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OF

THE BIBLE;

A DESCRIPTION
OF ALL THE
QUADRUPEDS, BIRDS, PISHES, REPTILES, AND INSECTS, TREES,
PLANTS, FLOWERS, GUMS, AND PRECIOUS STONES,
MENTIONED IJV THE SACRED SCRIPTURES.

COLLECTED FROM THE BEST AUTHORITIES, AND ALPHABETICALLY
ARRANGED.

By THADDEUS MASON HARRIS, D.D.

*' He spake of Trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth
out of the wall. He spake also of Beasts, and of Fowls, and of Creepinfttiiings, and of
Fishes." 1 KINGS iT. 33.

boston :

(JELLS AND LILLY — COURT-STRSET.
1.820.

DISTRICT OP MASSACHUSETTS, TO WrT:
District Clerk's Office.
BE it remembered, that on the thirty-first day of October. A.D. 1820, in the Forty-fifth y«yr
of the Independence of the United States of America, Thaddeiis Mason Harris of thesaid Dis
trict, has deposited in this Office the Title of a Book the Right whereof he claims as Author
in the "Words following;* ta toil t The Natural History of the Bible ; or, a Description of all the
Quadrupeds, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, and Insects, Tees, Plants Flowers, Gums, and Precious
Stones, mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures. Collected from the best Authorities, and Alpha
bet it ally arranged. By Thaddeus Mason Harris^ D.D.
" He spake of Trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth
out of tlv wall. He spake also of Beasts, and of Fowls, and of Creeping things, and of
Fishes." i KINGS iv. 33.
In Conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, ** An Act for tbe En
couragement of Learning, by securing; the Copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the Authorr
and Proprietors of such Copies, during the Times therein mentioned :" and also to an A«t
entitled, u An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled, An Act for the Encouragement of Learn
ing, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such
Copies during the times therein mentioned ; and extending the Benefits thereof to the Arts of
Designing, Engraving and Etching Historical, and other Prints.1'
JNO. W. DAVIS,
Clerk of the District of MassaehustUA

Mi

7S3 hi

Ni

PREFACE.

There are few things more difficult to be determin
ed with any degree of certainty and precision, than those
wrhich refer to the natural history of the world in the ear
lier ages; for we have no ancient history of nature which
describes animals, plants, &c. under their original names.
This difficulty is-always felt, and has always been regret
ted, in perusing the Sacred Scriptures ; for our ignorance
of the various beasts, birds, and plants which are ex
pressly mentioned or incidentally referred to there, pre
vents us from discovering the propriety of many allusions
to their nature and habits, and conceals from us the beau
ty of many similies which are founded on their characte
ristic qualities. The utility of a clear and correct expla
nation of these will be apparent from the following con
siderations :
1. The distinction between clean and unclean Ani
mals forms an important part of the Mosaic ritual.
Neither the indulgence of the former in the food of the
Jews, nor the prohibition, of the latter, was merely arbi-.
trary, but founded, among other reasons, upon judicious
rules of dietetic regimen, adapted primarily to the cli
mate, or to the nature and qualities of the animals, as
salutary or unwholesome, as proper or improper, to be
eaten. To perceive the propriety of the regulations in
this respect, it is highly necessary to determine what those
animals were, and to point out those instincts, habits, and
qualities on account of which they w;ere either allowed
or prohibited.

iv PREFACE.
The natural history of foreign countries was very little
known at the time when our translation of the Bible was
made. Hence we find in it the names of animals un
known in the east ; as the Whale and the Badger, crea
tures with which the Jews must have been wholly unac
quainted. And though in the book of Job there are very
particular descriptions of the Leviathan and Behemoth,
our translators discover their ignorance of the creatures
described, by retaining the Hebrew names ; whereas to
the reem they assign the name of the Unicorn, which is
known "to be a fabulous animal. Indeed, they frankly
acknowledge, in their preface; the obscurity experienced
by them in the Hebrew words which occur but once, and
"in the names of certain birds, beasts, and precious
stones," &c. How considerably such difficulties have
been diminished since their time, by a knowledge of the
oriental dialects, and by the labours of such men as Bo
chart and Michaelis, not to name many others, is well
known to jsuch as are conversant in these studies.*
II. The language of the east was highly figurative.
Apologues, fables, and parables, were the common vehi
cles of moral truth. In every part of the sacred writings
images are introduced from the works of nature, and me
taphors drawn from the manners and economy of ani
mals, the growth of trees, and the properties of plants ;
and, unless we know precisely the animal, tree, or plant
referred to, we cannot discern the propriety of the allu
sion, nor be suitably impressed with the full force of the
doctrine, precept, or narrative, which it was intended to
illustrate. But these things, judiciously explained, serve
to clear up many obscure passages, solve many difficul
ties, correct many wrong interpretations, and open new
beauties in the sacred volume. To use the words of an
author, whose opinion adds importance to my subject,
f" These illustrations, though they do not immediately
rectify the faith or refine the morals of the reader, yet
are by no means to be considered as superfluous niceties
* Newcome's Historical view of translations of the Bible.
t Dr. Samuel Johnson in his life of Thomas Browne.

PREFACE. *
or useless* speculations ; for they often show some pro
priety of allusion utterly undiscoverable by readers not
skilled in the natural history of the east ; and are often
of more important use, as they remove some difficulty
from narratives, or some obscurity from precepts."
III. The incidental references which are made in the
Bible to animals, vegetables, &c. confirm, also, the
truth of the scripture history ; for they show that the
writers were in the country, and conversant with the
scenes, which they describe, by indications of the climate,
creatures, and productions, peculiar to those places, and
which could be familiar only to persons so situated.
The want of that accurate information on many sub
jects, which can be obtained only on the spot and by
personal inspection, is especially felt in our investigation
of the natural history of the sacred scriptures. This is
strongly expressed by the celebrated Linnaeus in the
account which he published of Dr. Hasselquist. His
words are, '; In one of my botanical lectures, in the year
1747, I enumerated the countries of which we knew the
natural history, and those of which we were ignorant.
Amongst the latter was Palestine. With this we were
less acquainted than with the remotest parts of India ;
and though the natural history of this remarkable country
was the most necessary for divines and writers on the
scriptures, who have used their greatest endeavours to
know the animals therein mentioned, yet they could not,
wdth any degree of certainty, determine which they were,
before some one had been there, and informed himself of
the natural history of the place." Hasselquist, who
attended this course of lectures, was very desirous of be
ing the first who should supply this important desidera
tum, and was determined to accomplish it. Having qua
lified himself for the undertaking by the study of the Ara
bic and other eastern languages, in 1 749 he was convey
ed by the Levant company to Smyrna, and for two years
was engaged in making collections of plants, &c. hi
Egypt and the Holy Land. He died in the midst of these
useful labours ; but his papers were published by Lin-

vi PREFACE.
Njeus, in 1757 ; and contain many articles which throw
much light upon the Natural History of the Bible.
There was an English translation in 1766, which has
now become scarce ; " a circumstance," says Dr. Pul-
teny in his view of the writings of Linn.s:us, " suffi
ciently indicative of the intrinsic value of the work,
which, for its originality, as well as accuracy and variety
of information, must always rank high among books of
travels." The learned J. D. Michaelis, in an oration delivered
at Gottingen in 1753, recommended " a mission of learn
ed men into the east, that by travelling through Syria,
Palestine, and Egypt, and observing the animals, plants,
&c. of those regions, and investigating their nature and
qualities, they might ascertain those which are named in
Holy Writ." Having projected the plan of such a mis
sion, which should embrace every thing connected with
the history, geography, antiquities, natural productions,
language and manners of those countries, that could serve
to throw any light upon the sacred records, he proposed
the subject to count Bernstorff in the year 1756 ; who
recommended it to his royal master Frederick the fifth
of Denmark. The king heartily seconded these views,
engaged to defray the whole expense of the undertaking,
and honoured its projector by committing to his charge
the selection of the travellers, and the arrangement of the
plan in all its details.* Michaelis drew up a set of
questions upon interesting articles about which inquiries
were to be made, and which discover how much even the
most learned man in Europe felt in doubt respecting these
subjects in the Natural History of the Bible, and of how
great importance he considered a satisfactory explanation
of them. Unhappily M. Forskal, the learned naturalist
on this expedition, died in Arabia, before he had compos
ed any regular work in reply to the questions. Nie-
buhr, his fellow traveller, however, published from his
papers a scientific catalogue of articles, which is valuable
* Dr. Smith's preface to his translation of Michaelis on the Laws
of Moses, p. 10.

PREFACE. vii
for a few incidental remarks, and as giving the names by
which animals and plants are now called in those regions.
Dr. Shaw, whose travels I have often quoted, observes
that " the names by which animals, &c. are now called in
the eastern countries will be of gueat assistance in de
termining sacred natural history ; for some of them, it
may be presumed, continue to be the very same ; whilst
many others may prove to be traditional, or derivatives
from the original."
In 1 793 I published a small volume with a similar title
to the one now printed. The approbation with which
that work has been honoured in this country and in Eu
rope is highly flattering. I kept on my table an inter
leaved copy, and, in the course of my reading, transferred
it to the additional information which I collected. De
sirous of pursuing the investigation still farther, I procur
ed, with considerable expense, many valuable books which
I had not before the opportunity of consulting. In fine,
I have re-examined every article with better knowledge
and greater care ; have transcribed and new modelled
the whole, and made such amendments and additions
throughout, as render this rather a new work, than a new
edition ; and, to its completion and perfection, the studies
and acquisitions of more than twenty- five years have
contributed.* The following were my rules of investigation.
1. To examine all the passages of scripture where the
name of the animal, plant, &c. which I was examining,
occurs ; in order to ascertain its nature and qualities, by
such a reference to particular places as they separately
furnish, either by direct description or metaphorical allu
sion; and, by comparing them together, endeavour to
identify the subject.
II. Look out the name in the Lexicons of Castel,
Buxtorf, Meninski, Parkhurst, and others, with re-
* " Tot in ea sunt emendata, tot dispuncta, recocta, limata, inimu-
tata, tanta insuper accessio ubique facta est, ut pristino, quantum
erat, lineamento plerumque disparente, exeat omnino nova." Sel-
den, prmf. in mare Clous.

viii PREFACE.
gard to the meaning they affix to it, or the root from
which it is derived ; believing that the names of animals,
plants, &c. were not arbitrary, but founded on some ap
parent and predominent quality or property, sufficient to
give them a designation at first.
III. Trace the word again, in every place where it oc
curs, through all the versions of the scriptures, to disco
ver how it was understood and rendered by the most
ancient interpreters.
IV. Search for it in all the modern commentaries, cri
tics, and new translations.
V. Consult the authors who have written upon the
subject of the Natural History of the Bible, for their opi
nions and explanations.
VI. Avail myself of all the information contained in
the ancient and modern writers of natural history, and
the incidental mention of animals, plants, &c. in books of
travels. This investigation, diligently pursued, often employed
a whole day to ascertain only one article, the result of
which is, perhaps, comprised in a single sentence.
Of my authorities, and the use which I have made of
them, it becomes me to speak with grateful acknowledg
ment. The first and principal of these is Bochart, who,
in his Hierozoicon, has, in the most learned researches,
traced the names of the Animals mentioned in scripture
through the different languages and dialects of the east,
and in most cases has been able by some evident simila
rity of sound, or some other striking circumstance, with
sufficient clearness to identify each individual. He had
the opportunity of consulting the natural history of Da-
mir* and other Arabian authors ; and could bring from
all the treasuries of ancient learning the authorities for
his decisions : so that there has seldom been found rea
son to depart from his opinion ; a few instances only have
occurred where it appeared to be outweighed by equally
* Historia animalium, Arabica, ordine alphabetico disposita, ubi
multa de eorum nominibus, natura, proprietatibus, qualitate, virtute,
natali loco et educatione,referuntur, &c. Anno Hegirae, 773, Script,
A.D. 1371.

PREFACE. ix
ingenious and learned, and more pertinent illustration and
proof. The Physique Sacree of ScHetjchzer, in eight vo
lumes folio, is a magnificent work, with which a noble
friend in Paris supplied me. It has contributed greatly
to enrich my articles.
With regard to Plants, I have availed myself of the
elaborate researches of Hiller in the Hierophyticon, and
of Celsius in his Hierobotanicon ; carefully consulting,
at the same time Dioscorides and the elder Pliny
among the ancients, and Alpinus, Rauwolf, Hassel
quist, Shaw, Russel, Forskal, and others, among the
moderns.* Mr. Bruce, in his Travels to discover the Source of
the Nile, collected specimens of natural history in Egypt,
Arabia, Abyssinia and Nubia. His celebrated work has
been read with pleasure and advantage, and some ex
tracts have been made from it. In describing the plants,
birds, and beasts which he saw in his travels, he informs
us that he " made it a constant rule to give the prefe
rence tp such of each kind as are mentioned in Scripture,
and concerning which doubts have arisen. Many learned
men, (says he) have employed themselves with success
upon these topics, yet much remains still to do ; for it has
generally happened that those perfectly acquainted with
the language in which the Scriptures were written have
never travelled, nor seen the animals of Judea, Palestine,
or Arabia ; and again, such as have travelled in these
countries and seen the animals in question, have been
either not at all, or but superficially acquainted with the
original languages of Scripture. It has been my earnest
desire to employ the advantage I possess in both these
requisites to throw as much light as possible upon the
doubts that have arisen. I hope I have done this freely,
* " The frequent recurrence for metaphorical expressions to na
tural objects, and particularly to plants and to trees, is so characteris
tic ofthe Hebrew poetry, that it might be almost called the botanical
poetry. In the Sacred Scriptures there are upwards of two hundred
and fifty botanical terms ; which, none use so frequently as the
poets." Michaelis note upon Lowth's lect. vi.
R

ac PREFACE.
fairly, and Candidly. If I have at all succeeded, I have
obtained my reward."
The Icthyologice Biblicce of Rudbeck is a princi
pal authority for the Fishes mentioned in Scripture ;
Scheuchzer for the -Serpents and Insects; and Lem-
nius and Braunius for the Minerals and Precious
Stones. Of the continuator of Calmet, particularly the volume
which bears the title of " Scripture Illustrated,"
considerable use has been made ; but it will be found that
in several places I have differed from that ingenious wri
ter, who indulges sometimes in great freedom of remark,
and whose criticisms are very frequently merely conjec
tural. My extracts were made from this work before
there was any expectation that it would be reprinted in
this country, and therefore I quoted with greater freedom
and copied with greater copiousness ; but, as it is now in
circulation among us, I have cancelled some of my origi
nal extracts, lest I should be thought to have made my
own work too much a compilation from that.
I have endeavoured to substantiate every article which
I have introduced, by proofs stated with all possible clear
ness, and illustrate it by criticisms and explanations ; yet
I lay claim to no praise but that of having brought into a
regular form such information as I could collect from the
best and most unexceptionable sources.* In the most
unrestrained terms I acknowledge that I have borrowed
from all authors of established reputation, with freedom,
such materials as I could find, after having deliberately
considered and impartially collated their accounts ; that,
in appropriating such information as was to be collected
from those writers, I have not scrupled to use their own
words where they wrote in English, and to translate
where in any other language : yet, though I have not
been particular in giving credit for every extract, or in
always using inverted commas, I have aimed to point out
carefully my authorities under every article. If an apo-
* "Est benignum, et plenum ingenui pudoris, fateriper quos pro-
fateris." Pun. Nat. Hist, praef,

PREFACE. xi
logy be necessary, I plead that of Lipsius, ad cap. 1. 1. 1.
monitor poKt. " Lapides et ligna ab aliis accipio, sedificii
tamen extructio et forma tota nostra est. Architectus ego
sum, sed materiam varie undique conduxi. Nee arena-
rum sane textus ideo melior, quia ex se fila gignunt, neo
noster vilior, quia ex alienis libamus ut apes."
I have subjoined a list of the principal books which I
have consulted, with a reference to the edition which I
used ; and would still mention that in the notes will be
found references to more than twice the number in the
following catalogue. In short, I have spared neither la
bour nor expense in the collection of materials ; and have
aimed to make my work a useful and valuable treasure of
information, and worthy ofthe approbation ofthe public.
As it was originally undertaken with a view to general
information, and designed in particular for the instruction
of the less informed and the young, all technical terms
have, as much as possible, been avoided, and short and
natural descriptions attempted. I have aimed to make
even mere verbal criticism so plain and intelligible as to
be within the comprehension of common readers ; and
though I have been obliged to introduce those words from
the original Hebrew on which my criticisms were found
ed, I have taken care to give the reading in European let
ters, and very seldom have introduced any thing from the
Greek or Latin without a translation, or so blending it in
the text as to render a literal version unnecessary ; and I
have studied to make this least entertaining part of my
work in some degree interesting even to those who have
been little accustomed to such kind of disquisitions. To
some of the general illustrations are added such historical
facts, reflections, or reasonings as appeared calculated to
render the subject more instructive and useful ; and I have
occasionally enlivened the dulness of mere discussion by
the introduction of poetical versions or quotations ; with
the design of obtaining, as far as was in my power, the
double object of writing, an union of entertainment with
utility. In the course of the work a new translation has been
given of a great many separate passages, and some whole

xn PREFACE.
chapters of scripture, with remarks and illustrations cor
recting the errors which were the consequence of their
being misunderstood, and pointing out the precision and
force, the emphasis and beauty which they derive from an
accurate knowledge of the object in natural history to
which they originally referred.
After all, I am aware that some articles may be found
defective, and leave the inquisitive reader uninformed or
unconvinced. Such defect was unavoidable, when, after
the utmost research, no satisfactory information could be
procured. All that I can add is, that I have availed my
self of every advantage within my reach to render the
whole as complete and satisfactory as possible, and now
commit the work to the public, with a hope that it may
be found a useful and prove an acceptable addition to
those writings in which the Sacred Scriptures have been
most successfully explained.
Dorchester, November, 1820.
\* The alphabetic arrangement consists only of
those names which are found in our translation of the
Bible. Next is the Hebrew word ; and the passages re
ferred to are those in which the Hebrew word is found in
the original. In several instances our translators have
given the same English to different words in the original ;
this I have noted, and made references to them at the end
of the articles.

CATALOGUE

OP THE
PRINCIPAL AUTHORITIES QUOTED IN THE FOLLOWING WORK.

Alpinus (Prosp.) Deplantis ^Egypti. 4to. 2 torn. Lug. 1735.
Altman (Geo.) De gallicinio a Petro in aedibus pontificis audito.
[Extat in Bibliotlieca Bremensis. CI. v. Fascic. iii. p. 451.]
Altman (Geo.) Ad locum Act. xiv. 14. de Lydiae Thyatyren^i
Observationes. [Bibl. Brem. CI. v. Fasc. iv. p. 670.]
Biel (J. C.) De purpura Lydiae. [Bib. Brem. CI. iii. Fasc. iii.
p. 409.
Biel (J. C.) De lignis ex Libano ad Salomonis Templum aedifican-
dum. [Symbol. Haganos Liber. CI. iv. par. 1.]
Bochart (Sam.) Hierozoicon ; sive de animalibus S. Scripturae.
Recensuit suis notis adjectis. C. F. C. Rosenmuller. Lips. 1793.
4to. 3 torn.
Braunius (J.) Vestitus Sacerdotum Hebraeorum. 4to. Amst. 1680.
Bruce (James) Select specimens of Natural History, collected in
Travels to discover the source of the Nile, in Egypt, Arabia, Abys
sinia, and Nubia. {This is numbered as the sixth volume of his
travels.) 8vo. Dublin, 1790.
Bryant (Jacob) Observations on the plagues inflicted on the
Egyptians ; in which is shown the peculiarity of those judgments,
and their correspondence with the rites and idolatry of that people.
8vo. London, 1794.
Calmet (Aug.) Great Dictionary of the Bible, with continuation,
and "Scripture Illustrated by means of Natural Science, in Botany,
Natural History, &c." by C. Taylor. 4to. 4 vols. London 1797 —
1803. Celsius (01.) Hierobotanicon ; sive de plantis Sacra? Scripturas.
8vo. 2 vols. Amst. 1748.
Cocquius (Adr.) Phytologia Sacra ; seu historia ac contemplatio
sacra plantarum, arborum, et herbarum, quarum sit mentio in
Sacra Scriptura. 4to. Ulissing. 1664.
Drusius (J.) De Mandragora tractatus. 4to.
Forskal (Pet.) Flora jEgyptiaco Arabica. 4to. Hauniae, 1775.

xiv CATALOGUE OF AUTHORS QUOTED.
Forskal (Pet.) Descriptiones animalium, avium, amphibiorura,
piscium, insectorum, vermium, quae in itinere orientali observavit.
4to. Hauniae, 1775.
Forskal (Pet.) Icones rerum naturalium quas in itinere orientali
depingi curavit. 4to. Hauniae, 1776.
Forster (J. R.) Liber singularis de Bysso Antiquorum. 8vo.
London, 1776.
Franzius (Wolfang.) Animalium historia sacra. 12mo. ed. 5.
Amst. 1653.
Geddes (Alex.) Critical Remarks on the Hebrew Scriptures.
4to. London, 1800.
Harmer (Tho.) Outlines of a new commentary on Solomon's
Song. 8vo. London, 1768.
Harmer (Tho.) Observations on passages of Scripture, by refe
rence to Travels into the East, &c. 4 vols. 8vo. London, 1787.
Hasselquist (Fred.) Travels into the Levant. 8vo. Lon. 1766.
Hiller (Matt.) Hierophyticon ; sive commentarius in loca S.
Scripturae quae plantarum faciunt mentionem. 4to. Traj. a d'Rhen.
1725. Hurdis (James) Critical dissertation upon the true meaning ofthe
word cmn, found in Genesis i. 21. 8vo. London, 1790.
Hurdis (James) Select Critical Remarks upon the English ver
sion ofthe first ten chapters of Genesis. 8vo. London, 1793.
Kiesling (J. R.) De Xerophagia apud Judaeos, &c. Lips. 1746.
Lemnius (Levin.) Herbarum atque arborum quae in Bibliis passim
obvia sunt, et ex quibus sacri vates similitudines desumunt, ac col-
lationes rebus accomodant, dilucida explicatio. 8vo. Antw. 1566.
Lemnius (Levin.) De gemmis, &c. 12mo. Franeq. 1591.
Majus (Henry) Historia animalium in Sacro imprimis Codice
memoratum. 8vo. Francof. 1686.
Michaelis (J. D.) Recueil de questions proposers a une Societe"
de Savants, qui par order de sa Majeste" Danoise fond le voyage de
l'Arabie. 4to. Amst. 1774.
Michaelis (J. D.) Commentaries on the Laws of Moses ; trans
lated by Alexander Smith, D. D. 4 vols. 8vo. London, 1814.
Newton (Tho.) Herbal for the Bible. 1587. 12mo.
Niebuhr (C.) Description de l'Arabie. 4to. Amst. 1774.
Niebuhr (C.) Voyage en Arable. 4to. 2 vols. Amst. 1786.
Novellius (A.) Schediasma de avibus sacris arbeh, chagab, sol-am,
et chargol, Levit. xi. 21, 22. [Bib. Brem. CI. iii. p. 36.]
Outrien (J. D'.) De piscina Bethesda. [Bib. Brem. CI. 1.
Fasc. v. p. 597 ]

CATALOGUE OF AUTHORS QUOTED. xv
Paxton (George) Illustrations of the Holy Scriptures, from the
Geography and Natural History of the East, and from the customs
of ancient and modern nations. 2 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1819.
Philo (Judaeus) risgt %uai t«» u$ iwuts. Inter opera.
Rauwolf (L.) Flora 'Jneutalis : edit. J. F. Gronovius. 8vo. Lug.
Bat 1755.
Rudbec (Olau*) Icthyologiae Biblicae. Upsal, 1722. 2 v. 4to.
Russel (Alex.) Natural History of Aleppo and the parts adjacent.
2d edition enlarged. London, 1794. 2 vols. 4to.
Scheuchzer (J. J.) Physique Sacre"e. Amst. 1732. 8 vols, folio.
[With 750 plates.]
Schumacher (J. H.) De cultu animalium inter iEgyptios et Judaeos
comment, itio ex recondita antiquitate illustrata. 4to. Bruns. 1773.
Shvw (Tho.) Travels, or observations relating to several parts
of Barbary and the Levant. 2d edition 4to. London, 1757.
Shoder (F. J.) Hierozoici ex S. Bocharto, itinerariis variis aliis-
que doctissimorum virorum commentariis ac scriptiunculis accomo-
data ad plurimorum usus compositi. Tubingae, 1784. 12mo. »
Stengel (J.) De Junipero biblica [Bib. Brem. CI. vii. p. 856.]
Strand (B. J.) Flora Palestina. [In Jmcenit. Acad Linnm. vol. 4.]
Tychsen (O. G ) Physiologus Syrus, sen historia animalium xxxii.
in S. S. memoratum, Syriace : e Codice Bibliothecae Vaticanae nunc
primum ed. 12mo. Rostock. 1795.
Ursinus (J. H.) Arboretum Biblicum. Norib. 1663. 12mo.
Ursinus (J. H.) Continuatio historiae plantarum Biblicaj. No-
rimb. 1665. 12mo.
Valterus (J. E.) Aquilae natura e Sacris litteris et ex historia
naturali et mouumentis veterum illustratae. 4to. Lips. 1747*
Vansittart (Wm ) New translation of the XLIX. Psalm ; with
remarks, critical and philological on Leviathan described in the
XLI. chapter of Job. 8vo. Oxford, 1810.
Vansittart (Wm.) Observations on select places of the Old
Testament, founded on a perusal of Parson's travels from Aleppa
to Bagdad. 8vo. Oxford, 1812.

QUOTATIONS FROM AUTHORS,
WHO HAVE EXPRESSED AN OPINION OF THE NECESSITY AND UTILITY
OP A WORK OF THIS KIND.

I.
Glassids. Philologia Sacra : edit. Dathii et Baueri. Lips.
1795.
MisTORia: Naturalis scientia interpres Veteris Testamenti ca-
rere non potest. Frequens enim mentio animalium ferorum et
cicurum, arborum et plantarum, necnon gemmarum injicitur.
Moses inter animalia munda et immunda discrimen facit, aliis ut
cibo uti permittit, ab aliorum esu abstinendum jubet. Prophetae
saepenumero animalia commemorant, quae in solitudine degunt et
rudera oppidorum dirutorum incolunt. In Jobi carmine multi
iapides pretiosi nominantur, uti etiam in variis prophetarum
oraculis ; et nullus in universum liber est, in quo non herbae,
plantae, frumenti species, ferae agrestes et animalia domestica,
homini familiaria, aliseque res ad Historiam Naturalem perti-
nentes producantur. Sic in carmine Jobaeo equus bello aptus,
asinus sylvestris, struthiocamelus, aquila, crocodilus et hippopo
tamus uberius describuntur.
Ad haec loca, in quibus illae res naturales commemorantur,
recte explicanda, multum usum Historiae Naturalis scientia prae-
stat, sine qua multa in sacris monumentis non bene intelliguntur,
idque eo magis, quia nomiuum, quibus animalia, plantae, Iapides
significantur, explicatio maximam partem incerta et dubia est,
Etenim dialecti cognatae multa animalium, herbarum, et gemma-
nun nomina non habent. quae in lingua hebraica occurrunt. Ve.

xviii QUOTATIONS FROM AUTHORS.
teres autem interpretes hac in re non esse fidos magistros et du
ces certos, quos absque periculi errore sequamur, inde elucet,
quia ipsi inter se maxime dissentiunt, et alter hanc, alter illam
vim nominibus ad Historiam Naturalem pertinentibus tribuit.
Naturae peritus autem non tantum multa distinctius et clarius in-
telliget, quae imperito obscura sunt, sed e criteriis passim de illis
rebus proditis divinare facilius potent, quae bestiae, plantae, gem
mae innuantur. Bene Augustinus, lib. ii. de doctrina Christiana,
c. xv. monet : " Rerum physicarum ignorantia facit obscuras
figuratas locutiones, quum ignoramus vel animantium vel lapi-
dum vel herbarum naturas, aliarumque rerum, quae plerumque
in Scripturis similitudinis alicujus gratia ponuntur." [Tom. ii. p. 290.
II.
Stengel. Obs. in Biblioth. Bremensis. Class, vii. Fascic. 5,
p. 857.
" Si quae in Sacrarum Litterarum interpretatione difficilia oc-
currunt vocabula, sunt sane ea qua? technica alias dici, quibus
plantae, quibus et arbores, et similia designari solent. Cum
enim destituti saepius sumus si non omni, saltern uberiori su-
pellectili, ex qua varias easque certas vocum Orientalium signi-
ficationes eruere possumus, accidit ut ad conjecturas, probabili-
tates, &c. vel ex substrata materia, vel etiam, quod ultimum, id-
que dubium admodum remedium esse omnes Philologi fatentur.
ex etymologia petitas confugiendum est."

III.
J. D. Michaelis. Oratio de defectibus Historia Naturalis ac
Philologim, itinere in Palestinam Arabiamque, suscepto sar-
ciendis.
" Herbarum quidem et arborum ignotarum, qua? in Sacro Co-
dice commemorantur, nomina ab Arabum botanicis scriptoribug
saepe servata esse, ex Celsii Hierobotanico intelligitur : eadem

QUOTATIONS FROM AUTHORS. xix
in vocabulariis Golii aliorumque supersunt, licet plerumque ni
hil aliud addatur nisi herbae autarboris nomen esse ; in Palaestina
eadem Arabiaque vigent adhuc atque in quotidiano usu versantur.
Poteruntne hae suarum terrarum perpetuae indigenae diligentiam
fugere botanici Arabice docti, cui in Palaestina Arabiave an
num aut biennium versari liceat ? His autem rite investigatis, ad
quarum nomina ititerpretes non omnes adscribere solent, herbam
esse, arborem esse, alii genus herbae arborisque addunt nostris ter-
ris familiare, Palasstinae ignotum, ipse persaepe Celsius opiniones
aliorum subjungit, ex quibus, non sua culpa, earn optat, quae non
vera est, sed quam falsam esse minus apparet. His, inquam, in
Oriente inventis, atque imagine expressis, quae oculis lectorum
subjici possit, quam lucebunt veneranda ilia non divinitate so
lum sed antiquitate biblia ! Quorum non ultima laus est quod
innumeras a rerum natura imagines petant, herbarumque et ar-
borum, quarum in exiguo libello plusquam ducenta, atque ex
his multa saspe redeuntia leguntur nomina frequentem faciant
mentionem."  "De animalibus, quae Oriens alit, id affirmabo unum,

immortales Bocharto gratias deberi pro iis quae praestitit, eundem
tamen multa aliis reliquisse, in non paucis animalium nominibus
etiam errasse, de quibusdam historias tradidisse ex aliis auctoribus
excerptas, quarum fides laboratura sit, donee explorator in
Arabiam missus diuque ibi versatus certiora referat, multorum
animalium ignotorum, quae verbis ab ipso descripta sunt, deside-
rari imaginem, sine qua vix quidquam bibliorum lector intelli-
gat." [In Comment. Soc. Reg. Gotting. torn. iii. ad an. 1753, p. 21.
Michaelis. " Recueil de Questions, &c." praef. xv.
" Pour bien entendre le Vieux Testament il est absolument
necessaire d'approfondir l'Histoire Naturelle, ausis bien que les
mceurs des Orientaux. On y trouve a peu pres trois cents noms
de vegetaux : je ne sais combien de noms tires du regne

xx QUOTATIONS FROM AUTHORS.
animal, et un grande nombre qui designent des pierres preci-
euses : il est rempli d'un bout a l'autre de traits relatifs a la
Geographie et aux moeurs de l'Orient. Les erreurs com-
misses dans les anciennes versions orientales nous j:onduissent
encore a la recherche de plusieurs animaux et de plusieurs plantes,
dont la Bible ne fait point mention. En un mot, tandis que l'on
croit ne s'occuper que de l'intelligence du plus ancien des livres,
on se trouve insensiblement engage a etudier la plus grande par-
tie de l'Histoire Naturelle, et la plupart des moeurs de POrient,
matieres a quoi l'on n'auroit pas songe, si l'occasion n'en avoft
ete fournie par ce monument si memorable de l'antiquite orien-
tale. Je ne sais, en effet, nommer aucun autre livre, aucun du
moins dont le sujet soit moral, qui puisse rendre a. cet egard les
memes services aux sciences. M. le Do> teur Heilmann, dans
un discours qui a ete imprime, a fait voir combien la Philosophie
doit a l'Ecriture Sainte, et assurement l'Histoire Naturelle n'a
pas moins d'ohligations a. ce saint livre."

IV.
Aurivilius. Dissertationes ad Sacras literas et philologiam
orientalem pertinentes. Cum prmfatione J. D. Michaelis,
Gotting. 1790.
" Longe fateamur plurima adhuc desiderari ad veram cog-
nitionem Animalium quae in Biblicis memorata legimus scriptori-
bus. Neque parabuntur ilia, nisi ab his qui in Palaestina, As
syria, Arabia coram viderint, examinarint et descripserint ani
malia, quadrupedia, a ves, pisces, amphibia, insecta, vermes, turn
loca ubi commorantur, mores, ceconomiam, usum, nomina ab
incolis unicuique imposita, quin et incolarum de illis ipsa figmen-
ta atque fabulas annotaverint. Quod circa valde laudabili et
perinsigni concilio, nuperrime hoc actum, missis e Dania, Re-
gia auctoritate et impensa, viris peritissimis." [p. 308.

QUOTATIONS FROM AUTHORS. xxi

B. J. Strand. Flora Palcesfina, in Amasnit. Acad. Linn^ii.
" Quicunque enim in hoc studio laudabile quidquam praesta-
bit, versatus sit, oportet, in recondita veteris a?vi eruditione,
perlectis probe auctoribus antiquis et classicis ; ea teneat, im
primis, quae Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Plinius, Athen.*eus,
et reliqui, de veterum plantis, diaeta, medicina, et moribus
disseruere et commentati sunt. Calleat deinde linguas ple-
rasque Orientales, Hebraeum, Chaldaicam, Arabicam, Syria-
cam, caeterasque. Hauriat demum ex peregrinatorum diariis
per Palaestinam et proximas regioues confectis, qua? huic con.
ducunt operi. Sedulo perlegat Arabum scripta, imprimis bota-
nica. Ultimo non mediocriter sit versatus oportet in re her
baria, quandoquidem labor aliaa irritus saepissime evadat,"

DISSERTATIONS.

I. SCRIPTURE ARRANGEMENT OF NATURAL HISTORY.
H. ADAM NAMING THE ANIMALS.
IQ. ON THE MOSAICAL DISTINCTION OF ANIMALS INTO CLEAN
AND UNCLEAN.

DISSERTATION I.

SCRIPTURE ARRANGEMENT OF NATURAL HISTORY.

In the Mosaic account of the Creation, there is an orderly ar
rangement ofthe objects of Natural History, perfectly simple, yet
sufficiently systematic ; rising from inert matter to vegetation,
animal life, up to intellectual being. It is thus disposed in triads.
I. EARTH. 2. AIR. 3. WATER.
I. The productions of the earth, or vegetables, are ar
ranged m three classes.
1. GRASS, nun, desha, (3ot«i>>j j^tou ; which clothes the
surface of the ground with verduro This includes the smaller
herbs, which were generally thought by the ancients to be produ
ced spontaneously, without seed. " A natura tribus modis ori-
untar; sponte sua, semine fortuito, et radice."
" alias, niillis hominum cogentibus, ipsae

Sponte sua yeniunt, camposque et fluraina late
Curva tenent.
Pars autem posito surgunt de semine."
2. HERBAGE. 3K?jr osheb, " herbs yielding seed." The
larger plants, the seeds of which are conspicuous ; plants rising
higher than the grass ; including esculent vegetables ; all whose
stalk is not ligneous, and probably of annual growth.
3. TREES, fp otj. Large trees of every description and
species, including shrubs. Perennials. " Fruit bearing, whose
seed is in them," that is, in the fruit : whether the fruit, or nut,
be proper for the use of man or animals, or not. And these " ac-.
cording to their kinds ;" so that every seed or nut, should invaria
bly produce a tree, resembling the parent stock.
II. The Aquatic animals, that is to say, creatures originating
from the water, residing in it, or occasionally frequenting it, are.
also arranged in three classes.

xxiv DISSERTATION I.
1. ANIMALCULE, fit? sheretz. " The moving crea
ture that hath life." By these are meant all sorts of creatures
which creep in the water, in opposition to such as creep on the
earth, called ground reptiles, v. 25.* It designates every animal
capable of motion, which either has no feet, or those so short,
that it rather creeps than walks. I find it difficult to give a gene
ric name to this class ; it may include all the " creeping things,"
in the sea, which are very numerous, such as worms, polypi, lob
sters, crabs, shrimps, &c.
2. AMPHIBIA and FISHES. " Great whales, (or rather
crocodiles) and every living thing that moveth in the waters."
The word OJ^n taninim, in this place, cannot denote the
whale kind only, following our translation, nor merely the croco
dile, as it is most generally supposed to mean ; but must be under
stood rather as a general than & particular term, comprizing all
the great aquatic animals :
 " maris immensi proles, et genus omne natantum."

3. BIRDS, aiy ouph. " Flying creatures." The historian
of the creation, represents birds as having the same origin as
fishes. Gen. i. 20. He says nothing of fowls on the sixth day,
where he relates the production of terrestrial creatures, verses
24, 25 ; in the recapitulation ofthe works of the fifth day, verse
21, he says " God created fishes, which the waters brought forth
abundantly after their kind, and all winged fowls, according to
their species ;" and he says that God blessed what he had creat
ed the fifth day, and said, " to the fishes, multiply, and fill the
waters ofthe seas, and to the fowl, multiply on the earth."
IV. Terrestrial animals, are also divided into three classes.
1. CATTLE, nnm behemah. Bellua. By which all ani
mals capable of being domesticated, of the larger kind seem"
to be designated.
2. WILD BEASTS, rrn chiah. Ferce. Beasts of prey ;
such as roam in the forests ; carnivorous animals, such as live on
flesh, in contradistinction to domestic animals, which are grami'
nivorous, feed on grass and other, vegetables.
3. REPTILES, wot remes. Reptilia. All sorts of less ani
mals which creep on the ground ; vermin ; all the different ge-
* " Reptilia aiiimantia." Vulg. " Reptilia dicuntur qusechnque pedi-
bus carent, aut quae breves ad modum pedes habent, ita ut pedes illi non
sunt apti adgradiendum in terra. Sunt autem reptilia terrestria et dqua-
tilia." Dr. Geddes says, he translates the Hebrew word " reptiles," be
cause be could not find a better term.

DISSERTATION II. xxv
aera of worms, serpents, and such creatures as have no feet, or
numerous small feet ; comprehending not only all the serpentine
class, but all the smaller sort of animals that seem to creep rather
than to walk.
V. Intellectual Being, oik adam. "Man." The head
and lord ofthe creation.
The classification of Moses, in Deut. iv. 16, is somewhat simi
lar ; only, being there engaged in prohibiting idolatry, he says
nothing about plants and trees, which he was not much afraid
would be worshipped, if other idolatry was unknown. It stands
thus :
1. MAN. 2. BEASTS. 3. BIRDS. 4. REPTILES.
5. FISHES.
This order is followed in Levit. xi. where I. beasts are distin
guished into those ^vith a solid hoof, and those with a cloven hoof
or foot; ruminating animals,. &c. II. Birds, into (1,) those of
the land ; (2,) those ofthe air, or " flying fowl ;" and (3,) those
ofthe water which are not web-footed ; the birds of prey being
classed into (1,) those that feed on living game of all kinds ; (2,)
those that feed on dead prey ; and (3,) those that feed on fish.
III. Reptiles ; and IV. Fishes, such as have scales, and such as
have not.
The system of Solomon, 1 Kings iv. 33, was of Trees down to
the lesser vegetables; Beasts, Birds, Reptiles, and Fishes.

DISSERTATION II.
ADAM NAMING THE ANIMALS.
In the 19th and 20th verses of the second chapter of Genesis, it
is recorded, that " out of the ground, the Lord God formed every
beast ofthe field, and every fowl ofthe air, and brought them unto
Adam, to see what he would call them ; and whatsoever Adam
called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And
Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl ofthe air, and to
every beast of the field."
Our common translation here seems to intimate, that the ani
mals were now first made ; that the birds as well as beasts, were •
formed out of the ground ; that they were all brought before

xxvi DISSERTATION II.
Adam on the day in which he was created, to be named; and
that he actually gave names to every living creature ; while the
1 8th verse suggests that the reason of this presentation of the ani
mals, was that he might select a partner ; and the 20th verse that
he did not find one meet for him.
Now, from the previous history, we learn that the animals had
been created before ; the beasts from the earth, and the fowls
from the water : and may hence infer that the design ofthe histo
rian was merely now to state, that God having created the living
creatures, Adam gave names to such as were brought before him ;
and that he perceived that the creatures were paired, whereas he
had no mate.
Understanding the passage literally, however, some commen
tators have insisted that all the animals came to present them
selves before Adam, both in acknowledgment of his supremacy,
and to receive from him a name ; and that this, was all done at
one time, or in the course of a natural day. But it is not neces
sary to multiply miracles ; nor to suppose as Peyrerus cavils,
[Systemat. theol. prceadamit. hypoth. P. i. 1. iii. c. 2. p. 1 54,]
that the elephants were to come from the remote parts of India
and Africa, the bears from the polar regions, the sloth from
South-America, together with the various animals, the several
kinds of birds, and the innumerable species of reptiles and insects,
to say nothing of the tenants ofthe waters, to receive names from
Adam which could be of no use to them, and very little to him,
who might never see one of a thousand of them again, or, if he
did, be able to recollect the name which he had given. It is
enough to suppose, that the animals inhabiting the district in
which he dwelt, received from him names ; and not that the nu
merous tribes of living creatures were paraded before him, and
that he made a nomenclature ofthe appellation he saw fit to give
to each. Far less is it necessary to suppose that all the beasts
and birds appeared before Adam at once, or even on one and
the same day. Though the transaction is related in a few
words, we ought not therefore to conclude that it took up only
the space of a few hours. If we attend to the circumstances, we
should rather infer that this was a work of considerable time.
Indeed, the words of the historian, do not require us to believe
that Adam now gave names to all the living creatures, but are
rather a remark, that the names which they had, were given by
him ; not aU at once, in the space of one day, for that would have
been too much for him, but that he named them, some at one
time, and some at another in the course of his life, as they came
¦within the sphere of his observation, or incidents happened to
give occasion for his so doing.

DISSERTATION II. xxvii
There are not wanting instances in scripture, where as general
expressions as this of " every living creature," admit of great limi
tation.* So Ezek. xxxi. 6. " All the fowls of heaven made their
nests in its boughs, and under its branches did all the beasts
ofthe field bring forth their young, and under its shadow dwelt all
great nations." Thus when it is said, that Noah took all the ani
mals into the ark, it is to be understood that he took pairs or
more, as directed, of those which had become domesticated,
or particularly belonged to the region in which he dwelt ; and
the destruction of all the other animals must mean of that country
or places adjacent; for I adopt the hypothesis that the flood
was as extensive only as human population! Nor is the
expression in Gen. vi. 47, " all flesh under heaven," contrary
to this interpretation. Comp. Deut. ii. 25.
The difficulty on this subject will be greatly relieved by an
attention to the original of the passage. Our English version
says, " the Lord God brought them unto Adam, to see what he
would, call them :" but the word " them" has no authority from
the Hebrew text ; the pronoun is in the singular number, not
plural ; and the next sentence expresses this more fully, the words
being, not as rendered in our version, " whatsoever Adam called
every living creature," [there is no word in the text for " every,"]
but, whatsoever Adam called the living creature, that was the
name of 'it.
''In this way," as Dr. Shuckford suggests, [Account ofthe
Creation, Sic. p. 38.] " God was pleased to instruct and exer
cise Adam in the use of speech, to shew him how he might
use sounds of his own to be the names of things ; calling him
to give a name to one creature, and then another; and here
by putting him upon seeing how words might be made for this
purpose. Adam understood the instruction and practised ac
cording to it ;" and, accordingly in the progress of his life . as
the creatures came under his observation, he used this ability,
and gave names to them all.
After he had been called to this trial and exercise of his
voice, we find him able to give name to the woman, and like
wise to all other things as his occasions required.
Moreover, the giving names seems to imply examination, or
at least time and opportunity to mark their respective charac
ters, so as to. give them distinctive appellations. Thus the
*Mark i. 45; Luke ii 1 ; iv. 37.
f Those who feel any hesitation in admitting this, may have their objec
tions removed by consulting Stillingfleet's origines sacra, book iii. ch;
ir. Vol. ii., and Sullivan's view of nature, Vol. ii. p. 258.

xxviii DISSERTATION III.
original Hebrew names of many of the beasts and birds of that
region are apparently formed by onomatopmia. or in imitation
of their natural cries or notes : so the general name given to the
tamer animals sheep and kine, was npna beme, in which sound
the lowing of the one, and the bleating ofthe other, seems to be
imitated ; so the name of the common as,s yr\y orud, and of the
wild ass tna pra, resembles their, braying. The name ofthe ra
ven, iyj oreb, was doubtless taken from its hoarse croaking; of
the sparrow, lias tsippor, from its chirping ; of the partridge,
Sip quera, from the note she uses in calling her young; and the
murmur of the turtle-dove, is exactly expressed by its Hebrew
name, iin tur, and evidently gave rise to it. Many other instan
ces of the kind might be produced ; but these are sufficient to
shew, at least the great probability, that some of the first names
given to the several tribes of animals were derived from their re
spective notes.
Other names appear to be derived from the characteristic
qualities of the creatures ; as, for instance the camel might be
called bDJ gamel, from its revengeful temper, and the sheep,
"?m rachel, from its meekness ; the ram, Vs ajil, because agile
and active, and the goat -yyw sair, from its being hairy.
The ingenious editor of Calmet, criticising upon the name of
the stork, says, " I take this opportunity of remarking, that the
external actions of any creature, are most likely to give it an ap
pellation, before its disposition ; and that, did we know intimate
ly the actions, appearances, and manners of creatures, we should,
no doubt, find in their names, when primitive and original, very
descriptive and apt epithets."

DISSERTATION III.
ON THE MOSAICAL DISTINCTION OF ANIMALS INTO CLEAN
AND UNCLEAN.
In the eleventh chapter ofthe book of Leviticus, is a catalogue
of beasts, fishes, birds, &c. which God had either permitted the
Israelites to eat, or which were prohibited.
The marks of discrimination are the following : (1.) Of Qua
drupeds. — " The animals prohibited as unclean, were the soli-
pedes, or those with one hoof, as the horse, and the ass : the ani
mals allowed to be eaten, as clean, were the fissipedes, or those
of hoofs divided into two parts, or cloven, as oxen, deer, sheep.

DISSERTATION III. xxix
and goats. But then this distinction must be entire, not partial ;
effective, not merely apparent : and beside its external construc
tion, its internal, its anatomical construction, must also be cor
rectly correspondent to this formation. Moreover, animals
wl'.ose feet are divided into more than two parts are unclean ;
so that the number of their toes, as three, four, or five, is an
entire rejection of them, whatever other quality they may possess.
" Such appears to be the principle ofthe Levitical distinction
of animals, clean and unclean so far as relates to their feet ;
their rumination is a distinct character ; but a character abso
lutely unavailing, without the more obvious and evident marks
derivable from the construction of their members.
" We may consider the animals mentioned in this chapter, a»
instances of a rule designed for general application, which ex
cludes, {!.) all whose feet are not by one cleft, thoroughly divid
ed into two parts, as the camel. (2.) All whose feet, though
thoroughly divided by one cleft into two parts, externally, yet in
ternally by the construction of their bones differ from the charac
ter of the permitted kinds, as the swine. Though the outward
appearance of the hog's feet be like that of a cloven footed ani
mal, yet, internally, they have the same number of bones and
joints, as animals which have fingers and toes ; so that the ar
rangement of its feet bones, is into first, and second, and third
phalanges, or knuckles, no less than those of the human hand.
Beside, therefore, the absence of rumination in the hog kind,
its feet are not accordant with those of such beasts as are clean,
according to the Levitical regulations. (3.) All whose feet are
thoroughly divided by two clefts into three toes, as the saphan.
(4.) All whose feet are thoroughly divided by three clefts into
four toes, as the hare ; and therefore, a fortiori, if there beany
animals whose feet are divided into^se toes, they are so much
farther removed from the character requisite to permission.
" It is proper to recollect that the quality of rumination is one
character necessary to lawfulness, yet the saphan, though it ru
minates, is proscribed ; and the hare, though in some of its varie
ties it may ruminate, yet is the whole species declared unclean,
by reason of the construction of the feet. This, then, seems to-
be the legislative naturalist's most obvious distinction ; a distinc
tion which the eye of the unlearned can appropriate at sight, and
therefore it is adapted to public information."
The preceding remarks are taken from the author of " Scrip
ture Illustrated ;" and Michaelis in his Commentary on the laws
of Moses, article cciv. observes, " that in so early an age of the
world, we should find a systematic division of quadrupeds^ so ex
cellent as never yet, after all the improvements in Natural His-

xxx DISSERTATION III.
tory, to have become obsolete, but on the contrary, to be still
considered as useful by the greatest masters ofthe science, canrfot
but be looked upon as truly wonderful."
II. Of Fishes. — Those that were permitted for food, and de
clared clean, were " such as had fins and scales."
" Fins are analogous to the feet of land animals : as, therefore,
the sacred legislator had given directions for separating quadru
peds according to their hoofs and claws, so he directs that fishes,
which had no clear and distinct members adapted to locomotion,
should be unclean ; but those which had fins should be clean, pro
vided they had also scales : for, as we observed before, that two
requisites, a cloven hoof, and a power of rumination were neces
sary to render a quadruped lawful, so two characters are neces
sary to answer the same purpose in fishes."
III. Of Birds. — " There are no particular characters given,
for distinguishing these by classes, as clean or unclean ; but a list
of exceptions is rendered, and these are forbidden without enu
merating those which are allowed. It will be found, however, on
consideration, that those which live on grain are not prohibited ;
and, as these are the domesticated kinds, we might almost express
it in other words — that birds of prey, generally, are rejected, that
is, those with crooked beaks and strong talons ; whether they
prey on lesser fowls, on animals, or on fish : while those which
eat vegetables are admitted as lawful. So that the same princi
ple is maintained, to a certain degree, among birds, as among
beasts." IV. — All creatures that creep, going upon all four, and what
soever goeth upon the belly, or whatsoever hath more feet than
four among creeping things, are declared to be an abomination.
With regard, however, to those winged insects, which, besides
four walking legs, have also two longer, springing legs, (pedes sal-
tatorii,) an exception is made, and, under the denomination of
locusts, they are declared to be clean.
I proceed now to assign some of the reasons for this distinc
tion ; but would first premise, that from Genesis vii. 2, it seems
to have been recognised before the giving ofthe law from Sinai :
on which, however, Spencer, de legibus Hcbrceorum, 1. i. c. v.
remarks, that Moses, writing to the Israelites who already knew
the law, makes mention of clean and unclean animals, (in the
same manner as he does of the Sabbath in the history ofthe crea
tion,) by way of anticipation. The passage, therefore, may mere
ly intimate that of the more useful animals, Noah took a greater
number, and of those that were less so, only pairs.
Cun^us, de republica Hebrceorum, c. xxiv. 1. ii. declares that
though no doubt the law for the distinction of animals, in the 1 1 th

DISSERTATION III. xxxi
chapter of Leviticus, were enacted with wise counsel, yet the
special reason of the lawgiver cannot be known. Others, how
ever, have undertaken to assign various reasons for it ; and these,
as adduced by Spencer, Lowman, Michaelis, and several learn
ed writers, I propose to collect and state, intermixing such re
marks and illustrations, as have been suggested to me in the
course of that laborious investigation, which I have given to this
subject. The Scripture, which is our safest guide in inquiries of this na
ture, informs us that the design was both moral and political, be*
ing intended to preserve the Jews a distinct people from the na
tions of idolatry. This is declared Levit. xx. 24, 25, and 26.
" I am the Lord your God, who have separated you from other
people ; ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts
and unclean : and ye shall not make yourselves abominable by
beast or by fowl, or by any living thing that creepeth on the
ground, which I have separated from you as unclean : and ye
shall be holy unto me, for I the Lord am holy, and have severed
you from other people, that ye should be mine." As if Jehovah
had said, " I have selected you from, and exalted you far above
the ignorant and idolatrous world. Let it be your care to con
duct ^yourselves worthy of this distinction. Let the quality of
your food, as well as the rites of your worship, display your pecu
liar and holy character. Let even your manner of eating be so
appropriate, so pure, so nicely adjusted by my law, as to con
vince yourselves, and all the world, that you are indeed separat
ed from idolaters, and devoted to me alone."* Agreeably with
this, Moses tells them, Deut. xiv. 2, 3, 31, " The Lord hath
chosen you to be a peculiar people unto himself. Ye shall not
eat any abominable thing. Ye shall not eat any thing that dieth
of itself ; ye shall give it to the stranger, or sell it to an alien ; for
ye are a holy people." That is, since God has invested you
with singular honour and favour, you ought to reverence your
selves ; you ought to disdain the vile food of Heathen idolaters ;
such food you may lawfully give or sell to foreigners ; but a due
self-respect forbids you to eat it."
I. The immediate and primary intention of the law, was, as I
apprehend, to break the Israelites from the ill habits they had
been accustomed to, or indulged in Egypt, and to keep them for
ever distinct from that corrupt people, both in principles and prac
tices ;t and, by parity of reason, from all other idolatrous
* Dr. Tappan's Lectures, p. 260.
f This was the opinion of Minutius F^lix. which his commentator Au-
relius has supported by many testimonies ofthe ancients ; see also Basil,
Orat. vi. p. 34; Oricen. 1. iii. iv. contra Cels. p. 225, ed. Spsncer and
Theodoret, Quest, in Levit.

xxxii DISSERTATION III.
nations. No more simple nor effectual method could be devised
for preventing all ensnaring intercourse, or dangerous assimilation,
than by a law regulating their food ; for nothing separates one
people from another more than that one should eat what the
other considers as unlawful, or rejects as improper. Those who
cannot eat and drink together, are never likely to become inti
mate. We see an instance of this in the case of the Egyptians,
who, from time immemorial had been accustomed to consider
certain animals as improper for food, and therefore to avoid all
intercourse with those who ate, or even touched what they deem
ed defiling. [See Gen. xliii. 32.] Hence they and the He
brews could not eat together; and of course could not associate
or live together. Accordingly, they assigned that people, when
they had come down to dwell in their country, a separate dis
trict for their residence : for some of the animals which the He
brews ate, were, among them not indeed unclean, but sacred, being
so expressly consecrated to a deity, that they durst not slaughter
them.* The Hebrews by killing and eating these animals, must
appear not only odious but sacrilegious, transgressing the rules of
good behaviour and offending the gods.' Other animals, as seve
ral of the birds of prey, were also held sacred by the Egyptians, or
were venerated in the rites of augury .t The Hebrews being in-
* So the poet Anaximandrides, in Athen.eo Dienosoph, 1. vii. p. 299,
thus ridicules the Egyptians :
OUK ttV $UV&l[Am ffUfJLJUCLXjclV v/juv iyu?
OuS-1 o; TgwM 7/ctg b^ovaa"' ts& ot vofAM
Hfjum, mi hl7M>\w St Stiyitni mw &c. '
Ego esse vester non queam commilito,
Quando nee leges nee mores consentiunt,
tied raultis inter se intervallis dissident.
Bovem tu adoras, ego quem sacrifico Diis :
Anguillam numen esse reris optimum,
Quas mini putatur esse optimum obsonium.
Non vesceris suilla : mini nulla caro est
Qua; sapiat melius.
So Juvenal, Sat. xv, says of the Egyptians :
" Lanati* animalibus abstinet omnis
Mensa : nei'as illic fcettim jugulare capellas."
Damas, Opera ad calcem, declares, " Egyptii coluerunt cattuin, et ca-
nem, et lupum, el simiam, et draconem. Alii cepas, et allia, et spinas."
The ox was sacred to Apis, the dog to Ahubis, &c.
, •(¦ The hawk was dedicated to Osiris, the eagle to the god Ammon of The-
bais, the raven to Orus. The custom of consecrating all the birds of prey
to the gods, came originally from the Egyptians. According to /Elian, I.

DISSERTATION III. xxxiii
structed to consider these as unclean, would be prevented from
the indulgence of the like superstition. Hence Origen, contra
Celsum, 1. iv. justly admired the Jewish ritual, and observes that
those animals which are prohibited by Moses, were such as were
reputed sacred by the Egyptians, and used in divination by other
nations. To. vo/A.t^ci>fMva, wag ktyviflmg, km tok Aoiflw tuv <m-
fyunw /MnvliKoi. And Montfaucon, in his Hexapl. Orig. has
published a fragment of Eusebius Emisenus, from a manuscript
Catena in the library ofthe king of France, which may be thus
translated : " God wills that they should eat some kinds of flesh,
and that they should abstain from others, not that any of them in
themselves were common or unclean, but this he did on two ac
counts ; the one was that he would have those animals to be eaten
which were worshipped in Egypt, because eating them would ren
der their pretensions most contemptible. And, pursuant to the
same opinion, he forbids the eating of those kindi which the
Egyptians used to eat very greedily and luxuriously, as the swine,
&c. The other reason was, that their properties and natures
seemed to lay a prejudice in the way of some of these, and to
render them, as it were, a sort of profanation. Some were
monstrously big, others very ugly, others fed upon dead bodies,,
and to others, human nature had an inbred antipathy ; so that, in
the main, what the law forbid, was nature's aversion before."
Thus were the Jews taught to distinguish themselves from that
people, not only in their religious worship,' not being allowed
"to sacrifice the abomination ofthe Egyptians," Exod. viii. 26,
but to deviate from them in the most common actions in life.
By having a diet peculiar to themselves, by eating in one in
stance that to which the others attributed a certain sanctity, as
the ox, the sheep, and the goat, and by holding in detestation,
those creatures which the others venerated as sacred, as the
hawk, &lc. they would be precluded from all intimacy or agree
ment; and of course from becoming corrupted by their idolatries
or addicted to their superstitions.*
Not only were the Egyptians, but other heathen nations, and
particularly the Canaanites, grossly corrupt in their manners,
morals, and worship : and this restriction with respect to diet,
was alike calculated to prevent intimacies with them ; so that
xii. they were distributed in the following manner ; " Accipitres distributi
sunt, autem et consecrati variis diis. Perdicarius et oxyvteros Apollimb
ministri sunt, utferunt ossifraga et harpe sacra sunt Minerva:. Plumba-
rio »Iercurium delectari aiunt. Jcnoni dedicatur tanysipteros ; Dianas
buteo ; Matri deum mermnus ; alii denique aliis diis."
* Ch.eremon, in Porphtrv de Abstinentia, I. iv. c. 7, tells us that the
Egyptian priests would not eat any sort of fish which their country afford
ed, nor any animals that had solid hoqfs,ot divided paws, or horns.

xxxiv DISSERTATION III.
in no instance should *' their table become a snare, or their en
tertainments a trap." Psal. lxix. 22.
" This statute, above all others, established not only a politi
cal and sacred, but a physical separation of the Jews from all
other people. It made it next to impossible for the one to mix
with the other either in meals, in marriage, or in any familiar
connexion. Their opposite customs in the article of diet not
only precluded a friendly and comfortable intimacy, but generat
ed mutual contempt and' abhorrence. The Jews religiously ab
horred the society, manners, and institutions ofthe Gentiles, be
cause they viewed their own abstinence from forbidden meats as
a token of peculiar sanctity, and of course regarded other nations,
who wanted this sanctity, as vile and detestable. They consi
dered themselves as secluded by God himself from the profane
world, by a peculiar worship, government, law, dress, mode of
living, and country.* Though this separation from other people,
on which the law respecting food was founded, created in the
Jews a criminal pride and hatred of the Gentiles ; yet it forcibly
- operated as a preservative from heathen idolatry by precluding
all familiarity with idolatrous nations."!
So bigoted were the Jews in the observance of this law, that
by no reproaches, no threats, nor sufferings, nay hardly by a new
command from God himself, could they be brought to lay it aside.
See 1 Maccab. i. 63; Ezek. iv. 14; Acts x. 14.
¦ Though some thousand years have passed since this discrimi
nating ritual was given to the Jews, and though they have been
scattered abroad among every nation upon earth ; though their
government and temple have been entirely destroyed, yet this
prohibition of particular foods has been regarded, and has serv
ed, with other reasons, to keep them distinct and separate from
every other people.
We find Peter, after the vision recorded in the 10th chapter of
the Acts, when he had entered fhe house of Cornelius, observed
to the people who were present, " Ye know that it is not lawful
for a man that is a Jew to keep company with, or come unto one
* "Amsteas (Hist. Septuag. bibl Gr. Pair. torn. 2- p 870.; cuidam ob-
jicieuti, n/xtgw toi? m\Kois m^Kgyixi «£«», 8fc. Multis visum esse, multa inlege
temcre comprehensa, ut ilia qua de cibo e: potu, et animalibus Mis qua kaben-
tur impura, tradita sunt ; sic apud auciorem ilium respondetur, cernis quid
possint et efficiant conversatio et consuetudo, quod homines ex conversation
improborum depraventur et fiant miseri per totam vitam. Hoc diligenter
eontemplatus, uipote sapiens legislator noster, ne per impietatis ullius com-
municalionem inficeremur, neve conversatione improborum depravaremwr,
circumsepsit nos legali sanctitaie et pwitate, cibi, potus, tactus, auditus et
visus." t Tappak's Lectures, p. 263.

DISSERTATION III. xxiv
of another nation ; but God hath shewed me that I should call no
man unclean." — " Here," says Mr. Jones, in his Zoologia Ethir
ca, " we have an apostolical comment upon the sense of the
vision. God had shewed him that henceforward he should call
no living creatures unclean which were in any sense proper for
food ; and by these brutes of all kinds he understands men of all
nations. And, without question, he applied the vision to what
the wisdom of God intended to express by it. The case was this :
St. Peter, as a Jew, was bound to abstain from all those animals,
the eating of which was prohibited by the law of Moses: but
God shewed him that he should no longer account these animals
unclean. And what does he understand by it ? That he should
no longer account the heathen so. "God hath shewed me that I
should call no man common or unclean ; or, to speak in' other
words borrowed from the apostle, "God hath shewed me that a
Jew is now at liberty to keep company with, or come unto one of
another nation ;" which, so long as the Mosaic distinction betwixt
clean and unclean beasts was in force, it was not lawful for him
to do."
II. Another reason for the distinction was, that, as the Jews
were a people peculiarly devoted to God, they should be reminded
of that relation by a particularity of diet, which should serve emble
matically as a sign of their obligation to study moral purity.
This is expressly given as the reason, Levit. xi. 43, 44," and 45^
(referring to the forbidden animals) " Ye shall not make your
selves unclean with them that you may be, defiled thereby ; for I
am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt to be
your God, ye shall therefore be holy for 1 am holy."
The meaning of which is, 'I Jehovah who am distinguished from
all other gods, am your peculiar sovereign, and have selected and
separated you from all other people ; therefore, you must be
holy, and, as indicative of this, you are distinguished from all
other people by sacred manners ar\d institutions, and especially
by a distinction in the articles of your food, that you may know
yourselves to be set apart from all other nations of the world, and
in your very diet evidence to them the purity which you should
'in every thing cherish and preserve.' — As thus Jehovah meant to
impress on his people a constant sense of his own infinite purity,
as the Holy One of Israel, so \\e meant to habituate them to re
gard and honour him as such by the conspicuous purity both of
their manners and worship. Not one of ihe Pagan gods so much
as pretended to purity of character, or claimed to be worshipped
under the title of the Holy One. Far from this, even the wor
ship of these gods was frequently performed by impure rites, and

xxxvi DISSERTATION 111.
the use of vile and filthy animals,* by which the worshippers pro
claimed the foul character of their deities. On the contrary, tbe
pure ceremonies of the Hebrews constantly reminded them of
the immaculate purity of Jehovah, and this nice distinction of
meats was fitted to teach them the rudiments of moral purity or
true holiness; Isai. lxv. 3, 4; lxvi. 17.
As several ofthe remarks adapted to this head were anticipat
ed in the preceding, I go on to state other reasons for the disi
tinction between animals as clean and unclean in the Levitical
institute. III. It has been suggested that the quality of the food itself is
an important consideration, and that to the eating of certain animals
may be ascribed a specific influence on the moral temperament.
I introduce this topic rather because it is insisted upon so much
among the ancient Jewish interpreters, than because I consider
it of any real force or importance, lt savours strongly of the al
legorical style of reasoning and interpretation in which the Rab
bins delighted. There are several mischnical tracts devoted to
this explication. One of them says, " As the body is the seat of
the soul, God would have it a fit instrument for its companion,
and therefore removes from his people all those obstructions
which may hinder the soul in its operations ; for which reason
all such meats are forbidden as breed ill blood ; among which if
there may be some whose hurtfulness is neither manifest to us
nor to physicians, wonder not at it, for the faithful physician who
forbids them is wiser than any of us."t
The moral, or tropological reasons, alleged by Arist^sus, in
Eusebius Praep. Evang. 1. viii. c. 9, are in substance, (for the
whole passage is long, though curious,) that the Jews should, by
these inhibitions and limitations, be secured and fenced from
whatever contagion or immorality might otherwise invade them
and spread among them from any heathen or idolatrous quarter ;
and also to teach them morality even in their food, for the birds
and beasts allowed were of the tame and gentler kinds, and not
of fierce and voracious natures, to teach them the great truths of
justice, moderation and kindness.
The learned Wagenseil, also, in his Annotations on that title
in the Mischna called "Sota," fol. 1171, discusses the moral rea
sons of these precepts.
* This is the prevailing reason assigned by the falhers of the christian
church: See Theodoret, qua;st xi. in Levit. Cvrij l. Ai.exandr. I. ix.
contra Julian, p. 302. Origen, Homil. vii. in Levit. ClemI Alex. Strom.
1. v. Opera, torn. ii. p. 677. Novatian, de cibis lud. c. iii. Eusbr.
L'misen. in Kexapl. Moulf. p. 120.
+ Levi Barcelona, Precept. Ixxix.

DISSERTATION III. xxxvii
In a volume by the Rev. William Jones, entitled " Zoologia
Ethica," this particular construction is largely insisted upon.
The learned Ainsworth in his Commentary, has extended
these reasons to (he borders of mysticism. His remarks are:
" The parting of the hoof signified the right discerning of the
word and will of God, the difference between the law and the
gospel, and the walking in obedience to the word of God, with a
right foot. The chewing of the cud signified the meditating in
the law of God, night and day," &c.
IV. Another reason for the distinction here made, was, without
doubt, dietetical, and to make a distinction between wholesome
and unwholesome food. Those animals are denominated clean
which afford a copious and wholesome nutriment, and those un
clean, whose flesh is unwholesome, and yields a gross nutriment,
often the occasion of scrofulous and scorbutic disorders. Mai-
monides, More Nevochim, p. iii. c. 48, discourses at large upon
this subject ; Wagenseil, Conf. Carm. R. Lipmanni, p. 556,
defends it ; and Michaelis, in his Commentary on the Laws of
Moses^ article cciii. assigns it as the principal reason.
The special propriety of it may be found, also in the situation
of those regions in which the Jews resided, in which, the flesh of
some animals was more unwholesome than it would be in a more
northern climate. Their sultry climate made it necessary to be
considerate in the use of food, as they were exposed to inflamma
tory and putrid disorders. So that the wisdom of the interdic
tion of those kinds of flesh which tend soon to corruption, is very
evident. Blood, in particular, is not only difficult of digestion in
the stomach, but easily putrifies ; and so the flesh of strangled
animals, or of wild animals heated by the chase, and full of blood,
soon becomes corrupt. The free use of very fat meat, is always
prejudicial to health ; and is the cause of bilious and putrid
disorders. The flesh of the swine, in particular, which is gene
rally supposed to breed the leprosy, as an aliment must have
been highly improper for a people, so subject to leprosies as the
Jews appear to have been.*
* Mr. Beloe, in his note upon Herodotus, " Euterpe." 5 Ixxii. has the .
following remark : " Antiphanes in Athenaeus, addressing himself to the
Egyptians, says, ' You adore the ox ; I sarrifice to the gods. You rever
ence the eel as a very powerful deity ; we consider it as the daintiest of
food.' Antiphanes and the Greek writers, who amused themselves with
ridiculing the religions ceremonies of Egypt, were doubtless ignorant of
the motive which caused this particular fish to be proscribed. Tbe flesh of
the eel, and some other fish, thickened the blood, and by checking the per
spiration, excited alt those maladies connected with the leprosy. Tlie
Priests forbade the people to eat it, and, to render their prohibition more
effectual, they pretended to regard these fish as sacred.''

xxxviii DISSERTATION III.
Of those animals whose flesh the Israelites were prohibited
from eating, most sought their food in filthy places, lived on prey,
or fed on carrion ; so that their juices were in a state strongly
tending to putrescence ; of course, their flesh was very unfit for
the purposes of nutrition.
Agreeably to this opinion, Dr. James, the learned author ofthe
Medicinal Dictionary, under the article ' Alcali," after having
made some critical remarks on the nature of alcalescent aliments,
and their effects on the human body, — and commented on the va
rious animals clean and unclean, enumerated in the Levitical in
stitute, draws the following conclusion : " From what has been
said in relation to the alcalescence of animal aliment, one reason
at least will appear, why it pleased the Supreme Being to forbid
the Jews, a people that inhabited a very warm climate, the use
of many sorts of animals as food; and, why they were enjoined
to take away a great deal of blood from those which they were
allowed to eat."
On the whole, as Mr. Lowman justly observes, " the food
allowed to the chosen nation was of the milder sort, of the most
common and domestic animals ; creatures ofthe cleanest feeding,
which afforded the most palatable and nourishing meat, and which
by a proper care might be had in the greatest plenty and perfec
tion. If the Jews, as a select and holy people, ought to have
any distinction of foods, surely none could have been devised
more proper than this. Was not this far better than to license
and encourage the promiscuous hunting of wild beasts and birds
of prey, less fit for food, more difficultto be procured, and hardly
consistent with a domestic, agricultural, and pastoral life ? Did
not the restrictions in question, tend to promote that health and
ease, that useful cultivation of the soil, that diligence, mildness, .
and simplicity, that consequent happiness and prosperity, which
were among the chief blessings ofthe promised land?"
The following passage, translated from Tertullian, adv.
Marc. 1. ii. c. 18, in fine, may be a fit conclusion of this disser
tation: " If the law takes away the use of some sorts of meat, and
pronounces creatures unclean, that were formerly held quite oth
erwise, let us consider that the design was to inure them to tem
perance, and look upon it as a restraint laid upon gluttons, who
hankered after the cucumbers, and melons of Egypt, whilst they
were eating the food of angels. Let us consider it too, as a re
medy at the same time against excess and impurity, the usual at
tendants on gluttony. It was partly, likewise, to extinguish the
love of money, by taking away the pretence of its being necessary
for providing of sustenance. It was, finally, to enable men to fast
with less inconvenience upon religious occasions, by using them
to a moderate and plain diet."

DISSERTATION III. xxxix
The following catalogue of the birds forbidden, written " in
English metre," is extracted from the Bibliotheca Biblica, V. iii.
p. 142, ed. 4to. 1725, where it is printed in the old black letter.

" Of feathred Foules that fanne the bucksom aire,
Not all alike weare made for foode to Men ;
lor, these thou shalt not eat doth God declare,
Twice tonne their nombre, and their flesh uuclene :
Fyrst the greit Engle, hyrde of feigned Jove,*
Which Thebanes worshippef and diviners love.
" Next Ossifrage, and Ospray, (both one kinde,){
Of luxurie and rapine, emblems mete,
That haunte the shores, the choicest preye to linde.
And brast the bones, and scoope the marrowe swete :
The Vulture, void of delicace and feare,
Who spareth not the pale dede man to teare :
" The tall-built Swann, faire type of pride contest ;
Tbe Pelicane, whose sons are nurst with bloode,
Eorbidd io man ! she stabbeth deep her breast,
Self-murtheresse through fondnesse to hir broode
They too that range the thirstie wilds emong,
Tbe Ostryches, uoihoughtful of tliir yonge. \
" The Raven ominous, (as Gentiles holde)
What time she croaketh hoarsely a ia morte ;
The Hawke, aerial hunter, swifte and bolde,
In feate'- of mischief tray ned for disporte ;
The vocale Cuckorve, of the fail Icon race,
Obscene intruder in her neighbor's place :
" The Orule demure, who loveth not the lighte,
(III semblance she of wisdome to the Greeke)
The smallest fouls dradd foe, the coh ard Kile,
And the stille Heme, arresting-fishes meeke ;
The glutton Cormorante, of sullen moode,
liegardyng no distinction in his foode.
" The Storke, which dwelleth on the fir-tree topp,|| '
And trusteth that no power shall hir dismaye,
As Kinges, on their high stations place thir hope,
Nor wist that there be higher farr thau theye ;H
The gay Gier-Eagle, beau! Hull to viewe,
Bearyng within a savage herte untrewe ••

* Vid. Natal. Com. de Mythol. 1. ii. cap. de Jove.
f Diodor. Sicul. lib. i. JGesner, de avib.
5 Job xxxix. 16. (] Psalm civ. 17. T Eccles. v. 8.

si DISSERTATION III.
" The Ris whome in Egypte Israel found,
Fell byrd ! that living serpents can digest ;
The crested Laprvynge, wailing shrill arounde,
Solicitous, with no contentment blest ;
Last the foul Batt,* of byrd and beast first bredde,
Flitting with littel leathren sailes dispredde."

* Aritt. de animal, I. iv. c. 13.

THE

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BIBLE,

Adamant, vw schmir. aaamas, Ecclus. xvi. 16.
A stone of impenetrable hardness. Sometimes this name is
given to the diamond ; and so it is rendered Jeremiah xvii. 1.
But the Hebrew word rather means a very hard kind of stone,
probably the smieis, which was also used for cutting, engraving,
and polishing other hard stones and crystals.* The word occurs
also in Ezek. iii. 9, and Zech. vii. 12. In the former place the
Deity says to the prophet, " I have made thy forehead as an ada
mant, firmer than a rock ;" that is, endued thee with undaunted
courage. In the latter place, the hearts of wicked men are de
clared to be as adamant ; neither broken by the threatenings
and judgments of God, nor penetrated by his promises, invita
tions, and mercies. See Diamond.
ADDER. A venomous serpent, more usually called the
Viper. In our translation of the Bible we find the word adder five
times ; but without sufficient authority from the original.t
ps'Siy shephiphon, Genesis xlix. 1 7, is probably the Ceras
tes ;\ a serpent of the viper kind, of a light brown colour, which
lurks in the sand and the tracks of wheels in the road, and unex
pectedly bites not only the unwary traveller, but the legs of
* Or "the art of polishing and engraving on precious stones," the most
curious and ingenious of all antiquity, see a learned chapter in Goguet, Origin
^flatus, arts, and sciences, Vol. II. p. 3. edit. Edinb.
f Gen. xlix. 17. Psal. lviii. 4. xci. \3. cxl. 3. Prov. xxiii. 32.
t So say St. Jehom and. Bochart ; and it is so rendered in the Vulgate. There
is a serpent, whc-^e name in Arabic is sipphon, which is probably the same that
js spoken of above. See Michaelis, Jiecusil de Quest, lxii,
VOL. I. 1

2 THE NATURAL HISTORY
horses and other beasts.* By comparing the Danites to this
artful reptile, the patriarch intimated that by stratagem more than
by open bravery, they should avenge themselves of their enemies
and extend their conquests.
tna pethen, in Psalm lviii. 4. xci. 13, signifies an Asp. We
may perhaps trace to this the Python of the Greeks and its de
rivatives. See Asp.
aiBoy achsub, found only in Psalm cxl. 3, is derived from
a verb which signifies to bend back on itself. The Chaldee Pa- ,
raphrasts render it ty'33j? acchabis, which we translate else
where, spider ; they may therefore have understood it to be the
tarantula. It is rendered asp by the Septuagint and Vulgate,
and is so taken Rom. iii. 13. The name is from the Arabic
achasa. But there are several serpents which coil themselves
previously to darting on their enemy : if this be a character of
the asp, it is not peculiar to that reptile. It may be the snake
mentioned by Forskal, called by the Arabians hannasch asuozd.
j?3S tzepha, or '•iyas tziphoni, Prov. xxiii. 32. Isai. xi. 8. xiv.
29. lix. 5. and Jerem. viii. 17. is that deadly serpent called the
basilisk, said to kill with its very breath. See Cocatrice.
In Psal. lviii. 5. reference is made to the effect of musical
sounds over serpents. That they might be rendered tame and
harmless by certain charms, or soft and sweet sounds, and train
ed to delight in music, was an opinion which prevailed very ear
ly and universally.
Many ancient authors mention this effect ;t Virgil speaks of
it particularly, iEn. vii. v. 750.
" Quin et Marrubia venit de gente sacerdos,
Fronde super galeam et felici comptus oliva,
Archippi regis missu fortissinius Umbro;
Vipereo generi, etgraviter spirantibus hydris
Spargere qui somnos cantuque manuque solebal,
Mulcebatque iras, et morsus arte levabat."
" Umbro, the brave Marrubian priest was there,
Sent by the Marsian monarch to the war.

-ev £* ci/mlQois-iv

Atirxoi; tT' ev /ZuCwri, K&iiy-vvo-tv atrKih*; fitu-ro?
Mo^fiot em Tp !<p eral. Nicander, Theriac. V. 262.
Lean, dun of hue, the snake in sands is laid,
Or haunts within the trench that wheels have made ;
Against thee straight on onward spires he glides, —
And bites the horse's leg, or cattle's sides.
See also ./Elian 1. xvi. c. 28. Diod. 1. iii. c. ?8. Bochaiit, Hierozoicon, p. ii.
1. iii. c. xii. p. 205. Vol. 3. edit. Rosknmuller.
f Apol. Knon. Argonaut f. iv. c. 177. and others quoted at large by Bochaet,
Hieroz. 1. iii, c. 6. vol. 3. p. 182.

OF THE BIBLE. S
Tbe smiling olive with her verdant boughs
Shades his bright helmet and adonis his brows ;
His charms in peace the furious serpent keep,
And lull the envenomed viper's race to sleep ;
His healing hand allay'd the raging pain,
And at his touch tbe poisons fled again." Pitt.
Mr. Boyle, in his essay on the great effects of languid motion,*
quotes the following passage from Sir H. Blunt's voyage into
the Levant.!
" Many rarities of living creatures I saw in Grand Cairo ;
but the most ingenious was a nest of serpents of two feet long,
black and ugly, kept by a Frenchman, who, when he came to
handle them, would not endure him, but ran and hill in their hole.
Then he would take his cittern and play upon it. They, hear
ing his music, came all crawling to his feet, and began to climb
up him, till he gave over playing, then away they ran."
Shaw, Bruce, and indeed ail travellers who have been in
the Levant, speak ofthe charming of serpents as a thing not only
possible, but frequently seen. J
The deaf adder, or asp, may either be a serpent of a species
naturally deaf, for such kinds are mentioned by Avicenna, as
quoted by Bochart ; or one deaf by accident ; or on account of
its appearing to be so. In either case, in the language of poetry,
it may be said to stop its ear, from its being proof against all the
efforts of the charmer.
" Ad quorum cantus mites jacuere cerastae."
In the same manner a person of no humanity, in comparison is
said to stop his ears at the cry of the poor, Prov. xxi. 13 and
from the hearing of blood, Isai. xxxiii. 15. The Psalmist, there
fore, who was speaking of the malice and slandering lips of the
wicked, compares their promptitude to do mischief, to the subtle
venom of serpents. And he carries the allusion farther by inti
mating that they were not only as hurtful and pernicious, but that
they stopped their ears likewise against the most persuasive en
treaties, as the asp made itself deaf to the voice of enchanters,
charming never so wisely.
The comparison betwixt a malevolent tongue and the bite of a
serpent is illustrated from other texts of scripture. Thus, Eccles.
x. 1 1 . Surely the serpent will bite notwithstanding enchantment ;
and the babbler is no better, that is, is equally perverse. So
Jerem. viii. 17. I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you,
which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you. On this place
* p. 71. edit. 1685. t P- 81. edit. 5.
± See many curious authorities in Parkuudst, Heb. lex. under iSTP.

4 THE NATURAL HISTORY
Dr* Blaney remarks ; " That some persons possessed the faculty
of rendering serpents harmless, is a fact too well attested by his
torians and travellers to admit of contradiction. But by what
means this effect was produced is not quite so clear. The scrip
ture word wrh seems to be used in conformity to the vulgar
opinion, ascribing to it the power of certain cabbalistical words
and incantations muttered through the teeth. This, indeed, we
have reason to believe, was in general no other than a deception
of the common people, by those who were in possession of physi
cal discoveries, in order to procure more veneration and respect.
— But whatever were the methods commonly practised, the ene
mies of the Jews are here compared to such serpents as were not
to be mollified nor disarmed by any of those means ; "they shall
bite you, saith Jehovah."
The passage which led to this digression, Psal. lviii. 5, 6. re
quires a farther illustration; and it is furnished by the author of
" Scripture Illustrated." " After mentioning the obstinacy of
his enemies, which David compares to the untamed malignant
spirit of a serpent, our translators make him add, break out their
teeth, O God, in their mouth; break out the teeth of the young
lions. This, indeed, is the most certain and effectual mode of
depriving serpents of their power to hurt ; for through the fangs
they convey the deadly poison into the wound they make. But
it is a very violent transition from the reptile tribe, the serpent, to
young lions. And why young lions ? The passage requires
Strong lions to equal, much more to augment, the ideas already
attached to the poisonous bite of serpents. To which we ought
to add, that immediately afterwards the writer returns to the rep
tile tribe, the slug, or snail, (rendered, by error, waters.) With
what propriety then does the lion, the young lion, come in be
tween them? Would it not be better to render instead of
msD capharim, emsjo ci-apharim, from aphar, dust; and
to consider the word as denoting serpents which dwell in dust, or
spotted over as with dust, speckled serpents ?
In our version of the bible, the lion is again found in the com
pany of serpents, and even like them to be trodden upon. Psal.
xci. 13. lt should be remarked that the most ancient interpre
ters suppose a snake of some kind to be meant ; and Bochart
thinks it to be the black-serpent or hoemorhous. The word
rendered young lion may be the cenchris, which Nicander, The-
riac, v. 463, calls Mov oliqXk, a spotted lion. Spotted, because he
is covered with specks ; a lion, because, like that animal, he rais
es his tail when about to fight ; and because, like the lion, he
bites and fills himself with blood."

OF THE BIBLE. 5
AGATE, m schebo. Exod. xxviii. 19. xxxix. 1 J. In the
Septuagint A^wnjf, and Vulgate Achates.
A precious stone, semi-pellucid. Its variegations are some
times most beautifully disposed ; representing plants, trees,
rivers, clouds, &c.
Its Hebrew name is perhaps derived from the country whence
the Jews imported it; for the merchants of Sheba brought to
the market of Tyre all kinds of precious stones and gold. Ezek.
xxvii. 22.
The translators of the bible have in Isa. liv. 1 2. and Ezek.
xxvii. 1G», given the same word to quite a different stone. The
original is i:m, which, as in the former place it is proposed for
windows, I am inclined to render talc ; though Bp. Lowth and
Mr. Dodson make it the ruby.*
The agate was the second stone in the third row of the pecto
ral ofthe High Priest. Exod. xxxiii. 19, and xxxiii. 12.
ALABASTER. AAaSanrT^ov. Perhaps the name is from the
species of whitish stone called in Arabic, batsraton, and add
ing the article al; al-batsraton : a species of onyx.t
The Septuagint once use tt.Ka&a.cr(>o<;, 2 Kings xxi. 13. for the
Hebrew nros, a dish, or platter ; and the word occurs' in the
Greek of Matth. xxvi. 7. Mark xiv. 3. and Luke vii. 37.
The name of a genus nf fossils nearly allied to marble. It is a
bright, elegant stone, sometimes of a snowy whiteness. It may
be cut freely, and is capable of a fine polish. Being of a soft na
ture, it is wrought into any form or figure with ease. Vases or
cruises were antiently made of it, wherein to preserve odorifer
ous liquors and ointments. Pliny, and others represent it as pe
culiarly proper for this purpose. J And the druggists in Egypt
have, at this day, vessels made of it in which they keep their
medicines and perfumes. Herodotus, § among the presents sent
byCAMBYSES to the king of Ethiopia, mentions Mv^ou AA«€«<rT*ov :
Theocritus, 2v§k» $i [Av^m %tp<ru uAa^curr^oi gilded alabasters
* Veram nominis significationem ipse adhuc ignorans, non earn docturus lec-
tores commentor, sed hoc unum docturus nihil nos scire." Michaelis Supl.
Lex. Ueb.
" Chodchod quid significet usque in prasentiam invenire non potui." Jeroju:.
in Ezek
f Comp. Pnif. Nat. Hist: 1. xxxvi. c. 7. " Onychem etiamnum in Arabia mon-
tibus, nee usquam alicubi, nasci putavere nostri veteres" et lib. xxxvi . c. 8.
" Hunc aliqni lapidem alabastriten vocant, quem cavant ad vasa unguentaria,
quoniam optime servare incorrupta dicitur." Between the Nile and the Red
Sea, in Egyptian Arabia, was a city hence called Alabastha. Pun. lib. v. c. 9. -
, + " Vas unguentariumj quod ex alabastrite lapide ad unguenta a corruptione
conserVanda excavare solebant." Pun. N. H. lib', xiii. c. 2. Atbek. 1. vi. 19.
xv. 13. Plutarch in Alexandr. p. 676. Tbeocbitus, Idyl. xv. v. 114.
§ Lib. iii. c. 50.

6 THE NATURAL HISTORY
of Syrian ointment ; and Cicero, alabaster plenus unguenti.
Whence we learn that the term was used for the vase itself.
In Matth. xxvi. 6, 7, we read that Jesus being at table in Beth
any, in the house of Simon the leper, Mary, the sister of Laza
rus and of Martha, came thither and poured an alabaster box of
ointment on his head. As to the expression, breaking the box, it
merely implies, that the seal upon the vase, which closed it, and
kept the perfume from evaporating, had never been- removed, but
that it was on this occasion broken, that is, first opened.*
Dr. Adam Clarke assigns the following reasons for this con
struction, (1.) That it is not likely that a box, (vase, or bottle,)
exceedingly precious in itself, should be broken to get out its
contents. (2.) That the broken pieces would be very inconve
nient if not injurious to the head of our Lord, and to the hands of
the woman. (3.) That it would not be easy effectually to sepa
rate the oil from the broken pieces. And, (4.) That it was a cus
tom in the eastern countries to seal the bottles with wax that held
the perfumes. t So that to come at their contents no more was
necessary than to break the seal, which this woman appears to
have done ; and when the seal was thus broken, she had no more
to do than to pour outi the liquid ointment, which she could not
have done had she broken the bottle.
ALGUM. oj^k or tp'DU^N algummim, 1 Kings x. 11, 12.
This is the name of a kind of wood, or tree, large quantities of
which were brought by the fleet of Solomon from Ophir, of
which he made pillars for the house of the Lord, and for his own
palace, also musical instruments. See Almug.
ALMOND-TREE, tib luz. Arabic, lauz. Translated hazel,
Gen. xxx. 37,J "tpt? shakad, rendered almond, Gen. xliii. 11,
Exod. xxv. 33, 34, xxxvii. 19, 20, Numb. xvii. 8, Eccles. xii. 5,
and Jer. i. 1 1 . The first name may be that of the tree ; the oth
er, that of the fruit, or nut.
A tree resembling the peach tree in its leaves and blossoms,
but the fruit is longer and more compressed, the outer green coat
is thinner and drier when ripe, and the shell of the stone is not so
rugged. This stone, or nut, contains a kernel, which is the only
* IIaumer's Obs. v. 4. p. 472. So we have a familiar phrase, which may per
haps apply : when we say, for instance, " break a guinea," we mean spend a part
efit. \ The bottles which contain the Attth or Roses, which come from the East,
are sealed in this manner. See a number of proofs relative to this point in Hau-
meii's Obs. V. iv. p. 469.
$ E. Haadia. in Ab Ezras, comment in Genes. " Luz est amygdalus, quia
ita earn appellant Arabes ; nam hae dine linguae et Syriacae ejusdem sunt ta-
milis.'' See also Beh. Melech in Miclal Jophi Gen. 4o. Hilljpr, Ilierophyt. p.
1. p. 215. Celsivs, Hierobot. p, ii. pag. 253. Cocauius, 227-

OF THE BIBLE. 7
esculent part. The whole arrives at maturity in September,
when the outer tough cover splits open and discharges the nut.
From the circumstance of its blossoming the earliest of any of
the trees, beginning as soon as the rigour of winter is past,
and before it is in leaf, it has its Hebrew name shakad,
which comes from a verb signifying to make haste, to be in a hur
ry, or to awake early. Thus in Jerem. i. 1 1 , where the Prophet
is shewn the rod of an almond tree,* God means to indicate to
him by it, that as this tree makes haste to bud, as though it took
the first opportunity, so he would hasten his judgment upon the
people. There is here, says Dr. Blaney, at once an allusion to
the property of the almond tree, and in the original a paronomasia
which makes it more striking there, than it can be in a translation.
In like manner, when Solomon, speaking of an old man, Eccles.
xii. 5, says the almond tree shall flourish, he intends to express
by it the quickness by which old age advances and surprises us ;
while the snow white blossoms upon the bare boughs of the tree,
aptly illustrate the hoary head and defenceless state of age.t
Aaron's rod which budded, and by this means secured to him
the priesthood, was a branch of this tree. Numb. xvii. 8.
Mr. Parkhurst suggests that probably the chiefs of the tribes
bore each an almond rod, or wand, as emblematical of their
vigilance. ALMUG-TREE. jd^k almug, and plural omoVn almugim,
and D'DU^x algummim.
A certain kind of wood mentioned 1 Kings x. 11,2 Chron. ii.
8, and ix. 10, 11. Jerom and the Vulgate render it ligna thyina,
and the Septuagint tyxa, ¦nihtwsx», wrought wood. Several critics
understand it to mean gummy wood ;J but a wood abounding in
resin must be very unfit for the uses to which this is said to be ap
plied. Celsius queries if it be not the sandal ;§ but Michaelis
thinks the particular species of wood to be wholly unknown to us.||
Josephus, however, describes it particularly. " The ships
from Ophir, says he, brought precious stones and pine trees which
Solomon made use of for supporting the temple and his palace,
as also for making musical instruments, the harps and psalteries of
the Levites. TT The wood which was brought him at this time
was larger and finer than any that had ever been brought before ;
but let none imagine that these pine trees were like those which
are now so named, and which take their denomination from the.
merchants who so call them, that they may procure them to be ad-
* In the Vulgate, " virgam vigilantem," a -waking rod.
f Mr. Haiime r has, however, given this a different turn. Obs. v. 4. p. 49.
t HiitJEK, Hierophyt. c. xiii. § 7. § Celsius, Hierobot. v. 1, p. 171.
|| Quest, xci. 1 Antiq. lib. viii. u. 7.

8 THE NATURAL HISTORY
mired by those that purchase them ;* for those we speak of were
to the sight like the wood of the fig-tree, but were whiter and
more shining. Now we have said thus much, that nobody may
be ignorant of the difference between these sorts of wood, nor
unacquainted with the nature ofthe genuine pine tree, and the
uses which the king made of it." ,
Dr. Shaw supposes that the Almug-tree was the Cypress ; and
he observes that the wood of this tree is still used in Italy and oth
er places for violins, harpsichords, and other stringed instruments.!
ALOE, ity olar. Syriac.
A plant with broad leaves, nearly two inches thick, prickly and
chamfered. It grows about two feet high. A very bitter gum
is extracted from it, used for medicinal purposes, and anciently
for embalming dead bodies.J Nicodemus is said, John xix. 39,
to have broughtone hundred pounds weight of myrrh and aloes
to embalm the body of Jesus. The quantity has been exclaimed
against by certahvJews, as being enough for fifty bodies. But
instead of iY.ot.rav it might originally have been written fexMrov, ten
pounds weight. However, at the funeral of Herod there were
five hundred «g&)/*«To<$o£8?, spice bearers ;§ and at that of R. Ga
maliel, eighty pounds of opobalsamum were used.||
The wood which God shewed Moses, that with it he might
sweeten the waters of Marah, is called alvah, Exod. xv. 25. The
word has some relation to aloe ; and some interpreters are of
opinion, that Moses used a bitter sort of wood, that so the power
of God might be the more remarkable.
Mr. Bruce mentions a town, or large village, by the name of
Elvah.% It is thickly planted with trees ; is the Oasis parva of
the ancients ; and the last inhabited place to the west that is under
the jurisdiction of Egypt. He also observes that the Arabs call
a shrub or tree, notunlike our hawthorn, either in wood or flower,
by the name of Elvah. " It was this, say they, with which Mo
ses sweetened the waters of Marah ; and with this, too, did Ka-
lib Ibn el Walid sweeten those of Elvah, once bitter, and give
the place the name of this circumstance."
It may be that God directed Moses to the vety wood proper
for the purpose. But then it must be owned that the water of
these parts continues bad to this day, and is so greatly in want of
something to improve it, that had such a discovery been commu-
* He must intend the Indian pine, which is somewhat like tlie fir tree.
| Trav. p. 422.
± See the authorities quoted in Greenhill's Art of Embalming.
§ Josephus, Antiq.l. xvii. c. 10.
II Talmud, Messacho'.h Semacb, 8.
« Trav. v. 2. p. 47°-

OF THE BIBLE. 9
uicated by Moses it would hardly have been lost ; for the in
stance referred to of Waalid seems either never to have been
repeated, or to have proved ineffectual in other cases. M.
Niebuhr, when in these parts, inquired after wood capable of this
effect, but could gain no information of any such.
It will not, however, from hence follow that Moses really used
a bitter wood ; but, as Providence usually works by the proper
and fit means to accomplish its ends, it seems likely that the wood
he made use of, was, in some degree at least, corrective of that
quality which abounded in the water, and so render it potable.
This seems to have been the opinion of the author of Ecclesias-
ticus, ch. xxxviii. 5.
That other water, also, requires some correction, and that such
a correction is applied to it, appears from the custom in Egypt in
respect to that of the Nile, which, though somewhat muddy, is
rendered pure and salytary by being put into jars, the inside of
which is rubbed with a paste made of bitter almonds.* This
custom might have been familiar to Moses, as it is of great anti
quity. The first discoverers of the Floridas are said to have corrected
the stagnant and fetid water they found there, by infusing in it
branches of sassafras ; and it is understood that the first induce
ment ofthe Chinese to the general use of tea, was to correct the
water of their ponds and rivers.
I. The LIGN-ALOE, or agallochum, Numb. xxiv. 6.
Psal. xiv. 9. and Cantic. iv. 14. n^nx ahaloth, masculine Shn
ahel, whose plural is cr^nx ahalim, is a small tree, about eight
or ten feet high. Michaelis inquires if it be not possible that
there is a transposition of the letters and word, so as to render it
correspondent to the Greek a,Xav\ ; and if it is not even probable
that the Jews might have been led to make this alteration in re
ference to their respect to Elohim, the name of the deity, to
which it bore too near a resemblance. This, however, is only
conjectural criticism.
In Rumphius, Herbarium Amboinensis, Tom. ii. p. 29 — 40,
may be found a particular description of the tree, and Tab. x. an
engraving. At the top of the Aloe-tree isa large bunch of leaves, which
are thick and indented, broad at the bottom, but growing nar
rower toward the point, and about four feet in length. Its blos
soms are red, intermixed with yellow ; and double, like a pink.
* Niehbch's Trav. V. 1. p. 71.
VOL. I. 2

10 THE NATURAL HISTORY
From the blossom comes the fruit, or pod, which is oblong, and
triangular, with three apartments filled with seed.
That the flower of this plant yielded a fragrance is assured to
us in the following extract from Swinburne's Travels, Letter
xii. " This morning, like many ofthe foregoing ones, was deli
cious. The sun rose gloriously out of the sea, and all the air
around was perfumed with ihe effluvia of ihe Aloe, as its rays
sucked up the dew from the leaves."
This extremely bitter plant contains under the bark three
sorts of wood. The first is black, solid, and weighty ; the se
cond is of a tawny colour, of a light, spongy texture, very porous,
and filled with a resin extremely fragrant and agreeable ; the
third kind of wood, which is the heart, has a strong aromatic
rjdour, and is esteemed in the east more precious than gold itself.
It is used for perfuming habits and apartments, and is adminis
tered as a cordial in fainting and epileptic fits.* These pieces,
called calunbac, are carefully preserved in pewter boxes, to pre
vent their drying. When they are used they are ground upon a
marble with such liquids as are best suited to the purpose for
which they are intended. This wood, mentioned Cantic. iv. 14.
in conjunction with several other odoriferous plants there referred
to, was in high esteem among the Hebrews for its exquisite exha
lations. " The scented aloe, and each shrub that showers
Gums from its veins, and odours from its flowers."
Thus the son of Sirach, Ecclus. xxiv. 15. / gave a sweet
smell like the cinnamon and asphaltus. I yielded a pleasant
odour like the best -myrrh ; like galbanum and onyx, and frag
rant storax, and like the fume of frankincense in the tabernacle.
It may not be amiss to observe that the Persian translator renders
ahalim, sandal-wood ; and the same was the opinion of a certain
Jew in Arabia who was consulted by Niebuhr. See Lign-Aloe.
AMBER. "7Da>n chashmal. Ezek. i. 4, 27 and viii. 2.
The amber is a hard inflammable bitumen. When rubbed it is
highly endowed with that remarkable property called electricity ;
a word which the moderns h;ive formed from the Greek name
sXzktoqv. But the ancients had also a mixed metal of fine copper
a;id silver, resembling the amber in colour, and so called by the
same name.
St. Jcrom, TheodoreT, St. Gregory, and Origen think that,
in the above cited passages from Ezekiel, a precious and highly
polished metal is meant. Bochart and Le Clerc consider it
* J-.ady M. W. Montague's Letters, V. 2. p. 91. Arabian Night's Enter-
tai intents, V. 5. No. 171. Has.selq.uist. p. 249. Ravuai.'s Indies, V. 2. p. 279.

«F THE BIBLE. 11
ihe same as the elecirum. It is evident that our translators could
not suppose it to mean the natural amber, for that, being a bitu
minous substance, becomes dim as soon as it feels the tire, and
soon dissolves and consumes ; nor could they intend crystal, as
some have supposed, because it bore the same name among the
ancients ;* for that substance would not long stand the fire, and
while it did would soon lose its transparency, and instead of glow
ing would become opakc. The metal so celebrated for its beau
tiful lustre is most probably intended. As Ezekiel prophecied
among the Chaldeans, after the captivity of king Jehoiachim, so
here, as in other instances, he seems to have used a Chaldee
word ; and, considered as such, Sntyn may be derived from WJ
(copper) dropping the initial j, and Chald. b^n (gold as it comes
from the mine) ; and so denote either a metal mixed of copper
and gold, as the ces pyropum mentioned in the ancient Greek and
Roman writers, and thus called from its fiery colour ; and the
noted as corinthum ; or else it may signify ya.Ky.ag %(>viT0ii£r,?,
which Aristotle describes as very brilliant, and of which it is
probable the cups of Darius mentioned by him were made, and
Hie two vessels of fine brass, precious as gold, of which we read
Ezra, viii. 27t See Brass.
AMETHYST, nn^nx ahalmah. Exod. xxviii. 19. and
xxix. 12. and once in the N. T. Rev. xxi. 20. AfaQvarot.
A transparent gem of a colour which seems composed of a
strong blue and deep red ; and, according as either prevails, af
fording different tinges of purple, sometimes approaching to vio
let, and sometimes even fading to a rose colour.^
The stone called amethyst by the ancients was evidently the
same with that now generally known by this name ; which is far
from being the case with regard to some other gems. The ori
ental is the hardest, scarcest, and most valuable.
It was the ninth stone in the pectoral of the high-priest .§ and
is mentioned as the twelfth in the foundations of the New-Jeru
salem. ANISE. An annual umbelliferous plant, the seeds of which
have an aromatic smell, a pleasant warm taste, and a carminative
quality. But by Awfiov, Matthew, xxiii. 23. the dill is meant.
Our translators seem to have been first misled by a resemblance
* Hfuqaiit uMavrgs; tLtt-ivtu. Dros, Perieg. V. 317.
f See some learned illustrations of this subject in Bochart, Hieroz. V. 3 p.
781. and Scheuchzeii, Phys. Sacr. V. 7. p. 343.
i Saimasius, in exercit. Pliniana:, p. 563.
% Hiller, Tr. de xii gemmis in Pectorali Pontif. Hebr. p. 59. Bkausius de
vestitu Sacerd. Hebr. ii. c. 16- p. 709.

12 THE NATURAL HISTORY
of the sound. No other versions have fallen into the mistake.
The Greek of anise, is avicrov ; but of dill, ocvyHov.
ANT. ri^oi nemala. In the Turkish and Arabic, neml.
Occ. Prov. vi. 6. xxx. 25.
A little insect, famous from all antiquity for its social habits, its
economy, unwearied industry, and prudent foresight, lt has of
fered a pattern of commendable frugality to the profuse, and of
unceasing diligence to the slothful.
Solomon calls the ants " exceeding wise, for though a race
not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." He
therefore sends the sluggard to these little creatures, to learn wis
dom, foresight, care, and diligence.
" Go to the Ant ; learn of its ways, be wise :
It early heaps its stores, lest wai;t surprize.
Skill'd in the various y^ar, the prescient sage
Beholds the summer chill'd in winter's rage.
Survey its arts; in each partioned cell
hconomy and plenty deign to dwell."*
The Septuagint and Arabic versions add a direction to learn
of the labours of the Bee the lessons, the effects, the rewards, and
the sweets of industry. This is not in the Hebrew text ; but,
perhaps, being written in the margin of some copy of the Septu
agint as a parallel instance, was, by some unskilful copier, put
into the text of the Greek version, whence the Arabic has taken
it. This must have been very early, for Clemens of Alexandria
makes mention of it.t
That the Ant hoarded up grains of corn against winter for
its sustenance, was very generally believed by the ancients,!
though modern naturalists seem to question the fact.§ Thus
Horace says,
"  Sicut
Parvula (nam excmplo est) magni Formica laboris
Ore trahit quodcunque potest, atque addit acervo
Quem struit, hand ignara ac non incauta futuri ;
Qua? simul inversum contristat aquarius annum,
Non usquam piorepit, et illis uti tur ante
(iusesitis sapiens." Sat. I. I. i. v. 33.
" For thus the little Ant (to human lore
No mean example) forms her frugal store,

* Devexs' Paraphrase.
f Stromat. 1. i. p. 285.
t Plijt. 1. x. c. 72, and 1. xi. c. 30. JElia>-, 1. ii. c. 25.1. vi. c. 43. Ovid,
Metam. 1. viii. v 624. Virgil. Georg. i. v. 184. JEn. iv. v. 402.
4 Boekxkr, Sammlungen ans der Naturgeschichtc, p. 1. p. 181.

OF THE BIBLE. 13
Gatber^with mighty toil, on every side,
Nor ignoraut, nor careless to provide
For future want : yet, when the stars appear
That darkly sadden the declining year.
No more she comes abroad, but wisely lives
On the fair stores industrious summer gives."
The most learned Bochart, in his Hierozoicon* has displayed
his vast reading on this subject, and has cited passages from
Pliny, Lucian, tElian, Zoroaster, Oricen, Bazil, and Eri-
phanius, the Jewish Rabbins and Arabian naturalists, all concur
ring in opinion that Ants cut off the heads of grain, to prevent
their germinating : and it is observable that the Hebrew name of
the insect is derived from the verb bnj namal, which signifies to
cut off, and is used for cutting off ears of corn, Job, xxiv. 24.
To the authorities above quoted we may add the following testi
mony from a letter on this curious subject published by the
French Academy, and afterwards inserted by Mr. Addison in
the Guardian, No. 156, as a narrative, says he, of undoubted
credit and authority. " The corn which is laid up by Ants would
shoot under ground, if these insects did not take care to prevent
it. They, therefore, bite off all the germs before they lay it up ;
and therefore the corn that has lain in their cells will produce
nothing. Any one may make the experiment, and even see that
there is no germ in their corn."
Without insisting, however, upon this disputed point, I would
remark that if we consider the two texts in the book of Proverbs,
there is not the least intimation in them of their laying up corn
in store against winter. In chapter vi. 8. it is said, She provideth
her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
For, though the former verb pn hekin signifies to prepare, or
dispose in order, and the latter -us agar, to collect, or gather to
gether ; and in the only two places where I find it occur besides,
is used for gathering in summer, as Prov. x. 5. and for gathering
in the vintage, Deut. xxviii. 39. yet the expression in the text
necessarily means no more than that they collect their food in its
proper season. Nor is there any thing else declared, chap. xxx.
v. 25. So that all which may be fairly concluded from
Scripture is, that they carry food for themselves into their reposi
tories, to serve them as long as it will keep good, or they shall
need it. That they do this against winter can only be determin
ed by examining into the fact. This has been done with very
g'reat diligence, and it appears that they eat not at all in the winter,
and have no stores laid in of any sort of food. The opinion
* Tom iii. p. 478.

14 THE NATURAL HISTORY
therefore, of their laying in magazines against winter seems to
have been grafted on these scriptures, rather than found in them ;
and this from a conclusion naturally enough made, from observing
their wonderful labour and industry in gathering their food in the
summer, supposing that this must be to provide against winter.
After all, great part of their labour, which may have been be
stowed in other services, might easily be mistaken, by less accu
rate observers, for carrying food. It may be thought sufficient
for the purpose if it were in Solomon's time but a popular notion.
The Scriptures are not to be considered as unerring guides in
natural, although they are in moral and divine matters.*
The following remarks are from " the Introduction to Ento
mology," by Kirby and Spence, vol. ii. p. 46.
" Till the manners of exotic ants are more accurately explored,
it would, however, be rash to affirm that no ants haVe magazines
of provisions ; for although, during the cold of our winters in this
country, they remain in a state of torpidity, and have no need of
food, yet in warmer regions, during the rainy seasons, when they
are probably confined to their nests, a store of provisions may be
necessary for them. Even in northern climates, against wet sea
sons, they may provide in this way for their sustenance and that
of the young brood, which, as Mr. Smeatham observes, are very
voracious, and cannot bear to be long deprived of their food ; else
why do ants carry worms, living insects, and many other such
things into their nests? Solomon's lesson to the sluggard has
been generally adduced as a strong confirmation of the ancient
opinion : it can, however, only relate to the species of a warm
climate, the habits of which are probably different from those of
cold one ; so that his words, as commonly interpreted, may be per
fectly correct and consistent with nature, and yet be not at all ap
plicable to the species that are indigenous to Europe. But I think,
if Solomon's words are properly considered, it will be found that
this interpretation has been fathered upon them, rather than fairly
deduced from them. He does not affirm that the ant which he
proposes to his sluggard as an example, laid up in her magazine
stores of grain ; but that with considerable prudence and fore
sight, she makes use of the proper seasons to collect a supply of
provision sufficient for her purposes. There is not a word in
them implying that she stores up grain or other provision. She
prepares her bread, and gathers her food, .namely, such food as is
suited to her,— in summer and harvest, — that is, when it is most
plentiful ; and thus shows her wisdom and prudence by using the
* Dchell, on Psal. exxi. and Prov. vi. 6.

OF THE BIBLE. 15
advantages offered to her. The words, thus interpreted, which
they may be, without any violence, will apply to the species
among us, as well as to those that are not indigenous.
As this insect is such a favourite both with naturalists and mor
alists, I refer to the following authors for much curious and in
structive information respecting its habits and economy. Addi
son's Guardian, Nos. 156, 157. Smeatham's account of the
Termites of Africa, inserted in the Philosophical Transactions,
v. Ixxi. p. 139. Delany's Sermon on Prov. vi. 6, 7, 8. Sten-
nett on the Social Duties, p. 356. Toogood on the Seasons,
p. 19. and Scheuchzer, v. vii. p. 105.
APE. sip koph. Persic keibi and kubbi ; Greek ictj^o? and
xri7ros, and Roman cephus. Occ. 1 Kings x. 22., 2 Chron. ix. 21.
This animal seems to be the same with the ceph of the Ethio
pians, of which Pliny speaks, 1. viii. c. 19. At the games given
by Pompey the great, (says he) were shewn cephs brought from
Ethiopia, which had their fore feet like a human hand, their hind
legs and feet also resembled those of a man. " lidem ex iEthiopia
quosvocantcepAos, quorum pedes posteriores pedibus humaniset
cruribus, priores manibus fuere similes." Solinus, speaking of
Ethiopia, says that Gssar the Dictator, at the games ofthe circus,
had shewn the monsters of that country, cephs, whose hands and
feet resembled those of mankind. " Iisdem ferme temporibus
(quibus circenses exhibuit Cassar Dictator) illinc exhibita monstra
sunt. Cephos appellant, quorum posteriores pedes crure et ves-
tigio humanos artus mentiuntur priores hominum manus referunt."
The same oriental name appears in the monkeys called KHII1EN,
in the Mosaic pavement found at Praeneste, and inscribed near
the figure there delineated.*
The scripture says that the fleet of Solomon brought apes, or
rather monkeys, &c. from Ophir. The learned are not agreed
respecting the situation of that country ; but Major Wilford
says that the ancient name ofthe river Landi sindh in India was
Cophes.] May it not have been so called from the o'sp coi him
inhabiting its banks ?
We now distinguish this tribe of creatures into (1.) Monkeys,
those with long tails ; (2.) Apes, those with short tails ; (3.) Ba
boons, those without tails.
* A drawing of this most curious relique of antiquity may be seen in Shaw's
Travels, p. 423, with a learned explanation ; and a history of it is given in
Montfaucox's Antiq. vol. xiv. fol. i
•J- Asiatic Researches, V.vi. p. 455.

16 THE NATURAL HISTORY
Lichtenstein attributes the sip ofthe Hebrews to the class of
monkeys called Diana in the system of Linnaeus.*
In Deut. xxxii. 17. Moses reproaches the Israelites with sacri
ficing to devils, to gods whom they knew not, gods newly come
up, whom their fathers feared not. The Hebrew word ont?
sadim, in this place, has some resemblanee to the Arabic saadan,
,the name of the Baboon. t
The ancient Egyptians are said to have worshipped Apes.
They are still adored in many places in India. Mafleus de
scribes a magnificent temple of the Ape, with a portico for re
ceiving victims sacrificed to it, supported by seven hundred col-
umns.J " With glittering gold and sparkling gems they shine,
But Apes and Moukies are the gods within. "§
APPLE-TREE, man taphuah.
Occ. Prov. xxv. 11. Cantic. ii. 3. 5. vii. 8. viii. 5. Joel, i.
12. M. Maillet, Let. ix. p. 15. every where expresses a strong
prejudice in favour of Egypt ; its air, its water, and all its pro
ductions are incomparable. He acknowledges, however, that its
apples and pears are very bad. and that in respect to these fruits,
Egypt is as little favoured as almost any place in the world ; that
some, and those very indifferent that are carried thither from
Rhodes and Damascus, are sold very dear. As the best apples
of Egypt, though ordinary, are brought thither by sea from
Rhodes, and by land from Damascus, we may believe that Judea
an intermediate country between Egypt and Damascus, has none
that are of any value. This is abundantly confirmed by D'Ar-
vieux, who observed that the fruits that are most commonly eat
en by the Arabs of Mount Carmel were figs, grapes, dates, ap
ples, and pears, which they have from Damascus ; appricots,
both fresh and dried, melons, pasteques, or water-melons, which
they make use of in summer instead of water to quench their
thirst.|| The Arabs, then, of Judea can find no apples there
* Lichteksteikp De Simiurnm quotquot veteribus innotuerunt, formis
earumque nominibus. Hamb. 1791. p. 78.
f The Arabic version of Deut. xxxii. 17. has shiat.in-, or shatan, from the
root siiatan a, obstinate, refractory. Whence our appellative Satas.
\ Hist. Ind. lib. 1.
§ GltANVItLE.
II Voyage dans la Palestine, p. 201.

