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Library / Commentaries and Disputations on Genesis, Volume II

Book Eleven — the things that were in the ark

NINTH DISPUTATION. On the non-carnivorous animals of great body that entered the Ark

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NINTH DISPUTATION. On the non-carnivorous animals of great body that entered the Ark.

NONA DISPUTATIO. De animalibus non carnivoris et magni corporis quae in Arcam ingressa sunt.

ANIMALIUM non carnivororum et magnitudine corporis praestantium multae sunt, multisque rebus insignes admodum species, quas ego, ut ex doctis ac diligentibus curiosisque scriptoribus cognitas habeo, hic enumerando recensebo, adiecta quorundam, quae non omnibus nota sunt, brevi explicatione. 1 ELEPHAS. 2 BOS unicornis. 3 RHINOCEROS. 4 MONOCEROS. De his duobus animalibus nihil legi apud Aristotelem, ut ignota ei fuisse videantur. Plinius autem et Solinus brevissime describunt: primum, Ludis Pompeii Magni Romae spectatum fuisse Rhinocerotem; cui color buxeus, in naribus cornu unicum et repandum, quod subinde attritum cautibus in mucronem exacuit, eoque praeliatur adversus Elephantos — infra ipsos magnitudine, brevioribus tamen cruribus — natura Rhinoceros telo alvum paulo petens, quam solam intelligit ictibus suis perviam.
Of the non-carnivorous animals, and those excelling in size of body, there are many species, remarkable in many respects, which I, as I have them known from learned and diligent and curious writers, will here review by enumerating, with a brief explanation added of certain ones not known to all. 1. THE ELEPHANT. 2. THE ONE-HORNED OX. 3. THE RHINOCEROS. 4. THE MONOCEROS (unicorn). Of these two animals I have read nothing in Aristotle, so that they seem to have been unknown to him. But Pliny and Solinus describe [them] very briefly: first, that the Rhinoceros was seen at Rome in the Games of Pompey the Great; its color box-wood [yellowish], on its nostrils a single, turned-up horn, which it sharpens from time to time, rubbed on rocks, into a point, and with it fights against Elephants — smaller than they in size, but with shorter legs — the Rhinoceros by nature aiming with its weapon a little at the belly, which alone it understands to be penetrable by its blows.1
MONOCEROTEM ex Plinio item et Solino ad hunc modum licet describere: Atrocissimum monstrum, mugitu horrido, equino corpore, elephanti pedibus, cauda suilla, capite cervino, cornu e media eius fronte protenso splendoris mirifici, ad longitudinem (secundum Solinum) pedum quatuor, vel (secundum Plinium) duum cubitorum, ita acuto ut quicquid impetat facile ictu eius perforetur. Vivus non venit in hominum potestatem, et interimi quidem potest, capi non potest. Hanc descriptionem nonnihil variat et amplificat Cardanus: Est, inquit, Monoceros animal rarum, equi magnitudine, pilo mustelae simillimo, capite cervino, in quo cornu crescit unicum cubitorum trium longitudine, media in fronte atque rectum, in imo autem amplum, tendens in aciem; collum breve, iuba rarissima et in alteram tantum partem tendens; crura velut capreola tenuia, posteriorum exterior pars multo pilo villosa, ungula bifida: denique non absimilis cervi, praeter unicum illud cornu. Ferum valde animal est, nascens in Aethiopia inter solitudines squalentemque terram et venenatorum animalium refertam. Sed eius cornu mirandum in modum adversus venena auxiliari creditur.
