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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

countries, and moreover its fur was never appreciated. BALDELLI-BONI (II, 475) supposed that
ermines were meant. CHARIGNON (Ch, III, 279, 280) has translated « ercolins » by « glutton »
(Gulo luscus) without any remark; but this is quite arbitrary. BENEDETTO (B¹, 404, 405, 406, 453)
gives in Italian ercolini without any remark. RICCI-ROSS (RR, 420) give in their Index « erculin,
an animal in Siberia », with a mere reference to Y, II, 483; but, in a page of Addenda and Corrigenda,
they inserted : « ERCULIN — according to Pelliot = squirrel (écureuil). »
It is true that I believe the ercolin to be a squirrel, and such was already the view of the conti-
nuators of DU CANGE, who, under « erculinus », quoted Polo's passage, adding the explanation
sciurus, « squirrel ». But from the point of view of phonetics, it does not seem possible to connect
ercolin with Lat. scuriolus, scorolius, etc., or French escureus, escuriau, etc., the mediaeval forms
of « squirrel ».
DU CANGE (Diss. I) quotes a passage of Aelian (Hist. Nat., 6, 40) : « In an island of the Euxine
Sea, called Heraklea because it was dedicated to Hercules, there were a great many of these rats
(μύες). From the context in DU CANGE, it would seem that these Pontic rats were ermines, and
this would agree with BALDELLI-BONI's explanation of ercolins; phonetically, the equivalence is
unimpeachable.
Yet, I doubt that ermines are meant in Polo's text. First of all, he mentions in the same passages
the « ermines » apart from the « ercolins ». It is true, that in the Middle Ages two sorts of « ermines »
were distinguished, the « ermine » proper and a cheaper species, the « letice » (in Ital. lattizzo;
cf. GAY, Voc. archéol., s. v. « letice »); an ermine fur was also called « rosereau » (cf. infra).
Unfortunately, no term corresponding to « letice » occurs in the Codex Cumanicus, and ermeli-
nus is left there (p. 98) without its Persian or Turkish equivalent; but we are well aware of the
usual native names, which have of course nothing in common with ercolins. But the very order of
the terms in Polo's three passages, which once is « ermines, ercolins, vairs » and once « ermines,
vairs, ercolins », suggests that the « ercolin » must be an animal of the « vair », not of the « ermine »
sort.
I have thought of a last solution. The « vair » was a fur in such great use in the Middle Ages
that « vairie » had become a general name for the fur trade. This explains that Pegolotti, c. 1340,
should bring under the heading vai a number of furs which are not all squirrels. The list is as
follows (EVANS ed., 298, and see the Index, 432, s. v. Vaio) : « Nomi di vai : Organni Bolgari lunghi
Ischiavi Pasquardini Ischeruoli Ermellini Orzeruoli Tutti questi sono vai. » I leave out « organni »
for the moment. « Bolgari » means a vair from Bulyār (see « Bolgara »); « lunghi » may either be
an epithet, « long », to be joined with « Bolgari », as EVANS took it, or stand for an independant
name which I have failed to trace; « ischiavi » means « Sclavonian, Slav »; « pasquardini » means
a vair of the land of the Bašyird; « ischeruoli » = squirrels, the « black squirrels » of the Codex
Cumanicus; « ermellini » = ermines; orzeruoli = « rosereau, roseruel, roix, reiz », an ermine fur
(cf. GAY, s. v. « roix »), BUFFON's « roselet ». All these are included by Pegolotti among the
« vairs ».
I have left out the kind of « vair » which Pegolotti calls organni. In a document dated « Caffa,
May 5, 1289 », which is summarized in BRĂTIANU, Actes des notaires génois, 330, mention is made
of money to be used in varis organinis. On p. 10, BRĂTIANU proposed, with a question mark, to
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