The Digital Ark: Early Modern Collections of Curiosities in England and Scotland, 1580-1700
John Lerius ( - )
References in Documents:
QUI;
which the People
of King-Monkey; being far
bigger than all the other kinds; described
by a)
c. 5.a) out of
by the
great noise. For 'tis hollow, and very hard. Exceeding
thin, and so half transparent. In length two Inches and
½. In height an Inch and ¼. In breadth almost two
Inches.
At one end, hath an Aperture an Inch wide every way.
On
the top furrow'd, so as to resemble a Puppies Skull.
I suppose it is placed in the Throat, or at the upper
end of
the Larynx, near the Epiglottis. Joh.
Lerius describing
of it, (b) b)
Laet. lib. 15.
c. 5.
; by theBrasile ,
Tamandua-guacu
Great Ant-Bear;
Because he feeds upon
Ants, and is shagg'd, and hinder
footed almost like a
Bear. He hath also a very long and
sharp Snout, a slender Tongue, and extensible to a great
length, also a long and brushy Tail: which are his prin
cipal Characters. See him described in
of
villanus,
a)
c. 15
a) hath given a
different Description; and probably a false one.
d)
Læt
out of
He differs not
much from a Lizard; chiefly in his Bulk,
and the hardness of his Skin, which on his Back hath Scales
proportionably hard and thick. b)
l. 6. c. 1.
an
hundred feet long; as is affirmed both by
(b) and c) c)
is
a Tragical Relation of a very great one that devoured a
Virgin, Cap. 6.
JobLeviathan, and hath been commonly taken
to be the Whale; but
is tolerably well
described by most; and curiously figur'd
by
well as in
scaly Lizard in
or six feet long. Perhaps a bigger of
the same kind with
this above described.
f)
Læt
from
Lerius
By this Rattle, those that travel through the Fields, or
along the
High-ways, are warned to avoid coming near so
noxious a Creature.
For those that are bitten with him,
sometimes die miserably in 24
hours; their whole body
cleaving into chops. (a) a)
Ximenez
quoted by
Joh. de Læt.
l.
5. c. 15
that
is bitten, and so keep it, till the pain wears off. (b)
By thrusting
the end of his Tail, saith
Fundament, he kills him immediately. But he seems here
more probably to the b)
lesser sort,
seldom exceeding a yard and ¼, and therefore
cannot do it
by girding a Man about. And for there be
ing any Venime
in the Rattle, it was, I believe, hardly ever
imagin'd by any
other man. Their progressive motion,
saith
makes the Rattle to be so
much the more useful, in giving
timely notice of their approach.
Some of the largest are in
Dittany kills him. (c)c) See the
Phil. Trans.
N. 3.
Gua
numbi. By
numbi
. a Sun-beam; because ofClusius , Ourissia, i. e
his radiant-colours. By the
; beSpaniards , Tomineius
cause (
b)
b)
Læt
c. 7.
out of
J. Lerius
as
he from
he from
edus
Tomino's, a weight so called by the
of 12 Grains.
sorts of them.
the top of his
Breast, to the end of his Tail he is two inches
long. But his
Trunk or Body alone, is not above ¼ of an
inch in
length. The other Parts are answerable. His
colour various: on
his Wings and Tail, a dark-brown;
on his Belly, a
yellowish-Red; on his Breast, White; on
his Back, Green, mixed
with glorious golden Rays.
The Huming-Bird is every where ill pictur'd: even in
Mr.
those Birds, at least, whereof he had the sight, are most
a)
tus Gallus &
Linschot
l. 2. p. 249
curiously and exactly represented. He is said to have a
loud, or shrill and sweet Note, emulous of that of a Nightingale. (a)
He moves his Wings swiftly and continually,
whether flying, or
sitting on a Flower. (b) b)
Barb
thrusting his Bill into a
Flower, like a Bee. (c) For which
purpose c)
twice as long as his Bill.
Which
because he took his Description from the Picture
only.
to be so, as a Part more apt, by its length, and
flexibility,
to thrust and wind it self to the bottoms of the
deepest,
and most crooked Flowers: in which, and not the upper
and open parts of Flowers, it is, that the Honey-Dew
which these Birds, as well as Bees, do suck, is usually
lodg'd.
His Feathers are set in Gold by the the
Thrygians
d)
On. Zoic
at a great rate. (d) The
ficial Images. (e) e)
Orn
Sand shot at them out of a Gun. (f)
g)
as a thing known to himself, and many f)
of Barb
curious and credible men
with him in
are there a sort both of Caterpillars and of Butterflys, which g)
lib. 5
are transform'd into this Bird:
and that in the time of
Transformation, there is plainly to be
seen half a Caterpillar or
half a Butterfly, and half a Bird, both
together.
Nest of Cotton-Wooll, and layeth Eggs. That a Caterpiller should produce a
Bird; and a Butterfly too, the like;
and yet this Bird lay Eggs to produce its own kind, are
three
greater wonders than any thing that hath been said
of the Barnacle. But we will rather suppose these
men
were themselves deceived, than that they designed to de
ceive others.
g)
Læt
c. 6.
out of
Lerius
b)