The Monoceros one may likewise describe, from Pliny and Solinus, in this manner: a most atrocious monster, with a horrid bellowing, the body of a horse, the feet of an elephant, the tail of a pig, the head of a deer, a horn of wondrous splendor projecting from the middle of its forehead — of the length (according to Solinus) of four feet, or (according to Pliny) of two cubits — so sharp that whatever it attacks is easily pierced by its blow. Alive it does not come into the power of men, and it can indeed be killed, but cannot be captured. This description Cardano somewhat varies and amplifies: “The Monoceros,” he says, “is a rare animal, of the size of a horse, with hair most like a weasel's, with the head of a deer, on which grows a single horn of three cubits in length, in the middle of the forehead and straight, but broad at the base, tapering to a point; a short neck, a very sparse mane tending to one side only; legs slender like a roe's, the outer part of the hind ones shaggy with much hair, a cloven hoof: in short, not unlike a deer, except for that single horn. It is a very wild animal, born in Ethiopia among the solitudes and the squalid land filled with venomous animals. But its horn is believed, in a wonderful manner, to be of help against poisons.”2
5 BUBALUS. De Bubalo hoc tantum scribit Plinius, animal esse peculiare Africae, vituli aut cervi similitudine. Sed id genus animalis notissimum et frequentissimum nunc est in Italia, vocitatum vulgo Buffalus, quem diserte describit Iulius Scaliger: Est, inquit, bovis genus atri, quem Buffalum vocant Itali nunc, maximi roboris, depressiore quam bos magnitudine, sed corpore compactiore, latiore, pleniore, firmiore. Cornua non tam teretia quam pressa, nec surrecta, sed deorsum versum retro[flexa]…
5. THE BUBALUS. Of the Bubalus Pliny writes only this: that it is an animal peculiar to Africa, of the likeness of a calf or a deer. But this kind of animal is now very well known and very frequent in Italy, commonly called “Buffalo,” which Julius Scaliger describes eloquently: “It is,” he says, “a kind of black ox, which the Italians now call Buffalo, of the greatest strength, of a lower stature than the ox, but of a more compact, broader, fuller, firmer body. Its horns are not so rounded as flattened, and not erect, but bent back downward[…]”3
…retroflexa: etiam domitis maxima ferocia, quae corrigitur vitulis, annello ferreo pridem naribus inserto, cui funiculus inditus pro habenis est. Hunc neque Bubalim esse, neque Vrum, scio: nam et Vri cornua vidimus, et Bubalis quid sit coniectura intelligo. Aristoteles in tertio de Partibus ait Bubalos pugnare cornibus: at nostri Bufali nequaquam, sed calcibus, vel potius genuum compressione. Inepta enim sunt ad pugnam cornua, quia retroversum aversa ac demissa cuspide. Sic Scaliger.
“…bent back: in even the tamed ones there is the greatest ferocity, which is corrected, while they are calves, by an iron ring inserted early into the nostrils, to which a little cord is attached for reins. That this is neither the Bubalis nor the Urus, I know: for we have both seen the horns of the Urus, and I understand by conjecture what the Bubalis is. Aristotle, in the third [book] On the Parts [of Animals], says that Bubali fight with their horns; but our Buffaloes by no means [do so], but with their heels, or rather with the pressure of their knees. For their horns are unfit for fighting, because they are turned backward with the point lowered.” So Scaliger.4
CETERUM bubula caro in sacris litteris ut cibus hominis delicatus, salubris, minimeque vulgaris memoratur: quippe inter animalia munda, quibus solis vesci fas erat Iudaeis, numeratur bubalus, et cibus regis Salomonis tum aliorum animalium, tum etiam bubalorum carnibus constabat. Cum igitur talis non sit caro bufalina qualem esse bubalinam significatur in sacris litteris, Bufalum atque Bubalum diversa facere animalia necesse est. Verum de huiusmodi Bubalis apud veteres perpauca: apud Plinium quidem illud tantum, generari in Africa vituli cervive similitudine, et falso appellari ab imperito vulgo Vros; apud Aristotelem, Bubali sanguinem, ut proximum ovillo, aliquanto amplius spissari, et bubalis interdum cornua inutilia esse, nam etsi contra nonnulla resistant et cornibus se defendant, tamen feroces pugnacesque belluas fugiunt. Plura de his Scaliger.
