MAMMALOGY. 



proves nothing in support of the veracity of Bontius, and must be 

 regarded rather as a justification of himself in having employed the 



iieve that such beings have existence in the great depository ef wonders, 

 the " depths of waters." They have like ourselves details of Mermen and 

 MermaidSj and admitting as they do, moreover, the being and presidence 

 of the genii of the elements, they can readily believe in the existence of such 

 monsters. Ev ery one is besides aware of the implicit faith attached by those 

 people to the histories and traditions they have received from their fore- 

 fathers, so that this belief may be considered almost universal. 



From a very extensive collection of the learning of those countries now 

 before us, we could select many objects of a similar nature and indeed of 

 very singular curiosity. Among the number we observe two that are pre- 

 cisely applicable, and have made choice of those for the purpose of our 

 present illustration ; the copies of these are to be found in our explanatory 

 plate. The upper half of both resemble the human figure, the lower part 

 in both are as truly indicative of the finny tribe ; tne first from its more 

 robust and muscular form is obviously intended for the male ; it is, no 

 doubt, the bust of an Orang-Outang, with the hair of the head set up in the 

 form of fin-like appendages, and from the breast downwards the figure is a 

 fish, the latter apparently a species of the Sparus tribe. The other repre- 

 sents a female of more graceful form and is probably a preparation of the 

 bust of a human subject inserted into the skin of a fish, perhaps also of the 

 Sparus tribe.* These are copies by the Japanese artists from very ancient 

 books, and probably embody the superstitious persuasions of those ancient 

 people during the space of four thousand years. — The belief in such ano- 

 malous productions is certainly very ancient in the world, and was by no 

 means confined to those remote parts of Asia. A figure altogether similar to 

 these, but with the bust of a ram instead of an ape, and the lower half of a 

 fish-like form, occurs upon an ancient piece of sculpture in the museum of 

 Sens. This is a work of art attributed to a period much preceding the 

 Christian era ; the subject is mythological — the Taurine Diana riding in 

 her chariot over the waves: the object adverted to appears in the uplifted 

 hand of Thalassa, the nymph by which the sea is personified, and who ap- 

 pears seated on the waves in the lower part of the sculpture. 



* It is worthy of remark that the ict^/oi of the Greeks, commemorated in the 

 fable of Oppian for their pretended affection for the mountain goats, appertain to 

 the Sparus genus ; and the piscivorous portion of those compound beings, according 

 to the ancient notions of the people ©f Japan and China, seems to be of the same 



