There have been thirteen species, or, at least, thirteen distinct
varieties made of these animals; in this uncertainty, whether they
are varieties, or species, we thought it best to treat of them all
together, assigning to each a particular name. The first of these
animals, and the only one to which we retain the generic name of
_gazelle_, is the common _gazelle_, (_fig. 153._) which is found in
Syria, Mesopotamia, and the other provinces of the Levant, as well as
in Barbary, and in all the northern parts of Africa. The horns of this
animal are about a foot long, entirely annulated at the base, lessening
into half-rings towards the extremities which are smooth. They are
not only surrounded with rings, but also furrowed longitudinally by
small streaks. These rings mark the years of their growth, which is
commonly about twelve or thirteen. The gazelles in general, and this
tribe in particular, greatly resemble the roe-buck in the proportions
of the body, natural functions, swiftness, and the brightness and
beauty of the eyes. These resemblances would tempt us to think, as
the roe-buck does not exist in the same countries with the gazelle,
that the latter was only a degeneration of the first; or, that the
roe-buck is a gazelle, whose nature had been altered by the influence
of the climate and effects of food, did not the gazelles differ from
the roe-buck in the nature of their horns; those of the roe-buck are
a kind of solid _wood_, which fall off, and are renewed every year,
like those of the stag; the horns of the gazelles, on the contrary,
are hollow and permanent like those of the goat. The roe-buck has also
no gall-bladder, which is to be found in the gazelle. The gazelles
have, in common with the roe-bucks, deep pits under the eyes, and they
resemble each other still more in the colour and quality of the hair,
in the bunches upon their leg, which only differ in being upon the
fore-legs of the gazelle, and upon the hinder legs of the roe-buck.
The gazelles, therefore, seem to be intermediate animals between the
roe-bucks and goats; but, when we consider that the roe-buck is an
animal which is to be found in both continents, and that the goats, on
the contrary, as well as the gazelles, belong only to the old world,
we shall be induced to conclude that the goats and gazelles are more
nearly related to each other, than they are to the roe-buck. The only
characters peculiar to the gazelles, are the transversed rings and
longitudinal depressions on the horns, the bunches of hair on the
fore-legs, the thick streaks of black, brown, or red hair upon the
lower part of the sides, and three streaks of whitish hair to the
internal surface of the ears.
_Engraved for Barr's Buffon_
[Illustration: FIG. 153. _Gazelle._]
[Illustration: FIG. 154. _Corine._]
The second gazelle is an animal found in Senegal, which M. Adanson
informs us, is there called _kevel_. It is something less than the
former, and nearly of the size of a small roe-buck; it differs also
in its eyes, which are much larger; and its horns, instead of being
round, are flattened on the sides, and this flattening of the horns
is not a sexual difference; the male and female gazelles have them
round, or more properly speaking, compressed; in other respects, they
entirely resemble each other. They both have yellow-coloured hair,
thighs and belly white, the tail black, a brown stripe under the flank,
three white streaks in the ears, black horns surrounded with rings,
with the longitudinal depressions, &c. but it is certain, that the
number of these rings is greater in the kevel than in the gazelle, the
last having generally but twelve or thirteen, and the former at least
fourteen, and often eighteen or twenty.
The third is called _corine_ (_fig. 154._) from _korin_, the name it
bears in Senegal. It greatly resembles the gazelle and the kevel, but
is still less than either; its horns are also thinner and smoother,
the rings being scarcely discernible. M. Adanson, who communicated
to me his description of this animal, says, that it seemed a little
tending to the chamois goat, but that it is much smaller, being in
length only two feet and a half, and not quite two feet in height;
that its ears are four inches and a half long, its tail three inches,
its horns six inches long, and not an inch thick; that they are two
inches distant from each other at the base, and about five or six at
their extremities; that, instead of annular prominences, they have only
transverse wrinkles very close to each other in the lower part, and
more distant in the upper, and that these wrinkles, which are in the
place of rings, are about sixteen in number; that its hair is short,
fine, and glossy, yellow on the back and flanks, and white under the
belly and the inside of the thighs and a black tail; and that there are
some of these animals whose bodies are often sprinkled with irregular
white spots.
