer's interesting 

 engraving is a poor likeness of the subject, 

 being faulty in proportion, in the shape and 

 pose of the head, as well as in the remarkable 

 tattooing or ornamentation of the skin. For 

 this, however, the great artist and lover of 

 animals is not to be blamed. Buffon, who 

 gives an account of all the early pictures of 

 this animal, remarks that no really accurate 

 drawings or descriptions of this species ex- 

 isted prior to the publication of a " Natural 

 History of the Rhinoceros " by Dr. Parsons in 

 1743. The animals which this careful nat- 

 uralist studied were sent to London in 1739 

 and 1Y41, the former coming- from Bengal. 

 Buffon considered Diirer's drawing one of the 

 poorest, and remarks upon the most ancient 

 pictures of " nose-horn " extant as follows : 



Those indeed which we see on the ancient pave- 

 ments of Praeneste and on the medals of Domitian 

 are extremely imperfect; but at least they are 

 without the imaginary ornaments of that of 

 Albert Diirer. 



Diirer was without any doubt an enthusiast 

 on natural history, and it is to be noted that 

 he made a hurried, and as it proved, fatal 

 journey to Zealand to sketch a stranded whale. 

 His engravings were widely disseminated, 

 and while good impressions of the subjects 

 have become exceedingly rare and valuable, 

 that of the rhinoceros does not seem to have 

 been greatly sought after by collectors. The 

 original plate is large, measuring within lines 



