544. Ulysses Aldrovandi

position.

Some interpret this occurrence as a sign, given that in the months of March and January in the year 1496, the number of feet was multiplied to fifteen; but here is the Lord’s lamb, so that the fate revealed in this monster might be made manifest.

IV. The Eight-footed Lamb

In 1581, in the territory of Bologna, a lamb was born on whose neck and navel two heads and an equal number of tails were visible; we provide its likeness here. Johannes Vivis, a native of the Bolognese countryside, illustrated this lamb with his own hand.

At first glance, this lamb also appears to have four bodies and eight feet; but to be more precise, it has two bodies joined into one, and eight feet.

Lycosthenes mentions a lamb born in Nuremberg in 1551 with two heads, eight feet, and two tails. Another lamb was also born in France, as reported by Cornelius Gemma, to whose body was attached a second, imperfect fetus that possessed only two feet. In 1554, another was born in Saxony with eight feet, one head, and two bodies, as Lycosthenes testifies. In Pannonia, a lamb was also born that had eight feet, according to the same Lycosthenes.

In Germany, in the year 1555, an eight-footed lamb was born, though it did not survive. In France, a lamb was born possessing four heads and eight feet. In the territory of Padua in 1556, another lamb was born with four ears and eight feet.

I myself saw a monstrous lamb in Pinzano in 1572 which, although it had only one head and one body, nevertheless had eight feet—four on its chest and four on its hindquarters. In 1577, a sheep gave birth to two lamb-bodies joined to a single head; these bodies possessed seven feet and two tails.