These differences between the gazelle, the kevel, and the corine,
although very apparent, especially in the corine, do not appear to
be essential, nor sufficient to divide these animals into different
species; for they resemble each other so much in every other respect,
that they seem to be all three of the same species, more or less varied
by the influence of climate and food. There is much less difference
between the kevel and the gazelle, than the corine, whose horns in
particular bear no resemblance to those of the other two; but all
three have the same natural habits; they assemble and feed together
in herds; they are of mild dispositions, and easily accustomed to a
domestic state and the flesh of all three is very good to eat. We think
ourselves therefore, authorised to conclude that the gazelle and kevel
are certainly of the same species, and that it is uncertain, whether
the corine be only a variety of the same species or whether it be a
different one.
In the royal cabinet of France, there are skins of these three
different antelopes, besides which, there is a horn that bears a great
resemblance to those of the gazelle and kevel, but much larger; this
horn is engraven in the works of Aldrovandus, _Lib._ I. _de Bisulcis,
c._ xxi. Its thickness and length seem to indicate a much bigger animal
than the common gazelle, and it appears to me to belong to an antelope
which the Turks call _tzeiran_, and the Persians _ahu_. This animal,
according to Olearius, in some measure resembles our fallow-deer,
except being rather of a red than yellow colour; the horns, likewise,
are without antlers, and rest upon the back, &c. M. Gmelin, who
describes it under the name of _dsheren_ says, it resembles the
roe-buck, with this exception, that the horns like those of the wild
goat, are hollow and never fall off. He also adds, that in proportion
as the horns increase in growth, the cartilage of the larynx thickens,
and forms a considerable prominence under the throat when the animals
are advanced in years. According to Koempfer the _ahu_ differs not in
the least from the stag in its form, but that his horns appear nearer
to those of the goat, which are single, black, and annulated, as far as
the middle, &c. Some other authors have likewise made mention of this
species of antelope under the name of _geiram_ and _jarain_, which it
is easy to restore, as well as that of _dsheren_ to the primitive name
of _tzeiran_. This antelope is common in South Tartary, in Persia, in
Turkey, and is also to be met with in the East Indies.
To these four first species, or races of antelopes, may be added two
other animals, which greatly resemble them; the first is called _koba_
at Senegal where the French have stiled it the _great brown cow_; the
second is also a native of Senegal, and is there called _kob_, but our
countrymen denominate it the _small brown cow_. The horns of the kob
greatly resemble those of the gazelle and kevel, but the shape of the
head is different, the muzzle is longer, and there are no pits under
the eyes. The koba is much larger than the kob; the latter is about
the size of the fallow-deer, and the other is as large as the stag.
From the remarks of M. Adanson, it appears that the _koba_ is five
feet long, from the extremity of the muzzle to the insertion of the
tail; that its head is fifteen inches, its ears nine, and its horns
from nineteen to twenty, that its horns are flattened on the sides and
surrounded with ten or twelve rings, while those of the _kob_ have only
eight or nine, and are not more than a foot in length.
The seventh animal of this species is found in the Levant but more
commonly in Egypt, and in Arabia. We call it, from its Arabian name,
_algazel_; it is shaped pretty much like the other antelopes, and is
nearly the size of the fallow-deer, but its horns are long, thin, and
but little bent till toward their extremities, when they turn short
with a sharp flexion; they are black and almost smooth, and the annular
prominence scarcely observable, except towards the base, where they are
a little more visible. They are about three feet in length, while those
of the gazelle are not more than one foot, those of the kevel fourteen
and fifteen inches, and those of the corine (which, nevertheless
resembles this the most) only six or seven inches.
The eighth animal is generally called the _Bezoar antelope_, but by
the eastern nations _pasan_, which name we retain. A horn of this
animal is very well represented in the German Ephemerides, and the
figure of the animal itself has been given by Koempfer, but his
description is faulty in the horns, which are neither sufficiently long
nor straight. His description likewise, does not appear to be exact,
for he says, that this animal has a beard like the he-goat; and yet,
he has given a figure of it without one, which seems more conformable
to truth; for the want of a beard is the principal character by which
antelopes are distinguished from goats. This antelope is of the size
of our domestic he-goat, and has the colour, shape, and agility of the
stag. We have seen a skull of this animal with the horns on it, and two
other horns separate. The horns which are engraved in _Aldrovandus, de
quad. Bisulcis_, p. 765. C. 24 _de Orige_, bear a great resemblance to
these. In most respects, the _algazel_ and the _pasan_, appear to have
a great affinity; they are also natives of the same climate, and are
found in the Levant, Egypt, Arabia, and Persia; but the algazel feeds
upon the plains, and the pasan is only found on the mountains. The
flesh of both is very good food.