OF THE BIBLE. ]¦/
worth eating, but have them brought from Damascus, as the peo
ple of Egypt have.*
Can it be imagined, then, that the apple-trees of which the
prophet Joel speaks, ch. i. 12. and which he mentions among
the tilings that gave joy to the inhabitants of Judea, were those
that we call by that name ? Our translators must surely have
been mistaken here, since the apples which the inhabitants of
Judea eat at this day, are of foreign growth, and at the same time
but very indifferent.
Bp. Patrick, in his commentary on the Canticles, chap. vii.
v. 8. supposes that the word aTnsn tappuchim, translated ap
ples, is to be understood of the fruit to which we give that name,
and also of oranges, citrons, peaches, and all fruits that breathe a
fragrant odour ; but the justness of this may be questioned.
The Roman authors, it is true, call pomegranates, quinces, cit
rons, peaches, apricots, all by the common name of apples, only
adding an epithet to distinguish them from the species of fruit
which we call by that name, and from one another ; but it does
not appear that the Hebrew writers do so too. The pomegran
ate certainly has its appropriate name ; and the book of Can
ticles seems to mean a particular species of trees by this term,
since it prefers them to all the trees of the wood. This author,
then, does not seem to be in the right when he gives such a
vague sense to the word.
What sort of tree and fruit then are we to understand by the
word, since probably one particular species is designed by it, and
it cannot be supposed to be the proper apple-tree ? There are
five places, besides this in Joel, in which the word occurs, and
from them we learn that it was thought the noblest of the trees
ofthe wood, and that its fruit was very sweet or pleasant, Cantic.
ii. 3 ; of the colour of gold, Prov. xxv. 1 1 ; extremely fragrant,
Cantic. vii. 8 : and proper for those to smell that were ready to
faint, Cantic. ii. 5. The fifth passage, Cantic. viii. 5. contains
nothing particular ; but the description which the other four
give, answers to the Citron-tree and its fruit.
It may be thought possible, that the orange and the lemon-tree,
which now grow in Judea in considerable numbers,! as well as
the citron, equally answer to the description. But it is to be
remembered that it is very much doubted by eminent naturalists,
* Dr. Russeii, mentions " two or three sorts of apples, but all very bad."
Nat. Hist, of Aleppo, p. 21.
¦j- Thevkkot observed the gardens at Naplouse to be full of orange as well as
citron trees ; Part i. p. 215 ; and EgjJoht and Heyman saw lemon trees at Hat-
tin and Saphet in Galilee, Vol. ii. p. 40 — 48. See also PococRe's travels, VoL ii,,
p. 67; Eaowolf, p. 2. t. 22 page 427.
VOL. I. 3

18 THE NATURAL HISTORY
Ray in particular,* whether they were known to the ancients j
whereas it is admitted they were acquainted with the citron. 1 he
story that Josephus tells ust of the pelting of king Alexander
J animus by the Jews with their citrons, at one of their feasts,
plainly proves that they were acquainted with that fruit some
generations before the birth of our Lord, and it is supposed to
have been of much longer standing in that country.! We may
be sure that the taphuah was very early known in the Holy Land,
as it is mentioned in the book of Joshua as having given name to
a city of Manasseh and one of Judah.§ Several interpreters and
critics render -nn yy ,_fl Levit. xxiii. 40, branches (or fruit) of
the beautiful tree ; and understand it of the citron ;\\ and it is
known that the Jews still make use of the fruit of this tree at
their yearly feast of tabernacles.
Citron-trees are very noble, being large, their leaves beautiful,
ever continuing on the tree, of an exquisite smell, and affording
a most delightful shade. It might well, therefore, be said, " As
the citron-tree is among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved
among the sons."
This is a delicate compliment, comparing the fine appearance
of the Prince, amid his escort, to the superior beauty with which
the citron-tree appears among the ordinary trees of the forest ;
and the compliment is heightened by an allusion to the refreshing
shade and the exhilarating/raz'i.
Shade, according to Mr. Wood,1T is an essential article of ori
ental luxury, the greatest people enjoying, and the meanest
coveting its refreshment. Any shade must, in so hot a country,
afford-a great delight ; but the shade ofthe citron-tree must have
yielded double pleasure on account of its ample foliage and fra
grant smell. Egmont and Heyman were served with coffee, in
* Dr. Shaw appears to be of the same opinion.
f Antiq. Jud. I. xiii. c. 13. sect. 5.
J Dr. Russell says that citrons are brought from Jerusalem to Aleppo
for the Jews on their great feasts. [M. S. note quoted by Dr. Adam
Clarke.] § Josh. xv. 31 and £3. and xvii. 12. See also Efsebics iu Beth-tapuah.
|| Onkelos, Syr. Saadias, Dathe, Michaelis, and Parkhbrst. The
Israelites, says Dr. Geddes, might take the fruit, or shoots, here mentioned,
from any goodly or luxuriant tree ; though he is inclined to think that
'IS peri, here means not fruit, properly so called, but young growing
shoots or boughs, as in our public version ; although Delgado, jSuds fault
with it on that account, and although the bulk of commentators are on his
side. Houbigant, however, has surculos, and Junius termetes.
1f Account of the ruins of Balbec, p. t.

OF THE BIBLE. 19
a garden at Mount Sinai, under the shade of some fine orange
trees.* The mention ofthe fruit, in connexion with reclining
under a shade, may refer to the eastern custom of shaking down
the fruit on the heads of those who sat under the tree. So Dr.
Pococxe tells us that when he was at Sidon he was entertained in
a garden under the shade of some apricot trees, and the fruit of
them was shaken down upon him for his repast.t So that the
Spouse may be supposed to remark. " Pleasant is every tree in
this hot country, but especially so are those that are remarkably
shady ; among which none • have pleased me so well as the cit
ron-tree, whose umbrage and fragrance have been extremely re
viving, and whose fruit is so delicious ; and such as the citron-
tree is to me among ignoble trees, my beloved is among the com
mon crowd."
The exhilarating effects of the fruit are mentioned verse 5.
" Comfort me with citrons." Egmont and Heyman tell us of an
Arabian who was in a great measure brought to himself when
overcome with wine, by the help of citrons and coffee.J How
far this may be capable of illustrating the ancient practice of re
lieving those who were fainting by the use of citrons, I leave,
says Mr. Harmer, to medical gentlemen to determine. Abu'l
Fadli says, " Odor ejus exhilarat animum, restituit vires, et spi-
ritum restaurat ;" „ and Rabbi Solomon, " Est arbor omnium
amabilissima, fructum ferens gustu et odore optimum."
As the fragrance of the fruit is admirable, the breath of the
spouse might, with great propriety, be compared to citrons ;
whereas, the pertinency ofthe comparison is lost when under
stood of apples.
" More sweet the fragrance which thy breath exhales
Than citron groves refresh'd by morning gales."}
Mr. Harmer, from whom the principal part of this article is
taken, observes that the Chaldee paraphrast on Cantic. ii. 3. un
derstood the word in the same way.||
I will only farther add, that, to the manner of serving up these
citrons in his Court, Solomon seems to refer, when he says, " a
word fitly spoken, is Hke golden citrons in silver baskets;"
whether, as Maimonides supposes, in baskets wrought with open
work, or in salvers curiously chased, it nothing concerns us to
determine ; the meaning is, that an excellent saying suitably ex
pressed, is as the most acceptable gift in the fairest conveyance,
« * See Pococke's obs. in Harmer's outlines of a Commentary on Solo
mon's Song, p. 248.
t Travels, Vol. ii. p. 85. f Vol. ii. p. 36.
5 Mrs. Francis's translation. fl Obs. Vol. ii. p. 159. 4tb edit.

20 THE NATURAL HISTORY
So the Rabbins say that the tribute of the first ripe fruits was car
ried to the temple in silver baskets.
Celsius, however, has displayed much learning to prove that
the man should be understood of the Mala Cydonia, or Quinces :
but this fruit, though beautiful and very fragrant, is not pleasant to
the palate : while the author of " Scripture Illustrated," from the
testimony of M. Forskal, who says that the apple-tree is called
tuffah, seems inclined to retain the common version.
ASH-TREE, px oren; Arab, aran; Lat. ornus.
This word occurs Isaiah xliv. 14. The Septuagint and Vul
gate render it the pine ; but Celsius gives from Abu'l Fadli a
description of the aran, which agrees very well with what we call
" the prickly ash."
ASP. jna peten. The baten of M. Forskal.*
Occ. Deut. xxxii. 33. Job xx. 14. 16. Psal lviii. 4. xci. 13.
Isai. xi. 8.
A very venomous serpent, whose poison is so subtle as to kill
within a few hours, with an universal gangrene.
This may well refer to the basten of the Arabians, which M.
Forskal describes as spotted with black and white, about one
foot in length, and nearly half an inch in thickness ; oviparous ;
its bite is instant death. It is the aspic of the ancients, and is so •
called now by the literati of Cyprus, though the common people
call it kufi (x.«<p>j) deaf.]
I take the opportunity here of introducing a criticism of Mr.
Merrick upon Psal. cxi. 13. Thou shalt treaduponthe lion and
the adder ; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample un
der feet. " Bochart observes that the most ancient interpre
ters, the Septuagint, the Vulgate, St. Jerom, Apollinaris, the
Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, render the Hebrew word,
which our translators have rendered " Hon," the asp / and this
learned critic himself thinks it probable, that the Psalmist
throughout this verse speaks of serpents only. He also observes
that. Nicander has mentioned a sort of serpent by the name of
A.iuv moKq<;, the spotted lion ; and that the word translated " young
lion," is, in other places of scripture, rendered by the Septuagint
a dragon. (See Job iv. 10 and xxxviii. 39.) He likewise takes
* " Totus macnlatus albo nigroque. Longitudo pedalis ; crassities fere
bipollicaris. Ovipara. Morsus in instanli necat, corpore vulnerato intu-
meseenle." Uosenmlller says, " Ego certius puto colubrum boden Fokskai.ii pro
Rssbreorum ]n3 habere."
I Comp. Psal. lviii. 4, with Job xx. 14. where deafness is ascribed to tlie
i'.ir.n.

OF THE BIBLB. 21
notice ofthe word X«|i*#iAsw, or growid lion, given to an animal
well known. The late learned Dr. Shaw, in a printed specimen
of a natural history of animals which he once shewed me, conjec
tured that the chameleon was so called from its leaping upon its
prey like a lion : and it is not impossible that the name of lion
might, for the like reason, be given to the serpent mentioned by
Nicander ; as also to the lion-lizard, which is, if I mistake not,
mentioned by Mr. Catesby in his natural history of South-Caro
lina. Bochart himself, in the former part of his learned work,
informs us that the chameleon is called also by more than one of
the Arabian poets, bakira, the lioness / and that an animal, like
the chamelon is called in their language leo-iphrin, from the
place where it is bred.*
Were this supposition, that the Psalmist here mentions ser
pents only, well established, the translation of the whole verse
might stand thus :
Behold the Asp, whose boiling veins
Had half tbe poison of tbe plains
Imbib'd, before thee vanquish'd lie,
And close in death his languid eye :
Go, fearless on the dragon tread,
And press the wratn-swoln adder's head.
To give the highest probability to the accuracy of this transla
tion, it need only to be remembered that, " ambulabis super Ieo-
nem," seems quite improper, as men do not in walking tread up
on lions, as they do upon serpents." See Adder.
With the pethen we may compare the python of the Greeks,
which was, according to fable, a huge serpent that had an oracle
at mount Parnassus, famous for predicting future events. Apollo
is said to have slain this serpent, and hence he was called " Py-
thius."t Those possessed with a spirit of divination were also
stiled nuflaive?, Pythones.% The word occurs Acts xvi. 16, as the
characteristic of a young woman who had a pythonic spirit ; and
it is well known that the serpent was particularly respected by the
heathen in their enchantments and divinations. See Serpent.
ASS. linn chamor. Arabic, chamara, and hamar ; Ethiopic,
Mkmire; and Turkish, hymar.
There are three words referred by translators to the Ass.
I. linn chamor, which is the usual appellation, and denotes the
* " Leo-Iphrin (says an Arabic Lexicographer) est animal ut chame
leon, quodequitem invadct, et cauda sua percutit.
f Gale, Court ofthe Gentiles, Vol. 1, book 2. c. 4, says that Apollo is so
named from Aiiw.t/v, to destroy. Hence Apollvon, the destroyer. Com;
Rev. ix. 11.
| Plutarch de defect. Orac, as cited by Wetstei.n, torn. ii-. p, 414.

22 THE NATURAL HISTORY
ordinary kind ; such as is employed in labour, carriage and dor
mestic servioes. (2.) ana para, rendered onager, or wild ass.
(3.) jinx aton, rendered she-ass. To these we must add K'Tty
oredia, rendered wild-asses, Dan. v. 21. and a'Vy oirim,
young-asses, Isai. xxx. 6, 24.
I. The Ass is an animal somewhat -resembling the horse in
form ; different however in having long ears, a short mane, and
long hairs covering only the end ofthe tail. His body is covered
with short and coarse hair, generally of a pale dun colour, with a
streak of black running down the back, and across the shoul
ders. The prevailing colour of the animal in the East is red-
' dish ; and the Arabic word chamara signifies to be red.
In his natural state he is fleet, fierce, formidable and intracta
ble ; but when domesticated, the most gentle of all animals, and
assumes a patience and submission even more humble than his
situation. He is very temperate in eating, and contents himself
with the most ordinary vegetable food ; but as to drink is extreme
ly delicate, for he will slake his thirst at none but the clearest
fountains and brooks.
Le Clerc observes that the Israelites not being allowed to
keep horses, the ass was not only made a beast of burden, but
used on journeys, and that even the most honourable of the na
tion were wont to be mounted on asses, which in the Eastern
countries were much bigger and more beautiful than they are
with us. Jair of Gilead had thirty sons who rode oh as many
asses, and commanded in thirty cities. Jud. X4 4. Abdon's sons
and grand-sons rode also upon asses. Jud. xii. 4. And Christ
makes his solemn entry into Jerusalem riding upon an ass.
Matth. xxi. 4. Joh. xii. 14. This was an accomplishment of a
prophecy of Zechariah ix. 9. (Comp. Isai. lxii. 11.) It is called,
indeed, his triumphant entry, but, as horses are used in war, he
may be supposed by this action to have shewn the humble and
peaceable nature of his kingdom.*
To draw with an ox and ass together was prohibited in the
Mosaic law. Deut. xxii. 10. This law is thought to have re
spect to some idolatrous custom of the Gentiles, who were
taught to believe that their fields would be more fruitful if thus
ploughed ; for it is not likely that men would have yoked togeth
er two creatures so different in their tempers and motions, had
they not been led to it by some superstition. It is more proba
ble however, that there was a physical reason for this. Two
beasts of a different species cannot associate comfortably togeth
er ; and on this account never pull pleasantly either in the cart
* See an eloquent sermon by Bp. Horne, on Zech. ix. 9. in the first vo
lume of bis sermons, p. 133.

OF THE BIBLE. 23
or plough ; and every farmer knows it is of considerable conse
quence to the comfort of the cattle to put those together that
have an affection for each other. This may be frequently re
marked in certain cattle, which, on this account are, termed true
yoke-fellows. Le Clerc considers this law as merely symboli
cal, importing thaf they must not form improper alliances in civil
and religious life ; and he thinks his opinion confirmed by these
words of St. Paul, 2 Cor. vi. 14. " Be ye not unequally yoked
with unbelievers ;" which are simply to be understood as prohi
biting all intercourse between Christians and idolaters in social,
matrimonial, and religious life. To teach the Jews the proprie
ty of this, a variety of precepts relative to improper and hetero
geneous mixtures were interspersed through their law ; so that
in civil and domestic life they might have them ever before their
eyes. The ass was declared an unclean creature by the law, and no
one was permitted to taste the flesh of it. This leads me to intro
duce the- explanation ofthe. passage 2 Kings vi. 23, from " Scrip
ture illustrated, in addition to Calmet ;" where it is said that
" there was a great famine in Samaria, until an ass's head was
sold for eighty pieces of silver." It is true there is no perplexi
ty in this as read in our version. But it must be remembered
that no kind of extremity could compel the Jews to eat any part
of this animal for food. We read 1 Sam. xvi. 20, that Jesse sent
to Saul " an ass of bread," for in that place the words laden
with are an addition of our translators : and the meaning must
be, not an animal, but a vessel containing bread, a stated measure,
or a pile. The Septuagint render yoiMf> a§T#v, a chomer of
bread. So we find in the Greek poet Sosibius, " he ate three
times in the space of a single day, three great asses of bread,"
«jtwv T^eif ovs?; which Casaubon (in lection. Theoc.) under-
derstands of ihe lading of three asses / whereas it means the con
tents of three vases of the kind called an ass.* We may also
hint a doubt whether Abigail, 1 Sam. xxv. 18. really loaded asses
with her presents to David ; for the original literally is " she
took two hundred of bread, &C. and placed them on the asses ;
which seems to refer to something distinct from asses, animals ;
for then it would be as it is in our version, " she placed them on
asses." There is also a passage, Exod. viii. 14. where our
translators themselves have rendered heaps, what in the original is
asses' asses, " they gathered the frogs together asses' asses ;" and
so Samson says of his defeated enemies, a heap, heaps ; ass,
asses. Now, if we take our English word pile, to signify this
* See Fragment, io addition to Calmet, No. ccxxr.

24 THE NATURAL HISTORY
quantity (not meaning to attempt to determine accurately, even
if it were possible) it will lead us to the idea that Jesse sent to
Saul a pile of bread ; that a person ate three piles of bread in a
day ; that Abigail placed her bread, corn, raisins, &c. in piles ;
that the Egyptians gathered the stinking frogs in piles ; that
Samson's enemies lay in piles. Let this vindicate those Jews
who translate, not " the head of an ass," chamor, but " head of
a measure," chomer ; for the letters are precisely the same in
the original. Observe that the word rash, translated " head,"
signifies the total, the whole, as Psal. cxxxix. 17. "How pre
cious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God ; how great is the
head of them!" Exod. xxx. 12. " When thou takest the head,"
that is the sum total, the enumeration of Israel. Numb. i. 2.
" Take the head," sum total, " of Israel." See also chap. iv.
2. 22, xxvi. 2. xxxi. 26.
These ideas combined will render the passage to this effect,
" the famine was so severe that the whole of a pile, i. e. of
bread, or a complete pile of bread, sold for eighty pieces of sil
ver." How excessive was this price, when one glutton as we
have seen could eat three asses, piles, of bread in a day !*
The Jews were accused by the Pagans of worshipping the
head of an ass. Appion, the grammarian, seems to be the au
thor of this slander.t He affirmed that the Jews kept the head
of an ass in the sanctuary ; that it was discovered there when
Antiochus Epiphanes took the temple and entered into the most
holy place. He added that one Zabidus, having secretly got
into the temple, carried off the ass's head, and conveyed it to
Dora. Suidas, (in Damocrito, et in Juda) says that Damocri-
tus, or Democritus the historian averred that the Jews adored
the head of an ass, made of gold, &c. Plutarch,J and Taoi-
tus§ were imposed on by this calumny. They believed that the
Hebrews adored an ass, out of gratitude for the discovery of a
fountain by one of these creatures in the wilderness, at a time
when the army of this nation was parched with thirst and ex
tremely fatigued. Learned men, who have endeavoured to
* For the satisfaction of those who prefer the rendering of our common
version, I would note that, Plutarch informs us that when the army of
Artaxerxes with which he had invaded the Cadusii, was iu extreme want
of provisions, — ova mfeam /xoam Stpyjtm t^miita. mm um — " an ass's head could
hardly be bought for sixty drachms ;" [Plot. Artax torn. 1. p. 1023. ed.
Xylandr.] Whereas Lucian, reckons tbe usual price of an ass itself to be
no more than twenty-five or thirty drachms.
f Vide apud Josephus, lib. ii. contra Appion.
J Plut. Symposia, lib. iv. cap. 5.
i Tacit. Hist. lib. 5.

OF THE BIBLE. 25
search into the origin of this slander, are divided in their opi
nions. The reason which Plutarch and Tacitus give for it
has nothing in the history of the Jews on which to ground it.
Tanaquil Faber has attempted to prove that this accusation pro
ceeded from the temple in Egypt called Onion; as if this name came
from onos, an ass ; which is, indeed, very credible. The report
of the Jews worshipping an ass, might originate in Egypt. We
know that the Alexandrians hated the Jews, and were much ad
dicted to raillery and defamation. But it was extremely easy
for them to have known that the temple Onion, at Helipolis, was
named from Onias, the High-Priest ofthe Jews, who built it in
the reign of Ptolemy Philometer and Cleopatra.* Others
have asserted that the mistake ofthe heathen proceeded from an
ambiguous mode of reading ; as if the Greeks, meaning to say that
the Hebrews adored heaven, ouranon, might in abbreviation
write ounon; from whence the enemies of the Jews concluded
that they worshipped onos, an ass. Or, perhaps, reading in Latin
authors that they worshipped heaven, ccelum,
" Nil praeter nubes et cteli numen adorant,"
instead of cmlum, they read cillum, an ass, and so reported that
the Jews adored this animal. Something of this we perceive in
Petronius ; " Judeus olicet, et porcinum numen adoret, et cilli
summas advocet auriculas." Where the common reading is call,
but corrected cilli, kiXKqs, whence qvqs, an ass. Bochart,! is of
opinion that the error arose from an expression in Scripture,
" the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it;" in the Hebrew, Pi-Je
hovah, or Pi-Jeo. Now, in the Egyptian language, pieo signifies
an ass ; the Alexandrian Egyptians hearing the Jews often pro
nounce this word pieo, believed that they appealed to their god,
and thence inferred that they adored an ass. These explica
tions are ingenious, but not solid. It is doubtful whether any
one can assign the true reason for the calumny ; which might
have arisen from a joke, or an accident. M. Le Moine seems
to have succeeded best, who says that in all probability the golden
urn containing the manna which was preserved in the sanctuary,
was taken for the head of an ass ; and that the omer of manna
might have been confounded with the Hebrew hamor, which sig
nifies an ass.
II. The wild ass, called para, is probably the onager of the
ancients. It is taller, and a much more dignified animal than the
common or domestic ass ; its legs are more elegantly shaped ;
and it bears its head higher. It is peculiarly distinguished by a
* A. M.3854. ante A. D. 150. vide Josephus, Antiq. lib. xiii. c. 6. and
lib. xiv. c 14. De Btllo, lib. i. c. 6. and lib. vii. c. 37.
t Bochart, Micros, lib. ii. c. 18.
VOL. I. 4

26 THE NATURAL HISTORY
dusky, woolly mane, long erect ears, and a forehead highly
arched. The colour ofthe hair, "in general, is of a silvery white.
The upper part of the face, the sides of the neck, and the upper
part of the thighs, are flaxen coloured. The fore part of the
body is divided from the flank by a white line, extending round
the rump to the tail. The legs and the belly are white. A
stripe of waved, coffee-coloured, bushy hair, runs along the top
of the back, from the mane to the tail. Another stripe, of the
same colour, crosses the former at the shoulders. Two beauti
ful white lines, one on each side, bound the dorsal band and the
mane. In winter the hair of this animal is soft, silky, and wav
ing ; it bears in this state a considerable resemblance to the hair
ofthe camel. In summer, the hair is very smooth and silky ;
and certain shaded rays pointing downwards, mark the sides of
the neck. We find Deborah, Judges v. 10. addressing those
" who rode on white asses, those who sit in judgment ;" men of
dignity. The word here rendered white occurs also Ezek. xxvii.
18, and only there, where it is spoken of wool.*
These animals associate in herds, under a leader, and are very
shy. They inhabit the mountainous regions and desert parts of
Tartary and Persia, &c. Anciently they were likewise found in
Lycaonia, Phrygia, Mesopotamia, and Arabia Deserta.t
They are remarkably wild ; and Job xxxix. 5 — 8, describes
the liberty they enjoy ; the place of their retreat, their manners,
and wild, impetuous, and untameable spirit.
" Who from the forest Ass his collar broke,
And manumised his shoulders from the yoke ?
Wild tenant of the waste, I sent him there
Among the shrubs to breathe in freedom's air.
iSwift as an arrow in his speed he flies ;
Sees from afar the smoky city rise ;
Scorns the tbroug'd street, where slavery drags her load,
The loud voic'd driver, and his urging goad :
V\ uere'er the mountain waves its lofty wood,
A boundless range, he seeks his verdant food."!
Xenophon, in his Anabasis, describing the desert of Arabia,
says, " There, in a plain level as the sea, and devoid of trees, but
every where fragrant with aromatic shrubs and reeds, he observed
tbe wild asses which the horsemen were accustomed to chase, fly
ing with unequal speed, so that the animals would often stop their
course, and, when the horsemen approached, disappear; and
they could not be taken, unless the horsemen, placing themselves
in different parts, wearied them by relays in successive pursuits."
* This corrects an error in Harmer, V. ii. p. 68.
t PbiN. Nat. Hist. 1. viii. c. 69. f Scott's version.

OF THE BIBLEi 27
" Vain man would be wise, though he be born a wild ass's
eolt." Job xi. 12. sna yj? oir para, "ass-colf," not "ass's
colt ;" v being in apposition with fro, and not in government.*
The whole is a proverbial expression, denoting extreme perversi
ty, and ferocity, and repeatedly alluded to in the Old Testament.
Thus Gen. xvi. 12, it is prophesied of Ishmael that he should be
am nid para adam, a wild-ass man ; rough, untaught, and liber
tine as a.wild ass. So Hosea xiii. 15. " He (Ephraim) hath run
w;ld (literally assified himself) amidst the braying monsters."
So again Hosea viii. 9, the very same character is given of
Ephraim, who is called " a solitary wild ass by himself," or per
haps a solitary wild-ass of the desert ; for the original will bear to
be so rendered. This proverbial expression has descended
among the Arabians to the present day, who still employ, as
Schultens has remarked, the expressions, " the ass of the de
sert," or " the wild ass," to describe an obstinate, indocile, and
contumacious person. In Job xxiv. 5. robbers and plunderers
are distinguished by the odious term of cxia peraim, wild asses.
The passage refers, evidently, says Mr. Good, " not to the proud
and haughty tyrants themselves, but to the oppressed and needy
wretches; the Bedoweens and other. plundering tribes, whom
their extortion and violence had driven from society, and compel
led in a body to seek for subsistence by public robbery and pil
lage. In this sense the description is admirably forcible and
characteristic." So the son of Sirach says, Ecclus. xiii. 19.
" As the wild-ass [ovotj^] is the lion's prey in the wilderness ; so
the rich eat up the poor."
* It should be observed that the word in the original translated "though
he be born," should be rendered become; at turned into; and implies assu
ming or taking a new character. [See the use of the word in Prov. xvii. 17.
and Bp. Patrick's note in his Paraphrase.] It is an Arabian phraseology.
" Let the wild-ass colt become a man." That is, as they explain it, Let a
man who is intractable, become gentle, humane, and docile. [See Schul
tens' Comment, in loc. Scott, and Gooo.] The verse should be read —
That the proud may bo made wise,
And the cult of the wild ass become a man,
There is a similar expression in Horace, [Art. Poet. v. 469.]
 Nee ai retractiis erit, jam
Fiet homo.
Nor if you bring him off his folly, will he thereupon become a man ;
that is, act a rational part for the future.
In a book now before me by Dr. Edwards "on the uncertainty, deficien
cy, and corruptions of human knowledge," Lond. 1714, at the 79th page this
verse is thus printed ; " Vain man would fain be wise, when he is born of a
wild asses' colt." Here is probably a typographical error; butitrreated
a smile that spoiled all the authority ofthe verse as a quotation to prove the
hereditary depravity of mankind.

28 THE NATURAL HISTORY
The wild ass is said not to bray over grass, Job vi. 5., and we
may connect with this, by way of contrast, the description of a
drought by the prophet Jeremiah, xiv. 6. " The hind dropped
her calf in the forest-field, and forsook it because there was no
grass ; and the wild asses stood on the rising grounds, blowing
out their breath like taninim, while their eyes failed because
there wras no vegetable of any kind."
That this para is a creature roaming at large in the forests ap
pears from the passage already cited from Job xxix. 5. We
have the word in a feminine form ma pareh, Jerem. ii. 24.*
" A female wild ass used to the wilderness in her desire snuffeth
up the wind of her occasion. Who can turn her away? All who
seek her, shall they not be tired ? When her heat is over they may
find her."1 This was perhaps, designed to insinuate to God's
people, by way of reproach, that they were less governable than
even the brute beast, which, after having followed the bent of
appetite for a little time, would cool again and return quietly to
her owners ; but the idolatrous fit seemed never to abate, nor to
suffer the people to return to their duty.
The prophet Isaiah, xxxii. 1 4, describes great desolation by
saying that " the wild asses shall rejoice where a city stood."
III. There is another kind of ass, called in Scripture finx atow,
atonoth. Abraham had atonoth ; Gen. xii. 16. Balaam
rode on an aton ; Numb. xxii. 23 ; and we learn from Gmelin
that the breed from the onager is very fit for performing a long
journey, like that of Balaam ; that this kind of ass is endowed
with vigorous faculties, so as to discern obstacles readily ; is
also obstinate to excess, when beaten behind, when put out of
his way, or when attempted to be controlled against its will; and
that at the sight of danger it emits a kind of cry. It is also famil
iar, and attached to its master.! These particulars agree cor
rectly with certain incidents in the history ofthe ass of Balaam. §
* Thirty of Dr. Kennicott's Codices read K13.
¦f I am inclined to think, says Mr, Dimock, that, in the latter part of this
verse, JWtns is put for TWinD, "they shall find her in the wood ;" for,
though the new moon, as Lud. de Died observes, might be applicable to
the idolatry of the Jews, yet it does not seem to have any reference to the
wild ass here spoken ofc but the nirod may carry an allusion both to the ass
which frequents it, and to the idolatrous worship of the Israelites in the
groves mentioned ch. xvii 2. and elsewhere.
| Gmelin, Journal de physique, V. 21 suppl. 1782.
§ For an elucidation ofthe whole of this remarkable story, the reader is
referred to a tract by Abraham Oakes. Lond. 1751. 8vo. to Bochart,
Hierog. V. 1. lib. 2. ch. 14. p. 160. and to Jortih's Dissertalions.

OF THE BIBLE. 9
We find from 1 Chron. xxvii. 30. that David had an officer ex
pressly appointed to superintend his atonoth ; not his ordinary
asses, but those of a nobler race : which implies at least equal
dignity in this officer to his colleagues mentioned with him.
This notion of the aton gives also a spirit to the history of
Saul, who, when his father's atonoth were lost, was at no little
pains to seek them ; moreover, as besides being valuable, they
were uncommon, he might the more readily hear of them if they
had been noticed or taken up by any one : and this leads to the
true interpretation ofthe servant's proposed application to Samu
el, verse 6, as though he said, " In his office of magistracy this
honourable man may have heared of these strayed rarities, and
secured them by some one ; peradventure he can direct us."
This keeps clear both of expected fortune-telling, and of the ex
ercise of prophetic prediction in Samuel on this occasion, which I
apprehend is desirable ; and it implies the competence, if not the
wealth, of Saul's family.
We have now to remark the allusion of the dying Jacob to
his son Judah, Gen. xlix. 11. " binding his foal (cireh) to the
vine, and the colt of his aton to his vine of Sorek." This idea of
a valuable kind of ass, and of Judah's possessing young ofthe
same breed, implies a dignity, a fertility, and an increase of both,
which does not appear in the usual phraseology of the passage.*
Thus we find that these atonoth are mentioned in Scripture,
only in the possession of judges, patriarchs, and other great men ;
insomuch that where these are there is dignity, either expressed
or implied. They were, also, a present for a prince ; for Jacob
presented Esau with twenty, Gen. xxxii. 15. What then shall
we say ofthe wealth of Job, who possessed a thousand !
IV. We proceed to notice another word whichis rendered
" wild-ass" by our translators, Job xxxix. 5. Orud ; which
seems to be the same that in the Chaldee of Daniel v. 21. is call
ed oredia. Mr. Parkhurst supposes that this word denotes the
brayer, and that para and orud are only two names for the same
animal. But these names may perhaps refer to different races
* " Our translation loses the grace of this passage by rendering " foal"
and "colt," which are the same in import: whereas the first word pro
perly signifies a lively young ass, tbe second a strong she-ass of f he spirited
race ofthe Atonoth." Scrip. Illustr. p. 33.
"In those eastern countries the vines have large stems. Chabdin saw
some in Persia which he could hardly grasp. After t'he vintage is over,
the cattle feed on the leaves and tendrils. This and the following ver«e
give us a most graphic picture ofthe fertility of that tract which fell to
the tribe of Judah, abounding in vineyards and fine pasturage." Geddes,
Ct. Rem.

SO THE NATURAL HISTORY
though of the same species ; so that a description of the proper/-
ties of one may apply to both, though not without some variation.
Who sent out the pur a free ?
Or who hath loosed the bands ofthe orud ?
Whose dwelling I have made the wilderness.
And the barren land (salt deserts) his resort ;
The range, of open mountains are his pasture,,
And he searcheth after every green thing.
Gmelin observes that the onager is very fond of salt. Wheth
er these were salt marshes, or salt deserts, is of very little conse
quence. The circumstance greatly adds to the expression and
correctness of the Hebrew naturalist.
-In Daniel we read that Nebuchadnezzar dwelt with the ore-
dia. We need not suppose that he wras banished to the deserts,
but was at most kept safely in an enclosure of his own park,
where curious animals were kept for state and pleasure. If this
be correct, then the orud was somewhat, at least, of a rarity at
Babylon; and it might be of a kind different from the para, as it
is denoted by another name. May it not be the Gicquetei of Pro
fessor Pallas, the wild mule of Mongalia, which surpasses the
onager in size, beauty, and perhaps in swiftness ? He advises to
cross this breed with that of the onager, as a means of perfecting
the species of the ass. Consequently it is allied to this species,
and may be alluded to in the passage of Job where it is associat
ed with the para, unless some other exotic breed of ass was bet
ter known to Job, or in the countries connected with Babylon.
It is the hemi-onos, or half-ass, of Aristotle, found in his days in
Syria; and he celebrates it for its swiftness, and fecundity, (a
breeding mule being thought a prodigy.) Pliny, from the report
of Theophrastus, speaks of this species being found in Cappado
cia. Its general description is that of a mule. Its colour is light
yellowish grey, growing paler towards the sides. It lives in small
herds ; each male having four, five, or more females. It is pro
verbial for swiftness. This reference is strengthened by the
opinion of Mr. Good, who says that this animal inhabits Arabia,
China, Siberia, and Tartary, in grassy, saline plains,) or salt
wastes ; is timid, swift, untameable ; its hearing and smell are
acute; neighing more sonorous than that of the horse; in size
and habits resembling a mule ; but, though called the wild mule, is
not a hybrid production. The ears and tail resemble those of the
zebra ; the hoofs and body those of the ass ; the limbs those of
the horse. I have no doubt that this is the animal which the
Arabs of the present day call Jumar. It is described by Pennant
under the name given it by the Mongalians, which is dschikketai.
The Chinese call it yo-to-tse. From the Mongalian, Dr. Shaw

OF THE BIBLE. 31
has called it Jikta. Mr. Elphinstone, in describing the desert
of Canound, says, " The goorkhur, or wild ass, so well depicted
in the book of Job, is found here. This animal is sometimes
found alone, but oftener in herds. It resembles a mule rather
than an ass, but is of the colour of the latter. It is remarkable
for its shyness, and still more for its speed ; at a kind of shuffling
trot, peculiar to itself, it will leave the fleetest horses behind."*
Thus have we proposed those authorities which induce us to
adopt a distinction of breeds, or races, if not of kinds, in the spe
cies of the ass ; and the reader will agree'with us in maintaining,
such a distinction is countenanced by Scripture, and by natural
history also.
As to the oirim, rendered young asses, Isai. xxxvi. 24. we need
not suppose that they were a distinct breed or species ; but mere
ly the ass in its state of maturity, strength, and vigour ; as they
are spoken of as carrying loads, tilling the ground, and assisting in
other works of husbandry. In Isai. xxxvi. 6. it is spelt ourim ;
but in verse 24, we read oirim, labouring the earth in conjunction
with oxen.
In Proverbs xxvi. 3, we read of " a whip for the horse, and a bri
dle for the ass." According to our notions, we should rather say,
a bridle for the horse and a whip for the ass : but it should be
considered that the Eastern asses, particularly those of the Ara
bian breed, are much more beautiful, and better goers than ours,
and so, no doubt, they were anciently in Palestine ; and, being
active and well broken, would need only a bridle to guide them ;
whereas their horses being scarce, and often eaught wild, and
badly broken, would be much less manageable, and frequently re
quire the correction ofthe whip.t That the ass, however, was
driven by a rod, is apparent from this passage, Ecclus. xxxiii. 24.
" Fodder, a wand, and burdens are for the ass ; and bread, correc
tion, and work for a servant."^
BADGER. Erin tachash.
This word in a plural form, occurs Exod. xxv. 5; xxvi. 14;
xxxv. 7, 23; xxxvi. 19; xxxix. 34; Numb. iv. 6, 8, 10, 11, 12,
14, 25; and Ezek. xvi. 10; and is joined with my oroth,
' skins, used for the covering of the tabernacle in the wilderness.
In Exod. xxv. 5. and xxvi. 14. it is rendered by the Chaldee word
* Account ofthe kingdom of Cabul, &c. Lood. 1816.
t For an account of the exploit of Samson with " the jaw-bone of an
ass," Jud. xv. 15.' the curious are referred to Bochart, Hieros. V. 1. ch;
ii. c. 15. p. 171. Kichorn, Einleit in das A. T. p. 2. \ 460. p. 408.
Josti, uber Simsons starke, im Repertoriofur bibl.und. morg. litteratur, p.
vii. Herder, geist der He.braeischen poesie, p. ii. p. 250. Dieorichs. sur
geschichte Simsons. Goetting. 1778. Hezel, Schrifftforscher, p. 1. p. 663v
and the learned Jacob Bryant, Obs. on passages of Scripture.
J This article is takeu principally from " Scripture Illustrated," in ad
dition to Calmst,

32 THE NATURAL HISTORY
W3DD with the Chaldee prefix t ; and in the latin version
it is "taxonum," of badgers; in every other place where it oc
curs in the Pentateuch (except Numb. iv. 10) the Chaldee word
is without the prefix, and the Latin rendering is " hyacinthinas."
In Numb. iv. 10, the t is prefixed, yet the Latin version is the
same as in the other places where it is not prefixed. Our version
follows the Targum, and in every place renders a'BTin my oroth
tach^sim by " Badger's skins."
" Few terms," says Dr. A. Clarke, " have afforded greater
perplexity to critics and commentators than this. Bochart has
exhausted the subject, and seems to have proved that no kind of
animal is here intended, but a colour. None ofthe versions ac
knowledge an animal of any kind, except the Chaldee, which sup
poses the badger is intended ; and from it we have borrowed our
translation ofthe word. The Septuagint and Vulgate have skins
dyed of a violet colour ; the Syriac, azure ; the Arabic, black ;
the Coptic, violet ; the Persic, ram's skins. The colour con
tended for by Bochart is the hysginus, which is a very deep
blue ; so Pliny, " coccoque tinctum Tyrio tingere, ut fieret hys-
ginum;"* they dip crimson in purple, to make the colour called
hysginus. Dr. Geddes, however, observes that he should hardly think
that the writer, if he had meant to express only a variety of col
our in the ram's skins, would have repeated tiny after cwxrj.
It is more natural, he adds, to look for another species of animal
in the word tynn ; but what animal, it is not so easy to determine.
The Persic translator took it to be the buck-goat, npDN ; and the
Gr. of Venice a panther, A^fjuaret, TtcA$u.>$ms.
The Jewish interpreters are agreed as to its being some animal.
Jarchi says it was a beast of many colours, which no more exists.
Kimchi holds the same opinion. Aben Ezra thinks it some an
imal ofthe bovine kind, of whose skins shoes are made ; allu
ding to Ezek. xvi. 1 0.t Most modern interpreters have taken it
to be the badger, and among these our English translators ; but,
in the first place, the badger is not an inhabitant of Arabia ; and,
there is nothing in its skin peculiarly proper either for covering
a tabernacle or making shoes.
Has^us, Michae. is, and others have laboured to prove that it-
is the mermaid, or homo marinus ; the trichekus of Linkjeus ; but
the skin of this fish is not at all proper for shoes, or the covering of
a tent, on account of its hardness and unpliability. I cannot,
therefore, but adopt with Faber, Dathe, and Rosenmuller, the
* Nat. Hist. lib. ix. c. 6,5 ed. Bipont.
f See Bynaws, De calceis Hebrasorum. Dort. 1682.

OF THE BIBLE. 33
opinion of Rau, that it is the seal, or sea-calf; " vitulus mari
nas ;" the skin of which is both strong and pliable, and was ac
counted by the ancients as a most proper outer covering for
tents,* and was also made into shoes, as Rau has clearly shown. t
Niebuhr says, " A merchant of Abushahr called dahash, that
fish which the captains in English vessels call porpoise, and
the Germans, sea-hog. In my voyage from Maskat to Abushahr
I saw a prodigious quantity together near Ras Mussendom, who
were all going the same way, and seemed to swim with great ve
hemence. "J See Ram's Skins.
BALM, ns tzeri.
Occ. Gen. xxxvii. 25 ; xliii. 1 1 ; Jer. viii. 22 ; xlvi. 11; li. 8 ;
and Ezek. xxvii. 17.
Balm, or balsam, is used with us as a common name for many
of those oily resinous substances, which flow spontaneously or by
incision, from certain trees or plants, and(are of considerable use
in medicine and surgery. It serves therefore very properly to ex
press the Hebrew word '"is, which the LXX have rendered ^tivij,
and the ancients have interpreted resin indiscriminately. But
Kimchi, and some of the moderns, have understood by "nf that
particular species heretofore properly called " balsamum" or
" opobalsamum," and now distinguished by the name of " balsa-
mum judaicum," or balm of Gilead ; being that which is so much
celebrated by Pliny, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, Tacitus, Jus
tin, and others, for its costliness, its medicinal virtues, and for
being the product of Judea only, and of a particular spot there ;
and which Josephus§ attributes to the neighbourhood of Jericho,
but says, that the tree was, according to tradition, originally
brought by the queen of Sheba to king Solomon out of Arabia
Felix, the country that now principally supplies the demand for
that valuable drug. On the other hand, Bochart strongly con
tends, that the "is mentioned Jerem. viii. 22, could not possibly
mean that balsam, as Gilead was very far from the spot which
produced it, and none of the trees grew on that side of the Jor
dan ; and besides it is spoken of as brought from Gilead, Gen.
xxxvii. 25, long before the balsam tree had been planted in any
part of Judea. He therefor.e considers it as no other than the
resin drawn from the Terebinthus, or turpentine-tree, which
abounds sufficiently in those parts. And this, for all that appears,
* Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. ii. c. 55.
f Kai;, Comment, de iis quse ex Arabia in usum tabernaculi fuerunt
petita. c. ii.
X Niebuhr, Trav. p. 157. Fr. ed.
J Antiq. I. iv. c. 6. 1*. viii. c. 6. De Bell. Jud. 1. 1. c. 6. ed. Htmsos.
5

34 THE NATURAL HISTORY
says Bp. Blaney, may have been the case ; the resin or balm of
the Terebinthus being well known to have healing virtues, which
is at least sufficient to answer tbe prophet's question on this occa
sion; which was metaphorically to ask, if there were no salutary
means within reach, or none that knew how to apply them, for the
relief of his country from those miseries with which it was af
flicted. BALSAM- TREE. jDB^ya baalshemen ; in Arabic abu-scMm,
that is " father of scent," sweet scented.
According to Mr. Bruce, from whom I shall principally ex
tract this article, the balessan, balsam, or balm, is an evergreen
shrub, or tree, which grows to about fourteen feet high, spontane
ously, and without culture in its native country, Azab, and all
along the coast to Babelmandel. The trunk is about eight or
ten inches in diameter ; the wood light and open, gummy, and
outwardly of a reddish colour, incapable of receiving a polish,
and covered with a smooth bark, like that of a young cherry-tree.
It flattens at top, Jike trees that are exposed to snow blasts or sea
air, which gives it a stunted appearance. It is remarkable for a
•penury of leaves. The flowers are like those of tbe acacia,
small and white, only that three hang upon three filaments, or
stalks, where the acacia has but one. Two of these flowers fall
off, and leave a single fruit ; the branches that bear these are the
shoots ofthe presentyear; they are of a reddish colour, and tougher
than the old wood. After the blossoms follow yellow, fine scent
ed seed, inclosed in a reddish black pulpy nut, very sweet, and
containing a yellowish liquor like honey. They are bitter, and
a little tart upon the tongue ; of the same shape and bigness with
the fruit of the turpentine-tree, thick in the middle and pointed
at the ends.
There were three kinds of balsam extracted from this tree.
The first was called opobalsamum, and was most highly esteemed.
It was that which flowed spontaneously, or by means of incision,
from the trunk or branches ofthe tree in summer time. These-
sond was carpobalsamum, made by expressing the fruit when in
maturity. The third, and least esteemed of all, was hylobalsa-
mum, made by a decoction ofthe buds and small young twigs.
The great value set upon this drug in the East is traced to the
earliest ages. The Ishmaelites, or Arabian carriers and merchants,
trafficking with the Arabian commodities into Egypt, brought
with them "is as a part of theircargo. Gen. xxxvii. 25 ; xliii. 11.
Strabo alone, of all the ancients, has given us the true account
of the place of its origin. " In that most happy land of the Sabae-
ans," says he, " grow the frankincense, myrrh, and cinnamon ;
and in the coast that is about Saba, the balsam also." Among

OF THE BIBLE. 35
the myrrh trees behind Azab, all along the coast is its native
country. We need not doubt that it was transplanted early into
Arabia, that is, into the south part of Arabia Felix immediately
fronting Azab, where it is indigenous. The high country of Ara
bia was too cold to receive it ; being all mountainous : water
freezes there.
The first plantation that succeeded seems to have been at Pe
tra, the ancient metropolis of Arabia, now called Beder, or Be-
der Huncin.
Josephus, in the history of the antiquities of his country, says
that a tree of this balsam was brought to Jerusalem by the queen
of Saba, and given among other presents to Solomon, who, as we
know from Scripture, was very studious of all sorts of plants, and
skilful in the description and distinction of them. And here, in
deed, it seems to have been cultivated and to have thriven ; so
that the place of its origin, through length of time, combined with
other reasons came to be forgotten.
Notwithstanding the positive authority of Josephus, and the
great probability that attends it, we cannot put it in competition
with what we have been told in Scripture, as we have just now
seen, that the place where it grew and was sold to merchants, was
Gilead in Judea, more than 1730 years before Christ, or 1000
before the queen of Saba ; so that in reading the verse, nothing
can be plainer than that it had been transplanted into Judea, '
flourished, and had become an article of commerce in Gilead,
long before the period he mentions.* " A company of Ishmael
ites came from Gilead with their camels, bearing spicery, and
balm, and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt." Gen.
xxxvii. 25. Now the spicery, or pepper, was certainly purchased
by the Ishmaelites at the mouth of the Red Sea, where was the
market for Indian goods ; and at the same place they must have
bought the myrrh, for that neither grew nor grows any where
else, than in Saba or Azabo, east of Cape Gardefan, where were
the ports for India, and whence it was dispersed over all the world.
~- Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Pliny, Strabo, Diodorus Sicu-
Lus, Tacitus, Justin, Solinus, and Serapion, speaking of its
costliness and medicinal virtues, all say that this balsam came
from Judea. The words of Pliny are, " But to all other odours
whatever, the balsam is preferred, produced in no other part but
* In reply to the above observations of Mr. Bruce, we must recollect, that
Bochart endeavours to prove that in Gen. xxxvii. 25, and xliii. 11, the word
feertsignifies only rosin or turpentine ; and maintains that, the balm was
unknown in Judea before the time of Solomon. Hieros. 1. iv. c. 11. See
also the Samaritan version, Munster, Pagninus, Abias Montancs, Mal-
venda, Junius, Ursihus/ and Ainsworth.

36 THE NATURAL HISTORY
the land of Jadea, and even there in two gardens only ; both of
them belonging to the king, one no more than twenty acres, the
other still smaller."*
At this time, continues Mr. Bruce, I suppose it got its name of
balsamu m Judaicum, or balm of Gilead ; and thence became an
article of merchandize and fiscal revenue, which probably occa
sioned the discouragement of bringing any more from Arabia,
whence it was very probably prohibited as contraband. We
shall suppose that thirty acres planted with this tree, would have
produced more than all the trees of Arabia do at this day. Nor
does the plantation of Beder Huncin amount to much more than
that quantity, for we are still to observe, that even when it had
been, as it were, naturalized in Judea, and acquired a name in
the country, still it bore evident marks of its being a stranger
there ; and its being confined to two royal gardens alone, shows
it was maintained there by force and culture, and was by no
means a native of the country : and this is confirmed by Strabo,
who speaks of it as being in the king's palace and garden at Jeri
cho. This place, being one ofthe warmest in Judea, indicates
their apprehensions about it."t
The observation of Justin is, that " the wealth ofthe Jewish
nation increased by revenues from balsam, which is produced on
ly in their country, for that there is a valley which is inclosed with
continued mountains, as by a wall, and in a manner resembling a
camp ; that the space consists of two hundred acres, and is called
Jericho, wherein there is a wood remarkable for its fruitfulness
and pleasant appearance, being distinguished for its palm-trees
and balsams." He describes the balsam-tree as having a form
similar to the fir-tree, excepting that it is not so lofty ; and that
in a certain time of the year it exudes the balsam ; and he ob
serves that the place is not more remarkable for its warmth, than
for its exuberance, since as the sun is more ardent here than in
other parts of the country, there is a kind of natural and perpetu
al glow in the sultry air.
It is still cultivated in the plain of Jericho ; and the process of
obtaining the balsam is described by Mariti, Vol. ii. p. 27, &c.
He was there in 1766. The culture seems then to have been
south of the town, towards the Dead Sea. Volney was at Jeri
cho in 1 784, and denies the tree to be growing at the town. This
statement may reconcile the two authors.
* Plin. Nat. Hist. I. xxii. c. 25.
i Bruce's Trav. Vol. v. p. 19—24, ed. 8vo.

OF THE BIBLE. 31
BARLEY, rryyet shoreh ; Arabic, schosir.
Occ. Exod. ix. 31. Levit. xxvii. 16. et. al.freq.
A well known kind of grain. It derives its Hebrew name fronft
the long hairy beard which grows upon the ear.*
Pliny, on the testimony of Menandjer, says that barley was
the most ancient aliment of mankind.!
In Palestine the barley was sowp about October, and reaped in
the end of March, just after the Passover. In Egypt the barjey-
harvest was later; for when the hail fell there, Exod. ix. 31. a
few days before the Passover, the flax and barley were bruised
and destroyed ; for the flax was at its full growth, and the barley
began to form its green ears ; but the wheat, and more backward
grain, were not damaged, because they were only in the blade,
and the hail bruised the young shoots which produce the ears.
The Rabbins sometimes called barley, the food of beasts, be
cause in reality they fed their cattle with it. 1 Kings iv. 28 ;
and from HomerJ, and other ancient authors we learn, that bar
ley was given to horses. The Hebrews, however, frequently
used barley bread, as we find by several passages of Scripture :
for example, David's friends brought to him in his flight, wheat,
barley, flour, &c, 2 Sam. xvii. 28. Solomon sent wheat, bar
ley, oil, and wine to the labourers king Hiram had furnished him.
2 Chron. ii. 15. Elijah had a present made him of twenty bar
ley loaves, and corn in the husk. 2 Kings iv. 22. And, by mi
raculously increasing the five barley loaves, Christ fed a multi
tude of about five thousand. John vi. 8 — 10.
The jealousy offering, in the Levitical institution, was to be
barley meal. Numb. v. 15. The common mincha, or offering,
was of fine wheat flour, Levit. ii. 1. but this was of barley, a
meaner grain, probably to denote the vile condition ofthe person
in whose behalf it was offered. For which reason also, there
was no oil or frankincense permitted to he offered with it.
Sometimes barley is put for a low, contemptible reward or
price. So the false prophets are charged with seducing the peo
ple for handfuls of barley, and morsels of bread. Ezek. xiii. 19.
Hosea bought his emblematic bride, for fifteen pieces of silver
and a homer and a half of barley. Hosea iii. 2.
The author of " Scripture Illustrated," thus explains Isaiah
xxviii. 25. " the principal wheat," literally mit? shureh (per
haps for nvty shireh) and rniysy shoreh." This latter, shoreh,
is no doubt the schair of the Arabs, barley : and what forbids
* So its Latin name hordeum, is from horreo, to stand on end, as the
hair. See Martini Lexicon Etymolog.
f Homer, II. V. v. T96. and VI. v. *06.
\ For other particulars, see Celsius, V. 2. p. 239. HASSELftoisT, p. 129.

38 THE NATURAL HISTORY
that the first shureh, or shireh, should be the shaer, durra, or
one ofthe kinds of millet, which we know was a principal, if not
the very principal kind of food among the Orientals ? The " ap
pointed barley," Dr. Stock renders ;nDJ m^w, " picked bar
ley," and Bp. Lowth, more paraphrastically, " barley that hath
its appointed limit," referring probably to the boundary between
that and the other grain. But I would suggest that the word jddj
nisman, rendered " appointed" may be an error in transcription
for |odd sesamon, the sesamum so well known in the East.* Of
this plant there were three species — the Orienlale, the Judicum,
and the Trifelictum. The Orientale is an annual herbaceous
plant. Its flowers are of a dirty white, and not unlike to the
fox-glove. It is cultivated in the Levant as a pulse, and indeed
in all the Eastern countries. It is the seed which is eaten. They
are first parched over the fire, and then stewed with other ingre
dients in water. In the Talmud, and various Rabbinical tracts,
the gith, cummin, and sesamum are mentioned in connection.!
BAT. 3*?E3J? othelaph.
Occ. Levit. xi. 19; Deut. xiv. 18; and Isai. ii. 20; Baruch
vi. 22.
Referring the reader to the volume of " Scripture Illustrated,"
for a curious description of the bat, accompanied by a plate ; I
shall only remark that the Jewish legislator, having enumerated
the animals legally unclean, as well beasts as birds, closes his
catalogue with a creature, whose equivocal properties seem to
exclude it from both those classes : it is too much a bird, to be
properly a mouse, and too much a mouse, to be a properly a
bird. The Bat is, therefore, extremely well described in Deut.
xiv. 18, 19. as the passage should be read — " Moreover the othe
laph, and every creeping thing thatjlieth, is unclean to you : they
shall not be eaten." This character, which fixes to the bat the
name used in both places, is omitted in Leviticus ; nevertheless
it is very descriptive, and places this creature at the head of a
class of which he is a clear and a well known instance.
The distinguishing properties of the bat , are thus represented
by Scaliger : " Mirae sane conformationis est animal ; bipes, •
quadrupes, ambulans non pedibus, volans non pennis ; videns
* The word JDDJ differs but one letter only from JODD, and that by the
mere omission of a stroke to complete its form. If we suppose the letter
S (o) to have been omitted here, then we may make the N (j) into V (l),
" and sesamem ;" otherwise we may read, according to the Egyptian name,
" and semsemun" (iDDDD,) supposing the first syllable omitted. «
t Tr. Okets, c. iii. $ 3. Edajoth. c. v. § 3. Tibbul Jom, c. 1. 5 5. and
Buxtorf. Lex. Talmud, p. 2101.

OF THE BIBLE. 39
sine luce, in luce caecus ; extra lucem luce utitur, in luce luce ca
ret ; avis cum dentibus, sine rostro, cum mammis, cum lacte, pul-
los etiam inter volandum gerens."
It has feet or claws growing out of its pinions, and contradicts
the general order of nature by creeping with the instruments of
its flight.
The Hebrew name of the bat is from bay darkness, and .By to
fly, as if it described " the flier in darkness." So the Greeks
called the creature vukts^j-, from vu£, night ; and the Latins ves-
j>ertiliofiom vesper, evening. According to Ovid,*
-" Lucemqne perosi,

Nocte volant, seroque trahant a vespere nomen."
It is prophecied Isai. ii, 20. " In that day shall they cast away
their idols to the moles and to the bats ;" that is, they shall carry
them into the dark caverns, old ruins, or desolate places to which
they shall fly for refuge, and so shall give them up, and relin
quish them to the filthy animals that frequent such places, and
have taken possession of them as their proper habitation. Bel-
lonius, Greaves, P. Lucas, and many other travellers, speak of
bats of an enormous size as inhabiting the great pyramid ; and it
is well known that their usual places of resort are caves and de
serted buildings.
In Baruch vi. 22. is a description of the idols, calculated to
disgust the Jews in their captive state in Babylon, with the wor
ship paid to such senseless statues. " Their faces are blacked
through the smoke that comes out of the temple. Upon their
bodies and heads sit bats, swallows, and birds, and the cats also.
By this ye may know they are no gods ; therefore, fear them not."
BAY-TREE, mix ;esrach.
It is mentioned only in Psal. xxxvii. 35, 36. " I have seen
the ungodly in great power, and flourishing like a green bay-tree.
Yet he passed away, and lo ! he was not. Yea, I sought him,
but he could not be found."
Aben Ezra, Jarchi, Kimchi, Jerom, and some others say that
the original may mean only " a native tree," a tree growing in
its native soil, not having suffered by transplantation. Such a
tree spreads itself luxuriantly. The Septuagint and Vulgate
render it " cedars ;" but the High Dutch of Luther's Bible,
the old Saxon, the French, the Spanish, the Italian of Diodati,
and the version of Ainsworth, make it the laurel; and Sir Tho
mas Browne says, " as the sense ofthe text is sufficiently answer
ed by this, we are unwilling to exclude that noble plant from the
honour of having its name in Scripture. The word flourishing is
* Met am. lib. iv. v. 415.

4(9 THE NATURAL HISTORY
also more applicable to the laurel, which in its prosperity
abounds with pleasant flowers." But Isidore de Barreira,*
while he expresses a wonder that no mention is made of the lau
rel in the Scripture, adds, " Non debuisse ccelestem scripturam
contaminari mentione illius arboris quam in tanto pretio haberent
Gentiles, ad fabulas et fictiones poeticas adhiberent, Apollini
Delphici cum maxima superstitione sacram facerent, in earn fin-
gerent Daphnem conversam, eaque se et falsa numina corona-
rent." In reply to this Celsius very candidly remarks that,
" The abuse of a thing is no discredit to its proper use ; and if
this mode of reasoning were just, there would be no mention in
the Bible of trees, plants, or herbs, which were applied by the
Gentiles to idolatrous purposes, or were honoured by them for su
perstitious reasons."
A similar metaphor to that of the Psalmist, is used by Shakes
peare in describing the uncertainty of human happiness, and
the end of human ambition.

-Such is the state of man !

To-day he puts forth tender leaves of hope ;
To-morrow blossoms,
And bears his blushing honours thick upon him;
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,
And, when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
His greatness is a ripening, nips his root,
And then he falls, never to hope again."
BDELLIUM. rrT\2 bedolah. Occ. Gen. ii. 12. and Numb.
xi. 7.
Interpreters seem at a loss to know what to do with this word,
and have rendered it variously. Many suppose it a mineral pro
duction. The Septuagint translates in the first place avfyoMtit a
carbuncle, and in the second xgti<rT»AAov a crystal. The Rab
bins are followed by Reland in calling it a crystal ; but some, in
stead of bedolah read berolah,X changing the T into i, which are
not always easily distinguished, and are often mistaken by tran
scribers ; and so render it the beryl, which say they, is the prime
kind of crystal. The very learned BochartJ considers it as the
pearl ; and to his elaborate disquisition I refer the curious reader
who delights in accumulated erudition and ingenious conjecture.
Ofthe same opinion is Dr. Geddes, who produces a passage
from Benjamin of Tudela, who says that " in the month of
March the drops of rain-water which fall on the surface of the
sea, Eire swallowed by the mothers of pearl and carried to the hot4-
* De significatidnibus plantarum, florura, et fructuum, quae in Scripturis
memory nl ur, p. 274.
t Onkelos and the Targums. J HieroK. part ii. lib. v. c. 5.

OF THE BIBLE. 41
torn of the sea ; where being fished for and opened in Septem
ber, they are found to contain pearls." " It is remarkable, says
Dr. Geddes, that the author uses both the Hebrew name bedolah,
and the Arabic lulu, one at the beginning of his narration, the
other at the end of it." But it may be objected, that this story of
the formation of pearls is false, and therefore no authority. Be
sides, the Hebrew has another name for pearls, O'J'^a peninim.
The bedolah in Genesis, is undoubtedly some precious stone ;
and its colour, mentioned in Numbers, where the manna is spoken
of, is explained by a reference to Exod. xvi. 14 and 31, where it
is likened to hoar-frost, which being like little fragments of ice,
may confirm the opinion that it is the beryl, perhaps that pellu
cid kind called by Dr. Hill, the " ellipomacrostyla,". or beryl
crystal. As there is a gum brought from Arabia and the East-Indies,
bdellium, some critics have supposed this to be the bedolah of
the Scripture ; but this opinion, however ingeniously supported,
cannot be correct.*
BEAN. Sia phul. Arabic, pHouxoN.t Occ. 2 Sam. xvii.
28, and Ezek. iv. 9.
A common legume. Those most usually cultivated in Syria,
are the white horse-bean, " faba rotunda oblonga," and the kid
ney-bean, " phaseolus minimus, fructu viridi ovato," called by
the natives masch.%
Browne, Travels in Africa, Egypt, and Syria, p. 310, de
scribes a kind of legumen, called Ful, bean.
The prophet Ezekiel was directed to take " wheat, and bar
ley, and beans, and lentiles, and panic, and spelt, and put them
into a vessel and make food." With this may be compared the
remark of Pliny,§ " Inter legumina maximus honos fabae ; quip-
pe ex qua tentatus etiam sit panis. Frumento etiam miscetur
apud plerasque nationes."
The Arabic Ban, the name of the coffee-berry, corresponds
with our bean, and is probably its etymon.
BEAR. 3H dob. Arabic, dub ; Persic, deeb; and Ethiopic.
dob.\\ * Coco,unis, Phytol. Sacr. p. 87. Celsius. Hierobot. p. 1. p. 324., and
Killer, Hierophyt. I. lxv. p. 127.
t From the Hebrew phul, is derived pulse, the common name for legumi
nous plants.
X Russell's Nat. Hist, of Aleppo, p. 16.
5 Nat. Hist. lib. xviii. c. 12.
|| Paraph. jEtbiop. ia Cantic. iv. 16. 6

42 THE NATURAL HISTORY
Occ. 1 Sam. xvii. 34, 36, 37 ; 2 Sam. xvii. 8 ; 2 Kings ii. 24 ;
Prov. xvii. .12; xxviii. 15; Isai. xi. 7; lix. 11; Lament, iii. 10;
Hosea xiii. 8 ; and Amos v. 19.*
A fierce beast of prey ; with a longhead, small eyes, and short
ears, rounded at the top. Its limbs are strong, thick, and clumsy.
Its feet are large, and its tail very short. The colour of the ani
mal is black or brown. The body is covered with long, shaggy
hair. " Various conjectures have been formed," says Jackson in his
History of Morocco, p. 34. " whether this animal is a native of
Africa. From the concurrent testimony of the inhabitants, I
am of opinion that it does not exist in West-Barbary ; it may how
ever, have been seen, (as I have heard it has,) in the upper re
gions of Atlas, which are covered with snow during the whole
year. The name given by the Arabs to this animal is Dubb."
The Hebrew name of this animal is taken from his growling ;
so Varro deduces his Latin name " ursus" by an ononiatbpaeia
from the noise which he makes. " Ursi Lucania origo, vel, un-
de illi nostri ab'ipsius voce."!
D^ivid had to defend his flock against bears, as well as lions.
1 Sam. xvii. 34. And Dr. Shaw gives us to understand that
these rugged animals are not peculiar to the bleak regions of the
north, being found in Barbary ; and Thevenot informs us that
they inhabit the wilderness adjoining the Holy Land, and that he
saw one near the northern extremities of the Red Sea.
The ferocity of the bear, especially when hungry or robbed of
its whelps, has been mentioned by many authors. Jerom, on
Hosea xiii. 8. observes, " Aiunt, qui de bestiarum scripsere natu-
ris, inter omnes feras nihil esse ursa saevius, cum perdiderit catu-
los, vel indiguerit cibo." The Scripture alludes in three places to
this furious disposition. The first is, 2 Sam. xvii. 8., " They be
mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed
ofher whelps in the field :" The second, Prov. xvii. 12, " Let a
bear robbed ofher whelps meet a man, rather than a fooj in his
folly :" and the third, Hosea xiii. 8. " I will meet them as a bear
that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their
heart." BEASTS. When this word is used in opposition to man, (as
Psal. xxxvi. 5.) any brute creature is signified; when to creeping
things, (as Levit. xi. 2, 7., xxix. 30,) four-footed animals, from
the size of the hare and upwards, are intended ; and when to
* The bear, APKT02, is mentioned Wisdom xi. 17. and Ecclus. xlvii. 3-
fSee also Bochart, Hieroz. Vol. ii. lib. iii. c. 9. p. 129. Eichork,
Algeui. Biblioth. T. vi. fasc. ii. p. 206.

OF THE BIBLE. 43
wild creatures, (as Gen. i. 25.) cattle, or tame animals are spo
ken of.
In Isaiah xiii. 21, several wild animals are mentioned as dwell
ing among the ruins of Babylon. " Wild beasts of the desert,"
D"S tziim, those of the dry wilderness, as the root of the word
implies, " shall dwell there. Their houses shall be full of doleful
creatures," ernx achim, marsh animals. "Owls shall dwell
there," ostriches, " and satyrs," O'Yjw shqarim, shaggy ones,
" shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands," ct'x
aiim, oases ofthe desert, " shall cry in their desolate houses, and
dragons," cnn tanim, crocodiles, or amphibious animals, "shall
be in their desolate places."*
Babylon being seated on a river, land animals might have ac
cess to it ; yet marsh or water animals were not excluded, be
cause they might come either from the sea, or they might be such
as love fresh water lakes for their residence. Had Babylon been
on the sea, as Tyre, or in a sandy desert as Palmyra, or on a rocky
mountain, as Jerusalem, the mixture or consociation of animals
so contrary in their habits, would have been altogether unnatural ;
but, adverting to the situation of the place, we discover the cor
rectness ofthe sacred writer.
" For there the wild beast of the desert 'bides,
O'er her rent glories wailing monsters roam,
The daughter of the ostrich there resides,
And satyrs riot in a lawless home.
Wolves all about the formidable space
Roam, and along the vaulted ruins cry ;
Hearing from far the din of that dread place
The traveller starts and deems his danger nigh.
Where stretch'd the delicate in bowers of bliss
Lull'd by thewarblings ofthe viol's strain, —
Up walks once gayly trim dire dragons hiss
Rolling the length of their terrific train. "f
BEE. mm deburah.
Occ. Deut. i. 44 ; Jud. xiv. 8 ; Psal. cviii. 12 ; Isai. vii. 18.
A well known small, industrious, insect ; whose form, propaga
tion, economy, and singular instinct and ingenuity, have attracted
the attention of the most inquisitive and laborious inquirers into
nature. To the toil and industry of this admirable insect, we are
indebted for one of the most delicious substances with which the
palate can be regaled. From the nectareous juices of flowers it
* In Aurivilios, " Dissertationes ad sacras litteras et philol. orient, per-
tinentes,'' p. 293, is a Dissertation on the names of animals, mentioned in
Isai. xiii. 21.
f Butt's translation.

44 THE NATURAL HISTORY
collects its roscid honey. Were it not for " nature's confection
er," the busy bee, these sweets would all be lost in the desert
air, or decline with the fading blossom.
Bees were very numerous in the East, Serid or Seriad, means
" the land of the hive ;" and Canaan was celebrated as " a land
flowing with milk and honey."
The wild bees formed their comb in the Crevices of the rocks,
and in the hollows of decayed trees.
I have already mentioned that the Septuagint, after describing
the prudence and foresight of the ant, Prov. vi. 8, directs the
sluggard also to inspect the labours ofthe bees; to observe with
what wonderful art they construct their cells, how their work is
regulated, and how diligent and profitable their toil. This pass
age is quoted by Clemens Alexandrinus, Stromata, lib. 1 ; Ori
gen, in Numb, homilia, 27, and in Isai. hom. 2 ; Basil, in hexa-
meron, homil. 8 ; Ambrose, lib. v. c. 21 ; Jerom,hi Ezek. c, iii. ;
Theodoret, de providentia, Orat. 5 ; Antiochus, abbas sabbce,
homil. 36 ; and Joh. Damascenus, lib. ii. paral. c. 89 : and
though Jerom observes that this is not in the Hebrew text ;
neither is it in the Chaldee nor Syriac version ; yet we may sup
pose that the Greek interpreters translated it from some copy
then in use.
Bochart* quotes several authors, who celebrate conjointly,
the labours and the skill of the ant and the bee ; as .Elian, Plu
tarch, Phocilides, Cicero, and others. One or two instances
must suffice here.
" Sola hyerai metuens, latebroso pumice condit
Triticeos populata hominum formica labores.
Idem amor atque apibus eadem experientia parcis."
Pontands, lib. i. de stellis.
" Formica et apis utraque deponunt in annum.
Hanc sedulitas, hanc studium facit virilem.
Huic alveus, illi satis est cavum pusillum."
Scaliger, in Carm. " Avara Milit."
" Formica et apis nos operariaedocebunt
Pro parte laborare, deiu frui labore."
lb. in titulo, " Labor pater fruitionis."
The passage in Isai. vii. 8. which mentions the hissing for the
bee, is supposed to involve an allusion to the practice of calling
out the bees from their hives, by a hissing or whistling sound,
to their labour in the fields, and summoning them again to
return when the heavens begin to lower, or the shadows of eve-
* Hicroz. part ii. 1. iv. c. 11. p. 366.

OF THE BIBLE. 45
ning to fall. In this manner Jehovah threatens to rouse the en
emies of Judah, and lead them to the prey. However widely
scattered, or far remote from the scene of action, they should
hear his voice, and with as much promptitude as the bee that has
been taught to recognize the signal of its owner and obey his call,
they should assemble their forces ; and, although weak and insig
nificant as a swarm of bees, in the estimation of a proud and in
fatuated people, they should come, with irresistible might, and
take possession of the rich and beautiful region which had been
abandoned by its terrified inhabitants.
The bee is represented by the ancients, as a vexatious, and
even a formidable enemy ; and the experience of every person
who turns his attention to the temper and habits of this insect at
tests the truth of their assertion. The allusion therefore, of Mo
ses, to their fierce hostility, Deut. i. 44, is both just and beautiful.
" The Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain came out against
you, and chased you as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir even
unto Hormah." The Amorites, it appears, were the most bitter
adversaries to Israel of all the nations of Canaan. Like bees that
are easily irritated, that attack with great fury and increasing
numbers the person that dares to molest their hive, and persecute
him in his flight to a considerable distance, the incensed Amorites
had collected their hostile bands, and chased the Israelites from
their territory. The Psalmist also complains that his enemies
compassed him about like bees ; fiercely attacking him on every
side. The author ofthe book of Ecclesiasticus, xi. 3. says, " the bee
is little among such as fly, but her fruit is the chief of sweet
things." See Honey.
BEETLE, to-in chargol.
The word occurs only Levit. xi. 22. A species of locust is
thought to be there spoken of. The word yet remains in the
Arabic, and is derived from an original, alluding to the vast num
ber of their swarms. Golius explains it of the locust without
wings. There is a story of this locust, that it fights against ser
pents ; and such is the import of its name in Greek, o<piof*<*;£ij?.*
* So rendered in the Septuagint. See an account of this insect in
Aristot. Hist. Anim. lib. ix. c. 6. '? Notandum est ixpnttn^v in Lege poni
pro Hebraso ^Jin chargol, ant argol ; nam ex usu veterum potest utroque
modo scribi sic nomen puto veteres scripsisse, adspirationedempta. Atquc
inde natam esse fabnlam de argolis ophiomachis, quos pro locustis serpentes
i'uisse nugautur, et ideo dictos argolas, quod ex Argo Pelasgico in i&gyptum
ab Alexandra translati sint, ut Aspides interficerent. Ita refert Suidas,
A ey>x*i iifos o<p saiv, xs meyxi Moxafov o Au^mieps ai m Agym th TltM-eym* a; AM|«nfgi«v,
mai svf&tMv tit tjv mrctftn, irgoc ttinugww tw a.7iriSm. Bochart, Hieroz. V. 3. p. 264.

46 THE NATURAL HISTORY
This arose, perhaps, from finding the insect preying upon the pu
trid bodies of dead snakes. Some have supposed it the Gryllus
verrucivorus of LinnjEus.
The Egyptians paid a superstitious worship to the beetle. Blat-
ta Egyptiaca, Lin. Mr. Molyneaux, in the " Philosophical
Transactions," No. 234,* says, " It is more than probable that
this 'destructive beetle we are speaking of, was that very kind of
Scarabaeus, which the idolatrous Egyptians of old had in such
high veneration, as to pay divine worship unto it, and so fre
quently engrave its image upon their obelisks, &c. as we see at
this day.t For nothing can be supposed more natural than to
imagine a nation, addicted to polytheism as the Egyptians were,
in a country frequently suffering great mischief and scarcity from
swarms of devouring insects, should, from a strange sense and
fear of evil to come, (the common principle of superstition and
idolatry,) give sacred worship to the visible authors of these
their sufferings, in hopes to render them more propitious for the
future. Thus it is allowed on all hands, that the same people
adored as gods, the ravenous crocodiles of the Nile ; and thus the
Romans, though more polite and civilized in their idolatry, " fe-
brem ad minus nocendum verebantur, eamque variis tempiis ex-
tractis colebant." Valer. Maxim. 1. ii. c. 5.
See under the articles Fly and Locust.
BEEVES, ipa bekar. The Arabic generical name is AI
bukre. The generical name for clean animals, such as had hoofs com
pletely divided into two parts only. Collectively, herds.
The following arrangement of this class of clean animals may
gratify the curious.
Ox, or beeve, aibx alluph. The chief of all cattle, and indeed
of all clean beasts. Psal. viii. 17 ; cxliv. 14 : Jerem. xi. 19. J
Bull, tw shur ; Chaldee, taur ; Arabic, al-taur; Latin, iau-
rus.
Young Bull, 13 par. Job xxi. 10; 1 Sam. vi. 7, 10; Psal.
lxix. 32.
* Lowthorp's Abridgm. V. ii. p. 779.
f Scarabees are even now, seen sculptured on stones, in the royal sepul
chres of Biban el Moluk : those monuments are considered as more an
cient than the pyramids.
J Bochart supposes the word alluph, -3 er.ji. 19, to be an adjective, and
renders the former part of the sentence thus, " I was brought as a tame
sheep to the slaughter ;" probably with an idea that it might be a parallel
proverbial speech with Isai. liii. 7. But we may well admit the common
translation, tbe disjunctive particle being understood, as it is in Psal. lxix.
21 : and Isai. xxxviii. 14.

OF THE BIBLE. 47
Heifer, rna parah.
Calf, hiy ogel ; Arabic adjel.
Zebu inh thau ; the little Barbary cow; Arabic, beker el
wash. But Shaw and Michaelis suppose this word which
occurs only in Deut. xiv. 5, and Isai. li. 20, to be the Buf
falo. See Bull.
BEHEMOTH, ninna.
" This term, (says Mr. Good,*) has greatly tried the ingenuity
ofthe critics. By some, among whom are Bythner and Reiske,
it is regarded in Job xl. 16, as a plural noun for beasts in general :
the peculiar name of the animal immediately described not being
mentioned,' as unnecessary, on account of the description itself so
easily applied at the time. And in this sense it is translated in
various passages in the Psalms. Thus 1. 1 0, in which it is usu
ally rendered cattle, as the plural of nom it means unquestiona
bly a beast, or brute, in the general signification of these words :
" For every beast of the field is mine, and the cattle, (behemoth)
upon a thousand hills." So again Isai. lxxiii. 22. " So foolish
was I, and ignorant, I was as a beast, (behemoth) before thee."
It is also used in the same sense in ch. xxxv. 1 1 . of the present
poem ; " who teacheth us more than the beasts (behemoth) of
the earth." The greater number of critics, however, have un
derstood the word behemoth in the singular number, as the pecu
liar name of the quadruped here described, of whatever kind or
nature it may be ; although they have materially differed upon
this last point, some regarding it as the hippopotamus, or river-
horse, and others as the elephant. Among the chief supporters
ofthe former opinion, are Bochart, Scheuchzer, Shaw, Cal
met, and Dr. Stock ; among the principal advocates for the lat
ter interpretation, are Schultens and Scott."!
* Book of Job literally translated ; with Dissertations, Notes, &c. by
John Mason Good, F. R. S. Lond. 1712. page 473. Notes.
f To the above authorities in favour ofthe Elephant may be added, Fran-
ztus, Bruce, Guzzetihs, in Comment, ling hebr. Pfeiffer, io dubiis vexa-
tis, p. 519, J. D. Michaelis in Notis Jobi, et Suppl. Lex. Heb. par. 1 . page
146. Hcffnagel, in not. Jobi. Schoder in Specim, i. Hieroz. p. 1.
Those who assert it to be the Hippopotamus are Ludolph, Hist. iEtbiop.
I. I.e. xi. H. S. Reimarus, Herder de genio Poes. Hebr. p. 1. p. 130.
Tbe learning of Bochart seems inexhaustible on this subject.
Mr. Good, however says, " it is most probable that the Behemoth, fun-
questionably a pachydermatous quadruped, or one belonging to the order of
this name, to which both the elephant and hippopotamus appertain in the
Ctiverian system,) is at present a genus altogether extinct, like the masto-
donton or mammoth, and at least two other enormous genera, all be
longing to the same class and order."

48 THE NATURAL HISTORY
In the first edition of this work I took some pains to prove that
the elephant was intended ; but a more critical examination ofthe
subject has changed my opinion.
" The author of the book of Job has delineated highly finished
poetical pictures of two remarkable animals, Behemoth and Le
viathan. These he reserves to close his description of animated
nature, and with these he terminates the dimax of that discourse
which he puts into the mouth of the Almighty. He even interrupts
that discourse, and separates as it were by that interruption these
surprising creatures from those which he had described before ;
and he descants on them in a manner, which demonstrates the
poetic animation with which he wrote. The two creatures evi
dently appear to be meant as companions ; to be reserved as fel
lows and associates. We are then to inquire what animals were
likely to be thus associated in early ages, and in countries bor
dering on Egypt, where the scene of this poem is placed.
I believe that it is generally admitted that the leviathan is the
crocodile ; his fellow, then, could not be the elephant, which was
not known in Egypt ; was not, at least, peculiar to that country,
though inhabiting the interior of Africa.
If we had any Egyptian poems, or even writings come down
to us, we might possess a chance of meeting in them something to
guide our inquiries ; but of these we are totally deprived. We
however may esteem ourselves fortunate, that by means of
Egyptian representations we can determine this question, and
identify the animal.
In the great work published under the authority of the king of
Naples, containing prints from antiquities found in Herculaneum,
are some pictures of Egyptian landscapes, in which are figures of
the crocodile lying among the reeds, and of the Hippopotamus
browsing on the aquatic plants of an island."* And in that famous
piece of antiquity, commonly called the " Praenestine pavement,"
the crocodile and river-horse are associated ;t as they are also
on the base ofthe famous statue ofthe Nile.
* Scripture Illustr. in addition to Calmet, No. lxv.
f This most curious and valuable piece of antiquity was found in the ru
ins ofthe temple of fortune at Palestrine, the ancient Praeneste, about
twenty-one miles from Rome. It it formed of small stones of different
colours, disposed with such art and neatness as to make it comparable to
some ofthe finest paintings. It represents Egypt and a part of Ethiopia;
though not laid down in a geographical manner, nor according to the rules
of perspective. It exhibits tracts of land, mountains, valleys, branches of
the Nile, lakes, quadrupeds, and fish of various kinds, and a great many
birds. Several ofthe beasts have names [written near them in Greek let
ters] not found in historians ; though it is probable that some of these are
corrupted through the ignorance of copyists. It represents the huntsmen
and fishermen, galleys, boats, men, and women, in different dresses,

OF THE BIBLE. 49
The hippopotamus is nearly as large as the rhinoceros. The
male has been found seventeen feet in length, fifteen in circum
ference, and seven in height. The head is enormously large;
and the jaws extend npwards two feet, and are armed with four
cutting-teeth, each of which is twelve inches in length. The
body is of a lightish colour, thinly covered with hair. The legs
are three feet long. Though amphibious, the hoofs, which are
quadrifid, are unconnected with membranes. The hide is so
thick and tough as to resist the edge of a sword or sabre.
Although an inhabitant of the waters, the hippopotamus is well
known to breathe air like land animals. On land indeed he finds
the chief part of his food. It has been pretended that he de
vours vast quantities of fish ; but it appears with the fullest evi
dence both from the relations of many travellers, and from the
structure of the stomach, in specimens that have been dissected,
that he is nourished solely, or almost solely, on vegetable food ;*
though occasionally on aquatic plants, yet he very often leaves
the waters, and commits wide devastations through all the. culti
vated fields adjacent to the river.
Unless when accidentally provoked, or wounded, he is never
offensive ; but when he is assaulted or hurt, his fury against the
assailants is terrible. He will attack a boat, break it in pieces
with his teeth ; or, where the river is not too deep, he will raise it
on his back and overset it. If when on shore, he is irritated, he
will immediately betake himself to the water, and there, in his na
tive element, manifests all his strength and resolution.
I shall now offer a corrected version of the description given
by Job ofthe behemoth, and add a few criticisms and comments.
Behold non Behemoth whom I made with thee ;f
' Hefeedeth on grass like the ox.
great and small buildings of different kinds, obelisks, arbours, trees, and
plants, with a great variety of the most curious particulars, relative to
the times io which it was formed ; and presents us with a greater number
of objects, relative to the civil and natural history of Egypt and Ethiopia
than are any where else to be met with.
A history of this most instructive piece of antiquity, is to be found in
Montfaucon's Antiquities, vol. xiv. in Dr. Shaw's Travels, p. 423 — 427.
edit. 2. 4to. with an elaborate explication, and a large plate ; and in H ar-
mkr's observations, Vol. 4. Dr. Adam Clarke's edition, p. 63 — 90.
* See Joh. Gottlieb Schneider, Historia Hippopotami Veterum
Critica; addita Abtedi Synonomiae Piscium, p. 247. Hasselquist, p.
281. Lo no, dp arrman, and others.
f " With thee" — Toy ; that is, near thee, or, ia thine own country.

50 THE NATURAL HISTORY
This answers entirely to the hippopotamus, who, as I before
observed, feeds upon grass ;* whereas, the proper food of the ele
phant, is the young branches of trees.
Behold now his strength is in his loins,
His vigour in the muscles of his belly.
He plieth his tail, which is like a cedar ;
The sinews of his thighs are braced together.
His ribs are like unto pipes of copper ;
His back-bonej like a bar of iron.X
These verses convey a sublime idea of his bulk, vigour, and
strength ; and no creature is known to have firmer or stronger
limbs than the river-horse. Bochart justly argues that behe
moth cannot be the elephant, because the strength of the ele
phant consists not in his belly ; for though his hide on the back is
very hard, yet on his belly it is soft. On the other hand the de
scription agrees well with the river-horse, the skin of whose bel
ly is not only naturally as thick as on other parts of the body,
but is in a degree hardened, or made callous, by its being drag
ged over the rough stones at the bottom of the river. The skin,
indeed, is so remarkably firm and thick as to be almost impenetra
ble, and to resist the force of spears and darts. This gave occa
sion to that hyperbole which Ptolemy mentions, lib. vii. c. 2.
" The Indian robbers have a skin like that of river-horses ; such
as even arrows cannot penetrate."
The expression also " he moveth his tail like a cedar," fur
nishes a strong presumption that the Hippopotamus is intended in
the text, and not the elephant, whose tail, like that of the hog, is
small, weak, and inconsiderable. It is, according to Buffon, but
two feet and a half, or three feet long, and pretty slender ; but
the tail of the hippopotamus, he observes, resembles that of the
tortoise, only that it is incomparably thicker. The tail of the
hippopotamus, Scheuchzer observes, although short, is thick,
and may be compared with the cedar for its tapering, conical
shape, its smoothness, thickness, and strength. But although it is
thick, short, and very firm, yet he moves and twists it at pleasure ;
which, in the sacred text, is considered as a proof of his prodigious
strength. * P. Gillius, in the account which he gives of a hippopotamus, which
he saw, says — " Eodem anhelandi sonitu respirabat, quo bos solet. Edebat
faenum, et caetera quae boves et equi edere solent." Cap. viii. p. 25.
f VD1J. LXX. » St epx't a"Tli' ^'s back-bone.
X The word for bar is ban metal, which is pure Arabic. A bar of iron M
called by the Arabians, maralo al-ohadid: "cum ferrum contunditur ut
tongum fiat." Giggecs, as quoted by Chappellow, in loc.

OF THE BIBLE. SJ
He is chief of the works of God.
He that made him hath fastened on his weapon.*
The fixed insertion of the tusk is remarkable in this animal ;
and it is very properly introduced into a description of his parts,
that his Maker has furnished him with a weapon so eminently
offensive. The rising lands supply him with food ;
All the beasts cf the field there are made a mock of.
It is to be observed, that in the celebrated Praenestine Mosaic,
these river-horses appear on the hillocks, that are seen here and
there rising above the water, among the vegetables growing upon
them. May we not believe that these are the hills, " the moun
tains" as in our translation, which bring him forth food? It is
certain that the altar of God, which was only ten cubits high and
fourteen square, is in Ezek. xliii. 15. called ^k nn har el, "the
mountain of God." The eminences then which appear, as the
inundation ofthe Nile subsides, may undoubtedly be called moun
tains in the poetical language of the book of Job. Nor is it any
wonder that these animals are pictured in the pavement on these
eminences, since the turkey wheat is what they are fond of, and
that vegetable grows on them. So Hasselquist tells us, that he
saw, on the 1 7th of September, " the places not yet overflown, or
where it has already begun to decrease, clothed with a charming
verdure, a great part sown with turkey wheat, and some parts,
though but few, with lucern." p. 84. And on the other hand, he
tells us in another place, that " the river-horse does much damage
to the Egyptians in those places which he frequents, destroying in
a short space of time, an entire field of corn or clover, not leaving
the least verdure as he passes, being voracious, and requiring
much to fill his great belly." This agrees with Maillet's ac
count, who tells us, " it is incredible how pernicious he is to the
productions of the earth, desolating the fields, and eating in all
places through which he passes, the ears of corn, especially the
Iturkey wheat."t
* The word 3in is of Phoenician origin, and signifies a tusk; whence the
Greek «gmi, which the poets attribute to the Hippopotamus. Thus Ni-
cakder, in his Theriacon, v. 556.
H mint, tov Neixoc im^ S«/v a&xKMo-tr&v
Bomei, «gx<j»«v it kwoiv eiri£a.K\eriti agmv.
Upon which the Scholiast observes, 'Agtm is mfutim fta ietaaxw. iw iim
ofbVTAs 0r< ows tkj <rTa%vas Teayti.
See also N onkus, in B. xxvi. of his tumnmuui, to the same effect.
t Let. ix. p. 31.

52 THE NATURAL HISTORY
Hasselquist, in the first ofthe two last citations, goes on to
inform us, that " innumerable birds were to be seen on the pla
ces not under water : 1 thought this the more remarkable as an
incredible number covered the fields." We see birds, according
ly, upon some of the hillocks in the Praenestine pavement, and
beasts in great variety upon others. This answers to that other
clause, " where all the beasts of the fields are disregarded," or
made no account of. This may either imply that other animals
do not meet with annoyance from him, or that he disregards or
defies them.*
All the wild beasts ofthe countries where the elephant resides,
are not mountaineers ; and if they were, it would be difficult to
assign a reason, why that circumstance should be mentioned in a
description of the terribleness of the elephant ; but all the quad
rupeds of Egypt are obliged to retire to these eminences when
the Nile overflows, and the coming of the hippopotamus among
them, and destroying all the verdure of the places of their retire
ment, augments our ideas of the terribleness of this creature.
He sheltereth himself under the shady trees,\
In the coverts ofthe reeds and in ooze ;
The branches tremble as they cover him,
The willows ofthe stream while they hang over him.
These verses describe the places in which the Behemoth seeks
shelter and repose ; and the vegetables here mentioned are such
as grow upon the banks ofthe Nile. ¦*
That the Elephant is not described here, Bochart argues, be
cause he very rarely lies down, but even sleeps standing. But
concerning the hippopotamus, the passage which he quotes from
Marcellinus, is, as he writes, " locus Jobi loco geminus ;" who,
speaking of the hippopotamus, says, " Inter arundines celsas et
sqalentes nimia densitate haec bellua cubilibus positis," &c.
Therefore we are to consider, as he observes, whether those
words in Psalm lxviii. 30, do not belong to him ; " Rebuke the
company of the spear-men." But the literal construction as
in the margin of our bibles, is, rebuke the beast ofthe reeds.
The people of Egypt, he thinks, being figuratively repre
sented by the river-horse ; because, immediately, mention
is made of bulls and calves, which the Egyptians worshipped.
Indeed, Bochart understands bw nahal, " the stream," to
* See this ingeniously illustrated in Fragments, published as an Appen
dix to Calmet, No. lxv. from which extracts have been freely taken in
tbe above explanations.
¦j- " Shady trees," O'vNS, the Lotus-trees, according to Schultehs,
from the Arabic.

OF THE BIBLE. S3
mean the Nile. So in Numb, xxxiv. 5. for the Hebrew word brt3
nahal, Jonathan and the Jerusalem Talmud read diVj nilus.
The word is used for that river also, Josh. xv. 4, 47. 1 Kings
viii. 65. 2 Kings xxiv. 7. 2 Chron. vii. 8. Isai. xxvii. 12.
Mr. Good observes, that " the description is peculiarly bold
and beautiful, and may challenge the whole scope of Grecian
and Roman literature for a parallel. Dr. Stock, who is the only
translator that has fairly rendered the Hebrew ib^x as a verb,
" they quake," (the rest understanding it as a substantive, which
requires the aid of a supplied preposition to make sense of it,)
has given a tame and inadequate version ofthe text, by explain
ing " they quake" — they play to and fro. The real intention is
clear. The shadowy trees themselves are alarmed at his fearful
and enormous form, and tremble while they afford him a shelter."
Behold the eddy may press, he will not hurry himself.
He is secure, though the river rise against his mouth.*
No sudden rising of the river gives him any alarm. He is not
borne away with the violence or rapidity of the stream ; but en
joys himself the same as if the river ran with its usual flow. This
is peculiarly applicable to the hippopotamus, but not to the ele
phant ; for though the latter may ford a river, yet he will not
stem one that is deep and violent.
Though any one attempt ta take him in a net,];
Through the meshes he will pierce with his snout.
This must refer to the method of taking fish with a net ; and is
additional reason for applying the description to an aquatic
animal. To relieve the reader a little, I insert the following poetic ver
sion by Mr. Scott.
" Behold my Behemoth his bulk uprear,
Made by thy Maker, grazing like a steer.
What strength is seated in each brawny loin !
What muscles brace his amplitude of groin!
* " I render," says Dr. Durell, }TV a river, considering it as an appel
lative, rather than as a proper name. It is derived from TV to descend, the
common property of all rivers. By the word thus interpreted, the Nile
may be meant, which is more likely than Jordan, because the Hippopota
mus is a stranger to this latter river, as was probably Job himself."
_ f Dr, Durell says, " I give this sense to I'J'J? from the Arabic, which
signifies laqueolus in eoctremitate nervi, which its correlate in tbe next he-
mistitch points out." And he quotes a passage from Achilles Tatius, to
prove, that this animal is not to be taken in snares.

54 THE NATURAL HISTORY
Huge like a cedar, see his tail arise;
Large nerves their meshes weave about his thighs ;
His ribs are channels of unyielding brass,
His chine a bar of iron's hardened mass.
My sovereign work ! and, other beasts to awe,
I with a tusky falchion arm'd his jaw.
In peaceful majesty of might he goes
And on the verdant isles his forage mows ;
Where beasts of every savage name resort,
And in wild gambols round his greatness sport.
In moory creeks beside the reedy pools
Deep plung'd in ooze his glowing flanks he cools,
Or near the banks enjoys a deeper shade
Where lotes and willows tremble o'er his head.
No swelling river can his heart dismay,
He stalks secure along the watery way ;
Or should it heap its swiftly eddying waves
Against his mouth, the foaming flood he braves.
Go now, thy courage on this creature try,
Dare the bold duel, meet his open eye ;
In vain ! nor can thy strongest net confine,
A strength which yields to no device of thine.''
BERYL, w'tsnn tarshish. BHPTAA02. Apocal. xxi. 20.
A pellucid gem of a sea, or bluish green colour. From this it
seems to have derived its Hebrew name ; as the word is applied
to the sea in Psal. xlviii. 7. and Isai. ii. 16.
Bochart, in bringing his proofs that Tartesus in Spain, was
the ancient Tarshish, intimates, that this precious stone might
hence have had its name ; and quotes as authority the following
passage from Pliny. " Bocchus auctor est et in Hispania reper-
tas (chrysolythos) quo in loco chrystallum dicit, ad libramentum
aquae puteis effossisinde erutam."
It was the tenth stone on the pectoral. Exod. xxviii. 10. In
the Septuagint, and by Josephus, Epiphanius and Jerom, it
was rendered chrysolite ; but Dr. Geddes says that, with Abar-
banel, he believes the beryl to be intended.
BIRDS, iisv tsippor. A common name for all birds ; but
sometimes used for the sparrow in particular. Occurs often.
siy oith. The flyer. Translated "fowl" Gen. i. 21, and
elsewhere frequently.
ay ait; a bird of prey ; hence the Greek AET02, the eagle.
In Gen. xv. 1 1 ; Job xxviii. 7 ; and Isai. xviii. 6, translated
" fowls ;" in Jerem. xii. 9, "bird;" and in Isai. xlvi. 11. and
Ezek. xxxix. 4, " ravenous birds."
tr-ima barbarim, occurs only 1 Kings iv. 23, and rendered
" fowls," is supposed to be those^ which had been fatted to the
greatest delicacy.

OF THE BIBLE. 55
A general name for winged animals of the feathered kind.
They are distinguished by the Jewish legislator, into clean and
unclean, that is, such as might be eaten and such as might not.
Of this, something will be noted under their proper articles. It
may in brief be observed here, that, such as fed upon grain and
seeds were allowed for food,and such as devoured flesh and carri
on were prohibited.
Birds were offered for sacrifice on many occasions. Levit. i.
14, 15, 16, and v. 7. 8.
Moses, to inspire the Israelites with sentiments of tenderness
towards the brute creation, orders, if they find a bird's nest, not
to take the dam with the young, but to suffer the old one to fly
away, and to take the young only. Deut. xxii. 6. This is one of
those merciful constitutions in the law of Moses, which respect
the animal creation, and tended to humanize the heart of that
people, to excite in them a sense of the divine providence exten
ding itself to all creatures, and to teach them to exercise their do
minion over them with gentleness. The law seems also to regard
posterity ; for letting .the dam go free, the breed may be continu
ed ; whereas if it should wholly fail, would it not in the end be
ill with them, and by thus cutting off the means of their continual i
support, must not their days be shortened on the land ? Besides,
the young never knew the sweets of liberty ; the dam did : they
might be taken and used for any lawful purpose ; but the dam
must not be brought into a state of captivity. They who can act
otherwise, must be either very inconsiderate or devoid of feeling ;
and such persons can never be the objects of God's peculiar care
and attention, and therefore need not expect that it shall be well
with them, or that they shall prolong their days upon the earth.
Every thing contrary to the spirit of mercy and kindness, the ever
blessed God has in utter abhorrence. And we should remember a
fact ; that he who can exersjse cruelty towards a sparrow or a
wren, will, when circumstances are favourable, be cruel to his
fellow creatures.*
The poet Phocylides has a maxim in his admonitory poem,
very similar to that in the sacred texts.
Mnfe rit teyiSitt *iub a/Mt ¦na.nai shabu,
lAvctea. ef' eorefhiTnt ;y' e^ft waMv tut <ft witm. V. 80.
Nor from a nest take all the birds away,
The mother spare, she'll breed a future day.
* Dr. Adam Clarke's note in he.

5)6 THE NATURAL HISTORY
It appears that the ancients hunted birds. Baruch iii. 17.
speaking ofthe kings of Babylon, says, " They had their pastime
with the fowls ofthe air;" and Daniel iii. 38, tells Nebuchadnez
zar that God had made the fowls of the air subject to him."
BITTER-HERBS, cnnn mururim. Exod. xii. 8. and
Numb. ix. 1 1 .
The Jews were commanded to eat their passover with a salad
of bitter herbs ; but whether one particular plant was intended,
or any kind of bitter herbs, has been made a question.
By the Septuagint it is rendered vki itix^m ; by Jerom, " cum
lactucis agrestibus ;" and by the Gr. Venet. an iriK^i<nv. Dr.
Geddes remarks, that " it is highly probable, that the succory or
wild-lettuce is meant : the Jews of Alexandria, who translated
the pentateuch could not be ignorant what herbs were eaten
with the paschal lamb in their days. Jerom understood it in the
same manner : and Pseudo-Jonathan expressly mentions hore-
hound and lettuces."
Eubulus, an Athenian comic poet, in his Amalthea, mentions
Hercules as refusing to eat the Tcn^ig, in these words :
Kttyai yzg a tunvXaivtv, KcPe ctwtto
CW Iegcomoic juit Tru^ait Trago-^tn
&o?,Coic r't/jutvrtiv xpzravw eMAuQst.
The Mischna in Pesachim, cap. 2, reckons five species of these
bitter herbs. (1.) Chazareth, taken for lettuce. (2.) Ulsin,
supposed to be endive or succory. (3.) Tamca, probably tan-
say.* (4.) Charubbinim, which Bochart thought might be the
nettle, but Scheuchzer, shews to be the camomile. (5.) Me-
ror, the sow-thistle, or dent-de-lion, or wild lettuce.
Mr. Forskal says, " the Jews in Sana, and in Egypt, eat the
lettuce with the paschal lamb ;" he also remarks that moru is
centaury, of which the young stems are eaten in February and
March. BITTERN, "nap kephud. Occurs Isai. xiv. 23, xxxiv. 11.
and Zeph. ii. 14.
Interpreters have rendered this word variously ; an owl, an os-
prey, a tortoise, aporcupine, and even an olter. " How unhappy,"
says Mr. Harmer, " that a word which occurs but three, times in
the Hebrew bible, should be translated by three different words,
and that one of them should be otters ."'t
* Harmer Obs. V. 3. p. 100.
f Scheuchzer say, " the beaver is what best agrees with the word."

OF THE BIBLE. 57
Isaiah, prophesying the destruction of Babylon, says that " the
Lord will make it a possession for the bittern and pools of water ;"
and Zephaniah ii. 14. prophecying against Nineveh, says that
" the cormorant and bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it ;
their voice shall sing in the windows."* Dr. Shaw, Bp. Lowth,
Mr. Dodson, and Bp. Stock, following Bochart, I think impro
perly render it the porcupine. I see no propriety in ranking that
animal with the cormorant, the raven, and the owl ; but the bit
tern, which is a retired bird, is more likely to be found in their
company in the same wilds and fens. Besides the porcupine is
not an aquatic animal : and pools of water are pointed out as the
retreat of those here mentioned; neither has it any note, yet of
these creatures it is said, their voices shall sing in the windows ;
least of all could we think of either that or the other, making a
lodging on the chapiters of the columns.
It is remarkable that the Arabic version reads, " Al-houbara."
According to Dr. Shaw, the Houbara is " of the bigness of a ca
pon, but of a longer habit of body. It feeds on little shrubs and
insects, like the Graab el Sahara, frequenting in like manner the
confines of the desert." Golius interprets it the bustard ; and
Dr. Russel says, that the Arabic name of the bustard is " hou-
bry." BLACK. There are three words in the Hebrew. (1.) iinty
shakor, which is applied to the blackness of a quenched coal,
Job xxx. 30., Lament, v. 10; to the darkness which precedes the
dawning ofthe day, Job iii. 9, and many other places; and to the
colour of the raven, Cantic. v. 1 1 . (2.) rs aish, is the blackness
ofthe pupil ofthe eye, Deut. xxii. 10., Psal. vii. 2, 9., and xx.
20. (3.) -np koder, the darkness of the sky, Mic. iii. 6. and em
blematic of mourning, Job xxx. 28. and frequently elsewhere.
BLUE. The Hebrew word rton thecheleth, Exod. xxv. 4.
and thirty times more in this single book, has been variously un
derstood by interpreters. Josephus, Antiq. 1. iii. c. 8. § 1,
Philo, in Vit. Mos. 1. iii. p. 148. Origen, Greg. Nysen, Am
brose, Jerom, and most of the ancient versions, render it hya-
cinthine ; but Bochart asserts it to be cerulean, azure, or sky-
colour.X My learned friend, the Hon. James Winthrop, suggests that
the colour extracted from the indigo, may be intended. That
* Vide J. E. Faber, Dissertatio de animalibtis quorum mentio fit Zeph.
ii. 14.
f Hieroz. part ii. lib. v. c. 19. Conf. Braunius de vest, saeerd. Hebr.
ii. 14. p. 553. Abarbinel, " est sericum infectum colore qui mari siinilis
est."

58 THE NATURAL HISTORY
plant probably derived its origin, as it doubtless does its name
from India, where its beautiful dyes have long given value to the
fine linens and cottons of that ancient empire. Niebuhr men
tions two places in Arabia in which indigo is now cultivated and
prepared.* Whether it grew there in remote ages, may not be
easily determined.
The splendour and magnificence of dress seem to have con
sisted, among the ancients, very much in the richness of colours ;
the art of dying which to perfection, was esteemed a matter of
great skill. The excellence of the Tyrian purple, is celebrated
by both sacred and profane authors ; and the blue, which, from
many passages of Scripture, we find to have been in great request,
was imported from remote countries, as an article of expensive
and elegant luxury. See Ezek. xxvii. 7, .24., Jer. x. 4.
Buxtorf, in his Hebrew lexicon, applies the word translated
vermilion in Jer. ii. 14. and Ezek. xxiii. 14, to the dye prepared
from indigo.
Harenburg, in Musaeum Brem. Vol. ii. p. 297, observes that
the thecheleth of the Jews, is by the Talmudists rendered prm
chalasdon, which he thinks to be the Greek j/A«tov, the Latin
glastum, and the German woad.
BOAR. Tin hazir.
Occ. Levit. xi. 9. Deut. xiv. 8. Psal. lxxx. 13. Prov. xi. 22.
Isai. lxv. 4., lxvi. 3. 17.
The wild boar is considered as the parent stock of our domestic
hog. He is much smaller, but at the same time stronger and more
undaunted. In his own defence, he will turn on men or dogs ; and
scarcely shuns any denizen ofthe forests, in tbe haunts where he
ranges. His colour is always an iron grey, inclining to black.
His snout is longer than that of the common breed, and his ears
are comparatively short. His tusks are very formidable, and all
his habits are fierce and savage.
It should seem, from the accounts of ancient authors, that the
ravages of the wild boar were considered as more formidable
than those of other savage animals.t The conquest of the Ery-
manthian boar was one ofthe fated labours of Hercules ; and the
story of the Calydonian boar is one of the most beautiful in Ovid.
The destructive ravages of these animals are mentioned in
Psal. lxxx. 14.
Dr. Pocock observed very large herds of wild-boars on the
side of Jordan, where it flows out of the sea of Tiberias ; and se
veral of them on the other side lying among the reeds by the sea.
The wild-boars of other countries delight in the like moist re-
* Page 133, and 197. f Herodot. Hist. " Clio," $ xxxvi.

OF THE BIBLE. 59
treats. These shady marshes then, it should seem, are called
in the scripture, " woods," for it calls these animals " the wild
boars of the woods."* See Hoc. .
BOX-TREE. iisffNn teashur.
Occ. Isai. xii. 9 ; lx. 13; and Ezek. xxvii. 6. buxus, 2 Es
dras xiv. 24 ; where the word appears to be used for tablets.
Though most ofthe ancient, and several ofthe modern transla
tors render this the " Buxus," or box-tree ; from its being men
tioned along with trees of the forest, some more stately tree must
be intended. The Hebrew name implies flourishing, or perpetu
al viridity : and in the Rabbinical book Jelammedcnu, we read,
" Quare vocatur Theaschur ? Quia est felicissiina inter omnes
species cedrorum."
The passage Ezek. xxvii. 6, is of very difficult construction.
The learned Mr. Dimock published a discourse upon it in 1783,
which I have not been able to procure. In our version it is,
" the company ofthe Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory,
brought out of the isles of Chittim." The original 0"wx na,
rendered " company ofthe Ashurites," Michaelis, Spicel. Geogr.
p. iii. proposes, by a change of points, to read " filiae lucorum,"
supposing it to refer to the elephant, the inhabitant of the woods.
Other learned men have said " ivory the daughter of steps ;"
" ivory well-trodden ;" " ivory set in box ;" &c. And bishop
Newcome renders it, " thy benches have they made of ivory,
inlaid in box, from the isles of Chittim." The ancients some
times made ornamental marquetry, or veneered work of box and
ivory inlaid.

-" Quale per artem

Inclusum Buxo, aut Oricia Terebintbo
Lucet Ebur." Virgil, Ma. x. V. 135.
But this would hardly be used on benches in a ship. The
word \\o shen, " ivory," is wanting in one manuscript ; and the
bishop thinks it wrongly inserted in the text ; the transcriber
having been led to the mistake by the similar ending of the pre
ceding word.
The author of " Fragments as an Appendix to Calmet," No.
ccxvii. proposes this reading ; " thy shrine they made of ivory ;
for the Deity, the daughter of Assyria, brought from the isles of
Chittim."t He supposes the Assyrian nymph, or Venus of ex-
* See also Oedmann, Vermischte Sammlungen, fascic, i. c. 4. p. 41.
f The Syriac version reads Chetthoje, which has some resemblance to
Cataya; by which , we are directed towards India. Some ofthe Arabs
translate tbe word the isles of India: but tbe Chaldee has it, the province
of Afulia, meaning the region of elephants, and probably intending Pul in
Egypt.

60 THE NATURAL HISTORY
cellent Greek sculpture, to have been placed at the extremity of
the poop of the vessel, as the tutelar deity. The LXX. seem to
authorize this construction ; ra «§# <rou nroiYjtxv e| £Ae(p«vTo?.
BRAMBLE. -\a» atad.
A prickly shrub. The raspberry bush, Judges ix. 14, 15, nd
Psal. lviii. 9. In the latter place it is translated " thorn."
Hiller supposes atad to be the cynobastus, or sweet-brier* The
author of " Scripture Illustrated" says that the bramble seems to
be well chosen as a representative of the original; which should be
a plant bearing fruit of some kind, being associated, (Jud. ix. 14,)
though by opposition, with the vine. But Dioscorides, as cited
by BocHART,t remarks that the Africans or Carthaginians called
the rhamnus, a large species of thorn, AT#<fyn, which is the plural
of atad. The apologue, or fable of Jotham has always been admired for
its spirit and application. It has also been considered as the old
est fable extant.
For the meaning of the word translated brambles in Isai. xxxiv.
13, see Thorn.
BRASS. nt?ru nehest.
The word is derived, according to Dr. Taylor, from the verb
tyru nehes, which signifies, " to observe with attention, to scruti
nize, to look out for omens," &c. at the same time he acknowl
edges, that " its connexion with the root is uncertain." Park-
hurst, supposes the metal to be thus denominated " from its
colour resembling that of serpents." But if we may venture
to conjecture, one single letter wrongly turned, and write it WW
netest, we may derive it from the verb wr\) netes, which signi
fies, " to dig up ;" the very meaning of fossil, which comes
from the latin wo rd fodio, " to dig." So the Hebrew must either
mean minerals in general, or at least a native and not a factitious
mineral. The word brass occurs very often in our translation of the bi
ble ; but that is a mixed metal, for the making of which we are
indebted to the German metallurgists of the thirteenth century.
That the ancients knew not the art of making it, is almost certain.
None of their writings even hint at the process.
There can be no doubt that copper is the original metal in
tended. This is spoken of as known prior to the flood ; and to
have been discovered, or at least wrought, as was also iron, in
* Ilierophyt. c. Ixi. p. 477. f Vol. i. 752.

OF THE BIBLE. 61
the seventh generation from Adam, by Tubalcain ; whence the
name Vulcan.* The knowledge of these two metals, must
have been carried over the world afterwards, with the spreading
colonies of the Noachidae. An acquaintance with the one and
the other was absolutely necessary to the existence of the colo
nists ; the clearing away of the woods about their settlements,
and the erection of houses for their habitation. Agreeably to
this, the ancient histories of the Greeks and Romans speak of
Cadmus as the inventor of the mineral which by the former is
called k#Akoj, and by the latter ms ; and from him had the denomi
nation cadmea. ' According to others, Cadmus discovered a mine,
of which he taught the use. The person here spoken of was un
doubtedly the same with Ham, or Cam, the son of Noah, who
probably learned the art of assaying metais from the family of Tu
balcain, and communicated that knowledge to the people of
the colony which he settled.?
All the Greek writers, even to Hesiod, speak ofiwAxo?, by which
I am convinced a simple, and not a compound metal is intended ;
whence came the latin word calx, the heel, and calco, to tread
upon ; as much as to say, something under feet, beneath the sur
face of the earth. The Romans gave, as 1 observed before, the
name as to the same substance, and we have translated it
" brass,":); though it is as likely to have been copper. Indeed
Castel says, it was the same with what was afterwards called cu-
prum.§ Pliny is the first who uses the term cupreus ; and
since his time, cuprum, which is a corruption of ces cyprinum, has
gone into general use. See Copper.
BRIER. This word occurs several times in our translation of the bible,
but with various authorities from the original.
(1.) a'Jpnan habarkanim. Jud. viii. 7, 16., is a particular
kind of thorn. See Thorn.
(2.) pin chedek, Prov. xv. 19, and Micah vii. 4. It seems
hardly possible to determine what kind of plant this is. Some
kind of tangling, prickly shrub, is undoubtedly meant. In the
* See this formation ofthe name in Bryant's Mythology, and hence, by
a transposition of the vowels, the name ofthe idol mentioned, Amos v. 26,
]va by2 bal-chiun.
f From the mixture of copper and cadmean earth, [a kind of lapis calami-
naris] was made the aurichalcum. " Cadmia terra, quae in aes conjicitur
ut fiat aurichalcum." Festus.
X Lexic. Med.
§ Cuprum. Nondum prolatus auctor antiquior Spartiano Caracalla.
Gesner, Thesaur. ling. Lat.

62 THE NATURAL HISTORY
former passage, there is a beautiful exposition, which is lost in
our rendering. " The narrow way of the slothful, is like a per
plexed path among briers ; whereas the broad road, (elsewhere
rendered ' causeway,') ofthe righteous is a high bank ;" that is, free
from obstructions, direct, conspicuous, and open. The common
course of life of these two characters, answers to this comparison.
Their manner of going about business, or of transacting it, an
swers to this. An idle man always takes the most intricate, the
most oblique, and eventually, the most thorny measures to accom
plish his purpose ; the honest and diligent man, prefers the most
open and direct ; So in Micah, the unjust judge, taking bribes, is
a brier, holding every thing that comes within his reach, hooking
all that he can catch.
" Sauciat atque rapit spinus paliurus acutis ;
Hoc etiam Judex: semper avarus agit."
(3.) O'SiD serebim. , Ezek. ii. 6. This word is translated by
the LXX., 7rx(>onrT%&nv<riv stung by the mstrus, or gadfly ; and they
use the like word in Hosea iv. 6. where, what in our version is
" a backsliding heifer," they render a heifer stung by the ozslrus.
These coincident renderings make me believe, that both places
may be understood of some venomous insect. The word "no
sarar, may lead us to sarran, by which the Arabs thus de
scribe " a great bluish fly, having greenish eyes, its tail armed
with a piercer, by- which it pesters almost all horned cattle, set
tling on their heads, &c. Often it creeps up the noses of asses.
It is a species of gadfly, but carrying its sting in its tail."*
(4.) ]V7D sillon, Ezek. xxviii. 24., and cd'Ji^d sillunim, Ezek. ii.
6. must be classed among thorns. The second word Parkhurst
supposes to be a kind of thorn, overspreading a large surface of
ground, as the dew-brier. It is used in connexion with sip kutj,
which in Gen. iii. 18. is rendered " thorns." The author of
" Scripture Illustrated" queries, however, whether, as it associa
ted with " scorpions" in Ezek. ii. 6, both this word and serebim,
may not mean some species of venomous insects.
(5.) nsiD sirpad, mentioned only in Isai. Iv. 1 3., probably means
a prickly plant ; but what particular kind it is impossible to de
termine.! * Meninski, Lexic. 2643.
f Specimen nemo detexit. nee detegere potuit, cum a multis seculis in
oblivionem venerit. Celsius, Hierob. V. 2. p. 218. " Plane ablego lecto-
res ad Celsium, qui fassus est, nihil se scire, varias sententias referens :
bene agent lectores, si nihil se illo plus rerti habere sentient, donee aliquid
novae lucis adfulgeat." — "Nullum similem nomen habent reliquse linguae

OF THE BIBLE. W-
(6.) TDttf samir. This word is used only by the prophet Isaiah,
and in the following places; chap. v. 6 ; vii. 23, 24, 25 ; ix. 17 ;
x. 17 ; xxvii. 4 ; and xxxii. 13. It is probably a brier of a low
kind ; such as overruns uncultivated lands.*
See Bramble, Nettle, Thistle, Thorn.
BRIMSTONE. tv-)->i gophrith.
Occ. Gen. xix. 24 ; Deut. xxix. 23 ; Job xviii. 15 ; Psal. xi. 6 ;
Isai. xxx. 33 ; xxxiv. 9 ; and Ezek. xxxviii. 22.
It is rendered Qsiov by the Septuagint, as it is also called in
Luke xvii. 29.
In Job xviii. 15, Bildad, describing the calamities which over
take the wicked person, says " brimstone shall be scattered upon
his habitation." This has been supposed to be a satirical allusion
to that part of Job's substance, which was consumed by fire from
heaven : but it possibly may be only a general expression, to de
signate any great destruction: as that in Psal. xi. 6. " Upon the
wicked, he shall rain fire and brimstone." Moses, among other
calamities which he sets forth in case ofthe people's disobedi
ence, threatens them with the fall of brimstone, salt, and burning
like the overthrow of Sodom, &c. Deut. xxix. 23. The prophet
Isaiah, xxxiv. 9., writes that the anger of the Lord shall be shewn
by the streams of his vengeance being turned into pitch, and the
dust thereof into brimstone. Allow that these expressions may
have a more immediate regard to some former remarkable pun
ishments, as that place in Deuteronomy manifestly does ; yet no
doubt but that they may be used in a figurative, general sense, to
intimate the divine displeasure on any extraordinary occasion.
It is very reasonable to think that most, if not all proverbial say
ings, and sententious maxims, take their beginning from certain
real facts.!
BULL. The male of the beeve kind ; and it is to be recol
lected that the Hebrews never castrated animals.
There are several words translated " bull" in Scripture, of
which the following is a list, with the meaning of each.
w shor. A bove, or cow, of any age.
isn theo. The wild bull, oryx or buffalo. Occurs only Deut.
xiv. 5 ; and in Isai. li. 20, sin thoa with the interchange of
the two last letters.
orientales, ergo fas est sapienti, Celsio quoque, fas sit et inihi, aliquid ig-
uorare. Ignorantiae professio via ad inveniendum verum, si quis in Or; ¦
ente quaesierif." Michaelis, Sup. Ler. Heb.
* The Arabic version of Isai. vii. 23, 24., is bur, " terram incultam."
Hence our word bur.
f Chappellow, in loc.