Moreover, the flesh of the bubalus is mentioned in the sacred writings as a dainty, wholesome, and by no means common food of man: for the bubalus is reckoned among the clean animals, on which alone it was lawful for the Jews to feed; and the food of king Solomon consisted of the flesh both of other animals and also of bubali. Since, therefore, the flesh of the buffalo is not such as the flesh of the bubalus is signified to be in the sacred writings, it is necessary to make the Buffalo and the Bubalus different animals. But of bubali of this kind there is very little among the ancients: in Pliny only this, that it is generated in Africa, of the likeness of a calf or a deer, and is falsely called “Uri” by the ignorant common people; in Aristotle, that the blood of the bubalus, being next to that of the sheep, congeals somewhat more, and that the horns of bubali are sometimes useless, for though they resist against some [foes] and defend themselves with their horns, yet they flee from fierce and pugnacious beasts. More about these in Scaliger.5
6 BOS domesticus. 7 CERVUS. 8 ASINUS. 9 ONAGER. Est Onager solidis ungulis, sine cornibus. In monte qui Narsingae regnum dividit a Malabaris, cum aliae complures ferae, tum Onagri aluntur, equi facie, colore cinereo, agiles adeo ut capi non facile queant. Africanis quoque Onagris tanta est celeritas, ut cursu vix ulli cedant ferae; homine conspecto, in iisdem stant vestigiis, mox rudentes, immotis anterioribus pedibus, posterioribus calcitrant; ubi tam prope venator accessit ut manu queat contingere, fuga sese subtrahunt. Eorum caro cocta, dum calet, foetet; refrigerata, neque male olet neque bene sapit.
6. THE DOMESTIC OX. 7. THE DEER. 8. THE ASS. 9. THE WILD ASS (onager). The Onager has solid hooves, without horns. On the mountain that divides the kingdom of Narsinga from the Malabars, along with many other wild beasts, Onagers too are nourished, with the face of a horse, of an ashen color, so agile that they cannot easily be caught. The African Onagers too have such swiftness that scarcely any wild beasts yield to them in running; when a man is sighted, they stand in their tracks, then, braying, with their forefeet motionless, they kick out with their hind ones; when the hunter has come so near that he can touch them with his hand, they withdraw themselves in flight. Their flesh, cooked, while it is hot, stinks; cooled, it neither smells badly nor tastes well.6
Africani singuli imperitant gregibus feminarum; aemulos libidinis suae metuunt: inde est quod gravidas suas servant, ut, in editis maribus, si qua facultas fuerit, generandi spem morsu detruncent; quod caventes feminae in secessibus partus occultant. Generantur ex equa et Onagris mansuefactis mulae veloces in cursu, duritia eximia pedum, verum strigoso corpore, indomito animo sed generoso. Onagro et asina genitus omnes antecellit. Onagri in Phrygia et Lycaonia praecipui; pullis eorum praestantibus sapore Africa gloriatur, quos Lalisiones appellant. Onagrum, ut animal solivagum et solitudine gaudens, non semel nominat divina Scriptura.
The African [onagers], each one [male], rule over flocks of females; they fear rivals of their lust: hence it is that they guard their pregnant [females], so that, when males are born, if any opportunity arises, they may dock off by biting the hope of [their] generating; against which the females, taking precaution, hide their births in secret places. From a mare and tamed Onagers are born mules swift in running, of exceptional hardness of foot, but of a lean body, with an untamed but noble spirit. [A mule] begotten of an onager and a she-ass surpasses all. The onagers in Phrygia and Lycaonia are the best; Africa boasts of their foals as excelling in taste, which they call “Lalisiones.” The onager, as a solitary-roaming animal that delights in solitude, divine Scripture names more than once.7
10 URSUS. 11 SUS. 12 APER. 13 HIPPOPOTAMUS, id est, equus fluviatilis — quanquam huic, cum in aquis possit vivere, non fuit locus in Arca necessarius. 14 PEGASUS, id est, Equus pennatus et cornibus armatus. 15 BOS Indicus unicornis. 16 CAMELUS Arabicus. 17 CAMELUS Bactrianus. 18 CAMELUS a velocitate cursus dictus Dromas, seu vulgo Dromedarius.