The ninth antelope is an animal which, according to M. Adanson, is
called _nangueur_, or _nanguer_ (_fig. 155._) at Senegal. It is three
feet and a half long, and two feet and a half high; it is of the
colour of the roe-buck, yellow on the upper part of the body, white
under the belly and inside of the thighs, with a spot of the same
colour under the neck. Its horns are permanent like those of the other
antelopes, and are about six or seven inches in length; they are black
and round, but what is singular, they bend forwards, at the points
nearly in the same manner as those of the chamois goats bend backwards.
These nauguers are very beautiful animals, and very easy to tame. All
these characters, and principally that of the horns bending forward,
induces me to think, that the nanguer may possibly be the dama, or
fallow-deer, of the ancients. "Cornua rupicapris in dorsum adunca,
damis in adversum," says Pliny. As these are the only animals who
have their horns bent in this manner, we may presume that the nanguer
of Africa, is the dama of the ancients; especially, as Pliny says in
another place, that the dama is only to be found in Africa. In short,
by the testimonies of other ancient authors, we find, that the dama
was a timid and peaceable animal, who had no other resource for his
safety than in the swiftness of his running. The animal which Caius
has given the figure and description of, under the name _dama Plinii_
being found, according to that author's own testimony in the north of
Great Britain and in Spain, cannot possibly be the dama mentioned by
Pliny, because he says, it was only to be found in Africa. Besides,
this animal, which Caius has described, is furnished with beard like
a goat, and not one of the ancients has spoken of the dama as having
a beard. I am inclined therefore to believe that this dama of Caius
is only a goat, whose horns being a little bent at their extremities,
like those of the common gazelle, made him imagine it to be the dama of
the ancients. Besides this character of the horns being bent forwards,
which is the most certain index of the dama, is not properly marked
in any other animal except the nanguer of Africa. From the remarks of
M. Adanson, it appears, there are three varieties of these nanguers,
which only differ in the colour of the hair, but all their horns bend
forwards in a greater or lesser degree.
The tenth gazelle is a very common animal in Barbary and Mauritania,
and which the English call _antelope_, a name we shall likewise adopt.
This animal is of the size of a roe-buck, and greatly resembles the
gazelle and the kevel, yet it differs from them in so many particulars,
that it may be looked upon as a different species. The antelope has
deeper eye-pits than the gazelle; its horns are near fourteen inches
long almost touching each other at the bottom, yet their points are
fifteen or sixteen inches asunder. They are surrounded with rings and
semi-rings like the gazelle and kevel, but not so distinguishable; but
what particularly discriminates the antelope, is its horns having a
double flexion, which gives them the appearance of an antique lyre. The
antelope, like other gazelles, is yellow on the back, and white under
the belly; but these two colours are not separated by the black streak
which is to be found in all the rest of the gazelle kind.
There seems to be different races of the antelope as there are in
the other gazelles. 1. In the royal cabinet is a horn, which must be
attributed to a much larger antelope than that we have been speaking
of; it is called _lidmee_, a name, which according to Dr. Shaw, the
Africans give to the antelopes. 2. In the cabinet of the Marquis de
Marigny is a kind of an offensive weapon composed of two sharp-pointed
horns about the length of a foot and a half which, by their double
flexion, seem to belong to a much smaller antelope than any of the
rest. It must be very common in the Indies, as their Faquirs, and other
priests, carry this sort of weapon as a mark of dignity. We shall call
it the _Indian antelope_, from its having the appearance of being only
a simple variety of the _African species_.
By this enumeration of the gazelles, or antelopes, we find there are
twelve species, or distinct varieties: viz. 1. The common gazelle;
2. The kevel; 3. The corine; 4. The tzeiran; 5. The koba, or great
brown cow; 6. The kob, or small brown cow; 7. The algazel, or antelope
of Egypt; 8. The pasan, or pretended bezoar; 9. The nanguer, or
dama of the ancients; 10. The antelope; 11. The lidmée; and, 12.
The Indian antelope. After having carefully compared them, we are
induced to conclude that the common gazelle, kevel, and corine, are
only three varieties of one species: 2. That the tzeiran, koba, and
kob, are varieties of another: 3. That the algazel and the pasan are
probably only two varieties of the same species; and that the name
_bezoar-gazelle_, which has been given to the pasan, is no distinctive
character; for we think ourselves able to prove, that the Oriental
bezoar does not come from the pasan alone, but from all the gazelles
and goats which live in the mountains of Asia: 4. That the nanguers,
whose horns are bent forwards, and of which there are two or three
varieties, have been indicated by the ancients under the name of the
_dama_: 5. That the antelopes, which are three or four in number, and
differ from all others by the double flexion of their horns, were also
known to the ancients by the names of _strepsiceros_, and _addax_. All
these animals are to be found in Asia and Africa that is in the old
continent, and to these five principal species, which contain twelve
very distinct varieties, we shall not add two or three other kinds, of
America, to which the indefinite name of _gazelle_ has also been given,
although they are different from all those we have already noticed;
as it would only increase the confusion, which is already too great.
