[Footnote 55: 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 xith 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.)]