64 THE NATURAL HISTORY
'TIN abbire. A word implying strength, translated " bulls,"
Psal. xxii. 12, 1. 13, lxviii. 30; Isai. xxxiv. 7; and Jerem.
xlvi. 15.*
ipa bekar. Herds, horned cattle of full age.
13 par. A full grown bull, or cow, fit for propagating.
biy ogel. A full grown, plump young bull ; and in the fern, a
heifer.
1in tor. Chaldee taur, and Latin taurus. The ox accustom
ed to the yoke. Occurs only in Ezra vi. 9, 1 7, vii. 1 7 ; and
Dan. iv. 25, 32, 33, xxii. 29, 30.
This animal was reputed by the Hebrews to be clean, and was
generally made use of by them for sacrifices. The Egyptians
had a particular veneration for it, and paid divine honours to it ;
and the Jews imitated them in the worship of the golden calves,
or bulls, in the wilderness, and in the kingdom of Israel. See Calf.
The following remarks of Dr. Adam Clarke on Exod. xxii. 1 .,
may serve to illustrate this article. " If a man shall steal an ox or a
sheep, and kill it, or sell it ; he shall restore five oxen for an ox,
and four sheep for a sheep." He observes that " in our transla
tion of this verse, by rendering different words by the same term
in English, we have greatly obscured the sense. I shall produce
the verse, with the original words which I think improperly trans
lated, because one English term is used for two Hebrew words,
which, in this place, certainly do not mean the same thing. If a
man shall steal an ox \yw shor] or a sheep \jw seh] and kill it,
or sell it ; he shall restore five oxen, [-on bakar] for an ox, [lit?
shor] and four sheep, [px tson] for a sheep [nty seh.] I think
it must appear evident that the sacred writer did not intend that
these words should be understood as above. A shor certainly is
different from a bakar, and a seh from a tson. Where the dif
ference in every case lies wherever these words occur, it is dif
ficult to say. The shor and the bakar, are doubtless creatures of
the beeve kind, and are used in different parts of the sacred wri
tings, to signify the bull, the ox, the heifer, the steer, and the
calf. The seh and the tson are used to signify the ram, the
wether, the ewe, the lamb, the he goat, the she goat, and the
kid; and the latter word tson, seems frequently to signify the
flock conlposed of either of these lesser cattle, or both sorts con
joined. * In Jer. xlvi. 15. forty-eight of Dr. Kennicot's codices read "pOX thy
strong, or mighty one, in the singular. The Septuagint explain the wOr<*
by o As7c, o (uoirfcos o wmxtos «*, Apis, thy chosen calf ; as if that idol were
particularly intended.

OF THE BIBLE. 65
"As shor is used Job xxi. 10. for a bull, probably it may mean
so here. If a man steal a bull, he shall give five oxen for
him, which we may presume was no more than his real value ;
as very few bulls could be kept in a country destitute of horses,
where oxen were so necessary to till the ground. For though
some have imagined that there were no castrated cattle among
the Jews, yet this cannot be admitted on the above reason ; for as
they had no horses, and bulls would have been unmanageable and
dangerous, they must have had oxen for the purposes of agricul
ture. Tson is used for a flock either of sheep or goats ; and seh
for an individual of either species. For every seh, four, taken in
differently from the tson or flock, must be given : that is, a sheep
stolen might be recompensed with four out of the flock, whether
of sheep or goats. So that a goat might be compensated with
four sheep ; or a sheep, with four goats."
The wil,d bull is found in the Syrian and Arabian deserts.*
It is frequently mentioned by the Arabian poets, who are copi
ous in their descriptions of hunting it, and borrow many images
from its beauty,! strength, swiftness and the loftiness of its horns.
They represent it as fierce and untameable ; as being white on
the back, and having large shining eyes. J
Some authors have supposed the buffalo, well known in India,
Abyssinia, and Egypt, to be intended. This animal is as big, or-
bigger than a common ox. Is sullen, spiteful, malevolent, fierce,
and untameable. Others,§ again, have thought it the oryx of the
Greeks, or the Egyptian antelope ; described by Dr. Shaw, un
der the name of Bekker el wash.\\
BULL-RUSH, ndj goma.
Occ. Exod. ii. 3 ; Job viii. 1 1 ; and Isai. xviii. 2 ; xxxv. 7.
A plant growing on the banks of the Nile, and in marshy
grounds. The stalk rises to the height of six or seven cubits,
besides two under water. This stalk is triangular, and ter
minates in a crown of small filaments, resembling hair, which the
ancients used to compare to a thyrsus. This reed, the Cyperus
papyrus of Linn^us, commonly called " the Egyptian reed,"
was of the greatest use to the inhabitants of the country where it,
grew ; the pith contained in the stock served them for food, and
the woody part to build vessels with, which vessels are to be seen on
* The Urus of Pliny and the ancients.
t The beauty of Joseph is compared to that of a bullock. Deut, xxxiii.
17. X Scott, on Job xxxix. 9. § Bochart, Shaw, Lowth, &c. -
|] It is also an inhabitant of Syria, Arabia, and Persia. It is the anielo'pc
nnix of LinnjEus.
J 9

6.6 THE NATURAL HISTORY
the engraven stones, and other monuments of Egyptian antiquity.
For this purpose they made it up, like rushes, into bundles, and
by tying these bundles together, gave their vessels the necessary
shape and solidity. " The vessels of bull-rushes"* or papyrus,
that are mentioned in sacred and profane history, says Dr. Shaw,
(Trav. p. 437,) were no other than large fabrics of the same
kind with that of Moses, Exod. ii. 3 ; which, from the late intro
duction of plank, and stronger materials, are now laid aside.
Thus Pliny, N. H. 1. vi. c. 16, takes notice of the" naves pa-
pyraceas armamentaque Nili," ships made of papyrus, and the
equipments of the Nile ; and 1. xiii. c. 1 1 . he observes, " ex ipsa
quidem papyro navigia texunt," of the papyrus itself they con
struct sailing vessels. Herodotus and Diodorus have recorded
the same fact ; and among the poets, Lucan, 1. iv. v. 136, " Con-
seritur bibula Memphitis cymba papyro," the Memphian or Egyp
tian boat is made ofthe thirsty papyrus ; where the epithet " bi
bula" drinking, soaking, thirsty, is particularly remarkable, as
corresponding with great exactness to the nature of the plant,
and to its Hebrew name, which signifies to soak, or drink up.
These vegetables require much water for their growth ; when,
therefore, the river on whose banks they grew, was reduced, they
perished sooner than other, plants. This explains Job viii. 11,
where the circumstance is referred to, as an image of transient
prosperity.! See Paper-reed.
BUSH. niD sinah.
This word occurs in Exod. iii. 2, 4; and Deut. xxxiii. 16, as
the name of the bush in which God appeared to Moses. If it be
the ^jvo? mentioned by Dioscorides, it is the white-thorn. Cel
sius calls it the rubus fructicosus. The number of these bushes
in this region seems to have given the name to the mountain
Sinai. The word cr^m nehelelim, found only in Isai. vii. 19, and
there rendered " bushes," means fruitful pastures.
CALAMUS. n:p kaneh.
Occ. Exod. xxx. 23 ; Cantic. iv. 14; Isai. xliii. 24 ; Jerem.
vi. 20 ; and Ezek. xxvii. 19.
An aromatic reed, growing in moist places in Egypt, in Judea
near lake Genesareth, and in several parts of Syria.J It grows
* Isai. xviii. 2.
f For a description of the plant, see Alpinus, de plantis JEgypti, and
Bruce's Travels, Vol. 6.
X Ben Melech, in his note upon Exodus xxx. 23, thus describes it.
" Kaneh Bosem ; aroma simile arundini, quod vulgo canellam vocamus, ita
dicitur."

OF THE BIBLE. 67
to about two feet in height ; bearing from the root, a knotted
stalk, quite round, containing in its cavity a soft white pith. The
whole is of an agreeable aromatic smell; and the plant is said to
scent the air with a fragrance, even while growing.* When cut
down, dried, and powdered, it makes an ingredient in the richest
perfumes. It was used for this purpose by the Jews. See Cane.
CALF, biy ogel. Arab, adjel.
The young of the ox kind. There is frequent mention in
Scripture of calves, because they were made use of commonly in
sacrifices. The " fatted calf," mentioned in several places, as
in Sam. xxviii. 24, and Luke xv. 23, was stall fed, with special
reference to a particular festival, or extraordinary sacrifice.
The " calves of the lips," mentioned by Hosea, xiv. 2, signify
the sacrifices of praise which the captives of Babylon addressed
to God, being no longer in a condition to offer sacrifices in his
temple. The Septuagint render it the " fruit of the lips ;" and
their reading is followed by the Syriac, and by the apostle to the
Hebrews, ch. xiii. 15.
Jeremiah mentions a remarkable ceremony, ch. xxxiv. 18, 19,
which I here refer to, for the sake of explaining and of giving an
amended version of the passage. Jehovah says, " I will give
the men that have transgressed my covenant, who have not ful
filled the terms ofthe covenant which they made in the presence
of the calf, which they cut in twain, and passed between the parts
thereof; the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, and
the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, that
passed between the parts of the calf; I will even give them into
the hands of their enemies," &c. In order to ratify the cove
nant, they killed a calf, or young bullock, which they cut in two,
and placing the two parts at some distance from each other, they
passed between them ; intending to signify by this rite, that they
consented to be served in like manner, in case they violated their
part ofthe covenant. Something of the like sort was in practice
among the Greeks and Romans, as may be seen in Homer's Iliad,
lib. iii. V. 298, and Livy's Roman history, 1. i. c. 24, and 1. xxi.
c. 45. Hence there will appear a peculiar force in the expres
sion of entering into the covenant in presence of the calf, because
the sight of that object served to remind them of the penalties
they subjected themselves to, on violating their engagement.!
* Celsius, Hierobot, Vol. ii. p. 327. Hiller, Hierophyt.
f Bp. Blanev, new transl. of Jeremiah, p. 383, notes, edit. 8vo. I
would add, that the punishment of violation, the being cut asunder, is refer
red to 2 Sam. xii. 31, 1 Chron. xx. 3, Dan. ii. 5, iii. 29, Story of Susanna,
V. 35, 59, Matth. xxiv. 51, and Luke xii. 46. See farther particulars in
the note on Gen. xv. 10, in Dr. A. Clarke's Commentary.

68 THE NATURAL HISTORY
We find God conforming himself to this usage, when he made a
covenant with Abraham, Gen. xv. 9, 10, 17, 18.
The " golden calf" was an idol set up and worshipped by
the Israelites at the foot of mount Sinai, in their passage through
the wilderness to the land of Canaan.* Our version of the bible
makes Aaron fashion this calf with a graving tool, after he had
Cast it in a mould ; and the Geneva translation, still worse, makes
him engrave it first, and cast it afterwards. The word Dim
cheret, occurs but four times in the bible. In Isai. viii. 1, its
signification is in some measure fixed by the context; yet not
so precisely as to exclude all doubt. In the Septuagint, it is ren
dered y^iii ; by Jerom, stylo, and by our English translators,
pen.X But Dr. Geddes supposes that it does not denote the in
strument, but the form, or character of the writing. In Isai. iii.
22. it is rendered " crisping pins ;" by Purver, " pockets," and
by Lowth and Dodson, " little purses." In 2 Kings v. 23, the
same word is in our common version, rendered " bags," and by
the Arabic and Greek, " baskets." From these places, there
fore, we may infer, that it was not a style, but some vessel of ca
pacity, fit for the reception of something else. If we apply this
to the passage in Exod. xxxii. 4, it will appear that the word
must mean, either the vessel in which the gold was melted, or the
mould in which it was fashioned. Dr. Geddes learnedly supports
the latter sense.
The method used by Moses for reducing the gold of which the
calf was made to powder, has been variously explained. The
learned M. Goguet gives this solution. J "The Scripture says,
Moses took the calf, burnt it, reduced it to powder, and afterwards
mixed the powder with water, which he made the Israelites
drink. Those who work in metals, are not ignorant, that, in
genera], this operation is very difficult. Moses probably had
learned this secret in Egypt. The Scripture remarks expressly,
that he had been brought up in all the wisdom ofthe Egyptians ;§
that is to say, that Moses had been instructed in all the sciences
which these people cultivated. I think then, that at that time,
* The people said, " make us gods" Elohim — yet but one thing is
made : and Aaron calls his calf, in the plural, " gods ;" — " these are tby
gods," — " they who brought thee out of Egypt," &c. To this agree the
words of St. Stephen, Acts vii. 40, 41, " saying to Aaron, make us gods to
go before us — and be made a calf." So that the plural form of Elohim
does not imply plurality of persons.
f Very improperly — for pens were not then used in writing ; nor are
they used at this day in those countries. Reeds supply their place. And
in the days of Isaiah, the implement for writing, was a stylus, or pin.
X Origin of laws, arts, &c. Vol. 2. p. 151. 6 Acts vii 22. , ,

OF THE BIBLE. 69
the Egyptians knew the art of performing this operation in gold ;
an operation, of which, however, it is necessary to shew the
process. " The commentators are much troubled to explain the manner
in which Moses burnt and reduced to powder the golden calf;
the most of them have only given vain conjectures, and such as
are absolutely void of all probability. An able chymist has re
moved all the difficulties that can be formed about this opera-
ration.* The means which he thinks Moses used are very simple.
Instead of tartar which we use for such a process, the legislator
of the Hebrews used natron, which is very common in the East,
and particularly near the Nile. What the Scripture adds, that
Moses made the Israelites drink this powder, proves that he
knew very well the whole force of its operation. He would ag
gravate the punishment of their disobedience. One could not
invent a way that would render them more sensible of it. Gold,
made potable by the process which I have mentioned, is of a de
testable taste."
But whether this chymical process was known to Moses, is at
least very doubtful. Onkelos and Bochart conjecture that the
mass of gold was reduced to powder by a rasp or file ; but Dr. Adam
Clarke, furnishes the following explanation, which seems more
practicable and more probable. " In Deut. ix. 21, this matter is
fully explained. / took, says Moses, your sin, the calf which ye
had made, and burnt it with fire ,¦ that is, melted it down, probably
into ingots, or gross plates ; and stamped it, that is, beat it into thin
laminae, something like our gold leaf; and ground it very small,
even until it was as small as dust, which might be very easily done
by the action ofthe hands, when beat into thin plates or leaves, as
the original word nax ecoth, and pn dak, imply. And I cast the
dust thereof into the brook, and being thus lighter than the water,
it would readily float, so that they could easily see, in this reduced
and useless state, the idol to which they had lately offered divine
honours, and from which they were vainly expecting protection
and defence. No mode of argumentation could have served so
forcibly to demonstrate the folly of their conduct, as this method
pursued by Moses."
The Hebrews, without doubt, upon this occasion, intended to
imitate the worship of the god Apis,X which they had seen in
Egypt. In after times, Jeroboam having been acknowledged
king by the ten tribes of Israel, and intending to separate them
*-Stahll. Vitul. aureus, in Opusc. Chym. phys. med. p. 585.
t An Egyptian deity, worshipped in the form of a bull. See Philo, de
vita Mosis, p. 067, and Selden de Diis Syris. Synt. 1. c. 4.

70 THE NATURAL HISTORY
forever from the house of David, thought fit to provide new god*
for them, whom they might worship in their own country, with
out being obliged to go to the temple of Jerusalem, there to pay
their adoration. 1 Kings, xii. 27 — 30. Monceau, in his
"Aaron purgatus," thought that these golden calves were imitations
ofthe cherubim, and that they occasioned rather a schismatic than
an idolatrous worship : and it is confessed, that all Israel did not
renounce the worship of Jehovah by adopting that ofthe golden
calves, and by ceasing to go up to Jerusalem. Jehovah did not
altogether abandon Israel ; but sent them prophets, and preserved
a great number of faithful worshippers, who either went privately
to the temple at Jerusalem, as Tobit tells us he did, ch. i. 5 ; or
worshipped God in their own houses. Nevertheless, the design
of Jeroboam was to corrupt the people ; and he is frequently re
proached with having made Israel to sin ; and when at any time,
the Scripture would describe a bad prince, it is by saying, that he
imitated Jeroboam, who introduced this idolatrous worship.
" It is well known," says Bp. Newcome,* " that animals of
this species were worshipped in Egypt ; the Apis at Memphis,
and the Mnevis at Heliopolis. As they were employed in tilling
the ground, they may have been used as symbols of one who had
tanciently introduced or improved the art of agriculture. Males
of this land were dedicated to Osiris, and females to Isis. The
Israelites may have originally borrowed this superstition from the;
Egyptians, and may have afterwards revived it; imputing the
great fertility of Egypt to the deity thus represented."
The glory of Israel was their God, their law, and their ark ;
but the adorers of the golden calves considered those idols as
their glory. Hosea says, x. 5, " the priests thereof rejoiced on
it, for the glory thereof." And he exclaims to them in raillery,
xiii. 2, " Ye who worship calves, come, sacrifice men !" Can
there be any greater madness ? Ye adore calves, and sacrifice
men to Moloch ! The Septuagint, however, gives this passage
another meaning. " They say, we want calves, sacrifice men."
We have no more calves to sacrifice, let us bring men for that
purpose. But the Hebrew may be interpreted, " let them who
would sacrifice, come and kiss the calves."
Hosea foretold the destruction of these idols, viii. 5, 6. " Thy
calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against
them. The calf of Samaria shall become as contemptible as spi
der's webs." The Assyrians, having taken Samaria, carried off
the golden calves with their worshippers. The Hebrew word,
translated " spider's webs," is difficult. The Septuagint traslates
* Note on Hosea viii. 6.

OF THE BIBLE. 71
it "is deceitful," or " mistaken;" Symmachus, " is inconstant,"
or " gone astray ;" the Rabbins, " is as it were dust," saw-dust ;
the generality of interpreters, " is broken to pieces." Jerom
was informed by his Hebrew master, that it signified spiders'
webs, which float in the air and are soon dispersed.
CAMEL, bni gamal. In Chaldee, it is called gamala ; in
ancient Arabic, gimel ; and in modern diammel ; in Greek
KXfAriMc. With very littie variation, the name of this animal is re
tained in modern languages.
An animal very common in Arabia, Judea, and the neighbour
ing countries. It is often mentioned in Scripture, and reckoned
among the most valuable property. 1 Chron. v. 21 , Job i. 3, &c.
This animal is distinguished from the dromedary, by having
two protuberances, or bunches of thick matted hair on its back.
Its height is six feet, six inches. Its head is small ; ears short ;
neck long, slender, and bending. Its hoofs are in part, but not
thoroughly divided. The bottom of the foot is tough and pliant.
The tail is long, and terminates in a tuft of considerable length.
On the legs, this animal has six callosities ; four on the fore legs,
and two on the hinder ; besides another on the lower part of the
breast. These are the parts on which it rests. Its hair is fine,
soft and of considerable length ; of a dusky reddish colour. Be
sides the same internal structure as other ruminating animals, the
camel is furnished with an additional bag, which serves as a re
servoir to contain a quantity of water, till it become necessary to
quench his thirst and macerate his food : at which time, by a sim
ple contraction of certain muscles, he makes a part of this water
ascend into his stomach, or even as high as the gullet. This sin
gular construction enables him to travel several days in the sandy
deserts without drinking ; and to take at once a prodigious quan
tity of water, which is held in reservation. Though of a heavy
and apparently unwieldy form, this animal moves with considera
ble speed. With a bale of goods on his back, he will travel at
the rate of thirty miles a day.
The camel ruminates, but whether it fully parts the hoof, is a
question so undecided, says Michaelis, Laws of Moses, article
204, that we do not, even in the " Memoirs of the Academy at
Paris," find a satisfactory answer to it on all points. The foot of
the camel is actually divided into two toes, and the division below
is complete, so that the animal might be accounted clean ; but
then it does not extend the whole length of the foot, but only to
the fore part ; for behind it is not parted, and we find, besides, un
der it, and connected with it, a ball on which the camel goes.
Now, in this dubious state of circumstances, Moses authoritative-

72 THE NATURAL HISTORY
ly declares, Levit. xi. 4, that the camel has not the hoof fully di
vided. It would appear as if he had meant that this animal,
heretofore accounted clean by the Ishmaelites, Midianites, and all
the rest of Abraham's Arabian descendants, should not be eaten
by the Israelites ; probably with a view to keep them, by this
means, the more separate from these nations, with whom their con
nexion and their coincidence in manners, was otherwise so close ;
and perhaps too, to prevent them from conceiving any desire to
continue in Arabia, or to devote themselves again to their favour
ite occupation of wandering herdsmen ; for in Arabia, a people
will always be in an uncomfortable situation, if they dare not eat
the flesh, and drink the milk of the camel. / To this opinion of
Michaelis, an objection is made by Rosenmu'ller in his note up-
pon Bochart, Hieroz. v. 1 , p. 12; and he is rather inclined to
think that the prohibition was predicated upon the unwholesome'
ness ofthe flesh itself, and the general opinion as stated by Po-
cock, in Not. ad Specim. Hist. Arab. Ex. Abulpharagio, p. 87,
that eating the flesh of the camel, generated ill humours in the
mind as well as the body.* Though this might not in fact be the
effect, yet, if it was a prevailing opinion in the time of Moses;,
it was sufficient to justify the interdiction.
It being so evident that the camel was declared unclean in the
Levitical law, it is something strange that Heliogabalus should
order the flesh of camels and ostriches to be served up at his ta
ble, saying, " praeceptum Judaeis ut ederent," there was a pre
cept ofthe Jews, that they might be eaten; (as Lampridius, cap.
28, reports his words.) Salmasius, however, saith that a manu
script in the Palatine library, reads " struthiocamelos exhibuit in
caenis," — he had the camel-bird [ostriches] served up at supper.
" No creature," says Volney, " seems so peculiarly fitted to
the climate in which he exists, as the camel. Designing this ani
mal to dwell in a country where he can find little nourish
ment, nature has been sparing of her materials in the whole of
his formation. She has not bestowed upon him the fleshiness of
the ox, horse, or elephant ; but limiting herself to what is strictly
necessary, has given him a long head, without ears, at the end of
a long neck without flesh ; has taken from his legs and thighs
every muscle not immediately requisite for motion; and,, in
short, bestowed upon his withered body, only the vessels and ten
dons necessary to connect its frame together. She has furnished
hjm with a strong jaw, that he may grind the hardest aliments ;
but, lest he should consume too much, has straitened his stomach,
* " Qui carnibus camelorum vesci solent, odii terraces sunt. Unde insi-
tum Arabibus, deserti cultoribus, hoc vitium, ideo quod camelorum carni
bus vescantur."

OF THE BIBLE. 73
and obliged him to chew the cud ; has lined his fool with a lump
of flesh, which sliding in the mud, and being no way adapted to
climbing, fits him only for a dry, level, and sandy soil, like that of
Arabia. So great, in short, is the importance of the camel to
the desert, that, were it deprived of that useful animal, it must in
fallibly lose every inhabitant."
The Arabians, of course, hold the camel in the highest estima
tion ; and Bochart has preserved an ancient Arabic eulogy upon
this animal, which is a great curiosity.* See Dromedary.
Camels were in ancient times, very numerous in Judea, and
over all the East. The patriarch Job had at first three thousand,
and after the days of his adversity had passed away, six thousand
camels. The Midianites and Amalekites had camels without
number, as the sand upon the sea-shore. Judg. vii. 12. So
great was the importance attached to the propagation and man
agement of Camels, that a particular officer was appointed, in
the reign of David, to superintend their keepers. Nor is it with
out design that the sacred writer, mentions the descent of the per
son appointed ; he was an Ishmaelite, and therefore supposed to
be thoroughly skilled in the treatment of that useful quadruped.
The chief use of the camel, has always been as a beast of bur
den, and for performing journeys across the deserts. They have
sometimes been used in war, to carry the baggage of an oriental
army, and mingle in the tumult ofthe battle. Many of the Ama
lekite warriors, who burnt Ziklag in the time of David, were
mounted on Camels ; for the sacred historian remarks, that of the
whole army, not a man escaped the furious onset of that heroic
and exasperated leader, " save four hundred young men, which
rode upon camels, and fled." 1 Sam. xxx. 17.
A passage of Scripture has been the occasion of much criticism,
in which our Lord says, " It is easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the king
dom of heaven." Matth. xix. 24. Some assert that near Jeru
salem, was a low gate called " the needle's eye," through which
a camel could not pass unless his load were taken off. Others
conjecture that as the ancient 6 and pi. are much alike in manu
scripts, (tct^Aof here, and in Aristophanes, vesp. schol. 1030,
should be read jwtfiiAoy, a cable. But it is to be recollected, that
the ancient manuscripts were in capital letters ; and there are no
ancient MSS. to support the reading. But in the Jewish Tal
mud theire is a similar proverb about an elephant. " Rabbi She-
sheth answered Rabbi Amram, who had advanced an absurdity,
perhaps thou art one of the Pambidithians, who can make an
* Hieroz. V. 1. p. 13, edit. Rosenkuller.
10

74 THE NATURAL HISTORY
elephant pass through the eye of a needle ;" that is, says the
Aruch, " who speak things impossible." There is also an ex
pression similar to this in the Koran ; " the impious, who in his
arrogancy shall accuse our doctrine of falsity, shall find the gates
of heaven. shut; nor shall he enter there, till a camel shall pass
through the eye of a needle. It is thus that we shall recompence
the wicked." Surat. vii. v. 37. Indeed, Grotius, Lightfoot,
Wetstein, and Michaelis join in opinion, that the comparison is
so much in the figurative style of the oriental nations and of the
Rabbins that the text is sufficiently authentic.
In Matthew xxiii. 24, is another proverbial expression. " Ye
strain at a gnat and swallow a camel." Dr. Adam Clarke, has
proved that here is an error ofthe press in printing the English
translation, in which at has been substituted for out, which first
occurred in the edition of 1 6 1 1 , and has been regularly continued
since. It may be remarked, too, that the Greek word ehuAi^ovTes1,
here translated " strain," does not denote, as many have under
stood it, to make an effort to swallow, but to filter, or percolate ;
and alludes to a custom which the Jews had of filtering their
wine, for fear of swallowing any insect forbidden by the. law as un
clean. Maimonides, in his treatise of forbidden meats, c. 1, art.
20, affords a remarkable illustration of our Saviour's proverbial
expression. " He who strains wine, or vinegar, or strong drink,
(says he,) and eats the gnats, or flies, or ivorms, which he has
strained off, is whipped." That the Jews used to strain their
wine, appears also from the LXX. version of Amos vi. 6, where
we read of ^(uAjit/aijvov oivov, strained, or filtered wine. This ex
pression is applied to those who superstitiously anxious in
avoiding small faults, yet did not scruple to commit the greatest
sins ; and it plainly refers to the Jewish law, in which both gnats
and camels were considered as unclean. See Gnat.
On the subject of cloth made from camel's hair, I extract the
following remarks from " Fragments Supplementary to Calmet's
Dictionary, No« cccxx."
" John the Baptist, we are told, was habited in a raiment of
camels' hair; and Chardin assures us, that the modern dervises
wear such garments ; as they do also great leather girdles.*
Camel's hair is also made into those most beautiful stuffs, called
shawls; but certainly the- coarser manufacture of this material
was adopted by John, and we may receive a good idea of its tex
ture, from what Braithwaite says of the Arabian tents ;! ' they
are made of camel's hair, somewhat like our coarse hair cloths t&
lay over goods.' By this coarse vesture the Baptist was not
* Harmer, Obs. V. 2. p. 487. f Journey to Morocco, p, 138.

OF THE BIBLE. 76
merely distinguished, but contrasted with those in royal palaces,
who wore soft raiment, such as shawls, or other superfine manu
factures, whether of the same material or not.
" We may, 1 think, conclude that Elijah the Tishbite wore a
dress of the same stuff and, and of the like coarseness. 2 Kings
i. 8. 'A man dressed in hair (hair-cloth, no doubt,) and girt
with a girdle of leather.' Our translation reads ' a hairy
man ;' which might by an unwary reader, be referred to his per
son, as in the case of Esau ; but it should undoubtedly be refer
red to his dress. Observe, too, that in Zechariah xiii. 4, a rough
garment, that is of a hairy manufacture, is noticed as a character
istic of a prophet.
" This may lead us to inquire, what might be the nature ofthe
sack-cloth so often mentioned in Scripture ; and I the rather at
tempt this, because Mr. Harmer tells us that ' it was a coarse
kind of woollen cloth, such as they made sacks of, and neither
hair-cloth, nor made of hemp ; nor was there that humiliation in
wearing it, which we suppose.'* This is incorrect, because the
Scripture expressly mentions, Rev. vi. 12, ' the sun became
black as sack-cloth of hair;' and Isai. 1. 8, ' I clothe the hea
vens with blackness, I make sack-cloth their covering.' Sack
cloth then, was made of hair, and it was black. The prophets
wore it at particular times,! and agreeably to that custom, the two
witnesses, Rev. xi. 3, are represented as clothed in sack-cloth ;
implying the revival and resumption of the ancient prophetical
habiliment. It was used in these cases to express motirning. It
appears, also, to have been employed to enwrap the. dead, when
about to be buried ; so that its being worn by survivors, was a
kind of assimilation to the departed ; and its being worn by peni
tents, was an implied confession that their guilt exposed them to
death. This may be gathered from an expression of Chardin,
who says, ' Kel Anayet, the Shah's buffoon, made a shop in the
seraglio, which he filled with pieces of that kind of stuff of which
winding sheets for the dead are made :' and again — ' the suffer
ers die by hundreds, wrapping-cloth is doubled in price.' How
ever, in later ages, some nations might bury in linen, yet others
still retained the use of sack-cloth for that purpose."
CAMPHIRE. -lisn copher. Turc. kafur [Meninski, Lexic.
3849.] Gr. mttqos. Lat. Cyprus.
Occ. Cantic. i. 14, i v. 13.
Sir T. Browne supposes that the plant mentioned in the Can
ticles, rendered kutt^o? in the Septuagint, and Cyprus in the Vul-
* Harmer's Obs. V. 1. p. 430. f Isai. xx. 3 j Joel i. 13.

76 THE NATURAL HISTORY
fate, to be that described by Dioscorides and Pliny, growing in
Igypt, and near to Ascalon, producing an odorate bush of flow
ers, and yielding the celebrated oleum cyprinum*
M. Mariti says, " that the shrub known in the Hebrew lan
guage by the name of copher, is common in the island of Cyprus,
and thence had its Latin name ;"! and also remarks that " the
bpfrus cypri has been supposed to be a kind of rare and exquisite
grapes, transplanted from Cyprus to Engaddi ; but the botrus is
known to the natives of Cyprus as an odoriferous shrub called
henna, or alkanna."J
This shrub had at first been considered as a species of privet,
to which it has, indeed, many relations ; but difference in the
parts of fructification have determined botanists to make a dis
tinct genus of it, to which Linn^us has given the name of lawso-
nia, and to that we are describing lawsonia inermis. Its Arabic
name is henne, aud with the article, al-henna. In Turkey it is
called kanna and al-kanna.
This is one ofthe plants which is most grateful to the eye and
the smell. The gently deep colour of its bark ; the light green
of its foliage ; the softened mixture of white and yellow with
which the flowers, collected into long clusters like the lilac, are
coloured ; the red tint of the ramifications which support them,
form a combination of the most agreeable effect. These flowers
whose shades are so delicate, diffuse around the sweetest odours,
and embalm the gardens and apartments which they embellish.
The women take pleasure in decking themselves with these char
ming clusters of fragrance, adorn their chambers with them, carry
them to the bath, hold them in their hand, in a word adorn their
bosom with them. With the powder of the dried leaves, they
give an orange tincture to their nails, to the inside of their hands,
and to the soles of their feet. The expression nuias ns nnwy
rendered " pare her nails," Deut. xxi. 1 2, may perhaps rather
mean, " adorn her nails;" and imply the antiquity of this prac
tice. This is an universal custom in Egypt, and not to conform
to it would be considered indecent, lt seems to have been prac
tised by the ancient Egyptians, for the nails of the mummies are
most commonly of a reddish hue.§
* " Cyprus est arbuscnla in Syria, freqnentissima, coma odoratissima,
ex qua fit unguentuiu Cyprinum." Plin. N. H. lib. xii. 24.
•f Travels, Vol. ii. p. 34.
Jib. Vol. i. p. 333. R. Ben Melek, in his note on Cantic. expressly
says, " Botrus copher id ipsnm est quod Arabes vocant AI-hinna." See
also Prosp. Alpinus de plantis iEgypti, c. 13. and Abu'l Fadli as quoted
by Celsius, Hierobot, Vol. 1. p. 223.
$ See a .Memoir on Kmbalment by M Caylus, in the Memoirs of the
Acad, of Inscr. and Belles Lettres, torn, xxiii. p. 133.

OF THE BIBLE. 77
Prosper Alpinus, speaking of the several qualities of this
plant, observes, that clusters of its flowers are seen hanging to
the ceilings of houses in Cairo, &c. to render the air more mode
rate and pure.*
Mr. Harmer has given a particular account of this plant in his
very valuable " Outlines of a Commentary on Solomon's Song,"
extracted from Rauwolf. The plant is also described by Has-
SELQ.UIST, Shaw, and Russell ; who all attribute to it the same
qualities. But the most exact account is to be found in Sonni-
hi's travels, accompanied with a beautiful drawing.!
CANE, run kaneh.
A reed common in Arabia and Syria. The word is also used to
signify calamus aromaticus, sometimes alone, as Cantic. iv. 14;
Isai. xliii. 24 ; Ezek. xxvii. 19 ; and sometimes with the addition
of otstt, Exod. xxx. 23, and:iDn Jerem. vi. 20.
The calamus aromaticus is a plant of India and Arabia.
While growing, it scents the air with a fragrant smell, and wlien
cut down, dried, and powdered, makes an ingredient in the richest
perfumes. J
This plant was probably among the number of those, which
the queen of Sheba, presented to Solomon ; and what seems to
confirm the opinion is, that it is still very much esteemed" by the
Arabs on account of its fragrance.
This is the sweet cane of Jeremiah. " To what purpose
cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the rich aromatic
reed from a far country ''" It is spoken of Isai. xliii. 24, as being
costly, and applied to sacred uses. Theophrastus, Hist. Plant.
1. ix. c. 7. and Pliny, after him, Nat. Hist. 1. xii. § 48, say that
this reed, and that of the very best sort too, grew in Syria near
mount Libanus. But had this been the case, it can hardly be
supposed, says Dr. Blaney, that the Jews would have taken the
trouble of fetching it from " a far country." It is most probable
that this reed, as well as the frankincense came to them from Saba
where it grew, as we are informed by Strabo, 1. xvi. p. 778, and by
Diodorus Siculus, 1. iii. p. 125. ed. Rhodom. Pliny also in
the place above cited, speaks of it as a native of Arabia ; and Di-
onysius, in his Periegesis, v. 935, enumerates it among the fra
grant productions of that country. Saba, we know, was situated
towards the southern extremity of the Peninsula of Arabia ; so
that it was indeed, with respect to Judea, " a far country," as it
is. also said to be, Joel iii. 8. And our Saviour, speaking of its
queen, whom he calls " the queen of the South," says that she
* Nat. Hist. .Egpyt, torn. ii. p. 193. ' t Vol. i. p. 164.
X Dioscorides, lib. 1. c. 17. Plin. N. H. lib. xii. c. 22. Celsius, Hie-
robot. V. 2 p. 313. Hiller, Hieropbyt. ii. 36.

78 THE NATURAL HISTORY
came " from the extreme parts of the earth." Matth. xii. 42.
In the book of Exodus, also, it is said to come from " a far
country." Some have supposed the sugar cane intended, Isai. xliii. 24,
and Jerem. vi. 20.*
The sugar cane is a native ofthe East, and has been cultiva
ted there, time immemorial. It was first valued for its agreeable
juice ; afterwards boiled into a syrrup ; and, in process of time, an
inebriating spirit was prepared by fermentation. This is confirm
ed by the etymology; for the Arabic word iso is evidently deriv*
ed from the Hebrew "Oty, which signifies an intoxicating liquor.
" When the Indians began to make the cane juice into sugar,"
says Mr. Grainger, " I cannot discover. Probably it soon
found its way into Europe, in that form, first by the Red Sea, and
afterwards through Persia, by the Black Sea, and Caspian. But
the plant itself was not known to Europe, till the Arabians intro
duced it into the southern parts of Spain, Sicily, and those pro
vinces of France, which border on the Pyrenian mountains.
From the Mediterranean the Spaniards and Portuguese transport
ed it to the Azores, the Madeira, the Canary, and the Cape de
Verd islands, soon after they had discovered it in Ihe XV. centu
ry ; and in most of these, particularly Madeira, it throve exceed
ingly ; and 1 506, Ferdinand the catholic, ordered the cane to be
carried from the Canaries to St. Domingo, and cultivated there."!
See Calamus, Reed.
CANKER-WORM. p«?» ialek.
Occ. Psal. cv. 34, and Jerem. li. 27, where it is rendered
" caterpillar." Joel i. 4, ii. 25, and Nahum iii. 15, "canker-
worm." According to the, opinion of Adam Genselius,J ialek is an in
sect which principally ravages the vineyards, called by the Greeks,
ittk, nris. Pliny calls it convolvulus, volvox ;§ Columella, calls
it volucra ;|| and Plautus, involvulus ;TT because it deposits its
eggs in the ieaves, and occasions them to roll themselves up. It
is known wherever the vine is cultivated.
As it is frequently mentioned with the locust, it is thought by
some to be a species of that insect. It certainly cannot be the
* See " the history of sugar in the early and middle ages," by Dr. Fal
coner, in V. 4. of the Transactions of the Manchester Society. Robert-
son's India, and Franklin's Hist, of Egypt, V. i. p. 174.
t Grainger's Sugar Cane, a poem, p. 2, note.
X Ephemerid. Germ. Cent. vii. § J>J- H. lib. xviii. c. 8.
X De re Rustica. f Cistel. act. iv. seen. 2.

OF THE BIBLE. 73
canker-worm, as our version renders it, for in Nahum, it is ex
pressly said to have wings and fly, to camp in the hedges by day,
and commit its depredations in the night. But it may be, as
the Septuagint renders it in five passages out of eight where it oc
curs, the bruchus, or hedge-chafer.* Nevertheless, the passage
Jerem. li. 27, where the ialek is described as " rough," that is
with hair standing an end on it, leads us very naturally to the ren
dering of our translators in that place, " the rough caterpillar,"
which like other caterpillars, at a proper time,; casts its exterior
covering and flies away in a winged state.!
The several changes of insects, are not always well understood
even by tolerable observers ; but, supposing that their different
states have different names, in reference to different insects, orte
insects which differ in their periods of appearance, (as some are
several weeks, others a long time in their grub state,) it is no
wonder that we find it difficult to ascertain, what is meant by the
appellation in Hebrew, though we may perceive the general ap
plication or import ofthe terms employed by the sacred writers.
Scheuchzer observes that we should not, perhaps, be far from
the truth, if with the ancient interpreters, we understood this
ialek, after all, as a kind of locust ; as some species of them have
hair principally on the head, and some which have prickly points
standing out.J Perhaps there is an allusion to such a kind, in
Revelations ix. 8, where we read of locusts " having hair like
the hair of a woman." The Arabs call this kind orphan, al-
phantapho. See Locust.
CARBUNCLE, np-3 bareketh.
Occ. Exod. xxviii. 17, xxxix. 10, and Ezek. xxviii. 13, and
AN0PAS Ecclus. xxxii. 5, and Tobit xiii. 17.
A very elegant and rare gem, known to the ancients by the
name anthrax, or coal, because when held up before the sun, it
appears like a piece of bright burning charcoal ; its name car-
bunculus, has the same meaning.
* Scarabeus sacer. Linn^i.
t Jerome, (iu Amos iv.) says, " Non evolat eruca, ut loeusta, etc. Sed
permanet periiuris frugibus,et tardo lapsu, pigrisque morsibus consumii
liniversa." " Non solum teneras audent erodere fronde9
Implicitus concha? Innax, hirsittaque campe." Columella in Horto.
Campe, id est eruca, quomodo interpretatur ipse in prosa " De cultu hor-
ti," circa finem libri duodecimi. " fctuse a nobis appellantur Eruca, Grace
autem lutfumu nominantur."
} Claudia n mentions a kind of caterpillar, which he says, " hor ret apes
capitis."

80 THE NATURAL HISTORY
It was the third stone in the first row of the pectoral ; and is
mentioned among the glorious stones of which the New-Jerusalem
is figuratively said to be built. Bp. Lowth observes, that the
precious stones mentioned Isai. liv. 11, 12, and Rev. xxi. 18.
seem to be general images to express beauty, magnificence, puri
ty, strength, and solidity, agreeably to the ideas of the Eastern
nations ; and to have never been intended to be strictly scrutiniz
ed, and minutely, and particularly explained, as if they had
some precise moral or spiritual meaning. Tobit, in his prophe
cy ofthe final restoration of Israel, ch. xii. 16, 17, describes the
New Jerusalem in the same oriental manner.
The Septuagint, Josephus, and the Vulgate, render -]3J nophec,
the anthrax, or carbuncle ; and they are followed by Dr. Geddes.
In our translation, it is called " emerald." See Emerald.
CASSIA, mp kiddah.
Occ. Exod. xxx. 24, Psal. xiv. 8, and Ezek. xvii. 19.
The aromatic bark of an oriental tree of the same name. It is
not much unlike cinnamon. Theophrastus,* Herodotus,!
and Pliny,| mention it along with myrrh, frankincense, and cin
namon, and say that they all come from Arabia. They describe
it as used to perfume ointments. Scacchus thinks that by kid
dah, we are to understand that fragrant composition extracted
from a plant which the ancients called costus, the best of which
was brought out of Arabia, and was of a white colour, as he
proves from Avicenna, Dioscorides, and Pliny ; and it appears
from Propertius,§ that it was used on the altars together with
frankincense. The proportion of the ingredients for the holy anointing oil,
Exod. xxx. 23, 24, 25, deserve our notice. Observe the word
shekel is not expressed in the original ; so that some have suppos
ed the gerah was the weight intended ; but the shekel seems to
be supplied by verse 24, " according to the shekel ofthe sanctua
ry." These words, however, probably only denote a correct, or
standard weight.
The difficulty is, that so great a quantity of drugs put into so
small a quantity of oil, would render the liquor much too thick,
and merely a paste. To obviate this some have supposed that
they were previously steeped, and their oil drawn out from them,
which extract was mixed with the pure oil of olive. Others
think that recourse was had to pressure, to force out an oil
strongly impregnated ; others that the mass was distilled ; and
* De plant. lib. ix. c. 4, 5. f Lib. iii. c. 107.
JN.H. lib. xii. c. 19.
§ " Costum molle date, etblandi mihi thuris odores." L. iv. elog. 5.

OF THE BIBLE. ;;i
some, that the value only of the ingredients was intended. But
all agree that sixty-two pounds of aromatics, to twelve pounds of
oil, is not according to modern art, and seems contradictory to
the exercise of art in any state of practice. The adoption of ge-
rahs, instead of shekels, would give a proportion of thirty-five and
a half ounces of drugs, to one hundred and twenty-three ounces of
oil, or three and a half to one. In common, one ounce of drugs
to eight of oil is esteemed a fair proportion. Dr. Geddes says,
" I have rather chosen to say proportional parts, as in medical
recipes. If all the parts here mentioned had weighed a shekel,
a hin of oil would not have been sufficient to give them the neces
sary liquidity ; unless, with Michaelis, we reduce the shekel of
Moses, to one fourth or fifth part of latter shekels."
In Psal. xiv. 9, the word nty'Xp ketsioth, is translated cassia.
This may mean an extract, or essential oil, from the same frag
rant bark.
CATERPILLAR. Von chasil. Arab, uskul.
The word occurs Deut. xxviii. 38 ; Psal. lxxviii. 46 ; Isai.
xxxiii. 4 ; 1 Kings viii. 37 ; 2 Chron. vi. 28 ; Joel i. 4 ; ii. 25.
In the four last cited texts, it is distinguished from the locust,
properly so called ; and in Joel i. 4, is mentioned as " eating
up" what the other species had left, and therefore may be called
the consumer, by way of eminence. But the ancient interpreters
are far from being agreed what particular species it signifies.
The Septuagint in Chronicles, and Aquila in Psalms, render it
B^ss^o? ; so the Vulgate in Chronicles, and Isaiah, and Jerom
in Psalms, bruchus, the chafer, which is a great devourer of leaves.
From the Syriac version, however, Michaelis is disposed to un
derstand it, the " taupe grillon," mole cricket, which in its grub
state, is very destructive to corn, and other vegetables, by feeding
on their roots. See Locust.
CEDAR, tin erez. Arab, ers, and araza.
Occurs frequently: and KEAPOS Ecclus. xxiv. 13, and 2
Maccab. ix. 4.
The cedar is a large and noble evergreen tree. Its lofty
height, and its far extended branches, afford a spacious shelter
and shade.* Ezek. xxxi. 5, 6, 8. The wood is very valuable :
* Celsius Hierobot. V. i. p. 74. Cotovicus, [liner, p. 380. Racwolf,
part 2. c. 12. p. 108. Axtius de arbor, conif. p. 8.
 ¦" Saltum inumbrans
Medio Btat ingens arbor, atque umbra gravi
Silvas minores urnet, et magno ambitu,
Diffusa ramis, una defeudit neuius." Seneca.
11

82 THE NATURAL HISTORY
is of a reddish colour, of an aromatic smell, and reputed incorrupt
ible, which is owing to its bitter taste, which the worms cannot
endure, and its resin, which preserves it from the injuries of the
weather.* The ark ofthe covenant, and much of the temple of
Solomon, and that of Diana, at Ephesus, were built of cedar.
The tree is much celebrated in Scripture. It is called " the
glory of Lebanon." Isai. Ix. 13. On that mountain it must in
former times have flourished in great abundance. There are
some now growing there which are prodigiously large. But
travellers who have visited the place within these two or three
centuries, and who describe the trees of vast size, inform us that
their number is diminished greatly ; so that, as Isaiah x. 1 9,
says, "a child may number them."! Maundrell measured
one of the largest size, and found it to be twelve yards and
six inches in girt, and yet sound ; and thirty-seven yards in
the spread of its boughs. Gabriel Sionita, a very learned
Syrian Maronite,J who assisted in editing the Paris Polyglott ; a
man worthy of ail credit, thus describes the cedars of mount
Lebanon, which he had examined on the spot. " The cedar
grows on the most elevated part oi the mountain, is taller than
the pine, and so thick that five men together could scarcely fath
om one. It shoots out its branches at ten or twelve feet from
the ground ; they are large and distant from each other, and are
perpetually green. The wood is of a brown colour, very solid
and incorruptible, if preserved from wet. The tree bears a
small cone like that of the pine."
The following is the account given of these cedars by the
Abbe Binos, who visited them in the year 1778. " Here I first
discovered the celebrated cedars, which grow in an oval plain
about an Italian mile in circumference. The largest stand at a
considerable distance from each other, as if afraid their branches
might be entangled. These trees raise their proud summits, to
* Some cedar wood was found fresh in the temple of Utica, in Barbary,
above two thousand years old.
t Peter Bellon in 1550 counted 28 Boullaye leGouz in 1650 counted 22
25 262624
24
24 2422
X " Maronites, are certain Fastcrn Christians who inhabit near mount Li-
banus, in Syria The name is derived from a town in the country called
Maronia, or from St. Maron. who built a monastery there in the fifth cen
tury." Hannah Adams, View of Religions, 2d edit.

Chr. Fi»htner

. 1556

Rauwolf

. 1574

J. Jacobi

. 1579

R. Radzivil

. 1583

J. Villamont

. 1590

Ch. Harant

. 1598

W. Litgow

. 1609

Eugen. Roger

. 1632

Thevenot

. 1657

22

De la Roque

. 1688

20

Mnimdrel

. 1699

16

R. Pocock

. 1739

15

Schnlz

. 1755

20

Voluey

. 1784,

only 4 or S

from report.

Billardiere

. 1789

1

OF THE BIBLE. 83
the height of sixty, eighty, and a hundred feet. Three or four
when young, grow up sometimes together, and form at length by
uniting their sap, a tree of monstrous thickness. The trunk,
then assumes, generally, a square form. The thickest which I
saw might be about thirty feet round ; and this size was occasion
ed by several having been united when young. Six others, which
are entirely insulated, and free from shoots, were much taller,
and seem to have been indebted for their height, to the undivided
effects of their sap." These cedars, formerly so numerous as to
-constitute a forest, are now almost entirely destroyed. , M. Bil-
lardiere, who travelled thither in 1789, says that only seven of
those of superiour size and antiquity remain. The largest are
eighty or ninety feet in height, and the trunks from eight to nine
feet in diameter. These are preserved with religious strictness.
The Maronites celebrate an annual festival under them, which is
called " the feast of cedars ;" and the patriarch of the order
threatens with ecclesiastical censure, all who presume to hurt or
diminish the venerable remnants of ages long gone by.
The learned Celsius has attempted to prove that ssma eerosh,
and nru beroth, translated " fir-trees" in our English version,
are the names by which the cedar of Libanus is expressed in
Scripture; and that Kn erez, translated " cedar" means the
pine* But the Septuagir the Vulgate, and the generality of
modern interpreters, support the common version. Mr. Trew,
in his " Historia cedrorum Libani," asserts that the erez is the
cedrus Libani conifera. Professor Hunt adopts and defends this
interpretation.! And Mr. Merrick has ably advocated this
opinion in a very learned and ingenious dissertation on Psal. xxix.
5, annexed to his Commentary on the Psalms. With the conclu
ding paragraph of which I shall finish this article. " I shall only
add one argument more in favour of our interpretation, which M.
Michaelis mentions as offered by Mr. Trew,J and which he
confesses himself not able to answer. It is taken from the fol
lowing passage in Ezek. xxxi. 5, 6, 8, where the erez of Lebanon, -
or a person compared with it, is thus described. ' Therefore his
height was exalted above all the trees ofthe field, and his boughs
were multiplied, and his branches became long. Under his
branches did all the beasts ofthe field bring forth their young,'
* He has devoted thirty-six pages to the investigation of this suliject of
the Cedar, and twenty-nine to that ofthe pine:
f In a letter to M. Merrick, inserted at the end of his annotations on the
Psalms, p. 285. See also Miller, Hieropliyt. p. 1. p. 337, and Michaelis
Recueil de Questions, xc. Niebuhr, description de l'Arabie. p. 131.
X C. J. Trew, Historia Cedrorum Libani. 2 torn. 4to. Norimb. 1757 et
1767.

84 THE NATURAL HISTORY
&c. M. Michaelis observes, that this description perfectly agrees
with the cedar ; whereas the pine does not so overshadow the
place where it grows, as to support the image which the words of
the prophet present."* Compare the articles Fir and Pine.
CHALCEDONY. XAAKHAilN, Rev. xxi. 19.
A precious stone. Arethas, who has written an account of
Bithynia, says that it was so called from Chalcedon, a city of that
country, opposite to Byzantium ; and it was in colour like a car
buncle. Some have supposed this also to be the stone called ~]31 no-
phec translated "emerald," Exod. xxviii. 18.
CHAMELEON, nntwn thinsemeth. Levit. xi. 30.
A little animal ofthe lizard kind. It has four feet; and a long
flat tail, whereby it can hang to the branches of trees. Its head
is, without any neck, joined to .the body, as in fishes. In the
head it has two apertures which serve for nostrils. It has no
ears ; nor does it either make or receive any sound. Its eyes are
versatile this or that way, without moving the. head : and ordina
rily it turns one of them, quite the contrary way to the other.
It is a common tradition that the chameleon lives on air.!
Observation and experiment have shewn the contrary. Insects
are its usual food; yet it lives a considerable time without any
visible repast. " I kept one," says Hasselquist, " for twenty-
four days, without affording it an opportunity for taking any
food ; yet it was nimble and lively during the whole time, climb
ing up and down in its cage, fond of being near the light, and con
stantly rolling its eyes. I could, however, at last plainly per
ceive that it waxed lean, and suffered from hunger.
This animal is famous among ancient and modern writers for
the faculty it is supposed to have of changing its colour, and assu
ming that of the objects near it.
The word thinsemeth, in our translation rendered " mole,"
Bochart proves to be the real chameleon. The word, accord
ing to the signification of the root Z3VU neshem, to breathe, ap
plies peculiarly to the vulgar opinion of the chameleon ; and
*Mr. Harmer, on Cantic. v. 15, observes, that " the country people
near the mountain, call the cedar, errs, which is very nearly the original
name." And Michaelis, in his Suppl. Lex. Hebr. V. 1. p. 127, has this
remark, " BuschingiHS in Literis die 8 Junii 1776, ad me datis, jam inveni,
inquit, ilineraiorem, quitestatur, cedros ab incolis Libani aus dici, quo novo
teste confirmanlur a Trevio ex Schultsii ore relata."
|Thus Ovid, Metam. lib. xv. fab. iv. v. 411.
" Id quoque ventis animal nutritur et aura."
The creature nourisiipd by the wind and air.

OF THE BIBLE. 85
here, says Dr. Geddes, etymology is particularly favourable to
the appropriation of the word.*
A bird of the same name is mentioned in verse 1 8, which Bo
chart supposes to be the night-owlj by our translation, " the
Swan." See Mole and Swan.
II. The Hebrew word no coach, Levit. xi. 30, which the
Greek versions, St. Jerom, and the English interpreters render
" chameleon," is by Bochart thought to be a queen lizard,
called by the Arabs alwarlo, or corruptly from them, warral and
guaral ; which is, lively and bold. Its Hebrew name signifies
strength. This is denoted also by the Arabic word ; and the
verb rvo in Arabic, signifies to overcome in war. It is said that
this lizard fights against serpents, and sometimes even kills
them ; whence the Greeks have given it the name ocpiowtcM ; and
the Arabs have many proverbs taken from this disposition.!
According to Leo Africanus, lib. ix. it is about thirty inches in
length, being of a bright reddish, with dark spots.}:
CHAMOIS, -im zamor. Arab, zamara. From a root signi
fying to crop branches ; to browse.
Occurs Deut. xiv. 5, only.
A particular species of the goat kind, remarkably shy and
sprightly. Bochart supposes this to be the animal called in
Latin rupicapra, or goat of the ledges. The Septuagint, St. Je
rom, and Dr. Geddes render it the " Cameleopard ;" but that
animal is a native of the torrid zone, of Nubia, and Abyssinia ; is
rarely seen even in Egypt, and, if at all known in Palestine,\could
never have been there an article for food, and therefore we can
not suppose likely to be enumerated among the animals for the
shambles. Objections equally strong, lie against the rupicapra, or
chamois ; for the Alps, the Pyrenees, the mountains of Greece, and
the islands of the Archipelago, are " almost the only places where
it is to be found."§ They are not to be met with in Palestine, or
in the neighbouring countries. We must, therefore, be content
with saying that the zamor is an animal of the goat kind, so call
ed from its browsing on the shoots of tree and bushes. || Dr.
Shaw supposes it to be the Jeraffa ; this, however, being a na
tive ofthe torrid zone, and Southern Africa, is equally unlikely,
from its attachment to hot countries, to be abundant in Judea, and
* Hence Pliny says, this is the only animal which neither eats nor drinks.
but stands with his mouth always open, and the air serves him for aliment.
Nat. Hist. lib. viii. c. 33.
f Bochart, V. ii. p. 487. edit. Rosenmuller.
X Shaw's travels, p. 178, and 482. 4to. edit.
{ Buffon, Hist. Nat. torn. x. p. 318.
[| Michaelis, Kecueil de Quest, cxlviii. and Suppl. ad Lexic. Hebr. 627.

86 THE NATURAL HISTORY"
used as an article of food. Whatever animal was intended by the
zamor, it must have been common in Syria, as we can by no
means suppose the sacred legislator would prohibit from being
used as food, a creature hardly seen from century to century,
and of which the nature and history were at best but dubious,
and barely to be ascertained, even by naturalists ; which was the
case with the cameleopardus, whose very existence was admitted
with hesitation an hundred years ago, though its figure appears on
certain ancient medals, and on the Prenestine pavement.
Upon this article, Dr. Adam Clarke has the following re
marks. " I must once more be permitted to say, that to ascer
tain the natural history ofthe bible, is a hopeless case. Of a few
of its animals and vegetables, we are comparatively certain ; but
ofthe great majority, we know almost nothing. Guessing and
conjecture are endless, and they have on these subjects, been al
ready sufficiently employed. What learning, deep, solid, exten
sive learning and judgment could do, has already been done by the
incomparable Bochart in his Hierozoicon. The learned reader
may consult this work, and while he gains much general informa
tion, will have to regret, that he can apply so little of it to the
main and grand question."
CHESNUT-TREE. pmy ormun.
This tree which is mentioned only in Gen. xxx. 37 ; and Ezek.
xxxi. 8, is by the Septuagint, and Jerom, rendered " plane-tree ;"
and Drusius, Hiller, and most of the modern interpreters ren
der it the same. The name is derived from a root which signi
fies nakedness ; and it is often observed of the plane-tree that the
bark peels o/f from the trunk, leaving it naked, which peculiarity
may have been the occasion of its Hebrew name.
The son of Sirach says, Ecclus. xxiv. 14, "I grew up as a
plane-tree by the water."
CHRYSOLITE. XPT2OAI0OX. Rev. xxi. 20.
A precious stone of a golden colour.* Schroder says, it is
the gem now called the " Indian topaz," which is of a yellowish
green colour, and is very beautiful.
In the Alexandrine version, it is used for tP'tsnn tarshish,
Exod. xxviii. 20, and xxxix. 1 1 ; and also in the fragment of
Aquila in Ezek. x. 9. See Beryl.
CHRYSOPRASUS. XPTSOnPASOS. Rev. xxi. 20.
A precious stone which Pliny classes among the beryls ; the
best of which, he says, are of a sea-green colour ; after these he
* -/Ethiopia inittit et chrysolithos aureo colore translucentes."
Plin. N. H. lib. xxxvii. c. 9.

OF THE BIBLE. 87
mentions the chrysoberyls, which are a little paler, inclining to
golden colour ; and next, a sort still paler, and by some reckon
ed a distinct species, and called chrysoprasus.*
CINNAMON. ' jiojp kinnemon. Gr. KimfAufAov.X
An agreeable aromatic ; the inward bark of the canella, a small
tree of the height of the willow. It is mentioned Exod. xxx. 23,
among the materials in the composition of the holy annointing
oil; and in Prov. vii. 17 ; Cantic. iv. 14 ; Ecclus. xxiv. 15 ; and
Rev. xviii. 13, among the richest perfumes.
This spice is now brought from the East Indies; but as there
was no traffic with India in the days of Moses, it was then
brought, probably from Arabia, or some neighbouring country.
We learn however, from Pliny, that a species of it grew in
Syria4 CLAY, ion chomer, is often mentioned in Scripture, nor is
it necessary to explain the various references to what is so well
known. It may be remarked, however, that clay was used for
sealing doors. Norden and Pocock observe, that the inspectors
of the granaries in Egypt, after closing the door, put their seal
upon a handful of clay, with which they cover the lock. This
may help to explain Job. xxxviii. 1 4, in which the earth is repre
sented as assuming form and imagery from the brightness ofthe
rising sun, as rude clay receives a figure from the impression of a
seal or signet.
COCK. AAEKTftP.
A well known domestic fowl. Some derive the name. from »,
negative, and Mkt^hv, a bed, because crowing cocks rouse men from
their beds ; but Mr. Parkhurst asks, " may not this name be
as properly deduced from the Hebrew iin roSn, the coming of
the light, of which this ' bird of dawning,' (as Shakespeare
calls him) gives such remarkable notice, and for doing which, he
was, among the heathen, sacred to the sun, who in Homer is him
self called AteKTWf ?"§
In Matthew xxvi. 34, our Lord is represented as saying, that
" before the cock crew," Peter should deny him thrice ; so Luke
xxii. 34, and John xiii. 39. But according to Mark xiv. 30, he
* Nat. Hist. lib. xxxvii. c. 5 and 8.
t Herodotus observes that the Greeks learned the name from the Phe-
nicians. Lib. iii. c. 3.
%" In Syria gigni cinnamum quod caryoppn appellant, multum a surculo
veri cinnamomi differens." N. H. lib. xii. c. 38. Salmasius has shewn
from the authority of MSS. that camocon, or comacon, is here ta be read
for caryopon. In Solinum, p. 922.
\ Iliad ri. 1. 513, and xix. I. 398.

88 THE NATURAL HISTORY
says " before the cock crow twice thou shalt deny me thrice."
These texts may be very satisfactorily reconciled, by observing
that ancient authors, both Greek and Latin, mention two cock-
crowings, the one of which was soon after midnight, the other
about three o'clock in the morning ; and this latter being most
noticed by men as the signal of their approaching labours, was call
ed by way of eminence, " the cock-crowing ;" and to this alone,
Matthew, giving the general sense of our Saviour's warning to
Peter, refers ; but Mark, more accurately recording his very
words, mentions the two cock-crowings*
A writer in the Theological Repository, vol. vi. p. 105, re
marks, that the Rabbies tell us that " cocks were not permitted
to be kept in Jerusalem, on account of the holiness ofthe place ;"
and that for this reason some modern Jews cavil against this de
claration of the Evangelists. To obviate these objections he
states that Jerusalem being a military station of the Romans, the
custom of that nation concerning the placing and relieving ofthe
guard was practised there. " The night was divided into four
watches, of three hours each, that is, from six in the evening to
nine, from nine to twelve, from twelve to three, and from three to,
six. They are thus set down in Mark xiii. 35." " Watch there
fore, for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at
even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morn
ing." " These watches, or guards, were declared by the sound of a
trumpet ; and whenever one guard relieved another, it was al
ways done by this usual military signal. The whole four watches
* See Wetstein on Mark xiv. 30. Scheuchzer, Phys. Sacr. on Mark
xiii. 35, and Whitby's note on Vlatth. xxvi. 34.
The Jewish Doctors distinguish the cock crowing into the first, second,
and third times. Lightfoot on Joh. xiii. 38. The heathen nations in
general observed and spoke of only two. Of these, the latter, which was
about the fourth watch [quarta vigilia, Plin. N. H. lib. v. c. 22.] or the
breaking in of the day, was the most distinguished, and was usually called
euiKTogctpa'Ma, as in Mark xiii. 35 ; and gallicinium, as in Aulus Gellivs,
Macrobius, Saturnalia, I. 1. c 3. Api/leius ; Censorinus. c. 19 et dedie
natali, c. xxiv. Julius Pollux, 1. I.e. 7, § 8. Thus, "quarta vigilia," in
Solinos, speaking of the sun seen rising from mount Cassius, is " secundis
galliciniis," in Amm. Marcellinus, lib. xii Thus to Stwreeev ttiMTpw
s<p8tyyero, Akistoph. and " ad cantum galli secundi," Juv. Sat. ix. v. 106.
As the cock crew the second time after >*t. Peter's third denial, Mark xiv.
70, it is to this second and more distinguished time, that the other Evan
gelists also refer, or rather to the second ofthe three times mentioned by
the Jewish doctors.
" In remembrance of the crowing ofthe cock, which brought Peter to
a sense ofthe great evil he was guilty of in denying his master, tbe prac
tice, 'tis said, began, of placing weather-cocks upon towers and steeples."
[Macknight, Harm. ed. 4to. p. 581, note.

OF THE BIBLE. do
were closed by the blowing of a shrill horn. Drakenborcm
says, the last trumpet, which blew at three in the morning, was
sounded three times to imitate the crowing of a cock ; but from
the words of Ausonius, it might be the shrill horn, which blew
three times in imitation of a cock. And certainly this would ren
der the imitation more striking. Among the innumerable proofs
that it would be possible to bring of these things, take the few in
the note.*
" Thus it appears that the guard or watches were relieved by
the sound of the trumpet. The two last watches were both of
them called ' cock crowings,' because cocks usually crowed
in that space of time. But as the trumpet sounded these watch
es, its sound was often called the crowing of the first cock, and
the crowing of the second cock ; and more especially the last
sounding, because it blew three times, as Ausonius says, in imi
tation ofthe shrill note of a cock."
Hence this writer concludes, that our Lord did not refer to
the crowing of a cock, but to " the sounding of the fourth watch,?'t
Upon this article, my learned friend James Winthrop, Esq.
has furnished the following remarks. " Notwithstanding the dec
laration of the Rabbies, and the figurative construction of the
modern critic, it appears to me, that the story of Christ's predic
tion is to be understood literally. The cock is not among the
birds prohibited in the law of Moses. If there was any restraint
in the use or domestication of the animal, it must have been an
arbitrary practice of the Jews, but could not have been binding
on foreigners, of whom, many resided at Jerusalem as officers or
traders. Strangers would not be willing to forego an innocent
kind of food in compliance with a conquered people ; and the
trafficking spirit ofthe Jews,' would induce them to supply aliens,
if it did not expressly contradict the letter of their law. This
is sufficient to account for fowl of this kind being there, even ad
mitting a customary restraint. But the whole intimation of a
prohibition seems like a fiction, contrived with a view to invali
date the account of witnesses who were present, and who write
without any apparent reserve. The prediction is not limited to
any particular individual of this class of domestic fowls, but that
* Silios Ital. I. 7. p. 154. edit. Drakenborch, and the learned note of
the editor upon the place. Vegetiiis, de castrorom ordinatione, I. iii. c. 8.
Censorinus de die natali. c. ix. Moschus, Idyl. n. Ausonius ; and
Grmv. Antiq. V. iv. p. 1184. Juvenal, sat. ix. v. 100, and Aristophanes,
as quoted by Whitbv, on Mark xiv. 68.
f This explanation was first proposed by J. J. Altmann, in the Bibl.
Brem. cl. v. fasc. iii. and very largely and learnedly refuted in the Muse
um Brem. vol. i, p. 377, by Jon. Diotsma. 12

So THE NATURAL HISTORY
before any of them shall crow. This appears the fair construe
tion; and is not intended as a miracle at all, but as an instance
of the prophetic spirit which knew things apparently contingent ;¦
and is a proof of extraordinary knowledge, as miracles are of un
common power."
The celebrated Reland, in his oration " de galli cantu Hiero-
solymis audita," admits that it was not allowed to breed cocks in
the city, but that the Jews were not prohibited from buying them
to eat, and that therefore the cock mentioned in the gospel, might
be in the house of a Jew who designed to kill it for his own table.;
or may have been kept in the precincts of Pilate, or of a Roman
officer or soldier.*
COCKATRICE, \ysis tjephuon, or 'jyay tsiphoni.
Occ. Prov. xxiii. 32 ; Isai. xi. 8, xiv. 29, lix. 5 ; and Jer. yiii.
17. A venomous serpent. The original Hebrew word has been
variously rendered, the aspic, the regulus, the hydra, the hemor-.
hoos, the viper, and the cerastes.
In Isai. xi. 8, this serpent is evidently intended for a propor
tionate advance in malignity beyond the pet en which precedes it;
and in xiv. 29, it must mean a worse kind of serpent than the
nahash. In ch. lix. 5, it is referred to as oviparous. In Jer."
viii. 17. Dr. Blaney, after Aquila, retains the rendering of 6a-
silisk. Bochart, who thinks it to be the regulus, orbasilisk,
says that it may be so denominated by an onomatopaeia from its
hissing ; and accordingly it is hence called in Latin " sibilus,"
the kisser. So the Arabic saphaa signifies " flatu adurere." -
The Chaldee paraphrast, the Syriac, and the Arabic render it
the hurman, or horman; which Rabbi Selomo on Gen. xlix. 17,
* In Lightfoot's Hora Hebraica?, in Matth xxv. 34, is the following re
mark ; " Mircris gallnm gallinaceum inveniri Hierosolymis, cum canone
prohibitum sit gallos illic alere. Bava Kama, cap. 7. Non alunt gallos
Hierosolymis propter sacra, nee sacerdotes eos alunt per totam terrain
Israelitiram. Quonam modo et pretextu cum canone sit dispensatum
non disputamus ; aderunt certe galli gallinacei Hierosolymis aeque ac
alibi.'?. ¦
See also Meuschen Nov. Test, ex Talmnde illustratura, p. 119.
"'" The objections of Relanu with (schultzb's answers, and an account of
the contradictions between Josephus and the Talmud, may be seen in the
following work — " Relakdi de spoliis templi Hierosolymitani in arcn
Titiano Romse conspicuis liber singularis. Prolusionem de variis Judaeo-
rum crroribus in descriptione hujus templi praemisit nolasqne adjecit E. A.
Scholtze, 5. T. D. in Acad. Viadrina. Traj. adRken. 1775, 8vo.
The learned reader is also referred to the elaborate chapter of Bochart,
'•' He galli cantic," &c, Hieroz. V. 2. p. 688. Wolfius, Cur. philol. ad
Matth. xxvi. 84, torn. 1. p. 378, and to Paxton, Illustrations of Scripture,
vol. ii. p. 101. Edrnb. 1819.

OF THE BIBLE. 91
declares to be the tziphoni of the Hebrews. " Hurman vocatui
species, cujus morsus est insanabilis. Is est Hebraeis tziphoni,
et Chaldaice dicitur hurman, quia omnia facit Din vastationem ;
id est, quia omnia vastat, et ad internecionem destruit."*
From uniting all its characteristics, I am inclined to suppose it
to be the raja sephen of Forskall.
COCKLE, ntyso baseh.
This word occurs only in Job xxxi. 40. By the Chaldee it is
rendered noxious herbs ; by Symmachus, »rtKnr<po^rx, plants of
imperfect fruit ; by the Septuagint, 0#to?, the blackberrybush ;
by Cast alio, " ebulus," dwarf elder ; by Celsius " aconite ;"
and by Bp. Stock and Mr. Good, " the night-shade."
M. Michaelis in his Suppl. ad Lex. Heb. maintains after Cel
sius, that both this word and o'tyso, Isai. v. 2, 4, denote the
aconite, a poisonous plant, growing spontaneously and luxuriantly
on sunny hills, such as are used for vineyards. He says that this
interpretation is certain, because, as Celsius has observed, C2,
in Arabic denotes the aconite, and he intimates that it best suits
Job xxxi. 40, where it is mentioned as growing instead of barley.
The word appears to import a weed not only noxious, but of a
fetid smell.X
CONY. JSBr SHAPHAN.
Occ. Levit. xi. 5 ; Deut. xiv. 7 ; Psal. civ. 8 ; and Prov. xxx.
26, only.
Bochart,J and others,§ have supposed the shaphan of the
scriptures, to be the " Jerboa ;" but Mr. Bruce proves that the
" Ashkoko" is intended. This curious animal is found in Ethio
pia, and in great numbers on mount Lebanon, &c. " It does not
* From the Hebrew Din, to butcher, to cut in pieces, to inflict wounds,
may be derived the English word harm.
fThe verb tyx3 bas, itself, in its primary signification, bears the same
meaning, namely, to slink. Hence the plant may mean what has base qual
ities. Maimonides in praef. ad Seder Saraim. " Quare creata sunt venena le-
talia, (veluti herba Bish, etherba hashishaloldam,) quibus perditiohomini-
bus, non ntilitas inferior ?"
Bellonius has the following remark upon this herb, lib. ii. c. 3. " Le
consul de Florentins nous fait gouster d'une racine, que les Arabes nom'
ment bish,, la quelle causa si grande chaleur en la bouche, qui nous dura
deux jours, qu'il nous sembloity avoir du feu. Elleest bien petite comme
un petit haveau. Les autres I'ont nommee Napellus, qui est commune
awx drogueurs, Turcs."
| Hieroz. vol. ii. p. 409 — 429. edit. Rosenmuller.
5 Schultesn, ad Prov. xxx. 28. Obimunn in Miscel. Sacr. part. iv. ct
5. p. 41, ed. Upsal 1789. Tychsen, Physiol. Syrus, p. 25.

92 THE NATURAL HISTORY
burrow and make holes, as the rat and rabbit, nature having in
terdicted it this practice by furnishing it with feet which arc
round, and of a soft, pulpy, tender substance ; the fleshy part of
the toes project beyond the nails, which are rather broad than
sharp, much similar to a man's nails ill-grown, and these appear
rather given for defence of the soft toes, than for any active use in
digging, to which they are by no means adapted.
" The total length of the animal as it sits, is seventeen inches
and a quarter. It has no tail ; and gives at first sight, the idea of
a rat rather than any other creature. The colour is grey, mixed
with reddish brown, and the belly white. All over the body are
scattered hairs, strong and polished, like mustachoes ; these are
for the most part, two inches and a quarter in length.* The ears
are round, not pointed. The upper jaw is longer than the other.
It lives upon grain, fruit, and roots ; and certainly chews the cud."
Instead of holes, these animals seem to delight in less close, or
more airy places, in the mouths of caves, or clefts in the rock.
They are gregarious, and frequently several dozens of them sit
upon the great stones at the mouths of caves, and warm them
selves in the sun, or come out and enjoy the freshness of the
summer evening. They do not stand upright upon their feet,
but seem to steal along as in fear, their belly being nearly close
to the ground ; advancing a few steps at a time, and then paus
ing. They have something very mild, feeble-like, and timid in
their deportment ; are gentle and easily tamed, though when
roughly handled at the first, they bite very severely.
Many are the reasons to believe this to be the animal called
saphan in Hebrew, and erroneously by our translators, " the co
ney," or rabbit. We know that the last mentioned animal is pe
culiar to Spain, and therefore could not be supposed to be either
in Judea or Arabia. They are gregarious indeed, and so far re
semble each other, as also in size ; but seek not the same place of
retreat, for the rabbit burrows most generally in the sand. Nor is
there any thing in the character of rabbits that denotes ex- .
cellent wisdom, or that they supply the want of strength by any
remarkable sagacity. The saphan, then, is not the rabbit;
which last, unless it was brought him by his ships from Europe,
Solomon never saw.
Let us now apply the characters of the ashkoko to the saphan.
" He is above all other animals so much attached to the rocks,
* Mr. Bruce observes, " In Amhara this animal is called Ashkoko,
which I apprehend is derived from the singularity of these long herinaceous
hairs, which, like small thorns, grow about his back, and which in Amhara
are called ashok." " Amharicum enim Aschok significat spinarn." Vide
Luuolfi, Lex. Amhar. p. 58.

OF THE BIBLE. 93
that 1 never opce (says Mr. Bruce) saw him on the ground, or
from among large stones in the mouth of caves, where is his con
stant residence. He lives in families or flocks. He is in Judea,
Palestine and Arabia, and consequently must have been familiar
to Solomon. David describes him very pertinently, and joins
him to other animals perfectly known ; ' the hills are a refuge
for the wild goats, and the rocks for the saphan.' And Solomon
says that ' they are exceeding wise,' that they are ' but a feeble
folk, yet make their houses in the rocks.' Now this, I think,
very obviously fixes the ashkoko to be the saphan, for this weak
ness seems to allude to his feet, and how inadequate these are to
dig holes in the rock, where yet, however, he lodges. From
their tenderness these are very liable to be excoriated or hurt :
notwithstanding which they build houses in the rocks, more inac
cessible than those of the rabbit, and in which they abide in
greater safety ; not by exertion of strength, for they have it not,
but are truly as Solomon says a feeble folk, but by their own
sagacity and judgment, and are therefore justly described as wise.
Lastly, what leaves the thing without doubt is, that some of the
Arabs, particularly Damir, say that the saphan has no tail, that it
is less than a cat, that it lives in houses or nests, which he builds
of straw, in contradistinction to the rabbit and the rat, and those
animals that burrow in the ground."
Such is the account, and such the opinion of Mr. Bruce, and
it must be acknowledged that many of his coincidences are strik
ing, and lead to the adoption of his opinion.
The author of " Scripture Illustrated" quotes Mr. Pennant,*
" as counsel on the other side ;" but bis judgment cannot avail, for
he misquotes Dr. Shaw, who is his chief authority, and confounds
the Jerboa with the animal, which, after Dr. Shaw, he calls
"Daman Israel."!
Dr. Shaw remarks, " the daman Israel is an animal of mount
Libanus, though common in other places of this country. It is a
harmless creature, of the same size and quality with the rabbit,
and with the like incurvating posture and disposition ofthe fore
teeth ; but it is of a browner colour, with smaller eyes, and a
head more pointed. The forefeet likewise are short, and the
hinder are near as long in proportion as those of the Jerboa.
Though this animal is known to burrow sometimes in the ground ;
yet, as its usual residence and refuge is in the holes and clifts
* Hist. Quadrup. p. 427. 4lo.
t " Sub nomine agni Israelis hoc animal descripsit Shaw, ubi tamen
false scriptum Daman Israel pro Ganam Israel; qui error in plures alios
libros irrepsit." Rosemiuller, not. in Bochart, Hieroz. v. 2. p. 414.

94 THE NATURAL HISTORY
of the rocks, we have so far a more presumptive proof that this
creature may be the saphan of the scriptures than the Jerboa. I
could not learn why it was called daman Israel, i. e. Israel's
lamb, as those words are interpreted."*
The author of " Scripture Illustrated" displays his usual in
genuity in attempting to explain the word daman, not aware that
it should have been written ganam. So. Mr. Bruce says, " in
Arabia and Syria the ashkoko is called Gannim Israel, or Israel's
sheep, for what reason I know not, unless it is chiefly from its fre
quenting the rocks of Horeb and Sinai, where the children of
Israel made their forty years peregrination. Perhaps this name
obtains only among the Arabians."!
I add that Jerom, in his epistle to Sunia and Fretela, cited by
Bochart, says that " the O'JSiV are a kind of animal not larger
than a hedge-hog, resembling a mouse and a bear," (the latter I
suppose in the clumsiness of its feet) " whence in Palestine it1 is
called MfjKroiMJs, the bear mouse ;" and there is great abundance
of this genus in those countries, and they are wont to dwell in
the caverns of the rocks and caves of the earth." This descrip
tion well agrees with Mr. Bruce's account of the Ashkoko ; and,
as this animal bears a very considerable resemblance to the rab
bit, with which Spain anciently abounded, it is not improbable'
that the Phenicians might, from tbw, call that country msty Spa-
nih, whence are derived its Greek, Latin, and more modern
names ; and accordingly on the reverse of a medal of the empe
ror Adrian, Spain is represented as a woman sitting on the
ground, with a rabbit squatting on her robe. J
COPPER, nsmi nehesh.
Copper is one of the six primitive metajs ; and is the most
ductile and malleable after gold and silver. Of this metal and
lapis calminaris is made brass.
Anciently copper was employed for all the purposes for which
we now use iron.§ , Arms, and tools for husbandry, and the me-.
chanic arts, were all of this metal for many ages. Job speaks of
bows of copper, ch. xx. 24 ; and when the Philistines had Samp-
* " Animal quoddam humile, cuniculo non dissimile, quod agnum filio-
rum Israel nuncupant." Pros. Alpinus, Nat. Hist. iEgypt, part 1. c. xx.
p. 80. & I. iv. c. 9.
t Travels, p. 348. ed. 4to.
X See an engraving of the medal in Scheuchzer, Phys. Sacr. tab. ccxxxv.
and in Addison, on medals, dial. ii. series 3. fig. 6.
6 Hesiod, Theog. v. 722, 726, 733. Opera, v. 150. Lucret. I. v. v.
1286. Varro apud Aug. de Civ. Dei, 1. 7. c. 24. Schol. Apollon, ad lib.
I. v. 430. Isiodor. orig. I. viii. c. 11. p. 71. et I. xvi. c. 19, 20. 1, xvii, c. 2.

OF THE BIBLE. 96
son in their power, they bound him with fetters of copper. To
be sure our translators say " brass," but under that article I have
pointed out their mistake.
In Ezra viii. 27, are mentioned " two vessels of copper, pre
cious as gold." The Septuagint renders it mctwi £«Ax« jiA^ovTOf,
the Vulgate and Castalio, following the Arabic, " vasa aeris ful-
gentis ;" and the Syriac, vases of Corinthian brass. It is more
probable, however, that this brass was not from Corinth, but
from Persia or India, which Aristotle describes in these terms.
" It is said that there is in India a brass so shining, so pure, so
free from tarnish, that its colour differs nothing from that of gold.
It is even said that among the vessels of Darius there were some
respecting which the sense of smelling might determine whether
they were gold or brass."* Bochart is of opinion that this is
the chasmal of Ezek. i. 27 ; the £«A>wAi|3#vov of Rev. i. 1 5, and
the electrum of the ancients.
It is difficult to determine what is meant by anxn. Dr. Hud
son, in his note upon Josephus, supposes it to be the aurichal
cum. Mr. Harmer quotes from the manuscript notes of Sir
John Chardin a reference to a mixt metal in the East, and
highly esteemed there ; and suggests that this composition might
have been as old as the time of Ezra, and be brought from those
more remote countries into Persia, where these two basins were
given to be conveyed to Jerusalem. " I have heard (says he)
some Dutch gentlemen speak of a metal in the island of Sumatra,
and among the Macassars, much more esteemed than gold, which
royal personages alone might wear. It is a mixture, if I remem
ber right, of gold and steel." He afterwards added this note,
(for Mr. Harmer observes that the colour of the ink differs,)
" Calmbac is this metal, composed of gold and copper. It in
colour nearly resembles the pale carnation rose, has a fine grain,
and admits a beautiful polish. I have seen something of it, and
gold is not of so lively and brilliant a colour."
From the Greek word o§ei;£#Aw, which means mountain cop
per, I should suppose a natural mineral intended by what the
Latins called "orichalcum" and " aurichalcum ;" and that it is
the same with ^«AkoAiG«vo?, ore of mount Lebanon.X
* De Uairabil.
¦j- Bochart, I am aware gives a different explanation of the word.
" XawMMj&u'ot est aes in igne candens, quia \lb libben Hebrseis est aliquid in
igne candefacere. Misna ubi de operibtis quae die Sabbathi prohibita
sunt, TX3 J'3D |3,l7, gtadium in igne candefacit, Unde-]'^ libbon metallo-
ritm in igne candefactio. Firmatur haec coujecturaex iis quae sequuntur in
sacro textu, xa; m mJe; «uts hy.0101 xahxof,i[!w<», w a Kxftim jrimieafuioi ; pedes ejus
similes erant chalcolibano, ut in fornace ardentes." Hieroz. vol. iii. p-

96 THE NATURAL HISTORY
It is, however, generally thought to be a compound substance,
and those who speak of it as such, distinguish it into three kinds :
in the first, gold was the prevailing metal ; in the second, silver ;
in the third, gold, silver, and copper were equally blended.
This composition was very famous ; extolled for its beauty, its
solidity, its rarity ; it was even preferred to gold itself. It was
capable of receiving an exquisite polish ; and might be the metal
used for the mirrors mentioned Exod. xxxviii. 8 ; Job xxxvii. 1 8 ;
and Isai. ii. 3. In these qualities platina, which is a native mi
neral, much resembles it. The Syriac version of the Bible pre
tends that the vessels which Hiram gave Solomon for the temple
were made of this composition. Esdras is mentioned by Jose
phus as delivering up to the priests, among other treasures,
vessels of brass that were more valuable than gold.* Upon which
Dr. Hudson takes notice that " this kind of brass or copper, or
rather mixture of gold and copper, was called aurichalcum ; and
was of old esteemed the most precious of metals."
Corinthian brass seems to be a similar metalic substance.
This is said to have been made of the united gold, silver, and
copper statues, vessels, &c. which were melted together when
Corinth was burnt by the Romans.? This mixture was for ages
held in the highest estimation. Its rarity seems to have been
the principal cause of its exorbitant value. It became, hence, a
proverb, that those who would appear more perfect than others
in the arts, had smelt the purity of Corinthian brass. This
makes the subject of a lively epigram of Martial.
" Consuluit nares an olerunt aera Corinthnm,
Cuipavit statuas, et Polyclete tuas."
Ezekiel, ch. xxvii. 1 3. speaks of the merchants of Javan, Jubal,
and Meshech, as bringing vessels of nehesh (copper) to ihe mar
kets of Tyre. According to Bochart and Michaelis these were
people, situated towards mount Caucasus, where copper mines
are worked at this day..):
894. And J. C. Schwarz finds a like derivation in tlie Greek, " ^x\-as\iCa-
mt ex nomine X*-*-"" et w/8«v*3 quod est toifat, fundo stillo." Mbnum. Inge-
niorum torn. iv. p. 283. — 1 have myself followed the definition of Suidas,
and the authorities quoted in Bochart, v. 3. p. 895. ed. Rosenmuller.
* Antiq. lib. xi. c. 5. sect. 2. and 1 Esdras ii. 13.
f At the end ofthe 2d volume of Heron's Elegant Extracts from Natu
ral History, is a very particular account of the Orichalcum.
X "Cupri fodinas in hunc usque diem Caucasus habet, in quo et Kubcs-
cha, vicus elegantia vasorura aeneorum nobilitalus. Arzeri prceterca, quaj
est urbs Armenia? montanae, adeoque in vicinia Moschicorum inontium sita,
plurima vasa aenea fieri, cuprique fodinas tridui abesse, aur.tor est Bus-
Chingics." Mich. Spicel. Geogr. 50.

OF THE BIBLE. 97
The rust of copper is a solution or corrosion of the metal by
some kind of salt ; and it is remarkable that whereas other me
tals have their peculiar dissolvents, copper is dissolved by all.
Even the salts floating in the common air are sufficient power
fully to corrode it. This remark is made in order to explain
Ezek. xxiv. 6, 11,12. where the word nabn rendered " scum"
must mean rust, which not being removable by any other means,
was to be burnt off by the fire, and so was a dreadful emblem of
Jerusalem's punishment.
CORAL. niDNT ramuth.*
Occurs Job xxviii. 18, and Ezek. xxvii. 16, only.
A hard, cretaceous, marine production, resembling in figure
the stem of a plant, divided into branches. It is of different
colours, black, white, and red. The latter is the sort emphati
cally called coral, as being the most valuable, and usually
made into ornaments. This, though no gem, is ranked by the
author of the book of Job, xxxviii. 1 8, with the onyx and sapphire.
Mr. Good observes, " It is by no means certain what the words
here rendered ' corals and pearls,' and those immediately af
terwards rendered ' rubies and topaz,' really signified. Reiske
has given up the inquiry as either hopeless or useless ; and
Schultens has generally introduced the Hebrew words them
selves, and left the reader of the translation to determine as he
may. Our common version, is, in the main, concurrent with
most of the oriental renderings, and I see no reason to deviate
from it."
Pliny informs us, lib. xxxii. c. 2. that the coral was highly es
teemed anciently. " The Indians value coral as highly as we
value pearls. Their priests and predictors attribute to it even
something sacred, and affirm that it has the virtue of protecting
from dangers those who carry it ; so that two things contribute
to render it valuable, superstition and beauty." Experience
confirms this relation of Pliny, for often in that country, a collar
of coral sells for a price equal to one of pearls.
CORIANDER, ii gad.
Occ. Exod. xvi. 31, and Numb. xi. 7.
A strongly aromatic plant. It bears a small round seed of a
very agreeable smell and taste.
* This word is formed from a verb whose primary and usual signification
is to lift, or raise up, and in Isai. ii. 13, and x. 33, to have lofty branches.
Coral lifts itself to some height above the water, and therefore might
very properly be called " the branching stone." From H1DS1 may, per
haps, be derived the Latin word ramus, a branch.
13

98 THE NATURAL' HIStORX..
Celsius quotes an author who has explained the names of
plants mentioned in Dioscorides, as remarking AryxnrTio io%iov,
Acpjoi yoilr, ' coriander is called ochion by the Egyptians, and
goid by the Africans.'*
The manna might be compared to the coriander seed in re
spect to its form, or shape, as it was to bdellium in its colour.
See Manna.
CORMORANT. -]bv salach.
Occ. Levit. xi. 17, and Deut. xiv. 17.
A large sea bird. It is about three feet four inches in length,
and four feet two inches in breadth from the tips ofthe extended
wings. The bill is about five inches long, and of a dusky colour ;
the base ofthe lower mandible is covered with a naked, yellowish
skin, which extends under the throat and forms a kind of pouch.
It has a most voracious appetite, and lives chiefly upon fish,
which it devours with unceasing gluttony. It darts down very
rapidly upon its prey^ and the Hebrew, and the Greek name
ju*t«.£#x,t>j?, are expressive of its impetuosity.! Dr. Geddes ren
ders it " the sea-gull," and observes, " that this is a plunging
bird 1 have little doubt. Some modern critics think it is the
' Pelicanus Bassanus' of Linn.eus. The Chaldee and Syriac
version, fish-catcher, favours this rendering, nor less, the Greek
cataractes, which, according to Aristotle, draws for its food,
fishes from the bottom of the sea."
At any rate, this is meant of a water bird ; and therefore de
monstrates the-impropriety of the preceding and following bird
being rendered " owl."
The word nsp kaath, which in our version of Isai. xxxiv. 1 1
is rendered " cormorant," is the pelican. See Pelican.
CORN. The generic name in Scripture for grain of all kinds ;
as wheat, rye, barley, &c.
In Levit. xxiii. 14, bmy* ,L>p, commonly rendered as if they
were two different things, as in our public version, " nor parched
corn, nor green ears," Dr. Geddks, from a comparison with ch.
ii. 1 4, is convinced are to be considered as meaning only qne,
namely, full ears of corn roasted, or parched. So the Septuagint
understood them.
Parched ears of corn still constitute a part, and not a disagreea
ble one, of the food of the Arabs now resident in the Holy Land.
* Hierobot. V. 2. p. 81. Dioscorid. p. 364. Conf. Kircher, prodrom.
et Lexie. copt. snppl. p. 603.
\ Bochart, Hieroz. V. 3. p. 20.

OF THE BIBLE. 99
CRANE. In Isai. xxxviii. 14, and Jerem. viii. 7, two birds
are mentioned, the a? is sis, and the i»j? ogur. The first in our
version is trahsla'ed " crane," and the second " swallow ;" but
Bochart exactly reverses them, and the reasons which he addu
ces are incontrovertible. PAGNINUS, MUNSTER, ScH.NDLb'.R, Ju-
hips, and Tremell.u,-, also suppose the ogur to be the crane; as
do also the most learned Hebrews, Jarchi, Kimchi, and Pomari-
us, following Jonathan in the Chaldee paraphrase, where it is
N'3">"D kurkeja. This latter word is adopted in the Talmud and
Arabian writers ; and may be assimilated in sound to the Hebrew,
whence the Roman grus, the Greek yt^avas, the Cambro-Britannic
garan, and the German cran. From the note of this bird, says
Festus is derived gruere, anglice, grunt. The "Arabic name is
gurnuk* " The cranes" says Isiodore, " take their name from
their voice, which we imitate in mentioning them. The Turks
and the Arabs give the name karjeit to a bird with a long bill."!
In the Berischith Rabba, sect. 64, is the following fable. " A
lion, devouring his prey, was obliged to desist, for a sharp bone
stuck in his throat. He exclaimed, I will well reward any one
one who will take out the bone. The core of Egypt put its
long beak down his throat, and pulled out the bone ; and said,
give me a recompence. The lion answered, Go, and make
your boast that you have been between the jaws of the lion, and
escaped unhurt." There is a similar fable in Phcedrus of the
wolf and the crane.
Ancient naturalists, who always mixed fiction with truth, have
left us many pleasing but improbable accounts of these birds ;
holding them forth as a pattern worthy of imitation for the wis
dom and policy of their government, their filial piety, and their
art in war, displayed in their annual battles with the pigmies.
But what is most remarkable is their migration, in which they
fly at a height so great, as to be imperceptible to the naked eye,
but yet known by .their note, which reverberates upon the listen
ing ear.
Aristophanes curiously observes, that " it is time to sow
when the crane migrates clamouring into Africa ; she also bids
the mariner suspend his rudder, and take his rest, and the moun
taineer provide himself with raiment ;" and Hesiod, " when
thou hearest the voice of the crane, clamouring annually from
the clouds on high, recollect that this is the signal for ploughing,
and indicates the approach of showery winter."
* Meninski, Lex. 3396. Forskall, p. viii. mentions among the obscure
birds of Arabia, one which they call " ghornak."
f lb. 3581.

100 THE NATURAL HISTORY
" Where do the cranes or winding swallows go,
Fearful of gathering winds and falling snow ?
Conscious of all the coming ills, they fly
To milder regions and a southern sky." Prior.
The prophet Jeremiah mentions this bird, thus intelligent of
seasons, by an instinctive and invariable observation of their ap
pointed times, as a circumstance of reproach to the chosen people
of God, who, although taught by reason and religion, " knew not
the judgment of the Lord."
CRIMSON. bms carmel.
Occurs only 2 Chron. ii. 7, and iii. 14.
The name of a colour. Bochart supposes it to be the " co
chlea purpuraria," or purple from a kind of shell-fish taken near
mount Carmel.* But as the name of the mount is said to mean
a vineyard, I should rather suppose the colour to signify that of
grapes ; like the redness of the vesture of him who trod the wine
press, Isai. lxiii. 1,2.
What our version renders " crimson," Isai. i. 18, and Jer. iv.
30, should be scarlet. See Purple, Scarlet.
CRYSTAL, mp koreh.
This word is translated " crystal" in Ezek. i. 22 ; and " frost,"
Gen. xxxi. 40 ; Job. xxxvii. 10; and Jer. xxxvi. 30 ; and " ice,"
Jobvi. 16; xxxviii. 29, and Psal. cxlvii. 17; KPT2TAAA02,
Rev. iv. 6 ; and xxii. 1 .
Crystal is supposed to have its name, from its resemblance to
ice. The Greek word K^ufTiKAAo? is formed from jc^vof, ice, and
raAAojuai, to concrete ; and perhaps the Septuagint meant it in the
sense of ice in this text of Ezekiel i. 22. as the glittering of ice,
or, the astonishing brightness of ice.
IL The word noo? zecucith, is translated " crystal" in Job
xxviii. 17. Mr. Good obseryes, "we are not certain ofthe ex
act signification, further, than that it denotes some perfectly trans
parent and hyaline gem."
CUCKOW. arw sacaph.
Occurs Levit. xi. 16, only.
Bochart conjectures the " larus," or " cepphus" the sea-
mew or gull, is intended here ; but Dr. Shaw thinks that, agreea
bly to its scripture name, it is the saf-saf, a bird which he thus
describes. " The rhaad, or saf-saf, is a granivorous and gregra-
* Mr. Harmer says, " as to the carmeel, 2 Chron. iii. 14, 1 am extreme
ly dubious about its meaning, but am rather inclined to think it does not
signify any particular colour, but means flowery, or something of that
kind." Obs. V. 4. p. 338. A. Clarke's edition.

OF THE BIBLE. 101
rious bird ; which wanteth the hinder toe. There are two spe
cies of it ; the smaller whereof is of the size of an ordinary pul
let, but the latter as big as a capon, differing also from the lesser
in having a black head, with a tuft of dark blue feathers immedi
ately below it. The belly of them both is white, the back and
wings of a buff colour, spotted with brown, whilst the tail is lighter,
marked all along with black transverse streaks. The beak and
legs are stronger than birds of the partridge kind. Rhaad, which
denoteth thunder, in the language of this country, is supposed to
be a name that hath been given to this bird from the noise it ma
keth in springing from the ground ; as saf-saf, the other name,
very naturally expresseth the beating of the air when on the
wing." The principal objection to adopting this bird is, that the sacaph
was prohibited as unclean, and it cannot be supposed that the
saf-saf, a granivorus bird, should be so considered ; besides the
sacaph is placed in the text among birds of prey. Dr. Adam
Clarke, who follows Bochart in supposing it the sea-mew, says,
it may be named from nana' sachepheth, a wasting distemper,
or atrophy, mentioned Levit. xxvi. 16, and Deut. xxviii. 22 ; be
cause its body is the leanest, in proportion to its bones and feath
ers, of most other birds ; always appearing as if under the influ
ence of a wasting distemper. A fowl, which, from its natural
constitution, or manner of life, is incapable of becoming plump
ov fleshy, must always be unwholesome : and this is reason suffi
cient why such should be prohibited.
CUCUMBER, cxtpp kischyim ; iEthiop. kusaja ; Arab.
kattscea ; Gr. tummk ; Lat. cucumis.
Occurs Numb, xi. 5. only.
The fruit of a vine very common in our gardens. Tournefort.
mentions six kinds, of which, the white and green are most es
teemed. They are very plentiful in the- East, especially in
Egypt, and much superiour to ours. Maillet, in describing fV
the vegetables which the modern Egyptians have for food, tells
us, that melons, cucumbers, and onions are the most common ;
and Celsius* and ALPmust describe the Egyptian cucumbers,
as more agreeable to the taste and of more easy digestion than
the European.
Hasselquist speaks of a cucumber called chat'e in Egypt,
which he thinks may be reckoned among those for which the chiL
dren of Israel longed. It differs not from the ordinary sort, ex
cepting in size, colour, and softness ; and in being more palatable
and wholesome.
* Hierobot. V. 2. p. 247. f Medecin. Mgjpt. I. 1. c. 10.

102 THE NATURAL HISTORY
The cooling properties of this fruit, render it also a very ser
viceable medicine in Egypt. Its pulp, beaten up and mixed with
milk, is successfully applied to inflammations, particularly those of
the eyes.
CUMMIN. J1133 cammon. Isai. xxviii. 25, 27, KTM1NON
Matth. xxiii. 23 ; Arab, kimmum ;* Turc. kemmum.
This is an umbelliferous plant; in appearance resembling
fennel, but smaller. Its seeds have a bitterish warm taste, accom
panied with an aromatic flavour, not ofthe most agreeable kind.
An essential oil is obtained from them by distillation.
The Jews sowed it in their fields, and when ripe, threshed out
the seeds with a rod. Isai. xxviii. 25, 27. The Maltese sow it,
and collect the seeds in the same manner.
CYPRESS, nnn tirzah.
Occ. Isai. xliv. 14, x>nly ; and KTIIAPI2202, Ecclus. xxiv. 13,
and 1. 1 0.
A large evergreen tree. The wood is fragrant, very compact,
and heavy. It scarcely ever rots, decays, or is worm eaten ; for
which reason, the ancients used to make the statues of their gods
with it. The unperishable chests which contain the Egyptian
mummies, were of cypress. The gates of St. Peter's church at
* Rome, which had lasted from the time of Constantine to that of
Pope Eugene the fourth, that is to say eleven hundred years,
were of cypress, and had in that time suffered no decay.
But Celsius thinks that Isaiah speaks of the ilex, a kind of oak ;
and Bp. Lowth that the pine is intended. The cypress, howev
er, was more frequently used, and more fit for the purpose which
the prophet mentions than either of these trees.
DATE.
Occ. 2 Chron. xxxi. 5 only.
The fruit of the Palm-tree. See Palm.
DEER. V* ail.
Occ. Deut. xii. 15 ; Psal. xiii. 2 ; Isai. xxxv. 6 ; and nVx plur.
nrrx a hind or doe, Jer. xiv. 5 ; 2 Sam. xxii. 34 ; Psal. xviii. 34 ;
et. al.
The Septuagint renders the word, whether masculine or femi
nine, by sA«(po?, which denotes both a stag and a hind. Dr. Shaw!
understands Vk in Deut. xiv. 5, as a name ofthe genus, including
all the species of the deer kind, whether they are distinguished
by round horns, as the stag ; or by flat ones, as the fallow-deer ;
or by the smallness of the branches, as the roe. V olney. says that
* Meninski, Lex, 2500 and 4022. f Travels, p. 414. ed. 4to.

OF THE BIBLE. 103
the stag and deer are unknown in Syria. Dr. Geddes supposes
the ail to be the larvine antelope, and this opinion is strengthen
ed by Rosenmuller in his notes upon Bochart, 1. iii. c. 17. Vol.
2. p. 233. See Hart, Hind, and Roe.
DIAMOND, abrv jahalom. Arab, almas.*
Occ. Exod. xxviii. 18 ; xxix. 11 ; and Ezek. xxviii. 13.
This has from remote antiquity been considered as the most
valuable, or, more properly, the most costly substance in nature.
The reason of the high estimation in which it was held by the
ancients, was its rarity, and its extreme hardness.
Our translators thus render the word, from a verb which signi
fies to break ; whence nmSn halmuth, is a " hammer," or
"maul," Jud. v. 26. Of course some stone may be intended
which it was hard to break, or used in breaking others. But Dr.
Geddes thinks the argument from etymology in favour of the dia
mond to be unsatisfactory ; and indeed, we have facts enough
from antiquity to make us doubt whether the diamond was in us*e
in the times of Moses. Whatever stone it was, it filled the sixth
place in the high priest's breast-plate, and on it was engraved the
name of Napthali.t
For the word -rnty shmir, rendered " diamond," Jerem. xviif
1, and "adamant," Ezek. iii. 9, and Zech. vii. 12. See Adamant. ,
DOG. dSj cheleb ; Arab. kilb.
An animal well known. ] By the law of Moses, it was declared
unclean, and was held in great contempt among the Jews.
Comp. 1 Sam. xvii. 43; xxiv. 14; 2 Sam. ix. 8; 2 Kings viii.
13. Yet they had them in considerable numbers in their cities.
They were not, however, shut up in their houses, or courts, but
forced to seek their food where they could find it. y The Psalmist,
Ps. lix. 6. 14, 15, compares violent men to dogs', who go about
the city in the night, prowl about for their food, and growl, and
become clamorous if they be not satisfied. Mr. Harmer has il-
•lustrated this by quotations from travellers into the East; and I
may add from Busbequius,| thalvthe Turks reckon the dog a fil
thy creature, and therefore drive him from their houses ; that
these animals are there in common, not belonging to any particular
* Niebuhr.
t Michaelis, Suppl Lex. Hebr. after examining several opinions, thus
concludes, " Ergo, donee novae quid lucis affulgeat, quae gemma D7iT sit
fateamur nos ignorare."
| Legat. Turc. Epist. iii. p. 178. ed. Elzev. Compare also Dr. Russell,
Nat. Hist. Alep. p. 60. Sandy's Trav. p. 45, and Volney, voyage, torn.
1. p 216; torn. ii. p. 355. Le BRUYN,tom. i. p. 361. Thevenot, part. i.
p. 51. JVIaillet, let. ix. p. 30.

104 The natural history
owners, and guard rather the streets and districts, than particular
houses, and live on the offals that are thrown abroad. The con-
tinuatoi4>f Calmet, in Fragment No. liii. " On carcases devour
ed by dogs," has explained several passages of Scripture, by the
mention of similar circumstances in the narrative of travellers.*
These voracious creatures were of use to devour the offal
from the daily butchery of animals for food, and also what was left
after the repasts ofthe Jews ; and to them was given the meat that
-had become tainted, or, the animals that had died in consequence
of being wounded, or being torn of other beasts. So Exod. xxii.
31, "Ye shall not eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field ;
ye shall cast it to the dogs." Comp. Matth. xv. 26 ; Mark vii.
27. We see that some ofthe heathens had the same aversion to
eating the flesh of animals torn by beasts, as appears from these
lines of Phocylides. M»h t< S-jigoCogov tmn x^ectt, aiyimo-i Je
Atl-^AVO. hUTTi KUO-l, Sttg&JV A7T0 3ttg£f fSoiTAt.
Eat not the Jlesh that has been torn by beasts ; leave those remains to the
dogs ; let beasts feed on beasts.
In 1 Sam. xxv. 3, Nabal is said to have been " churlish and
evil in his manners, and he was of the house of Caleb ;" but this
last is not a proper name. Literally it is " he was a son of a
dog." And so the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic render. It
means that he was irritable, snappish, and snarling as a dog.
The irritable disposition of the dog is the foundation of that
saying, Prov. xxvi. 17. " He that passeth by, and meddleth with
strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the
ears ;" that is, he wantonly exposes himself to danger.
In Deut. xxiii. 18, cheleb seems to be used for a pathic, a
catamite, called plainly BHp, in the immediately preceding verse,
and joined, as here, with the " whore." Such abominable
wretches appear likewise to be denoted by the term wvig,
"dogs," Rev. xxii. 15, where we may also read their doom.
Comp. Rev. xxi. 8. The Pagan Greeks in like manner, though
they practised the abomination without remorse, as St. Paul. Rom.
i. 27, 28, and their own writers,! abundantly testify, yet called
* The Son of Sirach says, Ecclus. xiii. 18. " What agreement is there
between the hyena and a dog ? and Mr. Bruce mentions the hyenas and
dogs contending for the offals and carrion of tbe streets during the night
season. Trav. V. iv. p. 81, &c.
f See Leland, Advantage of Christianity, V. ii. p. 49, 61, and 126.
Grotius de Verit, 1. ii. c. 13. note 4.- Wetstein on Rom. i. 27.

OF THE BIBLE. 305
male prostitutes iwv«id\)i, from icuwv, a* dog, and ouSuc, modesty*
The Son of Sirach says, Ecclus. xxvi. 25, " a shameless woman
shall be counted as a dog."
,¦¦ The dog was held sacred by the Egyptians. \ This fact we
learn from Juvenal, who complains in his fifteenth satire,
" Oppida tota canera venerantur, nemo Dianam."
The testimony of the Latin poet is confirmed byfDioDORUS, who,
in his first book, assures us that the Egyptians highly venerate
some animals, both during their life and after their death ; and ex
pressly mentions the dog as one object of this absurd adoration.
To these witnesses may be added Herodotus, who says, " that
when a dog expires, all the members of the family to wbich he
belonged, worship the carcase ; and that in every part of the
kingdom the carcasses of their dogs are embalmed and deposited
in consecrated ground. /
,' The idolatrous veneration of the dog by the Egyptians, is inti
mated in the account of their god Anubis, to whom temples and
priests were consecrated, and whose image was borne in all reli
gious ceremonies. Gynopolis, the present Minieh, situated in
the lower Thebais, was built in honour of Anubis. The priests
celebrated his festivals there with great pomp. " Anubis," says
Strabo, " is the city of dogs, the capital ofthe Cynopolitan pre
fecture. These animals are fed there on sacred aliments, and
religion has decreed them st worship." An event, however, rela
ted by Plutarch, brought them into considerable discredit with
the people. Cambyses, haying slain the god Apis, and thrown
his body into the field, all animals respected it except the dogs,
which alone eat of his flesh. This impiety diminished the popu
lar veneration. Cynopolis was not the only city where incense
was burned on the altars of Anubis. He had chapels in almost
all the temples. On solemnities, his image always accompanied
those of Isis and Osiris. Rome, having adopted the ceremonies
of Egypt, the emperor Commodus, to celebrate the Isiac feasts,
shaved his head, and himself carried the dog Anubis.
In Matthew vii, 6, is this direction of our Saviour to his disci
ples : — " Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast
ye your pearls before swine ; lest these (the swine) trample them
under their feet, and those (the dogs) turn again and tear you."
It was customary not only with the writers of Greece and Rome,
but with the Eastern sages, to denote certain classes of men, by
animals supposed to resemble them among the brutes. OurSaviour
* See more in Le Clerc's note on Deut. xxiii. 18, and Daueuz on Rev,
xxii. 15. 14

106 THE NATURAL HISTORY
was naturally led to adopt the same concise and energetic meth
od. By dogs, which were held in great detestation by the Jews,
he intends men of odious character and violent temper ; by swine,
which was the usual emblem of moral filth, the abandoned and
profligate ; and the purport of his admonition is, " as it is a max
im with the priests not to give a part of the sacrifice to dogs, so it
should be a maxim with you, not to impart the holy instruction
with which you are favoured, to those who are likely to blaspheme
and abuse you, nor that religious' wisdom which is more precious
than rubies, and of which pearls are but imperfect symbols, to
the impure, who will only deride and reproach you."*
Prudence will require us to consider the character of those
whom we may Wish to rebuke or exhort. For there are some
such profane and bold contemners of every thing good and seri
ous, that any solemn admonition would not only be lost upon
them, but excite in them the most violent resentment ; which, be
sides bringing us into difficulties, might cause even the name and
truth of God to be blasphemed.
DOVE. nJi' jona ; Greek oivoj.f
A bird too well known to need a particular description.
This beautiful genus of birds is very numerous in the East.
In the wild state they are called pigeons, and generally build their
nests in the holes or clefts of rocks, or in excavated trees ; but
they are easily taught submission and familiarity with mankind ;
and, when domesticated, build in structures erected for their ac
commodation, called " dove-cotes." They are classed by Mo
ses among the clean birds ; and it appears from the sacred, as
well as other writers, that doves have been held in the highest es
timation among the Eastern nations.
Rosenmuller, in a note upon Bochart,^ refutes the opinion
of that learned man, and of Michaelis, who derive the name from
Ionia, by tracing it rather through the Arabic, where it signifies
mildness, gentleness, &c. So Parkhurst derives the Hebrew
name from a root which admits the sense of defenceless, and expos
ed to rapine and violence ; remarkable characteristics of this
lovely bird. Accordingly the dove is used in Scripture, as the
symbol of simplicity, innocence, gentleness, and fidelity. Hosea,
vii. 11 ; Matth. ix. 16. See Pigeon.
* Jones' Illustrations of the Gospels, p. 132.
t " Columbae ferae genus, a vino, wm, sic appellatum. Quia, Eusthatliio
auctore, mwnt to x^f"-*' '^ es'> vbium, veluvas maturas colore refert ; vel
quia vindemiae tempore fere apparet." Aristot. Hist. lib. viii. c. 3.
Athen^eus, lib. ix. c. 2.
JHieroz. part ii. I. i. c. 1 ; Vol, ii. pag, 530.

OF THE BIBLE. 107
The first mention of the dove in the Scripture, is Gen. viii. 8,
10, 11, 12; where Noah sent one from the ark to ascertain if the
waters of the deluge were assuaged. The raven had been pre
viously sent out ; and it is generally supposed, flew off, and was
seen no more. But this meaning, says Dr. Adam Clarke, the
Hebrew text will not bear ; for the original may be rendered
" went, going forth, and returning." From whence it is evident
that she did return, but was not taken into the ark. She made
frequent excursions, and continued on the wing as long as she
could, having picked up such aliment as she found floating on the
waters ; and then, to rest herself, regained the ark, where she
might perch, though she sought not admittance. Indeed, this
must be allowed, as it is impossible she could have continued on the
wing during twenty-one days, whjch she must have done had she
not returned. The dove, a bird of swift and strong wing, accus
tomed to light and feed upon the ground, and to return home eve
ry evening from the most distant excursions, was then selected as
a more faithful messenger than the carnivorous raven, because
she found nothing to tempt her to be faithless ; as she fed, not on
carrion, but on grain and vegetables, which were not yet to be
had. She was sent forth thrice. The first time she speedily re
turned ; having in all probability gone but a little way from the '
ark, as she must naturally be terrified at the appearance of the
waters. After seven days, being sent out a second time, she re
turned with an olive leaf plucked off; whereby it became evi
dent that the flood was considerably abated and had sunk below
the tops of the trees : and thus relieved the fears and cheered
the heart of Noah and his family. And hence the olive branch
has ever been among the forerunners of peace, and chief of those
emblems by which a happy state of renovation and restoration
to prosperity has been signified to mankind. At the end of oth
er seven days, the dove being sent out a third time, returned no
more, from which Noah conjectured that the earth was so far
drained, as to afford sustenance for the birds and fowls ; and he
therefore removed the covering of the ark, which probably gave
liberty to many of the fowls to fly off, which circumstances
would afford him the greater facility for making arrangements
for disembarking the other animals. See Raven.
Doves might be offered in sacrifice, when those who were poor
could not bring a more costly offering.
Job's eldest daughter was called Jemima, probably from the
Arabic name of a dove. This name was given to women of the
greatest beauty in the East. So Semiramis had her name from
semir jemamah, " the brown dove," or as Hesyciiius explains it,

108 THE NATURAL HISTORY
" the mountain dove."* The dove was made the bird of Venus ;
and we find it placed on the head of the Dea Syria, whom the
orientals imagined, as Lucian says, to be the same with Semi*
ramis ; and it appears by medals that she was the same^with
Aphrodite, and with the mater deorum ; and the same bird is
her constant attendant when represented under those characters.!
We have in the Asiatic Researches, Vol. iv. p. 168, a Hindu
story on this subject. The Puranas relate that Sami Rama, in
the shape of a dove, came and abode at Asc'halanaschtan, which
is obviously Askalon. Here Semiramis was born, according to
Diodorus Siculus, and here she was nursed by doves ; and He
rodotus says, lib. i. c. 105, " of all the sacred buildings erected
to the celestial Venus, the temple at Askalon is by far the most
ancient. The Cyprians themselves acknowledge that their tem
ple was built after the model of this, and that Cythera was con
structed by certain Phenicians, who came from this part of Syria."
Gaza was formerly called lonen, which has relation to the He
brew ioneh, which signifies a dove ; and as Gaza was so near
Askalon, it is probable that there too, the goddess was worship
ped. In fact, the whole coast was called " the coast of the lonim,"
[doves] as the sea which surrounds it was called " the Ionian
sea," quite to the Nile.
In Psal. lxviii. 14, is a reference to the dove ; and as the pas
sage is obscure, it may be well to attend to the illustration.
" Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the
wings of a dove covered with silver."
Bp. Lowth gives up this and the following verse as inexpli
cable. Dr. Green understands the first part of this, of the
contemptible state of the Israelites in Egypt (Gen. xlvi. 34,)
and that the Pslamist in the following similitude beautifully sets
forth their opposite situation, by alluding to the splendour of the
wings ofthe dove, so different from the filthiness of their former
situation. Dr. Durell renders it, " Did ye not lie among the
sheep-folds, O ye wings of a dove, covered with silver, and with
burnished gold in her feathers ?" And supposes it to be an allego
ry referring to Reuben, Manasseh, Dan, and Asher who did not
assist Deborah in the battle against Sisera. Jud. v. 16, 17, 18.
They are called doves as being the fittest emblems of their cow
ardice ; and the gold and silver to which the wings are compar
ed, may allude to the riches which these tribes seem to have ac-
* The Babylonians worshipped Semiramis, and carried a Dove in the
standard in the honour of her memory. -
" Quid referam ut volitet crebraa intacta per urbes
Alba Palsestino sancta columba Syro." Tibul. 1. 7.
f See Costard on the Mythological astronomy of the Ancients, and
JIeath on Job, p. xxxir. ,

OF THE BIBLE. 10*
quired by preferring a domestic to a warlike life. But this con
struction is far-fetched, and seems to break the connexion.
Mr. Wm. Baxter translates the original thus — " Si requieve-
ris sub oris alarum columbae deargentatae, cujus alarum terga sunt
de fulgore auri ; haec, ubi disperserit Saddai reges per earn, ni-
vea comparebit in vexillo." It was the custom, he tells us, for
the Hebrew armies, as well as the Syrians and Assyrians, to have
a dove for their standard ; to which the Psalmist alluding, says,
" If you shall abide by your standard, the silver coloured dove,
whose wings are gilt with gold, when the Almighty by its means
has scattered the kings, the marks of victory shall be displayed in
your ensign, and your dove appear white as snow." All inter
preters have blindly followed the Septuagint in this place, who,
either ignorantly, or perhaps wilfully, rendered it obscure ; for,
being unwilling to gratify the Syrians, who worshipped a dove,
with so honourable a mention of their deity, instead of translat
ing the Hebrew word a standard, as they ought to have done,
they made a proper name of it, and rendered it mount Selmon.*
The author of " Scripture Illustrated," enlarges upon this con
struction, and gives a new version, accompanied with remarks,
which elucidate other passages. I shall insert it here, with a
few emendations ; previously observing that the whole of this
Psalm appears to be a triumphal ode for success in battle.
Jehovah gave the matter of these glad tidings.
Kings and hosts did fiec, did flee ;
And the spoil was divided among those at home.
Now how is it possible that the same persons who had put to
flight these kings, and had taken the spoil home to their families,
should lie among the pots! How should these soldiers suffer such
disgrace, and that at the very time when they enjoy their victo
ry ! — But if we recollect that the standard of the dove was used
as a military ensign, and suppose it to be alluded to here, then
we have an entirely distinct view of the article, and may under
stand it accordingly. Kings and armies did flee, did flee,
And the homestead of their pursuers divided the spoil ;
Yes, surely, ye cast down among the crooks of war
The dove of wings imbricated with silver
And pinions embroidered with yellow gold.
In this dispersion, directed by the Almighty,
The kings became white as snow on Salmon.
That the dove was a military ensign, may be gathered from
the history in the Chronicon Samaritanum, where we read that
" the Romans placed a pigeon [or dove] on mount Gerizim to
* Bowyer's tract entitled " A View of a book under the title of Reli
quiae Baxterianas." p. 33.

