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Show 1 9 0 5 . ] ON OLD PICTURES OF THE ZEBRA. 1 4 5 and canals of the Seal are most like those of the bird and the fish ; this fact thus tending to support the view that I have just suggested. In Man the faculty of directing himself by means of this sense seems to have atrophied from want of use, but even in this case it has been pointed out that in the savage state the faculty is fairly keen. Some mammals display it occasionally in a remarkable manner, as in those instances in which cats and dogs find their way home from long distances, when the sense of sight could not have availed them. Tlie homing of pigeons seems to me to be another manifestation of the same faculty. Mr. Henry Scherren, F.Z.S., called attention to two illustrations of a Zebra in Aldrovandus (1642) and the 1 Commentarius ' of Ludolplius, copies of which were in the Society's library. Although they differed so widely, the text seemed to indicate that they were intended for the same species- the Abyssinian Zebra ; and with respect to the plate in Ludolphus there could, from the text, be no doubt that this was the case. A translation of the passage in the ‘ Historia zEtliiopica,' giving the description by Tellez of this Zebra, had appeared in the ‘ Proceedings' * (1901, ii. p. 2). In the ‘ Commentarius,' p. 150, Ludolphus has brought together some references to the Abyssinian Zebra. First he quotes Philostorgius (lib. iii. ch. 2), with this Latin version:- " ITaec ipsa regio fert asinos agrestes maximos, et pelle versi-colores admodum, albo nigroque colore haud parum interstinctos : sed et zome iis qusedam sunt a spina dorsi ad latera ventremque usque demissse, indeque divisfe, et convolvulis quibusdam inter se implicate, mirum quendam et peregrinum exhibent nexum et varietatem." Gotliofredus (Jacques Godefroy, 1587-1652) translated the Greek ovovs a y pious and the Latin asinos agrestes by onagros, as did Boehart. But the former added : " Neminem alias varietatem eorum ita describere." Ludolphus presses home the argument in this wise : If Philostorgius had meant ordinary wild asses he would have used a single Greek word. He then refers to Rome, " whither all marvellous things are sent," quoting Martial (Epigram, xiii. 101), in which onager with the epithet pulcher occurs. It is noted that no one would rightly call a wild ass " beautiful," though the word exactly suits an Abyssinian Zebra. Virgil (Georg, iii. 409) calls these animals timid . tt gggpg etiain cursu timidos agitabis onagros " ; and in the Vulgate (Osee, viii. 9) the epithet " solitarius " is used. Ludolphus anticipated recent writers in suggesting that this Zebra had been brought to Rome ; but he does not mention the hippotigris. The collection of all references to the hippotigris * The passage is marred by a mistranslation in the English version (1682) by " J. P." The sentence, " A present of great esteem, and frequently given to the kings of Habessinia," misrepresents what Ludolphus wrote : " In donis Regum Habessinise frequens et praecipuum esse solet." |
