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Fearsome Critters
In North American folklore and American mythology, fearsome critters were tall tale animals jokingly said to inhabit the wilderness in or around logging camps,Dorson, Richard M. ''Man and Beast in American Comic Legend.'' (Bloomington, IN: Indiana Univ. Press, 1982.)Leach, Maria. ''Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary Of Folklore, Mythology and Legend.'' (New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1949.)South, Malcolm. ''Mythical and Fabulous Creatures: A Source Book and Research Guide.'' (Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1984.) especially in the Great Lakes region. Today, the term may also be applied to similar legendary creatures, fabulous beasts. Origins Fearsome critters were an integral part of oral tradition in North American logging camps during the turn of the twentieth century, principally as a means to pass time (such as in tall tales)Cox, William T. with Latin Classifications by George B. Sudworth. ''Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods.'' Washington, D.C.: Judd & ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugag
In American folklore, the hugag is a fearsome critter similar to a moose with an extensive upper lip, preventing it from grazing, and jointless legs preventing it from lying down. Name usage The word hugag well predates its usage as a term to describe a mythical creature. It appears as a variant spelling of hewgag, a woodwind instrument akin to a kazoo. For example, the June 20, 1846 issue of the ''American Republican and Baltimore Daily Clipper'' reads, "My friends and fellow-countrymen—awake, arise! for the Philistines are upon you. Strike the tunjo! blow the hugag! whistle the fife, and chastise the drum! Your lives, your loaves, and liberties are in danger." However, the word also appears in non-English works. The term is referenced in a German text as a transliteration of an Arabic name in 1861. As well, Hugag also appears as a name of a mine located at Republican Mountain, in Colorado, discovered in 1870. The first mention of the hugag to refer to an imaginary animal, while ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biomechanics
Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to Organ (anatomy), organs, Cell (biology), cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechanics. Biomechanics is a branch of biophysics. Etymology The word "biomechanics" (1899) and the related "biomechanical" (1856) come from the Ancient Greek βίος ''bios'' "life" and μηχανική, ''mēchanikē'' "mechanics", to refer to the study of the mechanical principles of living organisms, particularly their movement and structure. Subfields Biofluid mechanics Biological fluid mechanics, or biofluid mechanics, is the study of both gas and liquid fluid flows in or around biological organisms. An often studied liquid biofluid problem is that of blood flow in the human cardiovascular system. Under certain mathematical circumstances, blood flow can be modeled by the Navier–Stokes equations. ''In vivo'' whole blood is assum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ball-tailed Cat
The ball-tailed cat (''Felis caudaglobosa'') is a fearsome critter of North American folklore most commonly described as having similar traits to that of a mountain lion, except with an exceedingly long tail to which there is affixed a solid, bulbous mass for striking its prey. Tales of ball-tailed cats were common among woodsmen during the turn of the 20th century and many variations exist; two of the more prominent variants are the digmaul and the sliver cat. The latter is distinguishable for not only having a smooth-sided ball for knocking wayfarers unconscious, but in addition a spiked-side for piercing and grappling its victims. Ball tailed cat.jpg, Ball-tailed cat File:Silver cat.jpg, Sliver cat File:Dingmaul.jpg, Digmaul See also * Ankylosaurus ''Ankylosaurus'' is a genus of Thyreophora, armored dinosaur. Its fossils have been found in geological formations dating to the very end of the Cretaceous Period (geology), Period, about 68–66 million years ago, in wester ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Book Of Imaginary Beings
The ''Book of Imaginary Beings'' was written by Jorge Luis Borges with Margarita Guerrero and published in 1957 under the original Spanish title ''Manual de zoología fantástica'' ("Handbook of fantastic zoology"). It contains descriptions of legendary creature, mythical beasts from folklore and literature. In 1967 the authors published an expanded edition retitled as ''El libro de los seres imaginarios''. Borges collaborated on the first English translation, which was praised upon its publication in 1969. Contents Although a work of fiction, the book is situated in a tradition of paper museums, bestiaries, and natural history writing. In the preface, Borges states that the book is to be read "as with all miscellanies... not... straight through... Rather we would like the reader to dip into the pages at random, just as one plays with the shifting patterns of a kaleidoscope"; and that "legends of men taking the shapes of animals" have been omitted. Though Borges conducted resea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known works, () and (), published in the 1940s, are collections of short stories exploring motifs such as dreams, labyrinths, Indeterminism, chance, infinity, archives, mirrors, fictional writers and mythology. Borges's works have contributed to philosophical literature and the fantasy genre, and have had a major influence on the magical realism, magical realist movement in 20th century Latin American literature.Theo L. D'Haen (1995) "Magical Realism and Postmodernism: Decentering Privileged Centers", in: Louis P. Zamora and Wendy B. Faris, ''Magical Realism: Theory, History and Community''. Duhan and London, Duke University Press, pp. 191–208. Born in Buenos Aires, Borges later moved with his family to Switzerland in 1914, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Axehandle Hound