10. THE BEAR. 11. THE SWINE. 12. THE WILD BOAR. 13. THE HIPPOPOTAMUS, that is, the river-horse — although for this, since it can live in the waters, a place in the Ark was not necessary. 14. THE PEGASUS, that is, a winged Horse armed with horns. 15. THE INDIAN ONE-HORNED OX. 16. THE ARABIAN CAMEL. 17. THE BACTRIAN CAMEL. 18. THE CAMEL called, from the swiftness of its running, “Dromas,” or commonly “Dromedary.”8
19 CAMELOPARDALIS, Nabin Aethiopes vocant, collo similis equo, pedibus et cruribus bovis, Camelo capite, albis maculis rutilum colorem distinguentibus: unde appellata Camelopardalis. Dictatoris Caesaris Circensibus ludis primum visa Romae. Ex eo subinde cernitur, aspectu magis quam feritate conspicua: quare etiam Ovis ferae nomen invenit. Sic Plinius.
19. THE CAMELOPARDALIS (giraffe), which the Ethiopians call “Nabis,” similar in neck to a horse, in feet and legs to an ox, with the head of a Camel, with white spots distinguishing a ruddy color: whence it is called Camelopardalis. It was first seen at Rome in the Circus-games of the Dictator Caesar. Since then it is seen from time to time, conspicuous more by its appearance than by ferocity: wherefore it has also found the name “wild Sheep.” So Pliny.9
20 URUS. Vrorum, qui in Hercynia silva Germaniae generantur, elegans apud Caesarem legitur descriptio: Tertium, inquit, genus ferorum est eorum qui Vri appellantur. Hi sunt magnitudine paulo infra Elephantos, specie et colore et figura tauri: magna vis est eorum et magna velocitas, neque fere quam conspexerunt parcunt. Hos studiose foveis captos interficiunt: assuescere ad homines et mansuefieri, ne parvuli quidem excepti, possunt. Haec ille.
20. THE URUS (aurochs). Of the Uri, which are bred in the Hercynian forest of Germany, an elegant description is read in Caesar: “The third kind of wild beasts is of those that are called Uri. These are in size a little below Elephants, in appearance and color and shape [like] a bull: great is their force and great their speed, nor do they spare almost anything they have caught sight of. These [men] zealously kill, caught in pits; to grow accustomed to men and to be tamed — not even the little ones excepted — they cannot.” This [says] he [Caesar].10
21 EQUUS ferus. 22 ASINUS ferus. 23 BISON. In saltu Hercynio et in omni Septentrionali plaga Bisontes frequentissimi sunt, boves feris similes, serosi, colla iubis horridi, ultra tauros pernicitate vigentes; capti, assuescere manu nequeunt. 24 BONASUS. Tradunt in Paeonia, inquit Plinius, feram quae Bonasus vocatur, equina iuba, cetero tauro similem, cornibus ita in se inflexis ut non sint utilia pugnae: quapropter fuga sibi auxiliari, reddentem in ea fimum interdum etiam trium iugerum longitudine, cuius contactus sequentes, ut ignis aliquis, amburat. 25 ORYX. Orygem, inquit Plinius, appellat Aegyptus feram, quam in exortu caniculae contrastare et contueri tradit, ac velut adorare cum sternuerit.
