Hyrcania

“ He crossed the Caucasus, subdued Hyrcania, and penetrated India as far as the Ganges; and having conquered all the countries that lay between the Adriatic sea and this river, the Ganges, he died A.M. 3681, b.c. 323; and after his death his empire became divided among his generals, Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus. Cassander had Macedon and Greece; Lysimachus had Thrace, and those parts of Asia which lay on the Hellespont and Bosphorus; Ptolemy had Egypt, Lybia, Arabia, Palestine, and Coelesyria ”

“ Corbulo sought in vain to catch Tiridates and at last was forced to adopt the tactics of his opponent and divide his men into bands to pillage the country. At the same time he advised Antiochus of Commagene to advance across the Armenian frontier. Pharasmanes of Iberia also allied himself with the Roman cause, and the "Insochi," possibly the Moschi or the Heniochi, [7] were actively harassing the Armenians. Vologases and most of his troops were occupied with a revolt in Hyrcania [8] which ultimately resulted in the permanent loss of that territory to Parthia. ”

“ The throne being thus vacant, Alvante, a nobleman of high rank, was chosen to fill it.
Shich-Eidar left three sons, who would have shared the same fate as their father, had they fallen into Rustam’s hands. The two eldest fled, one to Asia Minor, the other to Aleppo, and the third, Ismael, then only a child, was secretly conveyed, by his father’s friends, to Hyrcania or Ghilan; where he was protected by Pyrchalim, a nobleman then in possession of several places on the Caspian Sea. ”

“ XIX. Darius pursued into Media and Parthia 179
XX. March through the Caspian Gates 181
XXI. Darius is Assassinated by Bessus 182
XXII. Reflections on the Pate of Dariu 186
XXIII. Expedition into Hyrcania 187
XXIV. Expedition against the Mardians 189
XXV. March to Bactra.—Bessus aided by Satibarzanes 191
XXVI. Philotas and Parmenio put to Death 193
XXVII. Treatment of Amyntas.—The Ariaspians 195
XXVIII. Alexander crosses the Hindu-Koosh 196
XXIX. Conquest of Bactria, and Pursuit of Bessus across the Oxus 199 ”

“ On the next day Hyrcanus went to every one of the king's friends, and of the men powerful at court, and saluted them; but still inquired of the servants what present they would make the king on his son's birthday; and when some said that they would give twelve talents, and that others of greater dignity would every one give according to the quantity of their riches, he pretended to every one of them to be grieved that he was not able to bring so large a present; for that he had no more than five talents. ”

“ In A. hyrcanus there are 12 dorsal and only 4 ventral branches, and in some cases the ventral branches are still fewer.
The outer tufts consist each of about six equally long strongly chitinised setæ the tips of which are bent and sharply hooked and a few (2 to 4 or more) thin branches ventrally which possess no hooks. In some forms, the number of such hooked setæ may be as many as 7—10. The branches are somewhat flat at their bases. The hooks on the external supra-anal setæ are strong and thick. ”

“ So spoke Hans Von Bloom. It was bold language for so young a naturalist!
It is true there was much reason in his holding to the opinion that the hyrax is no pachyderm. Its habits are so unlike those of the thick-skinned brutes—its mode of life so different from that of a rhinoceros.
Its habits are very simple, and can be told in a few words. It is gregarious; dwells upon the mountains, and in the most rocky places; makes its den in the crevices and caves that are found there, steals forth to eat or bask in the sun; runs timidly and with a shy suspicious look ”

“ Should the Hyrax manage to catch a glimpse of the enemy, it utters a shrill cry or squeal, and darts at once to its hole—an action which is followed by all its companions as soon as they hear the warning cry. It is a tolerably prolific animal, rearing four or five young at a birth, and keeping them in a soft bed of hay and fur, in which they are almost hidden. If surprised in its hole and seized, the Hyrax will bite very sharply, its long chisel-edged teeth inflicting severe wounds on the hand that attempts to grasp it. ”