We shall give the history of these American animals, under their real
names of Mezame, Temamaçame, &c. and shall here speak only of those
animals of this species which are found in Africa and Asia: we shall
also refer to the following articles, several other animals of Africa
and Asia, which have been considered as antelopes or goats, though
they appear to be an intermediate species; such as the bubalus, or
Barbary cow, the condoma, the guib, the grimm, &c. without including
the chevrotains, which greatly resemble the small goats or antelopes,
but of which we shall speak in a separate article.
It is now easy to perceive how difficult it was to arrange all these
animals, which amount to thirty, ten goats, twelve or thirteen
antelopes, three or four of the bubalus, and as many chevrotains,
all different from each other; many of them were unknown, the others
confusedly mentioned by naturalists, and confounded one for another by
travellers. This is the third time that I have written their history,
and I must say, that the trouble much exceeded the produce, though I
have done as much as possible with the materials and knowledge I was
able to acquire.
By comparing the remarks which have been made by ancient and modern
authors, with the knowledge we have acquired by experience, we find,
1. That the _dorcas_ of Aristotle is not the gazelle but the roe-buck;
notwithstanding that this name has been used by Ælian, not only to
denote wild goats in general but particularly the Lybian or common
gazelle. 2. That the _strepsiceros_ of Pliny, or the _addax_ of
the Africans, is the antelope. 3. That the _dama_ of Pliny is the
_nanguer_ of Africa, and not our fallow-deer, or any other European
animal. 4. That the _prox_ of Aristotle agrees with the _zorkes_ of
Ælian, and is the same with the _platycerotas_ of the more modern
Greeks, which name the Latins have adopted to denote the fallow-deer,
"_Animalium quorumdam cornua in palmas finxit natura; digitosque emisis
exiis unde platycerotas vocant_," says Pliny. 5. That the pygargos
of the Greeks is probably the gazelle of Egypt, or that of Persia;
that is, the _algazel_ or _pasan_. The word _pygargos_ is only used
by Aristotle to denote a bird, the _white-tailed eagle_; but Pliny
employed it to denote a quadruped. The etymology of pygargus indicates,
1. An animal with white haunches, such as the roe-bucks or gazelles.
2. A timid animal; the ancients imagining that white thighs were an
index of timidity, attributed the intrepidity of Hercules to his having
black ones. But as almost every author, who speaks of the pygargus as
a quadruped, mentions also the roe-buck; it is clear that the name can
only be applied to some species of gazelle, which is different from
the dorcas Lybica, or common gazelle, and from the strepsiceros, or
antelope, which the same authors speak of. We therefore think, that
the _pygargus_ denotes the _algazel_ or _gazelle_ of Egypt, which must
have been known to the Greeks as well as to the Hebrews; for we find
the name of pygargus in the Septuagint version[V], among the number
of animals whose flesh is deemed clean; the Jews, therefore, eat the
pygargus, or that species of gazelle which is common in Egypt and the
adjacent countries.
[V] Deuteronomy, chap. xiv.
Mr. Russel, in his History of Aleppo, says, that near that city there
are two sorts of gazelles; the one called the _mountain gazelle_, which
is the most beautiful, and whose hair on the neck and back is of a deep
brown; the other, called the _gazelle of the valley_, which is neither
so swift nor so well made as the first, and whose hair is also much
paler. He adds, that these animals run so quick and so long that the
swiftest dogs cannot catch them, without the assistance of a falcon;
that in winter the gazelles are lean, but yet their flesh is of a good
flavour; that in summer it abounds with fat, like our venison; and that
those which are fed at home do not eat so well as the wild ones. From
this testimony of Mr. Russel, and from that of M. Hasselquist, we may
perceive that the gazelles of Aleppo are not the common gazelles, but
those of Egypt, whose horns are straight, long, and black, and whose
flesh is excellent eating. We find also from these testimonies, that
they are half domestic animals; that they have been early tamed, and
that consequently many different varieties or kinds have been formed
among them, as well as in other domestic animals. These Aleppo gazelles
are the same therefore as those we have called algazells, and are still
more abundant in the Thebaid and Upper Egypt than the environs of
Aleppo. They feed on aromatic herbs and the tender bark of young trees:
they are commonly found in herds, or rather in families, consisting of
five or six. Their cry resembles that of the goat. They are hunted not
only with dogs, assisted by the falcon, but also with the _ounce_[W].
