[Footnote C: Happelius in Relat. curiosis, No. 85. p. 677.]
[Footnote D: Thevenot. Voyage de Levant. lib. 2. c. 68.]
[Footnote E: Jo. Harduini Notæ in Plinij Nat. Hist. lib. 6. cap. 22. p. 688.]
Neither likewise must it be granted, that tho' in some Climates there might be Men generally of less stature, than what are to be met with in other Countries, that they are presently Pygmies. Nature has not fixed the same standard to the growth of Mankind in all Places alike, no more than to Brutes or Plants. The Dimensions of them all, according to the Climate, may differ. If we consult the Original, viz. Homer that first mentioned the Pygmies, there are only these two Characteristics he gives of them. That they are [Greek: Pygmaioi] seu Cubitales; and that the Cranes did use to fight them. 'Tis true, as a Poet, he calls them [Greek: andres], which I have accounted for before. Now if there cannot be found such Men as are Cubitales, that the Cranes might probably fight with, notwithstanding all the Romances of the Indian Historians, I cannot think these Pygmies to be Men, but they must be some other Animals, or the whole must be a Fiction.
Having premised this, we will now enquire into their Assertion that maintain the Pygmies to be a Race of Men. Now because there have been Giants formerly, that have so much exceeded the usual Stature of Man, that there must be likewise Pygmies as defective in the other extream from this Standard, I think is no conclusive Argument, tho' made use of by some. Old Caspar Bartholine[A] tells us, that because J. Cassanius and others had wrote de Gygantibus, since no Body else had undertaken it, he would give us a Book de Pygmæis; and since he makes it his design to prove the Existence of Pygmies, and that the Pygmies were Men, I must confess I expected great Matters from him.
[Footnote A: Caspar. Bartholin. Opusculum de Pygmæis.]
But I do not find he has informed us of any thing more of them, than what Jo. Talentonius, a Professor formerly at Parma, had told us before in his Variarum & Reconditarum Rerum Thesaurus,[A] from whom he has borrowed most of this Tract. He has made it a little more formal indeed, by dividing it into Chapters; of which I will give you the Titles; and as I see occasion, some Remarks thereon: They will not be many, because I have prevented my self already. The first Chapter is, De Homuncionibus & Pumilionilus seu Nanis à Pygmæis distinctis. The second Chapter, De Pygmæi nominibus & Etymologia. The third Chapter, Duplex esse Pygmæorum Genus; & primum Genus aliquando dari. He means Dwarfs, that are no Pygmies at all. The fourth Chapter is, Alterum Genus, nempe Gentem Pygmæorum esse, aut saltem aliquando fuisse Autoritatibus Humanis, fide tamen dignorum asseritur. 'Tis as I find it printed; and no doubt an Error in the printing. The Authorities he gives, are, Homer, Ctesias, Aristotle, Philostratus, Pliny, Juvenal, Oppian, Baptista Mantuan, St. Austin and his Scholiast. Ludovic. Vives, Jo. Laurentius Anania, Joh. Cassanius, Joh. Talentonius, Gellius, Pomp. Mela, and Olaus Magnus. I have taken notice of most of them already, as I shall of St. Austin and Ludovicus Vives by and by. Jo. Laurentius Anania[B] ex Mercatorum relatione tradit (saith Bartholine) eos (sc. Pygmæos) in Septentrionali Thraciæ Parte reperiri, (quæ Scythiæ est proxima) atque ibi cum Gruibus pugnare. And Joh. Cassanius[C] (as he is here quoted) saith, De Pygmæis fabulosa quidem esse omnia, quæ de iis narrari solent, aliquando existimavi. Verùm cum videam non unum vel alterum, sed complures Classicos & probatos Autores de his Homunculis multa in eandem fere Sententiam tradidisse; eò adducor ut Pygmæos fuisse inficiari non ausim. He next brings in Jo. Talentonius, to whom he is so much beholden, and quotes his Opinion, which is full and home, Constare arbitror (saith Talentonius)[D] debere concedi, Pygmæos non solùm olim fuisse, sed nunc etiam esse, & homines esse, nec parvitatem illis impedimenta esse quo minùs sint & homines sint. But were there such Men Pygmies now in being, no doubt but we must have heard of them; some or other of our Saylors, in their Voyages, would have lighted on them. Tho' Aristotle is here quoted, yet he does not make them Men; So neither does Anania: And I must own, tho' Talentonius be of this Opinion, yet he takes notice of the faulty Translation of this Text of Aristotle by Gaza: and tho' the parvity or lowness of Stature, be no Impediment, because we have frequently seen such Dwarf-Men, yet we did never see a Nation of them: For then there would be no need of that Talmudical Precept which Job. Ludolphus[E] mentions, Nanus ne ducat Nanam, ne fortè oriatur ex iis Digitalis (in Bechor. fol. 45).
[Footnote A: Jo. Talentionij. Variar. & Recondit. Rerum. Thesaurus. lib. 3. cap. 21.]
[Footnote B: Joh. Laurent. Anania prope finem tractatus primi suæ
Geograph.]
[Footnote C: Joh. Cassanius libello de Gygantibus, p. 73.]