“ As we may gather from the passages of Scripture which have already been mentioned, the Hyrax inhabits rocky places, and lives in the clefts that are always found in such localities. It is an exceedingly active creature, leaping from rock to rock with wonderful rapidity, its little sharp hoofs giving it a firm hold of the hard and irregular surface of the stony ground. Even in captivity it retains much of its activity, and flies about its cage with a rapidity that seems more suitable to a squirrel than to an animal allied to the rhinoceros and hippopotamus. ”

“ About fourteen different kinds of hyrax are known, some of which are found in Africa, and the others in Arabia, Syria, and Palestine. They all live in rocky districts high up on the sides of mountains, a great number making their burrows close to one another, just as rabbits do in a warren. They are very active and sure of foot, and scamper up and down the sides of the rocks with the greatest ease. ”

“ They almost exactly resemble in form the polyps of the Hydractinia, which are provided with a circle of tentacles. When placed in a vessel of 517 water and left undisturbed they often attach themselves to the side, where they may be examined with a moderate power at leisure. They are then seen to spread out their tentacles like fine threads, and seize upon any small creature that may come in their way, and by the same means convey it to a mouth capable of great extension. All Hydra possess stinging-cells, by means of which they paralyse their prey. ”

“ You may always know Hercules in pictures and statues by his knotted club and his lion-skin.
It was easy enough to find the Hydra—only too easy. It had its nest in a foul stagnant swamp, the air of which its breath turned to poison. Giving Iolas his other arms to hold, Hercules attacked the Hydra with his club alone, trusting to his lion-skin to receive the strokes of the creature’s fangs. With a tremendous blow he crushed one of the Hydra’s hundred heads, leaving ninety-nine more to destroy if he could hold out so long. ”

“ Hyrcanus was succeeded by his son Aristobulus, whose reign of but one year was followed by that of his brother, the warlike Alexander Jannaeus (104–78) . The new king’s Sadducean proclivities rendered him odious to the populace, which rose in revolt, but only to bring upon itself a savage revenge. ”

“ The facial portion of the skull is generally shorter than the cranial; the orbit is freely open behind; and the premaxillae tend to be reduced and fuse with the nasals. Front toes, 3 or 4; hind toes, 3.
The most primitive group is that of the American Hyracodontidae, represented in the Oligocene by Hyrachyus, Hyracodon and Triplopus. With the exception of the first lower premolar, the dentition is complete; the incisors being normal, but the canine rudimentary, and the last upper molar distinctly triangular. The upper molars have a crista and a crochet (fig. 2) . ”

“ One of the hunters that day had brought home a hyrax from the rocky hillside where he had been hunting, and that may have been what reminded the Alo Man of the story. The hyrax is a little beast about as big as a rabbit and something like one, but with ears like a guinea pig; and although neither the story-teller nor his listeners knew it, he is a very distant cousin of the rhinoceros, the elephant, and the other thick-skinned animals. But he [Pg 144] has no tusks or horns, and he wears a coat of grayish-brown fur, and hides in holes among the rocks. ”

“ It is so crafty that no trap or snare ever set has induced a Hyrax to enter it, and so wary that it is with difficulty to be killed even with the aid of fire-arms. "No animal," writes Mr. Tristram, "ever gave us so much trouble to secure.... The only chance of securing one is to be concealed, particularly about sunset or before sunrise, on some overhanging cliff, taking care not to let the shadow be cast below, and then to wait until the little creatures cautiously peep forth from their holes. ”

“ The Gyrinidae, or whirligig beetles (fig. 9) , are a curious aquatic family with the feelers (fig. 9, b) short and reduced as in most Paussidae. They are flattened oval in form, circling with gliding motion over the surface film of the water, and occasionally diving, when they carry down with them a bubble of air. The fore-legs are elongate and adapted for clasping, while the short and flattened intermediate and hind legs form very perfect oar-like propellers. The larva of Gyrinus (fig. 9, c) is slender with elongate legs, and the abdominal segments carry paired tracheal gills. ”

“ Of the several animals forming the genus, one, the Hyrax syriacus, the Coney of the Bible, is found from the coast of the Red Sea northwards through Syria, by Lebanon, and southwards into Arabia and Ethiopia. Another species, Hyrax capensis, the Cape Coney, is found at the Cape and east coast of Africa, extending from Abyssinia down the east coast southwards. Two other species are described from West Africa ”