[W] See history of this animal, page 68, vol. VII.
In some places they take the wild gazelles by means of a tame one, to
the horns of which they fasten a snare made of ropes. When a herd of
wild gazelles is found, the tame one is sent among them, but he no
sooner approaches than one of the males of the wild herd advances to
oppose him, and in butting with his horns is soon entangled in the
noose. In this struggle they both commonly fall to the ground, when the
hunter coming up kills the one and disengages the other.
The antelopes, especially the largest sort, are much more common in
Africa than in India, they are stronger and fiercer than the other
gazelles, from which they are easily distinguished by the double
flexion of their horns; and not having either the black or brown
streak on their sides. The middling antelopes are about the size of
the fallow-deer; their horns are very black, their belly very white,
and their fore-legs shorter than the hind ones. They are well made,
and extremely clean animals, never lying down but in dry places; they
are likewise very swift, watchful, and apprehensive of danger; in open
places they look round, and when they see a man, a dog, or any other
enemy, they fly with all speed. But, notwithstanding this natural
timidity, they have a kind of courage, for if surprised, they turn
suddenly round, and face those who attack them with great firmness.
The antelopes, in general, have large black eyes, very brilliant, and
so beautiful that the Orientals employ them proverbially, in praising
the eyes of their mistresses. A gazelle-eyed beauty is the highest
compliment a lover can pay. Their limbs are finer and more delicate
than those of the roe-buck; their hair is as short, and more soft and
glossy; their hind legs are longer than those before; like the hare,
therefore, they have greater security in ascending than in descending
steep places. Their swiftness is equal to that of the roe-buck; but the
latter hastens on by bounds, while the former runs in an uninterrupted
course. Most of them are yellow upon the back, white under the belly,
with a black stripe which separates these two colours below the flanks.
Their tails are of various lengths, but always covered with a pretty
long blackish hair; their ears are long, erect, open, and terminating
in a point: they all have cloven hoofs nearly like the sheep; both
males and females have permanent horns, but the latter have them
thinner and shorter than the former.
Such is the whole information which we have been able to acquire
concerning the different species of gazelles, and their natural
dispositions and habits. Let us now see how far naturalists have
been right in attributing the production of the oriental _bezoar_ to
one kind of those animals only; and whether this animal be really
the _pasan_ or _pazan_, which they have described by the name of
the _bezoar gazel_. In examining the description and the figures
of Koempfer, who has written a great deal on this subject, it is
doubtful whether he means that the pazan or the algazel is the only
animal which produces the oriental bezoar. If we consult other
naturalists and travellers, we shall be tempted to believe that this
stone is the production not only of gazelles but of wild and domestic
goats, and even sheep, the formation of which probably depends more on
the temperature of the climate, and the quality of the food, than on
the nature or the species of the animal. If we believe Rumphius, Seba,
and some other authors, the true oriental bezoar is the production of
apes and not of gazelles, goats, or sheep. But this opinion of Rumphius
and Seba is not founded, for we have seen many of these concretions,
to which the name of ape bezoar has been given, but they are quite
different from the oriental bezoar, which is certainly produced by a
ruminating animal, and is easily distinguished from all other bezoars
by its shape, substance, and colour, which is generally that of an
olive, and brown within, while the _occidental_ bezoar is of a pale
yellow. The substance of the first is soft and porous; that of the
last hard, dry, and as it were petrified. Besides, as prodigious
quantities of the oriental bezoar was consumed in the last century; and
as it was used in Europe and Asia for all cases in which our present
physicians give cordial medicines, and antidotes against poison, may
we not presume, from the great quantities which were formerly, and are
still, in some degree, consumed, that this stone is produced, not from
a single species of animal but from many, and that it is equally the
production of gazelles, goats, and sheep, who cannot produce it but in
certain climates of the Levant and Indies.
