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.