110 THE NATURAL HISTORY
hinder them from going thither to worship, with troops. Some
Samaritans attempted to go up, but the bird discovered them, and
cried out the Hebrews ! The guards awoke, and slew those who
were coming up." Understand a military sentry and ensign,
and " the dove" becomes intelligible at once.
The paleness of the kings who accompanied this banner, is
extremely characteristic of their appearance when they saw their
sacred emblem cast down, and trampled on by the Israelites ; or,
if they themselves in their haste, did cast it down, that they
might flee the more swiftly, the shame is equal.
To complete the statement, it remains to be proved that the
word here employed, tzrnatJ' shophetim, means an instrument
capable of use in war ; because it is usually rendered " fire
ranges," or " pots ;" but in Ezek. xl. 43, we have this word
where it can mean no such thing, but a kind of hooks, or catches ;
and so our version understands it, speaking of instruments for the
use of the priests — " and within were hooks" — shophetim, for
the purpose of holding up the victim while flaying, or some of its
parts after they were divided. And that somewhat of a hook,
or catch, was anciently appended to spears or lances, we know
from the construction ofthe ancient English brown-bill, from the
Lochaber axes of Scotland, &c. Corresponding exactly to which
is the spear of an Egyptian king in his chariot, which is still ex
tant among the hieroglyphical sculptures of Egypt. If, then, this
hooked implement was an Egyptian, or Canaanitish weapon,
either of war or a sacred badge of the priest accompanying the
standard bearer ; to see the venerated standard of the dove tram
pled on by enemies, together with the arms which should defend
it, was an event which might well confound into paleness the
kings which surrounded it, and who had expected victory from
its assistance.
Our reasonings lead us to conclude, 1st, That the dove was
certainly used as a military ensign ; 2dly, That as the As
syrians were eminent and ancient worshippers of the dove, it
might be supposed to be appropriately their banner or standard :
and this will authorize a translation of several passages of Scrip
ture different from our present public version.
Jeremiah, speaking of the ravages which would be committed
in Judea by Nebuchadnezzer, says " the land is desolate because
of the fierceness of the dove." And again, " let us go to our
own people to avoid the sword of the dove :" and in another
place, " they shall flee every one for fear of the sword of the
dove." — Each of these places is intelligible, by supposing the
king of the Chaldeans to be here referred to, who bore a dove in
his ensigns, in memory of Semiramis.

OF THE BIBLE. Ill
To illustrate Cantic. i. 1 5 ; iv. 1 ; and v. 1 2, where the eyes
are compared to those ofthe dove, the author of " Scripture Il
lustrated" has these remarks. " Nothing can be a more striking
instance of the necessity of acquaintance with the east, as well in
its Natural History as in other articles, than the passages in
which the eyes are compared to doves. Our translators say " to
the eyes of doves," which may be understood to imply meekness,
tenderness, &c. and therefore it has passed hitherto without cor
rection. But the facts are, 1st, That our translators have added
the word eyes ; and 2dly, That they took the black for the
white : they had in their ideas the white pigeon, or at least the
light coloured turtle dove ; whereas, the most common pigeon or
dove, in the east, is the deep blue, or blue grey pigeon, whose
brilliant plumage vibrates around his neck every sparkling hue,
every dazzling flash of colour. And the passage, ch. v. 12,
proves that the comparison ofthe author relates to. this pigeon.
The deep blue pigeon, standing amidst the foam of a water-fall,
would be a blue center surrounded by a bright space on each
side of him. This, in the comparison, is the iris ofthe eye, sur
rounded by the white of the eye : but as the foam of this water
fall is not brilliant enough to satisfy the poet, he has placed the
deep blue pigeon in a pond of milk, or in a garden basin of milk,
and there, he says, he turns himself round, to parallel the dipping
of the former verse. 'He wantons, sports, frisks, turns round;
so sportive, mobile, and glittering is the eye, the iris of my be
loved. The milk, then, denotes the white of the eye, and the
pigeon surrounded by it; "the iris ofthe eye is like a deep blue
pigeon, standing in the center of a pool of milk." The compa
rison is certainly extremely poetical and picturesque.
" This idea has not escaped the poets of Hindostan, for we
have in Gitagovinda the following passage. " The glances of
her eyes played like a pair of water birds of azure plumage, that
sport near a full blown lotos on a pool in the season of dew."
" This leads us to consider the comparison of the eyes of the
bride to the pools of Heshbon : dark, deep, and clear are her
eyes ; and so is a pigeon, and so are those pools, dark, deep, and
clear. But were these pools surrounded by a border of dark
coloured marble, analogous to the border of stibium, drawn along
the eyelids of the spouse, and rendering them apparently larger,
fuller, deeper ? — As this comparison is used where ornaments of
dress are more particularly subjects of consideration, I think it
not impossible to be correct ; and certainly it is by no means
contradictory to the ideas contained in the simile recently illus
trated."

112 THE NATURAL HISTORY
The mourning ofthe dove, Isai. xxxviii. 14, and lix. 11, alludes
to the plaintive murmuring of this bird, particularly ofthe turtle
dove, which is said to be disconsolate and to die with grief at the
loss of its mate. To this may be referred the " tabering of the
doves," Nah. ii. 7.
The doves-dung, 2 Kings, vi. 25. Q'Ji'in chirionim, has been
variously interpreted. Bochart, who has devoted seventeen
pages to the discussion of this subject,* observes that the Ara
bians give the name to a kind of moss which grows upon trees
or stony ground ; and also to a kind of pulse or pea, which is
common in Judea, as may be seen 2 Sam. xvii. 28 ; the cicer
sativum nigrum. This latter opinion is that of Dr. Shaw.I —
The ingenious Mr. Harmer, however, interprets this expression
to mean strictly the dung of pigeons, which he thinks might be a
valuable article as being of great use for quickening the growth
of esculent plants, particularly melons, during the siege of Sama
ria. This opinion he illustrates by shewing how much the Per
sians live on melons in the summer months, and that they use
pigeons' dung in raising them. I add the following from Taver-
nier, p. 146. "There are above three thousand pigeon houses
in Ispahan ; for every man may build a pigeon house upon his
own farm, which yet is very rarely done. All the other pigeon
houses belong to the king, who draws a greater revenue from the
dung than from the pigeons ; which dung, as they prepare it,
serves to cultivate their melons."
Mr. Edwards, in his work " on the Stile, &.c. of the Scrip
ture," p. 289, observes that it is not likely that they had much
ground to cultivate in so populous a city, for gardens, nor is it
reasonable to think that those distressed famished creatures who
were so eager to relieve their present wants, would be much
concerned to provide against the ensuing year. He is disposed,
therefore, to understand it as meaning " the offals or refuse of
all sorts of grain, which was wont to be given to pigeons at such
a time of the year, when they had nothing abroad to feed upon ;
that this refuse grain, this tail-corn, these sweepings of the floor,
these vile remains, are here called dung by way of contempt,
which comports with the stile of scripture, which uses that word
to denote the vileness and baseness of a thing. 2 Kings, ix. 37 ;
Psal. lxxxiii. 10 ; Jer. viii. 2; and it is here joined with an Ass's
head, which w&s the vilest sort of food ; and therefore both to
gether do fully" express the extremity of the famine at that time.
It is certain that it cannot mean pigeon's dung, strictly so called,
for no excrements are capable of being food."
* Hieroz : part II. I. 1. c. 7. pag. 572—590. f Trav. p. 140. ed. 4to.

OF THE BIBLE. US
As all the ancient Jewish writers understand the word literal
ly; it may be well to remark, that the stress ofthe famine might
have been so great as to have compelled the poor among the be
sieged in Samaria, to devour either the intestines of the doves,
after the more wealthy had eaten the bodies ; or as it might per
haps be rendered, the crops, the contents of which, those who
kept doves forced them to disgorge. There are not wanting in
history, examples of those, who, in the extremity of hunger, have
been compelled to eat that at which their natures would other
wise reluct.* ,
DRAGON.
This word is frequently to be met with in our English transla
tion of the Bible. It answers generally to the Hebrew |n, pn,
O'jn, than, thanin, and thanim ; and these words are various
ly rendered, dragons, serpents, sea-monsters, and whales. ¦
The following remarks, by my learned friend the Hon. James
Winthrop of Cambridge, are ingenious. CD'Jn the plural of
fn is used and translated plurally in the following passages by the
word " dragons." Job xxx. 29 ; Psal. xliv. 19 ; Isai. xiii. 22 ;
xxxiv. 13; xxxv. 7 ; Jer. ix. 1 1 ;xiv. 6 ; xlix. 33 ; and Mic. i. 8. In
all these places, utter desolation is the idea conveyed ; and the ani
mal is described as snuffing wind, wailing, and belonging to the
desert. These characters seem hardly to apply to a dragon or
serpent. In Ezek. xxix. 3, it is translated as of the singular
number. The original is joined with a verb. j'Jn is used plu
rally in Lam. iv. 3, and translated " sea-monsters ;" though the
description of its manners rather applies to some wild beast than
to a fish. The last letter J is used as a plural termination, in
conformity to the Chaldee ; but the regular Hebrew letter would
be id. This word is in Psalm xci. 1 3, translated as of the singu
lar number. In all other places it seems to be the singular of
" whales," and is in some of them so translated. In Mai. i. 3,
mr is rendered " dragons." It is coupled with wilderness, and
is the plural form of |n.
The Rev. James Hurdis, in a dissertation relative to this sub
ject,! observes, that the word translated " whales," in Gen. i. 21 ,
occurs twenty-seven times in Scripture ; and he attempts, with ¦
much ingenuity, to prove that it every where signifies the croco
dile. That it sometimes has this meaning, he thinks is clear from
Ezek. xxix. 3, " Behold I am against thee, Pharoah king of Egypt,
* See Fuller Miscel. Sacr. 1. 6. c. 2. p. 724. Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. I.
iii. c. 6. Josephus de Bello Jud. lib. vi. cap. ult. ad finem.
t Critical dissertation upon the true meaning of the word CD'J'JD found
in Gen. i. 21. Lond. 1790. Svo. 15

112 THE NATURAL HISTORY
the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers." For to
what could a king of Egypt be more properly compared than the
crocodile ? The same argument he draws from Isai. li. 9. " Art
thou nqt he that hath cut Rahab, [Egypt] and wounded the dra
gon ?"*
Among the ancients the crocodile was the symbol of Egypt,
and appears so on Roman coins.!
From this ground Mr. Hurdis proceeds to explain all the oth
er passages ; and finds, that' though in one or two instances there
is reason to hesitate, yet upon the whole, it is probable that
wherever this animal is mentioned, it is the crocodile ; and there
fore Gen. i. 21, should be rendered " great crocodiles," or " the
great crocodiles." I insert his entire remarks upon Isai. xxxv. 7.
" The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land
springs of water. In the habitations of dragons where each lay,
shall be grass with reeds and rushes." What can be clearer than
that the crocodile is the subject of the latter part of this verse?
In this chapter, one of the most beautiful effusions of a fervid and
inspired imagination, the prophet is figuratively describing the
redemption of man, by the removal of every thing grievous to
him, and the accession of every thing pleasant. The wilderness
is to become a garden, and to blossom as the rose ; it is to blo||
som abundantly, and to rejoice even with joy and singing ; it is to
break forth with streams, and to become pools and springs of
waters. And these waters are to be without danger, for not only
the crocodile shall not be found in them, but the very fear of him is
to vanish ; he is, it seems, to be forever removed, and the habita
tion where he laid, is to become grass with reeds and rushes. Here
it is worthy of notice, that the crocodile was always considered as
an inhabitant of the wilderness. And such he might well be
deemed ; for the deserts, as the reader may see in Mr. Irwin's
charts, came very near to the banks of the Nile ; and we may
naturally suppose he would frequent those shores of the river
which were desolate and not cultivated, because there he would
be least molested. Accordingly in Mai. i. 3, he is styled the croco
dile of ihe wilderness. .Again in Isai. xliii. 20, ' the beasts ofthe
region shall honour me, the crocodiles, and the daughters of the
ostrich, because I give waters in the wilderness.' And again
Ezek. xxix. 4, where hooks are to be put into his jaws, and he
is to be brought up out of the midst of his rivers, it is as follows,
' and I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness.' When the
* Consult J. M Glimmer, De dracone insigni regum "jEgyptiorum, ad
illustr. fczek. xxix. diatribu. In Biblioth. Brem. Class, vii. fas. 6. p. 976.
f Scheuchzer, Phys. Sacr. in loc.

OF THE BIBLE. 116
crocodile thus delighted in unfrequented places, it will not appear
wonderful that he should choose the ruins of old deserted towns
and cities, which were near rivers and lakes, for his especial
abode when out of the water. Of Babylon,* therefore, it might
properly be said, Isai. xiii. 22, that when she became desolate
' the crocodiles should cry in her pleasant palaces ;' and Jer.
li. 13, that she should be ' a dwelling place for crocodiles.'
And from hence, possibly, the prophets of the Old Testament
borrowed a figurative expression, and said of every city that was
to be destroyed utterly, that it should become ' a den for croco
diles, and a court for the daughters of the ostrich.' For it does
not appear, I think, that these places were all of them accessible
to the crocodile, especially the mountains of Esau ; and perhaps
it may be doubted whether Babylon itself was ever its habita
tion, for I know not that the crocodile is to be found in the river
Euphrates. Should it, however, be insisted on, that these passa
ges are to be understood literally, it must be no very improba
ble conjecture, that, under the name of crocodile the Hebrews
might include every species of lizard, in the same manner as we,
under the general name of lizard, include the crocodile."
On the other hand the learned bishop Pocock is persuaded that
tannim, Mic. i. 8, and Mai. i. 3, means jackals. He refers to an
ancient Syriac version, to an Arabic one by Rabbi Saadias, and
and to the manuscript notes of R. Tanchum, a learned Jew,! as
justifying this opinion: and Dr. Shaw and Mr. Scott think the
same animals to be spoken of by the same name in Job xxx. 29,
and Jer. iv. 3. Alkamus in his Lexicon makes the deeb, or
jackal, and the^emamtobethesame ; and as the latter has a great
affinity with tannim, it is highly probable that it should have been
interpreted sometime deebs or jackals. J
This construction derives some authority from Ecclus. xxv. 16,
" I had rather dwell with a lion and a dragon, than to keep house
with a wicked woman;" for travellers tell us that jackals follow
the lion to partake ofthe prey after he is satiated.
Asa further illustration of this obscure subject, I make the fol
lowing extract from "Scripture Illustrated."
*In the middle ofthe sixteenth century the ruins of ancient Babylon
were visited by Rauwolf, who, among other particulars, mentions that
they are now " a receptacle of serpents and venomous creatures ;" and by
other travellers the place thereabouls is represented as " overrun with
serpents, scorpions, and all sorts of venomous and unclean creatures."
t This Rabbi wrote on the whole Old Testament in Arabic, partofwhieh
the Bishop procured from the East.
X Shaw's Trav. p. 174, ed. 4to. compare also his learned note, page 429.
See also Schnurrer, Dissert, ad Isai. xxvii.

1,16 THE NATURAL HISTORY
" We have had, and shall have again, repeated occasions of
wishing for better acquaintance with the Natural History of the
East, especially in those interpreters whose public translation is
the voice of authority. Among other instances, we notice that of
rendering tahash, Numb. iv. 10; Ezek. xvi. 10, et al. by the
badger, which should rather be a kind of seal ; and that of ren
dering tannin, Lament, iv. 3, ' sea monsters,' which draw out
the breast and give suck. Now philosophy knows nothing of
monsters. Whatever is capable of posterity, of having young
ones to suckle, is no monster. I know that this word, tannin, is
supposed by those who have endeavoured to understand the Natu
ral history of the Bible, to denote a whale, or the whale kind ; but
I rather wish to restrain it to the amphibia, to that class of ani
mals which haunt the shores, as well as frequent the waters. To
justify this idea, let us inquire how the tannin are described in
Scripture. " We observe, first, that these tannin are frequently associated
with the crocodile, (which we know is completely amphibious)
taking the leviathan for that creature. As Psal. lxxiv. 13, 'Thou
breakest the heads of the [tanninim] dragons in the waters ; thou
breakest the heads of the leviathan in pieces, and gavest bim to
be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.' Isai. xxvii. 1,
' The Lord shall punish leviathan, — and he shall slay the [tan
nin] dragon that is in the sea.' As the tannin is associated with
the leviathan, it is clear that it cannot be that creature in these
passages. °
" Those commentators who have supposed that tannin means
a whale, must relinquish that opinion when considering the ex
pressions of the prophet Malachi i. 3, ' I disliked Esau, and gave
his mountains to solitude, and his inheritance to the tanuth, [' dra
gons,' Eng. Tr.] of the wilderness.' Now, to say nothing of the
scarcity of whales in the Red Sea, where only they could visit the
inheritance of Edom ; how can whales come on shore to possess
these inheritances ? Since whales are not amphibious, but always
: remain in the deep.
" The LXX. render this word, Lam. iv. 3. by dragons ; the
Vulgate by lamia ; but neither dragons, i. e. serpents, nor la
mia, have breasts to suckle their young. In Isai. xiii. 22, the
Vulgate reads ' sirens in the houses of pleasure ;' the LXX.
also sirenes and elsewhere, sometimes qyvoi, hedge-hogs. So that
we may perceive that this word tannin, and its relatives, has been
a perplexity to translators, as well ancient as modern.
" But what are the characteristics of the tannin in Scripture ?
1. It is evidently a creature ofthe amphibious kind ; as appears
from passages already adduced. 2. It suckles its young, and

OF THE BIBLE. 117
draws out the breast. 3. It is capable of exerting its voice very
mournfully, as appears Mic. i. 8, ' I will make a wailing like dra
gons' [tanim.] 4. It is capable of holding its breath awhile, — of
drawing in vehemently a quantity of breath, and consequently of
emitting it with violence ; of panting, as Jer. xiv. 6. " The
wild asses stand on the high places ; they puff for breath, (or
puff out breath) like dragons [tannim]; their eyes fail be
cause there is no grass." By these properties we may discover
the tannim."
Hence the writer goes on to show the correspondence of the
characters with the Phoca, aud the Manati; and adds, "we
have now described a class of creatures which may justly claim
a preference over the sea monsters of our translation : they are,
1 . Amphibious ; 2. Affectionate to their progeny ; 3. Vocal ; and
4. Their breathing is like to the snorting of a horse, &c. We
know also thaj: they are found in the Mediterranean, consequent
ly on the coast of Judea ; in the Red Sea, consequently on the
coast of Edom ; in the Indian Ocean, consequently they might
go up the rivers, (as the Tigris, &c. to Babylon, &c.) which is
sue therein ; and, in short, they appear, under one species and
another, to be capable of fulfilling all the characters which are
attributed to the tannim in scripture.
" The reader will recollect that I have not presumed to deter
mine the species, but have merely attempted to establish the
propriety of rendering tannin by this class of amphibia.
" But we ought to observe farther in support of our princi
ples, 1 . That they are said to be given for meat to the people ;
so these amphibia are mostly eatable, and some of them excel
lent eating. 2. The word nnnt? shemamah, rendered ' in soli
tude,' Mai. i. 3. in reference to the mountains of Edom, should,
to establish the usual parallelism, be an animal. Now the word
rraoz; shemimith is so nearly the same word, that I think it may
be taken as equivalent ; and this word signifies ' a spider,' says
our translation, Prov. xxx. 26. A lizard, says Bochart. With
out examining this, observe how the sentiment of the prophet
Stands, under this rendering. ' But I disliked Esau, and placed
on his elevated places, his mountains and hills, (i. e. they were
overrun with) spiders — or lizards ; and his heritages, his levels,
his shores, and strands, they were occupied by amphibious ani
mals, who dwell far from man in wastes, and deserts, insomuch
that Edom acknowledges, we are impoverished,' &c. Does not
this strengthen the energy and poetry of the passage ?
" Though I believe what has been already said may be taken
as corresponding to a general idea, and an idea sufficiently cor
rect, ofthe class of creatures described by the word tannim,

118 THE NATURAL HISTORY
yet it may not be amiss if we offer a few hints in addition. 1st,
tannuth, feminine, Mai. i. 3. 2dly, tannim, masculine, freq.
sometimes perhaps singular, at others dual or plural. We have
also a word usually referred to the same root. 3. Tannin,
Exod. vii. 9, 10. 12. And 4. tanninin, which 1 presume* is the
plural ofthe former. Exod. vii. 12. Lam. iv. 3.
" I do not know that we can reduce this word, in search of its
root, to still greater simplicity ; but, I think if the word Levia
than, in which tan is one of the compounds, was separated into
its parts, levi and than or tan, they might readily be taken to
signify levi the jointed-rivetted ; and tan the drawn out, elongat
ed, lengthened : that is to say ' the long animal, with rivetted
scales ;' a very expressive name, and an accurate description of
the crocodile. The same, I guess, is the import of tan or taneh,
used as a verb, Judges, v. 1 1 . ' Instead of the noise of the
archers at the places of drawing water, there shall they (those
that draw water) rehearse [vjjT itanu] drawn out, prolong mu
tual discourse, conversation, or remarks, on the subject of the
righteous acts ofthe Lord." They shall be so full of their sub
ject, that they shall extend their reciprocal communications to a
great length. So Judges xi. 40. ' The daughters of Israel
went yearly, four days in a year, [nun1? letanuth] to prolong
conversation, kindness, visits, &c. with the daughter of Jep-
thah.' " Should we transfer the preceding idea to animals, we shall
find it describes a class of creatures which are of lengthened
form ; whose hinder parts at least are in some degree taper, and
drawn out.
" These principles, if they are just, exclude the whole class of
amphibia which have short bodies ; such as frogs, toads, turtles,
tortoises,* &c. for though some of these have an appendage,
which forms a tail, yet they can hardly be called " lengthened-out
animals ;" their shells, or bodies, being round, not oblong, or
protracted to any degree deserving of notice : and 1 think the
general usage of scripture in reference to this word will justify
the inferences which I have drawn from such passages as have
now been the subject of consideration.
" I feel a reluctance also in admitting that dragons, i. e. great
serpents, are described by this word. But if the dragon was, as
I believe it really was, a notion originally derived from the cro-
* In transcribing this article the idea struck me that the notion of drawn
out has, however, some application to the tortoise, which has a reraarkahle
faculty of projecting out his head and elongating the neck ; as also of
breathing hard, or "puffing out the breath ; though indeed the other charac
teristics may not be applicable.

OF THE BIBLE. 119
codile, and if it be also ancient, then the word dragon maybe
more nearly allied to the word tan than the usual acceptation of
it should lead us to believe.
' " I cannot quit this subject without wishing for some decisive
character, whereby to direct our application of these words to
different creatures, though of the same class. Does tannin signi
fy precisely the same creature as tannim and tannvrn 1 I should
think not. But how to ascertain the distinction, or where to
point it out, or by what marks of dissimilarity to discern them,
I acknowledge my ignorance."
In Deut. xxxii. 33 we read of "the poison of dragons" [tani-
mim] ; upon which the same author has several remarks, with an
attempt to identify a venomous reptile, and applies it to the Gecko ;
but Hurdis says that " it is to be observed that non chemet,
though it is here rendered ' poison,' was so rendered in ver.
24 of this chapter, and is again so rendered Job vi. 4, Psal. lviii.
4, and cxI. 3 ; yet in all other instances, and it occurs in very
many, it is ' fury' or ' wrath,' either of which will apply as well
to the crocodile as the dragon. The Greek renders it, in all the
above instances, but the last, 9-Vjiw, in the last only it is io?. I
see, therefore, no impropriety in saying, Their wine is the fury
of crocodiles, and the cruel venom of asps. A figurative express
sion, I suppose, like that in Psal. xi. 6. ' Upon the wicked he
shall rain snares,' fire, and brimstone, and an horrible tempest ;
this shall be the portion of their cup.' "
I close this article, already protracted to a tedious length, with
the following note from Dr. Adam Clarke on Exod. vii. 16.
" What kind of serpent is here intended, learned men are not
agreed. From the manner in which the original word is used in
Psal. lxxiv. 13. ; Isai. xxvii. 1; li. 9, and Job vii. 12, some very
large creature, either aquatic or amphibious, is probably meant.
Some have supposed that the crocodile, a well known Egyptian
animal, is here intended. In chap. iv. 3, it is said that this rod
was changed into a serpent ; but the original word there is tffru
machash,' and here pn tanmin. As nachash seems to be a term
restricted to no one particular meaning, so the words tannim,
tannin, tanninim, and tannoth, are used to signify different
kinds of animals in the scriptures. — As it was a rod, or staff, that
was changed into the tannim in the cases mentioned here, it has
been supposed that an ordinary serpent is what is intended by the
word, because the size of both might be pretty nearly equal ; but,
as a miracle was wrought on the occasion, this circumstance is of
no weight ; it was as easy for God to change the rod into a cro
codile, or any other creature, as to change it into an adder or
common snake." •*-

120 THE NATURAL HISTORY
From the Apochryphal story of Bel and the Dragon, it ap
pears evident that the idol was a living crocodile.*
See Leviathan and Whale.
DROMEDARY. This name answers to two words in the
orignal. -on, and/e»i. mro bacar, or bicre. Isai. Ix. 6, and Jer.
ii. 24. and crjintynx achastaran, Esth. viii. 10, " young drome
daries ;" probably the name in Persian.!
The dromedary is a race of camels chiefly remarkable for its
prodigious swiftness. The most observable difference between
it and the camel is, that it has but one protuberance on the back ;
and instead ofthe slow, solemn walk to which that animal is ac
customed, it paces, and is generally believed will go as far in one
day as that will in three. For this reason it is used to carry
messengers on despatches where haste is required. — The animal
is governed by a bridle, which, being usually fastened to a ring
fixed in the nose, may very well illustrate the expression, 2 Kings,
xix. 28, of putting a hook into the nose of Sennacherib ; and may
be farther applicable to his swift retreat.
Jer. ii. 23, properly gives the epithet " swift," to this animal.
Dr. ShawJ mentions a dromedary named ashaary, and Mor
gan, aashare.\\ Upon which the continuator of Calmet§ re
marks ; " the application ofthe word aashare to a swift dromeda
ry illustrates a passage in Prov. vi. 1 1 ; at least it illustrates the
ideas of the Chaldee paraphrase on this passage, and the parallel
passage, or rather repetition ch. xxiv. 34. "A little sleep, a
little slumber, a little folding of the arms to sleep ; so shall thy
poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed
man." It is evident that the writer means to denote the speed
and rapidity of the approaches of penury ; therefore, instead
of " one that travelleth," read a post, a swift messenger, an
express. " The words ish magen are no where used in the sense of an'
armed man, ' or a man of a shield,' as some would render them
* Justin Martyr, alluding to the Egyptian worship, always deemed the
opprobrium of Paganism, reprobates the senseless, trifling and disgusting
objects of it. — AXAav aMa^s xai SvtfeA a-eSo/Jitvov, kai <ao]A(jtxtt xai pot, xai a<x*g«,
»*i KepKuSuKus, xai rai Ahoyw famv ta iwowa. Apol. 2. p. 68. ed 1" rancf. 'i hat
the crocodile was held sacred, we have the authority of Plutarch
Mor. 976. B. jElian de Nat. Animal, x. 24. Juvenal, Sat. xv. 2.
Strabo, lib. xvii. 811. D. Minucius Felix, p 268.
f This word is used 1 Chron. iv. as the name of a man ; anglicc, Mr
Swift. X Trav. p. 167. ed. 4to.
1| Hist, of Algiers, p. 101.
$ Fragments, No. 475.

OF THE BIBLE. 121
literally ; but the Chaldee paraphrast translates them totso to:u
ga bra cishera, or rather ci-ashera, like an aashare rider. The
similitude of tbe Hebrew letters, as they now stand, to what they
would be if the word achastaran, which is used in Esther, was
received instead of them, is worth our notice : pnipso nntvto.
If the Chaldee has not retained this reading, it has done no more
than substitute the name of the swiftest species of camel with
which the writer was acquainted, for the swiftest species men
tioned in the Hebrew.
" The LXX. translates ^ojwjw?, a runner ; which shews that
they knew nothing of this ' man with a shield,' who certainly
could not be expected to run so freely when encumbered with a
shield, as another could run without one. Besides, a shield is an
armour of defence : had it been said a sword, it might have de
noted power and attack. Our translators aware of this, have em
ployed the ambiguous word ' armed.' The sentiment, on these
principles, would stand thus : ' So shall thy poverty advance as
rapidly as an express ; and thy penury as a strong and swift
aashare rider."
EAGLE. ib>j nisr ; Arab, nesr ; Chald. nescher.
Occ. Exod. xix. 4 ; Levit. xi. 13, et al.freq.* The name is de
rived from a verb which signifies to lacerate, or tear in pieces.
The eagle has always been considered as the king of birds, on
account of its great strength, rapidity and elevation of flight, natu
ral ferocity, and the terror it inspires into its fellows of the air.
Its voracity is so great, that a large extent of territory is requisite
for the supply of proper sustenance ; . Providence has therefore
constituted it a solitary animal : two pair of eagles are never found
in the same neighbourhood, though the genus is dispersed through
every quarter of, the world. It seldom makes depredations on
the habitations of mankind ; preferring its own safety to the grati
fication of appetite. Neither does it ever make mean or incon
siderable conquests ; the smaller and harmless birds being beneath
its nofice. It will, however, carry away a goose, or even a tur
key. It has often been known to seize hares, young lambs, and
kids ; which latter, as well as fawns, it frequently destroys for the
sake of drinking their blood, as it never drinks water in the natu
ral state. Having slain an animal too large to be eaten at once,
it devours, or carries off, a part ; leaving the remainder for oth-
* " Aquilarum diversae circa proprietatera, roagnitudinem et colorem
sunt species; majores Arabico idiomate Nesir vocantur." Leo Africa-
nus, Descr. Afr. I. ix. c. 56. Et cap. 57. " Nesir maxima Airica? vglu-
crnm, corpore gruemexcedit, rostro tamen, collo et cruribus brevior."
16

1£2 THE NATURAL HISTORY
er creatures less delicate ; for it never returns to feed upon the
same carcase, neither will it ever devour carrion.
Its sight is quick, strong, and piercing, to a proverb.
Jackson, in his Account of Marocco, p. 62, says, that " the vul
ture (nesser,) except the ostrich, is the largest bird in Africa.
They build their nests on lofty precipices, high rocks, and in
dreary parts of the mountains. Mr. Bruce has called this bird
' the golden eagle,' but I apprehend that he has committed an
error in denominating it an eagle, the generical name of which,
in the Arabic language, is El Bezz." On the other hand, Mr.
Salt, Trav. in Abyssinia, says, " its general appearance in a na
tural state, together with the vigour and animation which it dis
plays, incline me to think it more nearly allied in the natural
system to the eagles, and I should therefore be inclined to call it
' the African bearded Eagle.' "
In Job xxxix. 27, the natural history of the eagle is finely
drawn up. Is it at thy voice that the. eagle soars ?
And therefore maketh his nest on high ?
The rock is the place of his habitation.
He abides on the crag, the place ef strength.
Thence he pounces upon his prey.
His eyes discern afar off.
Even his young ones drink down blood ;
And wherever is slaughter, there is he.
Mrs. Barbauld has given a description of the Eagle in the
following lines." The royal bird his lonely kingdom forms
Amid the gathering clouds and sullen storms :.
Through the wide waste of air he darts his flight.
And holds his sounding pinions pois'd for sight ;
With cruel eye premeditates the war,
And marks his destin'd victim from afar.
Descending in a whirlwind to the ground,
His pinions like the rush of waters sound ;
The fairest of the fold he bears away,
And to the nest compels the struggling prey."
Alluding to the popular opinion that the eagle assists its feeble
young in their flight, by bearing them up on its own pinions, Mo
ses represents Jehovah as saying, Exod. xix. 4, " Ye have seen
what I did to the Egyptians, and how 1 bore you on eagle's wings,
and brought you unto myself." Scheuchzer has quoted from

OF THE BIBLE. 123
an ancient poet, the following beautiful pharaphrase on this pas
sage. " Ac velut alituum princeps, fulvusque tonantis
Armiger, implumes, etadhnc sine robore natos
Sollicita refovet cura, pinguisque ferinae
Indulget pastus : raox ut cum viribus alae
Vesticipcs crevere, vocat se blandior aura,
Expansa invitat pluma, dorsoque morantes
Excipit, altollitque humeris, plausuque secundo
Ferturinarva, timens oneri, et tamen impete presso
Remigium tentans alarum, incurvaque pinnis
Vela legeos, humiles tranat sub nubibusoras.
Hine sensim supra alta petit, jam jamque sub astra
Erigitur, cursusque leves citus urget in auras,
Omnia pervolitans late loca, et agmine foetus
Fertque refertque suos vario, moremquevolandi
Addocet : i I Ii autem, longaassuetudine docti,
Paulatim incipiunt pennis se credere coelo
Impavidi : Tantum a teneris valet addere curam."
When Balaam, Numb. xxiv. 21, delivered his predictions re
specting the fate that awaited the nations which he then particu
larized, he said of the Kenites, " Strong is thy dwelling, and
thou puttest thy nest in the rock ;" alluding to that princely bird,
the eagle, which not only delights in soaring to the loftiest heights,
but chooses the highest rocks, and most elevated mountains as
desirable situations for erecting its nest. Comp. Hab. ii. 9,
Obad. 4.
What Job says concerning the eagle, which is to be understood
in a literal sense, " where the slain are, there is he," our Sa
viour makes an allegory of, when he says, Matth. xxiv. 28,
'' Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered
together ;" that is, wherever the Jews are, who deal unfaithfully
with God, there will also the Romans, who bore the eagle in
their standard, be, to execute vengeance upon them. Comp.
Luke xvii. 37.
The swiftness of the flight of the eagle, is alluded to in several
passages of Scripture ; as Deut. xxviii. 49, " The Lord shall
bring a nation against thee from afar, from the end of the earth ;
as swift as the eagle flieth." In the affecting lamentation of
David over Saul and Jonathan, their impetuous and rapid career
is described in forcible terms. 2 Sam. i. 23, " They were swifter
than eagles ; they were stronger than lions." Jeremiah, (iv. 1 $,)
when he beheld in vision the march of Nebuchadnezzar, cried,
" Behold he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as
a whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Wo unto us, for
we are spoiled." T© the wide expanded wings of the 'eagle., and

124 THE NATURAL HISTORY
the rapidity of his flight, the same prophet beautifully alludes ia
a subsequent chapter, where he describes the subversion of Moab
by the same ruthless conqueror. Jer. xlviii. 40, " Behold he
shall fly as an eagle, and spread his wings over Moab." In the
same manner he describes the sudden desolations of Ammon in
the next chapter ; but, when he turns his eye to the ruins of his
own country, he exclaims in still more energetic language, Lam.
iv. 1 9, " Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the hea
vens." Under the same comparison, the patriarch Job describes tbe
rapid flight of time, ix. 26, " My days are passed away, as the
eagle that hasteth to the prey." The surprizing rapidity with
which the blessings of common providence sometimes vanish from
the grasp of the possessor, is thus described by Solomon, Prov.
xxx. 1 9, " Riches certainly make themselves wings ; they fly
away as an eagle towards heaven."
The flight of this bird is as sublime, as it is rapid and impetu
ous. None of the feathered race soar so high. In his daring
excursions, he is said to leave the clouds of heaven, and regions
of thunder, and lightning, and tempest far beneath him, and to
approach the very limits of aether.* Alluding to this lofty soar
ing, is the prophecy of Obadiah, V. 4, concerning the pride and
humiliation of Moab : " Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle,
and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring
thee down, saith the Lord." The prophet Jeremiah, xlix. 16,
pronounces the doom of Edom in similar terms : " O thou that
dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the
hill ; though thou shouldst make thy nest high as the eagle,
I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord."
It has been a popular opinion, that the eagle lives and retains
its vigour to a great age ; and that, beyond the common lot of
other birds, it moults in its old age, renews its feathers, and is re
stored to youthful strength again.! This circumstance is mention
ed in Psal. ciii. 5, and Isai. xl. 31. Whether the notion is in
any degree well founded or not, we need not inquire. It is
enough for a poet, whether sacred or profane, to have the au
thority of popular opinion to support an image introduced for il
lustration or ornament.
It is remarkable that Cyrus, compared in Isai. xlvi. H, to an
eagle, (so the word translated " ravenous bird" should be render-
* Apuleius, as quoted by Bochart.
f See Damir. Aristot. Hist. Aniiri. 1. ix. c. 33. Plin. N. H. I. x. c.
3. Horus Apollo, 1. ii. c. 92. Valterus, Aquila Naturae Sacris Litte-
ris, ex Deut. xxxii. 11, Ezek. xvii. 3, Psal. ciii. 5, ethaec vicissiin, ex His
toria Naturali et monmentis Vetenim illustrate. 4to. Lips. 1747.

OF THE BIBLE. - 126
ed,) is by Xe.nophon, said to have an eagle for his ensign ; using,
without knowing it, the identical word ofthe prophet, with only
a Greek termination to it.* So exact is the correspondence be
twixt the prophet and the historian, the prediction and the event.
Xenophon, and other ancient historians, inform us, that the
golden eagle with extended wings, was the ensign of the Persian
monarchs, long before it was adopted by the Romans ; and it is
very probable, that the Persians borrowed the symbol from the
ancient Assyrians, in whose banners it waved, till imperial Baby
lon bowed her head to the yoke of Cyrus. If this conjecture be
well founded, it discovers the reason why the sacred writers, in
describing the victorious march of the Assyrian armies, allude so
frequently to the expanded eagle. Referring to the Babylonian
monarch, the prophet Hosea, viii. 1, proclaimed in the ears of all
Israel, the measure of whose iniquities was nearly full — " He
shall come as an eqgle against the house of the Lord." Jeremi
ah, xlviii. 40, predicted a similar calamity ; " Thus saith the
Lord, behold he shall fly as an eagle, and spread his wings over
Moab :" and the same figure was employed to denote the sud
den destruction that overtook the house of Esau. " Behold, he
shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over
Bozrah." The words of these prophets received a full accom
plishment in the irresistible impetuosity and complete success
with which the Babylonian monarchs, and particularly Nebuchad
nezzar, pursued their plans of conquest. Ezekiel denominates
him, with great propriety, "a great eagle with great wings ;" be
cause he was the most powerful monarch of his time, and led in
to the field more numerous and better appointed armies (which
the prophet calls, by a beautiful figure " his wings," the wings of
his army,) than perhaps the world had ever seen. The prophet
Isaiah, referring to the same monarch, predicted the subjugation
of Judea in these terms — " He shall pass through Judah. He
shall overflow, and go over. He shall reach even to the neck.
And the stretching out of his wings (the array of his army) shall
fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel." Isai. viii. 8. The
king of Egypt is also styled by Ezekiel, " a great eagle, with
great wings, and many feathers ;" but he manifestly gives the
preference to the king of Babylon, by adding, that he had " long
wings, full of feathers, which had divers colours ;" that is, greater
wealth, and a more numerous army.! See Gier-Eagle,
* " A very proper emblem for Cxrbs," says Bp. Lowth, " as in other
respects, so particularly because the ensign of Cyrus was a golden eagle,
AETOS x??nu!> th9 veT word °y which the prophet here uses, expressed
as near as may be in Greek letters. Xenoph. Cyrop. I. vii. sub init.
f Paxton, Illustrations of Scripture, V. ii. p. 14.

126 THE NATURAL HISTORY
EBONY. Q'jain, or according to 23 of Dr. Kennicot's co
dices, O'jan hobnim ; Greek EBENOS;* Vulgate hebeninos.
An Indian wood, of a black colour, and of great value in an
cient times.! As very hard and heavy, and admitting of a fine
polish, it was used in inlaid work with ivory, with which it form
ed a beautiful contrast. It is mentioned with ivory as among the
imported articles in Ezek. xxvii. 15; and that is the only place
in which the word occurs in Scripture.
It is to be observed that the word is in the plural, and Theo-
phrastus, Hist. 1. iv. c. 5., Plin. N. H. 1. xii. c. 4, and other
authors mention two kinds of ebony ; besides, all the other kinds
of precious woods in Scripture are in the plural ; as O'Oiy twenty
times in Exodus, and ctduSn or ctjid^n 1 Kings x. 1 2 ; 2
Chron. ix. 10, 11; and this, perhaps, not from their being varie
ties, but their being in separate pieces, or being sold in parcels.
EGG. Q'X'3 betzim, plur.
Occ. Deut. xxii. 6; Job xxxix. 14; Isai. x. 14, and lix. 5.
ftON Luke xi. 12.
Eggs are considered as a very great delicacy in the east, and
are served up with fish and honey at their entertainments. As
a desirable article of food, the egg is mentioned, Luke xi. 12.
" If a son ask for an egg, will his father offer him a scorpion ?" —
It has been remarked that the body of the scorpion is very like
an egg, as its head can scarcely be distinguished ;| especially if
it be of the white kind, which is the first species mentioned by
^Elian, Avicenna, and others. Bochart has produced testimo
nies to prove that the scorpions in Judea were about the bigness
of an egg.§ So the similitude is preserved between the thing
asked, and the thing given. The reasoning is this — If a child
ask an earthly parent for bread, a necessary of life, he will not
+ " In Montfauconii quidem Hexaplis Origenianis nihil de Symmacho
notatum est : at ex Theodoreto disco, eum de Hebeno cogitasse. Ta xei*-
ta, inquit ad h. 1. o ~2L-jfxy.-j.nn e£W«c apfjtwtua-tv, A<p' w ta tdviA ha\x/jl£va ytHTAt.
Ergo Hebeni nomen in hoc versu apud Symmachum legit, sed male ad
rVJip retulit." Michaelis, Not. ad Geogr. Heb. exter. part, i, p. 206.
N f  Sola India nigrum
Fert ebenum. Virg, Georg. ii. 117.
11 idvot, a ^guo-of, a ix mvxa 6\e^>atvT0?
Am™ ! Theocr. Idyl. xv. v. 123.
T,heophrastcs, also says, that Ebony was peculiar to India ; but Plinv
quotes Herodotus, to show that Ethiopia produces Ebony ; and Lucian
mentions it as growing in that country.
| Lamy Appar. Bibl. b. HI. c. 2. § 7.
5 Bochart, Hieroz. vol. iii. p. 549.

OF THE BIBLE. 127
deny him what is proper for his support, putting him off with a
stone ; and if he should ask for a sort of food of the more deli
cious kind, an eel or an egg, he will not, we may assure our
selves, give his child what is hurtful, a serpent or a scorpion. If
sinful men, then, will give good gifts to their children, how much
more will your heavenly Father give the necessary and the more
desirable gifts of his spirit to those who supplicate for them ?
This passage may be compared with Isai. lix. 5.
They hatch the eggs of the basilisk —
He that eateth their eggs dieth ;
And when it is crushed, a viper breakelh forth.
r-\mbr\ chalamuth, which in Job vi. 6, our translators have
rendered " the white of an egg," intends indeed insipidness, but
it is not easy to fix the precise meaning of the Hebrew word.*
ELM. rr™ ALAH.
This word is found only once in our translation of the Bible,
Hosea, iv. 13. But the word there used in the Hebrew, is in
all other places rendered oak.
EMERALD. ]3J nophec
Occurs only Exod. xxviii. 18 ; and Ezek. xvii. 16, and xxviii.
13 : and ZMAPArAOS, Rev. xxi. 19, and Ecclus. xxxii. 6, Tobit,
xiii. 22 ; and Judith x. 21.
This is generally supposed to be the same with the ancient
Smaragdus. It is one ofthe most beautiful of all the gems; and
is of a bright green colour, without the admixture of any other.
Pliny thus speaks of it. " The sight of no colour is more plea
sant than green ; for we love to view green fields and green
leaves, and are still more fond of looking at the emerald, because
all other greens are dull in comparison with this. Besides, these
stones seem larger at a distance, by tinging the circumambient;
air. Their lustre is not changed by the sun, by the shade, noli
by the light of lamps ; but they have always a sensible moderate
brilliancy."! From the passage in Ezekiel we learn that the Tyrians traded
in these jewels in the marts of Syria. They probably had them
from India, or the south of Persia. — The true oriental emerald
is very scarce, and is only found at present in the kingdom of
Cambay. * The critical reader will do well to consult Mr. Good's learned Bote
upon the passage.
•f Nat. Hist. 1. xxxvii. c. 5.

128 THE NATURAL HISTORi
FALLOW-DEER, niotr yachmur.
Occ. Deut, xiv. 5, and 1 Kings, iv. 23.
The animal here mentioned is not the fallow-deer, but the bu~
balus ; and it is so rendered by the Septuagint and Vulgate ; and
indeed Bochart has sufficiently proved that in the ancient Greek
writers Bi*&*Ao? or Bsj£«Ai? signifies an animal of the deer kind.
This animal Dr. Shaw supposes it to be the bekkar el wash,
which is nearly ofthe same size with the red deer ; with which
it also agrees in colour, as yachmur likewise the scripture name
(being a derivative from "ran hommar, rubere) may denote. The
flesh is very sweet and nourishing ; much preferable to the red
deer, so might well be received, with the deer and the antelope,
at Solomon's table, as mentioned 1 Kings, iv. 23.*
On the other hand Herodotus, Oppian, jElian, and Aristo
tle describe an animal ofthe species of Gazelles, which Pallas!
calls " Antelope Bubalis," and Oedman renders probable is the
creature here mentioned ;| and Niebuhr observes that there is
an antelope which still retains this name in Arabia. § It inhabits
the mountains of that country, and it is frequent about the Eu
phrates. For other conjectures I refer to the note of Rosenmuller on
Bochart, Hieroz. 1. II. c. 28. p. 282, vol. i. Michaelis, Suppl.
Lexic. Hebr. p. v. p. 1544. andTYCHSEN, Physiologus Syrus, p.
36—42. FERRET, npjs anakah, from pJK anak to groan, or cry
out. Occ. Levit. xi. 29.
The ferret is a species of the weasel; but Bochart will have
the anakah lo be the spotted lizard called by Pliny " stellio."
Dr. James takes it for the " frog," in allusion to the name which
literally signifies " the crier," befitting the croaking of that ani
mal ; but we shall find the frog mentioned under another name.
Dr. Geddes renders it " the newt," or rather " the lizard of the
Nile ;"|| and it evidently must be of the lizard species. Puny
mentions " the galeotes, covered with red spots, whose cries are
sharp,1T which may be the Gekko, which I have reason to think
* Trar. p. 170, and 4S5. ed. 4to.
f Spicel Zool. fasc. I. No. 10.
X Vennischte Samuilungcn aus der Katurkunde, fasc. 1. c. 3. p. 27. and
fasc. iv. u. 2.
5 Praef. xiii.
|| Lacerla Nilotica, Hasselquist, p. 221.
IT Nat. Hist. 1. xxix. c. 4.

OF THE BIBLE. M
the animal here intended ; besides which, few if any lizards cry.
As its name in the Indies tockai, and in Egypt gekko, is formed
from its voice, so the Hebrew name anakah, or perhaps anakkah,
seems to be formed in like manner ; the double k being equal
ly observable in all these appellations.* If these remarks are
admissible, this lizard is sufficiently identified.
FIG-TREE. riJNii teenah ; Arab. tijn.
Occ. Gen. iii. 7 ; Numb. xiii. 23 ; and elsewhere freq. ; and
ITKEH Matth. vii. 16 ; xxi. 19 ; xxiv. 32 ; Mark xi. 13, 20, 21 ;
xiii. 28 ; Luke vi. 44 ; xiii. 6, 7 ; xxi. 29 ; Joh. i. 48 ; James
iii. 12 ; and Rev. vi. 13.
This tree was very common in Palestine. It becomes large,
dividing into many branches, which are furnished with leaves
shaped like those of the mulberry. It affords a friendly shade.
Accordingly, we read in the Old Testament of Judah and Israel
dwelling, or sitting securely, every man Under his fig-tree.
1 Kings iv. 25. (Comp. Mic. iv. 4; Zech. iii. 10; and 1
Maccab. xiv. 12.) And in the New Testament, we find Na
thaniel under a fig-tree, probably for the purposes of devotional
retirement. Joh. i. 49, 51. Hasselquist, in his journey from
Nazareth to Tiberias, says, " We refreshed ourselves under th'e.
shade of a fig-tree, under which was a well, where a shepherd
and his herd had their rendezvous ; but witbout either house or
hut." The fruit which it bears, is produced from the trunk and large
branches, and not from the smaller shoots as in most other trees.
It is soft, sweet, and very nourishing.
Milton is of opinion that the banian-tree,! was that with whose
leaves, our first parents made themselves aprons.f But his ac
count, as to the matter of fact, wants even probability to counte
nance it ; for the leaves of this are so far from being, as he has
described them, ofthe bigness of an Amazonian target, that they
seldom or never exceed five inches in length, and three in
breadth. Therefore we must look for another of the fig kind,
that better answers the purpose referred to by Moses, Gen. iii. 7 ;
and as the fruit of the banana-tree§ is often, by the most ancient
authors, called a fig, may we not suppose this to have been the fig-
tree of paradise 1. Pliny describing this tree, says that its leaves
were the greatest and most shady of all others :|| and as the
* In the Syriac version it is amkatha, which according to Gabriel Sioni-
ta is a kind of lizard.
f Ficns Indica : Opuntia. Tour nek. 239. Cactus, Lin. gen. plan. 539.
( Paradise Lost, ix. 1101.
} Mnsa, the Egyptian mauze.
|| " Folium habet maximum umbrosissimumque." N. H. lib, xvi. c. 26.
17

130 THE NATURAL HISTORY
• leaves of these are often six feet long, and about two broad ; are
thin, smooth, and very flexible, they may be deemed more pro
per than any other for the covering spoken of, especially since
' they may be easily joined together with the numerous thread like
filaments, which may, without labour, be peeled from the body
of the tree.*
The first ripe fig is still called boccore in the Levant, which is
nearly its Hebrew name, m'33. Jer. xxiv. 2. Thus Dr. Shaw,
in giving an account of the fruits in Barbary, mentions " the
black and white boccore, or early fig, which is produced in June,
though the kermes or kermouse, the fig, properly so called, which
they preserve and make up into cakes, is rarely ripe before Au
gust."! And on Nah. iii. 12, he observes .that " the boccores
drop as soon as they are ripe, and according to the beautiful allu
sion of the prophet, fall into the mouth of the eater upon being
shaken.'r Farther, " it frequently falls out in Barbary, (says he)
and we need not doubt ofthe like in this hotter climate of Judea,
that, according to the quality of the preceding season, some of the
more forward and vigorous trees will now and then yield a few
ripe figs six weeks or more before the full season. Something
like this may be alluded to by the prophet Hosea, ch. ix. 10,
when he says that he saw their fathers as r\VD2 the first ripe in
the fig-tree, at her first time." Such figs were reckoned a great
dainty." Comp. Isai. xxviii. 4.
The prophet Isaiah gave orders to apply a lump of figs to Heze
kiah's bile ; and immediately after it was cured. J God, in ef
fecting this miraculous cure, was pleased to order the use of
means not improper for that end.§
The story of our Saviour's denunciation against the barren fig-
tree, Matth. xxi. 19, Mark xi. 13, has occasioned some ofthe
boldest cavils of infidelity, and the vindication of it has exercised
the ingenuity of several of the most learned critics and commen-
* So Homer's Ulysses covers his nakedness in the wood. Odys. vi. 127.
, " Then where the grove with leaves umbrageous bends,
With forceful strength a branch the hero rends j
Around his loins the verdant cincture spreads,
A wreathy foliage and concealing shades. Eboome.
f Trav. p. 144, 335, and 342. ed. 4to.
X Isai. xxxviii. 21 ; 2 Kings xx. 7.
$ This appears from Pliny, N. H. 1. xxiii. c. 7. to have been the usual
application to this kind of sore. " Carbunculi, si sine ulcere est, quam pin-
guissiuiam ileum imponi, singulare remedium est."

OF THE BIBLE. 131
tators.* The whole difficulty arises from the circumstance of
his disappointment in not finding fruit on the tree, when it is ex
pressly said, that " the time of figs was not yet." While it was
supposed that this expression signified, that " the time for such
trees to bring forth fruit was not yet come," it looked very unac
countable that Christ should reckon a tree barren, though it had
leaves, and curse it as such, when he knew that the time of bear
ing figs was not come ; it seemed strange that he should come to
seek figs on this tree, when he knew that figs were not used to
be ripe so soon in the year. But -it has been shewn that the ex
pression does not signify the time ofthe coming forth of figs, but
the time ofthe gathering in of ripe figs, as is plain from the par
allel expressions. Thus " the time of the fruit," Matth. xxi. 34,
most plainly signifies the time of gathering in ripe fruits, since
the servants were sent to receive those fruits for their master's
use. St. Mark and St. Luke express the same by the word
time, or season ; " at the season he sent a servant," &c. that is,
at the season or time of gathering in ripe fruit, ch. xii. 2 ; Luke
xx. 10. In like manner, if any one should say in our language,
" the season of fruit" — " the season of apples" — " the season of
figs>" — every one would understand him to speak of the season
or time of gathering in these fruits. When therefore, St. Mark
says, that " the time, or season of figs was not yet," he evidently
means that the time of gathering ripe figs was not yet past ; and
if so, it was natural to expect figs upon all those trees that were
not barren ; whereas, after the time of gathering figs,' no one
would expect to find them on a fig-tree, and its having none then
would be a sign of barrenness. St. Mark, by saying, " for the
time of figs was not yet," does not design to give a reason for
what he said in the immediately following clause, " he found
nothing but leaves ;" but he gives a reason for what he said in
the clause before that, " he came if haply he might find any
thereon ;" and it was a good reason for our Saviour's coming and
seeking figs on the tree, because the time for their being gathered
was not come. We have other like instances in the gospels and
indeed in the writings of all mankind, of another clause coming in
between the assertion and the proof. Thus, in this very evange
list, ch. xvi. 3, 4, " they said among themselves, who shall roll
* See Poole's Synopsis, in loc. Vossius, Harm. Evang. 1. i. c. 6. Bp.
Kidder, Demonstr. of the Messiah, ii. p. 38. Whitev, Doddridge, and
Mackniqht, in Joe. Bowman, defence of our Lord's cursing the fig-tree, in
answer to Woolston, 8vo. Lond. 1721. Knatchbull, Anuot. p. 52. Essay
for a new translation, &c. part. 2. c. 6. Hallet's Notes, Vol. ii. p. 114.
Bp. Pearce, Vindication of the Miracles of Jesus. Works V. ii. p. 360,
ed. 4to. Dimock, Dissertation on the barren fig-tree, Lond. 1804. Bow-
yer's Crit. Conject. 3d edit. 1782, 4to.

U2 THE NATURAL HISTORY
away the stone from the door of the sepulchre ?• and when they
looked they saw the stone was rolled away, for it was veryr;
great ; where, its being very great, is not assigned as a reason of
its being rolled away, but of the women's wishing for some one
to, roll it away for them.
Dr. Markland, (as quoted by Bowyer) has with great critical
acumen, supported the construction that the fig-harvest was not
over, and therefore fruit might well be expected on the tree.
Another, very late, ingenious paraphrast* proposes putting the
words into th$ form of an interrogation, and rendering them thus,
" for, was it not the time of figs ?" the negative interrogation
implying the most positive assertion in the Hebrew language;
and it is certain, as he observes, that, if the original words will
bear this construction, no farther difficulty will remain, and the
stumbling-block to the infidel is removed.
But, if these methods of reconciliation should not be deemed
clear and satisfactory, (says Mr. Dimock,) may we not, after all,
presume that the, original text has: underg°ne s°nie corruption I
For, might not the word, in the first copy, be urns instead, of «, and
the last syllable being omitted by the next copyist, might not the
¦word, ever afterwards be retained in its present form 1 Should
this supposition be admitted, the words will yield this plain and
easy sense, ufor, this was the time of figs ;" i. e. figs were then to
be found on most trees ; whether ripe or not does not affect the
argument : and, admitting a metathesis or transposition in this
place, with most ofthe commentators, the proposed emendation
will appear still more necessary, as the whole passage will run
thus : " And, seeing a fig-tree afar off, having leaves, he came, if
haply he might find any thing thereon, for this was the tjme of
figs ; but when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves."
Here is the strictest consistency in every part of the narration,
and the most pointed conformity and resemblance between the
natural and the sprilual fig-tree. The one is cursedfor its, bar
renness when it ought to have produced fruit ; the other is destin
ed to utter destruction for its incorrigible impenitence and de
spite unto the spirit of grace, under the ministry of Christ and his
apostles. The continuation of Calmet, No. eclx. remarks,, "though we
commonly say our Lord cursed this fig-tree, yet the expression,
strictly speaking, is incorrect." I conceive of our Lord as doing
no more to this tree than bidding it to continue in its present state ;
q. d. " As thou art now barren, barren remain ; [no man has
hitherto eat fruit of thee,J let no man in future eat fruit from
* Hardy in Nov. Testam. ;

OF THE BIBLE. 133
thee : that sterility, which now renders thee unprofitable; shall
continue to be thy character." In fact, then, the shrivelling of
the leaves was the only alteration, which took place in the ap
parent state of this tree, and those leaves being wholly useless,
though the tree might be said to be cursed by reason of this pri
vation, yet this injury was only apparent, and not real. It was
no dimunition of any man's property ; but was plainly saying, in
action, as well as words, "this tree yields no fruit; let it not
therefore produce leaves to disappoint the appetite of any subse
quent seeker of food from it."
St. Matthew informs us that the tree was " in the way,"
that is, in the common road, and therefore, probably, no par
ticular person's property ; but if it was, being barren, the timber
might be as serviceable to the owner as before. So that here
was no real injury ; but Jesus was pleased to make use of this in
nocent miracle to prefigure the speedy ruin of the Jewish nation
on account of its unfruitfulness under greater advantages than
any other people enjoyed at that day ; and, like all the rest of his
miracles, it was done with a gracious intention, namely, to alarm
his countrymen, and induce them to repent. In the blasting of
this barren fig-tree, the distant appearance of which was so fair
and promising, he delivered, one more awful lesson to the degen
erate nation, of whose hypocritical exterior and flattering but de
lusive pretensions, it was a just and striking emblem.
It may be proper to add, that the author mentioned above
supposes the tree here mentioned, to be the Ficus Sycamorus,
" which is always green, and bears fruit several times in the year,
without observing any certain seasons ;"* and therefore might
well be supposed to have fruit on it " while it was not now the
general season for gathering figs from the kinds usually cultivat
ed." The fruit, though not so pleasant as that of the common
fig-tree, is yet palatable.
FIR-TREE, una berosh; Syr. berulha; Chald. beroth ;
Arab, beraiet.
Occ. 2 Sam. vi. 5 ; 1 Kings v. 8, 10 ; vi. 15, 34 ; ix. 1 1 ; 2
Kings xix. 23 ; 2 Chron. ii. 8 ; iii. 5 ; Psal. civ. 1 7 ; Isai. xiv. 8 ;
xxxvii. 24 ; xii. 19 ; lv. 13 ; lx. 13 ; Ezek. xxvii. 5 ; xxxi. 8 ; '
Hosea xiv. 8 ; Nah. ii. 3 ; and Zech. ii. 2. The LXX. render
it so variously as to shew that they knew not what particular
tree is meant ;! the Vulgate generally by " abietes," the fir-tree.
Celsius asserts that it is the cedar ; but Hiller maintains that it
is the fir.
* See Norden's Travels, Vol. i. p. 79.
f See " Scripture Illustrated" on 2 Sam. vi. .'5. Expos. Index.

134 THE NATURAL HISTORY
The fir-tree is an evergreen of beautiful appearance, whose
lofty height, and dense foliage, afford a spacious shelter and
shade. The trunk of the tree is very strait. The wood was an
ciently used for spears,* musical instruments, furniture for
houses, rafters in building, and for ships.
In 2 Sam. vi. 5, it is mentioned that David played on in
struments of fir-wood ; and Dr. Burney in his history of mu
sic, V. 1. p. 277, observes, "this species of wood, so soft in
its nature, and sonorous in its effects, seems to have been
preferred by the ancients, as well as moderns, to every other
kind for the construction of musical instruments, particularly
the bellies of them, on which their tone chiefly depends.
Those of the harp, lute, guitar, harpsichord, and violin, in
present use, are constantly made of this wood."
The word crn"u brothim, occurs only in Cantic. i. 17; and
is by Aqjuilla rendered boratine, as being the tree named by
the Greeks Bo£#tov, which has also affinity with the Hebrew
name, and is a tree growing in Arabia.! Pliny describes it un
der the name " bruta,"J as like the cypress, and of a pleasant
smell like cedar. The Septuagint render it x.\j7rx()icrtroi, and the
Vulgate " cypressina," cypress-trees. But others suspect that
by the exchange of a single letter, this is used for O'tro bero-
shim, which indeed is the rendering of several MSS. bothinKsN-
nicot and De Rossi.
The whole passage is very obscure, and perhaps is made more
so, from the conjectures of critics, whether it means a framed
house, or a covert of trees. If nnp kiroth, mean beams, the
corresponding word should be rafters, which the original is al- '
lowed to bear, trm rahithe is supposed to be from the Chal
dee tarn to run. In the first instance, it evidently means canals,
in which water runs for cattle, Gen. xxx. 38, 41. In another part
of this Song, ch. vii. 5, it is translated " galleries ;" but more
properly there means flowing tresses. It must be confessed our
printed copies here read pirm ; but many MSS. and edition^
read po'rn. Eight MSS. one edition, all the ancient versions^
and a Greek MS. in the library of St. Mark at Venice, read the
word plural, either prom or ;ram.§ Buxtorf, though he writes
ptrm places it under the root am, and says, " Scribitur cum n,
sed juxta Masor. legitur per n."
* Nah. ii. 5 ; and figuratively for warriors, 2 Kings xix. 23, and Isaiah
xiv. 8.
+ Dion. Sicul. bibl. 1. ii. ' ! Plin. N. H. I. xii. c. 17.
5 Dooerlein Scholia in V. T. p. 193. Notae erit. in Repert. Bibl. et
Orient. I. vii. p. 224. Paulus, Repert. Or. 1. xvii. p. 138.

OF THE BIBLE. r35,
If, as is most probable, a grove, or shady recess is to be under
stood, the branches ofthe cedars and firs are poetically called the
beams and roof of their apartment ; and then the word rendered '
" rafters,'' retaining its original reference to canal* for water,
may imply what would shed off the rain ; and the former word,
a covert from the scorching rays of the sun.
" From storms a shelter, and from heat a shade."
FISH, jt dag. IX0T2, Matth. vii. 10; xxvii. 27 ; Luke
v. 6 ; Joh. xxi. 6, 8, 11.
Occurs very frequently.
This appears to be the general name in Scripture of aquatic
animals. Boothroyd in the note upon Numb. xi. 4. says " 1
am inclined to think, that the word -W3 here rendered " flesh,"
denotes only the flesh offish, as it certainly does in Levit. xi. 1 1 :
and indeed the next verse seems to support this explication. —
" We remember how freely we ate fish." It was then, particu
larly, the flesh offish, for which they longed, which was more
relishing than either the beef or mutton of those regions, which,
unless when young, is dry and unpalatable. Of the great abun
dance and deliciousness of the fish of Egypt, all authors, ancient
and modern, are agreed."
We have few Hebrew names, if any, for particular fishes.
Moses says in general, Levit. xi. 9 — 12, that all sorts of river,
lake, and sea fish, might be eaten, if they had scales and
fins ; others were unclean. St. Barnabas, in his epistle, cites,
as from ancient authority, " You shall not eat of the lamprey,
the many feet, [polypes] nor the cuttle-fish."*
Though fish was the common food ofthe Egyptians, yet we
learn from Herodotus, 1. ii. c. 37, and Ch.2eremon as quoted by
Porphyry de abstinentia, 1. iv. that their priests abstained from
fish of all sorts. Hence we may see how distressing was the in
fliction which turned the waters of the river into blood, and oc
casioned the death of the fish. Exod. vii. 18 — 21. Their sa
cred stream became so polluted as to be unfit for drink, for bath
ing, and for other uses of water to which they were superstitious-
ly devoted, [ch. ii. 5 ; vii. 1 5 ; viii. 20 ;] and themselves obliged
to nauseate what was the usual food of the common people, and
held sacred by the priests.
In Ezek. xxix. 4, in determining the punishment denounced
against the king of Egypt, he is compared to the crocodile, in
* Among the ancient Romans, it was not lawful to use fish without scales
in the feasts of the gods, for which Pliny, I. xxxii. c. 11, quotes this law
of Numa, " Pisces qui squamosi non essent, ne pollucerentur."

13S THE NATURAL HISTORY
these words, " I am against thee, the great dragon that lieth
in the midst of his rivers in Egypt. 1 will put hooks in thy jaws,
and I will cause the fish in thy rivers to stick to thy scales, and 1
will bring thee out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of
thy rivers, shall stick to thy scales." If the remora is as trouble
some to the crocodile as it is to some other tenants of the wa^
ter, it may here be referred to. Forskal mentions the echeneis
neucrates [remora] at Gidda, there called kaml el kersh, " the
louse ofthe shark," because it often adheres very strongly to this
fish ; and Hasselquist mentions it at Alexandria.
In addition to what has been said in explanation of Luke xi.
1 2, under the article Egg, may be added that the Greeks have an
adage, #vti m^wic cko^ttiov, " instead of a perch [fish] a scor
pion."* FITCHES, or vetches ; a kind of tare.
There are two words in the Hebrew, which our translators
have rendered " fitches ;" nyp ketsach, and nOiiD cusmet.
The first occurs only in Isai. xxviii. 25, 27, and must be the
name of some kind of seed ; but the interpreters differ much
in explaining it. Jerom, Maimonides, R. David Kimchi, and
the Rabbins understand it of the gith ; and Rabbi Obdias de
Bartenora expressly says that its barbarous or vulgar name is
'V'j nielle, [nigella.]!
The gith was called by the Greeks MeAavfljon, and by the
Latins, nigella ;% and is thus described by Ballester :§ " It is
a plant commonly met with in gardens, and grows to a cubit in
height, and sometimes more, according to the richness ofthe soil.
The leaves are small like those of fennel, the flower blue, which
disappearing, the ovary shews itself on the top, like that of a pop
py, furnished with little horns, oblong, divided by membranes in
to several partitions, or cells, in which are inclosed seeds of a
very black colour, not unlike those of the leek, but of a very fra
grant smell." And Ausonius, lib. xix. a. 8. observes, that its
pungency is equal to that of pepper. '
" Est inter fruges morsu piper aequiparens git."
Pliny N. H. 1. xx. c. 1 7, says it is of use in bake houses, [pis-
trinis] and that it affords a grateful seasoning to bread ; " semen
gratissime panes etiam condiet" — " inferiorem crustam [panis]
* Erasm. chiliad. Beza in loc.
t In tract. Edajoth, c. v. { 3. Tract. Tibbul. Jom. c. 1. § 5.
X Salmasius in Solin. 126.
\ Hierogl. I. iii. c. 5. p. 234.

OF THE BIBLE. 137
apium giique cereali sapore condiunt." So also Dioscorides,
lib. xix. c. 8. STr^fti* fitKuv, tyfM, 'tw$tc, KMTX7rh<x,<r<ro[A.svov w
«jtou?. And the Jewish Rabbins mention the seeds among condi
ments, and mixed with bread. For this purpose it was probably
used in the time of Isaiah ; since the inhabitants of those coun
tries, to this day, have a variety of rusks and biscuits, most of
which are strewed on the top with the seeds of sesamum, corian
der, and wild garden saffron.* As in the Talmud and various
Rabbinical tracts, the gith, cummin and sesamum are mentioned
in connexion,! this may render probable the conjecture, that
the word jnoj nisman in this verse of Isai. xxviii. 25, translated
" the appointed," is an error ofthe transcription, for poo sesa-
mon, which varies one letter only, and that by the mere omission
of a stroke to complete its form ; the sesamum, so well known in
the East. If we suppose the letter d to have been omitted here,
then we may make the J into l, and read sesamem ; other
wise we may read, according to the Egyptian name semsemum,
JDDno, supposing the first syllable omitted. The passage would
then be — " He casts abroad the wheat, barley, and sesamum, in
their places."
The other word rendered " fitches" in our translation of
Ezek. iv. 9, is rmoi cusmeth ; but in Exod. ix. 32, and Isai.
xxviii. 25, " rye." In the latter place the Septuagint has %i»,
and in the two former o>m^x ; and the Vulgate in Exodus, " far,"
and in Isaiah and Ezekiel " vicia." Saadias likewise took it to
be something of the leguminous kind, ]xibl, cicercula (misprinted
circula in the Polyglott version) or a chickling. Aquila has £ix,
and Theod. oAugi*. Onkelos and Targum have trnm arid Syr.
smiD which are supposed to be the millet, or a species of it called
panicum. Pers. a"U3"nO, the spelt ; and this seems to be the
most probable meaning of the Hebrew word ; at least it has the
greatest number of interpreters from Jerom to Celsius. The fol
lowing are the words of the former in his Comment, on Ezek.
torn. iii. p. 722. " Quam nos vitiam [viciam] interpretati sumus,
pro quo in Hebraeo dicitur chasamin; Septuaginta Theodotioquc
posuerunt oAv£#v, quam alii avenam, alii sigalam putant. Aquilaj
autem prima editio et Symmachus ££«?, sive (£iok, interpretati sunt ;
quas nos vel far, vel gentili Italiae Pannoniaeque sermone spicam
speltamque dicimus." There are not, however, wanting, who think
it' was rye ; among whom R. D. Kimchi, followed by Luther,
* Rauwolf, Ray's Trav. p 95. See also Harmer's Obs. V. iii. p. 26/»,
" on different kinds of seeds eaten with bread."
t Tract Oketz. c. iii. { 3. Edajoth. c. v. h 3. Tibbul .Tom. c. i. §,5.
Buxtorf, Lexic. Talmudic. p. 2101. 18

130 THE NATURAL HISTORY
and our English translators ; Dr. Geddes, too, has retained it,
though he says that he is inclined to think that the spelt is prefe
rable. Singular is the version of Gr Ven. aiyiAovJ/, (probably a
misprint for cuyiAia^) oats : yet the Arabic translator of Isaiah
and Ezekiel, uses a word ['£W, which some are of opinion de
notes avena, oats, while others-think it means secale, rye.*
Dr. Shaw thinks that this word may signify rice. Hasselquist,
on the contrary, affirms that rice was brought into cultivation in
Egypt under the Caliphs. This, however, may be doubted.
One would think from the intercourse of ancient Egypt with Ba
bylon and with India, that this country could not be ignorant of
a grain, so well suited to its climate.
FLAG, ms achu.
Occ. Gen. xii. 2, 18, and Job viii. 11, and bid suph, Exod. ii.
3, 5 ; Isai. xix. 6 ; and Jon. ii. 5, " weeds."
The word achu in the two first instances, is translated " mea
dows," and in the latter, " flag." It probably denotes the sedge
or long grass, which grows in the meadows of the Nile, very
grateful to the cattle. It is retained in the Septuagint in Gen.
ei> tco ot,%si ; and is used by the Son of Sirach, Ecclus. xl. 16,
x-yn and x^n ; for the copies vary.
St. Jerom, in his Hebrew questions or traditions on Genesis,
writes, " Achi neque Graecus sermo est, nee Latinus, sed et He-
braeus ipse corruptus est." The Hebrew vau 1 and jod ' being
like one another, and differing only in length ; the LXX. inter
preters, he observes, wrote tin achi for ins achu ; and, ac
cording to their usual custom put the Greek % for the double
aspirate n. That the grass was well known among the Egyp
tians, he owns in his Comment upon Isai. xix. 7, where the LXX.
render nnjr aroth, paper reeds, to a.%1 -ro'^Aa^ov. "Cum ab
eruditis quaarcrem, quid hie sermo significaret, audivi ab JEgyv-
tiis hoc nomine lingua eorum omne, quod in palude virens nasci-
tur, appellari."
" We have no radix," says the learned Chappellow, " for
lriN, unless we derive it as Schultens does, from the Arabic achi,
to bind or join together." Thus Parkhurst defines it, " a spe
cies of plant, sedge, or reed, so called from its fitness for making
ropes, or the like, to connect or join things together ; as the
Latin " juncus," a bull-rush, a jungendo, from joining, for the
same reason ;"! and he supposes that it is the plant, or reed,
growing near the Nile, which Hasselquist describes as having
numerous narrow leaves, and growing about eleven feet high ; of
* Geddes, Crit. Rem. on Exod. ix. 32.
f So the English retain the word junk, for an old rope, or cable.

OF THE BIBLE. 139
the leaves of which the Egyptians make ropes.* It should,
however, be observed, says the author of " Scripture Illustrat
ed," that the LXX. in Job viii. 11, render butomus, which
Heysichius explains as " a plant on which cattle are fed, like
to grass ;" and Suidas, as " a plant like to a reed, on which oxen
feed." These explanations are remarkable, because we read
Gen. xii. 2, that the fatkine of Pharaoh fed in a meadow, says our
translation, on achu in the original. This leads us to wish for in
formation on what aquatic plants the Egyptian cattle feed ; which,
no doubt, would lead us to the achu of these passages.!
II. The word did suph, is called by Aben Ezra, " a reed
growing on the borders ofthe river." Bochart, Fuller, Rive-
tus, Ludolphus, and Junius and Tremellius, render it by jun-
cus, car ex, or alga; and Celsius thinks it the fucus or alga [sea
weed.]! Dr. Geddes says, there is little doubt of its being
the sedge called " sari ;" which, as we learn from Theophras-
tus and Pliny, grows on the marshy banks of the Nile, and rises
to the height of almost two cubits. § This, indeed, agrees very
well with Exod. ii. 3, 5, and " the thickets of arundinaceous
plants, at some small distances from the Red sea," observed by
Dr. Shaw ;|| but the place in Jonah seems to require some subma
rine plant.
Browne, in his Travels, p. 191, observes, " At Suez I observ
ed in the shallow parts of the adjacent sea, a species of weed,
which in the sun-shine appeared to be red coral, being of a hue
between scarlet and crimson, and of a spongy feel and quality.
I know not whether any use be made of it, nor am I acquainted
* Hasselquist, Trav. p. 97.
f" Vocabulum Coptieum esse jam alii monuerunt. Scholtzu et Woidii
Lex. Copt. p. 10, et 53. Cotnplectitur nomen vel maxime bucolica iEgyp-
tia ab Heb'odoro in jEthiopicis lib. i. p. 10, eleganter descripta; recteque
a Josepho, ipso qnoque bono significationis 'teste, hoc, palustria, redditnr,
Ant. 1. v. c. 5. Michaelis, Lex. Hebr. Suppl. N. 61. p. 56.
I " Alga venit pelago, sed nascitur ulva palude."
Alga, is the sea-weed ; ulva, is only'used to express the reeds or weeds
growing in pools and standing waters.
" Suf est le nom d'une herhe ou d'une plante, que l'on trouveen/Ethio-
pie, de la grandeur du Chardon, la fleur est meme assez semblable^a celle
du Chardon, a la couleur pres, qui approche beauooup de celle du SaB'ran.
Les Abessins s'en servent beaucoup dans leurs teintnres, et en fond un in-
carnattres beau." Lobo, Voyage d'Jbissinie, trad. Fr. par. M. le Grand,
Amst. 1727, pag. 53. \
5 " Frncticosi generis est sari, circum Nilum uascens, duonnn fere cubi-
torum altitudine." Plin. N. H. J. xiii. c, 23.
|| Trav. p. 447, ed. 4to.

140 THE NATURAL HISTORY
with its Arabic name ; but it strikes me, that, if found in great
quantities at any former period, it may have given the recent
name to this sea ; for this was the Arabian gulf of the ancients,
whose Mare Erythrmum, or Red Sea, was the Indian Ocean,
This weed may, perhaps, be the suph ofthe Hebrews, whence
yam suph, their name for this sea." This, however, is all conr
jecture ; and in the close of this article, I think it will appear is
not an authority for the appellation given to this sea.
One of the questions, which Michaelis proposed for the inves
tigation of the travellers sent into Arabia by the King of Denr
mark, was respecting the meaning of the term suph given to
what is now called " the Red Sea."* He himself was ofthe
opinion which Celsius had advanced, that it meant a species of
alga, probably the sargazo, which grew at the bottom ofthe sea,
around the shore, and spread its floating leaves, of a reddish hue,
on the surface. He observes that the pio is mentioned in Exod.
ii. 3, as growing in the Nile ; and that in the ancient Egyptian
language, the sea is named sari, and that this plant, which is
mentioned by Pliny, may be the sargazo of M. Jablonski,!
M. Niebuhr, who was one of these travellers, remarks, " Reeds
are so common about the Arabic gulph, as to have procured it the
name Jam suph, or the sea of reeds, from the ancients. J But Mr.
Bruce thinks the sea suph, in our and other versions called "the
Red Sea," should be named the sea of coral. He says, " As for
what fanciful people have said of any redness in the sea itself, or
colour in the bottom, all this is fiction ; the Red Sea being in coir
our nothing different from the Indian or any other ocean.
There is greater difficulty in assigning a reason for the Hebrew
name Jam suph, properly so called, say learned authors, from the
quantity of weeds in it. Thus, both Diodorus Siculus and Ar-
temidorus in Strabo, (cited in Bochart, V. i. p. 282.) have ta
ken particular notice of the /jt-viov and <pwc<w, moss and alga,
with which the sea abounds, and from whence they account for
its remarkably green colour. Com. Wisd. xix. 7. Dr. Shaw
* Exod. xiii. 18 ; xv. 4 ; Numb. xiv. 25 ; xxi. 4 ; Judg. xi. 16 ; 1 Kings
ix. 26 ; Psal. cvi. 7,9,22; exxxvi. 13. 15 ; and Jer. xlix. 21. Once by
the Septuagint, Jud. xi. 16, rendered Baaao-c-a lit, in other places, t^AeA
bA-MJs-a-%, and in the Vulgate " rubrum mare."
In our translation of Deut. i. 1, we read, " in the plain over against the
Bed Sea." As Moses and the people were in the plains of Moab, the
placed here spoken of. and called in the original suph, could not be the
Red Sea, for they were now farther from that, than they had yet been;
and, indeed, there is no word for " sea" in the original. The place suph,
is perhaps the same that is called " Ziph" in 1 Sam. ix. 6.
t Pantheon jEgypt. 1. iv. c. 1. § 6. p. 151. et Diss, de terra Cosen, p. 60.
X Trav. V. ii. p. 349. translation.

OF THE BIBLE. 141
also is for translating pro O' " the sea of weeds" from the varie
ty of algce and fuci ; but observes, " I no where observed any
species of the flag kind; we have little reason, therefore, to
imagine that this sea should receive a name from a production
which does not properly belong to it." Forskal, Descr. plantar.
Flor. Mgyptiaco Arabicm, p. 24, declares, " Arundines non cre-
scunt ad littora Maris Rubri, nisi ubi fontes et lacustria sunt loca,
velut Ghobeibe ; quae rarissima inveniuntur." Mr. Bruce, also
adds, " I never, (and I have seen the whole extent of it,) saw a
weed of any sort in it ; and indeed, upon the slightest considera
tion, it will appear to any one, that a narrow gulph, under the
immediate influence of monsoons blowing from contrary points six
months each year, would have too much agitation to produce
such vegetables, seldom found but in stagnant waters, and seldom-
er, if ever, found in salt ones. My opinion then is, that it is from
the large trees or plants of white coral, spread every where over
the bottom of the Red Sea, perfectly in imitation of plants on
land, that the sea has obtained this name."
A learned friend, Rev. Dr. West, of New-Bedford, who called
upon me when writing this article, strengthened, by his ingenious
criticisms, this opinion of Mr. Bruce. He observed that the
word suph means, sometimes, a post or stake, to which the large
branches of coral may bear some resemblance. Dr. Shaw
speaks of them as so considerable, that they tied their boats to
them. The sea is at this day called Bahrsuf, and the vegetation
it produces, sufo : and Calmet produces the authority of John
de Castro, viceroy of the Indies for the king of Portugal, who
believed that it had its name from the quantity of coral found in
it. If, after this, I might hazard a conjecture of my own, I would
contend that it means the extreme or boundary sea ; my reasons
for which I will adduce after accounting for the name which it
nows bears. It is certain that the books ofthe Old Testament
invariably call it " the sea suph." I am inclined to believe,
that the name " Red" was not given it, till after the IdumeSjns
[or Edomites] had spread themselves from east to west, till they
came to border upon and possess this sea. They had long the
property and use of it for their shipping. Then it came ito be
called by the name of " the Sea of Edom." Afterwardp the
Greek mistook the name ans for an appellative instead of a
proper name, and therefore rendered it ££u0£# ^a,Kxn<rx, tha\ is,
the red-sea ; for Edom, in the language of that country signified
red; and it is observed in Scripture, that Esau, having sold his
birtb-right to his brother Jacob for a mess of red-pottage, was for
that reason called Edom, i. e. the red. Gen. xxv. 30. And Strabo,

142 THE NATURAL HISTORY
1. xvi. p. 766 ; Pliny, N. H. 1. vi. c. 23 ; Pomponius Mela, 1.
iii. c. 8, and others* say, that " this sea was so called, not from
any redness that was in it, but from a king who reigned in a coun
try adjoining to it." This is confirmed by 1 Kings ix. 26, and 2
Chron. viii. 1 7, where the sea suph is mentioned as in the terri
tory ofEdom.!
Now it is to be observed that this sea is twice mentioned ex
pressly as the limit or extreme boundary of the possessions of the
Israelites. Exod. xxiii. 31 ; and Numb, xxxiv. 3; and, in seve
ral instances, is implied, or included, in the boundary. Deut. xi.
24 ; Josh. i. 4 ; 1 Kings iv. 21, 24, and Psal. lxxii. 8. The ori
ginal and most general meaning of suph, is end, limit, extremity,
or farther part. % This has induced me to believe it originally
called by the Jews, the farther boundary sea. That it was not
named suph because abounding in coral, 1 apprehend from this
circumstance, that that marine production is mentioned in Scrip
ture by an entirely different name. It is spoken of in Job xxviii.
18, and Ezek. xxvii. 16, as a precious stone, and is called ra-
mut.§ See Coral.
The sea is now called " Bhar el Colzum ;" that is, the sea of
drowning, or overwhelming. The term " Red Sea," appears to
be very improperly adopted in Numb. xxi. 14 ; and Deut. i. 1,
In the first passage we read, " what he did in the Red Sea, and in
the brooks of Arnon." It should be in suphah ; for there is no
sea in the original. In the latter passage also, it should be in the
plain over against suph. Here our translators confess, by their
italics, that they have inserted the word " Sea," between Paran,
Tophel, &c. By this insertion, the geography is sadly confused.
The proper rendering of this name, and the dismissing of all re
ference to the Red Sea, is of great consequence to tbfe ancient
geography ofthe place : as that station which was in any tolera
ble sense over against the Red Sea, could^ not possibly be near
* Aoatharcides, p. 2. Quint. Cortius, I. v i ii. c. 9. Philostbatus, I.
iii.)c 15, Fuller, Miscel. Sacr. I. iv. «. 20. Prideaux, Connect. V. i. p.
10. (Jniv. Hist. V. xviii. p. 338.
i In 1 Kings ix. 26, it is rendered by the LXX. ttr^oww Saaao-o-av the far
thest sja.
X Sec Buxtorp and Taylor, Heb. Concordance-
§ The opinion which I have given above, is corroborated by the conjec
ture oi'LtPPEKius, whose remark has been lately pointed out to me. He
siKpprwes the mine of the sea to mean, •' circumscribed by visible bounds
on both sides," iu contra-distinction, perhaps, to the Great tiea, or Medi
terranean. " Dicitur mare Suph Hebraice ex rad. 31D, deficere, finire
tinde est nomen 31D, finis, seu eitremitas, Eccles. iii. 11. Hine mare Suph
est, vi verbi, mare Gnitimum, limitatuin, terminis et littoribus circmnsep-
tum. LWaviS- Salomonis Ophirit. illustr. Wittemb. 1G60, p. 286.]

OF THE BIBLE. 143
to Paran, nor to Hazaroth ; neither could it be " eleven days
journey from Horeb, by the way of Mount Seir;" i. e. at Kadesh
Barnea. FLAX. riTOS pishtah.
Occ. Exod. ix. 31 ; Levit. xiii. 47, 48,52,59 ; Deut. xxii. 11,;
Josh. ii. 6 ; Jud. xv. 14; Prov. xxxi. 13; Isai. xix. 9; xiii. 3;
xliii. 17 ; Jer. xiii. 1 ; Ezek. xl. 3 ; xliv. 17, 18 ; Hosea ii. 5, 9 ;
AINON Matth. xii. 20 ; and Rev. xv. 6.
A plant very common, and too well known to need a descrip
tion. It is a vegetable upon which the industry of mankind has
been exercised with the greatest success and utility. On passing
a field of it, one is struck with astonishment when he considers
that this apparently insignificant plant may, by the labour and in
genuity of man, be made to assume an entirely new form and ap
pearance, and to contribute to pleasure and health, by furnishing
us with agreeable and ornamental apparel.
The word nroa pishtah, Mr. Parkhurst thinks is derived
from the verb atys pasha t, " to strip," because the substance
which we term flax is properly, the bark or fibrous part of the
vegetable, pilled or stripped off the stalks.
From time immemorial, Egypt was celebrated for the produc
tion and manufacture of flax.* Wrought into linen garments, it
constituted the principal dress of the inhabitants, and the priests
never put on any other kind of clothing.! The fine linen, of
Egypt is celebrated in all ancient authors, and its superiour ex
cellence, mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures.J The manufac
ture of flax is still carried on in that country, and many writers
take notice of it. Rabbi Benjamin Tudela mentions the manu
factory at Damiata ;§ and Egmont and Heyman describe the ar
ticle as bteing of a beautiful colour, and so finely spun that the
threads are hardly discernible. But as the Scripture uses the
word vn butz for*" fine linen," Dr. Geddes supposes the byssus
or cotton, of which the ancients made a very fine cloth, to be in-
*Herodot. I. ii. p. 121. c. 105. p. 151. Plin. N. H. 1. xix. c. i. p. 156.
Arrian Peripl.p, 145. Kircher, jEgypt. Rest. p. 370. Philostr. vit
Apol. p. 258.
f Herodot. p. 116. Apuleius. Apol. p. 69. Plutarch de Iside et Osi-
ride, p. 352. S. Hieron, in Ezek. xliv. fol. 257, " Vestibus lineis tituntur
Mgyptii Sacerdoles non solum extriasecus sed et intrinsecus." AndtSiLi-
os Italicus, speaking of the priests of Ammon, says " Velantur corpore
lino.'' ^
X Prov. vii. 16 ; Ezek. xxvii. 7. , ^
5 " Damiata — cujus incolae linum serunt, et Candidas telas texunt, quas
in omnes mundi regiones defemnt." Itiner. p. 125.

144 THE NATURAL HISTORY
tended. Of this I shall afterwards treat, and now proceed to il
lustrate the several texts where the nntya pishtah is introduced.
The first instance is in Exodus ix. 31. where the seventh
plague in Egypt is thus described : " the flax and the barley were
smitten ; for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was boiled."
The destruction of this article, so necessary and valuable, and at
the very season when they were about to gather it, must distress
them very much.*
The next instance in which flax is mentioned, is Levit. xiii. 47,
48, 52, 59, where the taint, or infection made by the leprosy in a
garment is described.!
In Deut. xxii. 11, is a prohibition of wearing a garment of flax
and wool. The original word ]iaye> shaatnez, translated " linen
and woollen," Levit. xix. 1 9, is difficult of explanation. 1 am in
clined to believe that it must rather refer to a garment of divers
sorts, than to what we call " linsey woolsey ;" to one made up of
patch-work, differently coloured, and arranged, perhaps, for pride
and show, like the coat of many colours made by Jacob for his
son Joseph, Gen xxxvii. 3.J
It is related in Joshua ii. 6, that Rahab hid the Israelitish spies
under the stalks of pishtah, which she had laid to dry on the roof
ofher house. Mr. Harmer has furnished some useful remarks
upon this subject,§ to ascertain the time of the year, and thus
prove thatyfoa: is here spoken of. As, however, the order in
the original is peculiar, " in flax of wood," some have thought
hemp to be intended : but Alpian remarks,|| that under the name
of wood, some countries comprehended thorns, thistles, and other
* Acerba res est frugam pernicies, quis enim negaverit? Jam spe ipsa
oblectantium, aque horreis appropinquantium. Acerba res prematura raes-
sis, et agricolae laboribus suis ingemiscentes, ac velut mortuis ffetibus as-
sidentes. Miseruin speetaculum terra ignominiose vastata atque detonsa,
suoque ornatu spoliata!" Greg. Nazianzen, Orat. in plag. grandinis, p. 86.
f See on this subject the Disputation of Abarbinel, translated into Latin
by Buxtorf, and annexed to the book of Cosri, p. 400. Bochart, Hieroz.
p."fy p. 492. Celsius Hierobot. V. 2. p, 300. Adam Clarke's note ad loc.
and, Dr. Geddes, Cr. Rem. who explains in a very ingenious and satisfactory
manner the nice distinction in the original between the warp and the woof;
and confutes the forced and far-fetched explications of Le Clerc Houbi-
gant, Dathe, and Rossenmuller. Another explanation is given by the
learned Michaelis in his Commentary on the laws of Moses, Vol. iii. p.
366, of Dr. Smith's translation.
X For much curious illustration of this subject, see Mishna, Tract, Kilaim.
Ainsworth, and Calmet, in loc. Hiller, Hierophyt. part ii. p, 135
Braunius, de vestiment. Hebraorum, I. i. c. iv. p. 102, and Spencer, de
legib. I. ii. p. 397.
$ Obs. V. 4. p. 97. 4tb edit-
|| Deg. lib. xxxii. leg. 55,

OF THE BIBLE. 146
stemmy plants ; especially Egypt, where reeds and rushes and
the plant papyrus, were used for fuel. I apprehend that the He
brews did the same ; [comp. Matth. vi. 30, Luke xii. 48,] and
therefore our translation well expresses the sense of the original.
In Judges xv. 14, the name again occurs in the declaration
that the cords with which Sampson was bound by the Philistines,
were as easily parted, as a string of flax is separated by the fire.
Prov. xxxi. 1 3, mentions flax for the spindle, and the loom as
sought for by the virtuous and industrious housewife. Comp.
Exod. xxxv. 25.
In the oracle concerning Egypt, Isaiah xix. 9, it is declared,
that " they that work in fine flax, and they that weave net-works,
shall be confounded." The word here rendered " fine" is pity
which rather means tawney or brown, and must mean raw or un
bleached flax.
In predicting the gentleness, caution, and tenderness with
which the Messiah should manage his administration, Isaiah
xiii. 3, happily illustrates it by a proverb. " The bruised reed
he shall not break, and the smoking flax he shall not quench."
He shall not break even a bruised reed, which snaps asunder
immediately when pressed with any considerable weight ; nor
shall he extinguish even the smoking flax, or the wick of a lamp,
which, when it first. begins to kindle, is put out by every lit
tle motion. With such kind and condescending regards to the
weakest of his people, and to the first openings and symptoms of
a hopeful character, shall he proceed till he send forth judgment
¦unto victory, or till he make his righteous cause victorious. This
place is quoted in Matth. xii. 20, where, by an easy metonomy,
the material for the thing made, flax, is used for the wick of a
lamp or taper ; and that, by a synecdoche for the lamp or taper
itself, which when near going out, yields more smoke than
light.* " He will not extinguish, or put out, the dying lamp."
Isai. xliii. 1 7, the word translated " tow," means the flax, of
which the wick of a lamp is formed.!
Jer. xiii. 1 , a linen girdle is mentioned ; and in Ezek. xl.
3, a measuring line of flax. %
* Campbell, in loc.
f See Tract Shabbat, c. ii. 5 3. Babbi Obdias de Bartenora. *Pliny
says. " Quod proximum cortici fuit, stupaappellatur, deterioris lini, (ucer-
narum fere lummibus apitor." N. H. I. xix c. 50.
X !>o the Greeks used the word a^ooms, [whence perhaps our English word
skein,] a rope, for a measure, or perch, " Perticad* and this last word may
be derived from the Persian ; as f«i pmetiv a-^oiva n«go-«f/ thv aofiAv. " Do
not measure wisdom with a Persian cord." Callimach. apud Plutarch
de exilio, p. 602. 19

146 THE NATURAL HISTORY
By comparing Ezek. xliv. 17, 18, [clothed with Viw& linen
garments, nn&a linen tiaras, and o'ntya linen drawers,] with the
original institute in Exod. xviii. 39, and xxxix. 27, and Levit.
vii. 10, we find the ~\nw2 pishtah substituted for the -n bad,
and aw shesh, by which names the Jewish Rabbins called
the Egyptian and Indian flax.* Different words being used
for the same thing have caused difficulties which the minute
ness of examination, pursued under this article, is intended to
obviate. From an opinion that cotton was used for spinning and
weaving long before mankind had learned to procure the fila
ment from flax, some have presumed that shesh means cotton. In
aid of this construction, they observe that Alpinus, in describing
the plants of Egypt,! says that the cotton is the shrub called
by the Arabs sessa; that GonusJ explains the Syriac word
schoscho of an ordinary kind of cotton ; and that both these
words so nearly resemble the Hebrew aa shesh as to identi
fy it with the cotton. But, says Celsius, § the word is writ
ten bessa, by Alpinus, which is the Arabic name for byssus';
and the Syriac word is the Hebrew shesh, which by the
lexicographers is frequently confounded with gossipyum. They
add, also, that Pliny remarks, that in the part of Egypt
bordering upon Arabia, a fruit is produced which some call
" gossypion," but more " xylon," from which is formed " xyli-
num ;"|| and they adduce the declarations of Arrian, Philos-
trjstus, and others to the same purpose ;1T and think that
shesh and xcs may be so pronounced as to make sheshlynum
or xylinum. But this is rather ingenious than correct ; and,
after all, I am inclined to believe that rrnas is the generic
name for flax, and by metonymy, for whatever is made of it,
as thread, cord, lamp-wick, and linen cloth ; and "a of cloth ¦
of a coarser texture, and aw a finer; or the latter may refer
to the whiteness of the linen, as lilies are called craw, the
Parian marble aa, Esther i. 6,** and a man of white hairs,
-«\* Maimonid, Tr. Ktde Hammak. c. 8. conf Sheringham ad Tr, Joma.
Abarbine'. ad Lxod xxv. ' Shesh est linum jEgyptiacuin, quod est
prsestantissimum ononis generis lini."
f p. 38.
X Lex. Heptagl. p. 366.
J Hierobpt. V. ii. p. 261.
|| N. H. lib. xix. c. 1.
T Vide Bochart, Geogr. Sacr. p. 690. Salmas. in. Solin. p. 701.
' ** In the LXX TlAgim m6s. In Cantic. v. 15, Aq.uila and TheodotioN
render JJapiki, and 1 Chron. xxix. 2. n«g«i> or TlAgivn, and Vulg, Marmor
P avium.

OF THE BIBLE. 147
aw.* By comparing Exod. xxv. 4, and xxvi. 23, with 2
Chron. ii. 14, and Exodus xxvi. 31, with 2 Chron. iii. 14,
it appears that xn butz, is called ws shesh ; and by com
paring Exodus xxviii. 42, with" xxix. 28, that ia is also call
ed aa shesh. I know of no other way of reconciling this,
than to suppose these several words to relate either to
the quality or colour of cloth made of the same material.
That white raiment was held in high estimation, may be in
ferred from Eccles. ix. 8 ; Dan. vii. 9 ; Matth. xxvii. 2 ; Luke
ix. 29 ; Rev. iii. 4, 5 ; iv. 4 ; vii. 9, 13 ; xv. 6, and xix. 8, 14.!
Hosea ii. 5, 9, is the last place where the pishtah is men
tioned in the Old Testament; and it is mentioned there to
gether with wool.
In the Talmud and Rabbinical tracts, much is written upon
the sowing and gathering of the plant, and the maceration and
dressing of the flax, and on the spinning and weaving of the
thread.| Having mentioned flax as the produce of Egypt, and its manufac
ture into cloth as practised there in the earliest ages, I would now
add, that linen is still, according to Norden,§ one of their
principal merchandizes, and is sent away in prodigious quantities
aloig with unmanufactured flax and spun cotton : to which may
be added this remark of Sanutus,|| who lived above four hundred
years ago. that though christian countries abounded in his time
in flax, yet the goodness of the Egyptian was such, that it was dis
persed all, about, even into the west." For the same reason,
* Mr. Harmer suggests that these words may import the colour of the
cloth; that of the common people of Egypt being blue. Obs. V. iv. p.
102. 4th edit.
Eben Kzra says, "iSAesft idem est quod bad, species qusedam lini quod
nascitur in iEgypto tantum ; tenue est, et album, et non tingitur." And
Maimonides, " I'bicunque in lege dicitur shesh aut bad, iutelligitur pish
tah, id est byssus."
Brown, in his Travels, p. 448, observes that in the neighbourhood of Alep
po, " the country was cultivated with Hashish, a kind of flax." If Aa be
an article, in the shish we may find authority for understanding the He
brew '•hesh, to be a variety of Ihe flax, a somewhat different species from
the common.
From WW shesh, is derived our word sash ; a girdle of linen, or silk.
f Comp. Plutarch de Isid. et Osir. p. 3.12. Apul. metam. 1. ii. p.
245. " Ivivea pulrhriora liua." Sidon. Appolun. Epist. ix. v. 13.
^X Tr. Chilaim, 1. c et cap. 9, \ 1. Peah. c. vi. \ 5. Baba Bathra c.Ji. \
10. Baba Kama, c. x. \ 9, et c. ii. \ 5. Terumoth. c ix. \ I. Maimo-
nid, tr. Schemitta vejobel. c. viii. \ 1. Tzitzit. c. xiv. Kab. Obad. de
Bartenora, comment, ad Baba Kama, c. x. " Lana artificium in Judaea,
et lini in Galilaea a mulieribus exercetur."
5 Trav V. i. p. ',0.
|| Gesta Dei apud Fr. torn. ii. p. 24.

148 THE NATURAL HISTORY
without doubt, the Jews, Hittites, and Syrians anciently purchas
ed the linen yarn of this country, though they had flax growing
in their own.
Our version having more than once mentioned " the fine linen
of Egypt," numbers of people have been ready to imagine, says
Mr. Harmer,* that their linen manufactures were of the most
delicate kind, whereas in truth they were but coarse. This is
proved by examining that in which their embalmed bodies are
found wrapped up.! So Hasselquist observes ;J " the ancients
have said much of the fine linen of Egypt ; and many of our
learned men imagine, that it was so fine and precious that we have
even lost the art, and cannot make it so good. They have been
induced to think so by the commendations which the Greeks have
lavished on the Egyptian linen. They had good reason for doing
it, for they had no flax themselves, and were unacquainted with
the art of weaving: but were we to compare a piece of Holland
linen, with the linen in which the mummies were laid, and which
is of the oldest and best manufacture of Egypt, we shall
find that the fine linen of Egypt, is very coarse in comparison
with what is now made. The Egyptian linen was fine, and
sought after by kings and princes, when Egypt was the only coun
try that cultivated flax and knew how to use it."
/ Hasselquist had great reason to suppose the linen in which the
mummies were wrapped, the finest at that time in Egypt ; for
those who were so embalmed, were persons of great distinction,
and about whom no expense was spared. The celebrity, then,
ofthe Egyptian linen, was owing to the great imperfection of
works of this kind in those early ages ; no other, in those times
being equally good ; for, that linen cloth was made in ancient
times in other countries, contrary to the opinion of Hassel
quist, seems sufficiently evident from the story of Rahab,
Josh. ii. 6, and the eulogium of a noble Jewish matron, Prov.
xxxi. 13, 24.
After all, there is no adjective in the original answering to
the word " fine ;" there is only a noun substantive to shesh,
which has been supposed to involve in it that idea. — But if
it was so coarse, why is it represented as such a piece of
magnificence, Ezek. xxviii. 7, for the ships of Tyre to have
their sails of the linen of Egypt ? Certainly, because though
coarse in our eyes, it was thought to be very valuable when
used even for clothing ; and if matting was then used for sails,
* Obs. V. 4. p. 91, 4th edit.
f See a Memoir of Dr. Hadle v in the Philos. Transactions, for 1764.
X Trav. p. 398.

OF THE BIBLE. 149
tails of linen must have been thought extremely magnificent.*
Mr. Harmer! has made some ingenious remarks upon the
different kinds of linen manufactured in Egypt, which I shall
here introduce with some alterations, additions, and notes.
" As the linen of Egypt was anciently very much celebrat
ed, so there is reason to think, that there were various sorts of
linen cloth in the days of antiquity; for, little copious as the
Hebrew language is, there are no fewer than four different
words, at least, which have been rendered " linen," or " fine
linen" by our translators.! This would hardly have been,
had they not had different kinds.
* The sails represented in the Praenestine pavement, seem to have beeo
of mailing, and consequently were tbe sails of that time in Egypt, famous
for its pomp Sails of matting are still used by the Arabs in their vessels
on the Bed Sea, as we are assured by Niebuhr, in Lis description of that
country, p. 188. It appears by Lord Anson's voyage, that the same usage
obtains in some Hast-India vessels, B. iii. c. 5. Probably, then, it was the
common practice in the first ages, which has not yet' been deviated from in
these countries.
Mat-sails are in use to tbe present day among the Chinese.
f Obs. V. iv. p. 95, 4th edit.
X These are 12 bad, \*13 butz, nty3 pishet, and TO shesh. To these
may be added J'10 sadin, translated "fine linen;" [hence the name
" satin,"] Prov. xxxi. 24, and " sheets," Jud. xiv. 12, 13, and [IBS ethun,
" fine linen," Prov, vii 16. The latter word may mean "beautifully
wrought ;" and the sindon was undoubtedly a vesture. It is retained in
the Greek of Matth. xxvii. 29; Mark xiv. 51,52; xv. 46 ; and Luke
xxiii. 53. And as in the three last cited texts, the sindon is mentioned as
a sepulchral covering, so Herodotus, lib. ii. c. 86. speaking of the Egyp
tian manner of preserving dead bodies, says, Av?At]tt t« ve*gw> nA7ti\t<r<rito>t
«¦» aulx to rujjui. 2INAON02 gwo-imt TfKA/jmari mfldHl/a/Jtinm. After having
mashed the dead man, they inclose his whole body in a wrapper of fine linen,
with thongs of leather. As to Mark xiv. 51, 52, Pococke supposes that
nvSm mentioned io that place, means a kind of sheet or wrapper, such as
many ofthe inhabitants of H'gypt and Palestine still wear as their only
clothing in the day-time, and consequently, the word may there denote a
person's ordinary day-dress Comp. Exod. xxii. 27. Herodotus, however,
speaks of n-ntm as an usual night-dress of the Egyptians in his time. H»
jksv tv iftAlm oj^Afttnt win, » 2IN40NI. See Wetstein on Mark.
*' Puer eja surge calceos et linteam da sindonein." Ausonius.
The origin of the word is to be sought in the Egyptian language; see
Schoi.tz Kxposit. vocab. Coptic, in Scrip- Hebr. et Gracis, in Reperto-
rio Eichorniano, T. xiii. p. 14. Braun ius de Vest. Sacerd. Hebr. i. 7,
103, p. 113. Munthe in Obs. c. Diod. Sicul. p. 93. Forster de Bysso
Antiq. s. 18. p. 85. Pollux. Onom. vii. 172, 2INAQN am AiyvmiA pei,
5T6g/CoA*«v Pav un, to wi JVxgwo-ov ttahxfj.mii. So that it appears, that it was
an Egyptian garment, or' inner dress — a kind of shirt. D. Kimchi says
" Sindon est vestis nocturna, quam induunt super caruem, facta ex lino."

150 THE NATURAL HISTORY
" Our translators have been unfortunate in this article, in
supposing that one of the words might signify silk, and for
getting cloth made of cotton.
" When Joseph was arrayed in Egypt, as viceroy of that country,
they represent him as clothed in vestures of ' fine linen,' Gen. xii.
42, but being dubious of the meaning' of the word there, they
render it ' silk' in the margin. This was very unhappy : for
they not only translate the word to shesh ' linen' in a multi
tude of other places,* but, certainly, whatever the word signifies,
it cannot mean silk, which was not used, we have reason to think,
in those parts of the world till long after the time of Joseph.!
They have gone farther, for they have made the word ' silk,'
the textual translation of the Hebrew term shesh, in Prov. xxxi.
22, which verse describes the happy effects of female Jewish in
dustry. ' She maketh herself coverings of tapestry ; her cloth
ing ia pink and purple. 'J They suppose then, that the Jewish
women, of not the highest rank in the time of Solomon, were
clothed with vestments, made of a material so precious in former
times we are told, as to be sold for its weight in gold ; for which
reason it is said, that the emperor Aurelian refused bis empress
a garment of it, though she importunately desired one. Aure
lian, a prince who reigned over all Syria and Egypt, the coun
tries we are spe'aking about, and the rest ofthe Roman empire,
and who lived almost one thousand three hundred years later
than Solomon, and nearer these times in which silk is become so
common. This seems very strange !
" If they have introduced silk improperly, as hesitating some
times about the meaning of a word, rendered in common ' linen,'
that they should not have thought of cloth made of cotton, which
grows in great quantities in Egypt and Syria now, and makes one
considerable branch of commerce, is to be wondered at.§
" It is very possible, however, that the growing of cotton in Sy
ria is not of the highest antiquity : yet it has been planted there,
Consult also Schroeder de Vest Mnl. Hebr. p. 341. Casacbon. Exercit.
Antibarb. xvi, 65. p. 524. Chiflet de linteis sepulchralibus Christi. c. 5,
and Fischer in Prolus iii. de vitiis Lexieorum N. T. p. 74.
* Exod xxv. 4 ; xxvi. 1, 31, 36 ; xxvii. 9, 16,18 ; xxviii. 5, 6, 8, 15, 40;
xxxv. 6, 23, 25 ; xxxvi. 8, 35, 37 ; xxxviii. 9, 16, 18, 23 ; xxxix. 2, 3, 5, 8,
27, 28, 29 ; Prov. xxxi. 22 ; Ezek. xvi. 10, 13 ; and xxvii. 7.
! Boothrovd on Gen. xii. 42, quotes Forster as proving that the origi
nal means muslin; which Pliny describes, and declares that the priests
preferred it for their robes on account of its fineness and whiteness.
X Lemery, Diet, des Drogues, art. " Bombyx."
5 See Norden in respect to Egpyt, V. i.'p. 110; and Le Bruyn, as to
Syria, torn. ii. p. 150,

OF THE BIBLE. 151
we may believe, many ages ; and, before they began to cultivate
it, they might be, and doubtless were, acquainted with manufac
tures of cotton brought from places farther to the East.* Cali
coes and muslins are still brought from thence to Syria ;1 and, aa
according to the very ingenious editor of the Ruins of Palmyra,
the East-India trade was as ancient at least, as the days of Solo
mon,! an(l Palmyra built on account of that commerce, some of
those fine cotton manufactures were probably brought by the
caravans then, and is what is meant by the Hebrew word pia
butz. There are seven places,§ I think, in which the word butz
occurs in the Old Testament. The first mention that is made of
it, is in David's wearing a robe of butz, when he removed the
ark from the house of Obgd Edom to Zion, 1 Chron. xv. 27.
Two other places refer to the ornaments of Solomon's temple ;
a fourth to the dress ofthe Levites ; a fifth describes it as ofthe
merchandizes Syria carried to Tyre ; and the two other relate
to the court of Ahazuerus, king of Persia. How natural to un
derstand all these places of East Indian manufactures, muslins or
fine calicoes !
" Solomon's making the dress of the Levites the same with
what his father David wore on a high solemnity, and with what
was worn by the greatest men in the most superb courts of the
East, agrees with the other accounts given of him, particularly
his making silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as those
trees that in the vale are remarkable for abundance. 1 Kings x.
27." Mr. Parkhurst explains the butz of the byssus ; the same as
what we call " cotton," which is well known to be the produce
of Egypt, Syria, and the neighbouring countries, and is the soft
downy substance formed in the pods of the shrub called " gossy-
pium."|| The cloth made of it being of a finer texture and more
* Silk as well as cotton is produced in large quantities in Syria, and makes
a very principal part ofthe riches of that country. [Voyage de Syried par
De La lioftUE, p. 8.]
t Rauwolk, p. 84. They are brought in the like manner, from the East-
Indies to Egypt. Norden, V. i. p. 70. Maillet, let- 13, p. 194.
| P. 18.
5 It occurs in eight places, viz. 1 Chron. iv. 21 ; xv. 27 ; 2 Chron. ii. 13 ;
iii. 14 ; v. 12 ; Ksth. i. 6 ; viii. 15 ; Ezek. xxvii. 16.
|| " Superior pars jEgypti in Arabiam vergens, gignit fruticem quem ali-
qui gossipion vocant, plures xylqn, et ideo lina, inde facta xylina. Par
vus est, similemque barbatae nucis, defert fructum cujus ex interiore
bombyce lanugo netur. Nee ulla sunt eis candore molitiave praeferenda.
Vestes inde sacerdotibus jEgypti gratissimae." Pun. N. H lib. xix. c. 1.
" In Palaestina nascens in folliculis" Mercer. It is very accurately de
scribed in Pollux Onomast. vii. c. 17, sect. 75; by Philostr. vit.

152 THE NATURAL HISTORY
delicate softness than that manufactured from flax, was used for
the robes ofthe rich and noble. We trace the Hebrew word in
the vestments of jSud-9-oc, Luke xvi. 9, and Rev. xviii. 12.
FLEA. v/yis paros.
Occ. 1 Sam. Xxiv. 1 4, and xxvi. 20.
The LXX. and another Greek version in the Hexapla, render
it vJ/uAAov, and the Vulgate pulex. It seems, says Mr. Parkhurst,
an evident derivative from jna free, and ay\ to leap, bound, or
skip ; on account of its agility in leaping or skipping.
The flea is a little wingless insect, equally contemptible and
troublesome. It is thus described by an Arabian author. " A
black, nimble, extenuated, hunch-backed animal, which, being
sensible when any one looks on it, jumps incessantly, now on one
side, now on the other, till it gets out of sight."*
David likens himself to this insect ; importing, that while it
would cost Saul much pains to catch him, he would obtain but
very little advantage from it.
FLY. The kinds of flies are exceedingly numerous ; some
with two, and some with four wings. They abound in warm and
moist regions ; as in Egypt, Chaldea, Palestine, and in the mid
dle regions of Africa ; and during the rainy seasons, are very
troublesome. In the Hebrew Scriptures, or in the ancient versions, are seven
kinds of insects, which Bochart classes among " muscae," or
flies. The 1st, is 2~\y oreb, which occurs Exod. viii. 20; xxiv. 20;
xxv. 27 ; xxix. 31 ; Psal. lxxviii. 45; and cv. 31, which those
interpreters, who, by residing on the spot, have had the best
means of identifying, have rendered " the dog-fly," nnopvi*;
and it is supposed to be the same which in Abyssinia is called the
zimb. (2.) anr zebub, 2 Kings i. 2, 3, 6, 1 6 ; Eccles. x. i ; and Isai.
vii. 1 8. Whether this denotes absolutely a distinct species of
fly, or swarms of all sorts, may be difficult to determine.
Appolon. ii. c. 20. Compare also Salmasics, Exercit. Plin. p. 701. Re-
land, Diss. Miscel. p. 1, 212, and J. H. Forster, De Bysso antiquorum,
8vo. Lond. 1776. Cotton s^ems to have derived its name from a fruit, in
Crete, called by Pliny, l.xv. c. 11, " Mala cotonea," or " Cydonea." It
is distinguished by other names, as bombyx, gossipium, and xylon ; and
the cloth made of it, byssus. " Ferunt cotonei roali amplitudine cucurbi-
tas. quae maturitate rnptae ostendunt lunuginis pilas, ex quibus vestes pre-
tioso linteo faciunt." Plin. I. 12. c. 10.
* Alkazuinus, quoted by Bochart, Hieroz. part. ii. 1. iv. c. 19, Vol. iii.
p. 476.

