CENTAUR, a mythical creature, half
man, half horse, said to have sprung
from the union of Ixion and a Cloud;
the most celebrated was Chiron. They
inhabited Thessaly, and were also called
Hippocentaurs. The myth probably
arose from some herdsman on horseback,
who, being seen by individuals
unacquainted with the uses of the horse,
was supposed to form, together with his
steed, one integral body.
It is also the name of a constellation
in the Southern Hemisphere.