21. THE WILD HORSE. 22. THE WILD ASS. 23. THE BISON. In the Hercynian glade and in all the Northern region Bisons are very frequent — oxen similar to wild beasts, [shaggy], bristling on the necks with manes, flourishing in swiftness beyond bulls; captured, they cannot grow accustomed to the hand. 24. THE BONASUS. “They report in Paeonia,” says Pliny, “a wild beast called Bonasus, with the mane of a horse, otherwise similar to a bull, with horns so curved in on themselves that they are not useful for fighting: wherefore [it] aids itself by flight, voiding in [its flight] dung sometimes even of the length of three iugera, the touch of which burns those who follow, like some fire.” 25. THE ORYX. “Egypt,” says Pliny, “calls the Oryx a wild beast, which it relates to stand opposite and gaze at the rising of the Dog-star, and, as it were, to adore it when it has sneezed.”11
26 TARANDUS. Mittit Aethiopia Tarandum, magnitudine boum, bisulco vestigio, ramosis cornibus, capite cervino, ursino colore, et pariter villo profundo. Hunc aiunt metu habitum vertere, et cum delitescat fieri assimilem cuicumque rei propinquaverit, sive illa saxo alba sit, seu fruteto virens, sive quem alium praeferat colorem. Quod mirabilius videri debet in Tarando quam in homine aliisve bestiis minime villosis et cutem mollem habentibus, cum Tarando villus sit Ursinus et tergus impenetrabile. Is tamen se ipsum cum villis suis commutat, milleque colorum species cum summo videntium stupore reddit. Scythicum animal facit Aelianus, dorso et magnitudine tauri, corio ne spiculis quidem penetrabili.
26. THE TARANDUS (reindeer). Ethiopia sends forth the Tarandus, of the size of oxen, with a cloven track, branching horns, the head of a deer, the color of a bear, and likewise with a deep [shaggy] coat. They say that it changes its appearance from fear, and, when it hides, becomes like whatever thing it has approached — whether that be white as a rock, or green as a thicket, or [whatever] other color it displays. This ought to seem more wonderful in the Tarandus than in man or other beasts that are not at all shaggy and have a soft skin, since the Tarandus's coat is bear-like and its hide impenetrable. Yet it changes itself, with its coat, and reproduces a thousand kinds of colors, to the utmost amazement of the beholders. Aelian makes it a Scythian animal, with the back and size of a bull, with a hide not penetrable even by spikes.12
27 STRUTHIOCAMELUS. Animal hoc Africum vel Aethiopicum est, altitudinem equitis insidentis equo excedens celeritatemque vincens, ad hoc demum datis pennis ut currentem adiuvent: ceterum non sunt volucres, nec a terra tolluntur. His ungulae sunt cervinis similes, bisulcae, comprehendendis lapidibus utiles, quos in fuga contra sequentes ingerunt pedibus. Concoquendi sine delectu devorata mira natura; sed non minor stoliditas, in tanta reliqui corporis altitudine, cum colla frutice occultaverint, latere se existimantium. Praemia ex iis ova, propter amplitudinem quibusdam habita pro vasis, conosque bellicos et galeas adornantes pennae. 28 TRA[GELAPHUS]…
27. THE OSTRICH (struthiocamelus). This animal is African or Ethiopian, exceeding in height a rider sitting on a horse, and surpassing [it] in speed; its wings given to it for this end only, that they may aid it as it runs: for the rest, they are not flying creatures, nor are they lifted from the earth. Their hooves are similar to a deer's, cloven, useful for grasping stones, which in flight they hurl with their feet against pursuers. Of a wonderful nature in digesting what they have devoured without discrimination; but no less is their stupidity, in so great a height of the rest of their body, when, having hidden their necks in a bush, they think themselves concealed. Their eggs are prizes, held by some, on account of their size, for vessels; and their feathers adorn warlike crests and helmets. 28. THE TRA[GELAPHUS]…13
28 TRAGELAPHUS, animal specie cervi, barba tantum et armorum villo distans, ob idque nominatus Tragelaphus; nec alibi quam iuxta Phasim amnem nascens, ait Plinius libro octavo capite trigesimo tertio. 29 HIPPELAPHUS. 30 HIPPARDIUM. De his duobus animalibus ad hunc modum scribit Aristoteles: Hippelaphus satis iubae summis continet armis, qui a forma equi et cervi quam habet composita nomen accepit, quasi equicervus dici meruisset. Nec non fera, quae et ipsa ab equo Hippardium nominata est, capronas parte gerit eadem. Sed utrumque id genus tenuissimo iubae ordine a capite ad summos armos crinescit. Proprium Equicervo villus, qui eius gutturi modo barbae dependet. Gerit cornua utrumque, excepta femina equi cervini generis; et bisulcos pedes habet. Magnitudo Equicervi non differt a cervo: gignitur apud Arachotas.
