The Muggles usually depict the Unicorn with the body and head of a horse, hind legs of a stag, tail of a lion, and a single horn in the middle of the forehead. The Chinese Muggles usually draw it with the body of a deer, with horses� hooves and an ox�s tail. The horn is made of bone in the west and in China it is believed to be made of flesh. The coast of the unicorn was of the five sacred colors of the Chinese; red, yellow, blue, white, and black. To the Chinese it is considered a good omen, and often signified the birth of a good ruler. Other times it appeared to give a warning to men. The constellation Monoceros represents a unicorn.
Powers
It is said that the unicorn horn could neutralize poisons. It was also alleged aphrodisiac qualities and other purported medicinal virtues. This drove up the cost of the unicorn. My wizard took to faking unicorn horns. They were so many fakes there had to be ways to find out the real from the fake. They usually tried to use horns from the narwhal a rare whale from the Arctic. The male species has a single left tusk that is a modified upper incisor. The tusk is spirally twisted, usually in a counter-clockwise direction. In a mature specimen the tusk can be from two to seven meter long. Some wizards used a stag�s horn or elephant�s tusk.
Tests of a True Alicorn (unicorn�s horns)
These tests were used by Muggles to make sure you have a real Alicorn or a wizard�s horn (fake unicorn horn).
A. The true horn, when thrown into water, sends up little bubbles. The water seems to boil, though cold, and one can hear the boiling.
B. The true horn gives out a sweet odor when burned.
C. Poisonous plants and animals, when brought near the true horn; burst and die.
D. The true horn sweats in the presence of poison.
E. The true horn is always striated, is extremely hard, very heavy, the color of boxwood, and able to save the life of a pigeon poisoned with arsenic (a Muggle poison).
F. Enclose a spider in a circle drawn on the floor with an alicorn. If the horn is true the spider will not be able to cross outside of the circle and will starve to death inside it.
G. Place the horn in a vessel and with it three or four live and large scorpions, keeping the vessel covered. If four hours later the scorpions are dead; or almost lifeless, the alicorn is a true one.
Most of these tests were down right at the place of business. There would one wizard selling the horns other out of sight making sure the test came back right. If a Muggle or wizard found out the horn was fake they would not give them a refund because it worked in the store. The only way to get the money was to prove that there was someone doing the spells. Most of the wizards who did this made sure that they didn�t sale any fake horns to wizards and if anyone got wise they would skip town before found out.
Hunting of Unicorns
To hunt and find a unicorn it is said that only a female virgin can find and mount unicorns. It is said that a unicorn can tale if a woman is a virgin because of this. The belief for this could go back to Africa. In Africa they would use a female monkey to catch Rhinos by taking it to where the Rhinos lived and it would dance for them. The Rhinos would become mesmerized by the antics of the monkey and would thus be an easier target for the hunters.
Myths
Most Muggles today believe that the explanations of unicorns could saw as people thinking that Rhinos, goats, and horses could have been mistaken for unicorns. One myth is that Noah went to get all the animals the unicorns didn�t come. It is written like this �All of the beasts obeyed Noah when he admitted then into the ark. All but the unicorn. Confident of his strength he boasted �I shall swim!� For Forty days and nights the rains poured down and the oceans boiled as in a pot and all the heights were flooded. The birds of the are clung onto the ark and when the ark pitched they were all engulfed. But the unicorn kept on swimming. When, however, the birds emerged again they perched on his horn and he went under�and that�s why there are no more unicorns now.� � From a Ukrainian folk tale.
Websites used: www.unicornhq.com/about_unicorn.php and www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/5177/horn.html