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A DESCRIPTION OP 
THE GRYPHON, OR GRIFFIN, 
WAS originally an emblem of life. It was used to adorn 
funeral monuments and sepulchres. The upper part of 
this allegorical animal resembles the eagle, the king of 
the birds, and the rest the lion, as the king of beasts ; 
which is said to imply that man, who lives upon the earth, 
cannot subsist without air. In latter times it was sup- 
posed that the Gryphon was posted as a jailor at the 
entrance of enchanted castles and caverns where subter- 
raneous treasures were concealed. Milton compares Satan 
in his flight to the Gryphon, in the following beautiful 
passage : 
As when a Gryphon through the wilderness 
With winged course o'er hill or moory dale, 
Pursues the Arimaspian, who, by stealth, 
Had from his wakeful custody purloin'd 
The guarded gold ; so eagerly the fiend, 
O'er bog or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare, 
With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way, 
And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies. 
The Arimaspians were supposed Asiatic wizards, who, by 
strength of magic, used to obtain a knowledge of the 