“ Heracles and Iolaus went on until they came to the vast swamp of Lerna. Right in the middle of the swamp was the water snake that was called the Hydra. Nine heads it had, and it raised them up out of the water as the hero and his companion came near. They could not cross the swamp to come to the monster, for man or beast would sink and be lost in it.
The Hydra remained in the middle of the swamp belching mud at the hero and his companion. Then Heracles took up his bow and he shot flaming arrows at its heads. It grew into such a rage that it came through the swamp to attack him. ”

“ This is the case in all the species of Cassina, Hylambates, Rappia, Megalixalus, Rhacophorus, Chiromantis, Ixalus and Nyctixalus, but it is doubtful if all these genera are thereby more nearly related to each other than to the rest of the Raninae. The structure of the tips of the fingers and toes exhibits more variety. The terminal phalanges are mostly simple, with slight swellings at the ends, or they are Y- or T-shaped in conformity with more or less developed adhesive discs; in the African genus Hylambates only they are claw-shaped, as in the Hylidae. ”

“ The other two genera are Hyracodon, and Aceratherium. It is remarkable that Prof. Cope has made out seven species of these fossil Rhinocerotidœ, which, until the recent discovery of the living hairy-eared rhinoceros (R. casiotis) at Chittagong, the northern extremity of the Bay of Bengal, was the precise number of the living species known. It amounts to a certainty, then, that our great Western Tertiary was much richer in species, and immensely richer in individuals of these enormous beasts, than is the whole living fauna of the entire world to-day. ”

“ It departs from the former in the number of the vertebræ and form of the pelvis; but again approaches them in the form of the femora (thigh bones) , and also in the formation of the feet; the toes are four in front and three behind, as in the Tapir, and they are supplied with hoofs, or rounded hoof-like nails. They are without collar-bones (clavicles) . The body of the Hyrax is covered with thick hair, which is here and there beset with bristles, and the tail is represented by a mere tubercle. No remains of the Hyrax have yet been found in a fossil state. ”

“ But Hercules held on. By and by, no Geryon was there, but a huge snake, like one of those which Hercules had strangled in his babyhood, only a hundred times as big; and it twisted and twined about the hero's neck and body, and threw its tail high into the air, and opened its deadly jaws as if to devour him outright; so that it was really a very terrible spectacle! But Hercules was no whit disheartened, and squeezed the great snake so tightly that he soon began to hiss with pain. ”

“ The entire body of one of these fighting hydras is practically equivalent to a single enormous tentacle, although comparative anatomy shows clearly that it is not a tentacle, but that it corresponds to the whole body of a feeding hydra, tentacles and all, rather than to a single tentacle; that it is actually a hydra which has, during the evolution of the species, lost its mouth and stomach, and its power to capture and swallow food, and has become specialized for defense. ”

“ In Hyrachyus agrarius the skull is long and narrow, the facial region being markedly longer than in existing Rhinoceroses. The mastoid portion of the periotic bone is widely exposed upon the outer face of the skull, which is, as has been said, not the case with the existing genus Rhinoceros. The dentition is the complete Eutherian dentition of forty-four teeth. The upper molar teeth are strikingly like those of the genus Rhinoceros. The fore-feet are pentadactyle, but functionally tetradactyle ”

“ In their usually prominent capitulum they resemble the Bdellidae. In some respects they recall the Oribatidae, having hard integuments, and their legs being articulated near the margin of the body. They do not swim, but crawl upon weeds and zoophytes, or burrow in the mud.
Fig. 247.—Atax alticola, x 16. (After Canestrini.)
Fam. 3. Hydrachnidae.—The Hydrachnidae are the Fresh-water Mites. Their legs are provided with long close-set hairs, and thus adapted for swimming. They are predaceous, and in their young stages are often parasitic on water insects. ”

“ The brooks supply him with the curious hydra, the seven-headed monster that perpetuates one of the triumphs of Hercules—withal a beautiful and wondrous creature, that may be cut in pieces, turned inside out, or even thrust one animal within the other, and still remain the same. ”