walrus, known as the morse or
sea-horse. In northern latitudes these teeth are used as material
wherewith to fashion knife-handles or the hilts of swords. The long
horns, preserved as precious rarities in many places, are narwhal-tusks.

The belief in the medicinal virtues of unicorn's horn is comparatively
modern, as none of the ancients, except the Italian writer AElian (about
A. D. 200), ascribed to it any curative or antidotal properties. Sir
Thomas Browne characterized this popular superstition of his time as an
"insufferable delusion."

H. B. Tristam, in his "Natural History of the Bible," remarks that there
is no doubt of the identity of the unicorn of Scripture with the
historic _urus_ or aurochs, known also as the _reem_, a strong and large
animal of the ox-tribe, having two horns. This animal formerly inhabited
Europe, including Great Britain, and survived until comparatively recent
times, in Prussia and Lithuania. The belief in the existence of a
one-horned quadruped is very ancient. Aristotle mentions as such the
oryx or antelope of northern Africa. The aurochs was hunted and killed
by prehistoric man, as is shown by the finding of skulls, pierced by
flint weapons.[163:1]

In the Septuagint, the Hebrew word _reem_ was translated _monoceros_ in
the Greek text. This is alleged by some authorities to be an incorrect
rendering. The Vulgate has the Latin term _unicornis_, the one-horned.

In Lewysohn's "Zoologie des Talmuds" is to be found the following
rabbinical legend: When the Ark was ready, and all the creatures were
commanded to enter, the _reem_ was unable to pass through the door,
owing to its large size. Noah and his sons were therefore obliged to
fasten the animal by a rope to the Ark, and to tow it behind. And in
order to prevent its being strangled, they attached the rope to its
horn, instead of around its neck. . . . It was formerly thought that the
legendary unicorn was in reality the one-horned rhinoceros, but this
seems improbable. The fabulous creature mentioned by classic writers as
a native of India was described as having the size and form of a horse,
with one straight horn projecting from its forehead. In the museum at
Bristol, England, there is a stuffed antelope from Caffraria, which
closely answers this description. Its two straight taper horns are so
nearly united that in profile they appear like a single horn.

The unicorn of Heraldry first appeared as a symbol on one of the
Anglo-