בכורות - Bechorot
Can a non-kosher animal (say, a pig) fertilize a kosher animal (like a sheep)?
Bechorot 8a ~ Rashi on Mermaids
Mermaids in rabbinic (and Greek) literature. And a sighting by Christopher Columbus.
Bechorot 16a ~ A Flat Earth, The Eye, and the Sky
The geocentric universe is modeled by the structure of an eye.
Bechorot 24a ~ Can a sheep suckle a pig?
Yup. But can an ape suckle a human?
Bechorot 36a ~ How Often do People Lie?
Much more than you might think. Especially in the United Kingdom.
Why the Talmud cared about holes drilled into skulls. And why it was so common.
Bechorot 42b ~ Rabbi Akiva, Voltaire, and the man with one testicle
The Cohen with a deficient number of testes, and Voltaire’s thoughts on the topic.
Bechorot 44 (Part I). The Cohen with Eye Problems - and a Pretty Bad Liver
The medicine behind the Mishnah, and the earliest description of cirrhosis of the liver.
Bechorot 44 (Part II) ~ Urinary Tract Infections, Infertility and Other Dangers of Long Sermons
On the dangers of holding it in. Teachers beware.
Another genetic syndrome, first identified by the Talmud.
Bechorot 55a ~ Where Does Your Blood Come From?
What the rabbis thought and what we now know.