Baculum

“ In Sciurus the baculum is semispoonshaped and asymmetrical. There is a winglike process on one side and a spine, which projects lateroventrally, on the other side of the tip. The base of the baculum is broad but not so broad as in most species of Spermophilus. ”

“ Color darker; size smaller; skull narrower and shorter; baculum shorter.
From E. m. confinis, the subspecies from the Big Horn Mountains, E. m. consobrinus differs in: Over-all tone of upper parts less grayish; underside of tail lighter; skull narrower and shorter; baculum shorter.
For comparisons with E. m. minimus see the account of that subspecies.
Remarks.—Specimens of this subspecies from the area between the Uinta Mountains and the mountains of the Wyoming and Wind River ranges, are clearly intergrades between E. m. consobrinus and E. m. minimus and are here referred to E. m. ”

“ Distribution of the pigmy woodrat, Neotoma goldmani. Solid circles represent specimens examined; hollow circles represent others reported but not examined.
[Pg 623] The baculum of goldmani, when compared with bacula and with figures of these bones in Burt and Barkalow (Jour. Mamm., 23:291 and 293, August 13, 1942) of species representing the floridana, lepida, albigula, mexicana, fuscipes, and cinerea groups, was found to resemble most closely the baculum of albigula in general proportions (ratio of length to lateral diameter of base) and in having a distinct knob at the distal end. ”

“ Thus the bacula that were borrowed from the University of Michigan, are maintained there in a separate collection, whereas the bacula borrowed from other museums and those that are at the University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History, are housed with the skulls of the corresponding specimens. ”

“ Flat Creek-Gravel Creek divide, 2 MM. Lincoln Co.: La Barge Creek, 9,000 ft., 2 BS. Fremont Co.: Togwotee Pass, 12; 12 mi. N and 3 mi. W Shoshoni, 4,650 ft., 1; Mosquito Park R. S., 9,500 ft., 171⁄2 mi. W and 21⁄2 mi. N Lander, 1; 17 mi. S and 61⁄2 mi. W Lander, 8,450 ft., 3. Sublette Co.: 31 mi. N Pinedale, 8,025 ft., 2; W side Barbara Lake, 10,300 ft., 8 mi. S and 3 mi. W Fremont Peak, 4; 19 mi. W and 2 mi. S Big Piney, 7,700 ft., 5.
Eutamias umbrinus montanus new subspecies
Type.—Male, adult, skull, skin, and baculum, No. ”

“ Bacchus entered the ecclesiastical profession, as a jolly fat monk; at the recurrence of the summer solstice he may still be seen, with his fat friend Silenus, and a riotous crew, brandishing the thyrsus amid the dancing Corybantes.
Poor old Jupiter! His fate is terrible. Banished to an island in the North Sea, called the Island of Rabbits, he sits, withered, old, and decrepit, attended only by a lean, featherless eagle, the picture of grim despair; glad to pick up news from a chance whaler. ”

“ It is a favourite subject with you Florentines—the triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne; but I want it treated in a new way. A story in Ovid will give you the necessary hints. The young Bacchus must be seated in a ship, his head bound with clusters of grapes, and a spear entwined with vine-leaves in his hand: dark-berried ivy must wind about the masts and sails, the oars must be thyrsi, and flowers must wreathe themselves about the poop; leopards and tigers must be crouching before him, and dolphins must be sporting round. ”

“ Not daring to leave the infant Bacchus in such a household, and fearing the further persecutions of Juno, Jupiter took the boy to Mount Nysa, where the nymphs—the Nysiades—guarded him faithfully. During his youth, Bacchus was made god of wine and revels, and was intrusted to the tutorship of Silenus, one of the most famous of the satyrs. This jovial old man had a bald head, pointed ears, a fat red face, and a body that was half man and half goat. ”

“ Again, we are not inclined to ascribe much practical value to that analysis of the inductive method which Bacon has given, in the second book of the Novum Organum. It is indeed an elaborate and correct analysis. But it is an analysis of that which we are all doing from morning to night, and which we continue to do even in our dreams. A plain man finds his stomach out of order. He never heard Lord Bacon’s name. But he proceeds in the strictest conformity with the rules laid down in the second book of the Novum Organum, and satisfies himself that minced pies have done the mischief. ”

