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October 25, 2004

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.