In all that has been written on this subject we have not met with one
distinct observation, nor a single decisive argument. It only appears,
by what Monard, Garcias, Clusius, Aldrovandus, and others, have said,
that the oriental bezoar animal is not the common and domestic goat,
but a species of wild goat which they have not characterised. Thus,
likewise, all that can be gathered from Koempfer is, that the
bezoar animal is a kind of wild goat, or rather gazelle; but by the
testimonies of Thevenot, Chardin, and Tavernier, it seems that this
stone is obtained more from sheep and wild or domestic goats, than from
gazelles. What gives great weight to the assertions of these travellers
is, that they speak from ocular inspection, and because, although they
do not mention the gazelles on this occasion, there is no appearance of
their being deceived, as they knew them perfectly well, and mention
them in other parts of their works. We must not, therefore, conclude,
with our ancient naturalists, that the oriental bezoar is exclusively
the production of a particular species of gazelle, for I must own, that
after having examined not only the testimonies of authors, but such
facts as might decide the question, I am inclined to believe, that this
stone proceeds equally from the greatest number of ruminating animals,
but more commonly from goats and gazelles. This stone is formed of
concentric layers, and often contains foreign matter in its centre. I
have endeavoured to find out the nature of this matter, which serves as
a nucleus to the bezoar, supposing from that a judgment might be formed
of the animal that possesses them. This nucleus is of various kinds;
sometimes I found them to consist of pieces of flint, stones of plumbs,
tamarinds, seeds of cassia, and particularly pieces of straw and buds
of trees, therefore I could not hesitate to attribute this production
to those animals which brouze upon shrubs and leaves.
The oriental bezoar then is clearly not the production of one
particular animal but of many different ones; and it is not difficult
to reconcile the testimonies of most travellers with this opinion.
The ancients, both Greeks and Latins, have no knowledge of the bezoar.
Galen is the first who speaks of its virtues as an antidote against
poison. The Arabs, likewise, praise the bezoar as possessing those
qualities; but neither the Greeks, Latins, nor Arabians, particularly
describe the animals which produce it. Rabi Moses, an Egyptian, only
says, that some pretend this stone is formed in the angles of the
eyes, and others in the gall-bladder of the eastern sheep. Indeed
there are bezoars, or, more properly speaking, concretions, formed in
the eyes of stags, and some other animals; but these concretions are
very different from the oriental bezoar, and all the concretions in
the gall-bladder are of a light, oily, and inflammable matter, which
bears no resemblance to the substance of the bezoar. Andreas Lacuna, a
Spanish physician, says, in his Commentaries on Dioscorides, that the
oriental bezoar is extracted from a certain kind of wild goat which
feeds in the mountains of Persia. Amatus Lusitanus confirms Lacuna's
remarks, and adds, that this mountain-goat greatly resembles our stag.
Monard, who quotes all three, still more positively affirms, that
this stone is produced from the internal parts of a mountain-goat in
India, to which, he says, I have affixed the name of _cervi-capra_,
because it inclines both to the goat and the stag; for it is nearly
of the size and shape of the stag, but its horns, like those of the
goat, are very simple, and very much bent backwards. Garcias ab Horto
says, that in Corasson, and in Persia, there is a kind of he-goats,
called _pasans_, and that it is in their stomachs the oriental bezoar
is formed; that as well as in Persia it is found in Malacca, and near
Cape Comorin, and that in great numbers of the goats killed for the
subsistence of the troops these stones are regularly sought for and
found in their stomachs. Christopher Acosta confirms what Garcias
and Monard have said, without adding any thing new; in short, not to
omit any thing which has a relation to the historical detail of this
stone, Koempfer, a man of more learning than exactness, being in the
province of Laar, in Persia, says, that he went with the natives of
that country to hunt the _pasan_, which produces the bezoar, and that
he saw them extract that stone; besides which, he affirms, that the
true oriental bezoar proceeds from this animal; that the buck _ahu_, of
which he has also given a figure, produces the bezoar, but that they
are of a very inferior quality. By his figures of the pasan and ahu
we might be induced to believe, that the first represents the common
gazelle rather than the true pasan; and from his description we might
imagine his pasan to be a he-goat and not a gazelle, as he gives it
a beard resembling that of the goat; and from the name _ahu_, which
he gives to his other buck, as well as by his second figure, we might
rather suppose it to be the wild goat than the true ahu, which is our
tzeiran, or large gazelle. What is yet more singular, Koempfer,
who seems willing to decide the species of animal that produces the
oriental bezoar, and affirms, that it is the wild buck called the
pasan, quotes, at the same time, a man, whose word, he says, may be
relied on, who felt the bezoar stones in the belly of the gazelles of
Golconda. Thus all the positive conclusions that can be drawn from
Koempfer is, that there are two kinds of wild goats, the pasan and
ahu, which produce the bezoar in Persia, and that in the Indies this
stone is likewise found in the gazelles.
