CHAP. 79. (53.)—ANIMALS IN A HALF-WILD STATE.

In no species is the union with the wild animal so easy as in that of the swine; the produce of such unions was called by the ancients hybrid,[1] or half savage; which appellation has also been transferred to the human race, as it was to C. Antonius, the colleague of Cicero in his consulship. Not only, however, with respect to the hog, but all other animals as well, wherever there is a tame species, there is a corresponding wild one as well; a fact which is equally true with reference to man himself, as is proved by the many races of wild men of which we have already spoken.[2] There is no kind of animal, however, that is divided into a greater number of varieties than the goat. There are the capræa,[3] the rupicapra or rock-goat, and the ibex, an animal of wonderful swiftness, although its head is loaded with immense horns, which bear a strong resemblance to the sheath of a sword.[4] By means of these horns the animal balances itself, when it darts along the rocks, as though it had been hurled from a sling;[5] more especially when it wishes to leap from one eminence to another. There are the oryges also,[6] which are said to be the only animals that have the hair the contrary way, the points being turned towards the head. There are the dama also,[7] the pygargus,[8] and the strepsiceros,[9] besides many others which strongly resemble them. The first mentioned of these animals,[10] however, dwell in the Alps; all the others are sent to us from the parts beyond sea.

1. There has been some difference of opinion respecting the derivation of this word, but it is generally used to express a "mongrel," i. e. an ani- mal whose parents are of different natures, or, when applied to the human species, of different countries.—B.

2. See B. vii. c. 2.

3. It is not easy to determine what animals Pliny intended to designate. Cuvier employs the terms "chlevreuils, chamois, and bouquetins," as the corresponding words in the French. In English we have no names to express these varieties; we may, however, regard them generally, as different species of wild goats. Cuvier conceives that the Linnæan names of the animals mentioned were, probably, Cervus capreolus, Antelope rupicapra, and Capra ibex.—B.

4. The resemblance may be supposed to consist in the horns being hollow, and tapering to a point.—B.

5. There is considerable difficulty in ascertaining the correct reading, or the exact meaning which the writer intended to convey by the words employed.—B.

6. There is some difficulty in determining the nature of the variety which Pliny terms "oryges;" Hardouin has collected the opinions of naturalists, and we have some remarks by Cuvier; he refers to Buffon's account of the Antelope oryx, as agreeing, in the essential points, with the description given by pliny; Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 554. See B. xi. c. 106.

7. Cuvier remarks, that there is some doubt respecting the dama of Pliny; he is, however, disposed to regard it as a species of antelope. Ajasson, vol. vi. p. 464, 465; Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 554.—B.

8. The term pygargus is derived from the words pugh\ a\rgo\s, denoting "white buttocks." Probably a kind of gazelle.

9. "With twisted horns." It is probable that Pliny intended to designate a species of antelope,—B. See B. xi. c. 45.

10. In this division Pliny, probably, included what he has termed the "capræa," the rupicapra, and the ibex.—B.