The Aberdeen Bestiary
An online version of the 16th-century, illuminated manuscript complete with translation and commentary.
When you read things like this, you've just got to love how utterly bizarre medieval biology was:
Some say that weasels conceive through the ear and give birth through the mouth; others say, on the contrary, that they conceive through the mouth and give birth through the ear; it is said, also, that they are skilled in healing, so that if by chance their young are killed, and their parents succeed in finding them, they can bring their offspring back to life.
Comments
"Dinsdale!Diiiiinnnsdaaaale.
Sorry. Pops into my head every time I see a hedgehog.
Posted by: czeltic girl | October 25, 2004 6:46 PM
Is there anything that can't be related to a Python skit?
Posted by: MrBaliHai | October 25, 2004 6:57 PM
A lot of that medieval ars medica goes back to the first Field Biologist, Aristotle. He made some very fine observations on frogs, and he really tried with comparative anatomy, but in many instances he simply made s*** up. Women, for example, are caused by the action of a moist south wind upon the sperm. Check out "The History of Animals," "The Parts of Animals," "The Movement of Animals," "The Progression of Animals," and "The Generation of Animals."
Posted by: Jonathan K. Cohen | October 27, 2004 7:37 PM
Women, for example, are caused by the action of a moist south wind upon the sperm
My father-in-law will be relieved to know that.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | October 27, 2004 8:53 PM