In American folklore, the axehandle hound (axhandle hound, ax-handle hound, or similar) is a fearsome critter of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Description The animal resembles a dog with a body axe-like in shape. It has a head shaped like an axe blade, hence the name, complemented by a handle-shaped body atop short stubby legs. It subsists on a diet consisting entirely of the handles of axes which have been left unattended. A nocturnal creature, the axehandle hound travels from camp to camp searching for its next meal. According to folklore, the axehandle hound strongly dislikes axe handles made from red oak. See also *Fearsome critters *Folklore of the United States American folklore encompasses the folklore that has evolved in the present-day United States mostly since the European colonization of the Americas. It also contains folklore that dates back to the Pre-Columbian era. Folklore consists of legen ... References *Baughman, Ernest Warren - ''Type and Motif-index o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jackalope
The jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns. The word ''jackalope'' is a portmanteau of ''jackrabbit'' and ''antelope''. Many jackalope taxidermy mounts, including the original, are made with deer antlers. In the 1930s, Douglas Herrick and his brother, hunters with taxidermy skills, popularized the American jackalope by grafting deer antlers onto a jackrabbit carcass and selling the combination to a local hotel in Douglas, Wyoming. Thereafter, they made and sold many similar jackalopes to a retail outlet in South Dakota, and other taxidermists continue to manufacture the horned rabbits into the 21st century. Stuffed and mounted, jackalopes are found in many bars and other places in the United States; stores catering to tourists sell jackalope postcards and other paraphernalia, and commercial entities in America and elsewhere have used the word ''jackalope'' or a jackalope logo as part of their marketing strategie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agropelter
The Agropelter (given the mock-taxonomic designation ''Anthrocephalus craniofractens'') is a mythical fearsome critter said to inhabit hollow trees of the conifer woods from Maine to Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ....Wyman, Walker D. Mythical Creatures of the USA and Canada. (River Falls, WI: Univ of Wisconsin Riverfalls Press,1978.) From this vantage point, the creature would await an unwary person and hurl wooden splinters and branches at the intruder. Some have described the creature as being so quick that it has never been seen.Cohen, Daniel. Monsters, Giants, and Little Men from Mars: An Unnatural History of the Americas. (New York: Doubleday, 1975) One reference describes the creature as having a "slender, wirely body, the villainous face of an ape, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fearsome Creatures Of The Lumberwoods, With A Few Desert And Mountain Beasts
''Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods, With a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts'' is a 1910 fantasy field guide by William Thomas Cox (1878–1961), Minnesota’s first State Forester and Commissioner of Conservation, with illustrations by Coert du Bois (1881–1960; US Consul and forester) and Latin classifications by George Bishop Sudworth (1862–1927; Chief Dendrologist of the Forest Service.) The text is a noteworthy resource on folklore, as a century after its initial publication ''Fearsome Creatures'' remains one of the principal sources on legendary creatures of the United States and Canada. Summary The book presents various sketches of fearsome critters from North American folklore, with descriptions by Cox preceded by full-page landscape illustrations by du Bois. Like in a traditional field guide, each animal is assigned a Latin classification (by Sudworth), afterward noting their habitat, physical makeup, and behavior. At the end of each account; however, there ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manly Wade Wellman
Manly Wade Wellman (May 21, 1903 – April 5, 1986) was an American writer. While his science fiction and fantasy stories appeared in such pulps as '' Astounding Stories'', '' Startling Stories'', ''Unknown'' and '' Strange Stories'', Wellman is best remembered as one of the most popular contributors to the legendary '' Weird Tales'' and for his fantasy and horror stories set in the Appalachian Mountains, which draw on the native folklore of that region. Karl Edward Wagner referred to him as "the dean of fantasy writers." Wellman also wrote in a wide variety of other genres, including historical fiction, detective fiction, western fiction, juvenile fiction, and non-fiction. Wellman was a long-time resident of North Carolina. Schweitzer, Darrell. "Wellman, Manly Wade", in ''St. James Guide To Fantasy Writers'', ed. David Pringle, London, St. James Press, 1996, , (p. 596-98). He received many awards, including the World Fantasy Award and Edgar Allan Poe Award. In 2013, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pantograph
A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a Linkage (mechanical), mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line drawing is traced by the first point, an identical, enlarged, or miniaturized copy will be drawn by a pen fixed to the other. Using the same principle, different kinds of pantographs are used for other forms of duplication in areas such as sculpting, Mint (facility), minting, engraving, and Milling (machining), milling. History The ancient Greek engineer Hero of Alexandria described pantographs in his work ''Mechanics''. In 1603, Christoph Scheiner used a pantograph to copy and scale diagrams, and wrote about the invention over 27 years later, in ''"Pantographice seu Ars delineandi res quaslibet per parallelogrammum lineare seu cavum"'' (Rome 1631). One arm of the pantograph contained a small pointer, while the oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wampus Cat
The wampus cat is a cat-like creature in American folklore that varies widely in appearance, ranging from frightful to comical, depending on region. Description Early references from the American Dialect Society described the wampus cat as "a creature heard whining about camps at night," "a spiritual green-eyed cat, having occult powers," or "an undefined imaginary animal." Writing in 1951, folklorist Vance Randolph described the wampus cat as "a kind of amphibious panther which leaps into the water and swims like a colossal mink."Randolph, Vance. ''We Always Lie to Strangers: Tall Tales from the Ozarks.'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 1951.) The wampus cat was mentioned in newspaper accounts of the 1930s in the Piedmont of North Carolina, where the creature was accused of killing livestock. Henry H. Tryon's humorous 1939 book ''Fearsome Critters'' describes the wampus cat as being native to Idaho, and having an "amazing right forearm" that "works like a folding prun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
