17-03-2016, 07:12 PM
MarcoP: Thanks! somehow I missed the reference to scorpions in Henle's paper. This would explain the row of dots on the VM Scorpio's back. However, I'm not sure why anyone would think that the stellio was a scorpion. Pliny says that "in figure it (the stellio) strongly resembles the common lizard". I've also found that Galenus claimed the stellio could hypnotize the scorpion by just looking at it, showing that he thought of them as two different animals.
So probably this was part of the confusion between scorpions and lizards as seen in many zodiac images. Apparently in some parts of the US old people still call a certain kind of lizard "scorpion".
Also thanks for the Albertus Magnus reference! So that shows that some indeed thought the stellio to be a salamander. And if I've understood Gesner correctly, he says on p.85 that some claim that the German name of stellio is "Puntermolch" (colorful newt), but that this is wrong, as this is actually a kind of salamander.
So probably this was part of the confusion between scorpions and lizards as seen in many zodiac images. Apparently in some parts of the US old people still call a certain kind of lizard "scorpion".
Also thanks for the Albertus Magnus reference! So that shows that some indeed thought the stellio to be a salamander. And if I've understood Gesner correctly, he says on p.85 that some claim that the German name of stellio is "Puntermolch" (colorful newt), but that this is wrong, as this is actually a kind of salamander.