Eebkuakt 2, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



195 



handelte und nicht bios iiber die verscliiedenen 

 Namen eines und desselben Fisches und deren 

 Schreibung, fiber die verscliiedenen Arten, deren 

 Untersehiede und Aufenthaltsorte Aufsehlusse 

 gab, sondern auch auf Vorschriften iiber Koclien 

 und Braten derselben einging. 



THE REAL UNICORN. 



In his review of Dr. Murray's recent work 

 ■on museums, Mr. F. A. Bather* observes that 

 the author refrains from any attempt to de- 

 cide what the unicorn really was, notwith- 

 standing that numerous endeavors have been 

 made to identify fabulous creatures with mod- 

 ern quadrupeds. It would have been very 

 agreeable had Mr. Bather chosen himself to 

 enlighten us on this matter ; since he does not, 

 the following note is suggested. 



What appears to have been the origin of the 

 ^ real unicorn,' • that is to say, of the creature 

 made known to the western world under that 

 name by Otesias, has been set forth in several 

 interesting essays by German writers, amongst 

 whom it will be suf&cient to mention Schrader, 

 Liiders, Lauchert and Goldstaub, the two last- 

 named concerning themselves especially with 

 the history of the ' Physiologus.' ' Excellent 

 reason is shown by these authors for freeing 

 Ctesias of the charge of deliberate invention; 

 Tie is believed to have recorded things pretty 

 nearly as he saw them; no attempt is evident 

 on his part to impose upon the credulity of 

 others; although proved tO' be mistaken in 

 ■some particulars, it is possible for us to dis- 

 cover the reason, the unicorn furnishing a 

 -case in point. 



One can readily see that the description of 

 the ' Monoceros ' which we owe to Ctesias does 

 not repose upon living specimens, any more 

 than does that given by Herodotus of the 

 PhoBnix; what the former actually saw, and 

 correctly depicts, are animal reliefs graven 

 npon the walls of the Persian court at Per- 

 sepolis, the like of which exist to this day. 

 Among these representations the figure of the 



^ Museum skunde, Vol. I. (1905), p. 170. 



' Lauchert, F., ' Geschichte des Physiologus ' 

 (Strasburg, 1889). Goldstaub, M., ' Der Phys- 

 iologus und seine Weiterbildung.' Philol., Sup- 

 Tilement, Bd. Vlll. (1901), pp. 337-404. 



unicorn is several times repeated, being, in 

 fact, conventionalized profiles of an Asiatic 

 ruminant new to the Greeks, with the two 

 horns appearing in side-view as one. Excel- 

 lent copies of these figures are to be found in 

 standard works on ancient Persian and As- 

 syrian art. 



The post-classical history of the unicorn, 

 together with the whole menagerie of folklore, 

 has been a favorite study of French writers, 

 the important works of Berger de Xivrey,'' le 

 P. Cahier, Hippeau and others leaving little 

 further to be desired in their line. In par- 

 ticular these authors have traced the extent to 

 which popular natural history traditions be- 

 came modified, early in the Christian era, 

 through the infiuence of moral and religious 

 interpretations. Thereafter, the stream of 

 popular ideas relating to animals divides into 

 two parallel branches, which remain for many 

 centuries distinct: the one manifesting itself 

 in the numerous versions of the Bestiary, the 

 other in that purely fabulous natural history 

 which gained wide circulation under the title 

 of ' Wonders of India,' and whose source ap- 

 pears to have been a forgery of a letter from 

 Alexander to Aristotle concerning the Indian 

 conquest. Despite its unauthenticity, a pro- 

 totype of the fraudulent document in question 

 would seem to have been current as early as 

 the Alexandrian period. 



C. R. Eastman. 



ROBERT BOWNE WARDER. 



Egbert Bowne Warder died at his home in 

 Washington, July 23, 1905, after an illness 

 extending over nearly a year. 



Professor Warder was born in Cincinnati, 

 O., March 28, 1848, and spent his early life in 

 his country home at ' Aston,' North Bend, O. 

 His character was formed under the influence 

 of the Society of Friends, and this faith re- 

 mained the dominant feature of his life. 

 From childhood he showed the effect of his 

 parents' training and example, in a broad and 

 catholic view of the ethics of life, and in a 

 love of truth and scientific investigation. This 

 devotion to truth was an especial characteristic 

 and governed his life and actions throughout. 



'Traditions Tgratologiques (Paris, 1836). 