OF THE BIBLE. 153
(3.) m:n deburrah, Jud. xiv. 18 ; and Psal. cxviii. 12, ren
dered "bee."
(4.) runs tsira ; Greek <r<ptj|. Exod. xxiii. 28 ; Josh. xxiv.
12 ; and Deut. vii. 20. " Hornet."
(5.) CJ'aiD sarabim ; Greek oirjof. Ezek. ii. 6 ; and Hosea
iv. 16.
(6.) pa bak ; Greek KilNOY. Matth. xxiii. 24, the " gnat."
(7.) ca'J3 cinnim ; Greek travinK. Exod. viii. 16 ; and Psalm
civ. 31. " Lice."
These will be found explained, under the several names by
which they are translated, in the alphabetic order of this work ;
and I shall confine myself in this article, to the two first and the
fifth. M. Sonnini,* speaking of Egypt says, " of insects there, the
most troublesome are the flies. Both man and beast are cruelly
tormented with them. No idea can be formed of their obstinate
rapacity when they wish to fix upon some part of the body. It
is in vain to drive them away ; they return again in the self-same
moment ; and their perseverance wearies out the most patient
spirit. They like to fasten themselves in preference on the cor
ners of the eye, and on the edge of the eye-lid; tender parts, to
wards which, a gentle moisture attracts them."
I. The y\y oreb, with which Jehovah humbled the pride
and defeated the obstinacy of Pharaoh, Exod. viii. 20, and Psalm
•xxviii. 45, has been variously rendered. In our version it is trans
lated " swarms of flies," and in the margin " a mixture of noisome
beasts." This last is borrowed from Josephus, and the Baby
lonian Targum; and indeed almost all the ancient versions lean
that way. Aquila and Jerom understood it of a mixture of vari
ous kinds of flies. The Arabic version reads " a mixture of wild
beasts, venomous insects and reptiles ;" Rabbi Selomo, " all kinds
of venomous animals, as serpents and scorpions ;" Eben Ezra,
" all the wild beasts mingled in association, as lions, bears, and
leopards;" Purver, " a mixture of noisome creatures;" Del-
gado, " a mixture of vermin ;" Bate, " a raven ;" and Dr.
Geddes, " a swarm of beetles."! " I mention these marvel
lous renderings," says the author of Scripture Illustrated, " to
shew the absolute necessity of well understanding the natural
history of the country ; since that alone can direct our inquiries,
and since all these opposed renderings cannot possibly be well
* Trav. V. iii. p. 199
f The " Blatta Egyptiaca" of Linn«js. This rendering is supported by
Oedmann, Michaelis, Orient. Bibl. Nov. p. v. p. 38, and Rosenmuller,
in loc. This is a very voracious insect, that not only bites animals, but
devours tender herbs and fruits.
20

154 THE NATURAL HISTORY
founded. Moreover, they appear to be contrary to verse 31,
which seems to imply the withdrawing of a single kind."
That it was one particular insect, and not a mixture of differ
ent animals, is pretty clear. Bochart, who has treated this sub
ject with his usual learning and ability follows the Septuagint,
explaining the original by mvo[A,\Jtx, the dog-fly, which must be
particularly hateful to the Egyptians, because they held dogs in
the highest veneration ; and worshipped Anubis under the form
of a dog. In a case of this kind, the authority of the LXX. is
very high, as they translated the Pentateuch in the very place
where these plagues happened. Philo too, thus describes it.
" The imposers of names, who were wise men, gave this insect
an appellation from the qualities of two most impudent animals,
a dog and a fly : for this species of fly attacks with fearless fury,
and will not be driven away, nor quit its hold, till it is satiated
with blood and flesh."*
The Egyptians paid a superstitious worship to several sorts of
flies and insects.! If then, such was the superstitious homage of
this people, nothing could be more determinate than the judg
ment brought upon them by Moses. They were punished by
the very things they revered ; and though they boasted of spells
and charms, yet they could not ward off the evil.
II. The 3121 zebub, mentioned Eccles. x. 1, and Isai. vii. 18;
and with the name of an idol, " Baal zebub," 2 Kings i. 2, 3, 6,
comes now to be considered. J I expressed a doubt whether it
referred to a particular species of fly, or to flies in general.
Schindler, in his Lexicon, considers the Hebrew word, together
with its Chaldee and Arabic cognates, as including the whole of
winged insects : Culex, the gnat ; vespa, the wasp ; cestrum, the
gad fly ; and crabro, the hornet. This certainly implies the in
clusion of true flies, generally, whose species, it is well known,
are sufficiently numerous. Moreover, that this should hardly be
restrained to a single species of fly may be inferred from the pun
employed in playing on the appellation Baal-zebub, or " lord of
flies," to convert it into Baal-zebul, or " lord of dung." This too, I
* De vita Mosis. Op. torn. ii. p. 101, ed. Mangev. " Ex toto vero
descriptione, quam Philo de xmo/wwa dedit, Michaelis in Suppl. ad Lex.
Hebr. p. v. pag. 1960, magni veri specie colligit, esse tabanum, proprie
sic*dictum." Kosenmuller not. in Bochart, V. iii. p. 428.
Ina note to Martyn's translation of Virgil's Georgics, iii. v. 149, and
also Stawell's, p. 425, Lond. 1803, is a particular account of this trouble
some insect.
t Plin. N. H, I. xxx. c. 11, Plot, sympof. 1. iv- c. 5. Marsham Chron;
jEgypt. sect. ix. p \56.
X " Baal-zebub, the Aleim or god ofthe Philistines of Ekron."
Parkhurst, Heb. Lex

OF THE BIBLE. ,155
apprehend alludes to the nature of certain kinds of flies, or rather
beetles which roll their eggs in dung; so that the change of name
has a reference, a degrading reference, to the manners of the sym
bol of this deity, including, no doubt, a sarcastic sneer at those of
his worshippers.* The general import of this word may be farther
argued from what Pliny tells us, 1. x. c. 18, concerning the deity
Achorem, from the Greek x%o(>, which may be from the Hebrew
Ekron or Accaron, the city where Baal-zebub, the lord of flies,
was worshipped. " The inhabitants of Cyrene," says he, " in
voke the assistance of the god Achorem, when the multitude of
flies produce a pestilence : but when they have placated that
deity by their offerings, the flies perish immediately."
Dr. Farmer in his Essay on Demoniacs, p. 21, refutes the in
timation that this change of the name was by way of derision, but,
for the following reasons, I am inclined to retain the other
opinion. As the Jews, after their return from the Babylonish captivity,
held idols in the utmost detestation, this degrading turn might
have been given to the name ofthe god of Ekron. That he was
called Baal-zebul in our Saviour's time, appears from Matth. x.
25 ; xii. 24, 27 ; Mark iii. 22 ; and Luke xi. 15, 18, 19, where
the name is written EEEAZEBOTA ; as all the Greek manuscripts
read it with a final A. Not only in the Rabbinical writings, but
in the Chaldee Targums, and in the Syriac language, bit signifies
dung ; [see Castell, Lexic. Heptaglpt.] and there is no reason
to doubt but it was applied in the same sense by the Jews
among whom our Lord conversed. Lightfoot, Hor. Hebr.
Matth. xii. 24, says, " among the Jews it was almost reckoned a
duty of religion to reproach idols and idolatry, and call them by
contemptuous names, of which but was a common one ;" as he
proves from a passage in the Talmudical tract Beracoth. Sym-
machus, in like manner as the evangelists, uses TSkA^SovA, for
3121 byi, 2 Kings i. [See more in Wetstein's Far. Lect. on
Matth. x. 25.]
A like contemptuous epithet is used in other places. So
Levit. xxvi. 30 ; and Deut. xxix. 17, idols are styled a^bi and
O'^j, dungy gods, from bbl, faces, ordure. This leads me to
offer a correct version of Hosea v. 1 2, which, in our common
translation is most sadly perverted ; for there we read, " Ephraim
is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walk-
*The above explanation I have quoted from the " Scripture Illustrat
ed." I add here, the explanation of Schleusner. " Certe "7131 sterorari-
um etium pro fano idolatrico legitur in Hieros. Berachos, fol. 12. col. 2 et
ibidem sacrificantes idolis Stercorantes j'SsiD dicuntur."

156 THE NATURAL HISTORY
ed after the commandment." It seems strange, indeed, that
willing obedience to the commandment should be the occasion
of his errors and sufferings, especially as in the former chapter,
verse 1 7, he is declared to be given to idols, and therefore for
saken of Jehovah. But the original requires here quite a differ
ent rendering. Its literal and true meaning is, Ephraim is crush
ed and judicially broken, because he willingly became addict
ed to idols. And the word, which in our common translation
is " commandment," in the Hebrew is soy, a disgusting term
to express an idol, [excrementum, stercus,] a term, expressive of
the detestable and polluting nature of idolatry. And it may be
observed, that the very pronunciation of the word, is like that
strong propelling of the breath from the nostrils, when stench is
perceived. Baal-zebub was worshipped by the Philistines, because he
was supposed to defend his votaries from the flies which infested
those regions. History informs us, that those who live in hot cli
mates, and where the soil was moist, (which was the case of the
Ekronites, who bordered upon the sea) were exceedingly infest
ed with flies. And it seems not improbable, that a general per
suasion of his power of driving away flies from the places they
frequented, might be the reason why the god of Ekron was call
ed Beelzebub : for it was customary with the heathens to call
their gods by the name of those insects from which they were
believed to deliver their worshippers.* The god of flies, MuiwdVi
and the fly-hunter, Muiawoc, were titles ascribed by the Greeks
to Jupiter as well as to Hercules. Airapwiu Ah d-vovc-iv HAe<o#,
'?oj/ji»iov &i Airo\Mim "Egantei. Clem. Alexandr. in Proctreptico.
So the LXX. translators, who certainly knew better than we, at
this distance of time can pretend to do, what were the emblema
tic gods of the heathen, have constantly rendered 313? by} by
Ba«A fMnxM, Baal the fly. And in this, they are followed by Jo
sephus, who says that Ahaziah sent ir^og rov Awco^wv ©eon Mvixv,
touto yx% yjv ovapx ®ta>, to the god-fly, (for that was his name,)
of Ekron. And an old writer, cited by Suidas, under the word
HAi«s-, says concerning Ahaziah, that E;^ij«*to Mui«, tov tjv Ax-
K»(>a> EiJ'wAw, he applied to the fly, the idol of those of Ekron.
See also the corresponding testimonies of Nazianzen, Theodo-
ret, Philastrius, and Procopius which are adduced by Bo
chart, vol. iii. p. 499. It seems that the Ammorites and Ca-
* " Sic Hercules dictus imxTont, interemptor vermiculorum vites infes-
tantium, qui Graecis tint. Item xmunat, culicum depulsor CEtceis cultus."
Lomierus de Vet. Gent, lustrationibus, p. 23. Bochart. Hieroz. par. ii.
I. ir. c. 9. Selden de Dis Syr. syntag. ii. c. 6. p. 228, ed. Amstel. 1680.
Farmer on Demoniacs, ch. i. sect. ii. p. 18.

OF THE BIBLE. 167
uaamtes were also votaries of this idol. And we find the figure
of a fly upon some Phoenician medals ; as also upon the statue of
the goddess Diana at Ephesus.* In like manner the Elians
adored Jupiter the driver away of flies, and the Romans under
the character of Hercules Apomyius.l This name was afterwards
used by the Jews to signify " the prince of devils." Comp.
Matth. x. 25. That this deity was supposed to have power over
evil spirits, and was capable of expelling them, appears from the
opinions of the Pharisees, Matth. xii. 24 ; Mark iii. 22 ; and
Luke xi. 15, where they accuse our Lord of combination with
Baalzebub. That he was considered as the patron deity of
medicine, is clearly implied in the conduct of Ahaziah, 2 Kings i.
2. If we look into heathen antiquity, we find that the Greek
mythology considered Apollo as the god of medicine, and attri
buted also to Apollo those possessions by a pythonic spirit, which
occasionally perplexed spectators, and of which, we have an in
stance, Acts xvi. 1 9. On these principles, 1 apprehend we see
the reason why Ahaziah sent to Baalzebub, to inquire the issue
of his accident, since Baalzebub was Apollo, and Apollo was the
god of physic. We see also, the reason of that apparently strange
expression of the Scribes, Mark iii. 22. " He hath Baalzebub,"
i. e. he is possessed by a pythonic spirit ; as we read also verse
30, because they said " he hath an unclean spirit," i. e. the
spirit of a heathen deity. To this agrees the contrast, in the fol
lowing verses, between an impure spirit and the Holy Spirit.
It illustrates also, the propriety of our Lord's assertion, that he
cast out devils, not by a pythonic spirit, not by the god of physic,
but by " the Spirit of God."
I have insensibly been led into this long digression from the
immediate purport of this article, to which I now return by
quoting a description ofthe zimb, from Mr. Bruce, with a note.
" This word [zimb] is Arabic, and signifies the fly in general.
The Chaldee paraphrase is content with calling it simply zebub,
which has the same general signification. The Ethiopic version
calls it tsaltsalya, which is the true name of this particular fly in
Geez. " It is in size very little larger than a bee, of a thicker propor
tion, and its wings, which are broader, are placed separate like
those of a fly. Its head is large ; the upper jaw or lip, is sharp,
* Claud. Menit. Symb. Dian. Ephes. Stat. 1. ii. p. 391, Gronov.
f Plin. N. H. 1. x. c. 29. Solin. c. i. Salmasius Exercit. Plin. in
Solin. p. 9. Selden, de Diis Syriis, Syntagm. ii. ch. 6. Vossius de Idolo-
latria, b. ii. c. 4.
Kolben. mentions a like superstition among the Hottentots. Present
State ofthe Cape of Good Hope, V. i. p. 99.

158 THE NATURAL HISTORY
and has at the end of it a strong pointed hair, of about a quarter of
an inch in length ; the lower jaw has two of these hairs : and this
pencil of hairs, joined together, makes a resistance to the finger,
nearly equal to a strong bristle of a hog. Its legs are serrated on
the inside, and the whole covered with brown hair, or down.
It has no sting, though it appears to be of the bee kind.
" As soon as this winged assassin appears, and his buzzing is
heard, the cattle forsake their food, and run wildly about the
plain till they die, worn out with affright, fatigue, and pain.
" The inhabitants of Melinda down to cape Gardefan, to Saba,
and the south coast of the Red Sea, are obliged to put themselves
in motion, and remove to the next sand in the beginning of the
rainy season. This is not a partial emigration ; the inhabitants
of ail the countries, from the mountains of Abyssinia northward,
to the confluence of the Nile and Astaboras, are, once in a year,
obliged to change their abode, and seek protection in the sands of
Beja, till the danger of the insect is over. The elephant and
the rhinoceros, which, by reason of their enormous bulk, and the
vast quantity of food and water they daily need, cannot shift to
desert and dry places, are obliged, in order to resist the zirnb, to
roll themselves in mud and mire, which, when dry, coats thern
over like armour.
" Of all those who have written of these countries, the pro
phet Isaiah alone has given us an account of this fly, and described
the mode of its operations.*
" Providence from the beginning, it would appear, had fixed
its habitation to one species of soil, which is a black, fat earth, ex
tremely fruitful. In the plagues brought upon Pharoah, it was
by means of this contemptible, yet formidable insect that God
said he would separate his people from the Egyptians. The
land of Goshen, the possession ofthe Israelites, was aland of pas- ,
ture, not tilled nor sown, because not overflowed by the Nile :
but the land overflowed by the Nile, was the black earth of the
* Chap. vii. 18. This verse, according to an amended translation, should
read thus : " And it shall come to pass, as in that day Jehovah did hiss for
the fly that was in the end of the rivers of Egypt, [alluding to the invasion
»f Sisac] so will he for the bee that is in the land of Assyria," [predicting
the conquest of Senacherib.]
See " Critical Remarks on Isai. vii. 18," by Granville Penn, Esq.
¦Ito. Lond. 1800.
This method of gathering bees together by hissing or whistling, (o-vgie/t*-
at) as we do now by beating of brass, was practised in Asia, in the 4th and
5th centuries. Cyril speaks of it as a thing very common in his time;
and so it is still in Lithuania and Muscovy, countries abounding in bees,
where the master of the hives leads them out to feed and brings them
home again by a blast of his whistle. Nature Displayed, V. iii. p. 25,
Eng. ed. 12mo. Bochart, V. iii. 606.

OF THE BIBLE. 159
valley of Egypt, and it was here that God confined the zimb ; for
he says, it shall be a sign of this separation of the people which
he had then made, that not one fly should be seen in the sand, or
pasture ground, ofthe land of Goshen. And this kind of soil has
ever since been the refuge of all cattle emigrating from the black
earth to the lower part of Atbara. So powerful is the weakest
instrument in the hands ofthe Almighty! Isaiah, indeed, says,
that ' the fly shall be in all the desert places,' and consequently,
the sands ; yet this was a particular dispensation of providence, to
answer a special end, the desolation of Egypt, and was not a re
peal of the general law, but a confirmation of it — it was an excep
tion for a particular purpose and a limited time." It was no
trifling judgment, then, with which the prophet threatened the
refractory Israelites. Isai. viii. 18. If the prediction be under
stood in the literal sense, it represents the oestra or cincinnellce,
as the armies of Jehovah, summoned by him to battle against
his offending people ; or, if it be taken metaphorically, which is
perhaps the proper way of expounding it, the prophet compares
the numerous and destructive armies of Babylon, to the countless
swarms of these flies, whose distant hum is said to strike the
quadrupeds with consternation, and whose bite inflicts, on man
and beast, a torment almost insupportable.*
III. The word o'3-id serabim, Ezek. ii. 6, in our version ren
dered " scorpions," is by the LXX. it ageusia- wavt ; and in Hosea
iv. 16, they render miD sarerah by irx^oi^ffty. These two
places refer us to the insect called by the Greeks aifgo? or oestrus,
and by the Latins asilus and tabanus. Our translation of the
' passage in Hosea is, " Israel slideth back as a back-sliding heif
er ; now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place."
The rrno m=33 parah sarerah, designs properly a cow which
has been stung by a gad-fly, or other insect ; and the latter part
ofthe verse refers to those retreats of safety, where the animal
.might feed as quietly as a lamb. Perhaps the sarar may be the
sarran which Meninski describes as " a great bluish fly, having
greenish eyes, its tail armed with a piercer, by which it pesters
almost all horned cattle, settling on their heads, &c. Often it
creeps up the nostrils of asses. It is a species of gad-fly, but car
rying its sting in its tail."
Vallisnieri, in his History of Insects, gives a description of
the ox-fly or gad-fly. Its shape somewhat resembles a wasp,
without a sting or proboscis in its mouth. It has two membrana
ceous wings, with which it makes a most horrible whizzing. The
belly is terminated by three long rings, one less than another, from
* Paxton's Illustr. of Scripture, V. i. p. 300.

160 THE NATURAL HISTORY
the last of which proceeds a most formidable sting. This sting
is composed of a tube, through which its eggs are emitted, and of
two augers which make way for the tube to penetrate into the
skin of the cattle : these augurs are armed with two little darts,
which have a point to pierce, and an edge to cut : at the end of
the sting issues forth a venomous liquor, which irritates and in
flames the fibres, and causes a swelling in the skin of the wound
ed animal: they often deposit an egg within this swelling,
where a worm is formed, being nourished by the juice which
flows from the wounded fibres. The worm remains nine or
ten months there, and then comes out of its own accord, and
creeps into some hole, and there enters into the state of a
chrysalis; in which condition it lies for some time, and at
last comes forth in the form of the parent fly.
Mr. Clark in his account of the cestrus bovis, inserted in the
" Transactions of the Linnaean Society," Vol. iii. p. 295, says,
" the pain it inflicts in depositing its eggs, is much more se
vere than any of the other species. When one of the cat
tle is attacked by this fly, it is easily known by the extreme ter
ror and agitation of the whole herd. The unfortunate object of
the attack, runs bellowing from among them to some distant part
of the heath, or to the nearest water ; while the tail, from the se
verity of the pain, is held with a tremulous motion, strait from the
body, in the direction of the spine, and the head and the neck are
also stretched out to the utmost. The rest from fear generally
follow to the water, or disperse to different parts of the field.
And such is the dread and apprehension in the cattle of this fly,
that I have seen one of them meet the herd when almost driven
home, and turn them back, regardless of the stones, sticks, and
noise of their drivers ; nor could they be stopped till they had
reached their accustomed retreat in the water."
Bochart has, in a very learned manner, illustrated the passage
in Hosea ; and supplied numerous quotations from the Fathers in
confirmation of his opinion, and passages from the Greek and
Latin classics, descriptive ofthe insect, and ofthe terror which it
excites in the cattle, and the pain inflicted by its sting.* It is by
no means clear, that the oestrus of modern entymologists is sy
nonymous with the insects which the Greeks distinguish by that
name. Aristotle, not only describes these as blood-suckers,
(Hist. An. 1. viii. c. 11.) but also as furnished with a strong pro-
* Hieroz. V. ii. p. 419. Rosenmuller, in his note, says that this is the
Tabanus bovis of Linnpf.cs. S. N. t. i. p. 5, pag. 2881. Forseall has men
tioned it among the insects of Arabia. [Deser. Anim. Hauniae 1775, p. 85,]
and adds, " Ubique equis infestus."

OF THE BIBLE. 161
boscis, (I. iv. c. 7.) He observes likewise, that they are produc
ed from an animal inhabiting the waters, in the vicinity of which
they most abound. (1. viii. c. 7.) And .Elian, Hist. 1. vi. c. 38,
gives nearly the same account. Comparing the oestrus with the
myops, he says, that the oestrus for a fly, is one of the largest ;
it has a stiff and large sting, (meaning a proboscis,) and emits a
certain humming and harsh sound ; but the myops is like the cy-
nomyia, it hums more loudly than the oestrus, though it has a
smaller sting.
These characters and circumstances do not at all agree with
the modern oestrus, which, so far from being a blood-sucker fur
nished with a strong proboscis, has scarcely any mouth. It
shuns also the vicinity of water, to which our cattle generally fly
as a refuge from it, It seems more probable that the oestrus of
Greece, was related to Bruce's zimb, represented in his figure
with a long proboscis, which makes its appearance in the neigh
bourhood of rivers, and belongs, perhaps, to Latreille's genus
Pangonia, or to his Nemestrina*
IV. Forskal mentions that there are immense numbers of
the culex molestus at Rosetta, Kahira, and Alexandria ; extreme
ly troublesome, particularly during the night.
Solomon observes, Eccles. vii. 26, " dead flies cause the
apothecaries' ointment to stink." " A fact well known," says
Scheuchzer, " wherefore apothecaries take care to preventflies
from coming to their syrups and other fermentable preparations.
For in all insects there is an acrid volatile salt, which, mixed with
sweet, or even alkaline substances, excites them to a brisk intes
tine motion, disposes them to fermentation, and to putrescence
itself; by which the more volatile principles fly off, leaving the
grosser behind : at the same time, the taste and odour are chang
ed, the agreeable to fetid, the sweet to insipid." This verse is
an illustration, by a very appropriate similitude, of the conclu
ding assertion in the preceding chapter, that " one sinner destroy-
eth much good," as one dead fly spoils a whole vessel of pre
cious ointment, which, in Eastern countries, was considered as
very valuable, 2 Kings xx. 1 3. The application of this proverbi
al expression to a person's good name, which is elsewhere com
pared to sweet ointment, Eccles. vii. 1 ; Cantic. i. 3, is remarka
bly significant. As a fly, though a diminutive creature, can taint
and corrupt much precious perfume; so a small mixture of folly
and indiscretion, will tarnish the reputation of one, who, in other
respects, is very wise and honourable ; and so much the more,
because ofthe malignity and ingratitude»of mankind, who are dis-
* Kirby and Spencb, Introd. to Entomology, p. 154.
21

162 THE NATURAL HISTORY
posed rather to censure one error, than to commend many excel
lencies, and from whose minds one small miscarriage is sufficient
to biot out the memory of all other deserts. It concerns us,
therefore, to conduct ourselves unblameably, that we may not by
the least oversight or folly, blemish our profession, or cause it to
be offensive to others.
FLINT, wnbn halamish.
Occ. Deut. viii. 15 ; xxxii. 13 ; Job xxviii. 9 ; Psal. cxiv.- 8:
and Jsai. 1. 7.
A hard stone, whose parts, when broken, fly off with great
force. Michaelis thinks that it particularly denotes the reddish
granite or porphyry, which, as he shews from the testimony of
eye-witnesses, abounds in- and about Mount Horeb and Sinai.
He owns, however, that in the place in Job, it must be taken in
a larger sense, as the skilful metalists, whom he consulted could
not recollect that metalline ores were ever found in porphy
ry. Mr. Good renders it there, " sparry ore."
FOWL, siy ouph.
Gen. i. 21 . -30 ; and in many other places, is the generic name
of all the feathered tribe.
ay avit, Gen. xv. 11; Job xxvii. 7 ; Isai.xviii. 6 ; xlvi. 1 1 ;
and Ezek. xxxix. 4, intends birds of prey. Whence the
Greek word xi2k, a species of eagle.
o:ii3-Q earburim, 1 Kings iv. 23, means poultry fatted in tht
pen to the greatest delicacy.
ii3]f tsifpor, Gen. iv. 1 7, and many other places. A com
mon name for all birds ; but sometimes for the sparrow in
particular. See Sparrow.
FOX. 'lym shual ; Arab, taaleb.
Occ. Jud. xv. 4; Nehem. iv. 3; xi. 27 ; Psalm lxiii. 10;
Cantic. ii. 15; Lam. v. 18; and Ezek. xiii. 4. AAiiriHH,
Matth. viii. 20; Luke ix. 5, 8 ; and xiii. 32.
Parkhurst observes, that this is the name of an animal, pro
bably so called from his burrowing, or making holes in the earth
to hide himself or dwell in. The LXX. render it by «A«t>j£,
th<d Vulgate " Vulpes," and our English version " fox ;" and it
must be owned, that this seems a very proper appellation for that
animal. Thus Oppian.
KaI iwtvVTH VAltt tarv/J-ATOtt I'll ¦pa>\tlot<rn.
Cunning he dwells in burrows deep.
ft
But still it is no easy matter to determine, whether the He
brew byra, means the common fox, " canis vulpes," or the jackal,

OF THE BIBLE. 163
^ canis aureus," " the little eastern fox," as Hasselquist calls
him. Several ofthe modern oriental names ofthe jackal, i. e.
the Turkish chical, the Persian sciagal, sciugal, sciachal, or scha-
cal, (whence the French chacal, and English jackal) from their
resemblance to the Hebrew, favour the latter interpretation :
and Delon, in his Travels, observes of the jackals that " they
hide themselves in holes under the ground in the day time, never
keeping abroad but in the night in search of prey ;'' and Hassel
quist, p. 175, says, "that in Palestine he saw many of the jackals'
caves and holes in the hedges round the gardens." The He
brew name, therefore, may suit the jackal as well as the fox.
It is recorded in Judges xv. 4, 5, that " Samson went and
caught three hundred foxes, and took fire-brands, and turned tail
lo tail, and put a fire brand in the midst between two tails ; and
when he had set the brands on fire, he let go* into the standing
corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks and also the
standing corn, with the vineyards and olives." Dr. Shaw thinks
jackals to be the animals here intended ; observing, that " as
these are creatures by far the most common and familiar, as well as
the most numerous of any in the Eastern countries, we may well
perceive the great possibility there was forSamson to take, or cause
to be taken, three hundred of them. The /ox, properly so call
ed (he adds) is rarely to be met with, neither is it gregarious."
So Hasselquist remarks, " Jackals are found in great numbers
about Gaza; and from their gregarious nature, it is much more
probable that Samson should have caught three hundred of them,
than of the solitary quadruped, the fox."
However strange the history of setting fire to corn by tying fire
brands to foxes' tails may sound to us, yet we find such a prac
tice alluded to in a very remarkable passage of Ovid, Fast, lib.
iv. v. 681. " Cur igitur missae junctis ardentia taedis
Terga ferant vulpes, causa docenda mihi."
The following fable of Apthonius, which, says Mr. Merrick,!
1 the rather take notice of, as it is not mentioned by Bochart,
seems much to the purpose. Tta^'yu irav^ui cpfiovov ipmottt to too
yurovos XM^,xvopi.vim fytov, &c. Agricola imp'robus cum invideret
proximo fceturam segetis, quavreretque quo pacto corrumpere pos-
* Our translators insert the word "them," understanding of letting
loose the foxes. I am rather disposed to think the substitution of " it" to
be better ; i. e. " he let it [the fire] go [spread] into the standing corn,
&c." I- Annot. on Psal. lxiii. 3.

164 THE NATURAL HISTORY
set ejus labores, captam vulpem, alligata face, in vicini sege-
tem dimittit. At ilia, non qua missa erat excurrens, volente
sic Deo, ejus qui dimiserat combussit segetem. Fab. 38. The
reader will find in Mr. Thomas Hearn's Apparatus prefixed to
Leland's Collectanea, a copper-plate representing a brick of the
Roman make, (and therefore the less likely to have any immediate
reference to the Scripture.) found twenty-eight feet below a pave
ment in London, about the year 1675, on which is exhibited in
baso relievo, the figure of a man driving into a field of corn, two
foxes with fire fastened to their tails.* Professor Michaelis, in
his '• Recueil de Questions, &c." xxxviii. thinks that the beasts
mentioned by the Psalmist lxiii. 10, could be no other than jack
als, which, says he, are so greedy of human carcasses, as to dig
them out of their graves. He adds, that the large number of
foxes taken by Samson, by no means agrees with the condition of
the common fox, as far as we know it, but wonderfully suits that
of these animals, which assort themselves by hundreds. In order,
however, to determine the point more clearly, he proposes that
it be inquired whether the jackal be an animal apt to bite, and
observes, that Samson's beasts should rather seem to have been
of a timorous nature, and yet ought to have been provided with
teeth considerably sharp, in order to defend themselves from
those who might attempt to stop them, and to take the fire-brands
from them. With regard to these circumstances, it deserves to
be remarked, that Kempfer describes the animal as bold, and
Aristotle speaks ofthe ®anc as not afraid of a man, though not
inclined to hurt him. Upon the whole, says Mr. Merrick,
the jackal seems to have been as fit for Samson's purpose, as the
ordinary fox would have been ; and that the fox was capable of
being employed by him, on the occasion recorded in Scripture,
seems sufficiently clear from the quotations already given from
Ovid and Apthonius.
The author of " Scripture Illustrated," remarks, " there is
some attention due to the nature and use ofthe torches, flam
beaux, employed by Samson in this procedure ; and perhaps,
could we identify the nature or form of these, the story might be
relieved from some of its uncouthnesses. They are called ana1;
lapadim ; or rather, as in the Chaldee and Syriac, lampadim ;
whence the Greek Kxputa.<;, and our lamp. Now, these lamps or
burners, were placed between two jackals, whose tails were tied
together, or at least there was a connexion formed between them
by a cord ; this is the reading of the LXX. in the Complutensian,
* This brick was the key of an arched vault, discovered at the same
time, full of burnt corn. See Monthly Magazine, V. 1. p. 13, note.

OF THE BIBLE. 165
kxi fim&riirtv xs^xov 7T£«? X6{»8v. Possibly, then, this cord was of
a moderate length, and this burner being tied in the middle of it,
it had somewhat of the effect which we have seen among our
selves, when wanton malice has tied to the tail of a dog, crackers,
squibs, &c. which, being fired, have worried the poor animal to
his den ; where, supposing them still to burn, they might set all
around them on fire. We know it is the nature ofthe jackal to
roam about dwellings and out-houses ; this would lead these ani
mals to where the corn, &c. of the Philistines was stowed ; which,
being inflamed, would communicate the conflagration in every
direction. We must therefore suppose, 1. That these burners
were at some distance from the animals, so as not to burn them.
2. That they were either dim in the manner of their burning,
and their light ; or, perhaps, were even not to be alarmingly dis
tinguished by their illumination. They might burn dead, as we
say ; so that their effect might take place too late to prevent the
mischief that attended them.
" This assimilates the circumstance of these lamps or burners.,
pretty much to the history of Gideon, who, we find, used three
hundred of them in his expedition, as Samson used one hundred
and fifty ; so that they could not be rare and valuable, but com
mon and ordinary articles.
" We ought also to know the actual state of the corn, said to
be in sheaves, but, perhaps, properly, brought into the garner,
the threshing floor, and there gathered into heaps ready for
threshing : where it had acquired a great degree of dryness ; and
here, when it was once on fire, it could scarcely fail of being to
tally consumed. We are then, I presume, to understand the ef
fects produced by these various companies of jackals, as if one
rambling party set fire to the standing corn, others to the gather
ed corn, others to the vines, and others to the olives ; so that by
reason of the great number employed, a general devastation ensu
ed of whatever was abroad, out of the towns or secured habita
tions." On the other hand, Dr. Kennicott remarks,* " the three
hundred foxes, caught by Samson, have been so frequently the
subject of banter and ridicule, that we should consider whether
the words may not admit a more rational interpretation. For,
besides the improbability arising here from the number of these
foxes, the use made of them, is also very strange. If these ani
mals were tied tail to tail, they would probably pull contrary
ways, and consequently stand still ; whereas, a fire-brand, tied to
the tail of each fox singly, would have been far more likely to an-
* Bemarks on select passages in the Old Testament. Oxf. 1737. p. 100.

166 THE NATURAL HISTORY
swer the purpose here intended. To obviate these difficulties,
it has been well remarked, that the word o,-yn» here translated
• foxes,' signifies also handfuls (Ezek. xiii. 1 9, ' handfuls of bar
ley,') if we leave out that one letter i, which has been inserted or
omitted elsewhere, almost at pleasure. No less than seven He
brew MSS. want that letter here, and read CD'bya. Admitting
this version, we see that Samson took three hundred handfuls (or
sheaves) of corn, and one hundred and fifty fire-brands ; that he
turned the sheaves end to end, and put a fire brand between the
two ends, in the midst ; and then, setting the brands on tire, sent
the fire into the standing corn ofthe Philistines. The same word
is now used twice in one chapter, Ezek. xiii. 4, and 1 9 ; in the
former verse, it signifies foxes, in the latter, handfuls ; and in
1 Kings xx. 10, where we render it ' handfuls,' it is xKum^t in the
Greek version."
Dr. Kennicott refers to the " Memoirs of Literature," for the
year 1712, p. 15. I presume that it is the same illustration
which is given in the " Republ. des Lettres," Oct. 1707, a trans
lation of which I here insert.
" When Samson, exasperated against the Philistines, had de
termined to destroy their corn, he observed that they had put to
gether all their sheaves, and made three hundred shocks. He
therefore formed a plan to burn them, and the enterprize did not
depend so much upon his great strength, as upon his courage, pru
dence and expedition. These three hundred shocks, could not
be set on fire, one after another, without loss of time, and danger
of discovery. On this account, he judged it necessary to lay two
sheaves at length upon the ground, to make a communication be
tween every two shocks. He then put some combustible matter
between the two sheaves, such as flax, hemp, &c. which he could
easily carry with him into the fields ; and having effected this, he
finally set fire to the combustible matter. The fire, aided proba
bly by a dry season, and fanned by the wind, spread from sheaf
to sheaf, and shock to shock, and running over the neighbouring
fields, consumed the standing corn, the vineyards and the olives.
" Hence it appears very evident, that Samson, who was a war
rior and not a huntsman, did not undergo the fatigue of hunting
foxes, but directly attacked the harvest of his enemies. He did
not unkennel three hundred beasts, but only found so many
shocks of corn. He did not tie three hundred tails, but only
joined so many sheaves together. Interpreters have been mis
led by the custom of the ancient Jews, who always affected the
hieroglyphical or mystical sense in words of an equivocal signifi
cation. In this story they insinuated to the reader, that Samson
had deceived his enemies, who, by tampering with his wife, had

OF THE BIBLE. 167
before been too cunning for him. This gave occasion to saying,
' Sampson pursued the foxes ;' that is to say, he revenged him
self with great damage on the Philistines. They concealed this
thought under the ambiguity of the word r^'byw instead of
O'Syty which properly signifies shectves : for words must be ex
plained according to the subject, scope, and series of the dis
course. It is observable, too, that the word 3JT which we trans
late " tail," signifies, through the whole tenor ofthe Jewish law,
the extreme part of any thing whatever. For example, if a gar
den had five trees, in the Jewish language the fifth and last was al
ways called 33i. In like manner the last sheaf of a whole shock
was called 331.
" It is no wonder, therefore, that interpreters have not hit
upon the real matter of fact, when they did not apprehend the
design of the ancient Jews. They fatigue themselves in chasing
the poor foxes, and bringing them by droves to Samson ; but all
the while they are at a loss to know how he surprized them, and
where he kept and maintained them till opportunity served ; in a
word, how he could enchant so many beasts, and make them fol
low him to the place appointed ; with other difficulties in the his
tory, too obvious to need enumeration. In reality, they have un
dergone more drudgery and fatigue to provide Samson with foxes,
than he himself could have suffered had he attempted to surprize
them in a hundred places.
" To conclude, there was no need to maintain such a troop of
wild beasts, since the prudent captain, without such an impracti
cable method, was able, as we have seen above, to reduce to
ashes the harvest of the Philistines, with no other assistance than
his own hands and a small quantity of combustible matter."
The following strictures upon this criticism, were furnished by
my venerated friend, the late Stephen Sewall, Hollis Professor
of Hebrew and the Oriental languages in Harvard College at
Cambridge ; and though some of his remarks are in part a reca
pitulation of preceding ones under this article, I shall give them
entire. " However plausible this turn may seem, I think that it is
as far from the sense of the sacred historian, as it is from
our translation, which I imagine, truly expresses his meaning.
For the word ~\ib, which our translators have rendered ' caught,'
never signifies simply to get, take, or fetch, but always to catch,
seize, or take by assault, stratagem, or surprize, &c. unless the
following place, 1 Sam. xiv. 47, ' So Saul took the kingdom.
over Israel,' be an exception. Again, admitting the propos
ed alteration in the word by\a, it will be difficult to prove
that even then it means a sheaf. The word is used but three

168 THE NATURAL HISTORY
times in the whole bible. Its meaning must be gathered from
the connexion in which it stands here. The first place, 1
Kings xx. 10, where it is rendered ' handfuls,' not of grain,
but of dust. ' The gods do so unto me, and more also,' says
Benhadad, king of Syria, ' if the dust of Samaria shall suffice
for handfuls for all the people that follow me.' In Isaiah xl.
1 2, the same word is translated ' the hollow of the hand.'
' Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
and meted out the heavens with a span.' The last place in
which the word occurs, is Ezekiel xiii. 9, * And will ye pol
lute me among my people for handfuls of barley, and for
pieces of bread ?' The connexion here with pieces of bread
seems evidently to point out to us handfuls of barley in the
grain, not handfuls or sheaves in the ear and straw. In fine,
•from the places quoted, taken in their several connexions,
the word plainly appears to mean a measure of capacity, as
much as the hollow of the hand can hold ; as a hand-breadth
is used in Scripture for a measure of extension. Add to this,
that in all other places of Scripture where we meet with the
word handful, that is, as much grain in the stock as the reap
er can grasp in his hand, or sheaf, a collection of such hand
fuls bound together, different terms from that in dispute, are
always made use of in the original; as Ruth ii. 15, 16, and
elsewhere. " The supposed incredibleness of the story, as it stands in our
Bibles, is, I imagine, the only reason for forcing it into an
other meaning. The language of the critics I oppose is this,
' the action of Samson, as represented in our translation, is
so extraordinary that it must be miraculous. The occasion
was unworthy of the divine interposition. Therefore the
translators of the Bible must in this particular have mistaken
the meaning of the sacred historian.' But we have shewn
above, from an examination of the principal terms, that the
translation is just, lt remains then to be shewn, either that
the occasion was not unworthy of the divine interposition, or
that the action was not above human capacity. The latter, I
am fully persuaded, is the truth of the case, though I am far
from thinking the former indefensible. The children of Israel
were, in a peculiar manner, separated from the rest of mankind,
for this purpose more especially, to preserve in the world,
till the times of general reformation should come, the know
ledge and worship of the one true God. At sundry times,
and in divers manners, did the Deity for this end interpose.
¦Many instances of this kind are recorded in the book of Judg
es. When this people perverted the end of their distinguish-

OF THE BIBLE. 169
ed privileges, God suffered them to be enslaved by those idola
trous nations whose false deities they had worshipped. By
this means they were brought to a sense of their error ; and
when they were sufficiently humbled, ' the Lord raised up
Judges which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoil
ed them.' Jud. ii. 16. In such a state of servitude to the Phi
listines were they at this time. Samson was raised up in an ex
traordinary manner to be their deliverer ; and his intermarriage
with the Philistines, was a means, which Providence saw fit to
make use of to effect their deliverance. Thus the affair is re
presented. Samson proposes his intentions to his parents. They
expostulate with him. ' Is there never a woman among the
daughters of thy brethren, or among all thy people, that thou go-
est to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines ?' ' But they,'
adds the sacred historian, ' were ignorant that it was of the
Lord, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines ; for at
that time, the Philistines had dominion over Israel.' Though
Samson, then, might propose to himself nothing more in forming
a connexion with a foreign lady than the gratification of his own
inclinations, yet, we are warranted to say, an over-ruling Provi- -
dence had a farther design. The same may be affirmed of oth
er actions of Samson, which appear to have proceeded from pas
sions of a more rugged complexion. His intention in them might
be unworthy of a divine interposition, but the end which God
had in view, the deliverance of a people chosen to preserve his
worship in the world, would make it highly fit and necessary.
Nor ought it to be reckoned strange, that such means should be
used ; for we are authentically assured that the wrath of man,
and by parity of reason, other passions too, are sometimes made
to praise the Lord. Thus much I thought necessary to say for
the sake of those, to whom a solution on natural principles,
shall seem unsatisfactory. Such a solution I no w proceed to give.
" In the first place, it is evident from the Holy Scriptures, that
Palestine abounded with foxes, or that animal, be it what it will,
which is signified by the Hebrew word bywr. This appears' from
many passages. [Psal. lxiii. 10 ; Cantic. ii. 15 ; Lam. v. 18 ; 1
Sam. xiii, 17 ; Josh. xv. 28 ; xix. 3.] From their numbers, then,
the capture would be easy.
" Farther : under the Hebrew word byva was probably com
prehended another animal, very similar to the fox, and very
plenty in Palestine ; gregarious, and whose Persic name is radi
cally the same with the Hebrew. Allowing this to be the ani
mal, the story is easily admissible to belief, without the supposi
tion of a miracle. For it is not said, that Samson caught so many
foxes in one hour, or one day ; or, that he caught them all with
22

170 THE NATURAL HISTORY
his own hands. Being then, Judge of Israel, he might employ
many hands, and yet be said, according to the common use of
language, to do it himself.
" Add to this, that the season, the days of wheat harvest, was
extremely favourable for hunting these animals ; and, as they
were gregarious, many might be surrounded or entrapped at once.
" I shall conclude with an argument more in favour of the just
ness of our translation, in rendering the word byia ' a fox,' not a
sheaf. It has been esteemed by some persons of extensive lite
rature, to be a demonstrative argument. I shall mention it, and
leave it to stand on its own bottom. At the feast of Ceres, the
goddess of corn, celebrated annually at Rome about the middle of
April, there- was the observance of this custom, — to fix burning
torches to the tails of a number of foxes, and to let them run
through the circus till they were burnt to death. This was done
in revenge upon that species of animals, for having once burnt up
the fields of corn. The reason, indeed, assigned by Ovid, is too
frivolous an origin for so solemn a rite ; and the time of its cele
bration, the 17th of April, it seems was not harvest time, when
the fields were covered with corn, — ' vestitos messibus agros ;'
for the middle of April was seed-time in Italy, as appears from
Virgil's Georgics. Hence we must infer that this rite must have
taken its rise from some other event, than that by which Ovid
accounted for it ; and Samson's foxes are a probable origin of it.
The time agrees exactly, as may be collected from several passa
ges of Scripture. For instance, from the book of Exodus we
learn, that before the Passover, that is, before the fourteenth day
of the month Abib, or March, barley in Egypt was in the ear ;
xii. 18 ; xiii. 4. And in ch. ix. 31, 32, it is said that the wheat
at that time was not grown up.' Barley harvest, then, in Egypt,
and so in the country of the Philistines which bordered upon it,
must have fallen about the middle of March. Wheat harvest ac
cording to Pliny, N. H. lib. viii. c. 7, was a month later. ' In
iEgypto hordeum sexto a satu mense, frumenta septimo metun-
tur.' Therefore, wheat harvest happened about the middle of
April ; the very time in which the burning of foxes was observed
at Rome.
" It is certain that the Romans borrowed many of their rites
and ceremonies, both serious and ludicrous, from foreign nations :
and Egypt and Phoenicia furnished them with more, perhaps than
any other country. From one of these, the Romans might either
receive this rite, immediately, or through the hands of their
neighbours the Carthaginians, who were a colony of Phoenicians ;
and so its true origin may be referred back to the story which
we have been considering.

OF THE BIBLE. 171
A writer in the Biblioth. Brem. class viii. fasc. v. p. 802, sug
gests, that all the difficulty is removed by supposing that Samson
employed the Shualim (Shualites, or men of Shual, a district of
the country bordering on the Philistines,)* to do this mischief.
" Non nobis est tantas componere lites."
II. Bochart has made it probable that the O"*? iyim spoken
of in Isai. xiii. 22, xxxiii. 14, and Jerem. 1. 39, rendered by our
translators " the beasts of the islands," an appellation veiy vague,
and indeterminate, are jackals ;] and that the Gone of the Greeks,
and the Beni ani of the Arabians are the same animal : and
though he takes that to have been their specific name, yet
he thinks, that from their great resemblance to a fox, they might
be comprehended under the Hebrew name of a fox, shual ; which
is indeed, almost the same with sciagal or sciugal, the Persian
names ofthe jackal.f J- C. Scaliger and Olearius, quoted by
Bochart, expressly call the jackal, a fox ; and Mr. Sandys
speaks of it in the same manner : " the jackals, in my opinion are
no other than foxes, whereof an infinite number."§ Hasselquist
calls it " the little eastern fox ;" and Kempfer says, that it might
not improperly be called " the wolf-fox."|| lt is therefore very
conceivable, that the ancients might comprehend this animal un
der the general name of fox.
To be "the portion of foxes," Psal. lxiii. 10, is for men to
have their land or habitation rendered desolate and ruinous, and
themselves left unburied. " On my asking a gentleman of the
army," says Mr. Merrick, " not long before returning from the
East Indies, in what manner the barbarous nations of that
country dispose ofthe bodies of their enemies killed in battle,
he answered, that they leave them on the field to be devoured by
the jackals and other animals. I could not but regard this intel
ligence, as some confirmation of their opinion, who suppose jack
als to be the beasts here meant by the Hebrew word which is
translated foxes."
In Cantic. ii. 1 5, foxes are mentioned as destroying the vines.
These animals are observed by many authors to be fond of grapes,
and to make great havock in vineyards. Aristophanes, in his
* 1 Sam. xiii. 17 j Josh xv. 23 ; xix. 3, 41 ; 1 Chron. iv. 28 ; and Jud.
i. 35.
t The Chaldee paraphrases have 7inn chathul ; the sound of which, aids
tbe sense.
% Hieroz p. 1. 1. 3. c. 13. \ Trav. b. 3.
|| Amtenit. Exot.fasc- 2. p. 413-

172 THE NATURAL HISTORY
" Equites," compares soldiers to foxes, who spoil whole coun
tries, as the others do vineyards. Galen, de aliment, 1. 3. c. 2,
tells us, that hunters did not scruple to eat the flesh of foxes in
autumn, when they were grown fat with feeding on grapes. The
following is the remark of Theocritus, Idyl. E. v. 112.
Murae Tat iAnvxifxat AuatiXAt, At ta Mikww
Aie( ponaxrAt ta m&srmeA 'eAyi&VTi.
I hate those brush-tailed foxes, that each night,
Spoil Micon's vineyards with their deadly bite.
Hasselquist remarks, p. 184, that " this animal is common
in Palestine. They are very numerous in the stony country
about Bethlehem. There is also plenty of them near the con
vent of St. John, in the desert, about vintage time ; and they de
stroy all the vines, unless they are strictly watched." The fable
of " the fox and the sour grapes," is well known. In the origi
nal we have not only mention made of a-byra, " foxes," but al
so of crjDp tzj'bywf, " little foxes," which, as it is generally con
jectured by the commentators, may perhaps be jackals ; animals,
as Mr. Harmer observes, very common even in the present day,
and occasionally, extremely troublesome and injurious to vine
yards and gardens.*
^ Ezekiel xiii. 4, compares the false prophets to foxes. Either it
was his design to heighten their cunning and hypocrisy in imitat
ing the true prophets ; or he intended to shew, that these false
teachers, instead of supporting Jerusalem, endeavoured only to
destroy it, by undermining its walls and shaking its foundations,
as foxes undermine the ground, to make holes of retreat for them
selves. To give an idea of his own extreme poverty, our Lord says,
Luke ix. 58, " The foxes have holes, and the birds of theairhave
nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." And
he calls Herod, the tetrarch of Gallilee, a fox, Luke xiii. 32 ;
thereby signifying his craft, and the refinements of his policy.
In illustration of the pertinency of this allusion, I quote a remark
of Busbequius, p. 58, " I heard a mighty noise, as if it had been
of men who jeered and mocked us. I asked, what was the mat
ter ? and was answered, only the howlings of certain beasts which
the Turks call ciacals, ov jackals. They are a sort of wolves, some
what bigger than foxes, but less than common wolves, yet as
greedy and devouring. They go in flocks, and seldom hurt man
or beast ; but get their food more by craft and stealth, than by
* See at large on this passage Harmer's Observations on Sol. Song, p.
25G.

OF THE BIBLE. 173
open force. Thence it is, that the Turks call "subtle and crafty
persons by the metaphorical name of ciagals."
It may be proper to close this article, with a description of the
jackal. Jt is a beast between the wolf and the dog ; and, parti
cipating the nature of both, to the shyness and ferocity of the
one, unites the impudence and familiarity of the other.
Jackals never stir out alone, but always in flocks of twenty,
thirty, or forty. They collect together every day, to go in search
of their prey. They live on little animals, and make themselves
formidable to larger by their number. They attack every kind
of beasts or birds, almost in the presence of the human species.
They abruptly enter stables, sheep-folds, and other places, without
any sign of fear ; and, when they can find nothing else, they will
devour boots, shoes, harnesses, &c. and what leather they have
not time to consume, they take away with them. When
they cannot meet with any live prey, they dig up the dead car
casses of men or animals. The natives are obliged to cover the
graves with large thorns and other things, to prevent them from
scratching and digging up the dead bodies. The dead- are also
buried very deep in the earth ; for it is not a little trouble that
discourages them. Numbers of them work together, and ac
company their labour with a doleful howling. And when they
are once accustomed to feed on dead bodies, they run from coun
try to country, follow armies, and keep close to caravans. They
will eat the most infectious flesh ; and so constant and vehement
is their appetite, that the driest leather is savoury to them, and
skin, flesh, fat, excrement, or the the most putrid animal, is alike
to their taste.
For other particulars of the jackal, I refer to A. C. Guelden-
staedt, in Nov. Comment. Acad. Petrop. torn. xv. p. 449.
Oedman Vermischte Sammungen, fascic. 2. Diederichs Zur
Geschichte Simsons. Goet. 1778.
FRANKINCENSE, nmb lebonah. Exod. xxx. 34, et al.
freq. AIBANOS, Matth. ii. 11 ; Apoc. xviii. 13.
A dry, resinous substance, of a yellowish white colour, a strong
fragrant smell, and bitter, acrid taste. The tree which produces
it, is not known. Dioscorides mentions it as procured from In
dia. What is here called the " pure frankincense," is no doubt
the same with the " mascula thura" of Virgil ; and signifies
what is first obtained from the tree.
The region from which it is brought, is said in Scripture to be
Sheba, Isaiah lx. 6 ; Jer. vi. 20. And Theophrastus, Hist.
plant, lib. ix. c. 4, says, Tmrxt p,iv ouv o' Atftxvos ev tjj t&jv Ag«-
/3«v %a)t>x- px.<rri m(>t rov 2#/3#, k«i Ad^ajwirn*, tuu Kirxf&Xivx.

174 THE NATURAL HISTORY
The same is said by Strabo ; I. xvi. p. 778. Plin. Nat. Hist.
lib. vi. c. 28, and 1. xii. c. 14. and Virgil, Georg. i. v. 58.
Divisse arboribus patria. Sola India nigrum
Fert ebenuin ; solis est thurea virga Sabasis.
And Sidonius Apoll. carm. V. v. 43.

¦ Fert Indus ebur, Cnaldams amomum,

Asyrius gemmas, Ser vellera, thura oabsus.
From the name, some have supposed it to be a gum from mount
Lebanon ; and others, that the mount itself was so called from
the fragrance of the cedar trees, resembling that of incense.
This seems intimated in Cantic. iv. 14 ; and Ausonius, in
Monosyl. p. 110, says " Libani ceu montis honor thus." But it
is very certain, that the gum was brought to Judea from foreign
parts. This is affirmed by Kimchi, ad Jerem. vi. 20. " Apporta-
batur thus e terris longe dissitis, quia non inveniebatur in terra Is
raelis." M. Niebuhr, trav. p. 356, says, " We could learn
nothing of the tree from which incense distils ; and M. Forskal
does not mention it. I know that it is to be found in a part of
Hadramaut, where it is called oliban."
FROG, jmax tsephardea ; Arab, akurrak ; Graec. BAT-
PAXOS. Occ. Exod. viii. 2 — 14 ; Psal. lxxvii. 45 ; cv. 30 ; and Revel.
xvi. 13.
There is no disagreement about the meaning of the word ;*
but its etymology is very uncertain. After examining and dis
proving those of the lexicographers and of Bochart, Dr.
Geddes conjectures that the word is derived from the Hebrew
root ass, [pipere, mussitare, ululare,] and the Arabic yn, [slime,
mud ;] as if we were to call the frog, " the slime-croaker."
A frog, is, in itself, a harmless animal ; but to most people
who use it not as an article of food, exceedingly loathsome.
God could with equal ease, have sent crocodiles, lions, or tygers
to have punished the Egyptians and their impious king, as
frogs, lice, flies, &c. ; but, had he used any of those formidable
animals, the effect would have appeared so commensurate to the
cause, that the hand of God might have been forgotten in the pun
ishment, and the people would have been exasperated without
* Aben Ezra, indeed, says that several Rabbins thought it was the
crocodile ; and Abarbanel himself deemed this opinion very probable.
The proofs which be adduced in support of it, had so great weight with
D. Levi, that he firmly believed it the right one.

OF THE BIBLE. 175
being humbled. In the present instance, he shews the greatness
of his power by making an animal devoid of every evil quality,
the means of a terrible affliction to his enemies. How easy is it,
both to the justice and mercy of God, to destroy or save, by
means of the most despicable and insignificant instruments !
Though he is the Lord of hosts, he has no need of powerful ar
mies, the ministry of angels, or the thunderbolts of justice, to
punish a sinner or a sinful nation ; the frog, or the fly, in his
hands, is a sufficient instrument of vengeance.
The river Nile, which was the object of great admiration to
the Egyptians, is here made to contribute to their punishment.
The expression, " the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly,"
not only shows the vast numbers of those animals which should
infest the land, but it seems also to imply, that all the spawn or
ova of those creatures which were already in the waters and
marshes, should be brought miraculously to a state of perfection.
We may suppose that the animals were already in an embryo ex
istence ; but multitudes of them would not have come to a state
of perfection, had it not have been for this miraculous interfe
rence. This supposition will appear the more natural, when it
is considered, that the Nile, was remarkable for breeding frogs,
and such other animals as are principally engendered in such
marshy places, as must be left in the vicinity of the Nile, after its
annual inundations.*
The circumstance of their coming up into the bed-chambers,
and into the ovens and kneading-troughs, needs explanation to
us, whose domestic apartments and economy are so different
from those of the ancient nations. Their lodgings were not in
upper stories, but recesses on the ground floor; and their ov ens
were not like ours, built on the side of a chimney and adjacent to
a fire-place, where the glowing heat would fright away the frogs ;
but they dug a hole in the ground, in which they placed an earth
en pot, which having sufficiently heated, they stuck their cakes
to the inside to be baked. To find such places full of frogs
when they came to heat them in order to bake their bread, and
to find these nasty creatures in the beds where they sought re
pose, must have been both disgusting and distressing in the ex
treme. The magicians, indeed, went to persuade Pharaoh, that Moses
was only such a miracle-monger as they were, by imitating this
miracle, as they had done the precedent ones, and bringing a fresh
swarm of frogs. They might, indeed, have shewed their skill to
a better purpose, if they had tried to remove those vermin, of
* Dr. Adam Clarke, Annot- in loc,

176 THE NATURAL HISTORY
which the Egyptians did not need this fresh supply ; but it seems
that they had not power enough to do that. Wherefore Phara
oh was reduced to the necessity of sending for Moses, and promis
ing him that he would let Israel go, if he would but rid him and
his country of that odious plague. Moses took him at his word ;
and desiring him to name the time when he should free the land
of these creatures, punctually and precisely performed it ; so
that the next day, " the frogs died out of the houses, and out of
the villages, and out of the fields ;" and whilst his subjects were
gathering them up in heaps in order to carry them off, (their
stench being like to have bred an infection) Pharaoh was thinking
how to elude his promise, not considering that he only made way
for another plague.
" From what is said in Rev. xvi. 1 3, I should be induced to
think," says Mr. Bryant, " that these animals were of old, types
of magicians, priests, and prophets'; particularly those of Egypt.
If this be true, the miracle which Moses at this time exhibited,
was attended with a wonderful propriety in respect to Pharaoh
and his wise men ; and at the same time, afforded a just punish
ment upon the whole of that infatuated people, ' quibus res eo
pervenit, ut et ranm et culices et formicae Dii esse viderentur."
Lactantius, de origine erroris, lib. ii. c. 6. p. 135.
The author of the book of Wisdom, ch. xix. v. 1 0, refers to
this plague inflicted on the Egyptians, and says of the Israelites,
that " they were mindful of the things that were done while they
sojourned in the strange land, how the ground brought forth flies,
[cmrira] instead of cattle, and the river cast up a multitude of
frogs [^xr^x^aiv] instead of fishes." Philo, also, in his life of
Moses, 1. 1, has given a very particular account of the plague of
frogs. Bochart has devoted seventeen pages to the elucidation
of this subject.*
FULLER'S-SOAP. See Soap."
GALBANUM. r\nbn chelbenah.
This word occurs in Exodus xxx. 34, only. Michaelis Suppl.
ad Lex. Hebr. p. 753, makes the word a compound of 37fi,
" milk," or " gum," (for the Syriac uses the noun in both senses,)
and pS, " white ;" as being the white milk or gum of a plant.!
It is the thickened sap of an umbelliferous plant, called " me-
topion," which grows on mount Amanus in Syria, and is fre-
* Hieroz. Vol. iii. p. 563. .
fit is still common to call the white juice which exudes from certain
plants " the milk," and the term is retained in " gum lac," &c.

OF THE BIBLE. 177
quently found in Persia, and in some parts of Africa.* The plant
rises with a ligneous stalk from eight to ten feet, and is garnished
with leaves at each joint. The top ofthe stalk is terminated by
an umbel of yellow flowers, which are succeeded by oblong chan
nelled seeds, which have a thin membrane or wing on their bor
der. When any part ofthe plant is broken, there issues a little
thin juice of a cream colour. To procure this while the plant is
growing, the natives wound the stem at a small distance above
the root, and the gum which weeps out they collect for use. Il
is of a strong, piercing smell, and of a bitterish, warm taste.
It was an ingredient in the holy incense ofthe Jews.
GALL. ax*\ rash.
Something excessively bitter, and supposed to be poisonous :
as Deut. xxix. 18; xxxii. 32; Psal. lxix. 21 ; Jer. viii. 14 ; ix.
15; xxiii. 15; Lam. iii. 19; Hosea x. 4; Amos vi. 12. It i§
evident from the first mentioned place, that some herb or plant is
meant of a malignant or nauseous kind at least ; being there join
ed with wormwood, and in the margin of our bibles explained to
be " a very poisonful herb." Eben Ezra and the Rabbins ob
serve, that the word is written with a vau in Deut. xxxii. 32, and
with an aleph in all the other places, and that improperly. And
Dr. Geddes informs us that in Deut. xxix. 18, instead of am
rash, five MSS. have em rush, and a sixth had at first the same
reading; which, in the elder editions, was the textual reading in
ch. xxxii. 32, and which, he thinks, the true original meaning.
Gouset, Lex. Hebr. 785, says, that this plant is named from un,
to make poor, because it impoverishes the land where it grows,
and the animals that feed upon it.
I have inquired whether the word is retained in the Rhus Syria-
eum of Pliny. From the violent effects of the poisonous plant,
whatever it may be, comes our English word " rash," an inflam
matory eruption.
In Psal. lxix. 21, which is justly considered as a prophecy
of our Saviour's sufferings, it is said " they gave tyso to eat ;".
which the LXX. have rendered %oA»jv, gall. And accordingly
it is recorded in the history, Matth. xxvii. 34. " They gave
him vinegar to drink mingled with gall," o|o? (jterx ^oAtj?. But
in the parallel passage, Mark xv. 23, it is said to be strpvqvKryn-
vov oivov, " wine mingled with myrrh," a very bitter ingredient.
From whence I am induced to think that %phti, and perhaps ©to,
may be used as a general name for whatever is exceedingly bit-
* Ferula Afrieana galbanifera. Tournefort. Bubon. galban. Linnmi.
A particular description ofthe plant, may be found in Morrison, Hist.
pi. p. 309. See also Dioscobides, I. iii. c. 97. Plin. N. H. 1. xx. c. 25.
2.3,

178 THE NATURAL HISTORY
ter ; and consequently, where the sense requires it, may be put
specially for any bitter herb or plant, the infugjon of which may
be called bwvd.* So ^oAjj ar«igj«? is used metaphorically by St.
Peter, Acts viii. 23. And as ^oAjj also denotes choler or anger,
&vp,ac is used by the LXX. in the Old Testament for poison in
this sense of stupefying. Psal. Ix. 3, two? %arxw%,im,, the wine of
stupidity, of wrath, or malediction. So Psal. lxxv. 9. T\)yb
" Wormwood," is by the LXX. rendered %ohti, Prov. v. 4, and
Lament, iii. 15; and so is wid meremthi, from marar, Job xvi.
13. See Myrrh and Wormwood.
The following are the remarks of Dr. Adam Clarke, — "Per
haps the word £oA>j, commonly translated gall, signifies no more
than bitters of any kind. It was a common custom to administer
a stupifying potion, compounded of sour wine, which is the same
as vinegar, from the French vinaigre, frankincense, and myrrh,
to condemned persons, to help to alleviate their sufferings, or so
disturb their intellect, that they might not be sensible of them.
The Rabbins say, that they put a grain of frankincense into
a cup of strong wine ; and they ground this on Prov. xxxi. 6.
' Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, i. e. who is
condemned to death. Some person, out of kindness, appears to
haVe administered this to our blessed Lord ; but he, as in all other
cases, determining to endure the fulness of pain, refused to take
what was thus offered to him, chusing to tread the wine-press
alone. Instead of 'o£o?, vinegar, several excellent MSS. and Ver
sions have oivov, wine ; but as sour wine is said to have been a ge
neral drink of the common people and Roman soldiers, it being
the same as vinegar, it is of little consequence which reading is
here adopted. This custom of giving stupefying potions to con
demned malefactors, is alluded to in Prov. xxxi. 6. Give strong
drink, ipty shekar, inebriating drink, to him who is ready to pe
rish ; and wine to him who is bitter of soul — because he is just
going to suffer the punishment of death. And thus the Rabbins,
as we have seen above, understand it. See Lightfoot and
Schoetgen. " Michaelis offers an ingenious exposition of this place. ' Im
mediately after Christ was fastened to the cross, they gave him,
according to Matt, xxvii. 34, vinegar mingled with gall; but ac
cording to Mark xv. 23, they offered him wine mingled with
myrrh. That St. Mark's account is the right one, is probable
from this circumstance, that Christ refused to drink what was of
fered him, as appears from both evangelists. Wine mixed with
* Blanky, Note on Jerem. viii. 14.

OF THE BIBLE. 179
myrrh was given to malefactors at the place of execution, to in
toxicate them, and make them less sensible to pain. Christ,
therefore, with great propriety, refused the aid of such remedies.
But if vinegar was offered him, which was taken merely to as
suage thirst, there could be no reason for his rejecting it. Be
sides, he tasted it before he rejected it ; and therefore he must
have found it different from that which, if offered to him, he was
ready to receive. To solve this difficulty, we must suppose that
the words used in the Hebrew Gospel of St. Matthew, were such
as agreed with the account given by St. Mark, and at the same
time were capable of the construction which were put on them by
St. Matthew's Greek translator. Suppose St. Matthew wrote
KYina K'bn chaleea bemireera, which signifies sweet wine with
bitters, or sweet wine and myrrh, as we find it in Mark ; and Mat
thew's translator overlooked the yod ' in x'bn chaleea he took
it for N^n chala, which signifies vinegar ; and bitter he transla
ted by "xahy, as it is often used in the Septuagint. Nay, St. Mat
thew may have written xbn, and have still meant to express sweet
wine ; if so, the difference only consisted in the points ; for the
same word which, when pronounced chale, signifies sweet, de
notes vinegar, as soon as it is pronounced chala.'
" With this conjecture Dr. Marsh (Michaelis's translator) is
not satisfied ; and therefore finds a Chaldee word for oivo? wine,
which may easily be mistaken for one that denotes o|of vinegar ;
and likewise a Chaldee word, which signifies o-jx^vx, myrrh,
which may be easily mistaken for the one that denotes ;£o*jj, gall.
1 Now,' says he, ' inn chamar, or xinn chamera, really denotes
oivos wine, and yon chamets, or nsoh chametsa, really denotes
o|or, vinegar. Again, Klin mura, really^signifies «p.v^x myrrh,
and ntid murera, really signifies ^oAt],gall. If, then, we suppose
that the original Chaldee text was toina a'bn {onn chamera
haleet bemura, wine mingled with myrrh, which is not at all
improbable, as it is the reading of the Syriac version, at Mark
xv. 23, it might easily have been mistaken for srnrja o,l?n xvon
chametsa haleet bemurera, vinegar mingled with gall.' This
is a more ingenious conjecture .than that of Michaelis. See
Marsh's notes to Michaelis, Vol. iii. partii. p. 127 — 28. But
as that kind of sour wine, which was used by the Roman soldiers
and common people, appears to have been termed oivo?, and vin
egar (vin aigre) is sour wine, it is not difficult to reconcile the
two accounts, in what is most material to the facts here recorded."
Bochart thinks it to be the same herb as the evangelist calls
"Ca-conrog, hyssop ; a species of which growing in Judea, he proves
from Isaac Ben Omran, an Arabian writer, to be so bitter, as not

180 THE NATURAL HISTORY
to be eatable ; and Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Nonnub,*
took the hyssop mentioned by St. John to be poisonous. Theo
phylact expressly tells us the hyssop was added, uc «hjA.tjTe{ toiiic^
as being deleterious, or poisonous ; and Nonnus, in his paraphrase,
says, One gave the deadly acid mist with hyssop.
In Jerem. viii. 14 ; ix. 15, to give water of gall to drink, de
notes very bitter affliction. Comp. Lament, iii. 19.
In Habakkuk ii. 15, we read, " Woe to him who maketh his
neighbour drink ; who putteth his flaggon to him, and maketh
him drunken, that he may look on his nakedness :" which seve
ral versions render by words expressive of gall, or venom ; that
is what in the issue would prove so. Perhaps the prophet hints
at the conduct of Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, toward king
Zedekiah : " He gave him gall to drink, and made him drunk,
that he might insult over his nakedness." The Rabbins relate,
that one day Nebuchadnezzar, at an entertainment, sent for Ze
dekiah, and gave him an intoxicating liquor to drink, purposely
to expose him to ridicule.
" The gall of bitterness," Acts viii. 23, signifies the most des
perate disposition of mind, the most incurable malignity ; as diffi
cult to be corrected, as to change gall into sweetness. See Hemlock.
There is another word, Win mererathi, from marar, which
our translators render "gall," in Job xvi. 13; xx. 14, 25. In
two of the places, the human bile is intended ; in the other, the
venom of the asp.
In the story of Tobit, vi. 5 : viii. 1 3, the gall of a fish is
mentioned as being used to cure his father's eyes. Pliny, N.
H. 1. xxviii. c. 10, says, the gall of a fish is prescribed for sore
eyes ; " ad oculorum medicamenta utilius habetur."
GARLICK. aw' schum.
As this word occurs only in Numbers xi. 5, some doubts
have arisen respecting the plant intended. From its being coup
led with leeks and onions, there can be but little doubt, that the
garlick is meant. The Talmudists frequently mention the use of
this plant among the Jews, and their fondness of it. " Moris
autem apud Judaeus erat allium indere omni pulmento, ad con-
* Cited in Martini Lexicon, art. Hyssopus.

a

OF THE BIBLE. 181
ciliandum illi saporem."* And Salomon Zevi, thus defends the
practice ; " Hereditate hanc consuetudinem a majoribus nostris
ad nos transiisse arbitror, quibus allium vehementer arrisisse dici-
tur Numb. xi. Allium vero, Talmudis testimonio, cibus judica-
tur saluberrimus."t
That garlicks grew plenteously in Egypt, is asserted by Diosco-
rides, lib. i. p. 80 ; where they were much esteemed, and were
both eaten and worshipped.^
" Then gods were recommended by their taste.
Such savoury deities must needs be good,
Which serv'd at once for worship and for food."
So Prudentius, describing the superstition of the Egyptians,
says,  " Nomina

Porrum et cepe nefas imponere nubibus ausi
Alliaque ex terra creli super astra colere."
Hasselquist, however says, p. 290, that " garlick does not
grow in Egypt, and, though it is much used, it is brought from the
islands ofthe Archipelago ;" upon which, Mr. Harmer, Obs. V.
ii. p, 337, thus reasons, " if an imported article in these times,
we cannot suppose the enslaved Israelites were acquainted with
it, when residing in Egypt in those elder times. Perhaps the
roots of the colocassia might be meant, which are large, Maillet
tells us, almost round, and of a reddish colour ; and, as being near
akin to the nymphea, are probably very cooling." See Onion.
GIER-EAGLE. am racham.
Occ. Levit. xi. 18, and Deut. xvi. 17, only.
As the root of this word signifies tenderness and affection, it is
supposed to refer to some bird remarkable for its attachment to ils
young ; hence some have thought that the Pelican is to be under
stood ; and Bochart endeavours to prove, that the golden vul
ture is meant ; but there can be no doubt, that it is the percnopte-
* Tract. Chilaim, c. i. $ 3. c. 0. 5 10 ; Nedar, viii. 6, iii. 10, vi. 10; Maa-
seroth.v.S; Edajoth, ii. 6 ; Maschir, vi. 2 ; Tib. Jom. ii. 3; Ohaloth, vi.
6 ; Oketsim, i. 2, 3 ; Pcah, vi. 9. 10 ; Terumoth, vii. 7 ; Maimon. Schemit.
ve Jobel, vii. 11 ; Conf. Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. in verbum.
f Theriac. Jud. c. i. § 20.
X Pliny reports, lib. xix. c. 6. that onions and garlicks were reckoned
among the deities of Egypt, and that they even swore by them. See also
Minucius Felix, c. xxviii. p. 145. ed. Davisii, and Note.

182 THE NATURAL HISTORY
rus of the ancients,* the ach-bobba of the Arabians, particularly
described by Bruce under the name of Rachamah.X He says,
" we know from Horus Apollo, 1. i. c. 11, that the Rachma, or
she-vulture, was sacred to Isis, and adorned the statue of the god
dess ; that it was the emblem of parental affection ; and that it
was the hieroglyphic for an affectionate mother." He farther
says, that " this female vulture, having hatched her young ones,
continues with them one hundred and twenty days, providing them
with all necessaries ; and, when the stock of food fails them, she
tears off the fleshy part ofher thigh, and feeds them with that and
the blood which flows from the wound." In this sense of attach
ment we see the word used with great propriety, 1 Kings iii. 26 ;
Isai. xlix. 15 ; and Lamentations iv. 10.
Hasselquist, (p. 194,) thus describes the Egyptian vulture.
(Vultur percnopterus.) " The appearance ofthe bird is as hor
rid as can well be imagined. The face is naked and wrinkled,
the eyes are large and black, the beak black and crooked, the tal
ons large, and extended ready for prey ; and the whole body pol
luted with filth. These are qualities enough to make the be
holder shudder with horror. Notwithstanding this, the inhabi
tants of Egypt cannot be enough thankful to Providence for this
bird. All the places round Cairo are filled with the dead bodies
of asses and camels ; and thousands of these birds fly about and
devour the carcasses before they putrify, and fill the air with
noxious exhalations." No wonder that such an animal should be
deemed unclean. This insatiable appetite seems to be alluded
to in Prov. xxx. 16, where its name is unhappily translated
" womb." The wise man, describing four things which are nev
er satisfied, says, they are the grave, and the ravenous racham,
the earth, that is always drinking in the rain, and the fire that
consumeth every thing." Here the grave which devours the bu
ried body, and the racham the unburied, . are pertinently joined
together. See Eagle and Vulture.
GLASS. TAAOS.
This word occurs Rev. xxi. 18, 21 ; and the adjective vxaivo;,
Rev. iv. 6 ; xv. 2. Parkhurst says, that in the later Greek

* From Dr. Russel we learn, that at Aleppo, the " Vultur percnopterus''
of Linn^us is called 'Dm, which is evidently the same with the Hebrew
C3m, and the Arabic finm.
f Tbe figure which Gessner, de avib. p. 176, has given of it, Dr. Shaw
says is a very exact and good one.
" Descriptionem ejus avis, quas Arabibus Rachaeme audit, accuratissi-
mam dedit Hasselquist in Itiner. p. 286, qui nomen ei indidit fulturis
percnopteri, capite nudo,gula plumosa ; quo nomine etiam comparet in Syst.
Linn. t. i. p. 1. p. 249. Rosenmuller.

OF THE BIBLE. 183
writers, and in the New Testament, u«Ao? denotes the artificial
substance, glass ; and that we may either with Mintert, derive
it from sAij, " splendor," or immediately from the Hebrew bn,
" to shine." So Horace, 1. iii. od. 13, v. 1.
" O fons Blandusite, splendidior vitro."
O thou Blandusian spring, more bright than glass.
And Ovid, Heroid. Epist. xv. v. 158.
 " Vitreo magis pellucidus amue."

Clearer than the glassy stream.
There seems to be no reference to glass in the Old Testament.
The art of making it was not known. De Neri, indeed, will
have it as ancient as Job ; for the writer of that poem, ch. xxviii.
17, speaking of wisdom, says " gold and glass shall not be equal
led to it." This, we are to observe, is the reading of the Septua
gint, Vulgate, Latin, St. Jerom, Pineda, &c. for in the English
version we read " crystal ;" and the same is expressed in the
Chaldee, Arias Montanus, and the king of Spain's edition. In
other versions, it is rendered " stone ;" in some " beryl ;" in the
Italian, Spanish, French, Dutch, &c " diamond ;" in others
" carbuncle ;" and in the Targum, " mirror." The original
word is r\'3i3T zechuchith, which is derived from the root zacac,
to shine, be white, transparent ; and it is applied Exod. xxx. 34,
to frankincense, and rendered in the Septuagint, pellucid.
Hence the reason of so many different renderings ; for the word
signifying beautiful and transparent, in the general, the transla
tors were at liberty to apply to it whatever was pure or bright.
See Crystal.
Most authors will have Aristophanes to be the first who men
tions glass ;* but the word he uses is ambiguous, and may as well
be understood of crystal. Aristotle has two problems upon
glass ; but the learned doubt very much whether they be origi
nal. The first author, therefore, who made unquestionable men
tion of this matter, is Alexander Aphrodisceus. After him, the
word vxKos occurs commonly enough. Lucian mentions large
drinking glasses. And Plutarch, in his Symposiacon, says that
the fire of the tamarisk wood is fittest for making glass. Among
the Latin writers, Ldcian is the first who takes notice of glass.
Pliny relates the manner in, which this substance was discov
ered. It was found, he says, by accident in Syria, at the mouth
of the river Belus, by certain merchants driven thither by the
* See his Comedy of the Clouds, Scene i. Act 2.

184 THE NATURAL HISTORY
fortune of the sea. Being obliged to live there, and dress their
victuals by making a fire on the ground , and there being much
of the plant kali upon the spot, this herb being burnt to ashes,
and the sand or stones of the place accidentally mixed with it, a
vitrification was made ; from whence the hint was taken and easi
ly improved. This, says De Pau,* is probably a fabulous narrative. Man
kind had made fire in this same way, many thousand years before
the existence of the town of Tyre ; and in certain cases, even
the ashes of wood or dried herbs, are sufficient solvents. It was,
therefore, superfluous to suppose that these adventurers had the
good fortune to find some alkali ; and this circumstance has evi
dently been added afterwards to support an incongruous fable.
The concourse of fortuitous causes has not been so powerful in
all such inventions, as people generally imagine ; and the pro
cedures must have been developed one after another. Chance
seems, indeed to have little to do in the discovery of glass, which
could only be a consequence of the art of pottery. In Egypt,
the people, in burning their earthen pots, might have discover
ed, sooner than the inhabitants of other countries, all the differ
ent stages of vitrification ; accordingly ancient historians agree,
almost unanimously, that glass was known to the Ethiopians ; the
glass-house of the great Diospolis, the capital ofthe Thebais,
seems to be the most ancient regular fabric of the kind. They
even had the art of chisseling and turning glass, which they form
ed into vases and cups. The Roman poets speak of these fragile
goblets, as unfavourable to their parties of pleasure. So Mar
tial, 1. xi. " Tolle puer calices, tepidi toreumata Nili ;
Et mihisecura pocula trade manu."
This passage is explained by one in the xiith. book, as well as
by the following lines ;
" Non sumus audacis plebeia toreumata vitri ;
Nostra nee ardenti gemma feritur aqua.
Aspicis ingeniura Nili, quibus addere plura
Dum cupit, ah ! quoties perdidit auctor opus."
So that the factitious, transparent substance, now known to uS
by the name of glass, may probably enough be referred to in the
New Testament by the Greek word u#Ao«- ; though, as we noted
before, it is not mentioned in the Old Testament.
* Recherches sur les Egyptiennes.

OP THE BIBLE. 185
Our translators have rendered the Hebrew word nxin ma-
roth, in Exodus xxxiii. 8, and Job xxxvii. 18, " looking-
glass." But the making mirrors of glass, coated with quick
silver is an invention quite modern. Dr. Adam Clarke has
a note upon this place in Exodus, where our version repre
sents Moses as making " the laver of brass, and the foot of it
of brass, of the looking-glasses of the women." He says,
" Here metal highly polished, must certainly be meant, as glass
was not yet in use ; and had it been, we are sure that looking-
glasses could not make a brazen laver. The word, there
fore, should be rendered mirrors, not looking-glasses, which in
the above verse is perfectly absurd, because from those maroth,
the brazen laver was made. The first mirrors known among
men, were the clear, still fountain, and unruffled lake. The first
artificial ones were apparently made of brass, afterwards of pol
ished steel, and when luxury increased, they were made of silver ;
but they were made at a very early period of mixed metal,
particularly of tin and copper, the best of which, as Pliny tells us,
were formerly manufactured at Brundusium. " Optima apud
majores fuerant Brundisina, stanno et aere mixtis." Hist. Nat.
1. xxxiii. c. 9. But according to him, the most esteemed were
those made of tin : and he says that silver mirrors became so
common, that even the servant girls used them. " Specula (ex
stanno) laudatissima, Brundusii temperabuntur ; donee argenteis
uticcepere et ancilla?." Lib. xxxiv. c. 17. When the Egyptian
women went to the temples, they always carried their mirrors
with them. The Israelitish women probably did the same ; and
Dr. Shaw states, that the Arab women carry them constantly
hung at their breasts. It is worthy of remark, that at first, these
women freely gave up their ornaments for this important service,
and now give their very mirrors, probably as being of very little
service, seeing they had already given up the principal decora
tions of their persons. Woman has been invidiously defined, a
creature fond of dress, (though this belongs to the whole human
race, and not exclusively to woman.) Had this been true of the
Israelitish women, in the present case we must say, they nobly
sacrificed their incentives to pride, to the service of their God.'-'
On the other hand, Dr. Geddes says, that " the word ntoo
from nxi, though it occurs above an hundred times in the Hebrew
Scriptures, never elsewhere signifies a mirror. Why then should
it have that signification here 1 especially as in the whole Penta
teuch, a mirror is not so much as mentioned, under any denomi
nation : nor, indeed, as far as I know, in any Hebrew writing pri
or to the Babylonish captivity.*
*I know that Job xxvii. 18, has been alleged as a proof, where DSTO
"N13 has been by moderns rendered " sicut speculum fusum" — " as a
24

186 THE NATURAL HISTORY
" The first time I meet with a mirror in the Bible, is in the
book of Wisdom, vii. 26, ' the unspotted mirror of the power of
God.' What Hebrew word, (if the book were ever in He
brew) corresponded with ieoTrr%av, we know not ; but it could
not, I think, be nxin. The term which the Syriac translator of
Wisdom uses fo express a mirror is sn'tno ; and tbe same term is
employed by the Syriac translator of the New Testament in 1
Cor. xiii. 12, and in James i. 13." After examining the orien
tal versions and various readings, Dr. Geddes seems assured, that
the only proper rendering of the passage is, " he made the iaver
under the inspection of the women, who ministered at the entry
ofthe door ofthe convention tent."
It may be remarked, that the word " looking-glass occurs in
our version of Ecclesiasticus xii. 11. " Never trust thine ene
my ; for like as iron [marg. brass] rusteth, so is his wickedness.
Though he humble himself, and go crouching, yet take good heed
and beware of him, and thou shalt be unto him as if thou hadst
washed a looking-glass, and thou shalt know that his rust hath
not been altogether wiped away." This passage proves, by its
mention of rust, that mirrors were then made of polished metal.
In reprobating in the daughters of Sion, their superfluities of
ornamental dress, Isaiah says, ch. iii. 23, that they shall be strip
ped of their jewels, &c, and our version includes their glasses;
but Bp. Lowth, Dr. Stock, and Mr. Dodson, render it " trans
parent garments," like gauze ; worn only by the most delicate
women, and such as preferred elegance to decency of habit.*
This sort of garments was afterwards in use among the Greeks.
Prodicus, in his celebrated fable, exhibits the personage of Sloth
in this dress.

Her robe betrayed

Through the clear texture, every tender limb,
Heightening the charms it only seemed to shade,
And as it flow'd adown, so loose and thin.
Her stature shew'd more tall, more snowy white her skin."
This, like other Grecian fashions, was received at Rome, when
luxury began under the emperors ;t and it was sometimes worn
molten looking-glass." But besides that, the word here is 'NI, not HXIU,
it is very doubtful whether 'NT be well rendered "speculum." I have
endeavoured to shew the contrary in my C. R. on that place. At any rate
it cannot be brought as a proof, that DN1D in Exodus has the same meaning.
*  " elegantius, quam necesse eeset probis."
t The robes were called " multitia'' and "Coa" by the Romans, from
their being invented^ or rather brought into fashion by one Pamphila, from
the isle of Cos.

OF THE BIBLE. 187
even by the men, but looked upon as a mark of extreme effemi
nacy.* The word s«5rr^ov, or mirror, occurs in 1 Cor. xiii. 12, and
James i. 23. Dr. Pearce thinks, that, in the former place it
signifies any of those transparent substances which the ancients
used in their windows, and through which they saw external ob
jects obscuredly. But others are of opinion, that the word de
notes a mirror of polished metal ; as this, however, was liable to
many imperfections, so that the object before it was not seen
clearly or fully, the meaning ofthe apostle is, that we see things
as it were by images reflected from a mirror, which shews them
very obscurely and indistinctly. In the latter place a mirror un
doubtedly is meant.
In 2 Cor. iii. 1 8, " beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,"
the word KXTOvngt&paioi, is by Dr. Macknight rendered " re
flecting as mirrors ;" thinking it thus to agree best with the idea
of the apostle's receiving and diffusing the light : but Dr. Dod
dridge adopts the construction " beholding as by a mirror," and
remarks, in his note, that " here is one of the most beautiful
contrasts that can be imagined. Moses saw the Schechinah and
it rendered his face resplendent, so that he covered it with a veil,
the Jews not being able to bear the reflected light : We behold
Christ, as in the glass of his word, and (as the reflection of a very
luminous object, from a mirror, gilds the face on which the rever
berated rays fall,) our faces shine too ; and we veil them not, but
diffuse the lustre, which, as we discover more and more of his
glories in the gospel, is continually increasing."t
GLEDE. m daja. Deut. xiv. 13, and Isai. xxxiv. 15.
As this is from a root which signifies blackness or darkness of
colour, Bochart thinks the black vulture to be intended ; and
observes, that the Latin writers speak of an " ater vultur,"
black vulture, and sometimes call this species absolutely, " nigras
aves," black birds : he adds, that the Hebrew cannot signify the
kite or glede, because these birds are not gregarious as the vul
tures are, and as the nm are represented to be in Isaiah. Has
selquist tells us,f that near Grand Cairo in Egypt, " the vul
tures assemble with the kites every morning and evening to re-
* Juvenal sat. ii. v. 65.
t The passage has been somewhat confused by the version of ewovA, which
does not always signify an exact image or representation, but a resem
blance, (i.e. in regard to brightness and g/ory.) 'E/*»v is similarly used, 1
Cor. xi. 7 ; xv.49; 2 Cor iv. 4 ; Colos. i 15; iii. 10; Heb. i. 3 ; and
Wisdom ii. 23. Os av th Atyvex, AiTlxpyt itam unpins, aiTi-n-i^mt kai auto;
AXTtiAt, ixuBtv xATAuyA^oft&iAt. Schol. apud Matth^i.
X Trav. 194.

188 THE NATURAL HISTORY
ceive the alms ofthe fresh meat left them by the legacies of great
men." The word, however, is wanting in the Samaritan Pentateuch,
and in four MSS.,* as well as in the corresponding passage Levit.
xi. 14; from which place Bochart imagined that it had been
dropt from its contiguity to a similar word rrsn. In Levit. xi.
14, six of Dr. Kennicott's codices read nx"in. Admitting this
reading, and we have the bird which Forskal thus describes,
" Falco cera, pedibus flavis, supra cinereum, subtus ferrugineum,
alis supra fuscis, cauda forficata ; fusco-fasciata, longitudine cor
poris ;" and whose Arabic name is Haddai.X See Kite and Vulture.
GNAT. KflNaY.
Occurs, Matth xxiii. 24.
A small winged insect, comprehending a genus ofthe order of
dipiera. Bochart, Hieroz. T. iii. p. 442, shews from Aristo
tle, Plutarch, and others, that by jcaniaiJ/ is properly meant a
kind of insect that is bred in the lees of wine.
In those hot countries, as Servius remarks, speaking of the
East, gnats are very apt to fall into wine, if it be not carefully
covered ; and passing the liquor through a strainer, that no ghat
or part of one might remain, became a proverb for exactness
about little matters. This may help us to understand that pas
sage, Matth. xxiii. 24, where the proverbial expression of careful
ly straining out a little fly from the liquor to be drunk, and yet
swallowing a camel, intimates, that the Scribes and Pharisees af
fected to scruple little things, and yet disregarded those of the
greatest moment.f
* By Rosenmcller it is said to be omitted by the Septuagint ; but
Dr. Geddes thinks this a mistake ; observing, " that it is true, that in the
four printed editions, there is wanting one name, but that name, I think,
corresponds with the Hebrew HSt, for which, in the Oxford MS. there is
«|oir, as in the Vulgate ixion. So that, admitting this to be genuine, there
are in verse 13 of Deut. xiv., three names corresponding with the three
Hebrew names ; and that corresponding withiVin will be tunnv, or, as the
other copies, ixtiia."
f " In observatione addit Forskal htec, ' An Palco Mihms, Linn. ? sed
nectotus ferrugineus, nee caput albidum. An falco forficalus? sed subtus
non albidus, verum ferrugineus.' Unde in novissima Linnseani Ssystematis
editione, T. i. p. 1. p. 261. hie falco sub lemmate JEgyplii peculiarem
speciem efficit." Rosenmullek, Not. ad. Bochart, T. ii. p. 778.
X " This clause," says Dr. Adam Clarke, " should be translated, * Ye
strain out the gnat, but ye swallow down the camel.' In the common trans
lation, ' Ye strain at the gnat,' conveys no sense. Indeed it is likely to
have been at first an error of the press, at for out, which, on examination
I find escaped in the edition of 161), and has been regularly continued

OF THE BIBLE. 189
The ancient Greek interpreters render those words, Amos vi.
6, which we translate " who drink wine in bowls," by who
drink strained wine, but are not grieved for the. affliction of Jo
seph. This contradictory affectation of external purity, without
corresponding internal sentiments, agrees well with the scope of
the above. The Talmudists also mention jabhkuschin, or wine
gnats, and Maimonides writes De lib. Vetit. c. 2, § 22, " He who
strains wine, vinegar, or strong liquor, and swallows the jabhkus
chin which he has strained, is deserving of punishment.
In the Syriac version of Matth. xxiii. 24, the word is pa bak, a
word which frequently occurs in the Talmudical glosses, and
in Avicenna, and the Arabic writers; by Bochart rendered
" cimex," and corresponding to our English word bug. Captain
Beaver, in his African Memoranda, p. 360, describes the termites,
that most troublesome and destructive species of ants, as exceed
ingly numerous ; and says that they are called in the Bulama
" bug-a-bugs." GOAT, vy ez; Chaldee izza ; Phenician aza ; Arabic iidda,
and hedsjaz.
Occurs frequently in the Scripture.
There are other names, or appellations given to the goat ; as
(1.) 3'tyn chasiph, 1 Kings xx. 27, only; which means the "ram-
goat," or leader of the flock ; (2.) omny athudim, a word
which never occurs but in the plural, and means the best prepar
ed, or choicest of the flock ; and metaphorically " princes ;" as,
Zech. x. 3, " I will visit the goats," saith the Lord ; i. e. I will
begin my vengeance with the princes ofthe people. Isai. xiv. 9,
" Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy com
ing ; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the great goats of
the earth :" all the kings, all the great men. And Jeremiah
1. 8, speaking of the princes ofthe Jews, says " Remove out of the
midst of Babylon, and be as the he-goats before the flocks." (3.)
ysx tsaphir, a name for the goat of Chaldee origin, and found
only in Ezra vi. 17 ; viii. 35 ; and Dan. viii. 5, 21. (4.) bmy
azazel, from iy " a goat," and biv. " to wander about," Levit.
xvi. 8, " the scape-goat ;" and (5.) iya sear, " hairy" or
" shaggy," whence a-vyw seirim, " the shaggy ones." In
Levit. xvii. 21, it is said, " and they shall no more offer their sa
crifices unto devils [seirim, hairy ones,] after whom they have
gone a whoring." The word here means idolatrous images of
goats, worshipped byr the Egyptians. It is the same word that
is translated " satyrs," Isai. xiii. 21 ; where the LXX. render it
Axifjt-ovix, dcemons. But here they have p,xrxtoig, to vain things,
or idols, which comes to the same sense. What gives light to so
obscure a passage, is what we read in Maimonides, Mor. Nev. p.

190 THE NATURAL HISTORY
iii. c. 46, that the Zabian idolaters worshipped daemons under
the figure of goats, imagining them to appear in that form,
whence they called them by the names of seirim ; and that this
custom being spread among other nations, gave occasion to this
precept. In like manner we learn from Herodotus, 1. ii. c. 46,
that the Egyptians of Mendes held goats to be sacred animals,
and represented the god Pan with the legs and head of that ani
mal.* From those ancient idolaters the same notion seems to
have derived to the Greeks and Romans, who represented their
Pan, their fauns, satyrs, and other idols, in the form of goats.
From all which it is highly probable, that the Israelites had learned
in Egypt to worship certain daemons, or sylvan deities, under the
symbolical figure of goats. Though the phrase "after whom they
have gone a whoring," is equivalent in scripture to that of commit-
ing idolatry, yet we are not to suppose that it is not to be taken
in a literal sense in many places, even where it is used in connex
ion with idolatrous acts of worship. It is well known that Baal
poer and Ashtaroth were worshipped with unclean rites ; and
that public prostitution formed a grand part of the worship
of many deities among the Egyptians, Moabites, Canaanites,
&c. And here it has a peculiar propriety, for Herodotus,
Strabo, Pindar, and Plutarch, testify that amongst the cere
monies of their goat worship, it was customary for the Egyptian
women to prostitute themselves to the goat that represented their
god. " After this, (says Dr. A. Clarke, in his note on Levit. xx.
16,) need we wonder that God should have made laws of this na
ture, when it appears that these abominations were not only
practised among the Egyptians, but were parts of a supersti
tious religious system. This one observation will account for
many of those strange prohibitions which we find in the Mo
saic law : others, the reasons of which are not so plain, we
should see the propriety of, equally, had we ampler historic re
cords ofthe customs that existed in that country."
Jeroboam's idols, 2 Chron. xi. 15, are also called seirim.
See Satyrs.
The goat is an animal found in every part of the world ;
easily domesticated ; and too well known to need a descrip
tion. It was one of the clean beasts -which the Israelites might
both eat and offer in sacrifice. The kid, "u gedi, is often
mentioned as a food, in way that implies that it was consider
ed as a delicacy.! But there is a passage thrice repeated in
* That they paid divine honours to real goats, appears in the table of
Isis. t Gen. xxxviii. 16, 17 ; Judges xv. 1 ; and Luke xv. 29,

OF THE BIBLE. 191
tlie Mosaic law, [Exod xxiii. 19; xxxiv. 26; and Deut. xiv.
21,] which requires explanation; and that given by Dr. Ged
des seems the most satisfactory. " This precept, says he, has
very much puzzled commentators. In both places of Exodus,
it is placed immediately after the precepts concerning festi
vals, sacrifices, and first-fruits ; but in Deuteronomy, with pre
cepts that forbid the eating of unclean things : yet in neither
of these positions is the motive or the meaning readily conceived.
Philo, with whom accord Aben Ezra, and other learned Jews,
is of opinion that the precept was given merely to teach the
Israelites to abhor every species of cruelty. Bochart was pleas
ed with this interpretation ; and Dr. Adam Clarke says " We
need go no further for the delicate, tender, humane, and im
pressive meaning of this precept."
Maimonides, who very properly seeks for the natural reasons
of the Mosaicai injunctions, thought that a kid boiled in its moth
er's milk, was prohibited as a gross and unwholesome food : but this
is contrary to experience, unless 'boiling it in milk would render
it so ; for it is well known, that the kid is both a tender and whole
some nutriment.
Aearbanel, and others think, that the precept alludes to some
superstitious rite used by the idolatrous nations in honour of
their gods ; and a Caraite Jew, quoted by Cudworth,* affirms
that it was customary among them to boil a kid in the milk of its
mother, and with the decoction, to besprinkle, in a magical man
ner, their fields and gardens; thinking by this means they
should make them fructify ; which opinion was adopted by J.
Gregoire,! and supported by Spencer by very specious argu
ments.! These, however, have been combated by Michaelis,§
whose opinion is as follows. First, He takes it for granted that ba2
may signify to roast as well as to boil. Secondly, That the kid's
mother is here not to be limited to the real mother of any particu
lar kid, but denotes any goat which has kidded. Thirdly, That
a1?!! here means not milk, but butter. Fourthly, That the pre
cept is not to be restricted to kids, but extends not only to lambs,
butto all other not forbidden animals. These props being erect
ed, he builds on them his conjecture, namely, that the motive of
the precept was, to endear to the Israelites the land of Canaan,
* Discourse on the Lord's Supper, c. 2.
f Notes and Observations, ch. xix. p. 92.
X De legibus Hebr. 1. ii. c. 9. sect. 2.
5 In his " Mosaiches Kerht." part. iv. p. 210 of the second edition, and
ina memoir entitled " Commentatio de legibus Mosis Israelites Palesti-
oam caram facturis," sect. 10.

192 THE NATURAL HISTORY
which abounded in oil, and make them forget their Egyptian buU
ler. Moses, therefore, to prevent their having any longing de
sire to return to that country, enjoins them to use oil in cooking
their victuals, as well as in seasoning their sacrifices.
" It must be confessed," says Dr. Geddes, " that this is an in
genious hypothesis. But is it well grounded ? I think not : for,
in the first place, his second, third, and partly his fourth postu
lates cannot easily be granted. It is unnatural to extend the
meaning of the kid's (or lamb's) mother to any other goat or
ewe ; there is no proof that ^n ever signifies butter ; and, al
though "ij includes the lamb, to extend it to all other clean ani
mals is too great a stretch. But, in the second place, were all
this granted, the conclusion would not, in my conception, be just.
There was no need, nor temptation for the Israelites to return to
Egypt on account of its butter, when they possessed a country
that flowed with milk and honey. Among the various modes of
roasting meat in the East, which the reader may see in Harmer,*
I find not that either oil or butter is used : and indeed roast meat
is rarely eaten by them. There is no good reason then to turn
"7BO from its common acceptation, nor to convert milk into butter,
for the sake of establishing an hypothesis which is otherwise im
probable. On the whole, I cannot but, with Le Clerc and Dathe, great
ly prefer the interpretation of Spencer, which is corroborated. by
the addition in the Samaritan copy,t and in some degree by the
Targums.f For, granting that the Targums are of no great au
thority, and that the Samaritan addition is an interpolation, it is
clear, at least, that when the Targums were composed, and
when the interpolation was made, both Jews and Samaritans
were of opinion, that the precept alluded to some abominable rite
which was meant to be proscribed."
Of the goat's hair were made stuffs, Exod. xxxv. 6, 26, and co
verings for tents. So travellers inform us that in different parts
of Asia Minor, Syria, Cilicia and Phrygia, the goats have long,
fine, and beautiful hair, which is sheared at proper times and
manufactured into garments.
The tresses of Shulamith are compared to goat's hair. Cantic.
iv. 1, vi. 5. Bochart refers the comparison to the hair ofthe
* Vol. i. p. 217, 316, 327, 329.
t " For he who doth this, is like a man who sacrificeth an abomination ;
•and it is a trespass against the God of Jacob."
X " O my people ! house of Israel ! it is not lawful for ye-u to boil or
eat flesh and milk mixed together, lest my wrath be enkindled, and 1 boil
your products, corn and straw together." There is a play upon the nord

OF THE BIBLE. 193
Eastern goats, which is of the most delicate, silky softness ; and is
expressly observed by the ancient naturalist Damir to bear a
great resemblance to the fine locks of a woman : and Le Clerc
observes that the hair of the goats of Palestine is generally of
a black colour, or very dark brown, such as that of a lovely bru
nette may be supposed to be.
Our translation of 1 Sam. xix. 13, mentions " a pillow of
goat's hair for a bolster," to support the image which Michal
laid in the bed of David her husband, to deceive the messengers
sent by Saul to slay him. She probably dressed up something in
the figure of a man to serve tbe occasion ; which by putting un
der the bed-clothes, might pass for David asleep, to those that
went into the chamber. And to make it appear still more natu
ral, she covered the back part with goat's hair, that a glancing
view of it, might make it appear like the back part of David's
head. It is added, " and covered it with a cloth." This refers
to the net which she hung before it, as a skreen or curtain.
Thus when Judith [ch. xiii. 9, 15,] had beheaded Holofernes in
his bed, " she pulled down the canopy, behind which he did lie,
from the pillars." Dr. Shaw says, [Travels, p. 221, "2d edit.]
" a close curtain of gauze or fine linen, is used all over the East,
by people of better fashion, to keep out the flies."* So Ho
race, [Epod. ix. 15,] speaking of the Roman soldiers serving
under Cleopatra queen of Egypt, says,
" Interque signa fturpe !) militaria
Sol aspicit conopeum."
Amidst the Roman eagles, Sol survey'd,
O shame ! the1 Egyptian canopy display'd.f
There is another place in which the word occurs, and it should
seem, in the same sense. It is in the account which the histori
an gives us, of the real cause of the death of Benhadad, the king
of Syria, 2 Kings viii. 15, where the " thick cloth, dipt in water,
and spread over his face," was the canopy. I believe that it is
commonly supposed that Hazael spread this net over the face of
the king, with the design of suffocating him ; and, indeed, it is so
represented by the Commentators. But, if we will carefully ex
amine the narrative, we shall find, as Mr. Bdothroyd has stated,!
" that nothing is said, which makes it clear, that Hazael took the
* See also Maillet, Descript. de l'Egypte, Let. ix. p. 37.
f Our English word canopy, comes from the Greek ftanacron, from »i»m\ a
gnat ; because it was used as a defence against those insects.
t Improved version of the Bible. 25

194 THE NATURAL HISTORY
fly-net ; on the other hand, the text rather suggests that the king
did it himself: and, if his complaint was a fever, he might adopt
this as a relief, wetting the net to allay the heat ; but which, stop
ping the perspiration, occasioned his death. According to Jose
phus, this king was greatly beloved by his subjects ; and if Haza
el had murdered him, would he be raised to the throne? Besides,
is it likely that the king should be alone, unattended by his physi
cians ? Would not they, rather than Hazael, be the attendants of
the sick monarch? In short, there is nothing to support the
common opinion either in the text or context ; and its only foun
dation is, that Hazael succeeded him on the throne ; and, as the
love of power is so prevalent, it is presumed that he contrived to
smother him. We are not informed that Benhadad had any chil
dren ; and Hazael might succeed him by the choice of the
people. The probabilities are, I think against the received
interpretation." Besides, we find that Hazael so respected the
king, that he named his own son for him. See 2 Kings xiii. 24.
Of the goat's skin were made the leathern bottles, so much used
for carrying and preserving liquors. Sir John Chardin describes
the manner of making them. " When the animal is killed, they
cut off its feet and its head, and then draw it out of the skin
without opening the belly. They afterwards sew up the pla
ces where the legs were cut off, and the tail ; and when it is
filled, they tie it about the neck." These bottles are men
tioned, Joshua ix. 4, as being liable to become rent when much
used or grown old, and also capable of being repaired.
" Wine bottles, old and rent, and bound up." This refer
ence helps us to understand the declaration of the Psalmist.
[Psalm cxix. 83,] " I am become like a bottle in the smoke ;"
and the mention of our Saviour, Matth. ix. 1 7, of putting new
wine into new bottles, and the impolicy of putting it into old
ones ; for the wine fermenting would swell and thus easily
rend those which had been frequently used, and perhaps injur
ed by the acid lees of the old wine.
There is a variety of the goat in Syria, larger in size than the
common, and having long pendulous ears which are often one
foot in length.* Dr. Russell tells us, that this kind " are kept
chiefly for their milk, of which they yield no inconsiderable
quantity ; and it is sweet and well tasted." The milk of goats for
food, is mentioned Proverbs xxvii. 27. Mr. Harmer, quoting
Amos iii. 1 2, " As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the
lion, two legs, or a piece of ear, so shall the children of Is-
*Capra Mambrica. Linn. S. N. p. 95. See the figure in Russell's Alep
po, V. ii. pi- 2.

OF THE BIBLE. 195
rael be taken out that dwell in Samaria, and Damascus," re
marks, " though it is indeed the intention of the prophet to
express the smallness of that part of Israel that escaped
from destruction, and were seated in foreign countries ; yet it
would have been hardly natural to have supposed a shepherd
would exert himself to make a lion quit a piece only of an
ear of a common goat : it must be supposed, I think, to refer
to the large-eared kind."
II. The ip* akko, or " wild:goat," mentioned Deut. xiv.
5, and no where else in the Hebrew bible, is supposed to be
the tragelaphus, or goat-deer. Schultens, in his manuscript
" Origines Hebraicae," conjectures that this animal might have
its name, " ob fugacitatem," from its shyness, or running away-
This conjecture is confirmed by Dr. Shaw, [Travels, p. 415,
who, from the LXX. and Vulgate translation of the name,
concludes that it means some animal resembling both the
goat and the deer ; and such an one he shews that there is
in the East, known by the name of the fishtail, and in some
parts called lerwee; which, says he, is the most timorous spe
cies of the goat kind, plunging itself, whenever pursued, down
rocks and precipices, if there be any in its way.*
III. The word by jaal, or iol, plural iolim, feminine iqleh,
occurs 1 Sam. xxiv. 3 ; Job xxxix. 1 ; Psal. civ. 18 ; and Prov. v.
1 9, and various have been the sentiments of interpreters on the ani
mal intended by it. Bochart insists that it is the ibex or rock-
goat. The root, whence the name is derived, signifies " to as
cend," " to mount ;" and the ibex is famous for clambering,
climbing, leaping, on the most craggy precipices. The Arab
writers attribute to the jaal very long horns, bending back
wards ; consequently it cannot be the chamois. The horns of
the jaal are reckoned (says Scheuchzer) among the valuable
articles of traffic, Ezek. xxvii, 15.
The ibex is finely shaped, graceful in its motions, and ami
able in its manners. The female is particularly celebrated
by natural historians for tender affection to her young, and
the incessant vigilance with which she watches over their safe
ty ; and also for ardent attachment and fidelity to her mate.
We remark, say the authors of " Scripture Illustrated" on
the passage of Proverbs v. 19. that commentators have hard
ly seized the poet's meaning. He is contrasting the constan
cy and fidelity of a wife against the inconstancy and infidelity
of a mistress ; and uses, first, the simile of the hind, as expres
sing kindness in prosperity and in society. The attachment
* Capra cornubus recljnatis, auribus pendtilis, gula barbata. Link.
Syst.ed. 13, p. 194. i

196 THE NATURAL HISTORY
of the ibey, in spite of deserts and solitude, forms his second
simile. He means to compare, 1, the hind7 or female deer, ac
companying its mate in the forest, on the plains, amidst
verdure, amidst fertility ; 2dly. the female ibex, faithful to its
associate on the mountain crags, amidst the difficulties, the
dangers, the hardships of rocks and precipices, to the con
stancy of a wife, who, in the most trying situations, still
encourages her partner, shares his toils, partakes his embar
rassments, and, however he may be hunted by adversities, en
deavours to moderate by her constancy, and to cheer by her
blandishments, those hours of solitude and solicitude, which oth
erwise were dreary, comfortless, and hopeless."
Graevius declares that the by in this passage, is not the ibex,
but a species of gazelle, described by Buffon, N. H. torn.
xii. and Suppl. T. v. under the name of " Nanguer" or
" Nagor." GOLD, ant zahab. Gen. xxiv. 22, and very frequently in
all other parts of the Old Testament.* XPT20S, Matth. xxiii.
16, 17, etal.
The most perfect and valuable ofthe metals.
In Job xxviii. 15, 16, 17, 19, gold is mentioned five times, and
four ofthe words are different in the original. (1.) TUD segor,
which may mean gold in the mine, or shut up (as the root sig
nifies) in the ore. (2.) oro kethem, from Oi3 catham, to
sign, seal, or stamp ; gold made current by being coined ; stan
dard gold, exhibiting the stamp expressive of its value. (3.)
3nt zahab, wrought gold, pure, highly polished gold. (4.) ft3
paz, denoting solidity, compactness, and strength ; probably
gold formed into different kinds of plate, or vessels. Jerom,
in his Comment on Jer. x. 9, writes, " septem nominibus apud
Hebraeos appellator aurum." The seven names (which he does
not mention) are as follows, and thus distinguished bythe .
Hebrews. (I.) zahab, gold, in general. (II.) zahab tob, good
gold, of a more valuable kind, Gen. ii. 12. (III.) zahab
ophir, gold of Ophir, 1 Kings ix. 28, such as was brougbt by the
navy of Solomon. (IV.) zahab muphaz, solid gold, pure,
wrought gold ; translated 1 Kings x. 1 8, " the best gold." (V.)
zahab shachut, beaten gold, 2 Chron. ix. 15. (VL) zahab
segor, shut up gold ; either as mentioned above, " gold in the
ore," or as the Rabbins explain it, " gold shut up in the
* In the books of Ezra and Daniel it is written 3m ; and once in Isaf.
xiv. 4. where the prophet introducing the Jews singing their song of tri
umph, after their return from Babylon, very properly, and beautifully uses
a Chaldee word, and probably, the very same, as the Babylonians applied
¦to their superb and opulent capital. Parkhdrst, Heb. Lex. in verb.

OF THE BIBLE. 197
treasuries," gold in bullion. (VH.) zahab parvaim, 2. Chron.
iii. 6. To these, Buxtorf adds three others : (1.) oro ke-
them, pure gold, of the circulating medium. (2.) -isa bet-
zer, gold in the treasury. (3.) yin charutz, choice, fine
gold. Arabia had formerly its golden mines. " The gold of Sheba,"
Psalm lxxii. 15; is, in the Septuagint and Arabic versions, the
gold of Arabia. Sheba was the ancient name of Arabia Felix.
Mr. Bruce, however, places it in Africa, at Azab. The gold
of Ophir, so often mentioned, must be that which was procur
ed in Arabia, on the coast of the Red Sea. We are assured by
Sanchoniathon, as quoted by Eusebius, and by Herodotus, that
the Phenicians carried on a considerable traffic with this /gold
even before the days of Job, who speaks of it chap. xxii. 24. But
Mr. Good contends that the original raix auphir, in this place,
which is generally rendered " Ophir," with gold added to it to
give it a sense, is a direct Arabic verb from apher or afr, and
signifies " to flora," " rush," "pass on." " Whoever considers
the' Hebrew ofthe 24th and 25th verses," says Chappelow,
" must be inclined to think, that there is the figure paranomasia,
as the rhetoricians call it ; a near affinity both in letters and
sound." Then shalt thou heap up, as the dust, [aphar] treasure, [betzer]
Then shall it flow [auphir] as the treasure [betzer] qfthe brooks ;
And then shall the Almighty be thy treasury, [betzbreca.]
That this is no unusual way in scripture expression, in the Old
and New Testament, is very certain, as Bp. Sanderson has re
marked, 1st. Sermon ad Aulam, page 2. Two instances,.
amongst several to which he refers, are very particular. Isai.
xxiv. 1 8, where the prophet, expressing the variety of God's
inevitable judgments under three several appellations the fear,
the pit, and the snare, uses three words, agreeing with each other
in letters and sound, pachad, pachath, pach : and Rom. xii. 3,
where the apostle, exhorting men not to think of themselves too
highly, sets it off with exquisite elegancy, thus, Mij vrn^onm irxg
o d\» (p^oveiv, xKKx $£ovsiv s<f to <ru(p(ovttv.
On the method of working gold among the ancients, and of
forming various vessels and ornaments from it, see Goguet, part
ii. book ii. ch. 5, jart. 2. p. 158, Vol. ii.
GOPHER. i£3j '%y etse gopher, Gopher wood.
Occurs only Genesis vi. 1 4.
The wood of which the ark was built. There are various
opinions about it. The LXX. render it %pXx rtrgxymx, squared
timbers ; Eben Ezra, Onkelos, Jonathan, and most ofthe Rab-

198 THE NATURAL HISTORY
bins, cedar ; Jerom, in the Vulgate, " ligna levigata," planed
wood, and elsewhere " ligna bituminata," pitched wood, which
last is adopted by Delgado, a learned London Jew.* Kimchi
translates it, wood most proper to float ; Junius, Tremellius, and
Buxtorf, a kind of cedar called by the Greeks Ktfythart) ; Ave-
narius and Munster, pine ; Castalio, turpentine ; Pelletier
prefers the opinion of those who suppose that the ark was made
of cedar. His reasons are the great plenty of it in Asia,
whence Herodotus and Theophrastus relate that the kings of
Egypt and Syria built whole fleets of it ; the incorruptibility of
the wood ; and the common tradition prevailing throughout the
East that remains of the ark are yet found on mount Ararat.
The Mahometans explain it by the word " sag," which is under
stood to be the Indian plane-tree.t And Dr. GeddesJ appre
hends that the Syrian translator has given the true meaning in
the word xptjj, rendered in the Polyglott by the Latin word " vi-
men," signifying, in general, a twig, or rod, wicker of any kind.
In Arabia the same word signifies a chest, coffer, or basket made
of twigs, particularly of palm-tree leaves : and, indeed, all the first
vessels of capacity, whether coffer, ark, or ship, seems to have
been composed ofthe same' materials. He conceives, therefore,
that the ark of Noah was a large coffer formed of twigs, like bas
ket-work, and covered over with bitumen, within and without, to
keep out the water. He does not presume absolutely to deter
mine of what wood it was constructed, but thinks it must have
been of Osier, which, as we learn from Columella, was the princi
pal of the wicker kind. It is certain, that not only baskets, but
boats were made originally of such twigs, and particularly of
osier ;§ and even those which were externally covered with skins,
had ribs of that wood on account of its pliability. ||
On the other hand, the learned Mr. Fuller, in his Miscella
nies, 1. iv. c. 5, has shewn that the wood of which the ark was
built, was undoubtedly that which the Greeks call wusxyuseoc or
the cypress tree ; for, taking away the termination, kupar and go
pher differ very little in sound. The affinity of the letters J and
3, g and c, strengthens the resemblance. This observation the
great Bochart has confirmed, and shown very plainly, that no
country abounds so much with this wood, as that part of Assyria
which lies about Babylon. Cocquius, Phytologia Sacra, p.
* The Hebrew word gaphar signifies to pitch or daub with pitch. Go-
phrith, which signifies bitumen, is not much unlike it.
t Herbelot. p. 675.
X Critical Remarks, Vol. i.p. 67.
) Herodot. Clio. || Niebuhr, Arab. V. ii. 175.

OF THE BIBLE. 199
1 25 ; and Celsius, Hierobotan. V. i. p. 329, very learnedly sup
port and confirm this interpretation.
GOURD, p'p'p kikiun.
Occurs Jonah iv. 6, 7, 9, 10, only.
It is difficult to determine what the plant was which grew up
suddenly, and made a shelter to the prophet Jonah. The au
thor of " Scripture Illustrated," p. 1 90, says, " the gourd of Jo
nah should be no trivial lesson to theological disputants. So long
ago as the days of Jerom and Augustine, those pious fathers dif
fered as to what the plant was ; and they not only differed in
words, but from words they proceeded to blows ; and Jerom
was accused of heresy at Rome by Augustine. Jerom thought
this plant was an ivy, and pleaded the authority of Aquila, Sym-
machus, Theodotion, and others : Augustine thought it was a
gourd, and he was supported by the Seventy, the Syriac, the
Arabic, &c. &c. Had either of them ever seen the plant ? No.
Which of them was right? Neither. Let the errors of these pi
ous men teach us to think more mildly, if not more meekly, re
specting our own opinions ; and not to exclaim, Heresy ! or to
enforce the exclamation, when the subject is of so little impor
tance as — gourd versus ivy."
" Nevertheless, there is a just importance in this subject,
as well as in others ; and the most minute plant or insect men
tioned in the word of God, demands our best endeavours to ob
tain a competent acquaintance with it."
M. Michaelis, in his remarks on this subject, says " Cel
sius appears to me to have proved that it [the kikiun] is the
" kiki," of the Egyptians. He refers it to the class of the ri-
cinus (the great catapucus.) According to Dioscorides it is of
rapid growth, and bears a berry from which an oil is express
ed. Lib. iv. c. 164. In the Arabic version of this passage,
which is to be found in Avicenna, it is rendered, "from thence
is pressed the oil which they call oil of kiki, which is the
oil of Alkeroa.* So Herodotus, Hist. Euterpe, § 94, says,
" the inhabitants of the marshy grounds in Egypt make use of
an oil, which they term the kiki, expressed from the Sillicy-
prian plant. In Greece this plant springs spontaneously with
out any cultivation ; but the Egyptians sow it on the banks of
the river and of the canals ; it there produces fruit in great
abundance, but of a very strong odour. When gathered they
* Jerom says, that the Punic and Syriac name of the Kikiun, is alkeroa :
thus a Coptic lexicon explains the Kgyptian word, KOTKi by the berry of
the alkeroa. Abenbitar also renders the kiki of Dioscorides by the Ara
bic alekeroa.

