CONTENTS.
| CHAPTER I. | |
| Introduction — “A Description of 300 Animals” — Unicorn — The Bible Unicorn — The Heraldic Unicorn — The Horn as a Poison Test — The Unicorn of Mediæval Legend — Wolf Causing Dumbness — The Rompo or Man-Eater — The Manticora — The Lamia — Stag Antipathies — Dragons — Dragon-Slaying — Legends of the Saints — The “Legenda Aurea” — St. George — Mediæval Recipes — The “Historia Monstrorum” of Aldrovandus — The Dragon in Heraldry — The Dragon of Wantley — Dragons’ Teeth — The Dragonnades — The Dragons of Shakespeare — Guardians of Treasure — The Feud between the Dragon and the Elephant — The “Bestiare Divin” of Guillaume — The Cockatrice — The Basilisk — The Phœnix: Its Literary Existence from Herodotus to Shakespeare — The Dun-Cow of Warwick — Sir Guy, and Percie’s “Reliques of Antient Poetry” — Old Ribs and other Bones in Churches — The Salamander — Breydenbach’s Travels — The “Bestiary” of De Thaun — The Ylio — The Griffin — The Arimaspians — Burton’s “Miracles of Art and Nature” — The Lomie — The Tartarian Vegetable Lamb — The Sea-Elephant — Pegasus — The Vampyre — The Chameleon | 1‑80 |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| The Sphinx — The Chimæra — The Centaurs — The Origin of the Myth — The Onocentaur — Sagittarius — Satyrs and Fauns — The Harpys, described by Homer, Virgil, Shakespeare, Milton, and others — The Echidna — The Gorgon — The Hydra — The Sirens — The Lurlei — Mermaids — The Manatee — Dog-Headed Men of Brazil — The One-Eyed Cyclops and Briaræus of the Hundred Arms — The Headless Men or Anthropophagi — Sir Walter Raleigh’s El Dorado — Claw-Footed Men — The Marvels of Hackluyt and Mandeville — The Long-Eared Fanesii — The Fairies — The “Discoverie of Witchcraft” — The Little Good People — Fairy-Rings — Elf-Music — Changelings — Elf-Possession — Spirits of the Mine, or Knockers — Robin Goodfellow — Queen Mab — The Phoca or Storm-Spirit — The Kelpie — Jack-o’-Lantern — The Pigmies — Giants — Early Sculptures — Gigantic Men of Antiquity | 81‑132 |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| Comparatively Small Number of Mythical Bird-Forms — The Martlet — The Bird of Paradise — The Humma — The Huppe — The Ibis — The Roc — The Hameh Bird — Reptiles, Fish, &c. — The Sea-Serpent — The Adissechen of Hindu Mythology — The Iormungandur of Scandinavian Mythology — The Egg Talisman — Fire-Drake — Aspis — Amphisbena — Kraken — Cetus — Leviathan — Behemoth — Nautilus — Dolphin — The Acipenser — The Remora — The Fish Nun — The Chilon — The Dies — Sea-Bishops and Sea-Monks — Davy Jones and his Locker — Ojibiway Legend of the Great Serpent — Fabledom in the Vegetable Kingdom — The Barnacle Tree — The Kalpa-Tarou — The Lote Tree — The Tree of Life — Lotus-Eating — Amaranth — Lotus Wreaths at Kew from the Egyptian Tombs — Asphodel — Mediæval Herbals — Ambrosia — The Upas Tree — The Umdhlebi Tree of Zululand — The Kerzereh Flower — The Mandrake — “Miracles of Art and Nature” — Travellers’ Tales — The Dead Sea Apple — Alimos — The Meto — The Herb Viva — Cockeram on Herb-Lore — The Pseudodoxia of Dr. Browne — Herb Basil — The “Eikon Basilike” — Fitzherbert’s “Boke of Husbandry” | 133‑205 |
| Appendix | 207 |
| Index | 235 |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
| PAGE | |
| The Unicorn (from a “Description of 300 Animals,” A.D. 1786) | 5 |
| The Manticora (from a “Description of 300 Animals,” A.D. 1786) | 13 |
| The Lamia (from a “Description of 300 Animals,” A.D. 1786) | 13 |
| Dragons (from a “Description of 300 Animals,” A.D. 1786) | 17 |
| The Sea-Elephant | 72 |
| Dragon, from a piece of Italian decoration | 79 |
| The Sea-Lion | 160 |
| The Harpy (from the “Historia Monstrorum” of Aldrovandus, A.D. 1642) | 161 |
| The Barnacle Tree, from Gerarde’s “Herbal,” A.D. 1633 | 169 |
| The Barnacle Tree (from the “Theatrum Botanicum” of Parkinson, A.D. 1640) | 173 |
| The Barnacle Tree (from “Munster’s Cosmography,” A.D. 1550) | 174 |
| The Palm (from the “Eikon Basilike,” A.D. 1648) | 203 |