28. THE TRAGELAPHUS (goat-stag), an animal of the appearance of a deer, differing only in its beard and the shagginess of its shoulders, and on that account named Tragelaphus; and born nowhere except beside the river Phasis, says Pliny in bk. 8, ch. 33. 29. THE HIPPELAPHUS. 30. THE HIPPARDIUM. Of these two animals Aristotle writes in this manner: “The Hippelaphus has enough mane upon the top of its shoulders — it received its name from the form, composed of horse and deer, that it has, as if it deserved to be called ‘horse-stag.’ Likewise the wild beast which is itself named Hippardium from the horse bears its forelocks in the same part. But each of this kind grows hair, in a very thin row of mane, from the head to the top of the shoulders. Proper to the horse-stag is the [tuft of] hair which hangs from its throat in the manner of a beard. Each bears horns, except the female of the horse-stag kind; and it has cloven feet. The size of the horse-stag does not differ from a deer's: it is begotten among the Arachotae.”14
31 ASINUS unicornis. De hoc Aristoteles: Idem animal, inquit, et solipes et bicorne, nullum adhuc notum nobis est; at solipes idemque unicorne est, quanquam rarum, ut asinus Indicus, qui etiam talum solus in solipedum genere possidet. 32 Sardi quoddam animal MUFLO vocant, negantque alia quam Sardiniae in regione reperiri. Cervi est et pilo et magnitudine similis, cursu item valens, cornibus arietinis retro curvis, ita ut circum aures subeant. Caro esculenta; aspera colit loca. Non est idem cum Mufimone aut cum Ibice.
31. THE ONE-HORNED ASS. Of this Aristotle [says]: “No animal both solid-hoofed and two-horned is yet known to us; but [an animal] solid-hoofed and at the same time one-horned exists, though rare, like the Indian ass, which alone in the solid-hoofed kind also possesses an ankle-bone.” 32. The Sardinians call a certain animal MUFLO (mouflon), and deny that it is found in any region other than Sardinia. It is similar to a deer both in coat and in size, strong likewise in running, with ram-like horns curved backward so that they pass round the ears. Its flesh is edible; it dwells in rough places. It is not the same as the Mufimon or as the Ibex.15
33 ANIMAL vulgo dictum MAGNUM animal. Sub Boreali polo animal nascitur Cervo simile, cruribus anterioribus longioribus, carneam habens promuscidem, brevem tamen: cuius ungula, si collo appendatur, comitiales morbos sanare, si quid aliud, posse creditur. Quoniam, dum hoc morbo laborat animal ipsum (nam comitiali morbo laborat), non prius excitatur quam ungulam posterioris pedis auri intulerit: tunc enim protinus excitatur a morbo. Timidum est et imbecille supra quam credi possit, et ex quocunque minimo vulnere moritur. Est enim cordis frigidissimi ac cerebri non solum frigidi, sed pituita redundantis. Habet autem cornua peculiari quadam forma praedita et nulli fere animali similia: nam crassa ab imo ubi ascendunt, latiora palmo sunt. Abundat apud Dacos finitimasque regiones, vulgarique nomine Magnum vocant animal. Ceterum ab Alce plurimum differt: Alces enim, ut Caesar describit, capro similis est et maculosa pelle, et crura sine iunctura habet; huius vero iuncturas videmus, et pellem Cervo similem. Haec Cardanus.