200 THE NATURAL HISTORY
obtain from it, either by friction or pressure, an unctuous liquid
which diffuses an offensive smell, but for burning, it is equal
in quality to the oil of olives." This plant rises with a
strong herbaceous stalk to the height of ten or twelve feet;
and is furnished with very large leaves, not unlike those of
the plane-tree. Rabbi Kimchi, says that the people of the
East plant them before their shops for the sake of the shade,
and to Refresh themselves under them. M. Niebuhr, Descr.
Arab. p. 1 80, Fr. ed. says, " I saw for the first time at Basra,
the plant el-keroa, mentioned in M. Michaelis's Questions,
No. LXXXVII. It has the form of a tree. The trunk appear
ed to me rather to resemble leaves, than wood; nevertheless,
it is harder than that which bears the Adam's fig. Each branch
of the keroa has but one large leaf, with six or seven foldings in
it. This plant was near to a rivulet which watered it amply. At
the end of October, 1765, it had risen in five months time, about
eight feet, and bore at once flowers and fruit, ripe and unripe.
Another tree of this species, which had not had so much water,
had not grown more in a whole year. The flowers and leaves
of it which I gathered, withered in a few minutes ; as do all
plants of a rapid growth. This tree is called at Aleppo, " Pal-
ma Christi." An oil is made from it, called " oleum de keroa ;
oleum cicinum ; oleum ficus infernalis." The Christians and
Jews of Mosul [Nineveh,] say, it was not the keroa whose shadow
refreshed Jonah, but a sort of gourd, el-kera, which has very
large leaves, very large fruit, and lasts but about four months."
The epithet which the prophet uses in speaking of the plant,
" son ofthe night it was, and, as a son ofthe night it died," does
not compel us to believe that it grew in a single night, but either
by a strong oriental figure that it was of rapid growth, or akin to
night in the shade it spread for his repose. The figure is not
uncommon in the East, and one of our own poets has called the
rose " child of the summer." Nor are we bound to take the ex
pression " on the morrow," as strictly importing the very next
day, since the word has reference to much more distant time,
Exod. xiii. 5 ; Deut. vi. 20 ; Josh. iv. 6. It might be simply
taken as afterwards. The circumstance ofthe speedy withering
of the flowers and leaves of the keroa should not be slightly
passed over ; nor that of its present name cicinum (pronouncing
the c hard like it,) which is sufficiently near the kikiun of Jonah.
The author of " Scripture Illustrated" remarks, " as the history
in Jonah expressly says, the Lord prepared this plant, no-
doubt we may conceive of it as an extraordinary one of its
kind, remarkably rapid in its growth, remarkably hard in its
slem, remarkably vigorous in its branches, and remarkable for

OF THE BIBLE. 201
the extensive spread of its leaves and the deep gloom of their
shadow; and, after a certain duration, remarkable for a sud
den withering, and a total uselessness to the impatient pro
phet." The following extract will explain the circumstance
of the worm with which this plant is infested. " Rumphius
in Herbario Amboinensi, T. iv.' p. 95, narrat, calidioribus
diebus, tenui cadente pluvia, in ea generari erucas nigras magna
multitudiue, ejus folia per unam noctem subito depascentes, ut
nudae modo costae supersint, idque se saspius non sine admira-
tione vidisse, simillime, addit, arbusculae, olim Niniviticae."
Hiller, in his Hierophyticon, part i. p. 456, gives a beautiful
poetical illustration of this history.
" Aspice moerentis ricinum solamine Jonae,
Quem modo nascentem perdidit atra dies.
Floruit et tuguri coutexit culmina vatis,
Et contra solem gratior umbra fuit.
Una sed hunc ut nox nascentem vidit, eundem
Arentem vidit pone sequuta dies.
Scilicet hcec mundi frustra gaudentis imago,
Gaudia post ort um mox peritura suum.
Nil stabile aeternuiaque mauet sub sole, suusque,
Qui perimat ricinum, vermis et euruserit.
Quam praestat gaudere Dei urassent is amore,
Atque Bono nunquam deficiente frui !"
In Poole's Annotations is a pathetic and eloquent apostrophe
on this passage of sacred history. It will be recollected that Jo
nah could have wished with all his soul to have had the gourd
spared ; and pity for it found way to his breast as soon as it was
destroyed, although it had cost him no labour or toil. It is on
this consideration, that Jehovah says, " And shall I not spare
Nineveh, that great-city, wherein are more than six score thou
sand persons, which cannot discern between their right hand and
their left, and also much cattle ?"
" Jonah, thou hast pity on a sorry shrub, and shall thy God be
by thee confined, that he should not have pity on a vast and
mighty city ? A stately structure, which cost immense treasures ;
was the labour of almost one million and a half of workmen, through
eight years, and the great wonder ofthe world ! Thy gourd, Jo
nah, may not be named on the same day with this ; only in a
passion this must be ruined to please thee, and thy gourd must
not, lest it displease thee. Is this equal ? Wouldst thou have
me less merciful to such a goodly city, than thou art to a weed ?
It was a single gourd Jonah pitied, and is angry that it is smitten ;
here are many hundred thousands of men and women which I
have pitiedand spared. Here are more than six score thousand
36

202 THE NATURAL HISTORY
innocents, who are infants, who are my creatures, made for eter-
nity, who grow slowly under my care and charge, whom I value
as my own ; and, peevish Jonah, wilt thou not allow me to shew
pity to mine own invaluable creatures, when thou pitiest what is
neither thine, nor valuable ? Had it been thine, this might have
required thy affection ; had it been of worth, this might have ex
cused thy earnestness for it ; but all this aggravates thy fierce and
cruel passion against Nineveh. Beside men, women, and chil
dren who are in Nineveh, there are many other of my creatures
that are not sinful, and my tender mercies are, and shall be,
over all my works. If thou wouldst be their butcher, yet I
will be their God. I know what becomes me, God of pro
phets, and though once I hearkened to Elijah to send fire from
heaven on contemptuous sinners, yet it is not meet to send
fire from heaven on repenting Nineveh. I know how to im
press their minds with a continued belief that Jonah came from
God to preach repentance, and that it was their repentance
which prevented their overthrow. I can save thy credit, Jo
nah, and yet, not humour thy cruelty. Go, Jonah, rest thy
self content, and be thankful. That goodness, mercy, and kind
ness, which spared Nineveh, hath spared thee, in this, thine inex
cusable frowardness. I will be to repenting Nineveh, what I am
to thee — God, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great
kindness ; and I will turn from the evil thou and they deserve."
II. We read of the wild-gourd, in the second book of Kings,
iv. 39 ; that Elisha, being at Gilgal, during a great famine, bade
one of his servants prepare something for the entertainment of
the prophets who were in that place. The servant, going into
the field, found (as our translators render it) some wild-gourds,
gathered a lap full of them, and having brought them with him,
cut them in pieces and put them into a pot; not knowing what
they were. When they were brought to table, the prophets,
having tasted them, thought they were mortal poison. Immedi
ately the man of God called for flour, threw it into the pot, and
desired them to eat without any apprehensions. They did so,
and perceived nothing of the bitterness whereof they were before
so sensible. This plant or fruit is called in Hebrew niyps peka-
oth and O'jras pekaim. There have been various opinions
about it. Celsius supposes it the colocynth* The leaves of
the plant are large, placed alternate ; the flowers white, and the
fruit ofthe gourd kind, of the size of a large apple, which when
ripe, is yellow, and- of a pleasant and inviting appearance ; but,
to the taste intolerably bitter, and proves a drastic purgative.
* Cucumis prophetarum. Linn. Syst, Nat. 1436. Cucnmis colocynthis.

OF THE BIBLE. 203
It seems that the fruit, whatever it might have been, was early
thought proper for an ornament in architecture. " It furnished a
model for some of the carved work of cedar in Solomon's temple.
1 Kings vi. 18; vii. 24.
GRAPE, ziy hanab.
Occurs frequently.
The fruit of the vine. There were fine vineyards and excel
lent grapes in the promised land. The bunch of grapes which
was cut in the valley of Eschol, and was brought upon a staff be
tween two men to the camp of Israel at Kadeshbarnea, [Numb.
xiii. 23,] may give us some idea of the largeness of tlie fruit
in that country : though, as Dr. A. Clarke observes, " the
bringing ofthe cluster in this manner was probably not rendered
necessary by the size of the bunch or cluster, but to preserve it
from being bruised, that the Israelites might have a fair specimen
ofthe fruit." It would be easy to produce a great number of
witnesses to prove, that the grapes in those regions grow to a pro
digious size. By Calmet, Scheuchzer, and Harmer this sub
ject has been exhausted ; and to them I may refer the reader,*
observing only, that Doubdan assures us, that in the valley of
Eschol were clusters of grapes to be found of ten or twelve
pounds. t
Moses, in the law, Levit. xix. 10; Deut. xxiv. 21, 22, com
manded that when the Israelites gathered their grapes, they
should not be careful to pick up those that fell, nor be so ex
act as to leave none upon the vines. What fell, and what were
left behind, the poor had liberty to glean. For the same bene
ficent purpose, the second vintage was reserved : this, in those
warm countries, was considerable ; though never so good nor
so plentiful as the former.J The wise son of Sirach says, [Ecclesi-
asticus xxxiv. 16,] " I waked up last of all, as one that gleaneth
after grape-gatherers. By the blessing of the Lord, I profited,
and filled my wine press like a gatherer of grapes."
It is frequent in Scripture to describe a total destruction, by
the similitude of a vine, stripped in such a manner that there was
not a bunch of grapes left for those who came to glean. §
* Among other authorities, see Olearius Itiner. 1. 3. Forster, Diet.
Haebr. p. 862. J. C. Dieteribs, Antiq. Bibl. p. 249. Hcetius, Quaest.
A I ne tana;. 1. 2. c. 12. n.24. Leo Africanus, Radzivil, Sir J. Charduv,
Voyages, t. iii. p. 12.
t Voyage de la terre Sainte, c. 21.
X M. Flaccus Illyricus, Clav. S. S. voce racemus.
§ Isai. xvii. 6; xxiv. 13 ; Jer. vi. 9 ; xlix. 9 ; Obad. 5

204 THE NATURAL HISTORY
The prophecy Gen. xlix. 11, "He shall wash his clothes in
wine, and his garments in the blood of the grape," means that
he shall reside in a country where grapes were in abundance.
The vineyards of Engedi and of Sorek, so famous in Scripture,
were in the tribe of Judah; and so was the valley of Eschol,
whence the spies brought those extraordinary clusters.
The proverbial expression Jerem. xxxi. 29, " the fathers have
eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge,"
seems to be founded on what is generally declared in several
parts of Scripture, that God visiteth the sins ofthe fathers upon
the children ; and perhaps on his having particularly threatened
to bring evil upon Judah and Jerusalem, for the sins committed
in the reign of Manasseh ; ch. xv. 2 ; 2 Kings xxi. 11 — 15 ;
xxiii. 26, 27. " But," says Bishop Blaney, " it certainly does
not follow from hence, as the proverb would seem to insinu
ate, that the innocent children were to be punished for the
offences of their guilty fathers. This is in no way consistent
with our ideas of natural justice ; nor can any instance be pro
duced of God's ever having proceeded in such a manner. I
speak of judicial punishment, properly so called, and not of the
natural effects and consequences of sin. If children have been
punished for the transgressions of their parents, it was because
the children were guilty as well as the parents. Nor did the
children suffer more than their own iniquities had deserved ; al
though the delinquency of their forefathers might have become a
reasonable motive, for treating them with greater severity than they
would otherwise have met with, in order to put a stop to the pro
gress of hereditary wickedness. This is all, I conceive, that ever
was, or could be designed, by God's visiting the sins of the fathers
upon the children. It is promised, however, that in those future
times of which the prophet was speaking, no regard of any kind
should be had to the sins of others, but that every man should
bear bis own burden, and suffer simply and solely for his own
transgressions." So, in Ezekiel xviii. 2, Jehovah says, " What
mean ye that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel,
saying, the fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are
set on edge ? As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, ye shall not any
more use this proverb in Israel." Upon this passage, Archbish
op Newcome observes, " the Chaldee explains the proverb right
ly : ' the fathers have sinned, and the sons are smitten.' In the
second commandment, it is expressly declared that the children
should be punished, in this life for the idolatry of their fathers.
Idolatry was high treason, while the theocracy subsisted ; and
was to be restrained by the severest sanctions, under a dispensa
tion appointed for these among other purposes, to preserve the

OF THE BIBLE. 205
Israelites from the general taint of idolatry, and to maintain and
propagate the knowledge of the one God."
II. The wild grapes, crtff&G baeshim, are the fruit of the
wild, or bastard vine ;* sour and unpalatable ; and good for
nothing but to make verjuice.
In Isaiah v. 2 — 4, Jehovah complains that he had planted his
people as a choice vine, excellent as that of Sorek ;t but that
their degeneracy had defeated his purpose and disappointed his
hopes. " When he expected that it should bring forth choice
fruit, it yielded only such as was bad :" not merely useless and
unprofitable grapes, but clusters offensive and noxious. By the
force and intent of the allegory, says Bishop Lowth, to good
grapes ought to be opposed fruit of a dangerous and pernicious
quality ; as in the application of it, to judgment is opposed tyran
ny, and to righteousness oppression.
Hasselquist:): is inclined to believe that the prophet here
means the " Solanum incanum," hoary night shade ; " because
it is common in Egypt and Palestine, and the Arabian name
agrees well with it. The Arabs call it " Aneb el dib," wolf's
grapes. The prophet could not have found a plant more oppo
site to the vine than this ; for it grows much in the vineyards,
and is very pernicious to them. It is likewise a vine." Mr.
Bate, however, explains it of grapes that rot upon the vine ; so
Montanus, " uvas putidas."
Jeremiah uses the same image, ch. ii. 21 , and applies it to the
same purpose, in an elegant paraphrase of this part of Isaiah's
parable, in his flowing and plaintive manner. " I planted thee
a Sorek, a cion perfectly genuine. How then art thou changed,
and become to me, the degenerate shoot of a strange vine !"
From some sort of poisonous fruits, of the grape kind, Moses,
[Deut. xxxii. 32, 33,] has taken those strong and highly poetical
* Called in Latin, " labrusca." Plin. 1. xxiii. c. 1. Virg. Eccl. v. V. 5.
f Sorek was a valley lying between Ascalon aud Gaza, and running far
up eastward in the tribe of Judah. Both Ascalon and Gaza were ancient
ly famous for wine. The former is mentioned as such by Alexander
Trallianus ; the latter by several authors (quoted by Relano, Palaest.
p. 589, and 986.) And it seems, tliat the upper part ofthe valley of So
rek, and that of Eschol, (where the spies gathered the large bunch of
grapes which they were obliged to bear between two upon a staff,) being
both near to Hebron, were in the same neighbourhood ; and that all this
part of the country abounded with rich vineyards. Compare Numb. xiii.
22, 23 ; Jud- xvi. 3, 4 ; and see P. Nau, Voyage de la terre sainte, 1. iv. c.
18. De Lisle's posthumous map of the Holy Land. Paris 1763, Bochart
Hieroz. ii. col. 725. Thevenot, i. p. 406, and Bishop Lowth's Notes on
Isai. v. 2, &c.
t Trav. p. 298. See also Michaelis, Quest. No. lxiv.

206 THE NATURAL HISTORY
images with which he has set forth the future corruption, and ex
treme degeneracy of the Israelites, in an allegory which has a
near relation, both in its subject and imagery, to this of Isaiah.
" Their vine is from the vine of Sodom,
And from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are grapes of gall ;
And their clusters are bitter.
Their wine is the poison of dragons,
And the deadly venom of aspics."
The historians mention fruits brought from the neighbourhood
of Sodom, which on the outside appeared to be fair and of a live
ly red colour, but within were very bitter, and as it were full
of soot and ashes.* Tertullian, Apol. c. xl., speaks of them in
the same manner. But Maundrell, describing the Dead Sea,
tells us, that for the apples of Sodom so much talked of, he nei
ther saw nor heard of any hereabouts ; nor was there any tree
near the lake from which one might expect such a kind of fruit :
which induced him to believe that it was only a fiction, kept up,
as Lord Bacon observes as many other false notions are, " be
cause it serves for a good allusion, and helps the poet to a simili
tude." Hasselquist says that the " Poma Sodomitica," the apple of
Sodom, is the fruit of the " Solanum Melongaena" of Linn^us,
called by others " mad apple." It is found in great quantities
near Jericho, in the vallies near the Jordan, and in the neighbour
hood of the Dead Sea. If this fruit causes madness, if it grows
near the city of Sodom, and retains the name " Sodomitica,"
may it not be the vegetable intended by Moses ? Does it suffi
ciently resemble the vine to be compared to it ?t See Gall.
GRASS. »a-\ desha.
Occurs first in Gen. i. 11, and afterwards frequently.
The well known vegetable upon which flocks and herds feed ;
and which decks our fields and refreshes our sight with its grate
ful verdure. Its feeble frame and transitory duration is men
tioned in Scripture as emblematic of the frail condition, and fleet
ing existence of man. The inspired poets draw this picture with
such inimitable beauty, as the laboured elegies on mortality of
ancient and modern times have never surpassed. See Psal. xc.
6, and particularly Isai. xl. 6, 7, 8. " A voice sayeth, Proclaim !
* Josephus, De Bel. Jud. I. iv. c. 27. Plin. 1. v. c. 16. Strabo 1. xvi.
Tacitus, I. v. c. 6. " Atra et inania velut in cinerem vanescunf." Soli
nus, c. xxxvi.
t Scripture Illustrated, p. 77.

OF THE BIBLE. 207
And I said, what shall I proclaim ? All flesh is grass, and all its
glory like the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flow
er fadeth, when the wind of Jehovah bloweth upon it. Verily,
this people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth ; but
the word of our God abideth forever." This is thus versified by
Mr. Butt.
" Lo ! a voice spoke. Proclaim ! and I replied
What ? That all flesh is grass, and all its pride
But as a field-flower. Quickly fades the grass,
And so as quick, the flower's soft glories pass !
Yea, e'en the little day allowed their kind
Shortens beneath Jehovah's stormy wind.
Judah, as grass, shall speedily decay ;
Grass is soon gone, nor flowers a longer day
Boast; but the word of God which I proclaim,
Forever lives, forever is the same."
As in their decay, the herbs of the field strikingly illustrate the
shortness of human Ufe, so in the order of their growth, from
seeds dead and buried, they give a natural testimony to the doc
trine of a resurrection : and the prophet Isaiah [xxvi. 19,] and the
apostle Peter, [1 ch. xxiv. 25,] both speak of bodies rising from
the dead, as of so many seeds springing from the ground to reno
vated existence and beauty.
IL It is a just remark of Grotius that the Hebrews ranked
the whole vegetable system under two classes, vy orz, and 3ay
osheb. The first is rendered |uA.ov or JWgov, tree ; to express
the second, the LXX have adopted j^cg-raj, as their common way
to translate one Hebrew word by one Greek word, though not
quite proper, rather than by a circumlocution. It is accordingly
used in their version of Gen. i. 1 1, where the distinction first oc
curs, and in most other places. Nor is it with greater propriety
rendered " grass" in English, than ^ojto? in Greek. The same
division occurs in Matth. vi. 30, and Rev. viii. 7, where our
translators have in like manner, had recourse to the term " grass."
Dr. "Campbell prefers and uses the word herbage, as coming
nearer the meaning of the sacred writer. Under the name herb,
is comprehended every sort of plant which has not, like trees and
shrubs, a perennial stalk. That many, if not all sorts of shrubs,
were included by the Hebrews under the denomination, tree, is
evident from Jotham's apologue ofthe trees chusing a king, Jud.
ix. 7, where the bramble is mentioned as one. See Hay.
GRASSHOPPER. :nn chagab ; in Arabic giaba is the term
for Grasshoppers in general. See Meniski, No. 6717, 6020.

208 THE NATURAL HISTORY
Occ. Levit. xi. 22; Numb. xiii. 33; 2 Chron. vii. 13; Eccles.
xii. 5 ; and Isai. xl. 22 ; 2 Esdras iv. 24 ; Wisd. xvi. 9 ; Ecclus.
xliii. 17.
Bochart supposes that this species of the locust has its name
from the Arabic verb hajaba, to veil ; because when they fly, as
they often do in great swarms, they eclipse even the light ofthe sun.
" But I presume," says Parkhurst, " this circumstance is not pe
culiar to any particular kind of locust ; I should rather, therefore,
think, it denotes the cucullated species, so denominated by the
naturalists from the cucullus, cowl or hood, with which they are
furnished, and which distinguish them from the other kinds. In
Scheuchzer, may be seen several of this sort $*. and it will ap"-
pear that this species nearly resemble our grasshopper." Our
translators render the Hebrew word " locust" in the prayer of
Solomon at the dedication of the temple, 2 Chron. vii. 13, and
with propriety. But it is rendered " grasshopper" in Ecclesias
tes xii. 5, where Solomon, describing the infelicities of old age,
says, " the grasshopper shall be a burden." " To this insect,
says Dr. Smith, the preacher compares a dry, shrunk, shrivelled,
crumpling, craggy old man ; his back-bone sticking out, his knees
projecting forwards, his arms backwards, his head downwards,
and the apophyses or bunching parts of the bones in general en
larged. And from this exact likeness, without all doubt, arose
the fable of Tithonus, who, living to extreme old age, was at last
turned into a grasshopper." Dr. Hodgson, referring it to the
custom of eating locusts, supposes it to imply, that " luxurious
gratifications" will become insipid ; and Bishop Reynolds, that
" the lightest pressure of so small a creature shall be uncomforta
ble to the aged, as not being able to bear any weight." Other
commentators suppose the reference to the chirping noise of the
grasshopper, which must be disagreeable to the aged and infirm,
who naturally love quiet, and are commonly unable to bear much
noise. It is probable that here, also, a kind of locust is meant ;
and these creatures are proverbially loquacious. They make a
loud, screaking, and disagreeable noise with their wings. If one
begin, others join, and the hateful concert becomes universal. A
pause then ensues, and, as it were, on a signal given, it again
commences : and in this manner, they continue squalling for two
or three hours without intermission.!
The prophet Isaiah, xl. 22, contrasts the grandeur and power of
God, and every thing reputed great in this world, by a very ex
pressive reference to this insect. " Jehovah sitteth on the cir-
* Phys. Sacr. tab. cclv. ahd cclvi.
i Paxton's Illustrations, V. i. p. 324.

OF THE BIBLE. 209
cle of the earth, and the inhabitants are to him as grasshoppers."
What atoms and inanities are they all before Him, who sitteth
on the circle of the immense heavens, and views the potentates of
the earth in the light of grasshoppers, those poor insects that
wander over the barren heath for sustenance, spend the day in in
significant chirpings, and take up their contemptible lodging at
night on a blade of grass ! See Locust.
GREY-HOUND, -vm zirzir.
Occurs Prov. xxx. 31, only; from a root which signifies
straight or slender.
Critics have variously interpreted the word here used. In the
Chaldee paraphrase and Vulgate it is called " a cock," by R.
David a " hunting dog," by R. Levi a " leopard," and by oth
ers " the zebra." The Hebrew words Q'jriD thi zirzir mote-
rajim, signify something girt about the loins, and so may well be
applied to a harnessed horse,* which is a very stately and majes
tic creature in his going, and is called " the goodly horse in the
battle." Zech. x. 4.
" Et nova velocem cingula lasdat equum." Ovid de remed.
HARE. naJiN arnebeth. Arab. Arneb.
Occ. Levit. xi. 6, and Deut. xiv. 7.
This name is derived as Bochart and others suppose, from
ms arah, to crop, and yj nib, the produce of the ground ; these
animals being remarkable for devouring young plants and herbage.
This animal resembles the rabbit, but is larger, and somewhat
longer in proportion to its thickness.!
"The hare in Syria," says Dr. Russel, Aleppo, V. ii. p. 154,
is distinguished into two species, differing considerably in point of
size. The largest is the Turkman-hare, and chiefly haunts the
plains ; the other is the common hare of the desert. Both are
abundant." It was pronounced unclean by the Levitical law, probably from
its habits of lasciviousness.J That the animal here designated
was the hare, is plain from the circumstance that the Jews ab-
* See Junius and Tremellius, Piscator, Glassius, Bochart, Buxtorf,
and Schultens.
t Concerning the distinction between the hare and the rabbit,' see Phi
losophical Transactions, Vol. lxii. p. 4.
X "Cur immundis accenseretur, rationes phyicas potuit habere Moses-.
Medicorum certe principes Galenus, ./Eetius, Khasis etDAMiR, hoSjtee-
quutus, leporina came scribunt crassum sanguinem et raelancholicum
gigni." Bochart, Hieroz. Tom. ii. p. 403.
27

210 THE NATURAL HISTORY
stained from eating it, as we learn from Plutarch Sympos. iv*
9. 5, and Clemens. Alexandrinus, Pasdag. 10.* Mr. Harmer,
however, suggests difficulties in this appropriation ; and says " I
can never persuade myself that the two Hebrew vlords in Leviti
cus, shaphan and arncbeth, mean two animals so neayiy resembling
each other, as the hare and the rabbit, that even modern natural
ists put them under the single name ' lepus,' which in common
Latin means the hare exclusively. Our translation is evidently
suited to our circumstances in England, where hardly any other
Wild quadrupeds of the smaller sort are eaten, but hares and rab
bits, rather than to Asiatic customs, and the beasts that reside
in the Arabian deserts."
The difficulty on this animal is, that Moses says the arnebeth
chews the cud, which our hares do not : but Aristotle takes no
tice of the same circumstance, and affirms that the structure of
its stomach is similar to that of ruminating animals.! The ani
mal here mentioned may then be a variety of the species. Inter
preters, in general, suppose the hare to be here intended ; called
by the Arabs at this day Arneb, Erneb^ and Eraneb. The LXX.
however, translate A^owou?, which Aristotle, 1. i. c. 1, and
Pliny, 1. viii. c. 55, and x. 63, seem to describe differently from
the hare.
HART. Vn ajal ; Arab. igiaL
Occ. Deut. xii. 1 5 ; xiv. 5 ; Psalm xiii. 1 ; Isai. xxxv. 6.
T-he stag or male deer.} Dr. Shaw considers its name in He
brew as a generic word including all the species of the deer kind ;
whether they are distinguished by round horns, as the stag ; or
by flat ones, as the fallow deer ; or by the smallness of the bran
ches, as the roe. See Deer.
Mr. Good observes,^ that " the hind and roe, the hart and the
antelope were held, and still continue to be, in the highest esti
mation in all Eastern countries, for the voluptuous beauty of
their eyes, the delicate elegance of their form, or their graceful
agility of action. The names of these animals were perpetually
applied, therefore, to persons, whether male or female, who were
supposed to be possessed of any of their respective qualities. In
2 Sam. i. 19", Saul is denominated " the roe of Israel ;" and in
verse 1 8, of the ensuing chapter, we are told that " Asahel was
* Cesar, de Bell. Gal. I. v. p. 171, observes, that the ancient inhabitants
of Britain abstained from eating the bare.
f Hist. Anim. 1. iii. c. 21, de part. anim. 1. iii. c. 15.
| See ./Elian I. v. for a chapter on the deer of Syria.
^Sacred Idylls, p. 84.

OF THE BIBLE. 211
as light of foot as a wild roe." A phraseology perfectly synony- /
mous with the epithet " swift-footed," which Homer has so fre
quently bestowed upon his hero Achilles. Thus again, Lament.
i. 6, " Her princes are like harts which find no pasture ; they are
fled without strength before their pursuers." And farther, in a
passage more similar still to the present, [Cantic. ii. 9,] is that,
Habakkuk iii. 1 9, " The Lord Jehovah is my strength ; he will
make my feet like hind's feet ; he will cause me to tread again
on my own hills." Our poet, Cantic. ii. 9, assimilating the royal
bridegroom to a hart, supposes him to fly forwards from his na
tive mountains, in consequence of his having found favour in the
sight of his beloved. Hafiz, in like manner, compares himself
to the same order of animals ; but adds, that he is compelled to
remain on his hills and in his deserts, because the delicate fawn,
his mistress, has not taken compassion on him. See the com
mencement of Gazel vii. which may be thus translated,
" Tell to that tender fawn, O Zephyr ! tell
O'er rocks, o'er desert hills, 6he makes me dwell.
Whence has such sweetness — (ever may she live !)
No blest remorse her honeyed bard to give ?" See Hind.
HAWK. \i netz ; from the root rm natash, to fly, because
ofthe rapidity and length of flight for which this bird is remarka
ble. Occ. Levit. xi. 16 ; Deut xiv. 15 ; and Job. xxxix. 26.
Naz is used generically by the Arabian writers to signify both
falcon and hawk ; and the term is given in both these senses by
Meninski. There can be little doubt that such is the real mean
ing of the Hebrew word, and that it imports various species of
the falcon family, as jer-falcon, gos-hawk, and sparrow-hawk.
As this is a bird of prey, cruel in its temper, and gross in its
manners, it was forbidden as food, and all others of its kind in the
Mosaic ritual.
The Greeks consecrated the hawk to Apollo ; and among the
Egyptians, no animal was held in so high veneration, as the ibis
and the hawk.
Most of the species of hawks, we are told, are birds of passage.
The hawk, therefore, is produced in Job xxxix. 26, as a specimen
of that astonishing instinct, which teaches birds of passage to
know their times and seasons, when to migrate out of one country
into another for the benefit of food, or a warmer climate, or both.
The common translation does not give the full force of the pass
age ; " Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom ?" The real meaning

212 THE NATURAL HISTORY
is, " Doth she know, through thy skill or wisdom, the precise pe
riod for taking flight, or migrating and stretching her wings to
wards a southern or warmer climate '/" The passage is well ren
dered by Sandys :
" Doth the wild haggard tower into the sky,
And to the south by thy direction fly ?"
Her migration is not conducted by the wisdom and prudence
of man ; but by the superintending and upholding providence of
the only wise God.
HAY. Yxn chajir.
In the two places where this word occurs, Prov. xxvii. 25,
and Isai. xv. 16, our translators have very improperly rendered
it " hay." But in those countries they made no hay ;* and if they
did, it appears from inspection, that hay could hardly be the
meaning of the word in either of those texts.
The author of " Fragments in continuation of Calmet, No.
clxxviii." has the following remarks. " There is a gross im
propriety in our version of Proverbs xxvii. 25. ' The Hav ap
peareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and the herbs ofthe
mountains are gathered.' Now, certainly, if the tender grass is
but just beginning to shew itself, the hay, which is grass cut and
dried after it has arrived at maturity, ought by no means to be
associated with it, still less ought it to be placed before it. And
this leads me to observe that none of the dictionaries which I have
seen, seem to me to give the accurate import of the word, which I
apprehend means the first shoots, the rising, just budding, spires
of grass. So in the present passage Yxn nbi GaLeH CHaJIR,
the tender risings ofthe grass are in motion ; and the buddings of
grass [grass in its early state, as is the peculiar import ofxtm
DeSHA,] appear ; and the tufts of grass, (proceeding from the
same root) collect themselves together, and, by their union, begin
to clothe the mountain tops with a pleasing verdure." Surely,
the beautiful progress of vegetation, as described in this passage,
must appear too poetical to be lost ; but what must it be to an
eastern beholder ! to one who had lately witnessed all surround
ing sterility ! a grassless waste !
" Consult Joel ii. 22. ' Fear not ye beasts of the field, [that
the earth shall be totally barren, after the locust had devour
ed its produce] because the pastures ofthe wilderness do spring :'
put forth the rudiments of future pasturage in token of rapid ad-
* M.uwdrell's Journey, p. !4I, 2d edit. Harmer Obs. V. i. p. 425.

OF THE BIBLE. 213
vance to maturity. See also Deut. xxxii. 2, ' As the small rain
on the first shoots of the grass.'
" The same impropriety, but in a contrary order, and where
perhaps the English reader would be less likely to detect it, oc
curs in our version of Isai. xv. 6, ' For the waters of Nimrim
[water is a principal source of vegetation] shall be desolate, [de
parted, dead] so that (the ' hay,' in our translation, but the word
is rxn CHaJ IR as before) the tender — just sprouting — risings of
the grass are withered [dried up ;] the [xai DeSHA] tender bud
dings of the. grass are entirely ruined [' faileth'] ; green it was
not : [i. e. it never came to greenness, to which state it was pre
vented from arriving for want of water.] ' There is no green
thing ;' in our version. The following verse may be thus trans
lated : ' Insomuch, that the reserve he had made, and the deposit
he had placed with great care in supposed security, shall be driv
en off to the brook of the willows. [Hebr. river of the Orebim.]
Consult the anxiety of Ahab, who sent all over his kingdom to
discover at the brooks grass enough to save the horses alive.
[Quere, whether on this occasion he would have sent them to
feed at the brooks ; or would have had the grass cut and brought
to them ?] Ahab, it seems, hoped for the possibility of finding
grass, i. e. not grass left from a former growth, but chajir,
fresh tender shoots of grass just budding, 1 Kings xviii. 5.
" A similar gradation of poetical imagery is used 2 Kings xix.
26, ' Their inhabitants were of shortened hand ; dismayed, asham
ed, they were as grass of the field, [vegetables in general] as
the green buddings, [desha ;] at the tender risings [chajir] on the
house tops; and those, too, struck by the wind before they ad
vanced in growth to a rising up." What a climax expressive
of imbecility !
" Is it not unhappy that in the only two places ofthe Old Tes
tament where our translators have used the word hay, it should
be necessary to substitute a word of a directly contrary meaning,
in order to accommodate the true rendering of the passages to
the native (eastern) ideas of their authors ?"
HAZEL, lib lutz.
Occurs only Genesis xxx. 37.
St. Jerom, Hiller, Celsius, and Dr. Shaw say that the al
mond-tree is spoken of here ; and that by lauz or luz, the Arabi
ans always mean the almond : he must mean the amygdalus syl-
vestris, which Rauwolf calls " Lauzi Arabum. Crescit circa
Tripolin et Halepum in sepibus. Fructus inserviunt mensis se-
cundis." See Almond.

214 THE NATURAL HISTORY
HEATH. *yny oror. Jerem. xvii. 6, and xlviii. 6.
" He shall be like the heath in the desert. He shall not see
when good cometh ; but shall inhabit the parched places in the
wilderness, a salt land." The LXX. and Vulgate render oror
" the Tamarisk ;" and this is strengthened by the affinity ofthe
Hebrew name of this tree with the Turkish arozr* Taylor
and Parkhurst render it " a blasted tree, stripped of its foli
age." If it be a particular tree, the tamarisk is as likely as any.
Celsius thinks it to be the juniper ; but from the mention of it
as growing in a salt land, in parched places, the author of " Scrip
ture Illustrated," is disposed to seek it among the lichens, " a
species of plants which are the last production of vegetation under
the frozen zone, and under the glowing heat of equatorial de
serts ; so that it seems best qualified to endure parched places,
and a salt-land. Hasselquist mentions several kinds seen by
him in Egypt, Arabia and Syria."
In Jer. xlviii. 6, the original word is iy\"\y oruor, which the
Septuagint translators must have read iny orud, for they ren
der it ovos xygtos, wild-ass ; and, as this seems best to agree with
the flight recommended in the passage, it is to be preferred.
See Wild Ass, p. 29.
HEMLOCK. B»11 rosh and t?tn rash.
Occurs Deut. xxix. 18; xxxii. 32; Psal. lxix. 21 ; Jer. viii.
14; ix. 15 ; xxiii. 15 ; Lam. iii. 5, 19 ; Hosea x. 4 ; and Amos
vi. 1 2. In the two latter places, our translators have rendered
the word " hemlock," in the others, " gall."
Hiller! supposes it the "Centaureum" described by Pliny,
N. H. 1. xxv. c. 6 ; but Celsius| shews it to be the hemlock.
It is evident from Deut. xxix. 1 8, that some herb or plant is
meant, of a malignant or nauseous kind,§ being there joined
with " wormwood," and in the margin of our bibles, explained to
be " a poisonful herb." In like manner, see Jerem. viii. 14 ; ix.
15 ; and xxiii. 15. In Hosea x. 4, the comparison is to a bitter
herb, which, growing among grain, overpowers the useful vegeta
ble, and substitutes a pernicious weed. " If, (says the author of
* See Meninski. Lex. 3248.
f Hierophyt. p. ii. c. xi. { 2.
X Hierobot. Vol. ii. p. 46.
5 " Instead of BW1, five MSS. have »n, and a sixth had at first the same
reading, which, in the elder editions, was the textual reading in ch. xxii.
32, and which I am apt to think is the true original reading. But what is
the precise meaning of WiCi or tPl"t, it is not easy to determine."
Dr. Geddes, Cr. Rem. in loc.

OF THE BIBLE. 215
1 Scripture Illustrated,') the comparison be to a plant growing in the
furrows of the field, strictly speaking, then we are much restrict
ed in our plants likely to answer this character ; but if we may
take the ditches around, or the moist or sunken places within the
field also, which I partly suspect, then we may include other
plants ; and I do not see why hemlock may not be intended. '
Scheuchzer inclines to this, rather than wormwood or ' agros-
tes,' as the LXX. have rendered. I suppose the prophet means
a vegetable which should appear wholesome, should resemble
those known to be salutary, (as judgment, when just, properly
is ;) but experience should demonstrate its malignity, (as unjust
judgment is, when enforced.) Hemlock is poisonous, and water-
hemlock, especially ; yet either of these may be mistaken, and
some of their parts, the root particularly may be received — but
too fatally."
Michaelis, Quest. No. xiii. is inclined to think it the henbane,
" hyoscyamus." See Gall.
HEN. OPNI2. Matth. xxiii. 37, and Luke xiii. 34; [and
compare 2 Esdras i. 30.]
In these passages, our Saviour exclaims, " O Jerusalem, Jeru
salem ! how often would I have gathered thy children together,
even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye
would not." The metaphor here used is a very beautiful one.
When the hen sees a bird of prey coming, she makes a noise to
•assemble her chickens, that she may cover them with her wings
from the danger. The Roman eagle was about to fall upon the
Jewish state. Our Lord expresses a desire to guard them from
threatened calamities. They disregarded his invitations and
warnings ; and fell a prey to their adversaries.
The affection of the hen to her brood is so strong, as to become
proverbial. There is a beautiful Greek epigram in the Antholo-
gia, which affords a very fine illustration of this passage.* It has
been thus translated. " Beneath her fostering wing, the ben defends
Her darling offspring, while the snow descends ;
And through the winter's day unmoved, defies
The chilling fleeces and inclement skies ;
Till, vanquish'd by the cold and piercing blast,
True to her charge she perishes at last."
Plutarch in his book " De philostorgia," represents this pa
rental attachment and care in a very pleasing manner. " Do we
* Antbol. lib. i, tit. 87, ed. Bosch, p. 344.

216 THE NATURAL HISTORY
not daily observe with what care the hen protects her chickens !
giving some shelter under her wings, supporting others upon
her back ; calling them around her, and picking out their food ;
and if any animal approaches that terrifies them, driving it
away with a courage and strength truly wonderful !"
" It does not appear," says Michaelis,* " that the Israelites
were accustomed to the breeding of poultry ; for in the histo
ry of the Patriarchs, where so much is said on rural economy, not
a word do we find concerning poultry, not even in the laws relat
ing to offerings. Nay, great as is the number of other animals
mentioned in it, the Hebrew bible does not so much as fur
nish a name for them ; unless perhaps in a book written
about the commencement of the Babylonish captivity, and even
there, through the mistakes of transcribers, it is rendered almost
undiscoverable. I entertain a suspicion, of which, however, I
cannot here enter fully into the grounds, that in Jerem. xvii.
1 1 , instead of -m me should read m, and translate, ' the hen
hatches and clucks with the chickens of eggs not her own.'
Sometimes the hen steals the eggs of a bird of a different spe
cies, hatches them, and clucks with the chickens as if they were
her own ; but if they are not of the gallinaceous kind, but
ducks or such like, they soon forsake their suppositious moth
er. To a hen of this thievish cast, the miser, who accu
mulates wealth by unjust means, may be compared. His
riches take wings and flee away. This explanation however, is
not incontrovertible ; and if here the prophet had not our de-
mestic poultry in his view, in no passage of the Old Testa
ment is mention made of them, nor do we find them among
the Jews, until after their subjection by the Romans."
See Partridge.
HERON. H3JX ANAPHA.
Occ. Levit. xi. 19, and Deut. xiv. 18.
This word has been variously understood. Some have render
ed it the kite, others the woodcock, others the curlieu, some the
peacock, others the parrot, and others the crane. The root SJS
anaph, signifies to breath short through the nostrils, to snuff,
as in anger ; hence to be angry ; and it is supposed that the
word is sufficiently descriptive of the heron, from its very irri
table disposition. Bochart, however, thinks it the mountain
falcon; the same that the Greeks calls xvomx, mentioned by
Homer, Odys. i. 320; and this bears a strong resemblance to
the Hebrew name.
* Comment, on Laws of Moses, V. ii. p. 386,transJ,

OF THE BIBLE. a 11
HIND. !tVk ajalah.
Ocq. Gen. xlix. 21 ; 2 Sam. xxii. 34 ; Job xxxix. 1 ; Psalm
xviii. 33; xxix. 9 ; Prov. v. 19; Cantic. ii. 7; iii. 5 ; Jer.
xiv. 5 ; Habak. iii. 19.
The mate, or female ofthe stag. It is a lovely creature, and
of an elegant shape. It is noted for its swiftness, and the sureness
of its step, as it jumps among the rocks.* David and Ha
bakkuk both allude to this character of the hind. " The
Lord maketh my feet like hind's feet, and causeth me to
stand on the high places."! The circumstance of their stand
ing on the high places, or mountains, is applied to these ani
mals by Xenophon.t.
Solomon has a very apposite comparison, Prov. v. 19, of
connubial attachment, to the mutual fondness of the stag and
hind. " Let the wife of thy bosom be as the beloved hind
and favourite roe." It is well known that the males of the
gazelle kind, are remarkably fond of their females at the
time when the natural propension operates; and, though at
other seasons weak and timid animals, they will then, at the
hazard of their lives, encounter any danger, rather than for
sake their beloved partners.
Our translators made Jacob, prophecying of the tribe of
Napthali, Gen. xlix. 21, say " Napthali is a hind let loose, he
giveth goodly words." Interpreters pretend, that this predic
tion relates to Barak, who was of that tribe, who had not
the courage to oppose the army of Sisera without the assis
tance of Deborah, though she assured him that God had com
manded him to do it, and promised him success ; but yet gave
goodly words in tlie song which he sung after obtaining the
victory. But, as this prophecy regarded the whole of the tribe,
it could not be accomplished in the person of an individual ;
besides, it was not he that composed the song, but the prophe
tess Deborah, who was of the tribe of Ephraim. Nor do we
find it any where recorded that Napthali, or his posterity,
have been more eloquent than the other tribes ; not to men
tion that the Galileans, whose country made a part of that of
the Napthalites, and who might have been of the same tribe
were so unpolished in their language that those at Jerusalem
* 2 Sam. xxii. 34; Cantic. ii. 8, 9 ; viii. 14.
fPsal. xviii. 33 ; Hab. iii. 10.
X taricMttai ii vj^ita t«c itmttt, t«s /j.ev £n TOIZ OPESIN E2T02AS
EAA$OT2. Venari oportet cum canibus cervas quse in montibus jstaot.
lib. de Venat.

318 THE NATURAL HISTORY
could not bear their dialect.* The Chaldee paraphrase, and
that of Jerusalem, and the Rabbins have mentioned other fables to
justify this version, which suppose that the tribe of Napthali
were quick in bringing good news, &c.' But the total want
of connexion between the images employed and the future
situation of Napthali, so as that the one should be the coun
terpart of the other, which the prophecy has been to the cir
cumstances of the other tribes in every preceding instance ;
and the incoherence and want of unity between the first and
the last clause of the same verse, convince me that something
is wrong. The learned Bochart removes the whole difficul
ty, and elucidates the passage, only by altering a little the
punctuation of the original ; and it then reads, " Napthali
is a spreading tree, shooting forth beautiful branches."! This
rendering agrees with the translation of the Septuagint, with
tlie Chaldee paraphrase, and with the Arabic version. It renders
the passage intelligible, and the accomplishment of the prophecy
complete. Nor are we to wonder that the changing of a few ar
bitrary points should make so essential a difference in translation ;
when a very trifling alteration will sometimes make considera
ble change in the sense of a word even in our own language.}
Admitting this construction of the passage, it may refer to the
fruitfulness of their soil, and the especial, providential care
and blessing of the Almighty ; agreeably to the expression of
Moses, Deut. xxxiii. 23. " 0 Napthali, satisfied with favour
and full with the blessing of the Lord !" So that he may be
represented under the figure of a tree planted in a rich soil,
growing to a prodigious size, and extending its numerous
branches in all directions. This, indeed, renders the simile
uniform ; but another critic has remarked, that " the allusion
to a tree seems to be purposely reserved by the venerable
patriarch for his son Joseph, who is compared to the boughs
of a tree ; and the repetition of the idea in reference to Nap
thali is every way unlikely. "§ " Besides," he adds " the word
rendered ' let loose,' imports an active motion, not like that
of the branches of a tree, which, however freely they wave,
are yet attached to the parent stock ; but an emission, a dis
mission, or sending forth, to a distance : in the present case, a
* Pirke Aboth. c- 39. Thus Peter was charged with being a Galilean.
Matth. xxvi. 73. " Thou art one of them : thy speech bewrayeth thee."
f See Hieroz. torn. ii. p. 257. Ancient Univ. Hist. vol. it. b. i. p. 492,
and Dr. Geddes Remarks and Note on the place.
t Dr. Collyer's Lectures on Scripture Prophecy, p. 152.
5 See" Scripture Illustrated," by the editor of Calmet.

OF THE BIBLE. 21&
roaming, roaming at liberty. The verb ' he giveth' may de
note shooting forth. It is used of production, as of the earth
which shoots forth, yields, its increase, Levit. xxiv. 4. The
word rendered 'goodly' signifies noble, grand, majestic; and
the noun translated 'words,' radically signifies divergences,
what spread forth. For these reasons, he proposes to read the
passage, ' Napthali is a deer roaming at liberty ; he shooteth
forth spreading branches,' or ' majestic antlers.' Here the dis
tinction of imagery is preserved; and the fecundity of the
tribe, and the fertility of their lot, intimated."
In our version of Psal. xxix. 9, we read, " the voice of the
Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and discoveretb the forests."
Mr. Merrick, in an ingenious note on the place, attempts
to justify the rendering ; but Bp. Lowth, in his Lectures on
the sacred poetry of the Hebrews, observes, that " this agrees
very little with the rest of the imagery, either in nature or
dignity ; and that he does not feel himself persuaded, even by
the reasonings of the learned Bochart on this subject, Hieroz.
part 1 . lib. iii. c. 1 7. Whereas the oak, struck with lightening,
admirably agrees with the context. [The Syriac seems, for
ni'j'N, hinds, to have read nvbx, oaks, or rather, perhaps tere
binths.*] And Bochart himself explains the word nVx (which
has been absurdly understood by the Masorites and other
commentators as relating to a stag) as spoken of a tree in a
very beautiful explication of the obscure passage in Genesis
xlix. 21. »f
The passage in the Psalm may be thus versified:
Hark ! bis voice in thunder breaks,
And tbe lofty mountain quakes ;
Mighty trees the tempests tear,
And lay the spreading forests bare !
HOG. See Swine.
HONEY, am debash.
Occ. Gen. xliii. 11, and frequently in the Old Testament;
and MEAI, Matth. iii. 4 ; Mark i. 6 ; and Rev. x. 9 ; and
MEAISSION KHPION, a bee's, or honey-comb, Luke xxiv. 42.
A sweet vegetable juice collected by the bees from vari
ous flowers, and deposited in the cells of the comb.J
* Celsius, Hierobot. V. i. p. 34. Michaelis, Quest, xliv.
f See Gregory's translation, Vol. ii. p. 253.
1 Bochart has devoted twenty-eight pages to the illustration of the pas
sages of Scripture where honey is mentioned. Hieroz. V. 3. p. 374-

220 THE NATURAL HISTORY
Most probably, that the Jews might keep at distance from
tbe customs of the heathen, who were used to offer honey in
their sacrifices, Jehovah forbid that any should be offered to
him, that is to say, burnt upon the altar. Levit. ii. 11; but
at the same time, commanded that they should present the
first fruits of it. These first fruits and offerings were designed
for the support and sustenance of the priests, and were not con
sumed upon the altar.
Some suppose that the honey here mentioned was not that
produced by bees, "but a sweet syrrup, procured from dates when
in maturity : and the Jewish doctors observe, that debash, ren
dered " honey," in 2 Chron. xxxi. 15, signifies properly dates*
The Arabians at this day, call the dates dubous, and the honey ob
tained from them dibs or dibis. Dr. Geddes in his Critical Re
marks on Gen. xliii. 11, says, " in my version, I have rendered
the Hebrew word an, palm-honey ; after Bochart and Celsius.
I am now convinced that it is the inspissated juice of the
grape, still called at Aleppo by the same name, dibs. It has
much the appearance of coarse honey, but is of a finer consis
tence. It is much used by the inhabitants of Aleppo ; it is
brought to town in great goat-skins, and retailed in small quanti
ties in the bazars." tRussEL's Aleppo, Vol. i. p. 82.] See
other authorities in Rosenmuller. In truth, neither common
honey, nor palm honey could have been considered as a rare gift
to* the governor of Egypt, where palms and bees were so abun
dant: whereas, rasin honey, or a syrup made out ofthe grapes,
which grew not in Egypt, might be deemed even a royal pre
sent." But it is doubtful whether this inspissated juice was so
early known ; and it is certain the honey abounded in the East
ern countries from the remotest ages. So common and plenteous
was it in Palestine that it was literally, as well as metaphorically,
" a land flowing with honey."!
In hot weather, the honey burst the comb and ran down the
hollow trees or rocks, where in the land Judea, the bees deposit
ed great store of it. This, flowing spontaneously, must be the
best and most delicious, as it must be quite pure, and clear from
all dregs and wax. This, the Israelites called mjr jaara, wood-
honey.\ It is, therefore, improperly rendered honey-comb, 1
* Talm. tract. Nedarim, c, 6. } 10. Terumoth c. xi. \ 2. Maimonid.
Comment, in Tr. Biccurim, c. i, Misn. 3. Josephus mentions this palm
honey, de Bel. Jud. I, v. u. 3. See also Hiller, Hieropfayt. part i. p. 125:
Celsius, Hierobot. p. ii. p. 476.
•f Exod. iii. 8 ; xiii. b ; Deut. xxxii. 13 ; Psal. lxxx. 17, et al.
X '' A voceV jaar, quae sylvam sonat, (ut jar Puuice lignum apnd Au-
gustinum in Psalmum xxiii.) "'J?1 jaar, vel my jaara, est favus proprie
in sylva rcpertus." Bochart, Hieroz. V. iii. p. 377,

OF THE BIBLE. S21
Sam. xiv. 27, and Cantic. v. 1 ; in both which places, it means
the honey that has distilled from the trees, as distinguished from
the domestic, which was eaten with the comb.
Harmer thinks that the word nan nopheth, which occurs
Prov. v. 3 ; xxiv. 13 ; xxvii. 7 ; and Cantic. iv. 11, may be the
honey of dates ; but Russel mentions the wild honey, or that
found in the trees, as called by the natives noub ; and this word
bears some resemblance to the Hebrew.*
Hasselquist says, that between Acra and Nazareth, " great
numbers of wild-bees breed, to the advantage of the inhabitants ;"
and Maundrell observes ofthe great plain near Jericho, that he
perceived in it in many places, a smell of honey and wax, as
strong as if he had been in an apiary.
Milk and honey were the chief dainties of the earlier ages,!
and continue to be so of the Bedoween Arabs now.f So butter
and honey are several times mentioned in Scripture, as among the
most delicious refreshments. Comp. 2 Sam. xvii. 29 ; Cantic.
iv. 11 ; Job xx. 17 ; and Isai. vii. 15.
A fine lesson on the necessity of moderation is taught by Solo
mon, Prov. xxv. 16. " Hast thou found honey 1 eat so much as
is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith and vomit it."
Upon this passage, Dr. Knox has the following remarks. § " Man,
indeed, may be called a bee, in a figurative style. In search of
sweets, he roams in various regions, and ransacks every inviting
flower. Whatever displays a beautiful appearance, solicits his
notice and conciliates his favour, if not his affection. He is of
ten deceived by the vivid colour, and attractive form, which, in
stead of supplying honey, produce the rankest poison ; but he
perseveres in his researches, and if he is often disappointed, he is
also often successful. The misfortune is, that when he has found
honey, he enters upon the feast with an appetite so voracious, that
he usually destroys his own delight by excess and satiety. "
How beautifully is this thought illustrated by Shakespeare,
The words, too, are selected with a felicity, of which poetry fur
nishes but few examples :
"All violent delights have violent ends,
And in their triumphs die ; the sweetest honey
Is loathsome in its own deliciousness,
And, in the taste, confounds the appetite.
* Forskal, descr. Anim. p. xxiii. remarks, " Ssepe in sylvis Arabia' Aliens
vidi mel ; quod vocant indigenae noub."
fCALUM. hymn, in Jov. xlviii. Hom. Odyss. xx. v. 68, et Eustath. not.
in loc.
X D'Arvieux, p. 205. Harmer Obs. V. i. p. 299.
) Sermons, p. 424-

222 / THE NATURAL HISTORY
The wild-hsney, MEAI ArPbON, mentioned to have been a part
of the food of John the Baptist, Matth. iii. 4, was probably such
as he got in the rocks and hollows of trees.* Thus " honey out
of the stony rock," Psalm lxxxi. 16 ; Deut. xxxii. 13. Josephus,
Bell. Jud. iv. 27, says of the country near Jericho, that it was
/*eAnTOTgo<pa? £t vi £«g*. See also Shaw's Trav. p. 337, and
Maundrell, p. 24.
The Hebrew name of the vessel for the preservation of honey, 1
Kings xiv. 3, is B3p3 bakbuk. From Jerem. xix. 1, it appears to
have been an earthen vessel. Our translators, are therefore unhap
py in rendering it " bottle." A vessel with a long narrow neck,
could not be proper for a substance so thick and apt to candy, as
honey ; but the force of the image is apparent by retaining the
word honey-pot. The intimation would then be — " though the
people of Israel who dwelt here in former times have been
grateful to me saith Jehovah, , as honey is to men, and I have
preserved them with special care, yet that in which they have
been kept, shall be cast from me and totally destroyed, as the
honey-pot is broken in their sight." See Bee.
HORNET, r\yvi tsireah.
Occ. Exod. xxiii. 28 ; Deut. vii. 20; and Joshua xxiv. 12.
Compare Wisdom xii. 8.
" The root," says Dr. A. Clarke, " is not found in Hebrew,
but it may be the same with the Arabic saraa, to strike down ;
the hornet, probably so called from the destruction occasioned
by the violence of its sting."
The hornet, in natural history, belongs to the species crabro, of
the genus vespa or wasp. It is a most voracious insect, and is
exceedingly strong for its size, which is generally an inch in
length, and sometimes more.
In each of the instances where this creature is mentioned in
the Scripture, it is as sent among the enemies of the Israelites, to
drive them out ofthe land. Some explain the word metaphori
cally, as " I will send my terror as the hornet," &c! But Bo
chart, V. iii. p. 402, contends that it is to be taken in its proper
* On this subject, the reader is referred to the following authors. Re-
land, Palestin. p. 374. Lightfoot, Hor. Hebr. in loc. T. HAsaius, is
Bibl. Brem. CI. i. p. 122. Schurzfleish, Dissert. { 17. Witsius, Miscel.
Sacr. torn. ii. ex. xv. § 41 . Altmann, Obs. theol. et philol.
Wetstein cites from Diodorus Siculus, speaking of the Nabatheans,
— crag' aunts MEAI mow to xAtjspmv ArpiON ; in their country is a great
deal of wild-honey, as it is called.
f EUSKBIUS CaSSARIENSIS, AugustiSus, Raeanus Macrus, Lirancs, Ju-
hius and Tremellius, Piscator, Ainsworth, Michaelis, and Dr. Geddes.

OF THE BIBLE. 223
literal meaning ; and has accumulated examples of several other
people, having been chased from their habitations by insects of
different kinds. t£lian, lib. xi. c. 28, records that the Phaselites
who dwelt about the mountains of Solyma, were driven out of
their country by wasps. As these people were Phenicians or
Canaanites, it is probable that the event to which he refers, is
the same as took place in the days of Joshua.
How distressing and destructive a multitude of these fierce and
severely stinging insects might be, any person may conjecture.
Even the bees of one hive, would be sufficient to sting a thou
sand men to madness ; but how much worse must wasps and hor
nets be ! No armour, no weapons could avail against these. A
few thousands of them would be quite sufficient to throw the best
disciplined army into confusion and rout. From Joshua xxiv.
1 2, we find that two kings of the Amorites were actually driven
out of the land by these hornets, so that the Israelites were not
obliged to use either sword or bow in the conquest.
The Septuagint renders the word 2*HKIA, the wasp. The
author of the book of Wisdom, ch. xii. 8, says that God sent
wasps against them, to drive them by degrees out of their coun
try ; making those very creatures a punishment, to which they
had paid divine honours.
HORSE, did sus. The Turkish name is sukk.
Occ. Gen xlix. 17 ; and afterwards frequently in the Hebrew
Scriptures ; and innOS, James iii. 3 ; and Rev. vi. 2, 4, 5, 8 ;
and ix. 7, 9, 17 ; xiv. 20; xviii. 13 ; xix. 11, 14, 18, 19, 21.
The word crvaN abbirim, is also given several times to de
note horses, as Judges v. 22 ; Jer. viii. 16 ; xlvii. 2, 3 ; 1. 1 1,
and elsewhere ; but seems rather an epithet, than a name. And
tsns paras, in 1 Sam. viii. 1 1 ; and Isai. xxi. 7, may mean steeds
broken for the chariot, or used in war ; perhaps horse-men ;
crins parasim, or Persians. "]m ramach, which occurs only in
Esther viii. 10, is supposed to mean mares ; this seems confirm
ed by the Arabic version of Cantic. i. 10.
A very serviceable and well known animal. The description
ofthe war-horse in the book of Job ch. xxxix. 19 — 25, is very
fine. The following is a corrected translation of it.

Hast thou bestowed on the horse mettle ?
Hast thou clothed his neck with a mane ?*

* Our version is " with thunder," which Dr. Stock has followed ; Mr.
Good has " with the thunder-flash.'' The metaphor appears to me to be
too bold, even for oriental hyperbole. I rather believe the mane to be
intended ; and Bochart supports the reading by collateral proofs. That
the seventy interpreters understood this passage of Job in the same

¦iU THE NATURAL HISTORY
Canst thou make him bound like the locust 5"1
The majesty of his snort is terrible.X
He paweth in the valley, and exultcth.
He advanccth boldly against the clashing host.
He mocketh at fear, and trembleth not ;
Ner turneth he back from the sword.
Against him rattleth the quiver,
The glittering spear, and the shield.
With rage andfury he devoureth the ground.
And is impatient when the trumpet soundeth.
At the full blast ofthe trumpets, he crieth, ahah '.
He scenteth the battle afar off,
The thunder ofthe chief tians, and the shouting.
" Every word of this," says M. Rollin,J " would merit an
explication, in order to display the beauties of it ; but I shall
take notice only of the latter, which give a kind of understanding
and speech to the horse.
" Armies are a long time before they are set in battle array ;
and are sometimes a great while in view of one another without
moving. All the motions are marked by particular signals ; and
the soldiers are appointed to perform their various duties by the
sound of a trumpet. This slowness is importunate to the horse-
He is ready at the first sound of the trumpet. He is very impa
tient that the army must so often have notice given to it. He
murmurs against all these delays ; and, not being able to contin
ue quietly in his place, nor to disobey orders, he strikes the
ground perpetually with his hoof; and complains in this way, that
the warriors lose their time in gazing upon one another, He
sense is probable ; for though at present we read, sreJWat tpa^jx «ut*
$o£W, [fear,] I am inclined to think it was originally written po£»
[mane,] It is certain, the mane shews the beauty of a horse. Xenophon,
DeRe Equestr. says, " the gods have given the horse, for the sake of orna
ment, a mane and afiretop." To which may be added, that nothing is
more common among the poets in describing a horse, than to make parti
cular mention of his mane—fiowing luxuriantly on his neck and shoulders,
shaken and parted by every blast cf wind.
* That is, is it to be ascribed to thee, that the horse hath such particular
motions ; leaping and prancing in the same manner with the locusts ? It is
a common saying among the Arabians, the horse acts the locusts, i. c. he
leaps and jumps from place to place as tliey do. See Bochaut and Schul-
TENS. | So Jerem. viii. 16, " The snorting of his horses was heard : the whole
land trembled." The description which Suidas extracts from an ancient
writer, is exactly the same. " The noise of the arms, and tho horses was
sach that «*7«xsov7« i^sn-mrMHTa-ovln, they who heard it were terrified." Bo
chart gives us several quotations of the same kind, relating to the war-
bo rse.
i Belles Lettres, V. ii. p. 328 " on the elegance ofthe sacred writings."

OF THE BIBLE. 226
swallozvcth the ground with fierceness and rage. In his impa
tience, he considereth as nothing all such signals as are not deci
sive, and which only point out some circumstances to which he
is not attentive ; neither believeth he that it is the sound of the
trumpet. But when it is earnest, and the last blast calls to bat
tle, then the whole countenance of the horse is changed. One
would conclude that he distinguishes by his smell, that the battle
is about to begin, and that he heard the orders of the General
distinctly, and answers the confused cry of the army by a noise
that discovers his joy and courage. He saith among thetrumpejts,
ha ! ha ! and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the
captains, and the shouting."
If the reader compares Homer's and Virgil's admirable de
scriptions of the horse, he will find how vastly superior this is to
them both.
In the " Guardian," No. 86, is a very ingenious critique on
this fine passage of Job ; and Bochart has filled fifty quarto
pages with his illustrations and remarks. I shall add the poeti
cal version of Mr. Scott.
«* Hast thou with prowess fill'd the martial horse ?
Thou ton'd his throat with roaring thunder's force ?
Light as the locust in the field be bounds ;
His snorting with majestic terror sounds.
Ardent for fame, and glorying in his might,
He paws, he stamps, impatient for the fight :
Tlie ground he swallows in his furious heat,
His eager hoofs the distant rhampain beat :
He scarce believes that the shrill trumpet blows ;
He neighs exulting, as the blast still grows ;
Trembling with rapture, when the shouts from far,
And thunder of the chiefs arouse the war :
Deriding death, he rushes undismay'd
Where flames with horrid wheel the slaughtering blade,
Where quivers clang, and whizzing arrows fly,
And spears and javelins lighten in his eye."
Horses were very rare among the Hebrews in the early ages.
The patriarchs had none ; and after the departure of the Is
raelites from Egypt, Jehovah expressly forbid their ruler to pro
cure them. Deut. xvii. 16. "He shall not multiply horses to
himself, nor cause the people to retutn to Egypt, to the end that
he should multiply horses ; forasmuch as the Lord hath said,
Ye shall henceforth return no more that way." As horses ap
pear to have been generally furnished by Egypt, God prohibits
these, 1 . Lest there should be such commerce with Egypt, as
might lead to idolatry. 2. Lest the people might depend on a
well appointed cavalry, as a means of security, and so cease from
29

226 THE NATURAL HISTORY
trusting in the promised aid and protection of Jehovah. And o.
That they might not be tempted to extend their dominion by
means of cavalry, and so get scattered among the surrounding
idolatrous nations, and thus cease, in process of time, to be that
distinct and separate people which God intended they should
be ; and without which, the prophecies relative to the Messiah
could not be known to have their due and full accomplishment.
In the time of the Judges, we find horses and war chariots
among the Canaanites, but still the Israelites had none ; and
hence they were generally too timid to venture down into the
plains, confining their conquests to the mountainous parts of
the country. In the reign of Saul, it would appear, that horse
breeding had not yet been introduced into Arabia ; for, in a war
with some of the Arabian nations, the Israelites got plunder in
camels, sheep and asses, but still no horses. David's enemies
brought against him a strong force of cavalry into the field : and
in the book of Psalms, the horse commonly appears only on the
side of the enemies of the people of God ; and so entirely unac
customed to the management of this animal, had the Israelites
still continued, that, after a battle, in which they took a conside
rable body of cavalry prisoners, (2 Sam. viii. 4,) David caused
most of the horses to be cut down, because he did not know
what use to make of them. Solomon was the first who estab
lished a cavalry force : and compared to what it is usual now,
it was a very inconsiderable one. 1 Kings x. 26. He also car
ried on a trade in Egyptian horses for the benefit of the crown.
2 Chron. ix. 28. At this period, Egypt was still the native
country of the best horses : none were yet bred in Arabia, else
would not the Phoenician kings have purchased horses at second
hand from Solomon, at his own price, but have rather got them
directly from Arabia themselves. It is remarkable too, that one
horse cost him as much as another, namely, one hundred and fifty
shekels, (1 Kings x. 29,) which shews that the qualities of
horses had not yet been noticed with the eyes of amateurs. Even
at the time when Jerusalem was conquered, and first destroyed by
Nebuchadnezzar, Arabia seems not to have bred horses ; for the
Tyrians brought theirs from Armenia. Arabia, therefore, could
hardly have been, as Buffon supposes, the original and natural
climate of horses ; but must have had its breed only at a late pe
riod from other countries.
Under these circumstances, it is not wonderful that the Mosaic
law should take no notice of an animal which we hold in such
high estimation. To Moses, educated as he was in Egypt, and,
with his people, at last chased out by Pharoah's cavalry, the use
of tbe horse for war and for travelling was well known : but as it

OF THE BIBLE. 227
was his object to establish a nation of husbandmen, and not of
soldiers for the conquest of foreign lands ; and as Palestine, from
its situation, required not the defence of cavalry, he might very
well decline introducing among his people, the yet unusual art of
horse breeding. A great deal of land that might be applied to
the production of human food is requisite for the maintenance of
horses in every country : but in those days, riding was less fre
quent, and travelling in carriages almost unknown, the roads not
being adapted to it, so that journeys were generally performed
on foot ; and when riding was necessary, the camel was always
at hand, and in the sterile regions of Arabia this contented crea
ture, which requires but very little provender, and may be
brought to drink but once in four days, is vastly preferable to a
horse ; and those who wished to proceed more at their ease,
made use ofthe ass, which, in a mountainous country, is much
surer footed than a horse, and in southern climates, is so much
more nimble and spirited than in northern, that, according to M.
Maillet, in his description of Egypt, a horse in that country must
gallop to keep pace with him at a trot.*
Solomon, having married a daughter of Pharaoh, procured a
breed of horses from Egypt ; and so greatly did he multiply
them, that he had 400 stables, 40,000 stalls, and 12,000 horse
men. 1 Kings vi. 26 ; 2 Chron. ix. 25.
Horses were conducted to foreign markets in strings ; a cir
cumstance favourable to those interpreters who would refer the
whole passage, 1 Kings x. 28, and 2 Chron. i. 16, to horses in
stead of linen yarn, which seems rather to break the connexion of
the verses. Some are therefore inclined to read, " and Solomon
had horses brought out of Egypt, even strings of horses, (literally
drawings out, prolongations :) the king's merchants received the
strings (i. e. "of horses,) in commutation (exchange or barter.)
And a chariot, or set of chariot-horses, (i. e. four) came up from
Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a single horse for one
hundred and fifty." And these he sold again, at a great profit, to
the neighbouring kings. As the whole context seems rather ap
plicable to horses than to linen yarn ; so, this idea, while it strict
ly maintains the import of the words, preserves the unity of the
passage.! It seems that the Egyptian horses were in high repute, and
were much used in war. When the Israelites were disposed to
place too implicit confidence in the assistance of cavalry, the
* The above remarks are from Michaelis' Commentaries on the laws of
Moses, article 166, Vol. ii. 394. Smith's transl.
f Scripture illustrated iu addition to Calmet, V. iii.

£26 THE NATURAL HISTORY
prophet remonstrated in these terms ; " the Egyptians are men.,
and not God ; and their horses are flesh, not spirit." Isai. xxxi. 3.
Bishop Lowth observes, that " the shoeing of horses with
iron plates nailed to the hoof, is quite a modern practice, and
was unknown to the ancients, as appears from the silence of tjie
Greek and Roman writers, especially those that treat of horse
medicine, who could not have passed over a matter so obvious,
and of such importance, that now the whole science takes its
name from it, being called by us, farriery. The horse-shoes of
leather and of iron which are mentioned ; the silver and the gold
shoes with which Nero and Poppaea shod their mules, used occa
sionally to preserve the hoofs of delicate cattle, or for vanity,
were of a very different kind ; they inclosed the whole hoof, as
in a case, and were bound or tied on. For this reason, the
strength, firmness, and solidity of a horse's hoof was of much
greater importance with them, than with us, and was , esteemed
one ofthe first praises of a fine horse. For want of this artificial
defence to the foot, which our horses have, Amos (vi. 12,) speaks
of it as a thing as much impracticable to make horses run upon
a hard rock, as to plough up the same rock with oxen. These
circumstances must be taken into consideration, in order to give
us a full notion ofthe propriety and force ofthe image, by which
the prophet Isaiah (v. 28) sets forth the strength and excellence of
the Babylonish cavalry, which made a great part of the strength of
the Assyrian army." " The hoofs of their horses," says he, " shall
be counted as flint." A quality, which, in times when the shoe
ing of horses was unknown, must have been of very great impor
tance. The value of a solid hoof is intimated in several places in
the writings of Homer ; and Virgil mentions it as an indispensi-
ble requisite in a good breed of horses ; Georg. iii. v. 68.
 " et solido graviter sonat ungulacornu."

As the Eastern heathens who worshipped the sun imagined that
he rode along the sky in a chariot drawn by fleet horses, to com
municate his light and warmth to the world, they consecrated to
him the finest steeds and chariots. With these they rode to the
Eastern gates of their cities as the sun arose, to pay their ho
mage. The Jews at one time became infected with this species
of idolatry. Wc read, 2 Kings xxiin 11, that Josiah took away
the horses from the court of the temple, which the kings of
Judah, his predecessors, had consecrated to the sun.
Bochart, Hteroz. Vol. i. devotes one hundred and seven
teen pages to an explication of all those passages in Scrip
ture, in which the horse is mentioned, and displays a profun-

OF THE BIBLE. 220
dity of learning and ingenuity on the subject : and Michae
lis has annexed to his " Commentaries on the laws of Moses,'.'
a dissertation on the most ancient history of horses and horse-
breeding, in Palestine and the neighbouring countries.
HORSE-LEECH, nmby alakah ; Arab, almk ; from a root
which signifies to adhere, stick close, or hang fast.*
Occurs Proverbs xxx. 1 5 only.
A sort of worm that lives in the water ; of a black or brown
colour ; which fastens upon the flesh, and does not quit it, till
it is entirely full of blood.
Solomon says, " the horse-leech hath two daughters, give,
give." This is so apt an emblem of an insatiable rapacity and
avarice, that it has been generally used by different writers to ex
press it. Thus Plautus Epidic act. ii. makes one say, speaking
of the determination to get money, " I will turn myself into a
horse-leech, and suck out their blood ;" and Cicero, in one of
his letters to Atticus, calls the common people of Rome, " horse
leeches of the treasury." Solomon, having mentioned those
that devoured the property of the poor, as the worst of all the
generations which he had specified, proceeds to state the insa
tiable cupidity with which they prosecuted their schemes of
rapine and plunder. As the horse-leech had two daughters,
cruelty and thirst of blood, which cannot be satisfied ; so, the
oppressor of the poor has two dispositions, rapacity and ava
rice, which never say they have enough, but continually demand
additional gratifications.
Bochart, however, Hieroz. V. iii. p. 785, thinks that the trans
lators have been mistaken in confounding allukah with allakah,
which indeed signifies a horse-leech, whereas the former means
what we call destiny, or the necessity of dying ; to which the an
cient Rabbins gave two daughters, Eden or Paradise, and Hades
or Hell : the first of which invites the good, the second calls for
the wicked. This interpretation seems strengthened by the ob
servation, Prov. xxvii. 20, " hell and destruction, (that is, Hades
and the grave,) are never satisfied."
HUSKS. KEPATION.
Occurs Luke xv. 16.
The husks of leguminous plants, so named from their re
semblance to xti>xc, a horn : but Bochart thinks that the jcegarw,
* Some etymologists deduce the Latin name Hirudo from hareo, to stick.
Horace, Ar. Poet, says,
" Non missnra cutem, nisi plena cruoris, hirudo." v
Like leeches stick, nor quit the bleeding wound,
'Till off tbey drop, with skins full, to the ground," Barnston,

$3.0 THE NATURAL HISTORY
were the ceratonia, the husks or fruit of the carob-tree, a tree ve
ry common in the Levant.* We learn from Columella, that
these pods afforded food for swine: and they are mentioned as
what the prodigal desired to eat, when reduced to extreme
hunger. The fruit is very common in Palestine, Greece, Italy, Provence,
and Barbary. It is suffered to ripen and grow dry upon the tree.
The poor feed upon it, and the cattle are fattened by it. The
tree on which it grows is of a middle size, full of branches, and
abounding with round leaves of an inch or two in diameter.
The blossoms of it are little red clusters, with yellow stalks.
The fruit itself is a flat cod, from six to fourteen inches in
length, one and an half broad ; composed of two husks sepa
rated by membranes into several cells, wherein are contained
flat seeds. The substance of these husks, or pods, is filled
with a sweetish kind of juice.
HYSSOP, ans esob ; Arab, supha,
Occ. Exod. xii. 22; Levit. xiv. 4, 6, 49, 51, 52 ; Numb, xix,
6, 18 ; 1 Kings iv. 33 ; Psal. li. 7. TXSXHIOZ Matth. xxvii. 48 ;
Mark xv. 36 ; Joh. xix. 29 ; and Hebr. ix. 19.
A plant of the gymnospermia order, belonging to the didynamia
class. It has bushy stalks, growing a foot and a half high ; small,
spear-shaped, close-sitting opposite leaves, with several stnall-
er ones rising from the same joint ; and all the stalks and
branches terminated by erect whorled spikes of flowers, of differ
ent colours in the varieties of the plant. The leaves have an
aromatic smell, and a warm, pungent taste. It grows in great
plenty on the mountains near Jerusalem. It is of a bitter
taste ; and, from being considered as possessing detersive and
cleansing qualities, derived probably its Hebrew name.
The original word has been variously translated ; and Celsius
has devoted forty-two pages to remove difficulties, occasioned by
the discordant opinions of the Talmudical writers, and to ascer
tain the plant intended. That it is the hyssop, seems most
probable : the passage in Hebrews ix. 1 9, sufficiently indenti-
iies it.
Under the law, it was commonly used in purifications as a
sprinkler. When the people of Israel came out of Egypt, they
were commanded to take a bunch of hyssop, to dip it in the
blood of the paschal lamb, and sprinkle it on the lintel and
the two side-posts of the door, lt was also used in sprinkling
* Called in Spain algaroba, garofero, carobbe, or locust. See Dillon's
Travels in Spain, p. 360, note. Ceratonia, caroffue, and St. John's bread.
Millar. — Ceratonia, siliqua. Lin. Spec. Plant. 1513.

OF THE BIBLE. 231
the leper. The hyssop is extremely well adapted to such pur
poses, as it grows in bunches, and puts out many suckers
from a single root.
Solomon is said, 1 Kings iv. 33, to have composed a work on
Botany, in which he described plants " from the cedar in Leba
non to the hyssop which springeth out of the wall." This work
is mentioned in the Mishna pesachim, c. iv. t. ii. ed. Surenhu-
sius, p. 148. See also Fabricius, Codex Pseud. V. Test. p.
1045. It is supposed that this is the Arabic work, of which Mor-
hoff, Polyh. 1. i. c. 6, makes mention. See also, Cod. M. S.
Ashmol. p. i. N. 8277. Scheuchzer says, " Ce qui me paroit
tres sur, c'est que ce Livre existe, il doit contenir un ample com-
mentaire sur les Plantes et des Animaux de l'Ecriture, et toute
la doctrine de la philosophic orientale."* Hasselquist suppos
ed the plant here mentioned, to be a species of moss, very com
mon on the walls of Jerusalem. Professor Sibthorpe, who
likewise visited that part of Asia, thinks it more probably a little
plant, still called hyssopo, frequently growing on rocks in the Ho
ly Land, of which he obtained a beautiful drawing. But Isaac
Ben Omran, an Arabian author, says that the hyssop grows in
abundance on the mountains about Jerusalem. The wall there
fore, may mean cliffs, or the passage may be rendered, around
Ihe walls.
In John xix. 29, it is observed, that at the crucifixion of our
Lord, " they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop,
and put it to his mouth;" and in Matth. xxvii. 48, and Mark xv.
36, the sponge filled with vinegar is said to be " put on a reed."
Critics and commentators have puzzled themselves and others, to
account for this variety of expression in the Evangelists. Some
have supposed, that there must have been some plant in Ju
dea of the lowest class of trees or shrubs, which was either a
species of hyssop, or had a strong resemblance to what the
Greeks called omosra, the stalk of which was what was meant
by the reed in Matthew and Mark ;! and others, that there was a
species of hyssop, whose stalk was sometimes two feet long,
which was sufficient to reach a person on a cross, that was . by
no means so lofty as some erroneously imagine. J
Now, all the difficulty ofthjs passage in St. John, arises from
an idea that iaeuitui here, must mean the same with KXAapuo in
St. Matthew and St. Mark : whereas, St. John does not men-
* Phys. Sacr. T. v. p. 27.
t Dr. Campbell's Note, in loc.
X See Salmasius, cited by Wolfius, and Scheuchzer, Phys. Sacr. on
Mattb. xxvii. 48.

232 THE NATURAL HISTORY
tion the reed; but says, that when they had put the sponge-
upon hyssop, i.e. when they had added bitter to the sour, or
gall to the vinegar, they advanced it to his mouth, no doubtj
with the reed. In St. Matthew and St. Mark, the word is
S7rol<£ev : In St. John irpoffviviyMtM *v7ou rco (fiof/.xli, which makes
the repetition of KXAxp.ci> less necessary. Add to this the pa
raphrase, of Nonnus, who undoubtedly understood it in the
sense it is here explained.
Clfsyiv va-trcmru nexepao/woy of©1 ow&fs.'
In Pliny, Nat. Hist. 1. xxiii. c. 1 , we have the vinegar, the
sponge, and the bunch of hyssop, brought together, though on
a different occasion. " Calidum acetum, in spongia apposi-
tum, adjecto hyssopi fascicule, medetur sedis vitiis." See also
lib. xiv. 16.
INCENSE. Gum, thus ; so called by the dealers of drugs in
Egypt from Thur, or Thor, the name of a harbour in the north
bay of the Red Sea, near Mount Sinai; thereby distinguishing
it from the gum arabic, which is brought from Suez, another
port in the Red Sea, not far from Cairo. It differs also in
being more pellucid and white. It burns with a bright and
strong flame, not easily extinguished. It was used in the
temple service as an emblem of prayer.* Authors give it, or
the best sort of it, the epithets white, pure, pellucid; and so it
may have some connexion with a word, derived from the
same root, signifying unstained, clear, and so applied to mo
ral whiteness and purity.!
This gum is said to distil from incisions made in the tree du
ring the heat of summer. What the form of the tree is which
yields it, we do not certainly know. Pliny one while says, it is
like a pear-tree ; another, that it is like a mastic tree ; then, that
it is like the laurel ; and, in fine, that it is a kind of turpentine
tree. It has been said to grow only in the country of the Sabe-
ans, a people in Arabia Felix. And Theophrastus and Pliny
affirm that it is found in Arabia. Dioscorides, however, men
tions an Indian, as well as an Arabian, frankincense. At the
present day it is brought from the East-Indies, but not of so
good a quality, as that from Arabia. See Frankincense.
The " sweet incense," mentioned Exod. xxx. 7, and else
where, was a compound of several drugs, agreeably to the direc
tion in the 34th verse. Wheve so many sacrifices were offered,
* Psalm cxli. 2 ; Rev. viii. 3, 4. j Psalm li. 7 ; Dan. xii. 10.

OF THE BIBLE. 233
it was essentially necessary to have some pleasing perfume, to
counteract the disagreeable smells that must have arisen from the
slaughter of so many animals, the sprinkling of so much blood,
and the burning of so much flesh.
IRON, bra barzel.
Occurs first in Gen. iv. 22, and afterwards frequently ; and
the Chaldee br\3 in Dan. ii. 33, 41, and elsewhere often in that
book. 2IAHP02, Rev. xviii. 12, and the adjectives, Acts xii. 10 ;
Rev. ii. 27 ; ix. 9 ; xii. 5 ; and xix. 1 5.
A well known, and very serviceable metal. The knowledge of
working it was very ancient, as appears from Gen. iv. 22. We
do not, however, find that Moses made use of iron in the fabric pf
the tabernacle in the wilderness, or Solomon in any part of the
temple at Jerusalem. Yet from the manner in which the Jew
ish Legislator speaks of iron, the metal, it appears, must have
been in use in Egypt before his time. He celebrates the great
hardness of it, (Levit. xxvi. 19, Deut. xxviii. 23, 48,) takes no
tice that the bedstead of Og, king of Bashan was of iron, (Deut.
iii. 11,) he speaks of mines of iron, (Deut. viii. 9,) and he com
pares the severity of the servitude of the Israelites in Egypt, to
the heat of a furnace for melting iron, (Deut. iv. 20.) We find
also, that swords, (Numb. xxxv. 16,) knives, (Levit. i. 17,) axes,
(Deut. xix. 5,) and tools for cutting stones, (Deut. xxvii. 5,) were
made of iron.
By the " northern iron1' Jer. xv. 12, we may probably under
stand the hardened iron, called in Greek ^xKu^/, from the Cha-
lybes, a people bordering on the Euxine sea, and consequently
lying on the north of Judea, by whom the art of tempering steel
is said to be discovered. Strabo speaks of this people by the
name of Chalybes, but afterwards Chaldsei ; and mentions their
iron mines, lib. xii. p. 549. These, however, were a different
people from the Chaldeans, who were united with the Babylo
nians. IVORY, a'yrtia schenhabbim ; from \a schen, a tooth ;
and a'^n haebim, elephants. EAE$ANTINOS, Rev. xviii. 1 2.
The first time that ivory is mentioned in Scripture, is in the
reign of Solomon. If the forty-fifth Psalm was written before
the Canticles, and before Solomon had constructed his royal and
magnificent throne, then that is the first mention of this commodi
ty. It is spoken of as used in decorating those boxes of perfume,
whose odours were employed to exhilarate the king's spirits.
It is probable, that Solomon, who traded to India, first brought
thence elephants and ivory to Judea. " For the king had at sea
a navy of Tharshish, with the navy of Hiram : once in three
30

234 THE NATURAL HISTORY
years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold and silver, and
vory." 1 Kings x. 22 ; 2 Chron. ix. 21.
" India mittit ebur, molles sua thura Sabtei."
It seems that Solomon had a throne, decorated with ivory, and
inlaid with gold ; the beauty of these materials relieving the
splendour, and heightening the lustre of each other, 1 Kings x.
18. Ivory is here described as bil \a schen gedul, great tooth,
which clearly shows that it was imported in the whole tusk.
" It was, however, ill-described as a tooth," says the author of
"Scripture Illustrated;" " for tooth it is not, but a weapon of
defence, not unlike the tusks of a wild boar, and for the same
purposes as the horns of other animals. This has prompted
Ezekiel to use another periphrasis for describing it ; and he calls
it \a nuip kerenuth schen, horns of teeth." This, however is lia
ble to great objection, since the idea of horns and of teeth, to those
who have never seen an elephant, must have been very confus
ed, if not contradictory. Nevertheless, the combination is inge
nious ; for the defences which furnish the ivory, answer the pur
poses of horns ; while, by issuing from the mouth, they are not
unaptly allied to teeth." Several of the ancients have expressly
called these tusks, horns, particularly Varro, de ling. Lat. lib. vi.
says of them, " Quos dentes multi dicunt, sunt cornua ;" what
many people call teeth, are horns. The LXX. render the two
Hebrew words by o&ovrxs iAtQxvrivovc, and the Vulgate " dentes
eburneos." The Targum, however, in Ezekiel, separates nms
and ia, explaining the former word by horns of the rock-goats,
and the latter, by elephant's teeth.*
Cabinets and wardrobes were ornamented with ivory, by what
is called marquetry. Psalm xiv. 8.

-" Quale per artem

Inclusum buxo aut Oricia terebintho
Lucet ebur." Virg. Mn. x. v. 135. f
These were named " houses of ivory," probably because
made in the form of a house or palace ; as tbe silver N«oi of Diana
mentioned Acts xix. 24, were in the form of her temple at Ephe
sus ; and as we have now, ivory models of the Chinese pagodas or
temples. In this sense I understand what is said of the ivory
house which Ahab made. 1 Kings xxii. 39 : for the Hebrew
* See Michaelis, Geogr. Hebr. Exter. pars i. p. 204.
¦(•See also Athen^us, I. ii. LucaN, Pharsal. I. x. v. 119. Hobat.
Cafrm. 1. ii. Od. 17, v. 1. Ovid Met. I. ii. v. 3.

OF THE BIBLE. 2.85
word translated "house, is used," as Dr. Taylor well observes,
for "a place, or case, wherein any thing lieth, is contained, or
laid up." Ezekiel gives the name of house to chests of rich ap
parel, ch. xxvii. 24. Dr. Durell, in his note on Psalm xiv. 8,
quotes places from Homer and Euripides, where the same ap
propriation is made. Hesiod makes the same, Op. et D. v.
96. As to dwelling-houses, the most, I think, we can suppose in
regard to them, is, that they might have ornaments of ivory, as
they sometimes have of gold, silver, or other precious materials,
in such abundance, as to derive an appellation from the article of
their decoration ; as the emperor Nero's palace mentioned by
Suetonius, in Nerone, c. 31, was named " aurea," or golden,
because " lita auro," overlaid with gold. This method of orna
mental buildings, or apartments, was very ancient among the
Greeks. Homer, Odys. iv. v. 72, mentions ivory as employed
in the palace of Menelaus at Lacedaemon,
XAXXtt TS ragOTWV, XAI JwfJLATA H^WgVTrt
Xgpcns <r% uMXTftn Tt, xai a^yvea, « <f' cXs^wtyrM.
Above, beneath, around tbe palace, shines
The sumless treasure of exhausted mines ;
The spoils of elephants the roof inlay,
And studded amber darts a golden ray.
And Bacchylides, cited by Athen^us, lib. ii. says, that in the
island Ceos, one of the Cyclades, the houses of the great men
£§u<r« &' eA£<p«v1« ts ptx^x^ova-tv, glister with gold and ivory.
Lucan, in his description of the palace of Cleopatra, Pharsal. 1. x.
v. 119, observes, that " Ebur atria vestit," ivory overlays the en
trances. And that the Romans sometimes ornamented their
apartments in like manner, seems evident from Horace^ Carm. 1.
ii. Ode xviii. v. 1.
" Non ebur, neque aureum
Mea renidet indomo lacunar."

Nor ivory, nor golden roof
Adorns my house.

And no doubt, when Ovid. Metam. 1. ii. v. 3, said ofthe palace
ofthe sun, " Cujus eburnitidum fastigia summa tegebat,"
Its lofty roof shining with ivory bright,
his idea was taken from some ancient palaces or temples. So, in
modern times, lady M. W. Montague, affirms, Let. xxxix. v. ii.
p. 146, that in the Haram ofthe fair Fatima at Constantinople,

236 THE NATURAL HISTORY
which she had seen, "the winter apartment was wainscotted with
inlaid work of mother-of-pearl, ivory of different colours, and
olive wood."
Our marginal translation in Cantic. v. 1 3, renders the Hebrew
words, " towers of perfumes," which Harmer, Outlines, p. 165,
Says may mean vases in which odoriferous perfumes are kept.
Amos vi. 4, speaks of beds, or sofas of ivory. So we read in
Homer, Odyss. xix. v. 55, of KhmtjvJ'ivumiv eAe<p«VT« x«< xftyvgce,
a couch wreathed with ivory and silver : and Odyss. xxiii. v. 199.
of Ai%ftS.$xi£x,AAaiv %(>v<rt>> rt xxi xgyv^ta yjd1' eA6<J)#ra, variegating
a bed with gold, silver, and ivory.
If we might trust to the Chaldee interpreter, the knowledge of
ivory would be much more ancient than we have supposed it ;
for this authority informs us, that Joseph placed his father Jacob
on aied of ivory. " I would not altogether reject this interpre
tation, (says the author of ' Scripture Illustrated,') for ivory
might be known in Egypt, either from Ethiopia, or by the cara
vans from the central parts of Africa, or it might be procured
from India by means of trading vessels or trading merchants ; and
certainly, its beauty and ornament would well become the resi
dence of the Nazir, or Lord Steward of the royal household of
the Egyptian Pharoahs."
In Ezek. xxvii. 6, the benches ofthe Tyrian ships, are said to
be " made of ivory." The meaning is, ornamented. The au
thor of " Fragments in continuation of Calmet," No. ccxvii.
asserts, that " shrine%" must be intended.
On Rev. xviii. 12, see Kypke, Obs. sacr. torn. ii. p. 461, for
some observations concerning the value which the ancients set
upon ivory, and the various uses to which they applied it.
JACINTH. TAKIN0O2.
Occ. Rev. xxi. 20 ; and, as an adjective ch. ix. 17.
The name of a gem, or precious stone,* of a violet colour, aris
ing from an admixture of red and blue.
The hyacinth of Pliny,! is now thought to be the amethyst of
the moderns ; and the amethysts of the ancients are now call
ed garnets.
In the Alexandrian version, by this Greek word, are translated
the Hebrew nbm tecelet, in Exod. xxv. 4 ; xxvi. 4 ; xxviii.
31 ; Numb. iv. 6, 9, 1 1 ; 2 Chron. ii. 7, 14, and iii. 14 ; render-
*' ' Hyacinthus lapis babens purpureum, et casruleum colorera, ad rao-
dum illius floris." Vet. Diet, in Diet. Phil. Martini citatus. " Hyacin
thus ex nominis sui flore vocatur." Isiodorvs, lib. xvi. cap. ix..
f " Hie cmi cans in amethysto fulgor violaceus, diltitus est in hyacintho."
Plin. N. H: lib. xxxvii. c. 9.

^ OF THE BIBLE. 237
ed in our version " blue ;" and Bnn tacash, " badger's-skins,"
in Numb. iv. 6, 8, 10, and Ezek. xvi. 10 ; and in both instan
ces, a colour, or tincture* is intended.
JASPER, naty1 jaspeh.
Exod. xxviii. 20 ; xxxix. 13; and Ezek. xxviii. 13. IASniS,
Rev. iv. 3, and xxi. 11, 18, 19.
The Greek and Latin name Jaspis, as well as the English Jas
per, is plainly derived from the Hebrew, and leaves little room
to doubt, what species of gem is meant by the original word.
The jasper is usually defined, a hard stone, of a bright, beau
tiful green colour ; sometimes clouded with white, and spotted
with red or yellow.
JUNIPER, am rothem.
Occ. 1 Kings xix. 4, 5 ; Job xxx. 4 : and Psalm cxx. 4.t
As the Arabic word ratam, which answers fo the Hebrew ro
them, seems to be explained by the Spanish word retama, proba
bly first introduced into Spain by the Moors ; and that word is
known to signify broom, Celsius, Hierob. t. i. p. 247, thinks it
clear, that it must be the plant referred to, in the places above.
I. In 1 Kings xix. 4, where our translators say of Elijah, that
" he lay and slept under a juniper-tree^'.' the Septuagint version
retains the word p«9«jt* ; and in verse 6, simply has tpuTov, " a
plant ;" in Job xxx. 4, t>t£x; |uAaiv, roots of wood ; in Psalm
cxx. 4, dvfjfjxuxc 6{ij|i*«cow, coals of the desert. From these dif
ferences it should appear that they did not know the true tree in
question. And Josephus, not venturing to designate the tree un
der which Elijah rested, says barely, " under a certain tree."
Antiq. lib. viii. c. 7. That it was not likely to be the juniper,
Celsius strongly contends ; the shade of which was considered
as noxious. " Solet esse gravis cantantibus umbra ;
Juniperi gravis umbra." Virg. Eccl. x. v. 75.
But Virgil speaks of the broom, as supplying browse to the
cattle, and shade to the shepherds.
* Among the latvs of Gratian, Valerian, and Theodosmjs, is this curi
ous one : " FucandiE atque distrahendae purpuras vel in serico, vel in lana,
qua? blatta vel oxyblattea atque hyacinthina dicitur, facultatem nulluspos-
sit habere privatus. bin autem aliquis supradocti muricis vellus vendide-
rit, fortunarum suarum et capitis sciat se subitum ra esse discrimen."
f See Joh. Stengel, " De Junipero Biblico." Biblioth. Brem. Class
vii. fasci. 6. p. 856.

238 THE NATURAL HISTORY

-" salices, humilesque genistas

Aut ilia: pecori frondem, aut pastoribus umbras
Sufficiunt." Georg. ii. v. 434:
If it were not that the commentators universally refer to the
shade of a tree, we should suppose the word to be the same with
Rithmah in the wilderness of Paran, not far from Kadesh-barnea ;
(Numb, xxxiii. 18.) and that his resting was at a place so called
in the desert : a place which had its name from the great number
of plants of broom growing in that district.
II. Job complains, ch. xxx. 4, that poor, half famished fellows
despised him, whose condition had been so necessitous, that
they were obliged to use " roots of retem for food." The Chal
dee reads it a kind of broom. This, though an unusual and hard
diet, was more palatable and nutritious than the ligneous and ran
cid roots of Juniper : and Dioscorides, 1. ii. c. 136, observes,
that the orobanche, or rape, which grows from the roots of broom,
was sometimes eaten raw or boiled, like asparagus. Chappe-
low, however says, that " the herb ratam is of so pernicious a
nature, that when the Arabians say, ' ratama alragolo,' they un
derstand by it ' deliquium passus est vir propter esum illius her
bae ;' the influence of it being such, as to make him who eats it,
faint away. Therefore, when we read that ratam roots were
their food, we are to suppose a great deal more than the words
express ; namely, that their hunger was so violent, as not to re
frain even from those roots, which instead of refreshing or nour
ishing them, affected their spirits to such a degree, as to make
them swoon or faint away." Celsius, who defends the reading
of broom (genista) suggests an amendment in the translation, by
rendering annb lachmam, fire, and not " food ;"* and it is so
rendered Jerem. xlvii. 14. And Mr. Harmer remarks, " I
much question whether the roots of the juniper, or of any other
tree in those deserts, can afford nourishment to the human body
on the one hand ; and on the other, I would observe, that the in-
terlineary translation of Arias Montanus, supposes that the mean
ing of the passage is, that they used the roots of the tree in ques
tion for fuel. And certainly the same Hebrew letters may as
well signify the one as the other — that they used those roots for
warming themselves, as for bread.
" The reason, I presume, that has inclined so many to under
stand the word as our translators have done, has been in part,
from not knowing how far the roots of this tree of the deserts,
* Orarn reducere, non ad On1?, quod panem signilicat, sed ad rad-
DDn calefacit ; unde infinitivus est DlDPl, vel Din, quod cum Lit. servi-
li, et affixo, erit Don1?. Vide doctissiro, Ofitium, in Lex. Ebr.

OF THE BIBLE. 239
might be used for food by these miserable outcasts from society :
and, on the other hand, that they could not want fire in those sul
try deserts for the purpose of warming themselves. But as Ir
win complains not unfrequently of the cold of the night, and
sometimes of the day, in the deserts on the west side of the Red
Sea ; so, in an Appendix to the History ofthe revolt of AliBey,
we find the Arabs that attended the author of that Journal,
through the Deserts that lay between Aleppo and Bagdat, were
considerably incommoded with the cold."
He adds, that we find in the Travels of Rauwolf, that in the
wilderness, they gathered dry boughs, stalks of herbs, &c.to make
a ¦fire to dress some food with: and that Thevenot mentions the
gathering of broom, for boiling their coffee, apd warming them
selves in the wilderness, going from Cairo to Mount Sinai : ahd
concludes that it most probable that the roots mentioned in our
text, were gathered by the poor outcasts for fuel.
III. David observes, Psalm cxx. 4, of the calumniating cru
elty of his enemies, that it was " like arrows of the mighty,
with coals of juniper," as our translation renders it. It is in
deed true, that juniper abounds with a piercing oil, and makes a
smart fire ; and Pliny and others, affirm, that its coals raked up,
will keep glowing a long time : and, admitting this construc
tion, the observation of the Psalmist will emphatically imply, not
only the severity, but the lasting fire of malice. Restraining,
however, our appropriation of the original word to broom, we
may recollect that Geirus declares, that the retama (genista)
" lignis aliis vehementius scintillet, ardeat, ac strideat," — spar
kles, burns, and crackles mord vehemently than other wood.
Mr. Harmer concludes his criticisms upon this perplexing
subject, with the following observation : " How happy would
a more perfect knowledge of the Natural History of the
East be !"
KID. HJ GEDI.
The young of the goat.
Among the Hebrews, the kid was reckoned a great delicacy ;
and appears to have been served for food in preference to
the lamb. See Goat.
The village of Engedi, situate in the neighbourhood of Je
richo, derives its name from the Hebrew word yy ain, a foun
tain, and '"U gedi, a kid. It is suggested by the situation
among lofty rocks, which, overhanging the vallies, are very pre
cipitous. A fountain of pure water rises near the summit,
which the inhabitants called Engedi, the fountain of the goat,
because it is hardly accessible to any other creature.

246 THE NATURAL HISTORY
KITE. 7VK AJAH.
Occ. Levit. xi. 14; Deut. xiv. 13; Job xxviii. 7.
Bochart supposes this to be the bird which the Arabian?
call the ja-jao, from its note ; and which the ancients named
" aesalon," the merlin ; a bird celebrated for its sharp-sighted-
ness. This faculty is referred to in Job xxviii. 7, where the
word is rendered " vulture."
As a noun masculine plural, 0"N, in Isai. xiii. 22 ; xxxiv. 14 ;
and Jerem. 1. 39, Bochart says that jackals are intended : but,
by the several contexts, particularly the last, it may well mean
a kind of unclean bird, and so be the same with the above.
See Glede.
LAPWING, naon dukiphath.
Occ. Levit. xi. 19, and Deut. xiv. 18.
The bird intended by the Hebrew name in these places, is
undoubtedly the hoopoe; a very beautiful, but most unclean
and filthy species of birds.
The Septuagint renders it uroirx, and the Vulgate upupa ;
which is the same with the Arabian interpreters. The Egyp
tian name of the bird is kukuphdh, and the Syrian, kikuphah ;
which approach the Hebrew Dukiphath. It may have its
name from the noise or cry it makes, which is very remar
kable, and may be heard a great way.
LEAD, nsy ophreth.
Occ. Exod. xv. 10; Numb. xxxi. 22 ; Job xix. 24; Jerem. vi.
29 ; Ezek. xxii. 18 ; xxvii. 12 ; Zech. v. 7, 8.
A mineral of a bluish white colour. It is the softest next tq
gold, but has no great tenacity, and is not in the least sonorous.
It is mentioned with five other species of metal, Numb. xxxi. 22 ;
and there is no doubt, but that this is the meaning of the word ;
so the Septuagint render it throughout, [aoa&Sos or uoaiGoc.
Our translators render Job xix. 23, 24, " Oh that my words
were now written ! Oh that they were printed in a book !
that they were graven with an iron pen and lead, in the rock
forever !" There is in our translation, a strange confusion, writ
ing, printing, and engraving. Printing is a modern invention,
and pens, (from penna, a feather) a modern instrument for writ
ing. An iron feather, quill or pen, must be a great improprie
ty of translation. Michaelis* says that he does not understand
what the Hebrew word means, which is here translated " lead."
The passage has been the subject of much criticism. The re-
* Pnelect. in Lowth. p. 211.

OF THE BIBLE. 241
marks of Mr. Costard, are very ingenious.* They are as
follows : —
" The Vulgate renders the word may by plumbi lamina, from
whence it is apparent what opinion the authors of that version
were of. The LXX. have MaAi6dV, and our English lead.
But if, indeed, ma? be rightly translated lead, it must mean the
materials on which the writing was made ; for lead is of too soft
a substance to be used in the nature of a style. What time the
custom of writing upon lead began, is uncertain, but it is pro
bable not till late. The oldest inscriptions were on stones, as
the law at Mount Sinai, Exod. xxiv. 12, or on stones plaster
ed over, as were those in Gilgal, Deut. xxvii. 2. Lead and
brass, and the like, may be supposed not to come into use, till
commerce and literature, and the politer arts of life, made writ
ing more frequent and necessary. That lead was of use in the
Augustan age, appears from Tacitus,! and that it continued some
little time after, is asserted by other authors ;% but bow long be
fore that it had been introduced is not so clear. Pausanius says,
that he saw in Bceotia, Hesiod's fyyx wrote on lead, [p. 306J but
greatly injured by time. Pausanias lived under the emperor
Adrian, about 117 years after Christ. So that the writing might
not have been much older than Augustus Caesar ; the very damp
ness ofthe place where he describes it tohave been, contributing
not a little to its decay.
'Tis true, indeed, the custom of writing upon lead, might have
been of more ancient date in the East, at least for any thing that
we can know to the contrary, could we be certain that the country
thereabouts produceth any lead. It may not be improbable,
therefore, that n-oj7 in this place, may signify the instrument, or
style made use of; and that the l vau joined to it,, should be ren
dered or, the rock being the thing, on which Job wishes his words
to be wrote.
* Observations on tbe Book of Job, p 22.
f Nomen Germanici plumbeis tabulis inseulptum, Annal lib. ii. c. 69.
Prius autem quam digrediamur ab jEgypto 'says Pliny, N. H. 1. xiii. c.
11,, et Papyri Datura dicetur, cum charta? usu maxime humanitas vifaecon-
stet et memoria. Et hanc Alexandri Vlagni victoria repr.rtam, alitor est
M. Varro, condita in jEgypto Alexandria, ante non fmssechartarum usum.
Palmarum foliis primo scriptatntn deinde quarundam arborum libris.
Postea publica monument*, plumbeis vohiminibus, mox et privata, linteis
confici esepta aut ceris."
t Pineda, on this place of Job, mentions some leaden books of Ctesiphon
and Cascitius disciples of St. James, and written with an ir>n style. And
Eutychius, speaking of the Seven Sleepers, as they are commonly call
ed, says, the governour wrote an account of them in lead. Ann. Alex. p>
390. 31

242> THE NATURAL HISTORY
That may was some heavy substance, appears from Exod. xv,
10, where Pharaoh and his army are said to have sunk to the bot
tom ofthe Red Sea mayo. But in order to this being lead, 'tis
necessary that it should be not only heavy but ductile, properties
very distinct. In Zechariah v. 8, we meet with pa maiyn, the
stone of Ophereth. By this, one would be apt to think that it
means some hard stone, sharpened by nature or art, and so, fit
for engraving on a rock. That maiy ophereth included under
it the notion of hardness or strength, appears yet in the Arabic
verb aphar ; and that such stones were used by the ancients in
stead of knives and tools for engraving, may be learnt from Mo
ses, [Exod. iv. 25, J Jeremiah [xvii. 1,] and Herodotus, [p.
1 1 9, Edit. Gronov. and p. 405.]
" But in which of these senses soever we take the word,' 'tis plain
that our author was acquainted with the manner of writing upon
wax or skins, or other materials at least, more manageable than
stones or lead, but not so lasting: for he wishes in the first place
for a book "iao sepher, to write his words in. But as if that was
not sufficient, or like to be durable enough, he wants farther, an
iron or stone style, to engrave them on a rock."
The reader may also find inHARMER's Obs. V. ii. p. 149, some
curious observations upon this obscure passage. I am myself in
clined to believe that if lead be intended by the may, its use
might have been for a mallet to drive the iron chisel, iso as to
make an inscription upon the rock. The word signifies some
thing heavy. Comp. Exod. xv. 10. In Zech. v. 8, we meet
with " the stone of Ophereth," or of hardness, from the Arabic
word aphar, hard, heavy.
In Jerem. vi. 29, we have a reference to the use of lead in
refining metals. Before the use of quicksilver was known, lead
was used to separate silver from the other substances mixed with
it. So we learn from Pliny, N. H. 1. xxxiii. c. 31, " Excoque
(argentum) non potest nisi cum plumbo nigro, aut cum vena
plumbi." Silver cannot be refined or separated, but with lead, or
lead ore. And long before him, Theognis, (who was born
about the middle of the 6th century before Christ, and conse
quently lived in the time of Cyrus the Great,) in his Tvup,ou, v.
• 1101, mentions it as then used in the refining of gold.
E« (Zapa-io-i S" t\$m, mrA(>ATtf£ef*>ii>s Tt fUMSAf
Xeva-ot ATTKfBot vw, XA\QS AKAVil wit.
But coming to the test, or furnace, and ground with lead, and
then being refined gold, you will be approved of all.
The severity of God's judgments, and the fiery trial of his ser
vants, Ezekiel, (in ch. xxii. 17—22,) has set forth at large, with

OF THE BIBLE. 24S
great boldness of imagery and force of expression. " Moreover,
the word of Jehovah came to me saying, son of man, the house
of Israel is become unto me as dross, all of them are as. cop™
per, and tin, and iron, and lead, , in the midst of the furnace,
they are as the dross of silver.1. Therefore, thus saith the
Lord Jehovah, because ye are all of you become dross, there
fore, lo, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem, as
men gather silver, and copper, and iron, and lead, and tin into
the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upoii them, to melt
them, so will I gather you in mine anger, and I will blow
upon you, and melt you, yea, I will collect you, and blow
upon you with the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted
in the midst thereof, as silver is melted in the midst of the
furnace."* Malachi, ch. iii. 2, 3, treats the same event under
the like images.
Lead is mentioned three times in our translation of the book
of Ecclesiasticus, ch. xxii. 14. " What is heavier than lead
[MOATBAON] ; and what is more burdensome than a fool ?"
Ch. xxxviii. 30, " The potter fashioneth the clay with his arm,
he applieth himself to lead it over;" in the original uc to
evvriXeA&rxi ro ffitCfMt,, to polish over the vessel. And xlvii. 18,
" Thou didst gather gold as tin, and didst multiply silver as lead,"
jwoAuEov. Which is a reference to 1 Kings x. 27, " He made sil
ver to be in Jerusalem as stones."
LEEK. Tsn chatzir.
fn Numb. xi. 5, translated " leek." In 1 Kings xviii. 5 ;
2 Kings xix. 26; Job xl. 15; Psalm xxxvii. 2; xc. 5; ciii.
15; civ. 14; cxxix. 6; cxlvii. 8; and Isai. xxv. 7 ; xxxvii. 27;
and xl. 6, it is rendered " grass." In Job viii. 12, " herb."
In Prov. xxvii. 25, and Isai. xv. 6, " hay." And in Isaiah
xxxiv. 13, "a court."
A plant with a bulbous root. It is much of the same nature
With the onion. The kind called karrat by the Arabians, (the
" allium porriim" of Linnaeus,) Hasselquist says, must certain
ly have been one of those desired by the children of Israel ;
as it has been cultivated and esteemed from the earliest times
to the present in Egypt. The inhabitants are very fond of
eating it raw, as sauce for their roasted meat ; and the poor
people eat it raw with their bread, especially for breakfast.
* On the discovery and art of working metals among the ancients, much
curious-information will be found in Goquet's Origin of Laws, Arts, &c.
V. i. p. 140, book ii. ch. iv.

244 THE NATURAL HISTORY
There is reason, however, to doubt whether this plant is in
tended in Numbers xi. 5, and so differently rendered every
where else. It should rather intend such vegetables as grow
promiscuously with grass. Ludolphus, supposes that it may
mean lettuce, and salads in general :* and Maillet observes,
that the succory and endive are eaten with great relish by
the people in Egypt. Some, or all of these, may be meant.
LENTIL, crany odeshim.
Occ. Gen. xxv. 34 ; 2 Sam. xvii. 28 ; xxiii. 1 1 ; and Ezek.
iv. 9-
A sort of pulse ; in the Septuagint $xko;, and Vulgate lens.
The lentils of Egypt were very much esteemed among the
ancients. St. Austin says " they grow abundantly in Egypt ;
are much used as a food there ; and those of Alexandria are
considered particularly valuable." [In Psalm xlvi.] Dr. Shaw,
Trav. p. 140, 4to ed. says, " Beans, lentils, kidney beans,
and garvancos, are the chiefest of their pulse kind. Beans,
when boiled and stewed with oil and garlic, are the princi
pal food of persons of all distinctions. Lentils are dressed in
the same manner as beans, dissolving easily into a mass, and
making a. pottage of a chocolate colour. This we find was
the ' red pottage,' which Esau, from thence called Edom, ex
changed for his birth-right."
LEOPARD, naj nimr.
Occ. Cantic. iv. 8 ; Isai. xi. 6 ; Jer. v. 6 ; xiii. 23 ; Hosea
xiii. 7 ; Hab. i. 8 ; and Dan. vii. 6. rjAPAAALX, Rev. xiii. 2,
and Ecclesiasticus xxviii. 23.
There can be no doubt that the pard, or leopard, is the
animal mentioned. Bochart shews that the name is similar
in the Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic. The LXX. uni
formly render it by xx^xAic ; and Jerome, " pardus."
The leopard is a beast of prey ; usually in height and mag
nitude, equal to a large butcher's dog. Its shape is like a
cat's, and its skin is beautifully spotted. Fierce, savage, and
incapable of being tamed, he attacks all sorts of animals ; nor
is man himself exempted from his fury. In this circumstance,
he differs from the lion and the tiger, unless they are provok
ed by hunger, or by assault. His eyes are lively and continu
ally in motion ; his aspect is cruel, and expressive of nothing
but mischief. His ears are round, short, and always strait.
His neck is thick. His feet are large ; the fore ones have five
toes, the hind but four; and both are armed with strong, and
* In Append, ii. ad. Hist. jEtbiop. p. 27.

OF THE BIBLE. 245
pointed claws: he closes them like the fingers of the hand,
and with them, he tears his prey as well as with the teeth.
Though he is exceedingly carnivorous, and devours great quan
tities of food, he is nevertheless gaunt. He is very prolific;
but having for his enemy, the panther and the tiger, who are
more strong and alert than himself, great numbers of his spe
cies are destroyed by them.*
Probably these animals were numerous in Palestine ; as we
find places with a name intimating their having been the haunts
of Leopards. Nimrah, Numb, xxxii. 3 ; BethrNimrah, v. 36 ;
and Josh. xiii. 27 ; and " waters of Nimrah," Isai. xv. 6 ; and
Jerem. xlviii. 34, and "mountains of leopards," Cantic. iv. 8.
Nimrod, might have his name from this animal. " He was a
mighty hunter before the Lord ; wherefore it is said, even as
Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord ;" Gen. x. 9. It is
supposed, however, that his predations were not confined to the
brute creation. Dr. Geddes remarks, that the word " hunter,"
expresses too little. He was a freebooter, in the worst sense of
the word ; a lawless despot.
" Proud Nimrod, first the bloody chace began,
A mighty hunter — and his prey was man."
Isaiah, describing the happy state of the reign of Messiah, ch.
xi. 6, says " the leopard shall lie down with the kid." Even ani
mals shall lose their fierceness and cruelty, and become gentle
and tame.
Jeremiah v. 6, mentions the artful ambuscades of this animal ;
and in ch. xiii. 23, alludes to his spots ; " Can a Cushite change
his skin, or a leopard his spots ? Then may ye prevail with them
to do good, who are habituated to do evil ;" and Habakkuk i. 8,
refers to its alertness.
LEVIATHAN. \rrto.
Occ. Job iii. 8 ; xii. 1 ; Psalm lxxiv. 14 ; civ. 26; Isai. xxvii. 1.
The old commentators concurred in regarding the whale as the
animal here intended.! Beza and Diodati were among the first
* Voyages de Desmarchais, torn. i. p. 202.
t Theod. Hasseus, in a very ingenious work, " Disquisitio de Leviathane
Jobi et Caeto Jonse," Brem. 1723, attempts to prove that the Leviathan is
the Orcus of Pliny, the Physeter macrocophalus, or Delphinus rostro sur-
sum repando, of Linnjecs. The learned Schultens in his Commentary up
on this chapter of Job, contends that the animal is the dragon or serpent, of
a monstrous size, &c Wesley on Job, quotes Cartwright as affirming,
" Antiquorura plerique tnm per Behemoth, turn per Leviathan Diabolum
intelligunt."- Mercer, says, " Nostri collegerunt hanc descriptionem

246 THE NATURAL HISTORY
to interpret it the crocodile ; and Bochart, has since supported
this last rendering with a train of argument, which has nearly
overwhelmed all opposition, and brought almost every commen
tator over to his opinion.* It is very certain that it could not be
the whale, which does not inhabit the Mediterranean, much less,
the rivers that empty themselves into it ; nor will the character
istics at all apply to the whale. " The crocodile ou the contra
ry, is a natural inhabitant ofthe Nile, and other Asiatic and Afri
can rivers ; of enormous voracity and strength, as well as fleet-
ness in swimming ; attacks mankind and the largest animals,
with most daring impetuosity ; when taken by means of a power
ful net, will often overturn the boats that surround it ; has, pro
portionally, the largest mouth of all monsters whatever ; moves
both its jaws equally, the upper of which, has not less than forty,
and the lower than thirty-eight sharp, but strong and massy
teeth ; and is furbished with a coat of mail, so scaly and callous,
as to resist the force of a musket ball in every part, except under
the belly. Indeed, to this animal, the general character of the
leviathan seems so well to apply, that it is unnecessary to seek
farther."! Mr. Vansittart observes, that " the main proof that levi
athan is the crocodile of the Nile, arises chiefly from some par
ticular circumstances and contingencies, attending the crocodiles
of Egypt, and of no other country : and if these circumstances
are such, that we can suppose the Hebrew writer drew his ideas
from them in his description of Leviathan they will afford an al
most certainty that leviathan represents the crocodile of the
Nile." He then proceeds by quoting a passage from Herodo
tus, where the historian describes that animal, and relates the
peculiarities attendant upon him in parts of Egypt ; remarking,
that " some of the Egyptians hold the crocodile sacred, particu
larly the inhabitants of Thebes, and others bordering upon the
lakeMceris, who breed up a single crocodile, adorn him with rings
and bracelets, feed him with the sacred food appointed for him,
and treat him with the most honourable distinction." With much
ingenuity, he proceeds to illustrate this description in the book
of Job, and to consider it as strongly indicating the peculiarities
Leviathanis ad Satanam pertinere." And, " Multa in Leriatbanis de-
scriptione nulli alii quam Diabolo, aut saltern non adeo proprie congruunt."
* Bochart, Hieroz. torn. iii. p. 737 — 774. ed. Kosenmoller. See also
Scecchzer, Phys. Sacr. Chapellow, Heath, Scott, and Good, and more
particularly, " Remarks, Critical and Philological on Leviathan, described
in the 41stchapterof Job," by Rev. W. Vansittart, Oxf. 1810.
+ " The Book of Job literally translated," &c by J. M. Good, 8vo. Lond.
1812, p. 479.

