Note 35 — Chapter I · PREAMBLE: ON THE ORIGIN OF WEAPONS.

The spiral horn is shown by Colonel Yule (Marco Polo, ii. 273, second edition) in an illustration as ‘Monoceros and the Maiden.’ The animal, however, appears from the short tail to be a tapir, not a rhinoceros. That learned and exact writer remarks that the unicorn supporter of the Royal Arms retains the narwhal horn. The main use of the latter in commerce is to serve as a core for the huge wax-candles lighted during the ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church.