History of Monsters 3

as hares; others are envious like dogs, others filthy as swine; some swim like fish, others are venomous as vipers, and still others are as peaceful as lambs. Although some believe this occurs because of the climate or the hour of one's birth—noting that certain Indians are gentle, while Parthians, Scythians, and especially Tartars are fierce and wild—it is also said that those born at the moment of an earthquake are always fearful and weak. Furthermore, according to Aristotle, those born during a new moon either do not survive or are usually very feeble. Cardano observed that such individuals suffer from black bile. If we consider the qualities of a sharp and lively mind, we will undoubtedly find that men possess a stronger intellect, while women possess a weaker one. Ovid elegantly taught us this in these verses:

We burn with an equal fire, but I am your inferior in strength; I suspect that a more vigorous spirit belongs to men.

Indeed, men themselves seem to differ greatly from one another in the nature of their wit. Horace indicated this with these words:

...Not all admire and love the same things: you rejoice in song, another delights in iambics, yet another in the discourses of Bion and biting wit.

Persius also seems to attest to the same when he sang:

There are a thousand species of men, and a diverse use of things; each has his own will, nor does everyone live with a single desire.

Propertius expressed this even more accurately when he said:

One is born for peace, another is useful for the weapons of the camp; each follows the seeds of his own nature.

But it is even more admirable that a diversity of character is observed within one and the same person. Ovid declared this perfectly when he wrote:

What is permitted is unpleasing; what is not permitted burns more fiercely. I flee what follows me, and I follow what flees.

Catullus did not leave this untouched in these lines:

I hate and I love. Why I do so, perhaps you ask? I do not know, but I feel it happening and I am in agony.

We can attest to the same regarding certain types of food and drink, which some people occasionally delight in immensely, while others utterly abhor them. It should be noted, however, that individual properties of this kind can in no way constitute different species, since that role is assigned only to substantial forms. Therefore, leaving this doctrine to the philosophers, it will be our concern for the completion of this history to speak only of the various forms of men. These human figures will be drawn partly from the mouth, nose, eyes, ears, lips, the position of the head, the feet, hair, and skin; from here, the occasion will arise to discuss Wild Men, Satyrs, Centaurs, and the like. Other differences will be drawn from size and sex, following which the nature of Giants, Pygmies, and Hermaphrodites must be examined.

Accordingly, the various races of men among the Indians—diverse in form, deformity, and stature—which we often judged as vanities in the histories of Pliny, have now gained some degree of credibility, especially since the New World has revealed monsters of this kind. Let the credit, however, remain with the authors, whom we have found trustworthy in many matters. They write, then, that near the source of the Ganges there dwell the *Astomi*, men without mouths, and indeed without an exit for waste. They are hairy over their entire bodies and live only by their breath—that is, by the odors drawn in through their nostrils. Pliny seems to support this opinion when he mentions a race lacking a tongue, who use nods and gestures in place of speech. Indeed, John Mandeville names the island of Defracan, which is inhabited by small men like Pygmies who live only on the scent of wild apples; thus, when traveling to remote parts, they carry not only apples but also fragrant herbs to use their scent as provisions. Furthermore, Solinus adds that some Ethiopians have closed mouths with only a tiny hole through which they draw liquid for nourishment using oaten straws. Strabo used to deride this kind of people, yet Saint Augustine mentions this race, and Isidore confirms it in very clear words. Therefore, for the benefit of the reader, we have added figures of this race found in our Museum.

Whether the *Astomi* people, or likewise the *Brachystomi*, truly inhabit the aforementioned regions is not easy to believe, as