OF THE BIBLE. 247
of the Thebaid crocodile. It would occupy too much room to
detail his remarks : some of them will be inserted in the course
ofthe following comment ; but he states this, as the result ofthe
whole. " The chapter introduces two speakers in the shape of
dialogue, one of whom questions the other in regard to such and
such circumstances relating to leviathan ; and this continues till
the twelfth verse ; at which the description of leviathan commen
ces. The dialogue is professed to be between the Almighty Je
hovah and his servant Job. But whether it is Jehovah himself
or some one representing him, is not to be inquired in this place.
As it is, the person appears extremely well acquainted with the
crocodile, as he does also with the other animals described in
the 39th and 40th chapters. The other person of the dialogue,
appears to be one well knowing the worship paid to the croco
dile : and the eleven first verses are an exposure of the folly of
making an animal of a savage nature, and one whose head could
be pierced with fish-hooks, a God. Of these eleven verses, the
Six first appear to relate to the mode of treatment received by
the crocodile in the places where he was worshipped ; the re
maining five, to his treatment at Tentyra, and wherever he was
considered as a destructive animal. At the twelfth verse, the
description of leviathan commences, and is divided into three
parts, and classed under the different heads of (1 .) na his parts ;
(2.) nniaj im great might; (*.) Oijr rn his well-armed make.
Of these, the first and the third describe him as truly as a natura
list would do. The second or middle part, magnifies him as a
god. If then, this second part be in honour of the crocodile as
god, then the person speaking it, must be either an inhabitant
of Egypt, a worshipper of that animal, or one well acquainted at
least, with his worship :" or perhaps, the whole chapter may be
altogether an argument, founded on the idolatrous homage paid to
this creature.
I cannot say that I am convinced by tbe reasonings and infer
ences of Mr. Vansittart, though I consider them as entitled to
much consideration. Under the article " Dragon," I have ad
duced authorities to show that the jn than is the Crocodile ; if
so, 'lb levi, must mean some characteristic. In the article just
referred to, it is suggested that it may mean "jointed," or
" lengthened out :", Parkhurst says, " coupled ;" it may also
mean " tied," and " associated." In this latter sense it may
strengthen the suggestion of Mr. Vansittart, that the trained
crocodile is meant, as distinguished from the one unsubdued.*
* I have in my possession an ancient medal, bearing on one side the
heads of Aug. Caesar and M. Agrippa ; and on the other a crocodile •

248 THE NATURAL HISTORY
I now proceed to give a corrected version of the description
contained in the 41st chapter of Job, with explanations and re
ferences to the crocodile.
Behold leviathan ! whom thou leadest about with a hook,*
Or a rope which thou finest upon his snoutj
It is no easy matter, says Mr. Scott, to fix the precise meaning
of the several terms here used : they seem, however, to denote
in general the instruments made use of, partly for the taking him
alive in the water, and partly for governing him when brought to
land. Herodotus expressly asserts, 1. ii. 70, that one of the
modes by which this creature was occasionally taken, in his time,
was by means of a hook, xywrr^oi, which was baited with a dog's
chine, and thrown into the midst of the river ; the crocodile, hav
ing swallowed which, was drawn on shore and dispatched.
Hast thou put a ring in his nose,
Or pierced his cheek through with a clasp ?
This has been usually supposed to refer to the manner of muz
zling the beast, so as to be able to lead him about, by a hook or
ring in the nostrils, as is threatened Pharaoh, under the emblem of
the crocodile, Ezek. xxix. 4. But Mr- Vansittart thinks the
words here used expressive of ornaments ;J and says, " this se-
chained to a tree, with the words Col. Nem. [Colonia Nemausus] a province
of Gaul, with which, those princes were rewarded after the conquest of
Egypt. ("]tyDn.) Septuag. nfsic. " 1 conceive," says Mr. Vansittart, " that
this verb signifies leading about, rather than drawing out ; and that leading
about leviathan is meant, instead of dragging him out ofthe water. Hence,
perhaps, leading about one ofthe tame crocodiles. The word for forcibly
drawing out leviathan with a hook, Ezek. xxix. 4, is Trhyn from the root
r\by." f " A rope." Tlie original word signifies a reed, or rush, growing upon
the banks of the Nile. Hence some imagine, that it alludes to the string
ing leviathan upon it, as hoys frequently string fish upon a rush, or twig of
a tree, which they pass through the gills. Schcltens would render it " a
rope make of roeds ;" as. the Egyptians at this day make ropes of rushes,
and probably from time immemorial did so. Pliny, I. xix- c. 3. informs us
that the Greeks, at first made their ropes of rushes. The ancient Britons
learned the same manufactory ofthe Romans ; and our English sailors call
old rope, "junk," from its latin name juncus, a bull-rush.
| (niri3.) LXX. 4«w>, armilla. This word signifies fibula, as well as
spina; see Robertson ; and fibula is an ornament of dress. Where rfn
is used for a fish-hook, or a strong iron hook, for the purpose of dragging
any one violently, or restraining him, it is generally rendered by a strong

OF THE BIBLE. 249
cond verse may be considered as expressive of leviathan led about
not as a sight, but in his state of divinity; and the x^jto?, a gold
ring or ornament worn at the nose ; for, in the Eastern countries,
nasal rings are as frequent as any other ornament whatever. The
commentators and lexicographers, not dreaming of applying He-
rodotus's account of the Thebaid crocodile to the illustration of
leviathan, have imagined only large rings for the purpose of
chaining leviathan. Herodotus says, the ears and fore feet
were the parts from which the ornaments were suspended. But
as the ears do not appear capable of bearing ear-rings, from their
laying extremely flat upon the lower jaw, perhaps they were put
upon other parts ; or the historian, hearing that the sacred croco
dile was adorned with ornaments, fixed them naturally upon the
ears and fore fee , as ear-rings and necklaces were the most usu
al ornaments of the Greeks. Very likely, the ornaments were
not always put upon the same parts, but varied at different times ;
and that in the time of the Hebrew writer, the nose and the lips
received the ornaments, which, in the days of the Greek his
torian, were transferred to the ears and fore feet. The exact
place ofthe ornaments is, however, of no material consequence ;
it is sufficient for our purpose to know, that ornaments were put
upon the sacred crocodile, and that he was treated with great dis
tinction, and in some degree considered a domestic animal.
The three verses immediately following speak of him as such ;
as entering into a covenant of peace, being retained in subjec
tion, &c. Has he made many supplications to thee f
Has he addressed thee with flattering words ?
Hast thou, (in return) made a league with him,
And received him into perpetual service ?
The irony here is very apparent. The sacred poet shews a
wonderful address in managing this deriding figure of speech, in
word, suited fo the occasion, and not a word usually adapted to ornaments :
thus Ezek. xix. 4, where Israel, under the figure of a young, ravaging lion,
is caught in a net, and carried fettered (o'nru) into Egypt, the LXX.
render it iv j»i«a>, and the Vulgate catenis, not armilia, as above.
Toamv is usually the rendering for TOS, bracelet. It occurs frequently
in this sense, and answers to the latin armilia. Bikl has been anxious to
prove that it means an iron ring, or hook, or bit ; because he thinks some
thing of restraint, is best adapted to the sense: but its general acceptation
is the bracelet, xoo-^oj tk x«goc. ornamentum manus See Trommius and
Biel, (3pn) Ttummt ; the LXX. use this word for boring the ear of a slave.
(lTP) £sims, Vulg. maxilla ; the flesh that covers and wraps over th«
jaw. 32

250 THE NATURAL HISTORY
such a manner, as not to lessen the majesty of the great Being
into whose mouth it is put.
Hast thou played with him as a bird ?
Will lhau encage him for thy maidens ?
Shall thy partners spread a banquet for him,
And the trading strangers bring him portions ?*
Job is here asked how he will dispose of his captive. Wheth
er he will retain him in his family for his own amusement, or the
diversion of his maidens ; or exhibit him as a spectacle to the Phe-
nician caravans. But Mr. Vansittart gives quite another turn
to the verse. He thinks the word o'-an chabarim, which I
have rendered " partners," signifies charmers (incantatores ;)
hence rendered by the Chaldee Targum, N'non wise-men; and
that it is to be applied to the priests who had the charge of the
sacred crocodile, and might as well be called charmers of the
crocodile, as the psylli were of serpents : and o'yjjn, which is
at present rendered " merchants," may be formed from yiDpros-
travit, humilem reddere, and mean suppliants, worshippers.
Hence he would understand it ofthe priests makiuga feast, and
the suppliants going up to make offerings.
Hast thou filled his skin wiih barbed irons,
Or his head with harpoons ?\
The impenetrability of his skin is here intimated, and is after
wards described at large. The attempt to wound him with mis
sile weapons is ridiculed. This is a circumstance which will
agree to no animal so well as to the crocodile. The weapons
mentioned, are undoubtedly such as fishermen use in striking
large fish at a distance.

Make ready thy hand against him.
Dare the contest ; be firm J

* Trading strangers. O'JpW canonim Canaanites. The word is used
as traffickers, I^ai. xxiii 8; Hosea xii. 7, and Zeph. i. 11. Ihe LXX ren
der it 901HKOT iflw the Phenician people. " Si Philoni Byblio credimus, qui
Sanchouiathenem, vetcrem srriptorem Phoenicimo, Grasce transtulit, pri
mus %>a, id tst, Chanaan, Phoenicis cognomen habuit. Unde et Phoenice
regio x?a dicitur apud Mephnnum." Bochart.
f Gusseit, and after bim, Parkhurst, and Miss Smith render this,
"Wilt thou put his skin io a booth, and his head in the fish hut ?" But
this rendering is remote, and inaccordant with ihe preceding verse. Bp.
Stock thinks, that 72PY tzaltzal. is the fisherman's tinkler, from the well
known rustom of fishers, to attach a bell to the end of the harpoon, to ter
rify the fish when struck.
X For the authority of this rendering, I refer to Good, and his learned
Note, p. 481.

OF THE BIBLE. 251

Behold ! the hope of him is vain ;
It is dissipated even ul his appearance.

The hope of mastering him is absurd. So formidable is his ve
ry appearance, that the resolution of his opposer is weakened,
and his courage daunted.
Aone is so resolute that he dare rouse him,*
Who then is able to contend with me ?
That will stand before me, yea, presumptuously ?
Whatsoever is beneath the whole heavens is mine.
I cannot be confounded at his limbs and violence,
Nor at his power, or the strength ofhisframe.j
" However man may be appalled at attacking the leviathan,
all creation is mine : his magnitude and structure can produce
no effect upon me. I cannot be appalled or confounded ; I
cannot be struck dumb."
Job is, in this clause, taught to tremble at his danger, in having
provoked by his murmurs and litigation, the displeasure of the
Maker of this terrible animal.
The poet then enters upon a part of the description which has
• not yet been given, and which admirably pairs with the detailed
picture of the war-horse and Behemoth. Nor does he descend
from the dignity he had hitherto supported, by representing the
great Creator as displaying his own wonderful work, and calling
upon man to observe the several admirable particulars in its for
mation, that he might be impressed with a deeper sense of the
power of his maker. /
Who will strip off the covering of his armour ?X
Against the doubling of his nostrils who will advance.^
* This gives light to the phrase ch. iii. 8, " ready to rouse the levia
than ;" and intimates the hazard of such a conflict.
f J. M. Goo 's version ofthe verses above, I have principally followed ;
and refer to his notes for satisfactory reasons for rendering.
X Our common version is. " Who can discover the face of his garment ?"
Mr. Chappellow follows this; and Vansittart only substitutes " colour"
for " face." STO1? signifies in general, a garment; but the garment or
clothing of a warrior and a war-horse, is a coal of mail. Such a covering
seems alluded to, Isai lxix 17, and lxiii. 1.
§ " The-doubling of his nostrils.'' Usually " a double bridle," or " the
fold or doubling of the bridle." Bochart observes from Pol Onom that
the Greeks called those parts ofthe lips which end at the cheeks. £«m>o/,
bridles : and hence Parkhurst has rendered the passage " his gaping
jaws." This, however, is a very circuitous explanation, and after all, not
quite correct. JDt risn means equally, " the bridle or halter of a horse,"
and "the bridle or halter part," i. e. the snout or nostrils ; that, around

f2S2 THE NATURAL HISTORY
This verse is obscure. The first line, however, seems to de
scribe the terrible helmet which covers the head and face of the
" crocodile. The translation might be, " Who can uncover his
mailed face ?" If in the days of Job they covered their war-hor
ses in complete armour, the question will refer to the taking off
the armour; and the scales of leviathan be represented by such
an image. Then the second line may denote bridling him, after
the armour is stript off, for some other service.
The doors of his face, who will tear open ?
The rows of his teeth are terror ;
The plates of his scales, triumph !
His body is like embossed shields,
They are joined so close one upon another
The very air cannot enter between them.
Each is inserted into Us next ;
They are compact, and cannot be separated.
The mouth of the crocodile is very large ; and the apparatus
of teeth, perfectly justifies this formidable description. The in
dissoluble texture, and the largeness of the scales with which he
is covered, are represented by the powerful images of these
verses.* His snortings are the radiance of light ;
And his eyes, as the glancings of ihe dawn.j
Schultens remarks, that amphibious animals, the longer time
they hold their breath under water, respire so much the more
strongly, when they begin to emerge ; and the breath confined
which, the cord is usually tied, or into which, in some animals, it is fixed,
by a hole bored through it. Thus verse 2, ofthe above chapter, " Canst
thou fix the cord to his snout ?" The very same term, in the very same
twofoid sense of a bri'-'le or a halter applied round the nose of a horse, and
the nose itself, is still common to the Arabic. [J. M Good, Note, p. 483.
* Herodotus, Euterpe Ixvii. says, that the crocodile has Si^a MsnJWoii
Afpvx-TW em tb wrs, •' a skin of scales upou the back impenetrable ;" and
./Elian, de Nat. Anim x 24, vara fe mqme xai tw oujaj appdww xsoto-i ftn
yAP TS KAI tpohtvl 71-i^AXTAl, XAI w; AV tlTTOl Tit UfTFXlTAt, XAI i'AKAirlV OFgAxnit XAg-
Tteait » xoyx*'s- " ^hut up with a thick skin and scales, with which he ap
pears armed as with the strongest shells, he is impenetrable as to his back
and tail." And Diodorus Siculus. p. 41. sect. 36. to ft <ra>/m 3-au/«»s-a>f tma
t»c Qvrtwt a%ypa>rAt. to pn y&{> StppA autk hav powdWrov sr/v xai t» ff-jcXJjgoTpri Sia-
pegov. '' His body is protected by nature ina most extraordinary manner;
for his whole skin is impenetrable with scales of a wonderful hard tex
ture." f Tvndal has rendered this distich nearly verbally :
" Hys neesynge is lyke a glistrynge fyre,
And hys eyes lyke the mornynge ehyne."

OF THE BIBLE. 858
for a length of time, effervesces in such a manner, and breaks
forth so violently, that they appear to vomit forth flames.
The eyes ofthe crocodile are small, but they are said to be
extremely piercing out of the water.* Hence, the Egyptians
comparing the eye of the crocodile, when he first emerged out of
the water, to the sun rising from out ofthe sea, in which he was
supposed to set, made the hieroglyphic of sun-rise. Thus Horus
Apol. says, lib. i. § 65, "• When the Egyptians represent the sun
rise, they paint the eye of the crocodile, because it is first seen as
that animal rises out of the water."
Prom out of his mouth issue flashes ;
Sparks of fire stream otdf.
From his nostrils burstethfume.
As from the rush-kindled oven-X
His breath kindleth coals
Raging fire spreadeth at his presence.
Here the creature is described in pursuit of his prey on the
land. His mouth is then open. His breath is thrown out with
prodigious vehemence : it appears like smoke ; and is heated to
that degree as to seem a flaming fire.
The images which the sacred poet here uses, are indeed very
strong and hyperbolical ; they are similar to those Psal. xviii. 8.
" There went a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his
mouth devoured : coals were kindled by it." Ovid, Metaph.
viii. does not scruple to paint the enraged boar in figures equally
bold. " Kulmen abore venit, frondesque adflatibus ardent."
Lightning issueth from his mouth, and boughs are set on fire by
his breath. Silius Italicus, 1. vi. V. 208, has a correspondent
description. * Herodot. Euterpe, lxviii. SoPlinv, 1. ii. c. 25. Hebetes oculos hoc
animal dicitur habere in aqua, extra acerrimi visus."
f Bishop Stock, renders it with a strange mingling of figures —
" Out of his mouth march burning lamps,
Sparks of fire do fling themselves."
X Our common version is " as from a seething pot or cauldron," which
is followed by Chappellow, Stock, and Good. The word 111 rendered
" seething-pot," is translated " kettle," 1 Sam. ii. 14 ; " cauldron," 2
Chron. xxv. 13 ; " basket;" 2 Kings x. 7, and Jer. xxiv. 1, 2 ; and "-pot,"
Psalm Ixxxi. 6. And JDJS agmon, here rendered "cauldron," and in the
2d verse ofthe chapter, "a hook," is elsewhere correctly translated a
" rush," or " bull-rush." Now, recollecting that the Egyptians heated
their baking-places with dry rushes, as they did their kilns with stubble ;
the comparison of the mouth of the crocodile belching out vapour appa
rently ignited, to the smoke and fire issuing from an oven or furnace, is
much more pertinent, than to tbe vapour of a boiling pot.

254 THE NATURAL HISTORY
In his neck dwelleth might ;
And destruction exuleth before him.*
Might and destruction are here personified. The former is
seated on his neck, as indicating his power, or guiding his move
ments ; and the latter as leaping and dancing before him when
he pursues his prey, to express the terrible slaughter which he
makes. The flakes of his flesh are compacted together,
They are firm, and will in no wise give away.
His heart is as hard as a stone.
Yea, as hard as the nether mill-stone.
These strong similes may denote not only a material, but also
a moral hardness, his savage and unrelenting nature. .ZElian
calls the crocodile, " a voracious devourer of flesh, and the most
pitiless of animals."
At his rising, the mighty are alarmed ;
Frighted at the disturbance which he makes in the water.^
The sword of the assailant is shivered at the onset,
As is the spear, the dart or the harpoon.
He regardeth iron as straw,
Copper as rotten wood.
The arrow cannot make him flee.
Sling-stones he deemeth trifling ;
Like stubble is the battle-axe reputed ;|
And he laugheth at the quivering of the javelin.
* In our version " and sorrow is turned into joy before him." The very
reverse is the fact.
f The original of this passage has been strangely understood by transla
tors. Thus tbe Vulgate, " territi purgabuntur," their fears are so great
that they exonerate themselves ; and Junius and Tremellius, " metu
confractionum se purgant ;" which is rendered, in sufficiently delicate
terms in our common version, " by reason of breakings they purify them
selves." The literal rendering of lXBnn' LZnntra misebarim jithatau,
is, " they are confounded at the tumults." But the question is, What are
the tumults referred to ? By regarding the plural termination of O'-OSra
as a- distinct word, D' 13iffn, we have a clear, and satisfactory answer; for
the passage will then run, " the tumult of the water," or '• sea."
X " Battle-axe," — our version, " darts," and Bp. Stock, " clubs." Mr.
Chappelf.ow observes, " When words are found but once in the bible, as
nnin tothach is, it will be a difficult matter to ascertain their true
meaning; especially those relating to instruments or weapons which; the
ancients used either in war, or in any mechanic business. We can on
ly learn from thence what they were in general intended for; but not their
particular form or composition. This observation will, I am inclined to
think, hold good with regard to thecHANtTH, massao, and shirjah, in the
26th verse. To which let me add, that shirjah, being mentioned the
last ofthe three, it may suggest some instrument of greater moment, than
the other two : for if jah is, sometimes joined to a word to enlarge the
sense, this may possibly be the case here." V. i. p. 564.

OF THE BIBLE. 255
These expressions describe, in a lively manner, the strength,
courage, and intrepidity of the crocodile. Nothing frightens
him. If any one attack him. neither swords, darts, nor javelins
avail against him. Travellers agree that the skin ofthe croco
dile is proof against pointed weapons.
His bed is ihe splinters of flint
Which the broken rock scattereth on the mud.*
This clause is obscure, and has been variously rendered. The
idea seems to be, that he can repose himself on sharp pointed
rocks and stones, with as little concern as upon mud.
He maketh the main to boil as a cauldron :
He snuff eth up the tide as a perfume.
Behind him glitlereth a path-way ;
The deep is embroidered with hoar.j
To give a farther idea ofthe force of this creature, the poet
describes the effect of his motion in the water. When a large
crocodile dives to the bottom, the violent agitation ofthe water,
may be justly compared to liquor boiling in a cauldron. When
swimming upon the surface, he cuts the water like a ship, and
makes it white with foam ; at the same time his tail, like a
rudder, causes the waves behind him, to froth and sparkle like a
trail of light. These images are common among the poets.
Thus Homer Odyss. 1. xii. v. 235, as translated by Pope —
—  " tumultuous boil the waves ;
They toss, they foam, a wild confusion raise,
Like waters bubbling o'er the fiery blaze."
He hath not his like upon earth.
Even among those made not to be daunted.
He looketh upon every thing with haughtiness ;
He is king over all the sons ofthefierce.
Mr. Good observes, that all the interpreters appear to have run
into an error in conceiving, that " the sons of pride or haughti
ness, in the original }'r\a 'J3, refer to wild beasts, or monsters of
enormous size ; it is far more confounding to the haughtiness and
exultation of man, to that undue confidence in his own power
which it is the very object of this sublime address to humiliate,
* Bp. Stock renders this,
" Underneath him are splinters ofthe potter,
Which the breaking rock Bcattereth on the mud."
tThe word 3tsn, signifies " to embroider, or work in tapestry." It fur
nishes says Mr. Good, "a beautiful and truly oriental image lor * the deep
is covered with foam.' " Bp Stock has " the sea he rendereth like unte
wort." This is bathos, both literally and figuratively.

256 THE NATURAL HISTORY
to have pointed out to him, even among the brute creation, a
being which he dares not to encounter, and which laughs at all his
pride, and pomp, and pretensions, and compels him to feel in all
these respects, his real littleness and inferiority. It is difficult,
perhaps impossible, to find a description, so admirably sustained,
in any language of any age or country. The whole appears to be
»f a piece, and equally excellent."
The following is the poetical version of Mr. Scott :
" Doubtless, with hook and cordage, thou art bold
To draw leviathan from his watery hold ;
To strain the noose about his dreadful jaw,
And tame his fierceness with domestic law !
Will he, in humble parte, before thy feet,
With mollifying words thy grace intreat?
And, if thy clemency his life but spare,
Eternal service to his victor swear ?
What duty wilt thou to this slave assign ?
Tied, like a household bird, with silken twine,
His gamesome mood thy weighty cares may ease,
Or his soft touch thy gentle damsels please.
Or wilt thou send him into foreign lands,
Barter'd to Zidons ships, or Tema's bands ?
" Is open war tby choice ? What fame is won,
If thou invade him basking in the sun !
Surely thy javelins will transpierce his hide.
And showers of fang'd harpoons his skull divide. '
Assail him, but remember well the foe,
Fell him at once, or aim no second blow.
Deceiving hope ! his look thy heart appals,
The foe appears, the swooning champion falls.
Not even the fiercest chief, with war's whole power,
Dares rouse this creature in his slumbering hour.
Who then shall face my terrors ? where is he
Whose rash presumption will contend with roe ?
Where is the giver to whose gifts I owe,
Owner of all above and all below ?
"Come forth, leviathan, harnessed for the fight,
In all thy dread habiliments of might ?
Behold his limbs their symmetry survey,
For war how well adjusted his array :
The temper'd morion, o'er his visage brac'd,
What hardy valour ever yet unlac'd ?
Who, near his mouth, with double rein, will draw,
And lift the huge portcullis of his jaw ?
Behold he yawns, the hideous valves disclose
Death's iron teeth, imbattled rows on rows.
Proud o'er his mailed back, his scales are rlass'd,
Like serried shields, lock'd each in each so fast,
And seal'd together, that no breath of wind
Insinuates ; so close tbe plates are join'd
So solder'd that the stoutest force were vain
To pierce the tight-wedg'd joints, and burst the chain.

OF THE BIBLE. 257
His sneeae is lightning, from his eye the ray
Streams like the pupil of emerging day.
He belches flame, and fire at every blast
Leaps sparkling out : a smoke his nostrils cast
Like clouds which from a boiling cauldron rise,
Or marish mist beneath the morning skies.
His breath enkindles coals ; so hot it steams
That his wide mouth a furious furnace seems.
Strength on his neck is thron'd ; where'er he turns,
Woe springs before him, and the carnage churns.
His flesh coheres in flakes, with sinews barr'd,
Compact as steel, indissolubly hard :
His heart is from the quarry bewu, compress'd
Hard as the nether mill-stone is his chest.
The valiant tremble when he lifts hi; head,
Down sink the mighty, impotent with dread.
The sword at hand, the missile arms from far,
Will thunder on his skin an idle war :
The sword breaks short, the blunted spears rebound,
And harmless clank the javelins on thegrouud.
Iron as straw, and brass as mouldering wood,
He scorns ; nor flees, nor flinches to elude
The whirring shaft ; as stubble, is the stone,
From thestrain'd sling with forceful eddies thrown ;
As stubble is the pounding mace, his hide
Death's every brandish'd weapon will deride.
" Sharp, ragged pebbles are his chosen bed,
On pointed rocks his slimy couch is spread.
What time he flounces in the wave and mire,
He boils the water like the rage of fire :
The boiling water to a thick perfume
Works, as he dashes the discoloured spume,
The flood turns hoary, while his way he cleaves.
And in his rear a shining path he leaves.
" Dire reptile, on the dust without a peer,
Fill'd with a soul incapable of fear;
All beasts of lofty stature he disdains,
And fiercest o'er the fierce, supreme he reigns."
The word leviathan is found in the original of Job iii. 8 ; in our
version rendered " mourning." Mr. Good has a long note, ex
plaining the passage as having a reference to ancient sorceries,
and execrating incantations : but Mr. Scott's version and note,
seems satisfactory. Let them curse it that curse the day
Of those who shall awake leviathan.
To stir up or awake leviathan, is represented inch. xii. 8 — 10,
to be inevitable destruction. It was natural to mention such a
terrible casualty in the strongest terms of abhorrence, and to la
ment those who so miserably perished with the most bitter impre
cations on the disasterous day. Job here calls for the assistance
of such language, to execrate the fatal night of his nativity.
33

258 THE NATURAL HISTORY
Or it may have a reference to the execration expressed by the
Ombitjae against the Tenty rites. The Ombtse were the inhabi
tants of Ombos, a town upon the right bank of the Nile, not far
from the cataracts of the ancient Siene, now Assuan. This peo
ple were remarkable for the worship of the crocodile, and the
foolishly kind manner in which they treated and cherished him.
Their nearly opposite neighbours, the Tentyrites, were, on the
contrary, conspicuous for their hatred and persecution of the
same animal. The different mode of treatment of this animal,
produced deadly feuds and animosities between the two people,
which Juvenal, in his XVth Satire, ridicules most justly. He was
an eye-witness of the hostility described, residing as a Roman
officer at Siene. If there be any allusion to this in the passage
before us, it would mean, " let my birth be held in as much ab
horrence, as is that of those, who are the rousers of leviathan."
"Immortale odium, et nunquam sanabile vulnus
Ardet adhuc Ombos et Tentyra." Juv ,^at. xv. v. 35.
Between two neighbouring towns, a rancorous rage
Y< f burns ; a hate no lenients ran assauge.
By leviathan, Psalm Ixxiv. 14. we may suppose Pharaoh to be
represented, as a king of Egypt is called by Ezekiel xxix. 3,
" the great dragon (or crocodile) that lieth in the midst of his
rivers :" and if, says Mr. Merrick, the Arabic lexicographers
quoted by Bochart, Phaleg, 1. i. c. 1 5, rightly affirm that PAa-
rao, in the Egyptian language, signified a crocodile, there may
possibly be some such allusion to his name in these texts of the
Psalmist and of Ezekiel, as was made to the name of Draco,
when Herodicus, in a sarcasm recorded by Aristotle, Rhet. 1.
ii. c, 23, said that his laws, which were very severe, were the
laws ovk xvQ(>ct>7rov xKKx fyxxovTos, non hominis sed draconis.
Moses Chorekensis mentions some ancient songs, which called
the descendants of Astyages a race of Dragons, because Astya-
<ses in the Armenian language signified a dragon, 1. i. c. 29, p. 72.
LIGN-ALOE. a*br\$ AHAL,uf.
Occ. Numb, xxiv, 6 ; Psalm xiv. 9 ; Prov, vii. 1 7 ; Cantic,
iv. 14.
The Geneva version and our's, have rendered the Hebrew
word ahalim by aloe-trees, Numb. xxiv. 6, though they might,
with as good reason, render it by tents, as the Septuagint, the Vul
gate, and the Syriac, and Arabic versions have done ; since it
evidently has this signification in several places of Scripture :*
* Gen. iv. 20 ; xiii. 3 ; Josh, vii. 21 ; Judg. vii. 8 ; Job xjii. 23 ,- Daft
Si. 45, &c,

OF" THE BIBLE. 269
And since Balaam, in the preceding verse, admires ihe tents and
the tabernacles of Jacob and Israel. Nay, since there grow no
aloe-trees in Mesopotamia, which was Balaam's country ; nor in
the land of Moab, where these words were expressed, it seems
more natural to translate the word by that of tabernacle or lent.**
It is true'that what is here observed, that God planted those aha-
lim, seems to denote that they were trees, as well as the cedars
which are mentioned directly after : but in answer to this it may
be said, that the verb to plant, is not only employed to signify to
put trees in the earth to grow, but also to express the pitching or
setting up of tents, as may be seen in Dam xi. 4, and elsewhere.
It is likewise true, as Dioscorides observes,! that the wood of
aloes was formerly brought from Arabia into other countries ; but
this is no argument that it grew there, since we find, that Jacob
sent laudanum to Pharaoh, Gen. xliii. 11, which was collected in
the land of Gilead, whence the Israelites transported it to Egypt,
Gen. xxvii. 25, and might leave some of it in Syria, as they pass
ed that way. ' Not to mention that no ancient author speaks of
the wood of aloe ;\ Actius, Dioscorides, Paul 2Egineta, Sera-
pion, and some modern Arabians, having mentioned it first, who
give that wood the name of agalloch, or xylaloe, that is, ihe wood
of aloe, because it resembles the aloe in colour, or perhaps, be
cause they could find no wood nearer the Arabic agalugen, or the
Indian or Arabic ahala. However it be, it is certain that what
we now call the wood of aloes comes from the Indies, the best
sort from Sumatra and Malacca.
The Septuagint, Vulgate, Geneva version and our's, render
ahalim by aloes, only in Prov. vii. 17 ; Psalm xiv. 9 ; and
Cantic. iv. 14. But this is manifestly a mistake, and clearly
destroys the sense of these texts. For, as Junius, Tremel-
lius, Piscator, and Ursinus observe, aloes have a bad smell,
and cannot enter among the perfumes which are mentioned
in these places. But in abandoning this signification, Junius,
Buxtorf, and others, seem not to have succeeded better in ren
dering it santal. For though the heart of several sorts of the
santal yields an agreeable fragrance, yet this seems known, (or
rather used) only by the modern Arabians, who, in speaking of it,
remark that it comes from the Indies.
* Tents were probably first made, (it may be then,) of the thick-leaved
boughs of trees ; so that the word may be rendered arbour ox bower i
fLib. i.e. 21.
X SeeGARsius aromat. 1. i. c. 16. Bacchin. in Mathiolcm. 1. i. Jol.
Scal. 142, Exercil sec. vi. Ursinus arboret. sac. c jib et 43, et hort.
aromat. c. 2. Plin. Nat. Hist. I. xxvii. c. 4. Bochart, Canaan, J. i. c. 46.

260 THE NATURAL HISTORY
The same difficulty may be brought against the opinion of those
who are for rendering ahalim, by the wood of aloe, called agalloch
or xylaloe. For suppose that Balaam should have meant trees,
he must have spoken of such as were common in Syria and Ara
bia, whereas the agalloch comes from the East-Indies, and from
Taprobane : and Serapion formally denies, upon the testimony
of Abahanifa an Arabian, that any of it grows in Arabia.
Nor is it probable that David or Solomon speak of this wood
in the places cited out of their writings : for though it may be
presumed that the fleet which Solomon sent to Ophir might bring
some of this wood among other rarities, yet the books of the
Psalms, of Proverbs, and of Songs, were composed before the set
ting out of that fleet. It may likewise be questioned, whether
that fleet brought any of that wood to Judea, because it is so rare
and precious, even in the Indies, that one pound of it, costs as
much as three hundred weight ofthe best frankincense ; as Gar-
sias declares. Nor yet is it to be supposed, though this wood
had been common in Judea in David's and Solomon's time, that
they would have mixed it with myrrh and cinnamon ; for the
agalloch or Indian lign-aloe, is so odoriferous and so agreeable,
that it stands in no need of any composition to increase or mode
rate its perfume.
Yet there is another kind of wood, called the Syrian aloe, or
of Rhodes, and of Candia, called otherwise aspalatha, which is a
little shrub covered with prickles ; of the wood of which, perfu
mers (having taken off the bark,) make use to give a consistency
to their perfumes, which otherwise would be too thin and liquid.
Cassiodorus observes, that this is of a very sweet smell, and that
in his time they burned it before the altars instead of frankincense.
Levinus Lemnius says, that it resembles very much the agalloch,
or Indian lign-aloe. All which considerations make it probable,
that ahalim should have been rendered the aspalatha. See Aloe.
LIGURE. aab leschem.
Occ. Exod. xxviii. 19 ; and xxxix. 12, only.
A precious stone of a deep red colour, with a considerable
tinge of yellow. Theophrastus and Pliny describe it as resem
bling the carbuncle, of a brightness, sparkling like fire.
The generality of the Hebrew lexicographers, and most of
the ancients, critics and commentators, whom we find reckoned
up in a very learned article upon the ligure, in Martinus' lexi
con, suppose that to be the leschem ; and the Septuagint, Jose
phus and Jerom, so render it, and their authority is decisive.

OF THE BIBLE. 201
LILY. \aw shushan.
Occ. 1 Kings vii. 19, 22, 26 ; 2 Chron. iv. 5; Cantic. ii. 2,
16; iv. 5 ; v. 13; vi. 2, 3 ; vii. 2 ; Hosea xiv. 5. KPINON.
Matth. vi. 28 ; and Luke xii. 27.
A well known sweet and beautiful flower ; which furnished
Solomon with a variety of charming images in his Song, and with
graceful ornaments in the fabric and furniture of the Temple.
The title of some of the Psalms " upon Shushan or Shoshan-
nim,"* probably means no more than that the music of these
sacred compositions , was to be regulated by that of some odes,
which were known by those names or appellations.
By " the lily of the valley," Cantic ii. 2, we are not to un
derstand the humble flower, generally so called with us, the
lilium convallium, but the noble flower which ornaments our
gardens, and which in Palestine grows wild in the fields, and
especially in the vallies.
Pliny reckons the lily the next plant in excellency to the
rose ; and the gay Anacreon compares Venus to this flower.
In the East, as with us, it is the emblem of purify and moral ex
cellence. So the Persian poet, Sadi, compares an amiable youth
to "the white lily in a bed of narcissuses," because he surpassed
all the young shepherds in goodness. T
As in Cantic v. 1 3, the lips are compared to the lily, bishop
Patrick supposes the lily here instanced, to be the same which,
on account of its deep red colour is particularly called by Pliny
" rubens lilium," and which he tells us was much esteemed in
Syria. Such may have been the lily mentioned in Matth. vi. 28 — 30,
for the royal robes were purple. " Consider the lilies of the
field how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin ; and yet
I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not array
ed like one of these." So Luke xii. 27. The scarcity of fuel
in the east, obliges the inhabitants to use, by turns, every kind
of combustible matter. The withered stalks of herbs and
flowers, the tendrils of the vine, the small branches of rosemary,
and other plants, are all used in heating their ovens and bagnios.
We can easily recognize this practice in that remark of our
Lord, Matth. vi. 50, " If God so clothe the grass of the field,
which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not
much more clothe you, O ye of little faith !" The grass of the
field", in this passage, evidently includes the lilies of which he
had just been speaking, and by consequence herbs in general ;
* Psalm xiv. Ix. lxix. and lxxx.
f Forskal gives to the Arabic susann, theXinnaean name Pancratium,
which is a kind of narcissus.

262 THE NATURAL HISTORY
and in this extensive sense the word x°$K K no* infrequently
taken. Those beautiful productions of nature, so richly array
ed, and so exquisitely perfumed, that the splendor even of
Solomon is not to be compared to theirs, shall soon wither and
decay, and be used as fuel. God has so adorned these "flowers
and plants of the field, which retain their beauty and vigour but
for a few days, and are then applied to some ofthe meanest pur
poses of life : will he not much more take care of his servants
who are so precious in his sight ; and designed for such impor
tant services in the world ? This passage is one of those of which
Sir Thomas Brown says, " the variously interspersed expres
sions from plants and flowers elegantly advantage the significancy
ofthe text." '
Mr. Salt, in his voyage to Abyssinia, p. 419, says, " At a few
miles from Adowa, we discovered a new and beautiful species of
Amaryllis, which bore from ten to twelve spikes of bloom on
each stem, as large as those of the " Belladonna," springing
from one common receptacle. The general colour of the
corolla was white, and every petal was marked with a single
streak of bright purple, down the middle. The flower was sweet
scented, and its smell, though much more powerful, resembled
that of the lily of the valley. This superb plant excited the
admiration of the whole party ; and it brought immediately to
my recollection the beautiful comparison used on a particular
occasion by our Saviour, "I say unto you that Solomon in all
his glory was not arrayed like one of these." And Sir J. E.
Smith,* observes, " It is natural to presume the divine teacher,
according to his usual custom, called the attention of his hearers
to some object at hand ; and as the fields of the Levant are
overrun with the Amaryllis Lutea, whose golden filaceous1
flowers, in autumn, afford one ofthe most brilliant and gorgeous
objects in nature, tbe expression of ' Solomon in all his glory not
being arrayed like one of these,' is peculiarly appropriate. I
consider the feeling with which this was expressed, as the highest
honour ever done to the study of plants ; and if my botanical
conjecture be right, we learn a chronological fact respecting the
season of the year when the Sermon on the Mount was de
livered." The lily is said to have been brought originally from Persia,
whose chief city was called Shushan, and one of its provinces^
Susiana, from the plenty of these beautiful flowers growing, there
naturally. * Considerations respecting Cambridge, quoted in the Monthly Beposr-
tory, for October 1819. p. 607.

OF THE BIBLE. 263
Souciet affirms, that the lily mentioned in Scripture is the
Crown Imperial or Persian lily.
Mr. Beckmann* informs us, that " the roots of the magnificent
Fritillaria Imperialis, were about the middle of the sixteenth
century- brought from Persia to Constantinople, and were carried
thence to the emperor's garden at Vienna, from whence they
were dispersed all over Europe. This flower was first known
by the Persian name tusac, until the Italians gave it that of
Corona Imperiale.X I have somewhere read that it has been
imagined that the figure of it is to be found represented on coins
of Herod, and that on this account it has been considered as the
lily so much celebrated in the Scripture."
It appears from Cantic. v. :3, that the lily there spoken of
was red, and distilled a certain liquor. There are crown impe
rials with yellow flowers, but those with red are the most com
mon ; they are always bent downwards, and disposed in the
manner of a crown at the extremity ofthe stem, which has a tuft
of leaves at the top. At the bottom of each leaf of this flower
is a certain roscid humour, appearing in the form of a pure drop
of water. This is what the spouse in the song alludes to : " His
lips are like lilies dropping sweet scented myrrh."
" Moistened with sweets and tinged with rudy hue,
His lips are lilies dropping honey-dew."
LIME, vsy seed
Occ. in Deut. xxvi. 2, 4 ; Isai. xxxii. 12 ; Amos ii. 1.
A soft friable substance obtained by calcining, or burning
stones, shells, or the like. From Isai. xxxiii. 12, it appears that
it was made in a kiln lighted with thorn bushes ; and from Amos
ii. 1, that bones were sometimes calcined for lime. The use of
it was for plaister, or cement ; the first mention of which is in
Deuteronomy xxvii. where Moses directed the elders of the
people, saying, " Keep all the commandments which I command
you this day. And it shall be on the day when you shall pass
over Jordan qnto the land which the Lord your God giveth you
that you shall set up great stones and plaister them with plaister ;
and shall write upon them all the words of this law, &c." Upon
this passage the learned MichaelisJ has the following remarks.
"The book ofthe law, in order to render it the more sacred,
was deppsited beside the ark of the covenant. The guardians
* History of Inventions, V. iii. p. 5.
tCmsics, Hist, plant, i. p. 128.
„ X " Commentaries on the Laws of Moses ;" translated by Dr. Smith, V.
j. p. 356.

264 THE NATURAL HISTORY
of the law, to whom was instrusted the duty of making faithful
transcripts of it, were the priests. But Moses did not account
even this precaution sufficient for the due preservation of his
law in its original purity ; for he commanded that it should
besides be engraven on stones, and these stones kept on a moun
tain near Sichem, in order that a genuine exemplar of it might
be transmitted even to latest generations.
" In his ordinance for this purpose there are one or two par
ticulars that require illustration. He commanded that the stones
should be coated over with lime ; but this command would
have been quite absurd, had his meaning only been that the laws
should be cut through this coating ; for after this unnecessary
trouble, they could by no means have been thus perpetuated
with such certainty, nor have nearly so long have resisted the
effects of wind and weather, as if at once engraven in the stones
themselves. Kennicott, in his second dissertation on the print
ed Hebrew text, p. 77, supposes that they might have been cut
out of black marble, with the letters raised, and the hollow
intervals between the black letters filled up with a body of white
lime to render them more distinct and conspicuous. But even
this would not have been a good plan for eternizing them;
because lime cannot long withstand the weather, and whenever
it began to fall off in any particular place, the raised characters'
would, by a variety of accidents, to which writing deeply en
graved is not liable, soon be injured and become illegible. No
one that wishes to write any thing in stone, that shall descend to'
the most remote periods of time, will ever think of giving a pre
ference to characters thus in relief. And besides, Moses, if this
was his meaning, has expressed himself very indistinctly; for he
says not a word of the colour of the stone, on which, however,
the whole idea turns.
" I rather suppose, therefore, that Moses acted in this matter
with the same view to future ages,^ as is related of Sostratus, the
architect of the Pharos, who while he cut the name of the then
king of Egypt in the outer coat of lime, took care to engrave his
own name secretly in the stone below, in order that it might
come to light in after times, when the plaister with the king's
name should have fallen off. In like manner, Moses, in my
opinion, commanded that his laws should be cut in the stones
themselves, and these coated with a thick crust of lime, that the
engraving might continue for many ages secure from all the
injuries of the weather and atmosphere, and then, when by the
decay of its covering it should, after hundreds or thousands of
years, first come to "light, serve to shew to the latest posterity
whether they had suffered any change. And was not the idea

OF THE BIBLE. 265
of thus preserving an inscription, not merely for hundreds, butfbr
thousands of years, a conception exceeding sublime ? It ia
by no means impossible, that these stones, if again discovered,
might be found still to contain the whole engraving perfectly le
gible. Let us only figure to ourselves what must have happened
to them, amidst the successive devastations of the country in
which they were erected. The lime would gradually become
irregularly covered with moss and earth ; and now, perhaps, the
stones, by the soil increasing around and over them, may resemble
a little mount ; and were they accidentally disclosed to our view,
and the lime cleared away, all that was inscribed on them 3500
years ago, would at once become visible. Probably, however,
this discovery, highly desirable though it would be, both to litera
ture and religion, being in the present state of things, and particu
larly of the Mosaic law, now so long abrogated, not absolutely ne
cessary, is reserved for some future age of the world. What
Moses commanded, merely out of legislative prudence, and for
the sake of his laws, as laws, God, who sent him, may have des
tined to answer likewise another purpose ; and may chuse to
bring these stones to light, at a time when tbe laws of Moses are
no longer of any authority, in any community whatever. Thus
much is certain, that no wbere in the Bible is any mention made
of the discovery of these stones, nor indeed any farther notice
taken of them, than in Josh. viii. 30 — 35, where their erection is
described ; so that we may hope they will yet be one day dis
covered." On the contrary, Dr. Geddes considers this as " mere fancy,"
observing that " the end ofthe inscription was, undoubtedly that
it might be at all times, legible to every Israelite. To cover it
over with plaster, would be to lock it from the sight of the people,
and to render it an useless, dumb monitor. Others suppose that
the writing was upon the plaster itself; and this I should deem
more probable, if a writing of that kind were durable, when ex
posed to the winds and weather; which, when done in fresco, I
am told it is. But it is a question, if the Israelites understood
painting in fresco : and stones would naturally occur to the le
gislator as the most proper material for preserving his injunctions.
The Greek of Venice has a word which, perhaps, the best of all
expresses the meaning of the original, rirxvatrttc r'xvrovc & t*
rxvu : by which, I conceive, is not meant that the stones were to
be plastered over with plaster, as our translation has it, but that
they were to be cemented together with mortar."
LINEN. Cloth made of flaxen thread. Lat. linum; Anglice
line, a thread, or cord. 34.

3-66 THE NATURAL HISTORY
Lipsius, in his notes on Tacitus, Annal. ii. says, " Nolim er»
res, distincta genera vestium olim Byssinia, Bombycina, et Serica.
Byssinae lino, Bombycina e verme, Serica ex arborumlana con-
fectffi." According to Virgil, serica is the product of a worm, and is
called " vefiera scrum," the cocoon ofthe silk-worm.
" Fine linen," BT2XOS, is mentioned Luke xvi. 19 ; and Rev.
xviii. 12. From Pollux, Onomastic. vii. c. 17, sect. 75, we
learn that j Bumro<r A(iw ti e«5V %*£ IvtSW,, eyssus is a species of
flax from India. Pliny, 1. xix. c. 1, says, " Huic lino (abestino)
principalis in toto orbe. Proximus byssino, mulierum maxime
deliciis circa Ehm in Achaia genito :" and Pausanias, Eliac. 1. i.
@&vux<ra.t <T' xvii; iv rtj HAs«* t>jv Bu<r<rov. — H Sx Buinroir tj tv T(j
HAe» Aear7oT)jTOf ju-ev nnxx owt xirobn tij? US^xiaiv, es"i <$e ov%
cp.oiu? ZavQq. But it appears uncertain, whether the Byssus of
Elia or Judea, was flax or cotton.*
Theocritus, Idyl. ii. v. 73, mentions Byss, as a clothing worn
by women on festive occasions.
Trailing a beauteous robe of byss. See Flax.
LION, 'ik ari, or rt'ix arjeh.
Occ. Gen. xlix. 9 ; Deut. xxxiii. 22 ; Psalm vii. 3 ; xxii. 14 ;
Hos. xiii. 8 ; Mic. v. 7, and frequently.
A large beast of prey : for his courage and strength called the
king of beasts.
This animal is produced in Africa, and the hottest parts of Asia.
It is found in the greatest numbers in the scorched and desolate
regions ofthe torrid zone, in the deserts ofZaara and Biledulge-
rid, and in all the interior parts of the vast continent of Africa.
In these desert regions, from whence mankind are driven by the
rigorous heat ofthe climate, this animal reigns sole master. Its dis
position seems to partake of the ardour of its native soil. Inflam
ed by the influence of a burning sun, its rage is most tremendous,
and its courage undaunted. Happily, indeed, the species is not
numerous, and is said to be greatly diminished ; for, if we may
credit the testimony of those who have traversed those vast de
serts, the number of lions is not nearly so great as formerly. Mr.
Shaw observes, that the Romans carried more lions from Ly bia
* Other authorities maybe found in Philostratds, Vit. Apollon. ii.
c. 20. Salmass. dxereit. Plin p 701. 1'klanu, Diss. iVliscel. p. i. p. 212.
Forster DeBysse antirjuorum, Lond, 1776.

OF THE BIBLE. , 207
io one year for their public spectacle, than could be foiind'in all
that country at this time. It is likewise remarked, that in Tur-.
key, Persia, and the Indies, lions are not so frequently met with,
as in former times.
From numberless accounts we are assured, that powerful and
terrible as this animal is, its anger is noble, its courage mag
nanimous, and its temper susceptible of grateful impressions.
It has been often seen to despise weak and contemptible enemies,
and even to pardon their insults, when it was within its power
to punish them. It has been known to spare the life of an
animal that was thrown to be devoured by it : to live in habits
of perfect cordiality with it ; to share its subsistence, and even
to give it a preference, where its portion of food was scanty.
The form of the lion is strikingly bold and majestic. His
large and shaggy mane, which he can erect at pleasure, sur
rounding his awful front: his. huge eye-brows; his round and
fiery eye-balls, which, upon the least irritation, seem to glow
with peculiar lustre : together with the formidable appearance
of his .teeth — exhibit a picture of terrific grandeur which no
words can describe.
The length ofthe largest lion is between eight and nine feet;
the tail about four; and its height about four feet and an half.
The female is about one fourth part less and without a mane.
As the lion advances in years, its mane grows longerand thicker.
The hair on the rest ofthe body is short and smooth, of a tawny
colour, but whitish on the belly.
, Its roaring is loud and dreadful. When heard in the night, it
resembles distant thunder. Its cry of anger is much louder and
shorter. Kolben, who says he had often heard it,* observes that " it
is one of the most horrid sounds in nature, which the stoutest man
can scarcely hear without trembling ; but it becomes still more
dreadful when it is known to be a sure prelude of destruction to
.whatever living creature comes in his way. Comp. Jud. xiv.
5; Jer. ii. 15; Amos iii. 8. " The lion hath roared, who will
not fear ?"
The lion seldom attacks any animal openly, except when impel
led by extreme hunger ; in that case no danger deters him. But,
as most animals endeavour to avoid him, be is obliged to have re
course to artifice, and take his prey by surprize. For this pur-
ppsek he crouches on his belly in some thicket, where he waits
till his prey approaches ; and then, with one prodigious spring, he
leaps upon it at the distance of fifteen or twenty feet, and gene
rally seizes it at the first bound. If he miss his object, he gives
* Nat. Hist, of Cape of Good Hope.

268 THE NATURAL HISTORY
up the pursuit ; and, turning back towards the place of his am
bush, he measures the ground step by step, and again lies in wait
for another opportunity. The lurking places are generally cho
sen by him near a spring, or by the side of a river, where he has
frequently an opportunity of catching such animals us come to
quench their thirst.
The lion is a long lived animal, although naturalists differ great
ly as to the precise period of its existence. Of some that have
been trained in the Tower of London, one lived to the age of six
ty-three years, and another exceeded seventy.
The attachment of a lioness to her young is remarkably strong.
For their support she is more ferocious -than the lion himself:
makes her incursions with greater boldness ; destroys without dis
tinction, every animal tfiat falls in her way, and carries it reeking
to her cubs. She usually brings forth in the most retired and in
accessible places : and when afraid that her retreat should be
discovered, endeavours to hide her track by brushing the ground
with her tail. When much disturbed or alarmed, she will some
times transport her young (which are usually three or four in
number) from one place to another in her mouth : and, if ob
structed in her course, will defend them to the last extremity.
The lion has several names in Scripture, according to his dif
ferent ages or character.
1U gor, a little lion, a lion's whelp. Occ. Deut.. xxx. 22 ;
Jer. li. 38; Ezek. xix. 2; Nah. ii. 13.
Y3U chephir, a young lion, that has done sucking the lioness,
and leaving the covert, begins to seek prey for himself. So
Ezek. xix. 2, 3, " The lioness hath brought, up one of her
whelps ; it became a chephir ; it learned to catch the prey ; it
devoured men." Psalm xci. 1 3 ; Prov. xix. 1 2, and else
where frequently.
nx ari, a grown and vigorous lion : having whelps, eager in
pursuit of prey for them, Nahum ii. 12 ; valiant, 2 Sam.
xvii. 10 ; arrogantly opposing himself, Numb, xxiii. 24.
This is, indeed, the general name, and occurs frequently.
bna shacal, one in full strength of his age. A black lion. Job
iv. 10; x. 1 6 ; Psalm xci. 13; Prov. xxvi. 1 3 ; Hosea v. 1 4 ;
xiii. 7.
urb laish, a fierce or enraged lion. Job. iv. 11; Prov. xxx.
30 ; and Isai. xxv. 6.
A regard to these characteristics and distinctions, is very im
portant for illustrating the passages of Scripture where the ani
mal is spoken of, and discovering the propriety of the allusions
and metaphors which he so often furnishes. I will quote a
few instances in proof of this.

OF THE BIBLE. 269
In Job iv. 10, 11, our translators render " the roaring of the
lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young li
ons are broken. The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the
stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad." Here, in the original,
are five different words to express a lion, or rather five dif
ferent lions ; the arieh, the greater and more adult lion ;
shachal, the sullen and strong lion ; chephir, the young lion
rising in full vigour; laish, the ferocious lion; and labiah,
the lioness, with her whelps, literally, " sons of labia." The
most obvious reason why Eliphaz uses so many distinct words
is, no doubt, to insinuate that Job and his family had tyraniz-
ed over mankind; some in one way, and some in another;
like so many lions of different ages, fierceness, and strength.
So in Nahum ii. II, 12, the prophet inquires — Where are the
inhabitants of Nineveh, who were strong and rapacious as
lions i Where is the habitation of the devouring lions, [ariah]
And the feeding-place ofthe young lions ? [cephirim]
Whither the devouring lion [akiah] retired.
The lioness [labiah] and the lion's whelps £
The devouring lion [ariath] tare for his whelps.
And strangledfor his liouesses [labiah] ;
Andfilled his dens with prey.
And his habitations with rapine.
The allegory, says Bishop Newcome, is beyond measure beau
tiful. In Gen. xlix. 9, " Judah is a lion's whelp, gone up from devour
ing the prey. He stooped down, he couched like [ariah] a grown
lion;" (about to spring upon his prey and tear it to pieces;)
" and like [labiah] the lioness," having whelps, then most fierce
and most active. " Who shall rouse her then ?"
The Scripture also has taken notice of whatever is formidable
in him; his look, his walk, his roar, his teeth, his paws, &c.
And this with a discrimination which it is difficult to express
in a translation, but gives admirable force and accuracy to
the original allusion. For instance in Gen. xlix. 9, we read of
" the lion's whelp," which in Jer. li. 8, is said not to roar,
[ma] as would a full grown lion, but [oru] to roar imperfectly,
to-growl; by which it is distinguished from "the young lion,"
Judg xiv. 5, which [jsw] roared, with the full sound of menace.
Bochatit, Hieroz. V. ii. has traced the several characteris
tics ofthe lion, through all the passages of Scripture in which
they are mentioned, and has devoted ninety pages to their
explication. Paxton in his Illustrations of Scripture, V. i. p.
505, has filled twenty-eight pages, with the like purpose of ex-

270 THE NATURAL HISTORY
plaining every reference to the lion, which is to be found in
the Bible.
Bochart supposes the biw shacal to be the black lion,
according to the import of the Hebrew name. Offian, Venat.
iii. informs us that he had seen lions of this colour ; and Pliny
N. H. 1. viii. c. 1 7, assures us that there were lions of this sort
in Syria.
I take an opportunity here to introduce a remark upon a sin
gular event.
While the Jews were learning in their captivity the salutary
lessons of humility and obedience to God, divine providence
was graciously employed in correcting the various superstitions
ofthe Cutheans, and leading them to truer notions of thingsi
When these mixed people introduced into Samaria the several
deities of their own countries, and worshipped them according to
their own manner; the Lord, jealous of his honour, and concern
ed to maintain the sanctity of his land, was highly provoked at
such profanation, and sent among them a number of lions by
which they were grievously vexed and destroyed.* Why he
made choice of these animals to annoy them, may not perhaps
be accounted for with any degree of certainty or precision. But
if we suppose, as we have some reason to suppose, that Arioch
or Ariel, that is the lion God, was their chief and general deity ;f
then the sending lions among them was a kind of judgment the
most appropriate that we can well conceive, as it served to con
vince them in the most affecting manner that wherewithal a man
sinneth by the same also shall he be punished. But whatever
might be the reason for which the punishment was particularly
inflicted in this form, yet certain it is that it produced upon
them the desired effect. For it brought them to the acknow
ledgment of tbe true God; and to a respectful compliance
with his laws and worship. And though they continue for a
time to join their own gods with the Lord God of Israel, yet
did they gradually so advance in knowledge, and ultimately so
improve in piety, as to forsake all their false deities and confine
* 2 Kings xvii. 25, 26.
t The principal deity of the Assyrians was Ague or Mars, (see Hyde dc
rel vat. Pers. c. ii. p. 62,) whose symbol was a lion. Josephus says
(Antiq. Jud. I. ix. c. 14, { 3, and I. xii. c. !>. $ 5) that these Cutheans were
destroyed by plagues and not by lions. How he came by this read
ing it is not easy to conceive, unless he translated the Hebrew word
'IS by Agar, which he found to be sometimes used in a sense equiva
lent to xet/j-ot, pestis, or plague, and then adopted tbe word as the most com
mon and best understood. Though in truth it is to be suspected it pro
ceeded from a worse cause.

OF THE BIBLE. 271
themselves to the worship of the Lord, and to the worship of
him only.*
LIZARD. T\HUb LETAAH.
Occurs Levit. xi. 30 only.
All interpreters agree that the original word here signifies a
sort of lizard. Bochart takes it for that kind which is of a red-
ish colour, lies close to the earth, and is of a venomous nature.
LOCUST, rrnx arbeh. The word is probably derived from
H3T raeah, which signifies to multiply, to become numerous, &c.
because of the immense swarms of- these animals by which dif
ferent countries, especially the east, are infested. See this circum
stance referred to, Jud. vi. 5 ; vii. 12 ; Psalm cv. 34 ; Jer. xlvi.
23; li. 14; Joel i. 6; Nahum iii. 15, and Judith ii. 19, 20;
where the most numerous armies are compared to the arbeh, or
locust. The locust, in entomology, belongs to a genus of insects
known among naturalists by the name of grylli. The common
great brown locust is about three inches in length; has two
antenna? about an inch long, and two pair of wings. The head
and horns are brown ; the mouth and insides of the larger legs
bluish; the upper side ofthe body and upper wings, brown, the
former spotted with black, and the latter with dusky spots. The
back is defended by a shield of a greenish hue ; the under wings
are of a light brown hue tinctured with green and nearly tran
sparent.! The general form and appearance of the insect is
that of the grasshopper so well known in this country.
These creatures are frequently mentioned in the Old Testa
ment. They were employed as one of the plagues, for the
punishment of the Egyptians ; and their visitation was threatened
to the Israelites as a mark ofthe divine displeasure. Their num
bers and destructive powers very aptly fit them for this purpose.
When they take the field they always follow a leader, whose
motions they invariably observe. They often migrate from their
native country, probably in quest of a greater supply of food.
On these occasions they appear in such large flocks as lo darken
the air, forming many compact bodies, or swarms, of several
hundred yards square. These flights are very frequent in Bar
bary, and generally happen at the latter end of March or begin
ning of April, after the wind has blown from the south for some
days. The month following the young brood also make their
* See Patrick's Commentary on 2 Kings xvii. 41:
, Owen's Sermons at the Boylean Lecture, V. 2. p. 81.
t For a very curious and circumstantial account of the Locust, the rea
der is referred to Dillon, Travels in Spain, p. 256, ed. 4to.

272 THE NATURAL HISTORY
appearance, generally following the track of the old ones. In
whatever country they settle, they devour all the vegetables,
grain, and in fine all the produce of the earth, eating the very
bark off the trees ; thus destroying at once the hopes of the
husbandman, and ailjthe labours of agriculture ; for though their
voracity be^p-gat, yet they contaminate a much greater quantity
than they devour, as their bite is poisonous to vegetables, and
the marks of devastation may be traced for several succeeding
seasons.* There are various species of them, which consequently have
different names ; and some are more voracious and destructive
than others ; though all are most destructive and insatiable
spoilers. Bochart, Hieroz. iii. 251, enumerates ten different
kinds which he thinks are mentioned in the Scripture, viz.
(1) miK arbeh. (2) au gob. (3) au gazam. (4) ajri chagab.
(5) ^ajn chanamal. (6) VDn chasil. (7) bun chargal.
(8) pV jelek. (9) aybo solam. (10) ^xbs tseltsal. From
what he has written, and from various other sources,t I shall en
deavour to give an explanation of each of these names, with the
aim to identify the several species, and elucidate the passages of
Scripture in which they are mentioned.
(1) nais arbeh. Occurs Exod. x. 4, 12, 13, 14, 19; Levit.
xi. 22 ; 1 Kings viii. 37 ; 2 Chron. vi. 28 ; Psalm lxxviii. 46 ;
cv. 34 ; cix. 23 ; Prov, xxx. 27 ; Joel i. 4, ii. 25, and translated
"Grasshopper" Jud. vi. 5; vii. 12; 1 Kings viii. 37; Job
xxxix. 20 ; and Jer. xlvi. 23. See Grasshopper.
This is probably the general name, including all the species.
If understood of a single kind, it must be without doubt the
" gryllus gregarius" of Forskal, or the common gregarious
locust, which the Arabs call "tx-u djerad ; and which the Jews >
who dwell in Yemen assured Mr. Forskal is the same with the
Hebrew rms.
* " Dans quelque endroit que se jettent ces espece9 d'armfeeg elles ne laissent rien apres
elles, elles cousument me"me en peu d'heure3 le travail e,t le revfenu de toule une ann€e.
Ces petits animaux devorent tout ce qu'il y a de verdure dans les champs, ils pelent, ils
rongent, ils ecorchent tout, lis sont meme si voraces, que lorsqu'il ne leur reste plui
rit u a manger, ils se dechirent entre eux, et se devorent les uns les autres."
Scheuchzer, torn. ii. p. 62.
f Rosenmulleb, note in Bocharti Hieroz. torn. iii.
Oedmann Vermischte Sammlungen, Fasc. ii, part 2.
Tvschsen Comment, de Locustis quarum in V. T. uientio fit, Rostoch
1787. Lodolphus. Oe locustis. append. Hist. dEtliiop.
Has/ecs, de Judaica terra depopulate per Gazam, Arbe, Jelek, et Cha
sil, ad vat. Joel- illustr. 1724.

OF THE BIBLE. 273,
Is it not probable that the fable ofthe harpies originated frpm
the plunderings of the locust tribes ? The name 'A^ttum* is not
dissimilar to the Hebrew naiN arbeh, the generic name of the
locusts. Cjbl^jno, resembles the Syriac Royba solhamo, and thV
Hebrew aybo salam : Acholoe maj be deduced from bsa achal,
to devour ; and aello from biyy hahol.*
(2.) au gob, or 'au gobai. Isai. xxxiii. 4 j Amos vii. I ; and
Nah. iii. 17, only.
Bochart derives it from the Arabic xaj " e terra emergere ;"
Castel furnishes another root, the Arabic ae« " secuit." 'an
which is the reading of many^ISS. is formed says Houbigant,
as 'at? captivity, and signifies a swarm of locusts.
This is supposed to be the locust in its caterpillar state ; so
called either from its shape in general, or from its continually
hunching up its back in moving, says Parkhurst ; who adds, to
explain these passages, I would observe that it is in their cater
pillar state that the locusts are the most destructive, marching
directly forward, and in their way eating up every thing that is
green and juicy ; that in and near the Holy Land they are in
this state in the month of April, which corresponds to the begin
ning of the springing up of the latter growth after the kings
feedings, (Amos vii. 1 ,) which was in March : and in the begin
ning of June, mp ova in the "time of cooling (Nah. iii. 1 7,)
when the people are retired to their cool summer houses, or
country seats, the caterpillar-locusts of the second brood are
settled in the fences, whither the parent-locusts had retired to
lay their eggs. But for the farther illustration of these particu
lars I must request the reader attentively to peruse Dr. Shaw's
Travels, p. 1 87, 2d edition, and compare it with Harmer's Ob
servations, V. i. p. 225, &c. and -V. ii. p. 466, &c.
Increase thyself as the locust, increase thyself as the numerous locust i
Multiply thy merchants more than the stars of heaven.
Yet the locust hath spoiled, and hath flown away.
Thy crowned princes are as the numerous locust,
And the captains as the gobai
. Which encamp in the hedges in the cold day,
The sun riseth, they depart : and their place is not known. Nah. iii. 16, 17.
Your spoil shall be gathered as the chasil galhereth ; As the
Q'aj gobim run to and fro, so shall they run and seize it.
Isai. xxxiii. 4.
^ (3) can gazam. Occurs Amos iv. 9 ; and Joel i. 4 ; ii. 25,
only, and in our translation is rendered " the palmer-worm."
Bochart says that this is a kind of locust, which, furnished with
vfc'ry sharp teeth, gnaws off, not only grass and grain, and the
* See Clericus, diss, de stat. sal. sub. fincm, appendix in Com. Genes.
35

274 THE NATURAL HISTORY
leaves of trees, but even their bark and more tender branches.
But Michaelis, agreeing with the LXX. translation xa\mv\ and the
vulgate " eruca," thinks it means the caterpillar, which might
have its name from the sharp sickle with which its mouth is
armed, and with which it cuts the leaves of trees to pieces ; and
which, beginning its ravages long before the locust, seems to coin
cide with the creature mentioned in Joel i. 4 : but Tychsen
thinks it the " Gryllus cristatus" of Linneus.
(4) ajn chagab. Occurs Levit. xi. 22 ; Numb. xiii. 34 ; 2
Chron. vii. 1 3 ; Eccl. xii 5 ; and Isai. xl. 22.
Sjee the article Grasshopper.
Tychsen supposes it the "Gryllus Coronatus" of Linnnjeus.
(5) ^djh chanamal. Psalm lxxviii. 47.
Bochart, following some of the Rabbins would render this a
species of locust. In our translation it is rendered " hail ;" but
the word for hail in Exod ix. which is here referred to, is ma.
As bnm is found only in Psalm lxxviii. 47, its signification is
uncertain. The French word Chenille bears some resemblance
to it.
(6) Von chasil. Occ. Deut. xxviii. 38 ; Psalm lxxviii. 46 ;
Isai. xxxiii. 4 ; 1 Kings viii. 37 ; 2 Chron. vi. 28 ; Joel i. 4 ;
ii. 25.
This has been variously rendered. Paulus in Clav. Psalm-
orum, p. 197, thinks it the "eruca, quas ex nympha, (s. larva)
prorepserit." Oedmann, Fasc. ii. c. vi. p. 138, that it is the
" cimex iEgyptius," Linn, and Tychsen that it is the " Gryllus
verucivorus," Linn. Sys. Nat. T. i. p. iv. p. 2067.
See Caterpillar.
(7) b)T\ chargol. Occ. Levit. xi. 22, only.
Rosenmuller, in his notes to Bochart, suggests that this may
be the " Gryllus onos," or " papus" of LiNNieus. See Beetle.
(8) p'r jelek. Occ. Psalm cv. 34 ; Jer. li. 27 ; Joel i. 4 ;
ii. 25; and Nah. iii, 15. See Canker-worm.
Oedmann, Fasc. ii. c. vi. p. 126, takes it for the "Gryllus
cristatus," Linn. Sys. Nat. t. i. p. 4. p. 2074, and Tychsen^ the
" Gryllus haematopus, — horripilans."
(9) aybo solam. Occ. Levit. xi. 22, only, where it is ren
dered " the bald locust."1
A kind of locust, probably so called from its rugged form, as
represented in Scheuchzer's Pys. Sacr. tab. ccl. fig. i. Tych
sen is persuaded that it is the " Gryllus eversor ;" Linn.
(10) ^xbv tzaltzal. Occ. Deut. xxviii. 42 only.
Michaelis, Suppl. Lex. Hebr. defines this the " Gryllus
talpiformis ;" Oedmann, Fasc. ii. p. 140, opposes this; and

OF THE BIBLE. , 275
Tychsen insists that it must intend the " Gryllus Stridulus" of
Linn. T. i. p. 14, p. 2078, and that its very name imports this.
Most of the ancient versions, says Dr. Geddes, favour some such
meaning; yet he is inclined to think that it is not an animal, but a
particular sort of blight that principally affects trees ; and there
fore follows the LXX. who render it e^icru&j,* and the Vulgate,
" rubigo."t II. These insects come into the catalogue of animals permitted
for food; Levit. xi. 20 — 22. " All fowl that creep, going upon
all four, shall be an abomination unto you. Yet these ye may
eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which
have legs above their feet to leap withal upon the earth," The
author of " Scripture Illustrated," remarking the obscurity of
this rendering, " fowl-going on all four ; flying-creeping ; legs
above their feet" — observes that thei passage would read thus,
literally — All winged reptiles, walking on four feet are abomina
tion to you : but yet these ye may eat from among all winged
creepers, going on four, those which have in them joints, (d3 ;na
caroim,) at the upper part of their hind legs, (,Li;r regeli,) for
Ihe purpose of leaping from off the earth. These parts of the
locust, had exercised the critical inquiries of Michaelis, Quest.
xxx. which Niebuhr answered by information, that " Arbah is
the name at Bagdad and Maskat of those locusts of passage^
which devour all they meet with, and then go farther. Chagab
is also a locust known at Maskat. Rijelin are the two hind legs :
kiraim are the joints." By these terms, I understand the joints
of the hinder leg, those very conspicuous ones, which unite the
muscular thigh with the slender leg. The distinction I presume,
is this ; the locust has usually, beside his wings, six legs ; four
for crawling, and two for leaping. Such as may haye four legs
only, are forbidden, since they only creep with such feet, though
they also fly with their wings : but if they have two hind legs al
so, with which they leap, then, as they leap and fly, as well as
creep, they are allowed. It will follow that the locusts named in
the following verse have six legs. This principle excludes other
* Suidas, however, says that the word means a little animal which is born
in the fruit, and destroys it; SngiS'iov ti ev toi tmai ytnftmv : but he adds,
that some consider it only as a malady thai harbours in the seeds, and cor-'
rupis the fruit ; Ttvst voo~ov t7rtyvQ/^ivov Tott ovregftArtv, u xv/tAAivsrat tov jwgnrov
t Mr. Bruce, in describing the Zimb, says, " The Chaldee version is con
tent with calling this animal simply Zebub, which signifies fly in general, as
we express it in Knglish. The Arabs call it Zimb in their translation,
which has the same general signification, The rXthiopic calls it Tsaltsalya,
which was the true name of this particular fly in Greek, and was the same
in Hebrew." He must have referred to the insect above mentioned.

276 THE NATURAL HISTORY
insects, flies, &c. Which use their two fore feet as paws, but do
not leap with any;
" The arbeh, after its kind; the solam, after its kind; the
chargol, after its kind; and the chagaS, after its kind."
Strange as this permission to eat locusts may appear to the mere
English reader, yet nothing is more certain than that several na
tions, both of Asia and Africa, anciently used these insects for
food, and that they are still eaten in the East. Diodorus Sicu-
ius, lib. xxiv. c. 3, mentions a people of Ethiopia who were so
fond of eating them that they were Called Acridophagi, eaters of
locusts. They made large fire's, which intercepted the flight of
the locusts, which they collected and salted ; thus preserving
them palatable, till the season for again collecting them return
ed.* Ludolphus, Dr. Shaw, and all the modern travellers,
mention the custom of eating them, fried and salted.t
" Locusts, (says Jackson in his account of MaroCco, p. 52,)
are esteemed a great delicacy, and, during the time of their
swarming, dishes of them are generally served up at the principal
repasts. There are various ways of dressing them ; that usually
adopted, is to boil them in water half an hour, then sprinkle them
with salt and pepper, and fry them, adding a little vinegar. The
head, wings, and legs are thrown away, the rest of the body is
eaten, and resembles the taste of prawns. As the criterion of
goodness in all eatables among the Moors, is regulated by the
stimulating qualities which they possess, so these locusts are pre
ferred to pigeons, because supposed to be more invigorating. A
person may eat a plate full of them, containing two or three hun
dred, without any ill effects."
III. The dire armies of these invading destroyers are magnifi
cently described in Scripture. I select the sublime description
ofthe prophet Joel, and accompany it with some illustrations and
Dotes. Hear this, ye old men ;
And give ear all ye inhabitants of Ihe land.
Hath such an event happened in your days,
Or even in the days of your fathers ?
Tell ye your children ofit;
And let your children tell their children ;
* See also Strabo, lib. xvi. Plin. N. H. I, xvii. c. 30. Aoathaeci-
des, periplus de rubro mari. Mlias, lib. vi. c. 20. Athen^cs, 1. xlix.
Jerom, who lived in the fifth century, speaks ofthe Orientals and inhabi
tants of Lybia, as eating locusts.
f Ludolphus, p. 67. Dr. Shaw's trav. p. 419, ed. 4to. Mariti, V. ii.
p. 189. Russell, IV. H. of Aleppo, p. 62. EUssELquiST, 231, 419,
Niebuhr, description de l'Arabie, p. 150.

OF THE BIBLE. 277
And their children fell another generation.
IVhat the gazam leave, the arbeh devour ;
What the arbeh leave, the jalek devour ;
IVhat the jalek leave, the chasiL devour.
Before them afire consumeth,
And behind aflame burneth :
The land is as the garden qf Eden bqfore them,
And behind them a wilderness qf desolation ;
Yea and nothing shall escape them.
They consume like a general conflagration. " Wheresoever
they feed (says Ludolphus,) their leavings seem as it were parch
ed with fire."* Though the land before their coming shall ap
pear beautiful for its verdure and fruitfulness as the garden of
Eden ; yet, after the ravages they have made on it, it shall look
like a desolate and uncultivated wilderness. Neither herbage,
nor shoots, nor leaves escape them. So Adanson, in his voyage
to Senegal, says, " After devouring the herbage, with the fruits
and leaves of trees, they attacked even the buds and the very
bark : they did not so much as spare the reeds with which the
huts were thatched." And Ludolphus, " sometimes they cor
rode the very bark of trees ; and then the spring itself cannot
repair the damage."
Their appearance shall be like the appearance cf horses,
And like horsemen shall they run.
Many writers mention the resemblance, which the head of the
locust bears to that of the horse ;t whence the Italians call them
" cavalette." But I do not apprehend tbe prophet here describ
ing the shape of the insect, but rather its properties, its fierceness
and swift motion: and thus, in Rev. ix. 7, the locusts are com
pared to horses prepared for the battle ; furious andimpatient for
the war. Like the sound of chariots, on the tops of the mountains shall they leap :
Like the sound of aflame of fire which devoureth stubble.
They shall be like a strong people set in battle array.
The noise of their coming shall be heard at a distance, like the
sound of chariots passing over the mountains. When they fall on
the ground and leap from place to place and devour the fruits, the
sound of them will resemble the crackling of the stubble when
* Hist, pEthiop. 1. i. c. xiii. So Pliny, xi. 29, " Multa contactii aduren-
tes." f Theodoret in Joelem. Albertus, lib. xxvi. So Ray, on insects,
" Caput oblongum, equi instar, prona spectans."

278 THE NATURAL HISTORY
consuming by the flames ; or the din and clamour of an army
ready prepared to engage in battle.
How this description agrees to the locusts, is shewn abundantly
by Bochart ; who tells us, from several authors, that they fly
with a great noise ; as St. John has also described them, Rev. ix.
9, the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots, of many
horses running to battle ; that they may be heard at six miles dis
tance ; and that when they are eating the fruits of the earth the
sound is like that of a flame driven by the wind.*
Before them shall the people be much pained ;
All faces shall gather blackness.
Their approach shall be heard with consternation, their rava
ges observed with distress : every face shall wear the marks of
the most dreadful fear.f
They shall run like mighty men ;
Like warriors shall they climb the wall :
And they shall march every one in his way ;
Neither shall they turn aside from their paths ;
Neither shall one thurst another.
They shall march each in his road.
Many writers mention the order of locusts in their flight and
inarch, and their manner of proceeding directly forward, whatev
er obstacles were interposed. Jerom, who had seen them in
Palestine, gives a very particular account of it ; and Bochart
quotes other authorities from Cyril, Theodoret, and Sigebert.
Though they fall on the sword they shall not be wounded.
Their outward coat being so hard and smooth that they are
not wounded though they light upon the edge ofthe sword. So
* " Quand ces insectes volent en societe ils font nn grand bruit. Biles s'elevent avec
ud bruit semblable a celui d'une tempete. EUesengloutissent, devorent, echerchent, ron-
gent, et pelent toute la verdure des champs avec un si grand tintamare, qu'elles se font en
tendre de loin." Encyclop. voc Sauterelle.
" La plupart deB sauturelles autant pluB qu'elles ne volent ; et leur saut est telle qu'ils
s'elancent en decrivant, dit on, un espace qui a deux cent fois la longueur de leur corps."
Cvhil says of them, that whiletbey are breaking their food with their teeth, the noise
is like that of a flame driven about by the wind.
" Transeuntes grylli super verticem nostrum sono magna: cataractae fervehant." For-
fkai,, Descript. Animal, quae in Itinere Orientali obs. p. 81.
t Virgil gives the epithet of black to fear -•
" Caligaptem nigra formidine lucum." Georg. iv.
The same expression with this of Joel, is used by the prophet IVahum, ii.
10, to denote the extremity of sorrow and pain ; The knees smite together,
and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.

OF THE BIBLE. 279
Rev. ix. 9, " They had breast-plates, as it were breast-plates of
iron." They shall run to and fro in the city ;
They shall run upon the wall ;
They shall climb up into the houses ;
They shall enter in at the windows, tike a thief.
Kimchi, upon the place, says, " They are not like other ene
mies, against whom you may shut the gate ; for they enter the
house by the window as a thief." And Jerom himself tells us,
" Nothing is unpassable to locusts ; since they get into the fields,
the trees, the cities, the houses, and most secret chambers."
And Theodoret, who was himself a witness, tells us, " No
height of walls is sufficient to prevent their entrance ; for they
easily get over them, and, like thieves, enter into houses by the
windows, not only by flying, but by creeping up the walls."
Before them the earth quaketh, the heavens tremble ;
The sun and the moon are darkened.
And the stars withdraw their shining.
Kimchi tells us that all these expressions are by way of simi
litude, to denote the greatness of the affliction occasioned by
these locusts, according to the usual custom of Scripture; and
Jerom agrees with him, and adds that we are not to imagine that
the heavens moved, or the earth shook ; but that these things
seemed to be so through the greatness of their affliction and
terror. Others expound the metaphor in a different way ; " the
earth," that is the cbmmon people ; " the, sun, moon, and stars,''
their nobles and great men; all ranks and degrees should be in
the utmost consternation. But I see not why these expressions
may not have a more literal meaning, at least most of them,
" The earth shall tremble," really appear to do so, through the
continual motion of these insects invading houses, fields, trees,
and corn : or the earth may be said to move through the excess
sive fear and trembling of those who dwell in it. " The heavens
shake," or as the word may signify, move, because the locusts
should obscure the very light of them : and thus Jerom himself
explains it, though he declares for the figurative sense : " through
the multitude of the locusts covering the heavens, the sun and
moon shall be turned into darkness." Bochart has brought
many instances to prove that this was often literally the case.
Dr. Chandler quotes a remarkable one that happened in Ger
many, from the Chronicon of Hermanus Contractus, under the
year 873 ; which is thus translated. " So great a multitude of
locusts, of an unheard of size, coming in swarms from the east,

280 THE NATURAL HISTORY
like an army, passed over these countries, that, during th§ space
of two whole months, they oftentimes, by their flight, obscured
the rays of the sun for the space of one whole mile ; and when
they alighted in one hour consumed every thing that was green
upon an hundred acres or more : and being afterwards driven
into the sea by the wind, and thrown back by the waves, they
corrupted the air by their stench, and produced no small pesti
lence."* Lundius, also, one of the commentators upon the Mischna,!
tells us that while he was in the University of Jena in Saxony,
there came a prodigious swarm of locusts, which seized upon aU
the fields near the city, and devoured all the growing herbage ; and
when they rose upon the wing, intercepted like a cloud the very
heavens from their sight ; and that they are so dreaded by the
Jews, that when they make their appearance, they immediately
sound the trumpet for a fast.
Dr. ShawJ, by whose excellent zoological remarks in his
travels, sq many passages in the sacred writings have been elu
cidated, has shewn, from the testimony of his own observation,
that these poetical expressions are scarcely hyperbolical with
lespect to this formidable insect. And Pliny, the Roman natur
alist, gives a description of its migratory swarms almost equally
sublime with that of the eastern poet. " This plague," says, he,
" is considered as a manifestation of the wrath of the Gods. For
they appear of an unusual size ; and fly with such a noise from
the motion of their wings that they might be taken for birds.
They darken the sun. And the nations view them in anxious
suspense; each apprehensive lest their own lands should be
overspread by them. For their strength is unfailing : and, as
if it were a small thing to have crossed oceans, they pervade
immense tracts of land, and cover the harvests with a dreadful
cloud : their very touch destroying many of the fruits of the
earth, but their bite utterly consuming all its products, and even
the doors of houses."§
* Canisii Thesaur. Monum. Eccless. V. 3. ed, Antw. 1725.
f Tractat. de Jejun. Miscluia ed. Sureshusii.
X Travels into the East, p. 256, &c. fol. edit.
§ Nat. Hist. 1. xi. c. 29.
As extraordinary as the latter circumstance may appear, Mr. Adanson
mentions a very similar one to which he was witness ; '¦ a swarm of locusts
at Senegal devoured even the dry reeds with which the huts were thatch
ed." Voyages a Senegal.
The Sieur de Bauplan gives a very particular description of the devas
tation these destructive creatures made in the Ukraine. His narrative
would of itself be a good commentary upon Joel's prophecy.
See Churchill's collection of Voyages, Vol. i. p. 471.

OF THE BIBLE. 281
The account which M. Volney gives of these insects and
of their devastations, is a wonderful illustration of this passage
of the prophet.* " Syria as well as Egypt, Persia, and almost
all the south of Asia, is subject to a calamity no iess dreadful
than that of the volcanos arid earthquakes I have mentioned, I
mean those clouds of locusts so often mentioned by travellers.
The quantity of these insects is incredible to all who have not
themselves witnessed their astonishing numbers ; the whole
earth is covered with them for the space, of several leagues.
The noise they make in browsing on the trees and herbage may
be heard at a great distance, and resembles that of an army in
secret. The Tartars themselves are a less destructive enemy
than these little animals. One would imagine that fire had fol
lowed their progress. Wherever their myriads spread, the ver
dure of the country disappears ; trees and plants stripped of
their leaves and reduced to their naked boughs and stems, cause
the dreary image of winter to succeed in an instant to the rich
scenery of the spring. When these clouds of locusts take their
flight, to surmount any obstacles, or to traverse more rapidly a
desert soil, the heavens may literally be said to be obscured with
them. Happily this calamity is not frequently repeated, for it
is the inevitable forerunner of famine, and the maladies it occa
sions." III. It is well known that locusts were eaten in the east.
And commentators have exhausted their learning and ingenuity
to prove that St. John eat these insects in the wilderness. t But
the word in the original, signifies also buds or pods of trees, as
several learned men have proved.J And every one must sup
pose that the baptist lived on a food that was very easy to be made
ready, and probably that which nature itself furnished accommo
date to his palate. Besides, locusts are never eaten without
some kind of previous dressing ; such as roasting, or drying them
in the sun, or salting and smoaking them : which does not seem
an occupation worthy the baptist, whom the scripture represents
as sufficiently taken up in devout meditation and spiritual exer
cises. LOUSE, ena CINNIM.
Occ. Exod. viii. 16, 17, 18 ; and Psalm cv. 31.
* Trav. V. i. State of Syria, ch. i. sect. v. p. 188.
t Matth. iii. 4 ; Mark i. 8. See Bochart, T. iii. p. 488. Wolfius, Cur.
Phil, in loc. Shaw's trav. p. 188.
X AxetSts. See Athanasius, Isiodorus Dam. Ep 1. 1. ep. 5. et 132. Pau-
linds Cann. de Joan. Partelion diac. de lum. sane. Capell Comment.
Knatchbull Annot. p. 18. A^g*fe, wild pears, ti. Stephak.
36

282 THE NATURAL HISTORY
It would be needless to describe this little contemptible insect.
Various as are the antipathies of mankind, all seem to unite
in their dislike to this animal, and to regard it as their natural
and most nauseous enemy.
, Josephus, the Jewish Rabbis, and most ofthe modern transla*
tors render the Hebrew word here lice ;* and BocHARTt and
Bryant]: have laboured hard to support this interpretation^
The former endeavours to prove that the cr:3 in Exod. viii!
may mean lice in the common acceptation of the term, and not
gnats as others have supposed; 1. because the creatures here
mentioned sprang from the dust of the earth, and not from the
waters. 2. Because they were both on men and cattle, which
cannot be spoken of gnats. 3. Because their name comes from
the radix |0, which signifies to make firm, fix, establish, which
can never agree to gnats, flies, &c. which are ever changing
their place, and are almost constantly on the wing. 4. Because
rtJD kinnah is the term by which the Talmudists express the
term louse, &c. To which may be added that if they were
winged and stinging insects, as Jerom, Origen, and others have
supposed, the plague of flies is unduly anticipated ; and the next
miracle will be only a repetition ofthe former.
Mr. Bryant, in illustrating the propriety of this miracle, has
the following remarks. " The Egyptians affected great external
purity ; and were very nice both in their persons and clothing ;
bathing and making ablutions continually. Uncommon care was
taken not to harbour any vermin. They were particularly soli
citous on this head ; thinking it would be a great profanation of
the temple which they entered if any animalcule of this sort
were concealed in their garments. The priests, says Herodo
tus, are shaved, both as to their heads and bodies, every third
day, to prevent any louse, or any other detestable creature being
found upon them when they are performing their duty to the
gods. The same is mentioned by another author, who adds
that all woolen was considered as foul, and from a perishable
animal ; but flax is the product of the immortal earth, affords a
delicate and pure covering, and is not liable to harbour lice,
We may hence see what an abhorrence the Egyptians showed
towards this sort of vermin, and what care was taken by the
priests to guard against them. The judgments, therefore, inflict
ed by the hands of Moses were adapted to their prejudices. It
* Josephus, Antiq. 1. ii. u. 14. Chald. Targum. Montana, Monster,
Vatablus, Junius and Tremelius.
f Hieroz. Tom. ii. p. 455.
X On the plagues of Egypt, p. 56, et seq.

OP THE BIBLE. 283
was, consequently, not only most noisome to the people in gen
eral, but was no small odium to the most sacred order in Egypt,
that they were overrun with these filthy and detestable vermin."
Mr. Harmer supposes, that he has found out the true meaning
in the word tarrentes, mentioned by Vinasauf, who speaking of
the expedition of king Richard I. to the Holy Land, says, " While
the army were marching from Cayphas, to Caasarea, they were
greatly distressed every night by certain worms called tarrentes,
which crept on the ground, and occasioned a very burning heat
by most painful punctures ; for, being armed with stings, they
conveyed a poison, Which quickly occasioned those who were
wounded by them to swell ; and was attended with the most ac-
cute pain."
Dr. Adam Clarke remarks, that the circumstance of these
insects being in man and in beast, agrees so well with the nature
of the acarus sanguisugus, commonly called " the tick," that he
is ready to conclude that this is the insect meant. This animal
buries both its sucker and head equally in man or beast ; and
can with very great difficulty be extracted - before it is fil'ed
With the blood and juices ofthe animal on which it preys. When
fully grown, it has a glossy, black oval body. Not only horses,
cows, and sheep are infested with it in certain countries, but
even the common people, especially those who labour in the
field, in woods, &c. " I know, (continues he) no insect to which
the Hebrew term so properly applies. This is the fixed, estab
lished, insect, which will permit itself to be pulled in pieces rath
er than let go its hold ; and this is literally non33i cnKH ba-
adam uba-behemah, in man, and in beast, burying its trunk and
head in the flesh of both."
On the other hand Dr. Geddes says, that those who think that
lice were meant, ought not to have so confidently appealed to the
Syriac and Chaldee versions, as being in their favour ; for nabn
, er winVp, which are the words they use, are without sufficient
authority, translated pediculus in the Polyglott,* and by Bux-
tokf. From Bar-Bahlctl, the prince of Syrian lexicographers,
we learn that the Syriac xnSp is an animalcule hurtful to the eye
brows, " animalcula palpebris inimica." Nor is it to be doubted
that the Chaldee being the same word, has the same meaning ;t
So Walton : " Bestiola est exigua, laedens cutem, penetrans per
nares, aures, itemque oculos. Non igitur pediculus, illis parti-
bus vix, aut ne vix infensus unquam." Philo, who must have
*'That is by the translator ofthe Syriac and Thargum ; for tbe trans
lator of Onkelos, renders NnD7p by " ciuiphes."
f The Samaritan O'D'jp belongs to the same class.

284 THE NATURAL HISTORY
been well acquainted with the insects of Egypt, describes it near
ly in the same manner : " A small but most troublesome animal,.
which hurts not only the surface ofthe skin, but forces its way-in-
Wardly by the nostrils and ears, and even insinuates itself into
the pupils of the eyes, if one be not very heedful."* Indeed the
authority ofthe Septuagint alone, is to me, (says Dr. Geddes,) a
stronger proof that not lice, but gnats, <nuvicpe?, is the genuine
meaning of ctjj, than that of all the Rabbinical commentators
together, with Josephus at their head, and with the collateral aid
of both Arabs, Pers. and Gr. Ven. although the Arabs are at
b6st but dubious evidence on the question.) Nor of small avail
is the testimony of Jerom, who, both here and in the Psalms,
follows the Septuagint, and renders sciniphes ; which he would
hardly have done, if his Hebrew masters, to whom he sometimes
gave too much credit, had told him that the word had a different
meaning." Dr. Geddes then proceeds to explain -the etymology ofthe
word ;X remarking, " some will have it to be an Egyptian word,,
but this I think improbable, as in that case, we should probably
find mviQss rendered by it in the Coptic version, which however
has a, very different word, lehlem. Others derive it from |13, al
luding, they say, to the steadiness with which lice adhere to the
human body; or to the firm settling of the gnats or mosquitoes
* To St £»», &c. De Vita Mosis, I. i. p. ii. p. 97, ed. Mangey. The de
scription given by Origen, who also resided in Egypt, isto the same pur^
port : " Hoc animal pennis quidem suspenditur per aere volitans, sed itB
subtile est et imminutum, ut occuli visum, nisi acute cernentis, effugiat :
corpus tamen cum insiderit acerrimo terebrat stimulo, ita ut quem volitan-
tem videre quis non valeat, sentiat stimulantem." Homil. iv. in Exod. ex
interpret. RuGni, torn, ii. p 141. ed. Bened.
Augustinus, de convenientia decern praeceptorum et decern plagarum, ait,
" Ciuiphes nataesunt in terra: ./Egypt i de lirno, inuscae uiinutissimte, iuqui-
etissimas et inordinaute volantes, non permittentes homines quiescere.
Dum abiguntur, iterum irruunt."
f The Arabic word is vDp, too generical a term to restrict the meaning
to lice, as it denotes several other anamalcules ofthe insect kind ; as the
curious reader may see by turning to Golius or Castell. Certain it is,
that by the Arabic translator ot'the Psalms, who made his version from the
Greek, the same word is used to express mmtt. So that, on the whole,
only two versions, namely Pers. and Gr. Ven. are decidedly; for lice, the
former having W2a, the latter <p9agsc.
X Bochart's objections are well answered Dy Michaelis, to whose sup^'
plementa I refer my reader ; and also to Oeomann's excellent fermischele
Sammlungen aus der Naturkunde sur Erklarung der Heil. Schrift. p. i. u. 6.
His book was originally written in Swedish, but translated into German by
Growing, and printed at Leipsic in 1786. A good account of it may be
found in Michaelis' New Oriental Library, part iii. p. 20, &c.

OF THE BIBLE. 285
on the bodies of men or animals. Others make p the root, and
quote Isaiah li. 6, pron' p im, which in our common English ver
sion is rendered " they shall die in like manner ;" but which, ac
cording to those interpreters, should be, like a louse. If p here
be the singular of D'JD,* it would greatly confirm the version of
the Septuagint in Exodus ; for the ephemerical life of any species
of gnats would be a fitter image ofthe transitoriness of human
life, than the very uncertain duration of the louse ; besides that
the figure would be less ignoble, and more congruous to the dig
nity of the subject. On the whole, I am inclined to think, that
the p of Isaiah, is the singular of a*a, and that aa is a blunder
of the Hebrew copyists ; for in the Samaritan examplars, the
word is uniformly written full."
If we can suppose that the word was originally written 3'33
cinnip, instead of CTJ3 cinnim, which has embarrassed the critics
by its plural termination, the difficulty will be wholly removed,
and we shall have the Greek word «icini|/.
MALLOWS, mbo maluach.
Occurs Job xxx. 4, only.
It is uncertain what is meant by the original term. In He
brew, in Chaldee, and in Syriac, the word implies a brackish or
salt-tasted plant. In the Septuagint it is rendered xhtp.x, the
halimus. The deserts of Arabia abound with saline particles, which give
a saltish, hitter taste to the few hardy plants that live there.!
Mr. Scott, who makes this remark, adds, " the > original word
denotes either in general all such brackish vegetables ; or some
particular plant of the desert, that camels are exceeding fond of."
Drusius, Hiller, Celsius, and Schultens, interpret this of
the halimus, which Dioscorides describes as a kind of bramble,
Without thorns, and says that its leaves are boiled and eaten. J It
* " Singularem recentiorum niihi facinnt, a quo plurale Q'J3, ut putant,
ortum : quod quidem mini suspectum esse jam supra professns sum. Sed
fae verum esse, vel huic loco aptiores culices quam pediculi erunt ¦¦ hoc qui
dem, turpe animal atque in magnilico carmine indecorum ac prope nefas
¦ominatu, mortales quidem agnosco, sed mori non videmus, nisi vi neceii-
tur ; ut vel, quam diu vivant, ignoremus; perennare et in dies augescere
seritiunt li quibus hserent : at culices annum vivendo non superant, sed stato
anni tempore emoriunturet intereunt; multo melior brevitatis vitae huma
ns nee turpis imago. Michaelis's Suppl, ad Lexic. Hebr.
f So also M. Volnev observes, " Cette qualite saline est si inherente au
so) (danstoute le desert d'Arabie et d'Afrique} qu'elle passe jusque dans
les plantes, Toutes celles du desert abondent en soude et en sel de Glau
ber." Voyage, torn. i. p. 354.
X Diosc. lib. i. c. 121.

286 THE NATURAL HISTORY
grows, says Hevsichius, in dry and desert places ; according to
Antiphanes, in clefts and openings of the earth.* Bochart
quotes from Abenbitar, an Arabian author, a declaration that the
plant which Dioscorides calls " halimus," is that which the Sy
rians call " maluch."t Galen says, that the tops when young,
are used for food. Serapion says, that at Bagdad, quantities of
this vegetable are hawked about ; those who carry it, crying
" molochia, molochia !" which is nearly the Hebrew word : and
it is certain from Meninski, [Lesic. 3968] that the pot herb
which the Turks call " kiismechaet," " kiismelaet," and " mill.
lach," is a species of halimus ; probably the sea-orach.\ The
reasons which Bochart gives for supposing it the halimus are,
(1st,) because the Syrians still call this plant by the same name ;
(2,) because the Hebrew name and Greek KKifiac refer to the salt
taste, which the Arab writers attribute to this plant; (3r) because
as the maluach is described as the food of the wretched, so is the
halimus in Atheimeus ; (4,) because the LXX. render ni^B by
'AAIMA ; and, (lastly,) because it is described in Job as cropped
upon the shrub, which exactly agrees with what the Arab writers
say of the maluch or halimus, namely, that they ate the tops of
it. Mr. Harmer quotes the following passage from Biddulph :§
" We saw many poor people collecting mallows, and three leav-
* Athenaeus, [lib. iv. c. 16] relates of Antiphanes, (speaking of the Py
thagoreans,) K» TH }(AeAJeA TeayoVTSt AilfU K-JJ XAKA TtlAUTA OVKktyaVTtt.
t " Halimus, quod populus ^Syrite vocat maluch, est arbustum, ex quo li
mit sepes, rhamno simile, nisi quod caret spinis, et folio simile oleae, sed la-
tiori, crescens ad littora maris et circa sepes." " Galenus libro sexto
scribit, almaluck plantam esse quae abundat in regione Cilicias, cujus sum-
mitates comednntur cum sunt recentes, atque etiam reconduntur, et pa-
rantur in tempus posterum, et generator in corpore iliis ufentis semen et
lac : sapor autem salsus est, et aliquantum stypticus."
So also Prosper Alpinus, De Plantis Mgypti, cxxviii. p. 45, " In cibis
nihil est ipsa jEgyptiis familiarius, vel gratius : decoquunt enim in aqua
vel jure carnium utnos betam elixare solemns. Convivia carentia melo-
chiae ferculis ab his parumreputantur ; cibus qnidera i I lis popnlis melocbia
est familiarissimus, ex quo multi tamen male se habent, nam parum
nutrit, et succum viscidum gignit ex quo in difficiles obstructiones visce-
rum, qui earn in cibo f'requentant, incurrunt. Nihilominus Melochiam in
cibis non omit turn, praecipue viscosiorem mucilaginem facientem, avide
omnes esitant."
See also,ABDOLLATiPH, Compend. Hist. Mgypti. p. 15.
X Atriplex raaritimafruticosa, halimus et portulaca marina dicta angusti-
folia. Rai. Syn. iii. p. 153. The " Atriplex Hortensis," or garden orach
is cultivated in gardens, and used as a substitute for spinage, to which it
is still preferred by some.
{ Collection of Voyages and Travels, from the Library of the Earl of Ox
ford, p. 807.

OF THE BIBLE. 287
ed grass, and asked them what they did with it ; and they answer
ed that it was all their food, and that they boiled it and did eat it.
Then we took pity on them, and gave them bread, which they
received very joyfully, and blessed God that there was bread in
the world." Upon this, Mr. Harmer, makes these observations :
" This was in Syria, not far from Aleppo. Whether mallows
was one of the herbs Job precisely meant, may be doubted ; it
appears however, to be a species of herb actually used for food
by the very poor people of the East : and at the same time, the
joy they expressed upon having a little bread given, shows that it
was not any gustfulness in those herbs which they eat, which caused
them to gather them, or the force of long established habit, but
the extremity of want. As Biddulph went to Jerusalem, some
time before the translation of the Bible was undertaken by the
command of King James I. the observation he made ofthe poor
people, eating mallows in Syria, might engage those learned men,
so to render the word used in that passage of the book of Job."
Dr. Shaw, [Trav. p. 141, ed. 4 to.] has the following note :
" mellou-keah, or mulookiah, NTn^n, as in the Arabic, is the same
with the melochia, or corchorus, J. B. ii. 982, J. R. H. 259. It
is a podded species of mallows, whose pods are rough, of a gluti
nous substance, and used in most of their dishes. Mellou-keah,
appears to be a little different name from ni^D, Job xxx. 4, which
we render " mallows ;" though some other plant, of a more salt
ish taste, and less nourishing quality may be rather intended."
Mr. Good thinks, that "the real plant is a species of salsola or
salt-wort ; and the term xhtp.x employed in the Greek versions,
gives additional countenance to this conjecture. The salsola,
salt-wort, or kali, is, in modern botany, an extensive genus of
plants, comprising not less than two or three and twenty different
species, of which some are herbaceous, and others shrubby ;
several of them common to Asia, and not-a few indigenous to a
dry, sandy soil. They have all a saline and bitter taste."
MANDRAKE, own dudaim.
Occurs Gen. xxx. 14, 15, 16; and Cantic. vii. 13.
Interpreters have wasted much time and pains, in endeavour
ing to ascertain what is intended by the Hebrew word dudaim.*
* Besides what is to be found in commentators and critics, in Calmet,
Hiller, Celsius, Lemnius, Cogquius, and others; the following authors
have published distinct dissertations and treatises on tbe dudaim ; J. H.
Heideggkr, Drusius, Ant. Deusing, J. Thomasius, C. Uavius, andM. Li-
chentanz. 1 possess also, " a critical dissertation on the mandrake ofthe
ancients, with some observations on the Egyptian, Grecian, and Koman
literature, botany and medicine." Lond. 1737 8vo.
M. Granier of the Royal Academy of Nismes, has published " a bistori-
co-botanical dissertation on the Mandragora."

288 THE NATURAL HISTORY
Some translate it by " violet," others, " lilies," " jasmins,"
" truffle or mushroom," and some think that the word means
*' dowers," or " fine flowers," in general. Bochart, Calmet
and Sir Thomas Browne, suppose the citron intended ; Celsius
is persuaded, that it is the fruit of ihe lote tree ; Hiller, that
cherries are spoken of; and Ludolp maintains that it is the fruit
which the Syrians call " mauz," resembling in figure and taste
the Indian fig ; but the generality of interpreters and commenta
tors understand mandrakes, a species of melon, by dudaim; and
it is so rendered in the Septuagint, and in both the Targums, on
Gen. xxx. 14. It appears from Scripture, that they were in per
fection about the time of wheat harvest, have an agreeable odour,
may be preserved, arid are placed with pomgranates. Hassel
quist, the pupil and intimate friend of Linnjsus, who travelled
into the Holy Land to make discoveries in natural history, ima
gines that the plant commonly called " mandrake," is intended*
Speaking of Nazareth in Galilee, he says, " What I found most
remarkable at this village, was the great number of mandrakes
which grew in a vale befow it. I had not the pleasure to see
this plant in blossom, the fruit now, [May 5th, O. S.] hanging
ripe on the stem, which lay withered on the ground. From the
season in which this mandrake blossoms and ripens fruit, one
might form a conjecture that it was Rachel's dudaim. These
were brought her in the xuheat harvest, which in Galilee is in the
month of May, about this time, and the mandrake was now in
fruit." Both among the Greeks and Orientals, this plant was held in
high repute, as being of a nature provocative of amorous inclina
tions ;* and from it, philtres, or love potions were made ; and
this is favoured by the original, which signifies loves, that is,
incentives to copulation. It is probable, that this opinion of their
possessing prolific qualities, and being helpful to conception,
might make Rachel desire to have them ; and lead the spouse in
Canticles vii. 13, to extol their odours. The latter passage is
thus paraphrased by Michaelis : " Jam et somnifero odore, ve-
nereus mandragoras, late olens, spirat suadetque amores." Now
widely exhaling its somniferous fragrance, the voluptuous man
drakes breathe and excite to love. From this passage it appears,
that the dudaim yielded a remarkable smell, at the same time that
* See Dioscorid. 1. iv. c. 76. Matth iolus in Dioscorid. Brodeus in
Theophrast. Bauhin, Hist. Plant, torn- iii- p. 614. The emperor Julian,
in bis epistle to Calixenes says, that he drank the juice ofthe mandrake
to excite amorous inclinations.
The ancients gave to the fruit the name of chiles of love, and to Vends,
the goddess of love, that ^of Mandragoritis.

OF THE BIBLE. &89
the vines and pomgranates flowered, which in Judea is about the
end of April or beginning of May. Maundrel observes, that the
chief priest of the Samaritans informed him, that they were still
noted for their genial virtue.
The Abbe Mariti, in his Travels, Vol. ii. p. 195, thus de
scribes the Mandrake. " At the village of St. John in the moun
tains, about six miles south-west from Jerusalem, this plant is
found at present, as well as in Tuscany. It grows low like let
tuce, to which its leaves have a great resemblance, except that
they have a dark green colour. The flowers are purple, and the
root is for the most part forked. The fruit, when ripe in the be
ginning of May, is of the size and colour of a small apple, exceed
ingly ruddy, and of a most agreeable odour. Our guide thought
us fools for suspecting it to be unwholesome. He ate it freely
himself; and it isgenerally valued by the inhabitants as exhilirat-
ing their spirits, and a provocative to venery."
Pvthagoras, is the first who conferred on the mandrake the
name of ." anthropomorphon," on what account we know not,
but the idea seems to have been very general, and attended with
strange conceits.
Theophrastus mentions this plant in four places. In one,
he considers its medicinal properties, its soporific qualities, and
it& tendency to excite love ; and in the others, he mentions the
superstitious ceremonies performed at the time of gathering it.
Dioscorides has given a particular relation of all the virtues
ascribed to the mandrake in his time.
Pliny makes mention of the plant in seven different places in
his natural history.
MANNA, jd man.
Comp. Exod. xvi. 15, 33, 35 ; Numb. xi. 6, 7, 9 ; Deut. viii.
3; Josh. v. 12; Nehem. ix. 20 ; Psalm lxviii. 24. MANNA,
John vi. 31, 49, 58 ; Heb. ix. 4 ; Rev. ii. 17.*
The food which Jehovah gave the children of Israel during
their continuance in the deserts of Arabia, from the eighth en-
campment in the wilderness of Sin. Moses describes it as white
like hoar frost, round, and of the bigness of coriander seed. It
fell every morning upon the dew ; and when the dew was exhal
ed by the heat ofthe sun, the manna appeared alone, lying upon
* To account for its being called Maw« in the New Testament, and not
M«v, we may observe, that this is in conformity with the Septuagint, where
Maw* is almost constantly used for \0. Josephus, Antiq. lib. iii. c. i. {
10, says, K«Xb« t, 'E&ttiti to 0^/j.a <nn Mavva, to >*{ May «ng«rii«v but* <r»ir
W*n$t» Siamxtw, ft wr* srt i AVAxgrnfA. , The Hebrews callthisfood manna ;
for the particle has in ourlanguage, is the asking cf a question. What is this ?
37

29Q THE NATURAL HISTORY
the rocks< or the sand. It fell every day except on the sabbath ;
and this only around the camp ofthe Israelites. Every sixth day
there fell a double quantity ; and though it putrified and bred
maggots when it was kept any other day, yet on the sabbath there
was no such alteration : and the same substance which was melted
by the heat of the sun when it was left abroad, was of so hard a con
sistence when brought into the tent, that it was beaten in mortars ;
and would even endure the fire, made into cakes and baked in
pans. It fell in so great quantities during the whole forty years
of their journey, that it was sufficient to feed the whole multitude
of above a million of souls. Every man, (that is, every male or
head of a family) was to gather each day the quantity of an omer,
(about three quarts English measure ;) and it is observed that
" he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered
little had no lack ;" because his gathering was in proportion fo
the number of persons for whom he had to provide. Some
having fewer, others more in family, and the gathering being in
proportion to the persons who were to eat of it, therefore, he that
gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had
no lack. Probably every man gathered as much as he could ;
and then, when brought home, and measured by an omer, if he
had a surplus, it went to supply the wants of some other family
that had not been able to collect a sufficiency, the family being
large, and the time in which the manna might be gathered, before
the heat of the day, not be|ng sufficient to eollect enough for so
numerous a household, several of whom might be so confined as
not to be able to collect for themselves. Thus there was an
equality ; and in this light the words of St. Paul, 2 Cor. viii. 15,
lead us to view the passage.*
To commemorate their living upon manna, the Israelites were
directed to put one omer of it into a golden vase ; and it was
preserved for many generations by the side of the ark,
Our translators and others, make a plain contradiction in fhe
relation of this account of the manna, by rendering it thus, " and
when, the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another it is
manna, for they knew not what it was :"f whereas the Septua
gint, and several authors both ancient and modern, have translat
ed the text according to the original— " the Israelites seeing this,
said one to another, what is it ? for they knew ntitwhat it was ;'*
and therefore they could not give it a name. Moses immediate
ly answers the question, and says, " this is the bread which the
Lord hath given you to eat." From Exod. xvi. 31, we learn
* Dr. A. Clarke's Comment, in. loc.
f Br. Geddes has • learned and ingenious discussion of this subject.

OF THE BIBLE. ' 291
that this substance was afterwards called |n man, probably in com
memoration ofthe questien they had asked on its first appearance.
What this substance was, we know not. It was nothing that
was common to the wilderness. It is evident that the Israelites
never saw it before, for Moses says, Deut. viii. 3, 16. " He
fed thee with manna which thou knewest not, neither did thy
fathers know :" and it is very likely that nothing of the kind had
ever been seen before ; and by a pot of it being laid up in the
ark, it is as likely that nothing of the kind ever appeared more,
after the miraculous supply in the wilderness had ceased.*
In our version of Psalm lxxviii. 24, 25, we read " He rained
down manna upon them to eat, and gave them ofthe corn of
heaven. Man did eat angel's food ; he sent them meat to the
full." Dr. Durell observes, that D"V3K abirim, is used in no
other place to denote angels, and seems here to denote oxen, as
in Psalm xxii. 12; 1. 13; lxviii. 30 ; Isai. xxxiv. 7 ; and Jerem.
1. 1 1 : and that the corresponding word DTX tsedha, which sig
nifies any food procured by hunting, countenances this sense. He
would, therefore, render it, " every one eat the flesh of oxen ; he
sent them venison, (or victuals) in plenty." Mr. Dimock re
marks upon this construction. " But supposing that they did
eat oxen at some time in the wilderness, these words refer to the
miraculous transaction recorded Exod. xvi. 11 — 16; and from
comparing John vi. 33, I am inclined to think, that this word is
written by mistake for crrf™, " every one did eat the bread of
God;" or for ain' T3X, "of the mighty Jehovah." The
word, indeed, in its primary sense, means " of the mighty
ones," and so it is several times translated ; but it also means
" wings," or " feathers :" — and if this be admitted, then, without
so improbable a construction as that of Dr. Durell, (for the Is
raelites had not oxen to spare for food ;) or so great an emenda
tion as that of Mr. Dimock, the passage may be read —
He opened the doors qf heaven,
And showered down manna upon them to eat;
Man did also eat wingedfood.
He sent themflesh [OrO lehem,] even to satiety. f
The author ofthe book of Wisdom, xvi. 20, 21, says, that
the manna so accommodated itself to every one's taste, that
it proved palatable and pleasing to all.
It has been remarked that at this day, manna is found in seve
ral places of the world ; in Arabia, on mount Libanus, Calabria,
* Dr. A. Clarke.
t See OT\b rendered "flesh," Zeph. i. 17.

292 THE NATURAL HISTORY
and elsewhere. , The most famous is that of Arabia, which is a
kind of condensed honey, which exudes from the leaves of trees, -
from whence it is collected when it has become concreted. Sal-"
masius thinks this ofthe same kind which fed the children of Is
rael ; and that the miracle lay, not in creating any new substance,
but in making it fall duly at a set time every day, throughout the
whole year, and that in such plenty as to suffice so great a multi
tude. But in order for this, the Israelites must be supposed eve
ry day to have been in the neighbourhood of the trees on which;
this substance is formed ; which was not the case, neither do
those frees grow in those deserts. Besides, this kind of manna is
purgative, and the stomach could not endure it in such quantity
as is implied by its being eaten for food. In short, the whole his
tory of the giving the manna is miraculous. I refer, however, to
the remarks of Michaelis, in his dissertation on the influence of
opinions on language, 4 to. p. 56, for a different construction,.
For the most ample investigation ofthe whole subject, the follow
ing authors may be consulted ; Scheuchzer, Phyj. Sacr. V. ii.
p. 101. Buxtorf, Hist. Mannae, in Exercit. Sacr. p. 336 — 390.
Salmasius, Com. de Manna, in Hyle Iatrica, p. 245 — '254 ; et
Exerc. Solin. p. 809 : but espeially T. E. Faber, dissert, de
Manna, (in Reiskii et Fabri opusculis medicis, a C. G. Grune-.
fto editis) § xxiv. p. 131, et § xxix. p. 139; to S. G. Donatus,
in not. ad epitomen Phys. Sacr. Scheuchzerianae — and to A. F.
Bushing's notes, &c. upon the last mentioned work. " Qui tri-5
umviri doctissimi omnia collegerunt quae Veteres et Recentiores^
de variis Mannae generibus tradidere.'' Rosenmuller, Not. in
Bochart, Hieroz. torn. iii. p. 597,
MARBLE- m sis.
Occ. 1 Chron. xxix. 2 ; Esth. i. 6 ; and Cantic. v. 15.
A valuable kind of stone ; of a texture so hard and compact,
and of a grain so fine, as readily to take a beautiful polish. It is
dug Out of quarries in large masses, and is much used in buildings^
ornamental pillars, &c. Marble is of different colours, black,!
white, &c. and is sometimes most elegantly clouded and variegat
ed. The stone, mentioned in the places cited above, is called1
the stone of sis, or sish ; the LXX. and Vulgate render it Pari*
an stone, which was remarkable for its bright white colour. Pro
bably the cliff Ziz, 2 Chron. x v. 16, was so called from being a
marble crag : the place was afterwards called Petra.
The. variety of stones tarn bahat, a'a sis, *n dar, and mnD so-
chereth, mentioned in the pavement of Ahasuerus, must describe
marble of different colours. The ancients sometimes made
pavements wherein were set very valuable stones.

OF THE BIBLE. 293
" Eo deliciarum pervenimus, ut nisi gemmas calcare nolimus."
Seneca, epist. 86. And Apuleius, thus describes the pave
ment of the apartments of Psyche, " pavimenta ipsa lapide pretio-
so. caesim diminuto, in varia pictura genera discriminabantur."
Michaelis, supposes the dar to mean alabaster.
MELON. oinMx abattichim.*
Occ. Numb. xi. 5, only.
A luscious fruit, so well known that a description of it would
be superfluous. It grows to great perfection, and is highly es
teemed in Egypt, especially by the lower class of people, during
the hot months. t The juice is peculiarly cooling and agreeable
in that sultry climate, where it is justly pronounced, " one of tlie
most delicious refreshments that nature, amidst her constant at
tention to the wants of man, affords in the season of violent heat."
There are varieties of this fruit ; but that more particularly re
ferred to in the text, must be the water-melon. It is cultivated
(says Hasselquist,) on the banks of the Nile, in the rich, clayey
earth, which subsides during the inundation. This serves the
Egyptians for meat, drink, and physic. It is eaten in abundance
during the season, even by the richer sort of people : but the
common people, on whom Providence has bestowed nothing but
poverty and patience, scarcely eat any thing but these, and ac
count this the best time of the year, as they are obliged to put
up with worse fare at other seasons. This fruit likewise serves
ihem for drink, the juice refreshing these poor creatures, and they
have less occasion for water, than if they were to live on more
substantial food in this burning climate." This well explains the
regret expressed by the Israelites for the loss of this fruit, whose
pleasant liquor had so often quenched their thirst, and relieved
their weariness in their servitude ; and which would have been
exceedingly grateful in a dry, scorching desert.
Mr. Harmer makes the following quotation from the travels of
Egmont and Heyman, V. 2, p. 1 2, to shew how refreshing this
fruit is. " The inhabitants of mount Carmel, chiefly employ
themselves in improving their gardens, where they have, among
cither fruits, excellent melons and pasteques, which, in goodness
and taste, are not at all inferior to those of Naples and the West-
Indies. The latter are called in America, water-melons, and ve
ry properly, consisting of little else than a rind and delicious wa
ter. The pulp of some is reddish, especially that part nearest
the center of the fruit, where they have also small seeds, the sur-
* The, name of the water-melon in Egypt now, is battich. See Forskal,
Flor. ACgypt. Arab. p. 75, and Hasselquist, p. 255.
t For a particular account of the melons of Egypt, I refer to Prosp. At-
finus, de plantis JEgypti ; and Celsius, Hierobot. torn. i. p. 356 — 383.