“ From Greece, by way of Sicily, the Bacchanalia, or festivals of Bacchus, were introduced into Rome, where they became the scenes of and pretext for every kind of vice and debauchery, until at length they were put down in the year B.C. 187, with a strong hand, by the Consuls Spurius Posthumius Albinus and Q. Marcius Philippus; from which period the words “bacchor” and “bacchator” became synonymous with the practice of every kind of vice and turpitude that could outrage common decency. See a very full account of the Dionysia and the Bacchanalia in Dr. ”

“ Such a correction as theirs must have come, and soon, for as Hallam says—after noting that the Novum Organum was never published separately in England, Bacon has probably been more read in the last thirty years—now forty—than in the two hundred years which preceded. He will now be more read than ever he was. The history of the intellectual world is the history of the worship of one idol after another. No sooner is it clear that a Hercules has appeared among men, than all that imagination can conceive of strength is attributed to him, and his labors are recorded in the heavens. ”

“ To retrace his death they killed a bull, whose raw flesh they ate, because Bacchus, represented with the horns of an ox, had been thus torn by the Titans. Julius-Firmicus, an orthodox author of the fourth century, who wrote about the legend of Bacchus, says that the Pagans considered those fictions as solar fables. He adds that the sun was irritated at being thus worshiped: here, in being immersed into the Nile river, under the names of Osiris and of Horus; there, in being mutilated under the names of Atys and of Adonis; and in other places, in being boiled or roasted, like Bacchus. ”

“ He was hardly ever sober, but he knew so much and understood the world so well, that one of the gods, named Bacchus, made Silenus his chief adviser and counselor. You will hear more of Bacchus later on. I will only tell you now that he was not one of the great gods of Olympus, but lived on the earth, like Pan. Only, while Pan was the god of all wild, savage nature, Bacchus was the god of nature as men make it: Bacchus taught men to turn Pan’s wild woods into corn-fields and gardens, to put bees into hives, and to make wine. ”

“ The other print, called the Bacchanal, has no background: half a dozen male figures stand separate and naked as in a bas-relief. Some are leaning against a vine-wreathed tub; a satyr, with acanthus-leaves growing wondrously out of him, half man, half plant, is emptying a cup; a heavy Silenus is prone upon the ground; a faun, seated upon the vat, is supporting in his arms a beautiful sinking youth; another youth, grand, muscular, and grave as a statue, stands on the further side. ”

“ The ass is a well-known phallical symbol, and Bacchus being also a phallical [Pg 340] god, we read in Pliny, "Asellorum duo genera, Callariæ minores, et Bacchi, qui non nisi in alto (in the deep) capiuntur." The Italian name baccalà, given to the cod-fish, seems to me to be derived from the union of the two names Bacchus and Callaria. In the Piedmontese dialect, a stupid man is also called by the name of baccalà. There is also a fish called merula, of which the ancients describe the extraordinary salacity, by indulging which it literally consumes itself away and perishes. ”

“ The genial life of nature is the essential character of Bacchus. One of the names of the Indian Siva is Dionichi, which very nearly resembles the Greek name of Bacchus, Dionysos. He was taken from the Meros, or thigh of Jupiter. Now Mount Meru, in India, is the home of the gods; by a common etymological error the Greeks may have thought it the Greek word for thigh, and so translated it.
The Bacchic worship, in its Thracian form, was always distasteful to the best of the Greeks; it was suspected and disliked by the enlightened, proscribed by kings, and rejected by communities. ”

“ Meanwhile a little Faun lifts the veil that covers her, and with an attitude indicating surprise at her beauty, turns to Bacchus and seems to invite him to contemplate her charms. The deity himself, crowned with ivy and berries, clothed in a short tunic and a pallium agitated by the breeze, holds in his right hand the thyrsus, and lifts his left in token of admiration. In the background a Bacchante sounds her tympanum, and invites the followers of the god to descend from the mountains. These, preceded by Silenus, obey the summons ”

“ Polydore Virgil affirms of this season and its delicacies, that it sprung from the feasts of Bacchus, which were celebrated in Rome with rejoicings and festivity at the same period. This, therefore, is another adoption of the Romish church from the heathens; and it is observed by Brand, that on Shrove Monday it was a custom with the boys at Eton to write verses concerning Bacchus, in all kinds of metre, which were affixed to the college doors, and that Bacchus’ verses “are still written and put up on this day.” The Eton practice is doubtless a remnant of the catholic custom. ”

