Harvey, William, 1578-1657; Physicians -- England -- Biography
Harvey shows the instinct of a naturalist in the following account
of the cassowary which was not only new to him, but was unknown to
Europe at the time he wrote. He says: "A certain bird, as large again
as a swan, which the Dutch call a cassowary, was imported no long
time ago from the island of Java in the East Indies into Holland.
Ulysses Aldrovandus gives a figure of this bird and informs us that it
is called an emu by the Indians. It is not a two-toed bird like the
ostrich but has three toes on each foot, one of which is furnished
with a spur of such length, strength, and hardness that the creature
can easily kick through a board two fingers' breadth in thickness.
The cassowary defends itself by kicking forwards. In the body, legs,
and thighs it resembles the ostrich: it has not a broad bill like the
ostrich, however, but one that is rounded and black. On its head by way
of crest it has an orbicular protuberant horn. It has no tongue and
devours everything that is presented to it--stones, coals even though
alight, pieces of glass--all without distinction. Its feathers sprout
in pairs from each particular quill and are of a black colour, short
and slender, and approaching to hair or down in their character. Its
wings are very short and imperfect. The whole aspect of the creature is
truculent, and it has numbers of red and blue wattles longitudinally
disposed along the neck.
"This bird remained for more than seven years in Holland and was then
sent among other presents by the illustrious Maurice Prince of Orange
to his Serene Majesty, our King James, in whose gardens it continued to
live for a period of upwards of five years."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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