33. THE ANIMAL commonly called the GREAT ANIMAL. Under the North pole an animal is born similar to a Deer, with longer forelegs, having a fleshy proboscis — short, however — whose hoof, if hung from the neck, is believed able, if anything is, to heal the falling sickness (epilepsy). For, while the animal itself suffers from this disease (for it suffers from the falling sickness), it is not roused until it has brought the hoof of its hind foot to its ear: for then it is immediately roused from the disease. It is timid and weak beyond what could be believed, and dies from any least wound whatever. For it is of a most cold heart, and of a brain not only cold but overflowing with phlegm. It has horns endowed with a certain peculiar form, similar to almost no animal's: for, thick from the base where they rise, they are broader than a palm. It abounds among the Dacians and the neighboring regions, and they call it by the common name “Great animal.” But it differs very much from the Elk (Alces): for the Elk, as Caesar describes, is similar to a goat and has a spotted skin, and has legs without a joint; but of this [Great animal] we see the joints, and a skin similar to a Deer's. This [says] Cardano.16
34 INTER quadrupedes nullum animal mirabilius videtur esse eo bove, quem vulgus Hispanorum CORCOBADO, id est, Gibbosum, appellat, nascitur in Quivira regione Novae Hispaniae proxima: gregatim vivens, tauris nostris magnitudine ferme par, sed cornibus brevioribus, pilo colore simili, sed parte anteriori (velut Leoni) longiore; in dorso etiam ad modum iubae equarum, infra genua longissimo densoque; in fronte crispi pili in modum crinium; videntur et barbati, adeo multus sub collo pilus exstat. Vituli collum habet longum, et in capite velut floccum; gibbam habet in dorso e directo pedum anteriorum, ut Cameli…
34. AMONG the quadrupeds no animal seems more wonderful than that ox which the common people of the Spaniards call CORCOBADO — that is, “Humpbacked” — which is born in the region of Quivira, next to New Spain: living in herds, almost equal in size to our bulls, but with shorter horns, with hair of similar color, but on the front part (like a Lion's) longer; on the back too, after the manner of the mane of mares, very long and dense below the knees; on the forehead curly hair in the manner of [human] locks; they appear also bearded, so much hair stands out under the neck. It has the long neck of a calf, and on its head, as it were, a tuft; it has a hump on the back directly above the forefeet, like a Camel's…17
…gibbam habet in dorso e directo pedum anteriorum, ut Cameli. Turpe animal in universum, ore et toto corpore: currit, saltat, feritque cornibus, ut ipsum formident equi fugiantque; quos ille, dum irascitur, insequitur et occidit. Incredibile dictu est quot usus indigenis praebeat. Sanguinem eius recentem hauriunt vice potus, eoque sicco et concreto utuntur, aqua diluentes, tanquam lacte; carnem crudam edunt, quae illis loco panis et carnis est; cornibus utuntur ad pocula, vesica et ventriculo pro vasis, pelle pro utribus; corio domos, funes, calceos ac vestes, ossibus arma conficiunt; nervis fila crassiora, pilis tenuiora (nam pilus tenuis est admodum, lanae [similis] in quibusdam corporis partibus); stercore ignem nutriunt ad flammam. Itaque hoc unum animal ad omnes ferme usus vitae indigenis conducit.
