MONSTERS AND SUPERSTITIONS. 



773 



for it was quoted by the most renowned scholars. Sebas- 

 tian Munster attests the truth of it in his great work on 

 Cosmography. 



"We find," he says, "trees in Scotland which produce 

 a fruit enveloped in leaves, and when it drops into the 

 water at a suitable time, it takes life and is turned into 

 a live bird, which they call a tree-hird." In order to pro- 

 duce a still fuller proof, the Avriter himself gives a drawing 

 of it ! We see the young ducks opening the fruits in order 

 to escape, whilst the newly-hatched ones swim in the water 

 near at hand! 



340. The Tree producing the Sea-ducks. — Facsimile from the Work of Aldrovandus. 



But the case becomes still more serious when avc sec 

 the most learned ornithologist of the Renaissance, Al- 

 drovandus, propagate such ridiculous fables in his great 

 work. He there maintains that sea-ducks arc the pro- 

 duct of certain trees, and he even represents these with 

 the fruits which they bear. But by an unpardonable 



98 



