Another collection of philosophical conferences of the French virtuosi upon questions of all sorts for the improving of natural knowledg made in the assembly of the Beaux Esprits at Paris by the most ingenious persons of that nation / render'd into English by G. Havers, Gent. & J. Davies ..., Gent.

CONFERENCE CCIII. Of the Ʋnicorn. (Book 203)

THere are no greater impostures in the Art of Physick than those which relate to Antidotes and Preservatives from Poyson, such as the Unicorn's Horn is held to be: And I am mi∣staken, if it be not a popular error. First, because the opinions of all Authors are so contrary concerning it. Philostratus in the life of Apollonius saith, that the Animal of this name is an Ass, and is found in the fenns of Colchis, having one single horn in the fore-head, where-with he fights furiously against the Elephant. Cardan, after Pliny, saith 'tis a Horse, as 'tis most commonly painted; only it hath a Stag's head, a Martin's skin, a short neck, short mane, and a cloven hoof, and is bred only in the Desarts of Aethiopia amongst the Serpents, whose Poyson its horn which is three cubits long resists. Garsius ab Horto saith, 'tis an Amphi∣bious Animal, bred on Land near the Cape of good Hope, but delighting in the Sea, having an Horses head and mane, a horn two cubits long, which he alone of all Authors affirms to be move∣able every way. Most agree that it cannot be tam'd; and yet Lewis Vartoman saith, that he saw two tame ones in Cages at Mecha, which had been sent to Sultan Solyman. Almost all confess it very rare, and yet Marcus Sherer, a Renegado German, after∣wards call'd Idaith Aga, and Embassador from the same Solyman to Maximilian the Emperor, affirms that he saw whole troops of them in the Desarts of Arabia; And Paulus Venetus the same in the Kingdom of Basman; where they are almost as big as Ele∣phants, having feet like theirs, a skin like Camels, the head of a Boar, and delighting in mire like swine. Nor are Authors less various concerning its manner of eating; some alledging, that being unable to feed on the ground by reason of his horn, he lives only on the boughs and fruits of Trees, or on what is given him by the hands of Men, especially of fair Virgins, of whom, they say, he is amorous; though others think it fabulous. Some believe that there was once such an Animal, but not now; the whole race perishing in the Deluge; and that the horns we find now, for the most part in the earth, have been kept there ever since. And if there be such variety in the description of this Animal, there is no less in the horns, which they tell us are those of the Unicorn. That at Saint Dennis in France, is about seven foot high, weighs thirty pound four ounces, being wreath'd and terminated in a point from a broad base. Yet this is not comparable to that Aelian mentions, which was so thick that cups might be made of it. That at Strasburg hath some con∣formity with this of Saint Denis, but those of Venice differ from both, as that describ'd by Albertus Magnus doth from all. For

'tis, saith he, solid like a Hearts horn, ten foot high, and very large at the base. The Swisses have one, which was sometimes found on the bank of a River near Bruges, two cubits long, yel∣low without, white within, odorous, and apt to take fire. That at Rome is but one foot high, having been diminish'd by being frequently rasp'd in order to be imploy'd against Poyson; 'tis also smooth and shining like Ivory. Aldrovandus who writ a Treatise of this Subject, saith, he saw one so big at Niclasbourg, that it re∣sembled the rib of a Whale rather than a Horn. Becanus the Queen of Hungarie's Physician, speaks of one at Antwerp seven foot high, so fastned to the skull of the Animal, that it was bow'd backwards along the back bone, and could not serve to trouble the water for repelling its venenosity, (as Authors say it doth) nor yet be of any defence, which is the use of horns, except by bowing down the head between the fore-legs, as Bulls do in their fights. It was also white; and yet Aelian saith, it must be black: And Ctesias, Physician to King Artaxerxes, re∣presents it but one cubit high, purple towards the point, and black at the base. Which variety makes some believe, that all these are the horns of Fishes, or Sea-monsters, there being no Element susceptible of more varieties: Whereunto that Fish is to be referr'd which Albertus Magnus calls Monoceros, from its having one horn in the Fore-head; the opinion of those that think the Unicorn was the Rhinoceros. Pliny, after Ctesias, af∣firms, that some Oxen in India, have but one horn, and are not cloven hoof'd. Aelian and Oppian report the like of others in Aonia; and Caesar of others in the Hercinian Forest; and Lewis Barthema, that he saw such Cows in Aethiopia. In brief, as 'tis agreed that there are Animals with one Horn, so 'tis impossible to know which is that whereunto Antiquity gave the Appellation of Uni∣corn by way of excellence; which incertainty, those Kings and States that have them testifie, by keeping them in their treasures for shew only, not for use, and not making them into drinking vessels, which (according to Aelian) retun'd the hurtful∣ness of all Poysons. Add hereunto, that 'tis not credible the Romans who subdu'd most of the accessible world, and were very careful to delight their people with spectacles of the rarest beasts, would not have forgot to shew them Unicorns, if there had been any. But were there a Unicorn, I should not esteem its virtues such as they are describ'd, being countenanc'd by the authority neither of Galen nor Hippocrates. So that Charles the Ninth's Physician said, he would have taken away the custom of putting a piece of this horn into the King's Cup, but that it was good to leave an opinion of its virtue in the minds of the vulgar. More∣over, the marks given of it are like all the rest, equivocal, in∣credible, and ridiculous. For they say, a true is discern'd from a false by the ebullition the true one causeth in water when cast thereinto; which nevertheless all porous Bodies do, as burnt bones, lime, brick, and such other things wherein there are many

