Fig. 334—Unicorn: Bibos cavifrons
The radical meaning of the Hebrew word (reem) thus rendered furnishes no evidence that an animal such as is now understood by 'unicorn' was known to exist, or that a rhinoceros is thereby absolutely indicated; and here is no authority whatever for the inference that either was at anytime resident in Western Asia.
Fig. 335—Horn of the unknown species of Rhinoceros
The Indian rhinocerotes are essentially tropical animals, and there is no indication extant that in a wild state they ever extended to the west of the Indus. Early colonies and caravans from the East most probably brought rumors of the power and obstinacy of these animals to Western Asia, and it might have been remarked that under excitement the rhinoceros raises its head and horn on high, as it were in exultation, though it is most likely because the sense of smelling is more potent in it than that of sight, which is only lateral, and confined by the thickness of the folds of skin projecting beyond the eye-balls. The rhinoceros is not absolutely untamable—a fact implied even in Job. Thus we take this species as the original type of the unicorn; but the active invention of Arabic minds, accidentally, perhaps, in the first instance, discovered a species of Oryx (generically bold and pugnacious ruminants), with the loss of one of its long, slender, and destructive horns. In this animal the reem of the Hebrews and the far East became personified, being most probably an Oryx Leucoryx, since individuals of that species have been repeatedly exhibited in subsequent ages as unicorns, when accident or artifice had deprived them of one of their frontal weapons. In Africa, however, among three or four known species of rhinoceros, and vague rumors of a Bisulcate species of unicorn, probably only the repetition of Arabian reports, there appears to exist between Congo, Abyssinia, and the Cape, precisely the terra incognita of Africa, a real pachydermous animal; which seems to possess the characteristics of the poetical unicorn. In the narratives of the natives of the different regions in question there is certainly both exaggeration and error; but they all incline to a description which would make the animal indicated a pachyderm of the rhinoceros group, with a long and slender horn proceeding from the forehead, perhaps with another incipient behind it, and in general structure much lighter than other rhinocerotes.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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