Credit: © The Royal Society
Image number: RS.10134
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‘Figure du Poission nommé Caspilly’
Date
1582
Object type
Library reference
Tracts/X306/2
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 230mm
width (print): 162mm
width (print): 162mm
Subject
Description
Figure of a Caspilly, a mythological sea-beast, in a seascape that includes a whale and small boats. The animal is shown being hunted from boats and by archers from the sea-shore.
In discussing the fish the author notes that: “...un poisson, nomme Caspilli, arme d'aiguillons, dot il en a un milieu du front comme une corne longue, de quatre pieds, fort aigu. Iceluy voyant venir la Baleine, se cache soubs les ondes, & choisit l'endroit plus aise a blesser, qui est le nombril, & la frappant, il la met en telle necessite, que le plus souvent elle meurt de telle blesseure” (...a fish called Caspilli, its weapon stings, it has a long horn on the forehead, four feet in length and very sharp. Hiding under the waves it hunts the Whale and chooses the most vulnerable place to hurt, which is the navel; in the striking, he puts in such distress that she often dies of the wound...).
Illustration from Discours d'Ambroise Pare ... a scavoir, de la mumie, de la licorne, des venins, et de la peste, avec une table des plus notables matieres contenues esdit discours (chez Gabriel Buon, Paris, 1582), f.29.
Ambroise Paré (c.1510-1590) was a French barber surgeon and anatomist who served several Kings of France.
In discussing the fish the author notes that: “...un poisson, nomme Caspilli, arme d'aiguillons, dot il en a un milieu du front comme une corne longue, de quatre pieds, fort aigu. Iceluy voyant venir la Baleine, se cache soubs les ondes, & choisit l'endroit plus aise a blesser, qui est le nombril, & la frappant, il la met en telle necessite, que le plus souvent elle meurt de telle blesseure” (...a fish called Caspilli, its weapon stings, it has a long horn on the forehead, four feet in length and very sharp. Hiding under the waves it hunts the Whale and chooses the most vulnerable place to hurt, which is the navel; in the striking, he puts in such distress that she often dies of the wound...).
Illustration from Discours d'Ambroise Pare ... a scavoir, de la mumie, de la licorne, des venins, et de la peste, avec une table des plus notables matieres contenues esdit discours (chez Gabriel Buon, Paris, 1582), f.29.
Ambroise Paré (c.1510-1590) was a French barber surgeon and anatomist who served several Kings of France.
Associated place