Most of our readers must have heard of the wonderful discoveries of
Cuvier respecting the extinct animals of a former world, and of the
sagacity with which that profound anatomist disclosed the history of
races, of whose existence the only evidence we possess depends upon the
preservation of a few bones or fragments of skeletons. The same subject,
which in the hands of genius has afforded such brilliant discoveries, has
also afforded wide scope for credulity, and even imposture. The bones
of the larger races of extinct animals were formerly believed alike by
the learned and the vulgar to be those of giants. Even as late as the
seventeenth century, learned anatomists believed that the bones of the
extinct elephant belonged to a gigantic race of men. In the year 1577,
some bones of the elephant were disinterred near the town of Lucerne, in
Switzerland; the magistrates sent them to a professor of anatomy, who
decided that they belonged to the skeleton of a giant, and the citizens
were so delighted with the discovery that they adopted a giant as the
supporter of the arms of their town, an honour which he still retains.
In the same century, some bones of the elephant found in Dauphiny were
exhibited in different parts of Europe as the remains of the general of
the Cimbri who invaded Rome, and who was defeated by the consul Marius
some time before the commencement of the Christian era. In this case,
however, the mistake was not allowed to pass unnoticed, and the surgeons
and physicians of Paris entered into a lengthened discussion respecting
the nature of the bones; and the works written on this subject, if
collected, would form a small library.
The most extraordinary instance of mystification and credulity upon
record is to be found in the history of a book on Petrifactions,
published by a German professor at the commencement of the last century.
We quote the following notice of this very rare book from a French
publication:--
It is related in the life of Father Kircher, one of the most eccentric
of men, that some youths, desirous of amusing themselves at his expense,
practised the following mystification upon him. They engraved a number of
fantastic figures upon a stone, which they afterwards buried in a place
where a house was about to be built. The stone was found by the workmen
while digging the foundation, and of course found its way to the learned
Father, who was quite delighted with the treasure; and after much labour
and research, he gave such a translation of the inscription as might have
been expected from the whimsical disposition of the man. Kircher had been
a professor at Wurzburg where this anecdote became well known, and led to
another mystification of a much more serious nature, as it was pushed so
far as to occasion the publication of a folio volume.
M. Berenger, physician to the Prince-Bishop of Wurzburg, and a professor
in the University, was an enthusiastic collector of natural curiosities.
He collected without discrimination, and above all things valued those
objects which by their strange forms seemed to contradict the laws of
nature. This pursuit drew much ridicule upon M. Berenger, and induced
a young man of the name of Rodrich to amuse himself at his expense.
Rodrich cut upon stones the figures of different kinds of animals, and
caused them to be brought to Berenger, who purchased them and encouraged
the search for more. The success of the trick encouraged its author; he
prepared new petrifactions, of the most absurd nature imaginable. They
consisted of bats with the heads and wings of butterflies, winged crabs,
frogs, Hebrew and other characters, snails, spiders with their webs, &c.
When a sufficient number of them was prepared, boys who had been taught
their lesson brought them to the professor, informing him that they had
found them near the village of Eibelstadt, and caused him to pay dearly
for the time they had employed in collecting them. Delighted with the
ease with which he obtained so many wonders, he expressed a desire to
visit the place where they had been found, and the boys conducted him
to a locality where they had previously buried a number of specimens.
At last, when he had formed an ample collection, he could no longer
resist the inclination of making them known to the learned world. He
thought he would be guilty of selfishness if he withheld from the public
that knowledge which had afforded him so much delight. He exhibited
his treasures to the admiration of the learned, in a work containing
twenty-one plates, with a Latin text explanatory of the figures.
As soon as M. Deckard, a brother professor, who was probably in the plot,
was aware of this ridiculous publication, he expressed great regret that
the mystification had been pushed so far, and informed M. Berenger of
the hoax that had been played upon him. The unfortunate author was now
as anxious to recall his work as he had formerly been to give it to the
public. Some copies, however, found their way into the libraries of the
curious.
Nothing can be imagined more strange than this book, whether we consider
the opinions contained in it, or the manner in which they are stated.
It deserves to be better known as a monument of the most extravagant
credulity, and as an evidence of the follies at which the mind may arrive
when it attempts to bend the laws of nature to its chimeras. Nothing can
be more absurd than the allegoric engraving placed on the title-page.