cavities. Others discover it by giving some of it in powder af∣ter a dose of Arsenick to a Cock, or a little Dog; whom it will not only secure, but almost revive when dead, and yet all that can be gather'd upon trial, is, that we see those Animals that have taken this antidote, die more slowly than others. Which is suppos'd to happen by the astriction that all horn causeth in the mouth of the Stomack, and the other Vessels, whence the exhalation of the Spirits is retarded. The trial of some Em∣pericks is yet more ridiculous; they boast, that if a Circle be describ'd with a piece of this horn upon a Table, and an Adder or Spider laid in the middle of it, they can never come out of it; and, that these Animals die, if only held a quarter of an hour under the shadow of this Horn. Some add, that this horn sweats in the presence of poyson, which seems absurd: because in this case the counter-poison suffers from the poyson, which con∣sequently, must be strongest and most active of the two. In brief, these numerous Contradictions, Impossibilities, and In∣certainties make me conclude this Story of the Unicorn a meer Fiction.

The Second said. If the Verity of things were shaken by the false conceits others have of them, there would be no Physiti∣ans, because there are oftentimes ignorant ones; no point of Right, because many know it not; no true Deluge, because the Poets feign'd that of Deucalion and Pyrrha; no true Religion, because the Pagans and others have had false ones. On the contrary, as the Romances, concerning Charlemagne, were built upon the truth of his admirable exploits, so 'tis credible, that the marvellous effects of the Unicorn's Horn have given both great and small occasion to speak of it, and out of ignorance of the Truth to feign much more then the Truth concerning it. The objection taken from the verity of descriptions of the Uni∣corn, and from that which is observ'd in several Horns, (of about twenty whereof found in the treasures of Princes and States of Europe there are not two altogether alike) is not con∣cluding; since the same may be said of most other Animals, who according to the diversity of Climats change their colour, and oftentimes shape too, yea, in one and the same place, they dif∣fer according to their Ages. Moreover, the Error is very excu∣sable in Authors that have treated of the Unicorn, in taking (as Aristotle doth) the Greek name Monoceros, and the Latin Ʋ∣nicornis, for a Noun Adjective applicable to every sort of Ani∣mals that have but one Horn, as many have not. Some indeed have confounded Rhinoceros with Monoceros through the resem∣blance of their cadence, which Rhinoceros the Romans had in their Spectacles or Shows, and is describ'd by Martial so furious, that he threw a Bear up into the Air, as one would do a Ball: But it follows not, that they had no Unicorns in their Amphi∣theaters, because there is no mention made of any; an Argu∣ment drawn from Negative Authority not being demonstrative:

