Of odd particulars, I learn from Malaterra, that the Arabs had introduced into Sicily the use of camels (l. i. c. 33) and of carrier- pigeons (c. 42); and that the bite of the tarantula provokes a windy disposition, quae per anum inhoneste crepitando emergit; a symptom most ridiculously felt by the whole Norman army in their camp near Palermo (c. 36). I shall add an etymology not unworthy of the 11th century: Messana is divided from Messis, the place from whence the harvests of the isle were sent in tribute to Rome (l. ii. c. 1.).