Chardin positively says, that oriental bezoar is found in the wild and
domestic goats on the shore of the Persian gulph, and in many provinces
of India; and that in Persia it is also to be met with in sheep. Dutch
travellers say the same; Tavernier still more positively affirms, that
they are found in the stomachs of domestic goats, whose hair is as fine
as silk, and that having bought six of these goats alive, he extracted
from them seventeen bezoar stones, and a portion of another, about
the size of half a nut, and then adds, that there are other bezoars
supposed to proceed from apes, the virtues of which are still greater
than those of the goats; that there is also cow bezoar, but the virtues
are inferior to the others, &c. What can we infer from such a variety
of opinions and testimonies? What can we conclude from them? unless
it be admitted that the oriental bezoar proceeds not from one single
species but from many different animals, particularly gazelles and
goats.
With respect to the occidental bezoar we can affirm they proceed
neither from goats nor gazelles, for we shall prove there is neither
of them, nor even any animal of that genus, in all the extent of the
new world. Instead of gazelles we only meet with roe-bucks in the
woods of America; instead of wild goats and sheep, lamas and pacos
animals of a quite different nature, and of which we have already
treated. The ancient Peruvians had no other cattle, and, at the same
time, that these two species are almost reduced to a domestic state,
they subsisted in much greater numbers in their natural condition upon
the mountains. The wild lamas were called _huanacus_, and the pacos
_vicunnas_; from whence the French have derived the name of _vigogne_,
which denotes the same animal as the pacos; both the pacos and the
lamas produce bezoars, but the tame ones more seldom than the wild.
M. Daubenton, who has more minutely inspected the nature of bezoar
stones than any other person, thinks they are composed of something
similar to that which fastens itself to the teeth of ruminating animals
in the form of a shining tartareous matter; and it is evident, from the
collection of bezoars, of which there are a great number in the royal
cabinet, that there are essential differences between the oriental and
occidental bezoars. Thus the East Indian goats, or the gazelles of
Persia, are not the only animals which produce the concretions, called
bezoars for the chamois, and, perhaps, the wild goat of the Alps, the
he-goats of Guinea, and many animals of America, afford this substance;
and, if we comprehend under this name all concretions of this nature,
which are met with in different animals, we may be assured, that
most quadrupeds, excepting carnivorous ones, and even crocodiles and
alligators, produce bezoars.
To form, therefore, a clear idea of these concretions it will be
necessary to divide them into several classes, and refer them to the
animals which produce them, and the climates and food which mostly
assist in their production.
First, then, the stones formed in the bladder and kidneys of men,
and other animals, must be distinguished from the class of bezoar,
and described by the name of _calculi_, their substance being quite
different from that of the bezoars; they are easily known by their
weight, their urinous smell, and their structure, which is not regular,
nor formed with concentric layers, like that of the bezoar.
2. The concretions that are often found in the gall-bladders and liver,
of the human species, and other animals, must not be regarded as
bezoars; they may easily be distinguished by their lightness, colour,
and inflammability; besides they are not formed by layers encircled
round a nucleus, as in the bezoar.
3. The balls frequently found in the stomachs of animals, and
especially in those that ruminate, are not true bezoars. These balls,
which are called _ægagropili_, are composed internally of the hair
the animal has licked off his hide and swallowed, or from hard roots,
which he could not digest, their external part is encrusted with a
viscous substance, something like that of the bezoar. The _ægagropili_,
therefore, have nothing in them, except this external layer, in common
with the bezoar, and simple inspection is sufficient to distinguish one
from the other.
4. _Ægagropili_ are often found in the animals of temperate climates,
but never any bezoars. Our oxen and cows, the Alpine chamois, and
the porcupine of Italy, produce only _ægagropili_. Animals of hotter
countries, on the contrary, only produce bezoars. The elephant, the
rhinoceros, the goats, the gazelles of Asia and Africa, the lama of
Peru, and others, produce, instead of _ægagropili_, solid bezoars,
whose substance and size vary according to the difference of the
animals and the climates in which they live.
5. The bezoars, to which such virtues and properties have been
attributed, are the oriental kind, which, as we have said, proceed from
goats, gazelles, and sheep, which feed on the mountains of Asia. The
bezoar of an inferior quality, which is called _occidental_, proceeds
from the lamas and pacos, which are found in the mountains of South
America. In a word, the goats and gazelles of Africa also produce
bezoars, but not of so good a quality as those of Asia.
