a castrated or emasculated person. Though the practice of castration is detestable in every point of view, yet there appears no real foundation for the injurious opinion generally entertained of eunuchs, that they are all cowards, and devoid of genius for literature or any solid study. It is certain, indeed, that the ancients never supposed eunuchs to be men of inferior intellects, or that they possessed less vigour of mind than other men. It appears from Herodotus that in Persia eunuchs were far from being objects of contempt, and were even frequently promoted to the highest honours. We learn from Agathias, one of the Byzantine historians, that a general in the Roman army named Narsos was an eunuch. Aristotle paid such high respect to Hermias, who was an eunuch, and governor of Atarneus, in Mysia, that he even offered sacrifices in honour of him, as Lucian informs us in the dialogue entitled Eunuchus.