444 [Proc. B. N. F. C, 



for otherwise he would not singe the tips of the dog's hair when 

 he misses a blow at their bodies." The salamander in flames 

 of frequent occurrence in heraldry is of this class. Like the 

 toad, "ugly and venomous," the salamander was regarded by 

 the ancients with the utmost horror and aversion. It was ac- 

 credited with wondrous qualities, and the very sight of it 

 "abominable and fearful to behold." Elian, Nicander, Dios- 

 corides, and Pliny all agree in that it possessed the power of 

 immediately extinguishing any fire into which it was put, and 

 that it would even rush at or charge the flame, which it well 

 knew how to extinguish. It was believed that its bite was cer- 

 tainly mortal, that anything touched by its saliva became poi- 

 sonous, nay, that if it crept over a tree all the fruit became 

 deleterious. Even Bacon believed in it. Quoth he, "The sala- 

 mander liveth in the fire, and hath the power to extinguish it." 

 There is, too, a popular belief that if a fire has been burning for 

 seven years there will be a salamander produced from it. Such 

 is the monstrous character given to one of the most harmless of 

 little creatures : the only basis of truth for all this superstruc- 

 ture of fable is the fact that it exudes an acrid watery humour 

 from its skin when alarmed or in pain. Bossewell, an heraldic 

 writer of the i6th century, after the model of his forerunner, 

 Genarde Leigh, edified his readers with comments on natural 

 history in such a delightful manner (according to his friend 

 Roscarrocke) as to provoke the envy of Pliny in Elysium, 

 though now these descriptions in many instances only serve to 

 call up a smile from their very absurdity. With " veracious " 

 histories of this description, is it to be wondered at that such 

 beings as those referred to were made use of in heraldry, and 

 accepted as types or emblems of some particular quality in 

 man.? 



As an instance of how an error in the form of an animal 

 may be perpetuated unperceived, it may be mentioned that even 

 in the best books on heraldry, natural history, and in other 

 illustrated publications, the elephant is rarely seen to be cor- 

 rectly delineated. A peculiarity in his formation is that the 