From all these facts we may conclude, that, in general, the bezoar
is only a residue of vegetable nutriment which is not to be found in
carnivorous animals, and is peculiar to those who feed on plants; that
in the southern mountains of Asia, the herbs being stronger than in
any other part of the world, the bezoar, which is the residue of that
food, has also more virtues than any other; that in America, where the
heat is less, and the mountain herbs being weaker, the bezoars produced
there are also inferior; and that in Europe, where the herbs are still
weaker, and in all the valleys of both continents, where they are
coarse, no bezoars are produced, but only _ægagropili_, which contain
nothing but hair, roots, or filaments, which the animal was unable to
digest.
THE BUBALUS, AND OTHER ANIMALS WHICH HAVE AN AFFINITY TO THE GAZELLES
AND GOATS.
We have already taken notice in our description of the buffalo, of
the name bubalus being improperly applied to that animal. This name
belonged formerly to the animal which we are now about to describe, and
which is of a very distant nature from the buffalo. It resembles the
stag, the gazelle, and the ox, in many respects; to the stag, by the
size and shape of its body, particularly in its legs, but its horns
are permanent, and nearly like those of the largest gazelles, to which
it has an affinity both in this character and in its natural habits;
its head, however, is much longer than that of the gazelles, or even
that of the stags. He resembles the ox by the length of the muzzle and
the disposition of the bones of the head, the _cranium_ not advancing
beyond the _os frontalis_: these different marks of conformation,
joined to its ancient name, being forgotten, is the reason why it
has obtained the several names of _busephalus_, the bull-stag,
_bucula-cervina_, the cow-hind, the Barbary cow, &c. Even the name of
_bubalus_ comes from _bubulus_, and has been applied to this animal
from its similitude to the ox.
The head of the bubalus is narrow and very long, the eyes are placed
very high, the forehead very short and narrow, the horns permanent,
black, thick, and very closely annulated: they are close to each
other at the root, but spread very distant at their extremities; they
are crooked backwards, and twisted like a corkscrew; his shoulders
are so elevated that they form a sort of bunch upon the withers; the
tail is nearly a foot long, and furnished with a bunch of hair at its
extremity; and the ears resemble those of the antelope. Kolbe calls
this animal by the name of _elk_, although it only resembles the elk by
its hair being finer at the root, than in the middle or at the points;
this character is peculiar to these two animals, for the hair of almost
every other quadruped is thicker at the root than at the middle and
point. The hair is nearly of the same colour as the elk, though much
shorter, thinner, and softer. These alone are the resemblances between
the bubalus and the elk; in every other respect these two animals
are entirely different. The horns of the elk are larger and heavier
than those of the stag, and are renewed every year; the bubalus, on
the contrary, does not shed its horns, but they continue their growth
during life, and in form and texture are like those of the gazelles. He
resembles the gazelles also by the shape of his body, the smallness of
his head, the length of his neck, the position of his eyes, ears, and
horns, and in the shape and length of the tail. The gentlemen of the
Academy of Sciences, to whom one of these animals was presented by the
name of the _Barbary cow_, and who adopted that denomination, did not
hesitate to acknowledge it to be the _bubalus_ of the ancients. Though
we have rejected this denomination of _Barbary cow_, as equivocal and
confused, yet as for the rest, we could not do better than copy the
exact description those gentlemen have given of this animal, and by
which we perceive it is neither gazelle, goat, cow, elk, nor stag, but
a particular and distinct species. This animal is also the same that
Caius has described under the name of _buselaphus_, and I was surprised
that the gentlemen of the Academy did not make this remark, since all
the characters which Caius gives to his buselaphus agree with their
Barbary cow.
In the royal cabinet is, first, the skeleton of a bubalus the
gentlemen of the Academy bad described and dissected, by the name
of the Barbary cow. Secondly, a head much larger than that of this
skeleton, the horns of which are also much longer and thicker. Thirdly,
a part of another head, with horns as large as the foregoing, but their
form and direction are different. There are, therefore, in the bubalus,
as well as in the gazelles, antelopes, and others, varieties in the
size of the body, and in the shape of the horns; but these differences
do not appear to be considerable enough to make distinct and separate
species.
The bubalus is common in Barbary, and in all the northern parts of
Africa; he is nearly of the same nature as the antelopes, and has, like
them, short hair, black hide, and his flesh is good to eat.