On the summit of a Parnassus, composed of an enormous accumulation
of petrifactions, we observe an obelisk supporting the arms of the
Prince-Bishop, and surrounded by Cupids and garlands of flowers. Above
the pyramid there is a sun surmounted by the name of the Deity, in Hebrew
characters. Different emblematic persons holding petrifactions in their
hands are placed on the sides of the mountain. At its base we observe on
the right a tonsured Apollo, who doubtless represents the Prince-Bishop,
and on the left we see the professor himself demonstrating all these
wonders; and also a genius, seated near the centre of the mountain,
is writing down his words in Hebrew characters. In the dedication M.
Berenger gives an explanation of these allegories. But what is still
more remarkable, it appears that even the engraver has amused himself
at the expense of the professor. What renders this probable is, that at
the base of the engraving are figured pick-axes and spades necessary
for extracting petrifactions, and along with them chisels, compass, and
mallet, the emblems of sculpture; and what is still more wicked, a bell,
the emblem of noise.
The work is dedicated to the Prince-Bishop of Wurzburg, on whom were
bestowed the epithets of the New Apollo, Sacred Amulet of the country,
the New Sun of Franconia, and others selected with equal taste. The
most absurd flattery abounds in this dedication, of which the following
may be taken as a sample. “The opinions of philosophers are still
unsettled. They hesitate whether to ascribe the wonderful productions
of this mountain to the admirable operations of nature, or to the art
of the ancients; but, interpreted by the public gratitude, all unite
with me in proclaiming that this useless and uncultivated hill has
rendered illustrious by its wonders the beginning of your reign, and has
honoured a learned Prince, the protector and support of learning, by a
hecatomb of petrified plants, flowers, and animals. If it be permitted
to attribute these marvels to the industry of antiquity, I can say that
Franconia was once the rival of Egypt. By a usage unknown in Europe,
Memphis covered her gigantic monuments with hieroglyphics, and I do not
hazard an idle conjecture. I state without fear of contradiction, that
the obelisk which crowns this mountain exhibits in its petrifactions the
emblems of your virtues.” According to the author, the name of the Deity
in Hebrew characters indicates the zeal of the Prince for religion. The
sun, the moon, and the stars, his beneficence, justice, prudence, and
indefatigable vigilance; the comets, contrary to the vulgar idea, which
considers them signs of evil, foretell the happy events of his reign; and
the fossil shells represent the hearts of his subjects.
It appears from the preface that M. Berenger had solicited and obtained
permission from the Prince-Bishop to publish his work. He confesses
that the greater number of philosophers and intelligent people he had
consulted were of opinion that these petrifactions were the products of
art; in opposition to this erroneous opinion, he asserts that he has
convinced the sceptics by taking them to the spot where he found his
curiosities. Their astonishment, he adds, and their unanimous and perfect
conviction, had given him the utmost joy, and amply recompensed him for
all his labour and expense.
This work was to have been followed by others. It is divided into
fourteen chapters, each chapter being devoted to a single question. Most
of these questions are so extraordinary and so singularly treated of,
that one can scarcely believe that the author was in earnest. Thus, Chap.
4, The petrifactions of Wurzburg are not relics of Paganism, nor can they
be attributed to the art and superstition of the Germans during heathen
times.
Chap. 5. The ingenious conjecture which attributes their formation to the
plastic power of light.
Chap. 6. The germs of shell-fish and marine animals, mixed with the
vapours of the ocean, and scattered over the earth by the showers, are
not the source of the fossils of Wurzburg.
Chap. 12. Our petrifactions are not the products of modern art, as some
persons have ventured to assert, throwing a cloud of doubts and fables
over this subject.
Chap. 13. Grave reasons for considering our petrifactions as the work of
nature, and not of art.
The absurdity of the arguments employed in the discussion of these
different propositions, exceeds all belief. For example, the author, to
refute the opinion of those who attribute these petrifactions to the
superstition of the Pagans, demonstrates that none of these specimens in
his possession are described in the decrees of the German synods, which
proscribed images and sorcery. Neither can they be considered as victims
offered to idols, for who ever sacrificed figured stones instead of
living animals? They are not amulets which Pagan parents hung around the
necks of their children, to preserve them from the charms of witchcraft,
for some of them are so heavy that they would strangle the poor infant,
and there is no aperture in any of them through which a chain could be
passed. Finally, what renders it impossible that these stones are the
remains of Paganism, is, that many of them are inscribed with Hebrew,
Arabic, Greek, and German characters, expressing the name of the Deity.
This work, as we have stated, was suppressed when he discovered the cruel
hoax that had been played upon him. The work, in its original state, is
very rare, and is only known to the curious; but after the death of M.
Berenger, the copies which he had retained were given to the public by a
bookseller, but with a new title-page.