“ A striking instance of the growing licentiousness of the times was brought to light in B.C. 186. It was discovered that the worship of Bacchus had been introduced from Southern Italy into Rome and other towns, and [Pg 127] that secret societies were formed, which, under the cloak of this worship, indulged in the most abominable vices. ”

“ The Egyptian and Asiatic Greeks had some imperfect traditions about Ham, and Chus: the latter of which they esteemed Bacchus. And as the term Ampelus did not primarily relate to the vine, but was a sacred name transferred from the Deity, they had some notion of this circumstance: but as it was their custom out of every title to form a new personage, they have supposed Ampelus to have been a youth of great beauty, and one whom Bacchus particularly favoured. ”

“ At all events, Messer Gallo purchased a Bacchus, which now adorns the sculpture-gallery of the Bargello, and a Cupid, which may possibly be the statue at South Kensington.
Condivi says that this gentleman, "a man of fine intelligence, employed him to execute in his own house a marble Bacchus, ten palms in height, the form and aspect of which correspond in all parts to the meaning of ancient authors. The face of the youth is jocund, the eyes wandering and wanton, as is the wont with those who are too much addicted to a taste for wine. ”

“ But now the attendants returned whom he had despatched to seize Bacchus. They had been driven away by the Bacchanals, but had succeeded in taking one of them prisoner, whom, with his hands tied behind him, they brought before the king. Pentheus, beholding him with wrathful countenance, said, "Fellow! you shall speedily be put to death, that your fate may be a warning to others; but though I grudge the delay of your punishment, speak, tell us who you are, and what are these new rites you presume to celebrate." ”

“ In his Opus Tertium, Bacon thus praises the merits of Peregrinus: "I know of only one person who deserves praise for his work in experimental philosophy, for he does not care for the discourses of men and their wordy warfare, but quietly and diligently pursues the work of wisdom. Therefore, what others grope after blindly, as bats in the evening twilight, this man contemplates in all their brilliancy because he is a master of experiment. Hence, he knows all of natural science, whether pertaining to medicine and alchemy, or to matters celestial or terrestrial. ”

“ For God hath rendered every thing cross to the sober; nor do biting cares disperse any otherwise [than by the use of wine] . Who, after wine, complains of the hardships of war or of poverty? Who does not rather [celebrate] thee, Father Bacchus, and thee, comely Venus? Nevertheless, the battle of the Centaurs [93] with the Lapithæ, [94] which was fought in their cups, admonishes us not to exceed a moderate use of the gifts of Bacchus. And Bacchus himself admonishes us in his severity to the Thracians; when greedy to satisfy their lusts, they make little distinction between right and wrong. ”

“ As he leaned nearer to the shouting dancers, wondering how his mother came to join in such orgies, she suddenly saw him, and pointing a finger at his shrinking figure cried:—
"There is the monster who prowls in our woods. Come on, sisters. I will be the first to strike the wild boar." Blinded by the madness that Bacchus had purposely inspired, she rushed upon the terrified king, followed by the crowd of half-crazed Bacchantes. In vain did Pentheus cry out that he was her son. ”

“ But why do I altogether spend my breath in speaking of mortals? View heaven round, and let him that will reproach me with my name if he find any one of the gods that were not stinking and contemptible were he not made acceptable by my deity. Why is it that Bacchus is always a stripling, and bushy-haired? but because he is mad, and drunk, and spends his life in drinking, dancing, revels, and May games, not having so much as the least society with Pallas. And lastly, he is so far from desiring to be accounted wise that he delights to be worshiped with sports and gambols ”

“ Jove took the infant Bacchus and gave him in charge to the Nysaean nymphs, who nourished his infancy and childhood, and for their care were rewarded by Jupiter by being placed, as the Hyades, among the stars. When Bacchus grew up he discovered the culture of the vine and the mode of extracting its precious juice; but Juno struck him with madness, and drove him forth a wanderer through various parts of the earth. In Phrygia the goddess Rhea cured him and taught him her religious rites, and he set out on a progress through Asia, teaching the people the cultivation of the vine. ”