and, granting it was unknown to them, it follows not thence that there is no such thing in Nature; not only because they knew not the greatest part of the World, but also, because this Ani∣mal is represented so furious, that it cannot be taken alive; espe∣cially in its perfect Age, being fierce even to those of its own Species of either Sex, and only accostable at the time of their Copulation. Philo after Aelian saith, That the Brachmans call it Cartazonon, that 'tis of the bigness of a Horse, of a bay co∣lour, very nimble of body, especially of the legs, though with∣out joints; that it hath the tail of a Boar, one horn between the eyes, black, streak'd like a Snail, and ending in a very sharp point, two cubits long; that it hath a hoarse voice, is less furi∣ous towards other Beasts, than to those of its own Species, with whom it fights incessantly, unless when they are at rut. There are also ancient Medals representing this Animal putting his horn into a Cup; which 'tis thought were Alexander's. Aeneas Syl∣vius, and Paulus Venetus affirm, That Unicorns are found in the Mountains of India and Cathay; though the marks this latter give them, agree better to the Rhinoceros: But these Authorities are not considerable in respect of that of the H. Scripture, where∣in 'tis said, Deut. 28. His horns shall be like that of the Ʋnicorn: and Psal. 22. Deliver me, O God, from the Lion's mouth, thou hast heard me also from among the horns of the Ʋnicorns: and Psal. 29. He maketh Lebanon and Sirion to skip like a young Ʋnicorn; and Psal. 92. My horns shalt thou exalt like the horn of an Ʋnicorn; and Isaiah 34. The Ʋnicorns shall come down with them, and the bul∣locks with the bulls. Job also speaks of it, chap. 39. Add to these Authorities the experience and example of so many Kings and States, who would not think their treasure well furnish'd, un∣less they had an Unicorn's horn. For, the matter that makes teeth, being transferr'd to the generation of horns, and so fur∣ther sublim'd; 'tis certain, that all Horns have an Alexiterical Vertue, by which they resist Feavers, cure Fluxes of the belly, kill Worms, and serve for many other Remedies to Man: but when this already great Vertue comes to be united into one single Cha∣nel, as it happens in the Unicorn, the same is mightily augmen∣ted. And 'tis too much detraction from the power of Nature, to deny such Vertue to be found in inanimate Bodies, as in the Serpentine Tongues found in the Caves of Malta, sealed Earths, and Minerals, such as those they call for that reason Ʋnicornu minerale, not because taken from Unicorn's bury'd under ground ever since the time of the Deluge, but because of their Resem∣blance in Vertues, Properties, and outward Figure: and indeed there is so much of this Mineral Unicorn's horn, and Mineral Ivory found, that 'tis not credible it ever belong'd to any Ani∣mal. Nor is this truth prejudic'd by [the] tricks of Impostors, who make counterfeit Unicorn's horns of Ivory, or other horns, or the bones, of Elephants, and other Animals kept for some time under ground, whereby they acquire more solidi∣ty,

and some transparency, by means of the salt of the Earth, which insinuates thereinto, as it doth to Porcellane, which for that reason is bury'd a whole Age: nor by the ebullition that some other natural and artificial bodies cause, or by the sweating of some Stones upon the approach of poyson, which proceeds from the poyson's inspissating the Air, which thereupon sticks to the next solid body. Nor is the colour material; since process of time may alter it; besides that, the Ancients attribute blackness only to the horns of the Indian Ass, and the Rhinoceros: And, as for the smell found in the Unicorn's horn in Suizzerland, 'tis an argument, that the same is either adulterate, or a Mineral one; the texture of the horns being too close to evaporate any thing; and those that have distill'd them by fires, find, that they abound with an inodorous Salt, and a stinking Sulphur. In short, 'tis not credible, Clement VII. Paul III. and divers others, would have taken this Animal for their Arms, if there were no such; nor do Popes so much want understanding men, that Juli∣us III. would have bought a fragment of it for 12000. crowns; whereof his Physitian made use successfully in the cure of Di∣seases that had any thing of venenosity. Marsilius Ficinus, Bras∣savola, Matthiolus, Aloisius, Mundela, and many other Physici∣ans, recommend it in such diseases, especially in the Pestilence, the Biting of a mad Dog, Worms, Falling-sickness, and other such hideous Maladies. To conclude, I conceive, that effects which depend upon occult Properties, as this doth, ought not to be rashly condemn'd; being mindful that our knowledg is limited, and therefore, the Authorities, Reasons, and Experiences, which establish the Unicorn's horn, and its wonderful Effects are to be yielded to; only with exception to Imposture.