120 GEMS-BOK. 
even with regret that we learn, that this peaceful 
being is the mere creature of fancy. It is not, there- 
fore, surprising that the most celebrated zoologists 
and philosophers of modern times, Pallas, Camper, 
and Cuvier, have not disdained to investigate the 
origin and circumstances of this pleasing fiction, and 
to search among the productions of nature for the 
actual animal which suggested the idea of the uni- 
corn. On all hands, this is admitted to have been 
the oryx, an animal somewhat larger than an ass, 
with cloven hoofs, very long straight horns, a short 
erect mane, of which the hair is reversed, or grows in 
an opposite direction from that of all other animals, 
a light, sandy-brown colour, often approaching to 
pale-grey, with shining black marks on the face and 
cheeks, and a black switch tail,—characters which 
render this animal particularly remarkable, and 
which have been accurately described by Appian, 
and other ancient authors. This compound of the 
characters of the horse and the goat, the horns and 
cloven hoots of the one, and the erect mane, general 
form, and long switch tail of the other, is exactly 
what ancient and modern writers and painters 
have represented as uniting in the unicorn. A 
reference to the engraving of this animal (page 55) 
will show how small is the difference between the 
production of nature, and that of human invention, 
or rather, how slight are the alterations which have 
been made in the characters of the oryx in order to 