…it has a hump on its back directly above the forefeet, like a Camel's. An ugly animal altogether, in mouth and in its whole body: it runs, leaps, and strikes with its horns, so that horses dread and flee it; which [horses] it, when angered, pursues and kills. It is incredible to tell how many uses it furnishes to the natives. They drink its fresh blood in place of drink, and use it dried and congealed, diluting it with water, like milk; they eat its raw flesh, which serves them in place of bread and meat; they use its horns for cups, its bladder and stomach for vessels, its hide for wineskins; from its leather they make houses, ropes, shoes and clothes, from its bones weapons, from its sinews thicker threads, from its hair finer ones (for the hair is quite fine, like wool in certain parts of the body); with its dung they feed the fire into flame. And so this one animal serves the natives for almost all the uses of life.18
Has ego reperi apud bonos auctores quatuor et triginta animalium non carnivororum et magnitudine corporis insignium species. Sed quia credibile est nonnullas alias a nobis et ab auctoribus quos secuti sumus, aut ignoratione aut oblivione esse praetermissas, addamus supradictis alias sex, eorumque numerum usque ad quadraginta species producamus, faciamusque omnia huius generis animalia (quantum ad magnitudinem corporis et spatium loci quod in arca postulabant) aequalia bobus: nam etsi quaedam eorum animalium sunt illis grandiora, pleraque tamen minora sunt. Ponamus igitur omnia huius ordinis animalia fuisse instar quadraginta parium boum.
These thirty-four species of non-carnivorous animals, notable for size of body, I have found among good authors. But because it is credible that some others were passed over by us and by the authors we have followed, either through ignorance or forgetfulness, let us add to the aforesaid six others, and bring their number up to forty species, and make all the animals of this kind (as regards the size of body and the space of room which they required in the ark) equal to oxen: for although some of those animals are larger than they, yet most are smaller. Let us therefore suppose that all the animals of this order were as forty pairs of oxen.19

Translator’s notes

  1. §62. Margins: “Of the aforesaid animals 34 species are reckoned”; Pliny, bk. 8, chs. 20–21; Solinus, ch. 33. ↩
  2. §63. The unicorn/monoceros (Pliny, Solinus, Cardano). Margins: Solinus, ch. 35; Monoceros; Cardano, On Subtlety, bk. 10. ↩
  3. §64. The bubalus / Italian buffalo (Scaliger). Margins: Pliny, bk. 8, ch. 15; “Bubalus, commonly Buffalo”; Julius Scaliger, Exercitationes 206. Continues on p. 266. ↩
  4. Conclusion of the Scaliger passage on the buffalo. Margin: Aristotle. ↩
  5. §65. The bubalus is a clean (edible) animal in Scripture — hence distinct from the buffalo. Margins: Lev. 11; Deut. 14; 3 Kings 4; Pliny, bk. 8, ch. 15; Aristotle, Hist. anim. bk. 2, ch. 6 and Parts of Animals bk. 2, ch. 2; Scaliger, Exercitationes 206. ↩
  6. §66. Margins: Onager; Solinus, ch. 30. ↩
  7. Margin: Pliny, bk. 8, ch. 44. ↩
  8. §67. Continues on p. 267. ↩
  9. Continuation of §67 (the giraffe). ↩
  10. §68. Margins: Julius Caesar, Gallic War, bk. 6; Urus. ↩
  11. §69. Margins: Solinus, ch. 23; Bison; Bonasus; Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 40; Solinus, ch. 33. ↩
  12. §70. The ‘color-changing’ reindeer. Margins: Tarandus; Aelian, bk. 2, ch. 16; Pliny, bk. 10. ↩
  13. §71. The ostrich. Continues on p. 268. ↩
  14. § (cont.)–72. Margins: Pliny, bk. 8, ch. 33; Aristotle, Hist. anim. bk. 2, ch. 1; Hippelaphus. ↩
  15. §72 (continued)–73. Margins: Aristotle, Hist. anim. bk. 2, ch. 1; “One-horned ass”; Scaliger, Exercitationes 206; Muflo. ↩
  16. §74. The ‘Great animal’ (Cardano) — an elk/moose, distinguished from Caesar's Alces. Margins: Cardano, On Subtlety, bk. 10; Caesar, Gallic War, bk. 6. ↩
  17. §75. The American bison (Spanish ‘Corcobado’), from Cardano. Margins: Cardano, On Variety, bk. 7; Corcobado. Continues on p. 269. ↩
  18. Conclusion of §75 (the many uses of the bison to the natives). ↩
  19. End of the large-non-carnivore catalogue: 34 species, rounded to 40 ‘pairs of oxen.’ ↩