Creatures
The map contains over 30 illustrations of creatures distributed in different areas of the world. Most of them were drew referring to Conrad Gessner’s Historia Animalium published in 16th Century.
Presented with annotations, some of the displayed creatures can be identified easily nowadays, e.g., crocodile. However, most of the creatures were created with combination of myth and reality, and thus neither we today nor the people in the 17th Century know if they exist, as in the following examples:
Wolverine 獲落
“歐逻巴東北里都瓦你亞國產獸名獲落,身大如狼,毛黑光潤,皮甚貴。 性嗜死屍 ,貪食無厭,飽則走入稠密樹林,夾其腹令空,仍覓他食。”
“The insatiable and gluttonous wolverine emptying its stomach by squeezing itself between trees” (Uppsala University Library).
Rhinoceros 鼻角
“印度國剛霸亞地產獸名鼻角,身長如象,足稍短,遍體皆紅、黃班點, 有鱗介,矢不能透。 鼻上一角,堅如鋼鐵,將與象鬥時,則於山石磨其角,觸象腹而斃之”
Originated from India, Rhinoceros have the similar size of elephants, while their legs are a bit shorter……Before it fights with the elephant, it sharpens its sharp horn on the rocks, and then hits the elephant’s stomach and kills it.
Unicorn 獨角獸
“亞細亞州印度國產獨角獸,形大如馬,極輕快,毛色黃。 頭有角,約長四、五尺,其色明,作飲器能解毒。 角銳,能觸大獅。 獅與之鬥,避身樹后,若誤觸樹木,獅反啮之”
“Asia: Unicorn. With around 1.5 meter long horn that can be used as medicine (antibody). Unicorn can attack the lion because it is seen as the enemy” (Trainor, 2008, p83).
Mermaid 西楞
“大東海洋產魚,名西楞 (Latin: Siren),上半身如男女形,下半身則魚尾,其骨能止血病,女魚更效。”
“They have bodies like humans and tails like fish. Male and female’s tails and bones can be used to stop bleeding. Female ’s bones and tails work better” (Trainor, 2008, p99).