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French to English: Fossil Unicorn (Natural History) General field: Science
Source text - French Licorne fossile, (Hist. nat.) en latin unicornu fossile. Quelques auteurs ont donné ce nom à une substance osseuse, semblable à de l'ivoire ou à une corne torse & garnie de spirales qui s'est trouvée, quoique rarement, dans le sein de la terre. M. Gmelin dans son voyage de Sibérie, croit que ce sont des dents d'un poisson. Il rapporte qu'en 1724 on trouva sous terre une de ces cornes, dans le territoire de Jakutsk en Sibérie; il présume qu'elle n'appartient point à l'animal fabuleux à qui on a donné le nom de licorne; mais il croit avec beaucoup de vraissemblance qu'elle vient de l'animal cétacé, qu'on nomme narhwal. Le même auteur parle d'une autre corne de la même espece, qui fut trouvée en 1741, dans un terrein marécageux du même pays: cependant il observe que le narhwal que l'on trouve communément dans les mers du Groenland, ne se rencontre point dans la mer Glaciale qui borne le nord de la Sibérie.
Ce qui sembleroit jetter du doute sur cette matiere, c'est un fait rapporté par l'illustre Leibnitz dans sa Protogée; il dit d'après le témoignage du célebre Otton Guerike, qu'en 1663 on tira d'une carriere de pierre à chaux de la montagne de Zeunikenberg, dans le territoire de Quedlimbourg, le squelette d'un quadrupede terrestre, accroupi sur les parties de derriere, mais dont la tête étoit élevée, & qui portoit sur son front une corne de cinq aunes, c'est - à - dire d'environ dix piés de longueur, & grosse comme la jambe d'un homme, mais terminée en pointe. Ce squelette fut brisé par l'ignorance des ouvriers, & tiré par morceaux de la terre; il ne resta que la corne & la tête qui demeurerent en entier, ainsi que quelques côtes, & l'épine du dos; ces os furent portés à la princesse abbêsse de Quedlimbourg. M. de Leibnitz donne dans ce même ouvrage la représentation de ce squelette. Il dit à ce sujet, que suivant le rapport d'Hyeronimus Lupus, & de Balthasar Tellez, auteurs portugais, il se trouve chez les Abyssins un quadrupede de la taille d'un cheval, dont le front est armé d'une corne. Voyez Leibnitz, Protogoea, pag. 63 & 64. Malgré toutes ces autorités, il est fâcheux que le squelette dont parle Leibnitz, n'ait point été plus soigneusement examiné, & il y a tout lieu de croire que cette corne appartenoit réellement à un poisson.
Il ne faut point confondre la corne ou la substance osseuse dont il s'agit ici, avec une autre substance terreuse, calcaire, & absorbante, que quelques auteurs ont très - improprement appellée unicornu fossile, & qui, suivant les apparences, est une espece de craie ou de marne. Voyez Unicornu fossile. ( - )
Translation - English Fossil unicorn; in Latin, unicornu fossile . Some authors have given this name to a bony substance, similar to ivory or to a twisted horn covered with spirals, that is found, although rarely, within the earth. Mr. Gmelin, in his Siberian voyage, believes that these are fish teeth. He reports that in 1724, one of these horns was found beneath the earth, in the territory of Yakutsk, in Siberia; he assumes that it does not belong to the mythical animal to which the name unicorn has been given; but he believes, and it is very likely, that it comes from the cetacean animal that is called narwhal . The same author speaks of another horn of the same kind that was found in 1741, in swampy terrain in the same country: however, he observes that the narwhal that is commonly found in the seas of Greenland, does not exist in the Arctic Ocean, which borders the North of Siberia.
What would seem to cast doubt on this matter is a fact reported by the illustrious Leibnitz in his Protogoea ; following the account of the famous Otto Guericke, he says that in 1663, someone pulled from a limestone quarry at Mount Zeunikenberg, in the territory of Quedlinberg, the skeleton of a terrestrial quadruped crouched on its hind parts, but on which the head was raised, and which sported on its forehead a horn of five ells, that is to say approximately ten feet in length and as thick as the leg of a man, but ending in a point. This skeleton was broken by the ignorance of the workers and pulled piece by piece from the ground; only the horn and the head remained whole, as well as some ribs, and the spine; these bones were brought to the abbess-princess of Quedlinberg. Mr. de Leibniz provides in this same work the image of this skeleton. He says on this subject that according to the report of Hyeronimus Lupus and Balthasar Tellez, Portuguese authors, a quadruped the size of a horse, on which the forehead is armed with a horn, exists in the land of the Abyssinians. See Liebnitz, Protogoea, pages 63 and 64 . In spite of all these authorities, it is maddening that the skeleton of which Leibniz speaks was not more carefully examined, and there is every reason to believe that that horn really belonged to a fish.
One must not confuse the horn or the bony substance of which it is here a question with another earthy, calcareous, and absorbent substance that some authors have very improperly called unicornu fossile , and that, based on appearances, is a kind of chalk or marl. See Unicornu fossile.
French to English: Unicorn (Natural History) General field: Science
Source text - French LICORNE, s. f. (Hist. nat.) animal fabuleux: on dit qu'il se trouve en Afrique, & dans l'Ethiopie; que c'est un animal craintif, habitant le fond des forêts, portant au front une corne blanche de cinq palmes de long, de la grandeur d'un cheval médiocre, d'un poil brun tirant sur le noir, & ayant le crin court, noir, & peu fourni sur le corps, & même à la queue. Les cornes de licorne qu'on montre en différens endroits, sont ou des cornes d'autres animaux connus, ou des morceaux d'ivoire tourné, ou des dents de poissons.
Translation - English Unicorn, mythical animal. It is said to be found in Africa and Ethiopia, to be a fearful animal, living deep within forests, sporting a white horn five hands long, the size of an average horse, with dark brown—almost black—hair and a short, black mane that is thin on the body as well as the tail. The unicorn horns that are displayed in various places are either the horns of other, known animals, or pieces of turned ivory, or fish teeth.
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Bachelor's degree - University of Michigan--Ann Arbor
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Years of experience: 15. Registered at ProZ.com: Aug 2010.
I recently finished my B.A. in French and Francophone Studies at the University of Michigan--Ann Arbor. My final year (August 2009-June 2010) was spent in Aix-en-Provence, France studying French language and literature at l'Université de Provence and l'Université Paul Cézanne. I have completed and published translations from the Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, par une Société de Gens de lettres and have practiced on novels and scholarly articles. In 2010, I worked closely with a Cameroonian author, philosopher and scholar on the subject of translation. I am independently continuing studies in translation theory and practice.
Please note that I work in one direction only: French>American English
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