294 THE NATURAL HISTORY
face of which is blackish or reddish^ and beneath, a white, soft,
and palatable substance, whence a kind of oil is expressed, of
great use in colds, inflammations, and cutaneous disorders. The
melons which h^ve a white pulp, are of a very agreeable taste,
but not so much esteemed as the other, probably more from pre
possession than any solid reason. Both, however, may supply
the place of drink, as they dissolve in the mouth, quench the
thirst, and are of a cooling quality."
MILLET. ;m dochan.
Occ. Ezek. iv. 9.
A kind of plant so called from it thrusting forth such a quanti
ty of grains. Thus in Latin it is called " millium ;" as if one
stalk bore a thousand seeds.* It has been supposed that the do
chan means what is now called in the East " durra," which, ac
cording to Nieubhr,? is "a sort of millet, and when made into
bad bread with camel's milk, oil, butter, or grease, is almost the
only food which is eaten by the common people in Arabia Fe
lix." " I found it so disagreeable, (says he,) that I should wil
lingly have preferred plain barley bread to it." This illustrates
the appointment of it to the prophet Ezekiel as apart of his hard
fare. Durra is also used in Palestine, and Syria, and it is generally
agreed that ii yields much more than any other kind of grain— K le
durra rend beaucoup plus que tous les autres grains."
Hiller and Celsius insist that the dochan is the panic : but,
Forskal has expressly mentioned the dokn, " holcus dochna,"
as a kind of maize, of considerable use in food ; and Browne, in
his travels, p. 291, describes the mode of cultivation.
MINT. HATOSMON.
Occ. Matth. xxiii. 23 ; and Luke xi. 42.
A garden herb, well known.
The law did not oblige the Jews to give the tythe of this sort of
herbs : it only required it of those things which could be com
prehended under the name of income or revenue. But the Pha
risees, desirous of distinguishing themselves by a more scrupu
lous and literal observance of the law than others, gave the tythes
of mint, anise, and cummin. Matth. xxiii. 23. Christ did not
discommend this exactness ; but complained, that while they
were so precise in these lesser matters, they neglected the more
essential commandments ofthe law, and substituted observances,
frivolous and insignificant, in the place of 'justice, mercy and truth.
* Martinus, Lesic. Etymol.
f Description de l'Arabie, p. 45, 135, 136. See also Rauwolf, in Ray's
trav. p. 161, and quoted by Harmer,, Obs. V. iv. p. 97.

OF THE BIBLE. 296
MOLE. This word, in our version of Levit. xi. 30, answers to
the word naBun thinsemeth, which Bochart has shewn to be
the chameleon ; but he conjectures, with great propriety, that
t^n choled, translated " weasel," in the preceding verse, is the
true word for the mole.* The present name of the mole in the
East, is khuld, which is undeniably the same word as the Hebrew
choled. The import of the Hebrew word is, to creep into, and the
Same Syriac word implies, to creep underneath, to creep into by
burrowing ; which are well known characteristics of the mole.
Our translation uses also,, the word mole in Isai. ii. 20, where
the original is nna "tan caphar pharut. Bochart is for read
ing these two words as one ; and so three copies collated by Dr.
Kennicott read it. The author of " Scripture Illustrated" ob
serves, that " the general scope of the passage is a threatening
against pride, and a denunciation of vengeance on idols and idol
worshippers ;" and conjectures that " it describes the action of
a public personage, a chief, for whom idols had been provided in
a magnificent temple, as so terrified as to flee to caves and dens
for shelter ; and that these valuable idols should be taken from
their shrines, and thrown into places as dark, dismal, and abomina
ble as their former residences had been brilliant and venerable."
Accordingly, he understands the word chapharpharut to mean,
not an animal, but a place, a deep sink, or subterranean vault —
deep cavities dug by human powers. Michaelis, Suppl. ad
Heb. Lex. p. 877, thinks the word signifies sepulchres, which in
Palestine were frequently cells or vaults, hewn or dug in the
rocks, and. consequently were proper receptacles for bats.
MOTH, try ois. Job iv. 19, and aay oisis, Job xiii. 28;
xxvii. 18 ; Psalm vi. 7 ; xxxi. 9, 10 ; xxxix. 1 1 ; Isai. I. 9 ; Ho
sea v. 12.
The moth is properly a winged insect, flying by night, as it
were a night butterfly ; and may be distinguished from day-but
terflies by its antenna, which are sharp at the points, and not tuft
ed. But as this creature, like others, undergoes a transforma
tion, in our translation ofthe Scripture, itis spoken of in its grub
state, during which, it eats garments, &c. made of wool.
Theelothes-moth, is the Tinea Argentea; of a white, shining,
silver, or pearl colour. It is clothed with shells, fourteen in num
ber, and these are scaly. Albin asserts this to be the insect
that, eats woollen stuffs ; and says that it is produced from a grey
speckled moth, that flies by night, creeps among woollens, and
there lays her eggs, which, after a little time, are hatched as
* Hieroz. ton;, iii. p. 435—454 edit. Rossnmiplier.

296 THE NATURAL HISTORY
worms, and in this state they feed on their habitation, till they
change into a chrysalis, and thence emerge into moths.
" The young moth, or moth-worm, (says the Abbe le Pluchjs,)
upon leaving the egg which apapilio had lodged upon a piece of
stuff commodious for her purpose, finds a proper place of resi
dence, grows and feeds upon the nap, and likewise builds with it an
apartment, which is fixed to the ground work of, the stuff with
several cords and a little glue. From an aperture in this habita
tion, the moth-worm devours and demolishes all about him ; and,
when he has cleared the place, he draws out all the fastenings of
his tent ; after which he carries it to some little distance, and then
fixes it with the slender cords in a new situation. In this man
ner, he continues to live at our expense, till he is satisfied with
his food, at which period he is first transformed into the nympha,
and then changed into the papilio."
This account of the insect, will help us to understand several
passages in Scripture.
I. Mr. Hervey, conjectured that the comparison in Job iv.
1 9, was to that of a house, whose fragility was such, that it would
be crushed or overset by a moth flying against it ; but it seems
rather to imply, either the wasting or consuming effect of a
moth's corroding, or the ease and indifference with which we
crush the insect. Mr. Good, makes these remarks upon the pas
sage. " The comparison of man on account of his littleness,
his feebleness, and his shortness of life, to a worm, or an insect, is
common to the sacred writings ; but in no other part of them,
nor in any other writings whatsoever, is the metaphor, so exten
sively applied, or so admirably supported. The passage, indeed,
has not been generally understood in its full import ; but it has
enough, under every translation to challenge a comparison with
every attempt at the same kind, in the Greek or Roman poets."
II. From the change of person, and for other reasons, we must
suppose that the verse in our translation of Job xiii. 28, is to be
transposed, and read after the second verse in the next chapter;
and read in this connexion.
Man, born of a woman.
Few of days and full cf trouble,
Springeth up as a flower, and is cut down—
Flitteth as a shadow, and remaineth not —
Wasteth away like that which is decayed,
As a garment which the moth consumes.
This perishing condition of a moth-eaten garment, as also of
the insect itself, is referred to in Isai. li. 6. " The earth shall wax
old as doth a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in

OF THE BIBLE. 29T
like manner." The word p kin, here means some kind of in
sect living in the garment ; it is translated " louse," in Exod. viii.
III. He who buildeth his fortunes by methods of injustice, is
by Job, ch. xxvii. 18, compared to the moth, which, by eating in
to the garment wherein it makes its habitation, destroys its own
dwelling. The structure referred to, is that provided by the in
sect, in its larva or caterpillar state, as a temporary residence
during its wonderful change from a chrysalis to a winged insect*
Mr. Scott, has thus happily rendered the passage :
" Wretch, as a moth that ravages the looms,
Weaves its frail bower, and as it weaves consumes."
IV. In Psalm vi. 7, the word rendered in our translation,
"consumed," is, according to the original, moth-eaten. This
may be an application of the figure allowable in the oriental
style ; or, as applied to the eyes, may refer to a disease or con
sumption of the eye, mentioned by travellers in the East, occa
sioned by little insects. The same remark must apply to Psalm
xxxi. 9.
V. The declaration in Psalm xxxix. 11, is a reference to the
corroding effects of the moth-worm, and contains an instance of
that assimilation of words of which the Orientals are fond.
When thou with rebukes dost correct man,% [tP'N ais]
Thou makest his beauty to consume like a moth, [a j?J OlS.
VI. The devastations of this creature, are mentioned in Isai.
1.9. All of them shall wax old as a garment,
The moth shall consume them.
And more particularly, in ch. li. 8.
The moth shall consume them like a garmewti
And the worm shall eat them like wool.
The latter word here DO sas, is the proper name of the moth
itself in its papilio state, properly so called from its agility. So
the Septuagint render it 2»jtos-, and the Vulgate tinea : and hence
is derived 2,^, and sod used in the Greek and Syriac of Matth.
vj. 19, 20. The ingenious Abbe Pluche, comparing the papili*
os in general with the caterpillars from which they spring, re-
* A man of distinction. 38

298 THE NATURAL HISTORY
marks, " the caterpillar, who is changed into a nymph, and the
papilio, that proceeds from it, are two animals entirely different :
the first was altogether terrestrial, and crawled along the ground :
the second is agility itself."*
VII. In Matth. vi. 19, 20, is this injunction: " Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth [SfclZ] and rust
[BPiiSIS] do corrupt— but, lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupt." The treasures
here specially intended were garments : for it was customary for
the opulent in Asiatic countries, where their fashions in dress
were not fluctuating like ours, to have repositories full of rich and
splendid apparel. These were, from their nature, exposed to
the depredations of the moth. Fabricated of perishing materi
als, they were liable to be prematurely consumed, Or taken away
by fraud and violence. The moth here mentioned, and in Luke
xii. 33, is, undoubtedly, the same as that last described in Isai. li.
8 ; and Mr. Wakefield says, that he believes that the word
Bgaw, never means rust : to? and n>t>uc are the terms used in that
sense by Greek authors. On this account, some have supposed
B^iticw to mean a species of worm, and others have thought this
phrase to be a hebraism, not uncommon in the New Testament
for a devouring moth.X This last construction is Very plausible,
particularly as Luke mentions only the moth : but in the para
graph above, we find the devouring effects of the insect alluded
to, in two distinct states. In Isai. 1. 9, Aquila has Bgwo-jf, for the
Hebrew Word rendered moth, and Theodotion, «j?.
VIII. In the book of Ecclesiasticus, ch. xix. 3, we read Sjjts?
xxi ffMiAYiteg xAtj^6vop.yf&oMnv xvrov, " Moths and worms shall have
him to heritage." The first may mean the consumers of his rai
ment, the second, the devourers of his body : and xiii. 1 3, Awe
yxq ip,xrtov vvroguirxi cy$, " From garments cometh a moth."
MOUSE. "my achbar. In Chaldee, acalbar ; probably
the same with the Aliarbui,- of the Arabians, or the Jerboa.
Occ. Levit. xi. 29 ; 1 Sam. vi. 4, 5, 11, 18 ; Isai. lxvi. 17.
A small mischievous animal, known by every body. All inter
preters acknowledge that the Hebrew word achoar, signifies a
mouse, and more especially, a field-mouse. Moses declares it to
be unclean, Which insinuates that it was eaten sometimes : and,
indeed, it is affirmed that the Jews were so oppressed with fam-
* Nature Displayed, Vol. i. p. 34, Elag. trans!.
t Scscltetus, in Exc. Evang. ii. c. 35, " SH2 k*i BPn2l2l, non esselduas
diversas species sed per Hendiadyn explicandum judical ut sit idem quod
ru Bgamcwrtt." Conf. etiam Lud de Dieu. Crit. Sacr- p. 328. Bochart.
Hieroz. torn. iii. p. 513.

OF THE BIBLE. 299
me during the seige of Jerusalem by the Romans, that, notwith
standing this prohibition, they were compelled to eat dogs, mice,
and rats. Isai. lxvi. 17, justly reproaches the Jews, with eating
the flesh of mice, and other things that were impure and abomi
nable. Herodotus imputes the ruin of the army of Sennacherib
to mice.* These creatures, he says, having gnawed the leather
Of their bucklers one night, and the strings of their bows, Senna
cherib was obliged to retreat with precipitation. This destruc
tion of the Assyrian army, was of the highest service to the Egyp
tians, whose country Sennacherib had invaded, and where he had
committed the greatest ravages for three years successively ; and
which, he undoubtedly would have attacked again after the con
quest of Jerusalem. Of this great deliverance, the Egyptians
preserved the memory, by the hieroglyphical representation of
the gnawing of the strings of their bows, &c.f
It is known what spoil was made by mice in the fields of
the Philistines, 1 Sam. v. 6, 7, &c, after this people had brought
into their country the ark ofthe Lord ; so that they were oblig
ed to take the resolution to send it back, accompanied with mice
and emrods of gold, as an atonement for the irreverence they
had committed, and to avert from their land the vengeance that
pursued them.
Judea has suffered by these animals in other times. Wil
liam, archbishop of Tyre, records,! that in the beginning of the
twelfth century a penitential council was held at Naplouse,
where five and twenty canons were framed for the correction of
the manners ofthe inhabitants of the christian kingdom of Jeru
salem, who they apprehended had provoked God to bring upon
them the calamities of earthquakes, war and famine. This last
the archbishop ascribes to locusts and devouring mice, which had
for four years together so destroyed the fruits of the earth as
seemed to cause almost a total failure in their crops.
Bochart has collected many curious accounts relative to the
terrible devastation made by these animals.^
The author of " Scripture Illustrated" has shewn at large that
as the Arabs class the Jerboa under the El Akbar} which only
means the largest mus mo'ntanus, that animal is the one described
in Scripture, and signifies " the male Jerboa." In this he fol
lows Pennant, Hist. Quadr. p. 427, and the Arabic version of
Igai. lxvi. 17, which renders the word akbar by " Jerboa."
*Lib. ii. c. 142. t Borapdll. Hieroglyph. 1. i. c. 50.
X Gesta Dei apud Francos, p. 823.
¦5 Hieroz. torn. ii. p. 432-

300 THE NATURAL HISTORY
MULBERRY-TREE. km baca.
Occ. 2 Sam, v. 23, 24 ; 1 Chron. xiv. 14, 15 ; Psal. lxxxivt 7.
That some kind of tree is intended in these several places is
very certain. The LXX in Chronicles render it xmuv, " pear-
trees ;" so Aquila and the Vulgate both in Samuel and Chroni
cles, "pyrorum." Others translate it "the mulberry tree."*
More probably it is the large shrub which the Arabs still call
" Baca ;" and which gave name to the valley where it abound
ed. Of this valley Celsius remarks that it was " rugged and
embarrassed with bushes and stones, which could not be passed
through without labour and tears ;"t (referring to Psal. lxxxiv.
7. and the " rough valley," Deut. xxi. 4.) and he quotes from a
manuscript of Abu'l Fadli a description of the tree which grew
there, and mentions it as bearing a fruit of an acrid taste. — M.
Forskal mentions an obscure tree by the name of BiECA,
which has leaves rather ovated, smooth, entire ; and is poison
ous. The berries are destructive to sheep.
The sound of people's going upon the tops of the trees, 2
Sam. v. 23, 24, is a thing not so congruous to our conceptions,
we are therefore induced to suspect that the word Bochim,
which our translation calls mulberry- trees, is, in reality, the pro-1
per name of a place ; Judges ii. 1 . and Psal. lxxxiv. 7. ; and
Beroche Bochim, tops of mulberry-trees, may signify the moun
tains of Bochim. And so the sense of the words will be, " when
thou hearest a noise as of many people marching, upon the hills', or
highplaces, of Bochim, then thou hast nothing to do but to fall
immediately upon ihe enemy." This interpretation clears the
text from any seeming absurdity.
In 1 Maccabees vi. 34,it is said that Antiochus Eupator com
ing into Judea with a powerful army, and many elephants, those
who had the care of these animals shewed them the blood of
grapes and mulberries [fjLo^oov] that they might provoke them to
fight. The elephant of its own nature is not cruel; to render
him fierce he must be vexed, urged, made drunk, or shewn some
blood, or something like blood. Experience shews that many
animals are provoked at the sight of blood or of any lively red
colour. * So LTrsinus, Arbor. Bibl. c. iii. p. 75. X33, mortis, forte a sanguineis
lachrymis, qua* baccse fundunt compress* : nam cognatnm rOS, bachahj
fletum significat, xxavQ/abv. Unde Bacchm quasi fletu fcemineo nlulantes;
quasi Mebacchoth deflentes, inPiel. Ita Hursycmus, ait " Baechum sign?;
ficare Phcenicibns xXAvBpm."
f Hierobot, torn. i. p. 335,

OF THE BIBLE. 80*
MULE. 113 PERED.
Occurs 2 Sam. Xiii. 29; 1 Kings i. 33; x. 25. et al. freq.
' A mongrel kind of quadruped, between the horse and the ass.
Its form bears a considerable resemblance to the last mentioned
animal : but in its disposition it is rather vicious and intractable' ;
so that its obstinacy has become a proverb.
;i. With this creature the early ages were probably unacquaint:
ed. It is very certain the Jews did not breed mules, because it
was forbidden them to couple together two creatures of different
species. Levit. xix. 1 9. But they were not prohibited the mak
ing use of them : thus we find in David's time that they had be
come very common, and made up a considerable part of the
equipage of princes. 2 Sam. xiii. 29 ; xviii. 9 ; 1 Kings i. 33.
38. 44 ; x. 25 ; 2 Chron. ix. 24.
Some have thought that Anah, son of Zibeon, found out the
manner of breeding mules; Gen. xxxvi. 24. The Talmuds
expressly say it. But the word in the original never signifies
mules ; they are always expressed by a word which has no re
semblance with it. It is said that Anah found the no' jemim in
the wilderness : But the word rendered found does not signify to
invent or discover some new thing. It is used more than four
hundred times in the bible ; and always signifies to find a thing
which exists already, or to encounter with a person or enemy.*
For example, as when it is said ofthe tribes of Judah and Simeon
that they found or encountered with, Adoni Beseck, at Beseck,
and fought against him. Jud. i. 5. And of Saul, that the ar
chers found him and he was sore wounded. 1 Sam. xxxi. 3. And
ofthe prophet who went from Judah to Bethlehem, that a lion
found, or met, him in the way, and slew him. 1 Kings, xiii. 24.
It does not follow that every thing which happens in feeding of
asses should relate to those animals, or .their production : Be
sides, there is no reference here to horses or mares, without
which mules cannot be produced. Nor is it probable that the
way of engendering mules was so known in the land of Edom
where Anah lived, since we read nothing of these animals till
David's time, as we have observed before, which was more than
seven hundred years after. It is therefore much more likely
that the Samaritan version has the true sense of the original, in
rendering Emeans, who were neighbours ofthe Horites, Gen.
xiv. 5. and likewise the Chaldee paraphrase translating it giants,
because the Emeans or the Emmes were as tall as the Anakims,
and passed for giants as well as they; as Moses observes, Deut.
* But Bate and Geddes declare that XSD never signifies to fight, but to
meet with, to come up with.

302 THE NATURAL HISTORY
ii. 1 0. It seems also that the Septuagint, Aquila, Symmachus,
and Theodotian, mean to express the same. And this version
we are advocating is not exposed to the difficulties which the
other translations labour under. And it is a much more remark
able circumstance, and more proper to give a character of dis
tinction to Anah, that he met and combated such formidable peo
ple as the Emeans were, who perhaps lay in ambush for him in
the wilderness, than to observe with the Latin, vulgate, and
some others, that he discovered hot springs, or that he had in
vented the production of mules, which should be looked upon
rather as an effect of chance than of art or reason. This has in
duced some of the Jewish Rabbies* to abandon the opinion of a
great many of their doctors, and to follow the Chaldee para
phrase. The word cm reches, rendered " mules" in Esther viii. 10.
14, and "dromedaries" in 1 Kings, iv. 28, may mean a particu*
lar breed of horses. Jackson, in his Account of Morocco, p. 40,
describes " the desert horse," a peculiarly fine breed, and re
markably swift ; which he says is called by the Arabs, Er-reech.
In 2 Sam. viii. 4; 1 Chron. xviii. 4 ; and 2 Sam. x. 18,331
recheb, means chariot.
MUSTARD. SINAni. Matth. xiii. 32 ; xvii. 20 ; Mark iv.
31 ; Luke xiii. 19 ; and xvii. 6.
A well known garden herb. Christ compares the kingdom of
heaven to " a grain qf mustard seed, which a man took and sopi-
ed in the earth, which indeed, said he, is the least qf all seeds,
but when it is grown, is the greatest among herbs, and becometh
a tree so that the birds ofthe air come and lodge in the branches
thereof." Matth. xiii. 31, 32. This expression will not seem
strange, says Sir Thomas Browne, if we recollect that the mus
tard seed, though it be not simply and in itself the smallest of
seeds, yet may be very well believed to be the smallest of such
as are apt to grow unto a ligneous substance, and become a kind
of tree. He observes likewise that, the parable may not ground
itself upon generals or imply any or every grain of mustard, but
point at such a peculiar grain as from its fertile spirit and other
concurrent advantages has the success to become arboreous*
The expression also that it might grow into such dimensions that
birds might lodge on its branches, may be literally conceived, if
* E. Salomon, Nachmanidis, Jacob, Abendanah, and Aaron Co-
draita. For farther elucidation of this subject see the very learned note of Ur.
Adam Clarke on Genesis xxxvi. 24. Bryant's observations on passages of
scripture.

OF THE BIBLE. 303
we allow the luxuriancy of plants in India above our northern
regions. And he quotes upon this occasion, what is recorded
in the Jewish story, of a mustard tree that was to be climbed
like a fig-tree. The Talmud also mentions one whose branches
were so extensive as to cover a tent.* Without insisting on the
accuracy of this, we may gather from it that we should not judge
t)f eastern vegetables by those which are familiar to ourselves.
Scheuchzer describes a species of mustard which grows seve
ral feet high, with a tapering stalk, and spreads into many bran
ches. Of this aborescent, or tree-like vegetable, he gives a print ;t
and LtNN.ffius mentions a species, whose branches were real
wood, which he names " Sinapi Erucoides."
MYRRH, no mur.
Exod. xxx. 23; Esth. ii. 12 ; Psalm xiv. 8 ; Prov. vii. 17;
Cantic. i. 13; iii. 6 ; iv. 6, 14; v. 1, 5, 13. 2MTPNA, Matth.
ii. 1 1 ; and John xix. 39 ; Mark xv. 23 ; and Ecclus. xxiv. 1 5.
A precious kind of gum, issuing by incision, and sometimes
spontaneously, from the trunk and larger branches of a tree grow
ing in Egypt, Arabia and Abyssinia. J Its taste is extremely bit
ter; but its smell, though strong, is not disagreeable, and among
the ancients it entered into the composition of the most costly
ointments ; as a perfume, it appears to have been used to give a
pleasant fragrance to vestments, and to be carried by females in
little caskets in their bosoms. §
The Magi, who came from the East to worship our Saviour at
Bethlehem, made him a present of myrrh among other things,
Matth. ii. 11.
Mention is made, Mark. xv. 23, of wine mingled with myrrh, of
fered to Jesus at his passion, to take from him, as some suppose,
the too quick sense of pain. The ancient Jewish writers tell us
that a little frankincense in a cup qf wine, (agreeably to Prov.
xxxi. 6,) used to be given to criminals when going to execution,
with the design of alleviating the anguish, by stupifying the feel
ing of pain ; and this mixture, under the name of " the cup of
trembling," or " malediction," appears to be alluded to in the
Chaldee Targums on Psalm Ixxv. 9 ; Ix. 5; Isai. li. 17, 22, and
* See on this subject Lightfoot's Heb. and talm. exercit. in loc. Tre-
SIEll. in loc. Rapuel. annot. ex Herodot. p. 163. and Doddridge's Fam.
Expos. t Phys. Sacr. torn. viii. p. 59. Tab. DCLXXXIII.
X A description of the tree may be found in Pliny, N. H. 1. xii. c. 15.
Pomet, Hist, des drogues, p. 1- page 252; and in the last volume of
Bruce's Travels, with a drawing.
J See Mrs. Francis' poetical translation of Solomon's Song, p. 11,
note ; and Good's Sacred Idylls, p. 75.

304 THE NATURAL HISTORY
Jer. xxv. 15, 17, 28. But our Lord refused it, and resolved to
meet death in all its horrors ; thus evincing his unshaken attach
ment to the truth for which he suffered : and thus has he shewn
mankind, how to bear trials and sufferings without resorting to
any expedient for blunting the natural sensibility. Some think
this the same with the wine mingled with gall, mentioned by Mat
thew xxvii. 34 ; but others consider them as two distinct mix
tures or potions.* Matthew, writing in Syriac, made use of the
word id mar, which signifies gall, or any bitter ingredient ; and
his translator mistook it for tid mur, myrrh. Admitting this, the
narrative of the two Evangelists will be reconciled, and the
prophecy. Psalm lxix. 21, fulfilled; " they gave me gall to eat,
and in my thirst, vinegar to drink :" for the whole tenor of that
Psalm, seems to be a continued prophecy of the sufferings of
Christ, as well as of that judicial blindness, ruin, and dispersion
which fell on the impenitent Jews.t
The drink presented by one of the soldiers, Matth. xxvii. 47,
seems to have been presented with friendly views, after his decla
ration, " I thirst." It was probably some of the drink which
the soldiers had brought with them to supply their wants while
they guarded the prisoners under the cross. It was given to him
in a sponge fastened to a reed, which John specifies to be the
stalk of a plant called hyssop. Jesus, we are told, received this
liquor, that is, sucked it from the sponge put to his lips, for his
hands were nailed to the cross. It was previously lo this, that
the vinegar mingled with gall, meaning sour wine mixed with a
bitter herb, which Mark calls myrrh, was offered him ; and which
on tasting, he refused to drink. See Gall.
Myrrh is mentioned John xix. 39, among the articles brought
by Nicodemus to embalm the body of Jesus. That this gum was
among the principal ingredients for embalming the dead we have
the authority of Herodotus, 1. ii. c. 86, and others.
II. The myrrh, bi1? loth, mentioned Genesis xxxvii. 25, and
xliii. 11, Celsius concludes, from the affinity of names in Ara
bic, to be the gum called " ledum," or " ladanum ; and Ursinus
supports this rendering by unanswerable proofs. This is collect
ed from the " cistus labdaniferus," a beautiful and fragrant
shrub. Dioscorides says, that it was pulled off the beards of
goats,| who, feeding upon the leaves of the plant, the viscous
* Edwards* Exercitations, and J. Jones' Illustration of the four Gospels,
p. 574.
f See Ant Univ. Hist. V. x. c. 11. note s. p. 601.
| Comp. Herodot. lib. iii. c. 112. edit. Gale ; and Plin. Nat Hist. I.
xii. c. 17.

OF THE BIBLE. 305
juice by degrees collects and hardens into little lumps upon the
hair. M. Tournefort, in his voyage to the Levant, describes
the method of gathering this gum in Candia. He says that it is
brushed off the shrub in a calm day, by thongs of leather tied to
poles, and drawn over the tops of the shrubs : to these straps it
adheres, and from them it is afterwards scraped off, and made in
to cakes.
MYRTLE. Din hadas.
Occ. Nehem. viii. 15 ; Isai. xii. 19 ; lv. 13 ; Zech. i. 8. 9, 10.
A shrub, sometimes growing to a small tree, very common in
Judea. It has a hard, woody root, that sends forth a great num
ber of small flexible branches, furnished with leaves like those of
box, but much less, and more pointed ; they are soft to the touch,
shining, smooth, of a beautiful green, and have a sweet smell.
The flowers grow among the leaves, and consist of five white pe
tals disposed in the form of a rose : they have an agreeable per
fume, and ornamental appearance. They are succeeded by an
oval, oblong berry, adorned with a sort of crown made up of the
segments ofthe calix: these are divided into three cells contain
ing the seeds.
Savary, describing a scene at the end ofthe forest ofPlatanea,
says, " myrtles intermixed with laurel roses, grow in the valleys
to the height of ten feet. Their snow white flowers, bordered
with a purple edging, appear to peculiar advantage under the
verdant foliage. , Each myrtle is loaded with them, and they
emit perfumes more exquisite than those of the rose itself. They
enchantevery one, and the soul is filled with the softest sensat'ons."
The myrtle is mentioned in Scripture, among lofty trees, not
as comparing with them in size, but as contributing with them to
the beauty and richness of the scenery. Thus Isai. xii. " 9, intend
ing to describe a scene of varied excellence, " I will plant in the
wilderness the cedar, and the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the
oil-tree." That is, I will adorn the dreary and barren waste
with trees famed for their stature and the grandeur of their appear
ance, the beauty of their form, and the fragrance of their odour.
The Apochryphal Baruch, speaking ofthe return from Babylon,
expresses the protection afforded by God to the people, by the
same image : " even the woods and everjr sweet smelling tree
shall over-shadow Israel, -by the commandment of God." Ch. v. 8."
The feminine form nom hadassah, is the original Hebrew
name of Esther. Esth. ii. 7. The note of the Chaldee Tar
gum on this passage declares, " they called her Hadassah, be
cause she was just, and those that are just are cpmpared to
myrtle." 39

306 THE NATURAL HISTORY
NARD. See Spikenard.
NETTLES. We find this name given to two different words
in the original. The first is, ^nn charul,* Job xxx. 7 ; Prov.
xxiv. 31 ; and Zeph. ii. 9. It is not easy to determine what
species of plant is here meant. From the passage in Job the net
tle could not be intended, for a plant is referred to, large enough
for people to take shelter under. The following extract from
Denon's Travels may help to illustrate the text, and shew to
what an uncomfortable retreat those vagabonds must have resort
ed. " One of the inconveniences of the vegetable thickets of
Egypt is, that it is difficult to remain in them, as nine tenths of
the trees and plants are armed with inexorable thorns, which suf
fer only an unquiet enjoyment ofthe shadow which is so constant
ly desirable, from the precaution necessary to guard against them."
Celsius and Scheuchzer, are i;teiined to render it the " Pa-
liurus." This may suit the idea in Job, but is not so well adapt
ed to the reference in the two other places.
II. The syio'B kemosh, Prov. xxiv. 31 ; Isai, xxxiv. 13 ; and
Hosea ix. 6, is by the Vulgate rendered " urtica," which is well
defended by Celsius ; and very probably means the nettle.
NIGHT-HAWK, oonn tachmas.
Occ. Levit. xi. 16, and Deut. xiv. 15.t
That this is a voracious bird, seems clear from the import of
its name ; and interpreters are generally agreed to describe it as
flying by night. On the whole it should seem to be the " strix
orientalis," which Hasselquist thus describes. " It is of the
size of the common owl, and lodges in the large buildings or ru
ins of Egypt and Syria, and sometimes even in the dwelling-houses.
The Arabs settled in Egypt, call it " Massasa," and the Sy
rians " Banu." It is'extremely voracious in Syria ; to such a de
gree, that if care is not taken to shut the windows at the coming
on of night, he enters the houses, and kills the children : the wo
men, therefore, are very much afraid of him."
NITRE, in: nether.
Occ. Prov. xxv. 20 ; and Jerem. ii. 22.
This is not the same that we call " nitre," or " salt-petre,"
but a native salt of a different kind, distinguished among natural
ists by the name of " natrum."
* Hence is derived our English word churl.
•j- " Nomen avis impure, de quo id unum doeere lectores velim, dubitan-
diim esse, nee quidquam certi nos habere, donee aliqua nova lux ex Arabia,
nee ex lexicis, Iia3c enim silent, nee ex libris, sed ex usu quotidiano linguae
vernacular et plebejs adfulgeat : cui si periit vocabulum, sternum ignora-
bimus, non magno liostro damno." Michaelis, Suppl, Lex. Hebr.

OF THE BIBLE. 307
The natrum of the ancients, was an earthy alkaline salt. It
was found in abundance separated from the water of the lake Na
tron in Egypt. It rises from the bottom of the lake to the top
ofthe water, and is there condensed by the heat ofthe sun into
the hard and dry form, in which it is sold. This salt thus scum
med off, is the same in all respects with the Smyrna soap earth.
Pliny, Matthiolus, and Agricola, have described it to us :
Hippocrates, Galen, Dioscorides, and others, mention its
uses. It is also found in great plenty in Sindy, a province in the in
ner part of Asia, and in many other parts ofthe east ; and might
be had in any quantities.
The learned Michaelis* plainly demonstrates from the nature
of the thing and the context, that this fossil and natural alkali
must be that which the Hebrews called nether.
Solomon must mean the same when he compares the effect
which unseasonable mirth has upon a man in affliction to the ac
tion of vinegar upon nitre, Prov. xxv. 20. For vinegar has no
effect upon what we call nitre, but upon the alkali in question
has a greaf eflect, making it rise up in bubbles with much effer
vescence.! It is of a soapy nature, and was used to take spots from
cloths, and even from the face. Jeremiah alludes to this
use of it, ii. 22. See Soap-earth.
NUTS, cnaa batanim.
Occ. Gen. xliii. 11, only.
I. This word is variously rendered by translators. The LXX
render " turpentine." Onkelos, the Syriac, and the Arabic, not
understanding it, have left it untranslated. Two towns seem to
have been named from this fruit; Josh. xiii. 26 ; xix. 25. There
is a species of Terebinthus which bears a kind of small nut,
which some prefer to the pistachio ; and some think it superior
to the almond. [Theophrast. Hist. iv. 5.] The name of this is
in Arabic beten, which has considerable resemblance to the He
brew word. From this nut is extracted an oil, which having nei
ther taste nor smell is used by the orientals as a menstruum for
the extraction of the odoriferous parts of jasmins, roses, &c. by
infusion.f With this is composed a fragrant unguent with which

* Comment. Reg. Gotting. 1763. and Nov. act. erud. an. 1767 p. 455.
f Watson's chem. essays, v. 1. p. 130. Se<
d. 4to.
t Balanus myrepsica, or glans unguentaria.

f Watson's chem. essays, v. 1. p. 130. See also Shaw's Travels, p. 479.
ed. 4to.

308 THE NATURAL HISTORY
those who love perfumes anoint the head, the face and the
beard.* The tree grows on Mount Sinai and in Upper Egypt. The
Arabs call it " festuck" and " ban."
On the other hand, Bochart, Celsius, Dr. Shaw and othersf
are of opinion that the pistachio-nut is here meant.
The tree grows to the height of twenty-five or thirty 'feet.
The bark of the stem and the old branches is of a dark
russet colour, but of that of the young branches is of a light
brown ; these are furnished with winged leaves, composed some
times of two, and at others of three pair of lobes, terminated by an
odd one : these lobes approach towards an oval shape, and their
edges turn backward. The flowers come out from the side of
the branches in loose bunches or catkins. To these succeed
the nuts which are ofthe size and shape of hazle nuts, only they
area little angular, and higher on one" side than on the other.
They are covered with a double shell, the outermost of which is
membraneous, dry, -thin, brittle, and reddish when ripe ; the other
is woody, brittle, smooth and white. The kernel is of a pale
greenish colour ; of an oily, sweetish taste, and quite agreeable
to the palate.
II. The tux aguz, mentioned Cantic. vii. 11, should have
been specified, says Dr. Shaw, and called " Wall-nuts," the Ara
bic jeuz, or as Forskal spells it, djauz, being the same. In
Persic they are also called guz, goz, and kews. See I&eninski
Lexic. 4068.
OAK.
One of the largest, most durable, and useful of forest trees. It
has been renowned from remotest antiquity, and held in great
generation, particularly among idolatrous nations.
Celsius judges that the Hebrew words mentioned in the
note,J do all signify the '* terebinthus judaica," the terebinth :
* Hasselquist. Comp. Levit. viii. 12; Psal. xxiii. 5; civ. 15; exxxiii.
2; cxli. 5. 9.
f Aben-Ezra, R. Nathan, Mercer, Munster, Pagnincs, Arias Mon-
tanus, and Scheuchzer. " Pistaria esse multis probarunt Bochartus in
Geogr. S. P. 11. I. !. c 10. et Celsius Hierobot. torn. 1. p. 24. quibus ad-
stipulatur Michaelis in Suppl. p. 1. p. 171. Plinius N. H. 1. xiii. v. 10.
" Syria prater banc peculiare* habet arbores. In nucum genere pistacia
noia. Prodesse ad versus serpenlium traduntur morsus, et potu et cibo."
Sic quoque Dioscorides, I. i. c. 17. Kosenmuller, in Gen. xliii. 11.
X Vx ail. Gen. xiv. 6. O'Vx ailim, Isai. i. 29. 0,l?N alim, Isai. lvii.
5. JlVN ailon, Josh. xix. 43; 1 Kings iv. 9. flbx alon, translated "plain"
in the following places, Gen. xii. 6; xiii. 18 ; xiv. 13; xviii 1 ; Deut. xi.
30 ; Josh. xix. S3; Judges iv. 11 ; ix. 6. 37 ; 1 Sam. x. 3. if?* ALAH,Gen.

OF THE BIBLE. 309
but that |vSn allon, signifies an oak,* and is derived from a root
denoting strength. That different trees are meant by these dif
ferent words is certain from Gen. xxxv. 4. 8 ; Isai. vi. 16; and
Hos. iii. 1 3 ; and probably they signify the trees he mentions.
The terebinth, says Mariti, Trav. v. ii. p. 114, is an ever
green of moderate size, but having the top and branches large in
proportion to the body. The leaves resemble those of the olive,
but are of a green colour intermixed with red and purple. The
twigs that bear them always terminate in a single leaf. The
flowers are like those of the vine, and grow in bunches like
them : they are purple. The fruit is of the size of juniper ber
ries, hanging in clusters, and each containing a single seed of the
size of a grape stone. They are of a ruddy purple, and remark
ably juicy. Another fruit, or rather excrescence is found on
this tree scattered among the leaves, ofthe size of a chestnut, of
a purple colour, variegated with green and white. The people
of Cyprus say that it is produced by the puncture of a fly ; on
opening them they appear full of worms. — The wood is hard and
fibrous.' A resin, or gum distils from the trunk. — The tree
abounds near Jerusalem, and in Cyprus.
In Gen. xii. 6, it is said that "Abraham passed through the
land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh." Dr.
Geddes remarks, " I very much doubt if ever ])ba signify a plain;
whereas it certainly signifies a tree of some sort or other :t and
it is my fixed opinion that it is that species called terebinthus,
which lives to a very great age, and seems to have been held in
as great veneration in the east, as the common oak was among
the Greeks, Romans, Germans, Gauls and Britons. J
The terebinth under which Abraham entertained three an
gels, Gen. xviii. 1, 2, &c. is very famous in antiquity. Jose
phus, De Bell. 1. iv. c. 7. says that six furlongs from Hebron
they shewed a very large terebinth, which the inhabitants of the
country thought to be as old as the world itself. Eusebius as
sures us that in his time the terebinth of Abraham was still to be
seen, and that the people, both christians and Gentiles, held it in
great veneration, as well for the sake of Abraham, as ofthe hea-
xxxv. 4; Josh, xxiv 26; Jud. vi. 11. 19; 1 Sam xvii. 2. 19; xxi. 10; 2
Sam. xviii. 9, 10. 14; 1 Kings xiii. 1-1 ; 1 Chron. x. 12; Isai. i. 30; vi. 13,
where it is translated "Teil-tree;" Ezek. vi. 13; Hos. iv. 13, rendered
" Elms "
* Gen. xxxv. 8; Jos xix. 33; Isai. ii. 13; vi. 13; xliv. 14; Hosea
iv. 13 ; Amos ii. 9 ; and Zech. xi 2.
f Some translators, from a similarity of sound, have rendered JwS alos.',
by alnus. the alder-tree.
X See also Michaelis Spicelegium Geogr. pars ii. p. 16.

310 THE NATURAL HISTORY
venly guests he entertained under it. St. Jerom says that this
terebinth was two miles from Hebron. Sozomen, Hist. 1. ii. c.
4. places it fifteen stadia from this city ; and an old itinerary puts
it at two miles. These varieties might make one doubt whether
the tree of which Josephus speaks were the same as that of Eu
sebius, Jerom, and Sozomen.
The terebinth of Jacob, Gen. xxxv. 4, where he buried the
gods that his people had brought out of Mesopotamia, was behind
the city of Shechem, and was very different from that where
Abraham had set up his tent near Hebron ; yet they have very
absurdly been confounded together. It is thought to have been
under the same terebinth that Joshua, ch. xxiv. v. 6, renewed
the covenant with the Lord ; and that Abimelech, the son of Gi
deon, was made king by the Shechemites. Jud. ix. 6.
Dr. Geddes suggests that Gen. xlix. 21, may be rendered
"Napthali is a spreading terebinth, producing beautiful bran
ches." The vicinity of the lot of Napthali to Lebanon, and its
being perhaps itself a woody country, may have suggested this
allusion. See Hind.
This seems confirmed by the remark respecting wisdom in
Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 16. "As the turpentine tree, [TEPEBIN0O2]
I stretched out my branches, and my branches are the branches
of honour and grace."
That the oak grew in Palestine we have the testimony of the
author of Cod. Middoth, c. iii. §. 7, who speaks of oaken plank
for the temple of Solomon ; and of Radzivil, Peregr. Hieroso-
lym. p. 61, who mentions oaks as growing in the valley near
Gethsemane. Bishop Lowth thinks that neither the oak nor the terebinth
will do in Isai. i. 29, 30, from the circumstance of their being de
ciduous ; for the prophet's design seems to require an evergreen :
otherwise the casting of its leaves would be nothing out of the
common established course of nature, and no proper image of
extreme distress, and total desertion ; parallel to that of a garden
without water, that is, wholly burnt up and destroyed. An an
cient,* who was an inhabitant and a native of this country, un
derstands it, in like manner, of a tree blasted with uncommon
and immoderate heat.t Upon the whole he chooses to make it
the ilex ; which word Vossius derives from the Hebrew alath:
that whether the word itself be rightly rendered or not, the pro
priety ofthe poetical image might at least be preserved.
* Ephraem. Syr. in loc. edit. Assemani.
f Comp. Psal. i. 4; Jerem, xvii. 8.

OF THE BIBLE. 311
The Ilex is the evergreen oak commonly called the holly.*
The leaves are from three to four inches long, and one broad
near the base, gradually lessening to a point. They are of a
lucid green on the upper side, but whitish and downy on the un
der ; and are entire, standing on pretty long foot-stalks. These
remain on the tree, retaining their verdure through the year, and
do not fall till they are thrust off by young leaves in the spring.
It bears an acorn, smaller than those of the common oak, but
similarly shaped.
OIL. JDtST SHEMEN.
Occurs frequently.
The invention and use of oil is of the highest antiquity. It is
said that Jacob poured oil upon the pillar which he erected at
Bethel, Gen. xxviii. 18. The earliest kind was that which is
extracted from olives. Before the invention of mills, this was ob
tained by pounding them in a mortar, Exod. xxvii. 20; and some
times by treading them with the feet in the same manner as were
grapes, Deut. xxxiii. 24, Micah vi. 15. Whether any previous pre
paration was made use of in those ancient times, to facilitate the ex
pression of the juice, we are not informed ; but it is certain, that
mills are uow used for pressing and grinding the olives, (according
to Dr. Chandler) which grow in the neighbourhood of Athens.
These mills are in the town, and not on the spot in which the
olives grow ; and seem to be used in consequence of its being found,
that the mere weight ofthe human body is insufficient for an ef
fectual extraction of the oil.t The oil when expressed, is de
posited in large earthen jars, sunk in the ground in the areas by
the houses : that for daily use is kept in cruises.
The Hebrews used common oil with their food, in their meat
offerings, for burning in their lamps, &c.
As vast quantities of oil were made by the ancient Jews,' it be
came an article of exportation. The great demand for it in
Egypt, led the Jews to send it thither. The prophet Hosea, xii.
1, thus upbraids his degenerate nation, with the servility and fol
ly of their conduct : " Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth
after the east wind ; he daily increaseth falsehood and vanity :
and a league is made with Assyria, and oil carried into Egypt."
The Israelites, in the decline of their national glory, carried the
produce of their olive plantations into Egypt, as a tribute to their
ancient oppressors, or as a present to conciliate their favour, and
obtain their assistance in the sanguinary wars, which they were
often compelled to wage with the neighbouring states.
* Ilex, Lin. geu. plant. 153. Aquifolium, Tourn. inst. R. H, 600, tab
371. f Harmer's Obs. V. iii. p. 172.

312 THE NATURAL HISTORY
There was an ointment, very precious and sacred, used iu
anointing the priests, the tabernacle and furniture.* This was
compounded of spicy drugs ; namely, myrrfy sweet cinnamon,
sweet calamus, and cassia, mixed with oil olive. Maimonides
pretends to tell us the manner of making this mixture. " Each
of these four species," saith he, "was pounded separately ; then
they were all mixed together, and a strong decoction of them
made with water ; which, being strained from the ingredients,
was boiled up with the oil, till the water was all evaporated."!
The holy anointing oil, to be used for the consecration of the
priests and other religious purposes, Exod. xxx. 23 — 25, was
compounded of the following ingredients.
Pure myrrh, im id mor deror, - 500 shekels.
Sweet cinnamon, aai |DJp kinnemon bosem, 250
Sweet Calamus, aaz nJp kaneh bosem, - 250
Cassia, mp kiddah, - ' - - 500
Olive oil, m \uo shemen zait, - - 1 hin.
Dr. Adam Clarke, makes the following computation :

lbs.

oz.

dwts.

gr-

48

4

12

21|1

24

2

6

10|V

500 shekels ofthe first and last, make
250 of the cinnamon and cassia,
But it must be observed, that the word shekel is not used in
the original ; so that some have supposed the gerah was the
weight intended. The shekel, indeed, seems supplied by verse
24. " According to the shekel of the sanctuary." These words
however, probably denote only a correct, or standard weight.
The difficulty is, that so great a quantity of drugs put into so
small a quantity of oil, (between five and six quarts,) would ren
der the mixture rather a paste than a liquid. To answer this dif
ficulty, some have supposed that the drugs were previously steep
ed, and their oil drawn from them, which oil was mixed with the
pure oil of olives ; others think, that recourse was had to presure,
to force out an oil strongly impregnated ; others think that the
mass-was distilled ; and some that the value of the ingredients
was intended, as five hundred shekel-worth of one kind, and two
hundred and fifty shekel-worth of others; but all agree thatsixty-
two pounds of aromatics, to twelve pounds of oil, is not according
to modern art, and seems contradictory to the exercise of art in
any state of practice. The adoption of gerahs instead of shekels,
* Exod. xxx. 23, 24, 25.
f Deapparatu templi, c. i. sec. 1,apud Ceenii fascic. sext. p. 84,etseq.
Comment, in Mishn. tit. cherith, c.'i. sec 1, torn. v. p. 237, edit. Surenb.
Hotting, de leg. Hebr. 107. Schikard, jus, reg. Hebr. theor. iv. p. 63.

OF THE BIBLE. 313
would give a proportion of 35£ oz. of drugs, to 123 oz. of oil, or
3| to 1, In common, 1 oz. of drugs to 8 of oil, is esteemed a fair
proportion. After all, it may be best to substitute proportional parts, as in
the usual preparations of apothecaries, after whose manner, it was
directed that the ingredients should be compounded ; this pro
portion to be ascertained by the shekel of the sanctuary, or the
standard weight.
Where so many sacrifices were offered, it was essentially ne
cessary to have some pleasing perfume to counteract the disa
greeable smells that must have arisen from the slaughter of so
many animals, the sprinkling of so much blood, and the burning
of so much flesh, &c. Accordingly, direction was given for the
composition of a holy perfume ofthe following ingredients.
Stacte, am nataph ; probably the prime kind of myrrh
Onycha, n^nsy shecheleth,
Galbanum, nabn chelbonah,
Incense, (pure) npr nab lebonah zakah.
t As there is no mention of oil to be used with these drugs, the
composition was probably of a dry kind, to be burnt in the cen
ser, or occasionally sprinkled on the flame ofthe altar.
There is an allusion to the ingredients of this sacred perfume,
in Ecclesiasticus, xxiv. 14, "I yielded a pleasant odour like the
best myrrh, as galbanum, and onyx, and as the fume of frank
incense in the tabernacle." The use of aromatics in the East,
may be dated from the remotest antiquity. " Ointment and per
fume," says Solomon, " rejoice the heart." They are still in
troduced, not only upon every religious and festive occasion, but
as one essential expression of private hospitality and friend
ship. II. The oil-tree, Isai. xii. 19, pa yy etz schemen, though
understood by our translators of the olive, 1 Kings vi. 23, 3 1 , 33,
and Nehem. viii. 15, cannot mean the olive, which has another
appropriate name ; hut must intend some luxuriant and hand
some tree.
Jackson, in his history of Morocco, mentions " forests of the
argan tree, which produces a kind of olive, from the kernel of
which, the Shellucks express an oil, much superior to butter for
frying fish ; it is also employed economically for lamps, a pint of
it burning nearly as long as double that quantity of olive-oil,"
40

314 THE NATURAL HISTORY
OLIVE-TREE, n't zait.
Occurs very often, EAAIA, Matth. xxi. 1 ; Rom. xi. 17, 24 ;
James iii. 12. AITIEAAI02, Oleaster, the wild olive, Rom. xi.
17, 24.
Tournefort mentions eighteen kinds of olives ; but in the Scrip
ture, we only read of the cultivated and wild olive. The cultivat
ed olive is of a moderate height, thrives best in a sunny and warm
soil. Jts trunk is knotty: its bark is smooth, and of an ash co
lour : its wood is solid, and yellowish ; its leaves are oblong, and
almost like those ofthe willow, of a dark green colour on the up
per side, and a whitish below. In the month of June, it puts forth
white flowers, growing in bunches, each of one piece, and widen
ing toward the top, and dividing into four parts. After this flow
er succeeds the fruit, which is oblong and plump. It is first
green, then pale, and when quite ripe, becomes black. Within
it, is inclosed a hard stone, filled with oblong seeds. The wild
©lives were of a lesser kind. Canaan much abounded, with
olives.* lt seems almost every proprietor, kings or subjects,
had their olive-yards.X
The olive-branch was, from most ancient times, used as the
symbol of reconciliation and peace.J
On the method of grafting olives, see the passages quoted by
Wetstein, in Rom. xi, 17, 19, 23. See Oil.
ONION. VV3 BATZAL.
Occ. Numb. xi. 5, only.
A well known garden plant with a bulbous root.
Onions and garlics were highly esteemed in Egypt ; and not
without reason, this country being admirably well adapted to their
culture. The allium cepa, by the Arabs called basal, Hasselquist thinks
one ofthe species of onions for which the Israelites longed. He
would infer this from the quantities still used in Egypt, and their
goodness. " Whoever has tasted onions in Egypt, (says he,)
must allow that none can be had better in any part of the uni
verse. Here they are sweet ; in other countries they are nause
ous and strong. Here they are soft ; whereas, in the northern,
and other parts, they are hard, and their coats so. compact that
they are difficult of digestion. Hence they cannot in any place,
be eaten with less prejudice, and more satisfaction, than in
Egypt." * Deut. vi. 11 ; viii. 8; xxviii. 46.
f 1 Chron. xxvii. 28 ; 1 Sam. viii. 14 ; Nehem. v. 11.
X From Ekaia, olive, comes the Greek word Ea*ioj, which signifies mercy.

OF tHE BIBLE. 31b
The Egyptians are reproached with swearing by the leeks and
onions of their gardens** Juvenal, Sat. xv.' ridicules these super
stitious people who did not dare to eat, leeks, garlic, or onions,
for fear of injuring their Gods*
" Quis nescit, Volusi Bythynice, qualia demens
Af.-yy ptus portenta colit.
Porrum et cepa nefas violareaut frangere morsu ;
O sanctas gentes quibus haec nascuntur in hortis
Numina !"
How Egypt, mad with superstition grown,
Makes gods of monsters, but too well is known,
'Tis mortal sin an onion to devour ;
Each clove of garlic has a sacred power.
Religious nation sure, and blest abodes,
Where every garden is o errun with godsi
So Lucian, in his Jupiter trajaed. torn, ii.' p. 233, where he is
giving an account ofthe different deities worshipped by the seve
ral inhabitants of Egypt, says UtiAbvo-tbirxis h scfowjUuov, those Pe-
lusium worship the onion.
Hence arises a question, how the Israelites durst venture to
violate the national worship, by eating those sacred plants ? We
may answer, in the first place, that, whatever might be the case
of the Egyptians in later ages, it is not probable that they were
arrived at such a pitch of superstition in the time of Moses ; for
we find no indications of this in Herodotus, the most ancient of
the Greek historians : 2dly, the writers here quoted, appear to
be mistaken in imagining these plants to have been really the ob
jects of religious worship. The priests, indeed, abstained from
the use of them, and several other vegetables ; and this might
give rise to the opinion of their being reverenced as divinities ;
but the use of them was not prohibited to the people, as is plain
from the testimonies of ancient authors, particularly of Diodorus
Siculus. ONYCHA. rents' shecheleth.
Occ. Exod. xxx. 34. ONTH, Ecclus. xxiv. 15.
A fragrant gum, or perfume.
The Hebrew word r\br\a occurs no where in the Bible, but in
the place referred to above. The Arabic version renders it " la-
danum." Herodotus, affirms that drug to be much used by the
*" Allium caepasque inter Deos in jurejurando habet Egyptus." Plin.
N. H. 1. xix. c. 6.
" Vilia Niliacis venerantur oluscula in hortis,
Porrum et cepa Deos imponere nubibus ausi."
Prudbntius, 1. ii. contr. Syinm. p. 250.
Clem. Recogn. 1. v. Hieron. in Esai. 1. xiii. c. 46. fol. 151. Mincp*
Felix, c. xvii. p. 146, ed. Davis, et nota.

316 THE NATURAL HiSTORY
Arabians in perfumes ; and, according to Pliny, N. H. 1. xii. c.
17, who mentions ils fragrant smell, it was the extract of an herb
called " ladan." These, and other arguments Bochart offers,
to support the Arabic version. But the Septuagint, the Vulgate,
and the generality of interpreters, render it " onycha," though
they are not agreed what that id. Dioscorides describes it to
be the produce of a shell-fish, found in some lakes in India.
Rumphius, in his rarities of Amboyna, 1.. ii. c. 17, describes the
odoriferous onyx, to which he gives the name of the Hebrew
word employed in this passage. He informs us, that this shell is
the covercle of the purpura, and of the whole class of the mu-
rex ; adding, that in the Indies, this onyx serves as the basis of
the principal perfumes. He describes ten kinds of these shells,
and gives as synonymes to his No. X. " Unguis odoratus, onyx
marina, Blatta Byzantina : Arab. Adfar-al-tibi." Forskal in his
" Materia Medica Cahirina," describes it thus, " Unguis odora*
tus, (opercula cochleae,) Dafr el asrit. Nigritis fumigatorium
est." But as India was too distant for drugs to be brought from
thence to Judea or Arabia, where the Israelites then were, and
as the context and etymology* seem to require some vegetable
substance, their opinion seems most probable, who take it for the
gum of some aromatic plant growing in Arabia ; and perhaps it
is the bdellium, which is a fragrant gum, smooth and shining like
a man's nail, which the Greeks call onyx, and is by some authors
named " bdella onyx," to distinguish it from bdellium of another
kind. In Ecclesiaticus it is mentioned with the other odoriferous in
gredients in the holy incense, by the name of onyx.
ONYX, orw shohem.
Occ. Gen. ii. 12; Exod. xxv. 7; xxviii. 9, 20; xxxv. 27;
xxxix. 6 ; 1 Chron. xxix. 2; Job xxviii. 16 ; Ezek. xxviii. 13.
A precious stone, so called from the Greek ovo|, the nail, to
the colour of which it nearly approaches. It is first mentioned
with the gold and bdellium of the river Pison in Eden ; but the
meaning of the Hebrew word is not easily determined. The
Septuagint render it in different places, the sardius, beryl, sap
phire, emerald, &c. Such names are often ambiguous, even in
in Greek and Latin, and no wonder if they be more so in He
brew. It is certain, that Arabia abounded with precious stones
of all sorts, as appears from Ezek. xxvii. 22, where the prophet,
enumerating the chief commodities in which the Arabian mer
chants from Sheba and Raamah trafficked with Tyre, mentions
* In Syriac r\r\a is, to drop, to distil ; and NH^nty is a tear, distillation.
It must therefore mean something that exudes, and cannot mean a shell.
which is a friable substance.

OP THE BIBLE. 317
spices, precious stones, and gold, agreeable to what Moses says of
the bdellium, gold, and onyx of Havilah. And it may be observ
ed, that the same prophet, v. 23, mentions Eden as one of the
countries in the neighbourhood of Sheba, which directs us to seek
for the situation of Paradise in those parts.
In Exod. xxviii. 9, 10, a direction is given, that two onyx
stones should be fastened on the ephod of the high priest, on
which were to be graven the names of the children of Israel, like
the engravings on a signet ; six of the names on one stone,
and six on the other. Dr. Adam Clarke remarks, " So signets,
or seals were in use at that time, and engraving on precious stones
was then an art ; and this art, which was one of the most ele
gant and ornamental, was carried, in ancient times, to a very
high pitch of perfection, particularly among the ancient Greeks ;
such a pitch of perfection, as has never been rivalled, and can
not now be even well imitated. And it is very likely that the
Greeks themselves borrowed this art from the ancient Hebrews,
as we know it flourished in Egypt and Palestine, long before it
was known in Greece."
In I Chron. xxix. 2, onyx stones are among the things prepar
ed by David for the temple. The author of " Scripture Illus
trated," observes upon this passage, that " the word onyx is
equivocal, signifying, 1 st, a precious stone or gem ; and 2dly, a
marble called in Greek, onychites, which Pliny, N. H. 1. xxxvii. c.
6, mentions as a stone of Caramania. Antiquity gave both these
stones this name, because of their resemblance to the nail df the
fingers. The onyx of the high priest's pectoral was, no doubt,
the gem onyx; the stone prepared by David was the marble
onyx, or rather onychus:" for one would hardly think that gems
of any kind were used externally in such a building, but variegat
ed marble may readily be admitted."
Onyx stones are sometimes found of a large size. In the ca
thedral church at Collen in Germany there is one exceeding a
palm, or hand's breadth.*
OSPREY. n-«jy azaniah.
Occ. Levit. xi. 13, and Deut. xiv. 12.
Generally supposed to be the black eagle ; and there are good
reasons for referring it to the Nisser-Tokoor described by Mr.
Bruce. OSSIFRAGE. Dis peres.
Occ. Levit. xi. 13, and Deut. xiv. 12.
Interpreters are not agreed on this bird : some read vulture,
others the black eagle, others the falcon. The name Peres, by
* Lee's Temple, p. 298. Boktius, de gem. I. ii. c. 92. p. 243.

318 THE NATURAL HISTORY
which it is called in Hebrew, denotes to crush, to break; and this
name agrees with our version, which implies " the bone-brea
ker," which name is given to a kind of eagle, from the circum
stance of its habit of breaking the bones of its prey, after it has
eaten the flesh ; some say also, that he even swallows the bones
thus broken.
Onkelos uses a word which signifies naked, and leads us to
the vulture : indeed, if we were to take the classes of birds in
any thing like a natural order in the passages here referred to,
the vulture should follow the eagle as an unclean bird. The
Septuagint interpreter also renders vulture; and so do Mun-
ster, Schindler, and the Zurick versions.
OSTRICH, my joneh or jaanah. In Arabic neamah ; in
Greek <rgs6oH«(WijAor, the camel-bird; and still in the east, says
Niebuhr, it is called " thar edsjammel," the camel-bird.
Occ. Levit. xi. 16; Deut. xiv. 15; Job xxx. 29; Isai. xiii.
21; xxxiv. 13; xliii. 20; Jer. 1. 39; Lament, iv. 3; and
Mic. i. 8.
D'JJT RINONIM. Job XXXix. 1 3.
The first name in the places above quoted, is, by our transla
tors, generally rendered " owls."
" Now, it should be recollected," says the author of ' Scrip
ture Illustrated,' " that the owl is not a desert bird, but rather
resides where habitations are not far off, and that it is not the
companion of serpents ; whereas in several of these passages the
joneh is associated with deserts, — dry, extensive, thirsty de
serts, — and with serpents, which are their natural inhabitants.
" Our ignorance of the natural history of the countries where
the ostrich inhabits, has undoubtedly perverted the import of
the above passages; but let any one peruse them afresh, and
exchange the owl for the ostrich, and he will immediately dis
cover a vigour of description, and an imagery much beyond what
he had formerly perceived."
The Hebrew phrase nyrn na bath joneh, means " the daugh
ter of vociferation," and is understood to be the female ostrich,
probably so called from the noise which this bird makes.* It is
affirmed by travellers of good credit, that ostriches make a fear-
* Comp. Mic. i. 8. Id Lament, iv. 3, not only the Keri and Compluten-
sian edition, but more than fifty of Dr, Kemnicott's codices read Q1 V3,
and this reading, (not tbe common printed one O'iy '3, which seems to
make no sense.) is no doubt the true one. Parkhurst.
" There can be no stronger instance of the necessity op acquaintance
with natural history in interpreting, scripture, than these passai-
ges." Scr. Illustr.

OF THE BIBLE. 319
ful screeching lamentable noise.* Dr. Shaw, Trav. p. 455, ed.
4to ; who was an earwitness to the noises which ostriches some
times make, has these remarks ; " During the lonesome part of
the night, they often make very doleful and hideous noises ;
which would sometimes be like the roaring of a lion, at other
times it would bear a nearer resemblance to the hoarser voice of
other quadrupeds, particularly the bull and the ox. I have often
heard them groan as if they were in the greatest agonies." — ¦
" How gloomy is it then, and even terrible, (to use the expres
sion of Sandys) to travellers who penetrate with timorous appre
hensions into the immensity of these deserts, where every living
being, man not excepted, is an object of dread and danger !"
The ostrich is generally thought to be the largest, at least it is
one of the tallest birds in the world ; being full seven, and some
times eight feet in height, from the top of the head to the ground,
and about four from the back to the ground. When the neck is
stretched out in a right line it measures six feet from the head to
the rump, and the tail about a foot more. One of the wings is
a foot and a half long without the feathers, and with the feathers
three feet. The plumage is generally black and white, though it
is said to be sometimes grey. The largest feathers which are at
the extremities of the wings and tail, are usually white ; and the
small feathers on the back and belly, are a mixture of black and
white. This fowl has no feathers on the sides of the thighs, nor
under the wings. That half of the neck which is next to the
body is covered with smaller feathers than those on the belly and
back, and like them, are a mixture of white and black. These
feathers are peculiar to the ostrich. Other birds have several
sorts; some of which are soft and downy, and others hard and
strong : but almost all the feathers of an ostrich are as soft as
down, and utterly unfit to serve for flying, or to defend it against
external injury. The webs on the feathers of other birds are
broader on one side than on the other, but in those of the ostrich
the shaft is exactly in the middle. As the wings are not large
enough in proportion to the body, to raise it from the ground,
they serve as sails or oars to cut through, or impel the air, and add
great swiftness to their feet, which are shodden with a horny
substance, enabling them to tread firmly and to run a great while
* Pococe, Comment, on Mic. i. 8. Q'Jjr'* Joneh, and D'JJI rinonim,
names by which the ostrich is known in the Holy Sciiptures, may very
properly be deduced from i"13JJ onah and \i"\ ronan; words which the
lexicographers explain by " exclamare," or "clamare fortiter;" for the
noise made by the ostrich is loud and sonorous. As in Exod. xxxii. 18.
Il is not the voice qf them that shout tYlfy for mastery.

320 THE NATURAL HISTORY
without hurting themselves. The head and the upper part of
the neck of this animal are covered with very fine white, shining,
hairs ; with small tufts in some places, consisting of about ten or
twelve hairs, which grow from a single shaft about the thickness
of a pin. The wings are furnished with a kind of spur, resem
bling the quill of a porcupine, which is of a horny substance, hol
low, and about an inch long. There are two of these on each
wing, the largest of which is at the extremity of the bone of the
wing, and the other about a foot lower. The neck appears pro-
portionably more slender than that of other birds from its not
being covered all over with feathers. — The bill is short, and
shaped somewhat like that of the duck. The external form of
the eye, resembles that of a man, the upper eyelid being fur
nished with eyelashes which are longer than those on the lid be
low. The tongue is very short and small. — The thighs, which
are large and plump, are covered with a flesh coloured skin
which appears greatly wrinkled. Some of them have a few
scattered hairs on their thighs, and others are entirely without*
The legs are covered with scales ; and the ends of the feet are
cloven, having two very large toes on each, which are also co
vered with scales. The toes are of unequal sizes ; that on the
inside is the largest, and is about seven inches long, including the
claw, which is three quarters of an inch in length, and nearly the
same in breadth. The other two have no claws, and do not
(exceed four inches in length.
Ostriches are inhabitants of the desarts of Arabia, where they
live chiefly upon vegetables ; lead a social and inoffensive life,
the male assorting with the female with connubial fidelity.
Their eggs are very large, some of them measuring above five
inches in diameter, and weighing twelve or fifteen pounds. The
animals are very prolific, laying forty or fifty eggs at a clutch. '
Of all animals, this is the most voracious. It will devour leath
er, grass, hair, stones, metals, or any thing that is given to it :
but those substances which the coats of the stomach cannot ope
rate upon, pass whole. It is so unclean an animal as to eat its
own ordure, as soon as it voids it. This is sufficient reason, were
others wanting, why such a fowl should be reputed unclean, and
its use as an article of diet prohibited.
" The ostrich, (says M. Bupfon,) was known in the remotest
ages, and mentioned in the most ancient books. It is frequently
the subject from which the sacred writers draw their comparisons
and allegories. In still more distant periods, its flesh seems to
nave been used for food, for the legislator ofthe Jews prohibits it
as unclean. It occurs also in Herodotus, the most ancient of
the profane historians ; and in the writings of the first philosophers

OF THE BIBLE. 321
who have treated of the history of nature. How indeed could an
animal, so remarkably large, and so wonderfully prolific, and pe
culiarly suited to the climate, as the ostrich, remain unknown in,
Africa, and part of Asia, countries peopled from the earliest ages,
full of deserts indeed, but where there is not a' spot which has not
been traversed by the foot of man ?
" The family of the ostrich, therefore, is of great antiquity.
Nor in the course of ages has it varied or degenerated from its
native purity. It has always remained on its paternal estate ; and
its lustre has been transmitted unsullied by foreign intercouse.
In short, it is among the birds, what the elephant is among the
quadrupeds, a distinct race, widely separated from all the others,
by characters, as striking as they are invariable."
This bird is very particularly described in the book of Job,
xxxix. 13 — 18. An amended version ofthe passage, with re
marks, will conclude this article.
The wing of the ostrich-tribe is for flapping.
The word which our English bible renders peacock, is, says
Mr. Scott, one ofthe Hebrew names ofthe ostrich. The pea
cock was not known in Syria, Palestine, or Arabia, before the
reign of Solomon, who first imported it. It was originally from
India. Besides, the ostrich, not the peacock, is allowed on all
hands to be the subject ofthe following parts ofthe description.
And while the whole character, says Mr. Good, precisely applies
to the ostrich, it should be observed, that all the Western Arabs
from Wedinoon to Senaar, still denominate it ennim, with a near
approach to the Hebrew name here employed. Neither is the pea
cock remarkable for its wing, but for the beauties of its tail :
whereas, the triumphantly expanded, or as Dr. Shaw turns it,
the quivering expanded wing, is one of the characteristics of the
ostrich. " When I was abroad, says this entertaining writer, I had
several opportunities of amusing myself with the actions and beha
viour of the ostrich. It was very diverting to observe with what
dexterity and equipoise of body, it would play and frisk about on
all occasions. In the heat of the day, particularly, it would strut
along the sunny side ofthe house with great majesty. It would
be perpetually fanning and priding itself with its quivering ex
panded wings, and seem at every turn to admire and be in love
with its own shadow. Even at other times, when walking about
or resting itself on the ground, the wings would continue these
fanning and vibrating motions, as if they were designed to miti-
41

¦322 the Natural history
gate and assuage that extraordinary heat wherewith their bodies
seem to be naturally affected."*
Mr. Vansittart, however, thinks that the text speaks of the
wing or feathers of the ostrich as a desirable thing to be possess
ed and exulted in, and would render it, " the wing of the ostrich
is to be desired. "t The feathers of the ostrich were in all
probability as much esteemed anciently as they are now.
Pliny, N. H. 1. x. c. 1, speaks of them as used to ornament
helmets : " conos bellicos galeasque adornantes pennae."
But of the stork and falcon for flight.
Mr. Good remarks, that " our common translation, with great
singularity, renders rrron hasideh, " ostrich," even Junius and
Tremellius translating " ciconia," or stork ; although they ren
der the term nsj nezzeh, " ostrich," which our common transla
tion renders " feathers." Nesseh, indeed, as a noun singular
may be feather, if it be a radical term of itself; but if,' as the
greater number of both ancient and modern interpreters concur in
believing, it to be a derivative from yi nezz, it will import a large
Arabian bird of some kind or other, though the kind has been ve
ry unnecessarily made a subject of doubt. The writers ofthe
Septuagint, not fully comprehending the meaning of either of the
words, have merely given the Hebrew names in Greek xm&x
Kxt ntex. Junius and Tremellius, and Piscator have render
ed DVJ nesseh, ostrich, as they have etjjtrennim, peacocks. St.
Jerom has translated nesseh, " accipiter," hawk or falcon : the
Chaldee commentary coincides with Jerom ; and hence Tyn-
dal makes it " the sparrow-hawk." It may possibly be this, as
the " falco nissus" is said to be found in some parts of Africa, as
well as of Europe. Naz is used generically by the Arabian wri
ters, to signify both falcon and hawk; and the term is given in
both these senes by Meninski. There can be little doubt that
such is the real meaning of the Hebrew word, and that it imports
various species of the falcon family. ,
" The argument drawn from Natural History, advances from
quadrupeds to birds ; and of birds, those only are selected for de
scription which are most common to the country in which the
scene lies, and, at the same time, are most singular in their
properties. Thus the ostrich is admirably contrasted with the
stork and the eagle, as affording an instance of a winged animal,
* See also Mr. Good's learned note upon the passage, p 462.
t Observations on select places of the Old Testament. 8vo. Oxford,
1812.

OP THE BIBLE. 323
totally incapable of flying, but endued with an unrivalled rapidity
of running, compared with birds whose flight is proverbially swift,
powerful, and persevering. Let man, in the pride of his wisdom,
explain, or arraign this difference of construction ! Again, the os
trich is peculiarly opposed to the stork, and to some species of
the eagle, in another sense, and a sense adverted to in the verses
immediately ensuing ; for the ostrich is well known to take little
care of its eggs, or its young ; while, not to dwell upon the species
of the eagle just glanced at, the stork has ever been, and ever
deserves to be, held in proverbial repute for its parental fond
ness." It may be remarked, that " the eagle spreading abroad her
wings, and taking her young upon them," is mentioned Deut.
xxxii. 1 1 , as an example of care and kindness. So that this pas
sage may imply that the wings ofthe stork, however wonderful
for their plumage, are neither adapted for the flying of the pos
sessor, nor for the shelter of her young ; and so are peculiarly
different from those of all other birds, and especially those most
remarkable for their flight and other particulars.
She leaveth her eggs on the ground,
Andwarmeth them in the dust ;
And is heedless that the foot may crush them,
Or the beast cf the field trample upon them.
As for the stork, " the lofty fir-trees are her house ;" but the
improvident ostrich depositeth her eggs in the earth. She build-
eth her nest on some sandy hillock, in the most barren and solita
ry recesses of the desert ; exposed to the view of every traveller
and the foot of every wild beast.
Our translators appear by their version, which is confused, to
have been influenced by the vulgar error, that the ostrich did not
herself hatch her eggs by sitting on them, but left them to the
heat of the sun, probably understanding atyn tazob, as of a total
dereliction ; whereas the original word aann tehammem signifies
actively, that she heateth them, namely, by incubation. And Mr.
Good, who also adopts this opinion, observes that there is scarce
ly an Arabian poet, who has not availed himself of this pecu
liar character of the ostrich, in some simile or other. Let the
following suffice, from Nawabig, quoted by Schultens :
" Est qui omittat pietatera in propinquos, alienis benefaciens
tTt struthio deserit ova sua, et ova aliena incubat."
There are, who, deaf to nature's cries,
On stranger tribes bestow their food :
So her own eggs the ostrich flies,
And, senseless, rears another's brood.

324 THE NATURAL HISTORY
This, however, does not prove that she wholly neglects in
cubation, but that she deserts her eggs, which may be because
frighted away. The fact is, she usually sits upon her eggs
as other birds do ; but then she so often wanders, and so far in
search of food, that frequently the eggs are addle by means of
her long absence from them. To this account we may add,
when she has left her nest, whether through fear or to seek food,
if she light upon the eggs of some other ostrich she sits upon
them, and is unmindful of her own. Leo Africanus says, they
lay about ten or a dozen at a time : but Dr. Shaw observes, that
by the repeated accounts which he had received from his conduc
tors, as well as from Arabs of different places, he had been inform
ed that they lay from thirty to fifty. He adds, " we are not to con
sider this large collection of eggs as if they were all intended for a
brood. They are the greatest part of them reserved for food,
which the dam breaks and disposeth of according to the number
and cravings ofher young ones."
This special reservation of some of the eggs, is mentioned by
iEnAN, Hist. 1. xiv. c. 7 ; and is confirmed by Vaillant, Trav.
V. ii. p. 422.
Mr. Barrow, Travels in Southern Africa, o. 89, says, "among
the very few polygamous birds that are found in a state of nature,
the ostrich is one. The male, distinguished by its glossy black
feathers from the dusky grey female, is generally seen with two
or three, and frequently as many as five, of the latter. These
females lay their eggs in one nest, to the number often or twelve
each, which they hatch all together, the male taking his turn of
sitting on them among the rest. Between sixty and seventy eggs
have been found in one nest ; and if incubation has begun, a few
are most commonly found lying round the sides pf the hole, hav
ing been thrown out by the birds, on finding the nest to contain
more than they could conveniently cover. The time of incuba
tion is six weeks. For want of knowing the ostrich to be poly
gamous, an error respecting this bird has slipt into the Systema
Natures, where it is said that one female lays fifty eggs."
She hardeneth herself for that which is not hers.
Her labour is vain, without discrimination.
Mr. Vansittart, in his remarks upon this clause, shews that
it is not intended to indicate any want of care for her young ; but,
as the eggs are set upon by several female ostriches, alternately,
the young are the joint care of the parent birds, without discrimi
nation. The Hebrew word rrtypn hicshiah, occurs. but once,
besides in this place, throughout the Old Testament, and that is

OF THE BIBLE. 324>
Isaiah lxiii. 17, where the prophet refers to God's casting off his
people, and taking strangers in their place, and is exactly what
is applicable to this passage in Job.
" On the least noise, (says Dr. Shaw) or trivial occasion, she
forsakes her eggs, or her young ones : to which perhaps she ne
ver returns ; or if she does it may be too late either to restore
life to the .one, or to preserve the lives of the others. Agreea
ble to this account the Arabs met sometimes with whole nests of
these eggs undisturbed : some of them are sweet and good, others
are addle and corrupted : others again have their young ones of
different growth, according to the time, it may be presumed,
they have been forsaken of the dam. They (the Arabs) often
meet with a few of the little ones, no bigger than well grown pul
lets, half starved, straggling and moaning about like so many dis
tressed orphans for their mother. In this manner the ostrich
may be said to be hardened against her young ones, as though
they were not hers; her labour, in hatching and attending them so
far, being vain, without fear, or the least concern of what becomes
of them afterwards. This want of affection is also recorded
Lam. iv. 3, the daughter of my people is become cruel, like ostri
ches in the wilderness ;" that is, by apparently deserting their own,
and receiving others in return. Hence one of the great causes
of lamentation was, the coming in of strangers and enemies into
Zion, and possessing it. Thus in the 12th verse, of this chapter
it is said, " The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the
world, would not have believed that the adversary and the ene
my should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem;" and in ch.
v. ver. 2, " Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to
aliens." Mr. Vansittart adds, the phrase "her labour is vain" wants
an explanation ; because, while eggs are laid, and young ostriches
produced, it can never be correct: and if the mother did even
drive her young ones from her, still it could not be said that her
labours had not been successful ; because, while there was a
young brood remaining, it would be evident that she had been
prosperous. Now, labour in vain, as it appears to me, must
either be that which is not productive, or else what profits not
the person who labours, or otherwise what profits another who
does not labour. And this, I think, is the case with the ostrich
in the interpretation here suggested ; and is moreover the true
signification of the phrase w~fi. This phrase occurs Levit xxvi.
16, "Ye sow your seed in vain, for another shall reap it," not
yourselves. Likewise Isai. lxv. 21, 22, 23. " They shall build
houses,- and inhabit them ; and they shall plant vineyards, and
eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inha-

326 - THE NATURAL HISTORY
bit ; they shall not plant, and another eat ; they shall not labour
in vain .-" that is, profitless for themselves, and for the good of
others. And again Isai. xlix. 4, " Then I said, I have laboured
in vain ; I have spent my strength for nought and in vain ;" that
is, when he had departed from the worship of Jehovah, and had
been given up to the service of the gods of the nation, and con
sequently to their advantage, and not his own. lt is in this sense
that 1 wish to understand the Hebrew word, which is not a forc
ed signification, and is moreover the exact peculiarity and pro
perty of the ostrich intended to be marked.
The phrase " without fear," or " without solicitude," " with
out maternal discrimination," implies that she appears to be
without any apprehension or concern for those belonging to her
self more than for those of another.
Because God hath made her feeble qf instinct,
And not imparted to her understanding.
Natural affection and sagacious instinct are the grand instru
ments by which Providence continueth the race of other ani
mals : but no limits can be set to the wisdom and power of God.
He preserveth the breed of the ostrich without those means, and
even in a penury of all the necessaries of life.
" Those parts of the Sahara (the desert) which these birds
chiefly frequent, are destitute of all manner of food or herbage ;
except it be some few tufts of coarse grass, or else a few other
solitary plants of the laureola, apocynum, and some other kind,
each of which is destitute of nourishment, and, in the Psalmist's
phrase, even withereth before it is plucked. So that, consider
ing the great- voracity of this camel bird, it is wonderful not only
how the little ones, after they are weaned from the provision I
have mentioned, should be brought up and nourished ; but even
how those of fuller growth, and much better qualified to look out
for themselves, are able to subsist."*
Yet at the time she haughtily assumes courage
She scorneih the horse and his rider.
Dr. DuREiL justifies this translation by observing that, the os
trich cannot soar as other birds, and therefore the words in our
version when she lifteth up herself, cannot be right : besides the
verb son occurs only in this place, and in Arabic it#signifies, to
take courage, and the like.
* Dr. Shaw, Trav. p. 451. ed. 4to.

OF THE BIBLE. 827
" Notwithstanding the stupidity of this animal, its Creator hath
amply provided for its safety, by endowing it with extraordinary
swiftness, and a surprising apparatus for escaping from its enemy.
They, zohen they raise themselves up for flight, laugh at the horse
and his rider. They afford him an opportunity only of admiring
at a distance the extrabrdinary agility, and the stateliness like
wise, of their motions; the richness of their plumage, and the
great propriety there was in ascribing to them an expanded qui
vering wing. Nothing certainly can be more entertaining than
such a sight, the wings by their rapid, but unwearied vibrations,
equally serving them for sails and oars ; while their feet, no less
assisting in conveying them out of sight, are no less insensible of
fatigue."* " In running, the ostrich has a proud haughty look ; and, even
when in extreme distress, never appears in great haste, especial
ly if the wind be favourable with it."f
Xenophon, in his Anabasis, mentioning the desert of Arabia,
states that the ostrich is frequently seen there ; that none could
take them, "the horsemen who pursued them soon giving it
over ; for they escaped far away, making use both of their feet to
run, and of their wings, when expanded, as a sail to waft them
along." I conclude this article by a poetical version partly from Dr.
Young and Dr. Scott.
Didst thou the ostrich clothe with plumes so fair ?
Which, nor with falcon's, nor the stork's compare ;
Who heedless roaming, or by fear subdued,
Feels not a parent's fond solicitude.
While far she flies her scatter'd eggs are found.
Without an owner, on the sandy ground;
Cast out at fortune, they at mercy lie,
And borrow life from an indulgent sky.
Unmindful she that some unhappy tread
May crush her young in their neglected bed ;
As far she wanders for her daily food,
Or on her way adopts some casual brood,
And these without discrimination share
Offered attendance, not instinctive care.
Yet when her sudden enemy she sees,
Uprising, with the favouring gale, she flees,
And skims along the plain with rapid speed,
And scorns alike the hunter and las' steed.

* Dr. Shaw.
t Naturalist's Cabinet, v. iii. p. 22.

328 THE NATURAL HISTORY
OWL.
There are several varieties of this species, all too well known
to need a particular description. They are nocturnal birds of
prey, and have their eyes better adapted for discerning objects
in the evening, or twilight, than in the glare of day.
Under the preceding article I have shewn that what our trans
lators, in several places, have rendered " owls" is an appellation
of the ostrich. I shall now examine the other passages.
I. D13 cos. Levit. xi. 17 ; Deut. xiv. 16; and Psal. cii. 6, is,
in our version, rendered " the little owl." Aquila, Theodotion,
Jerom, Kimchi, and most of the older interpreters are quoted to
justify this rendering. M. Michaelis, Quest. No. c. p. 211, at
some length supports the opinion that it is "the horned owl."
Bochart, though with some hesitation, suspected it to be the
" onocrotalus," a kind of pelican ; because the Hebrew name
signifies " cup," and the pelican is remarkable for a pouch or bag
under the lower jaw ; but there are good reasons for supposing
that bird to be the rwp kaath of the next verse. Dr. Geddes
thinks this bird " the cormorant ;" and, as it begins the list of
water-fowl, and is mentioned always in the same contexts with
flNp, confessedly a water-bird, his opinion may be adopted.
II. fptstr yansuph. Levit. xi. 17; Deut. xiv. 16; and Isai.
xxxiv. 11. In the two first places our translators render this
" the great owl," which is strangely placed after " the little owl,"
and among water-birds. " Our translators," says tbe author of
Scripture Illustrated, " seem to have thought the owl a conve
nient bird, as we have three owls in two verses."* Some critics
think it means a species of night-bird because the word may be
derived from ^ai nesheph, which signifies the twilight, the time
when owls fly about. But this interpretation, says Parkhurst,
seems very forced ; and since it is clearly mentioned among wa
ter-fowls, and the LXX have, in the first and last of those texts
rendered it by IBIS, the Ibis, I feel disposed to adopt that bird
here; and think the evidence strengthened by this, that in a
Coptic version of Levit. xi, 17,t it is called IP or. HIP, which
with a Greek termination, would very easily make «/3<?. In the
Samaritan version, according to the order ofthe words, ~\ba sha-
lac, "the cormorant" of our translation is rendered 'a-x ibi, and
fptyj' yansuph by naia barberi, perhaps the To^ugiof : but I
* Again in Isai. xxxiv. 11. 13, 14, 15, four different words are rendered
owls; meaning, however the Ibis (or bittern) the ostrich, thelilith, and the
acontias. t Vid. Chr Scholzii, Lexic. ACgypt. Lat. Oxonii. 1775. 4to. p 155.
Georgi, Fragm. Evang. S. Joh. Coptic. Roma? 1789. 4to. p. cxI. praef.

OF THE BIBLE. 3J20
think it most likely that the order has been changed, and that the
ibis is the bird here intended.
III. nap kippoz, which occurs only in Isai. xxxiv. 15, and is in
our version rendered " the great owl," Bochart thinks to be
that species of serpent which is called in Greek xKovrtag, and in
Latin Jaculus, from the violence with which it leaps or darts on
ifs prey.* But the prophet's hints respecting making a nest, and
laying and hatching eggs, are contrary to his construction ; for
though some serpents are oviparous, and may be thought to make
nests to receive their eggs, yet we know of no serpent that hatch
es them, warms them by incubation, and forwards them by pa
rental attention. These actions are certainly those of a bird.}
As the creature is represented as the tenant of desolate places,
I see no sufficient reason for rejecting our translation, and there
fore retain " the great owl."
(4.) rrV1} lilith, Isai. xxxiv. 1 4, in our version the " scrich-
owi." The root signifies " night ;" and as undoubtedly a bird
frequenting dark places and ruins is referred to, we must admit
some kind of owl.
" A place of lonely desolation, Where
The screeching tribe and pelicans abide,
And the dun ravens croak mid ruins drear,
And moaning owls from man the farthest hide."
OX. ipa bacre ; Arab, bakerre, and bykar. See Meninski.
Lexic. The male of horned cattle of the beeve kind, at full age, when
fit for the plough. Younger ones are called " bullocks."
Under the article " bull," I asserted that the Jews never cas
trated any of their animals, grounding the declaration on Levit.
xxii. 24 , and yet quoted a passage from Dr. Adam Clarke who
thinks that oxen were castrated animals. This was also the opi
nion of Le Clerc But Michaelis, in his elaborate work on the
laws of Moses, vol. ii. p. 400, article clxviii. has proved that cas
tration was never practised.
The rural economy ofthe Israelites, led them to value the ox
as by far the most important of domestic animals, from the con
sideration of his great use, in all the operations of farming.^
In the patriarchal ages, the ox constituted no inconsiderable
portion of their wealth. Thus Abraham is said to be very rich
* Hieroz. V. iii. p. 194. edit. Rosenmdller.
f Scripture Illustrated, in loc. p. 172. i
X See some interesting remarks on this subject, in Michaelis' Common*
taries on the Laws of Moses, V. ii. p 388. Dr. Smith's translation.
42

330 THE NATURAL HISTORY
in cattle, Gen. xxiv. 35. This is also remarked of Jacob, Gen,
xxx. 43. And of Job it is declared, that " his substance was
seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hun
dred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great
household ; so that the man was the greatest of all the men of
the East." Job i. 3.
Men of every age and country have been much indebted to
the labours of this animal. So early as in the days of Job, who
was probably the contemporary with Isaac, " the oxen were
ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them," when the Sabe-
ans fell upon them, and took them away. In times long posteri
or, when Elijah was commissioned to annoint Elisha, the son of
Shaphat, prophet in his stead, he found him ploughing with
twelve yoke of oxen, 1 Kings xix. 19. For many ages, the
hopes of oriental husbandmen, depended entirely on their la
bours. This was so much the case in the time of Solomon,
that he observes, in one of his Proverbs, " Where no oxen
are, the crib is clean, (or rather empty;) but much increase is
by the strength of the ox." Prov. xiv. 4. The ass, in the
course of ages, was compelled to bend his stubborn neck to
the yoke, and share his labours ; but still, fhe preparation of
the ground, in the time of spring, depended chiefly on the
more powerful exertions of the latter.
When this animal was employed in bringing home the pro
duce of the harvest, he was regaled with a mixture of chaff,
chopped straw, and various kinds of grain, moistened with
acidulated water. Such is the meaning of that prediction,
Isai. xxx. 24, " the oxen likewise, and the young asses that
ear the ground, shall eat clean provender,* which hath been
winnowed with the shovel, and with the fan." When the Lord
returns to bless his repenting people, so rich and abundant
shall be the produce of their fields, that the lower animals
which toil in the service of man, and have assigned for their
usual subsistence the most ordinary food, shall share in the
general plenty, and feed on provender, carefully separated from
all offensive matters, and adapted to their taste. But among the
Jews, this animal was best fed when employed in treading out
the corn ; for the divine law, in many of whose precepts the be
nevolence of the Deity conspicuously shines, forbad to muzzle
him, and by consequence to prevent him from eating what he
would of the grain he was employed to separate from the husk.
This allusion is involved in the address of the prophet Hosea, ch.
x. 11, to the ten tribes, in which he warns them that the abua-
* Bishop Lowth renders it, " well fermented maslin."

OF THE BIBLE. 331
dance and tranquillity which; they had so long enjoyed, should not
exempt, them from the punishments due to their multiplied crimes.
Despising the frugal and laborious life of their ancestors, they
had become slothful and voluptuous, like an ox that declines to
bend his neck any longer to the yoke, and loves the easier em
ployment of treading out the corn, where he riots without re
straint on the accumulated bounties of heaven : " Ephraim is as
an heifer that is taught," (or has become nice and delicate) and
loveth to tread out the corn ; but I passed over upon her fair
neck. I will make Ephraim carry me." This latter clause gives
the image of a husbandman mounting his bullock, to direct it
over the corn, and perhaps to prevent or restrain the feeding.
The ox was also compelled to the labour of dragging the
cart or waggon. The number of oxen commonly yoked to one
cart, appears to have been two. [Comp. Numb. vii. 3, 7, 8 ; 1
Sam. vi. 7 ; and 2 Sam. vi. 3, 6.
The wild-ox, \xr\ theo, Deut. xiv. 5, is supposed to be the
oryx of the Greeks, which is a species of large stag. It is
rendered oryx by Jerom ; and Aquila used the same term in
translating Isai. li. 20, where the Hebrew word is sin thoa, in
our version " wild-bull," which is probably the same word,
with the mere transposition ofthe two last letters. The Pro
phet says, (as translated by Bp. Lowth,)
Thy sons lie astounded. They are cast dawn;
At the head qfall the streets, like the oryx taken in the tails.
Many interpreters, besides the English translators, are dispos
ed to consider the Hebrew words here named as intending
the buffalo or some species of the wild ox. _ But Aben Ezra as
serts, that no wild-bull is to be found in Judea, and the sur
rounding countries. Three varieties of that animal, are na
tives of a cold climate. The buffalo, it is admitted, is bred
in southern latitudes; but, in ancient times, he seems to have
been confined to the remotest parts of the East. No men
tion is made of him, at least, by any- writer before the Chris
tian era ; for the (SovGxao? or 0ou£#Ai? of the ancient Greeks,
was the name of a wild-goat. Besides, the wild-bull was not
taken in a net; but, according to the ancients, in a deep pit,
for he. is too furious and powerful an animal to be detained
by a snare, as referred to in Isaiah ; but every variety of the deer,
and consequently the oryx, it was the custom to hunt with nets and
dogs. This statement renders it extremely probable, that the
Hebrew word theo, or thoa, was a name given to the oryx,

332 THE NATURAL HISTORY
the white goat of the desert.* It may be the bekkar el wash,
described by Dr. Shaw.
The oryx inhabits the solitudes of Africa, on the confines of
Egypt; from whence he might easily make excursions into the
deserts which border on the land of Canaan. He seems, in
deed, according to the authorities quoted by Bochart, Hieroz.
lib. iii. p. 971, to have been properly an Egyptian animal, and
familiarly known to the inhabitants of that country : but his
character and habits must have been well known to the peo
ple of Israel, who sojourned for many years in Egypt, and
spent their time chiefly in tending their flocks and herds in
the pastures of Goshen, where they probably had many oppor
tunities of meeting him, and many reasons perhaps, to remem
ber his strength and intrepidity. After their deliverance from
the Egyptian yoke, they settled in a neighbouring country, and
had occasional intercourse with Egypt. These facts will ac
count for the mention of this animal in their sacred writings,
and for their allusions to its manners.
PALM-TREE, ion tamar.
Occurs, first Exod. xv. 27 ; and afterwards frequently.
This tree, sometimes called the date-tree, grows plentifully in
the East. It rises to a great height. The stalks are generally
full of rugged knots, which are the vestiges ofthe decayed leaves ;
for the trunk of this tree is not solid like, other trees, but
its center is filled with pith, round which is a tough bark full of
strong fibres when young, which as the tree grows old, hardens
and becomes ligenous. To this bark, the leaves are closely
oined, which in the centre rise erect, but after they are advanced
above the vagina which surrounds them, they expand very wide
on every side the stem, and as the older leaves decay, the stalk
advances in height. The leaves, when the tree has grown to a
size for bearing fruit, are six or eight feet long ; are very broad
when spread out, and are used for covering the tops of houses,
&c. The fruit, which is called " date," grows below the leaves in
clusters: and is of a sweet and agreeable taste. The learned
ILempfer, as a botanist, an antiquary, and a traveller, has ex
hausted the whole subject of palm-trees. " The diligent natives,
(says Mr. Gibbon,) celebrated either in verse or prose, the three
hundred and sixty uses to which the trunk, the branches, the
leaves, the juice, and the fruit were skilfully applied." The ex
tensive importance ofthe date-tree, (says Dr. Clarke,!) is one $f-
* Paxton, lllustr. of Scr. V. i p. 614.
f Travels, part ii. sect. ii. p. 302.

OF THE BIBLE. 3§3
the most curious subjects to which a traveller can direct his at
tention. A considerable part of the inhabitants of Egypt, of
Arabia, and Persia, subsist almost entirely upon its fruit. They
boast also of its medicinal virtues. Their camels feed upon the
date stone. From the leaves they make couches, baskets, bags,
mats, and brushes ; from the branches, cages for their poultry,
and fences for their gardens ; from the fibres of the boughs,
thread, ropes, and rigging ; from the sap, is prepared a spirituous
liquor ; and the body of the tree furnishes fuel : it is even said,
that from one variety of the palm-tree, the phanix farinifera;
meal has been extracted, which is found among the fibres of the
trunk, and has been used for food.
In the temple of Solomon, were pilasters made in the form
of palm-trees. 1 Kings vi. 29. It was under a tree of this
kind, that Deborah dwelt between Ramah.and Bethel. Judges
iv. 5. To the fair, flourishing, and fruitful condition of this tree,
the Psalmist very aptly compares the votary of virtue : Psalm
xcii. 12, 13,14. The righteous shallflnurish like a palm-tree.
Those that are planted in the house (^Jehovah,
In the courts of our Goo, shall flourish ;
In old age they shall still put forth buds,
They shall befall of sap and vigorous.*
The palm is crowned at its top with a large tuft of spiring
leaves, about four feet long, which never fall off, but always con
tinue in the same flourishing verdure. The tree, as Dr. Shaw
was informed, is in its greatest vigour about thirty years after it is
planted ; and continues in full vigour seventy years longer, bear
ing all this while, every year, about three or four hundred pounds
weight of dates.
The trunk ofthe tree is remarkably strait and lofty. Jeremi
ah, ch. x. 5, speaking of the idols that were carried in proces
sion, says they were upright as the palm-tree. And for erect
stature, and slenderness of form, the spouse, in Cantic. vii. 7, is
compared to this tree.
How framed, O my love, for delights !
Lo, thy stature is like a palm-tree.
And thy bosom like clusters of dates.
On this passage, Mr. Good observes, that " the very word Ta
mar, here used for the palm-tr-ee, and whose radical meaning is
strait or upright, (whence it was afterwards applied to pillars or
.* In Mr. Merrick's Annotations, p. 194, is a very ingenious illustration
of this passage.

334 THE NATURAL HISTORY
columns, as well as to the palm,) was also a general name among
the ladies of Palestine, and unquestionably adopted in honour of
the stature they had already acquired, or gave a fair promise of
attaining." A branch of palm was a signal of victory, and was carried be
fore conquerors in the triumphs:* to this, allusion is made Rev,
vii. 9, and for this purpose were they borne before Christ in his
way to Jerusalem, John xii. 1 3.
From the inspissated sap ofthe tree, a kind of honey, or dispse,
as it is called, is produced little inferior to that of bees. The
same juice after fermentation, makes a sort of wine, much used in
the East.t It is once mentioned as wine, Numb, xxviii. 7.
(Comp. Exod. xxix. 40 ;) and by it, is intended the strong drink,
Isai v. 1 1, xxiv. 9. J Theodoret and Chrysostom, on these pla
ces, both Syrians and unexceptionable witnesses in what belongs
to their own country, confirm this declaration. " This liquor
(says Dr. Shaw,) which has a more luscious sweetness than
honey, is of the consistence of a thin syrrup, but quickly grows
tart and ropy, acquiring an intoxicating quality, and giving by
distillation, an agreeable spirit, or araky, according to the gene
ral name of these people for all hot liquors, extracted by the alem
bic." Its Hebrew name is "iaty siker, the JLMc^a ofthe Greeks ; and
from its sweetness, probably, the saccharum of the R omans. Je
rom informs us,§ that in Hebrew, " any inebriating liquor is call
ed Sicera, whether made of grain, the juice of apples, honey,
dates, or any other fruit."
Herodotus, Hist. " Clio," § 1 93, in his account of Assyria,
says, " the Palm is very common in this country, and generally
fruitful. This they cultivate like fig-trees, and it produces
them bread, wine and honey. The process observed is this :
they fasten the fruit of that which the Greeks term the male-
tree to the one which produces the date, by this means the worm
which is contained in the former, entering the fruit, ripens and
prevents it from dropping immaturely. The male palms bear
insects in their fruit, in the same manner as the wild fig-trees.
Upon this subject, the learned and industrious Larcher, in his
notes upon Herodotus, has exhausted no less than ten pages.
The ancients whom he cites, are Aristotle, Theophrastus, and
Pliny ; the moderns, are Pontedera and Tournefort, which
* Aol. Gel. Noct. Att. I. iii. c. 6. Alex, ab Alex. Genial, dier. I. v.
c. 8.
f Plin I. 14. sec. 19, and 1. 13. c. 9, et Pbilostratos, apoll. 2.
| See the notes of Bishop Lowth, and Shaw's Trav. p. 143. ed. 4to.
p Epist. ad iVepotianum de vita Clericorum : et in Isai. xxviii. 1.

OF THE BIBLE. 335
last he quotes at considerable length. The Amoenitates Exotica;
of KjEmpfer, will fully satisfy whoever wishes to be more minute
ly informed, on one ofthe most curious and interesting subjects
which the science of natural history involves.
This tree was formerly of great value and esteem among the Is
raelites, and so very much cultivated in Judea, that in after times
it became the emblem of that country, as may be seen in a medal
of the emperor Yespatian upon the conquest of Judea: it re
presents a captive woman sitting under a palm tree, with this in
scription, JUDEA CAPTA. And upon a Greek coin, likewise,
of his son Titus,* struck upon the like occasion, we see a shield
suspended upon a palm tree with a victory writing upon it.
Pliny also calls Judea, " palmis inclyta," renowned for palms.
Jericho, in particular was called " the city of palms," Deut.
xxxiv. 3 ; and 2 Chron. xxviii. 15 ; because as Josephus,! Stra
bo,! and Pliny,§ have remarked it anciently abounded in palm-
trees. And so Dr. Shaw, Trav. p. 343, remarks that though
these trees are not now either plentiful or fruitful in other parts
of the Holy Land, yet there are several of them at Jericho, where
there is the convenience they require of being often watered ;
where likewise the climate is warm, and the soil sandy, or such
as they thrive and delight in.
Tamar, a city built in the desert by Solomon, (1 Kings ix. 18 ;
comp. Ezek. xlvii. 19 ; xlviii. 28 ;) was probably so named from
the palm-trees growing about it, as it was afterwards by the Ro
mans called " Palmyra," or rather " Palmira" on the same ac
count from Palma, a palm-tree. It is otherwise named imn
TADMOR, which seems a corruption of the former appellation.
2 Chron. viii. 4. Josephus, Antiq. 1. viii. c. 6. § 1. tells us
that after Solomon had built several other cities, " he entered
the desert which is above Syria, and taking possession of it, erect
ed there a very large city, distant two days journey from Upper
Syria, one from the Euphrates, and six from Babylon; and that
the reason of his building at such a distance from the inhabited
parts of Syria was, that no Water was to be met with nearer,
but that at this place were found both springs and wells." And
this account agrees with that of the late learned traveller Mr.
Wood, who describes Palmyra as watered with two streams, and
* Vaillant Numism. Imp. Rom. Gr. p. 21. Scheuchzer, Phys. Sacr.
on Exod. xv. 27. Vol. ii. p. 99. Tab. clvii. and on Job xxxix. v. 18.
vol. 6. Tab. DXXIV.
f Antiq. 1. iv. c. 6. 5 1. and 1. xv. c. 4. b 2. and De Bell. Jud. I. i. c.
6. } 6.
X Lib, xvi. p. 1106. ed. Amstel.
* Nat. Hist. 1. v. c. 14. and 1. xiii. c. 4, and 9.

¦m THE NATURAL HISTORY
says the Arabs even mention a third now lost among the rub
bish. Josephus adds that " Solomon having built this city, and
surrounded it with very strong walls, named it ©AAAMOPA,
Thadamora, and that it was still so called by the Syrians in his
time, but by the Greeks "Palmira." Mr. Parkhurst, after
quoting this passage, makes these remarks, " With all due defe
rence to such learned men as may dissent from me, I apprehend
that Palmira was a name first imposed, not by the Greeks, but
by the Romans. There is no Greek word from whence this
appellation can probably be derived ; but Palmira from Palma,
is the very oriental name translated into Latin ; and as the warm
climate of this city, and its enjoying the benefit of water in
the desert, make it highly probable that its Hebrew and Latin
names refer to the palm-trees with which it once abounded, so
Abul Feda,* a learned oriental geographer, who flourished in
the fourteenth century, expressly mentions the palm-tree as com
mon at Palmyra even in his time. I cannot find that this city
is ever mentioned by any of the old Greek writers, not even by
that accurate geographer Strabo ; nor indeed in the Roman his
tory is any notice taken of it, till Appian, in the fifth book of his
civil wars, speaks of Mark Antony as attempting to plunder it.t
But for a farther account of the ancient history and present state
of this once noble and powerful city, I with great pleasure refer
the reader to Mr. Woods' curious, learned, and magnificent work,
entitled " A Journey to Palmyra," and shall only add that the
Arabs of the country, like the Syrians in Josephus's time, still
call it by its old name Tadmor ; and that Mr. Bryant tells us|
he was assured by Mr. Wood that " if you w«re to mention Pal
myra to an Arab upon the spot, he would not know to what you
alluded, nor would you find him at all better acquainted with the
history of Odmnatus and Zenobia. Instead of Palmyra, he would
talk of Tedmor ; and in lieu of Zenobia, he would tell you that it
was built by Salmah Ebn-Doud, that is by Solomon the son of
David." As the Greek name for this tree signifies also the fabulous bird
called the phoenix, some of the fathers have absurdly imagined
that the Psalmist xcii. 12, alludes to the latter; and on his au-
* For an account of whom see the Arabic authors mentioned at the end
ofPamEAUx's life of Mahomet, p. 153 i and Herbelot, Biblioth. Orient.
jn Aboulfeda.
t Comp. Prideaux, Counect. part ii. book vi. anno 41.
J New System of Mythol. v. i. p. 214.

OF THE BIBLE. 337
thorityhave made the phoenix an argument of a resurrection.
Tertullian calls it a full and striking emblem of this hope.*
Celsius, in the second volume of his Hierobotanicon, has de
voted one hundred and thirty-Jive pages, replete with learning,
to a description of the palm-tree, and an elucidation of the pas
sages of scripture where it is mentioned ; and Hiller, in his
Hierophyticon, has thirty-eight pages.
PALMER-WORM. d« gazam.
Occurs Joel i. 4 ; and Amos iv. 9.
Bochart says that it is a kind of locust, furnished with very
sharp teeth, with which it gnaws off grass, corn, leaves of trees,
and even their bark. The Jews support this idea by deriving
the word from tu guz or |U gazaz, to cut, to shear, or mince.
Notwithstanding the unanimous sentiments of the Jews that this
is a locust, yet the LXX read km/j-tt^, and the Vulgate eruca, a
caterpillar; which rendering is supported by Fuller, Miscel.
Sacr. J. v. c. 20. Michaelis agrees with this opinion, and
thinks that the sharp cutting teeth of the caterpillar, which, like
a sickle, clear away all before them, might give name to this in
sect. Caterpillars also begin their ravages before the locust,
which seems to coincide with the nature of the creature here
intended.
PANNAG. aa.
Occurs Ezek. xxvii. 17, only.
Some have thought this to be the name of a place ; and per
haps the original of Phoenicia. Luther, Houbigant, Taylor,
Dathe, and many others suppose the name to mean balsam.
Mr. Dimock! conjectures it to be the fig. Others are inclined
to suppose it the valuable plant which Dioscorides and Pliny
have described by the name of " panax," from which a compo
sition was made serviceable in many diseases ; whence panacea
became the name of an universal medicine.J But as the Syriac
renders by a word which signifies millet, which panic resembles,
Bp. Newcome translates by this latter word from the similarity
of its sound to jjs. The panic was sometimes used for food.
* "Plenissimum atque firmissimum hujus spei specimen." De ress. e.
13. See also Clement, ad Corinthos, id. const, apost. 1. 5. u. 8 Cvril.'
eatec 18. Epiph. in aneor. sec. 80. id. phys. c. 11. AMBR0S.de fid.
ress, &c.
I rather think, however, that tbe Greek name $««*»¦ was from Phmnicia,
because they first became acquainted with the tree from that country.
¦f Rev. Henry Dimock, in a learned serra. on Matth. v. 18. Oxford,
1783.- | Hiller Hierophyt. part ii. p. 52.
43

338, THE NATURAL HISTORY
The Massilians when besieged by Caesar, "panico vetere omnes
alebantnr." & C. II. 32. Though according to Galen, it is
dry and affords hot much nutriment; it might be useful in voya
ges, because it could be preserved for a long time.
PAPER-REED, kdj goma.
Occ, Exod. ii. 3; Job viii. 11 ; Isai. xviii. 2; xxxv. 7.
For a particular description of this plant I refer back to the
article Bull-rush. — When the outer skin, or bark, is taken off,
there are several films or inner pellicles, one within another.
These, when separated from the stalk, were laid on a table, art
fully matched and flatted together, and moistened with the water
ofthe Nile, which, dissolving the glutinous juices of the plant,
caused them to adhere closely together. They were afterwards
pressed, and then dried in the sun; and thus were prepared
sheets or leaves for writing upon in characters marked by a co
loured liquid passing through a hollow reed. Plin. N. H. 1.
xxx. c. 12. Herodotus, 1. xi.* This formed the most ancient
books; and from the name of the plant is derived the word
paper. "Papyrus, verdant on the banks of Nile,
Spread its thin leaf, and wav'd its silvery style ;
Its plastic pellicles invention took,
To form the polish'd page and letter'd book,
And on its folds with skill consummate taught
To paint in mystic colours sound and thought."
Mr. Bruce, in the Appendix to his Travels, has furnished a
very particular and interesting account of the papyrus, its ancient
uses, &c. with a beautiful engraving of the plant.
In Isai. xix. 7, the word rendered in our version "paper-
reeds," is r\)"\y haroth, and means a meadow, a low, naked, open
tract of land, near a river. In Judges xx. 33, it is translated
"meadows." * In the 16th volume of the Arcbaeologia, part 2d, 1812, are some par
ticulars of the Egyptian papyrus, and the mode adopted for unfolding a
roll ofthe same, by W. Hamilton, Esq. from which I extract the follow
ing account of tbe manner in which the paper was manufactured : "On an
inspection of the paper, it is plainly perceived to be composed of the in
ner filaments of the papyrus plant, split into very thin layers ; the coarser
and thicker ends of these threads being cut off, equal in length to the
breadth ofthe paper which was to be made, were laid parallel and close to
each other; a coat of gum, or some other gluey substance, was then laid
upon this substratum, and over that were laid transversely the finer and
thinner shreds of the same reed. The whole mass was then amalgamated
by a regular pressure or beating : from the fragile nature of the material,
I should think the former mode most likely."
The plant is called " El Babtr," whence the papyrus, and our word
paper.

OF THE BIBLE. 339
PARTRIDGE, snp kra or kora.
Occurs 1 Sam. xxvi. 20 ; and Jer. xvii. 1 1 . DEPAIH, Ecclus.
xi. 31.
In the first of these places, David say9, " the king of Israel ii
come out to hunt a partridge on the mountains :" and in the
second, " the partridge sitteth, (on eggs,) and produceth (or
hatcheth) not ; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall
leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be con
temptible." This passage does not necessarily imply that the
partridge hatches the eggs of a stranger, but only that she often
fails in her attempts to bring forth her young. To such disap
pointments she is greatly exposed from the position of her nest on
the ground, where her eggs are often spoiled by the wet, or
crushed by the foot. So, he that broods over his ill-gotten gains,
will often fend them unproductive ; or if he leaves them, as a bird
occasionally driven from her nest, may be despoiled of their pos
session. As to the hunting of the partridge, which Dr. Shaw observes
is the greater, or red-legged kind, the doctor says, " the Arabs
have another, though a more laborious method of catching these
birds ; for, observing that they become languid and fatigued after
they have been hastily put up twice or thrice, they immediately
run in upon them, and knock them down witb their zerwattys, or
bludgeons as we should call them." Precisely in this manner
Saul hunted David, coming hastily upon him, putting him up
incessantly, in hopes that at length his strength and resources
would fail, and he would become an easy prey to his pursuer.
Bochart, thought the bird in the prophet, was of the snipe or
wood-cock kind; that bird, however, haunts the'marshes, not the
mountains. Our author adds, " observing that Buffon makes a
separate species of the bartavella, or Greek partridge, I shall of
fer that as the proper bird in these passages.
" To the red partridges, and principally to the bartavella,
must be referred all that the ancients have related of the par
tridge. . Aristotle must needs know of the Greek partridge,
better than any other, since this is the only kind in Greece,, in the.
isles 'of the Mediterranean, and, according to all appearance, in
that part of Asia conquered by Alexander. Belon informs us
that " the, bartavella keeps ordinarily among rocks ; but has the
instinct, to descend into the plain to make its nest, m order that
the young may find at their birth a ready subsistence : lays from
eight to sixteen eggs :" is capable of connexion with the com
mon hen ; and has also another analogy with the Common
hen, which is, to sit upon (or hatch) the eggs of strangers
for want of its own. This remark is of long standing, since it oc
curs in the sacred books. Now, if, in the absence of the proper

840 THE NATURAL .HISTORY
owner, the bartavella partridge sits on the eggs of a stranger,
when that stranger returns to the nest," and drives away the in
truder before she can hatch them, the partridge so expelled, re
sembles a man in low circumstances, who had possessed himself
for a time of the property of another, but is forced to relinquish
his acquisition before he can render it profitable; which is the
simile of the prophet, and agrees too with the ^tither place in
which the bird is mentioned."
Dr. Shaw also mentions the method of catchingiby means of a
decoy ; and observes, " this may lead us into the Wight interpre
tation of Ecclesiasticus xi. 30, which we render ''like as a par
tridge taken (or kept) in a cage, so is the heart of the proud ;'> but
should be, like a decoy partridge in a cage. >
Forskal mentions a partridge whose name in Arabic is kurr ;
and Latham says, that in the province of Andalusia in Spain, the
name ofthe partridge is churr : both taken, no doubt, like the
Hebrew, from its note.
PEACOCK. eymn thouciim.
Occurs 1 Kings x. 22; and 2 Chron. ix. 21.
A bird distinguished by the length of its tail, and the brilliant
spots with which it is adorned ; which displays all that dazzles in
the sparkling lustre of gems, and all that astonishes in the rain
bow.* Bochart has shewn, that the Hebrew word here means pea
cocks ; and that this rendering is justified by the Chaldee, Syriac,
Arabic, and Latin versions ;t and is so understood by most of the
learned men among the Jews. On the other hand, Huet,J Re-
land^ a"nd Oldermann,|| would render it " parrots," and to this,
Mr. Harmer! is inclined. Haseus** gives a new explication to
the word, supposing it to be the same with succiim, inhabitants
of caves, or caverns ; and means the long-tailed monkey. But
the evidence in favour of peacocks, seems to me to preponderate.
* The following is the description of Tertullian. "ftunquam et Pavo
pluma vestis, et quidem de cataclictis : imo omni conchylio pressior, qua
colla florent : ct omni patagio inauratior, qua terga fulgent : et omnisyr-
mate solutior, qua caudae jacent. Multicolor et discolor et versicolor.
Nunquam ipsa, quando alia. Toties denique mutanda, quoties mpvenda."
De Pallio, c. iii.
f So the LXX. according to the Alexandrian manuscript, tauvi^.
X In Comment, de navig, Salomonis, c. vii. } 6.
5 Diss, de terra Ophir. Miss. Dis. "vi.
|| Dis. de Ophir et iars. sec. i. § 23.
IT Obs. V. ii- p. 413.
** Biblioth. Brem. cl. ii.

OF T.HE BIBLE. 34.4
Tlie peacock is a bird originally of India ; thence brought into
Persia and Media. Aristophanes mentions " Persian pea
cocks ;" and Suidas calls (the peacock, "the Median bird.*'
From Persia it was gradually dispersed into Judea, Egypt, Greece,
and Europe. If the fleet of Solomon visited India, they might
easily procure this bird, whether from India itself, or from Per
sia ; and certainly, the bird by its beauty, was likely to attract
attention, and to be brought among other rarities ,of natural histo
ry by Solomon's 'missionaries, who would be instructed to collect
every curiosity in the countries they visited. " Let any one,
(says Mr. Parkhurst,) attentively survey the peacock in all the
glorious display of the prismatic colours of his train, (mille trahens
varios adverso sole colores,) and he will not be surprised that
Solomon's marines, who cannot be supposed ignorant of their
master's taste for Natural History, should bring some of these
wonderful birds from their southern expedition."
" The Peacock view, still exquisitely'fair,
When clouds forsake, and when invest the air;
His gem* now brightened by a noon-tide ray ;
He proudly waves his feathers to the day.
A strut, majestically slow, assumes,
And glories in the beauty of bis plumes."* .-

PEARL. A hard, white, shining body ; usually roundish,
found in a shell fish resembling an oyster.
The Oriental pearls have a fine polished gloss, and are tinged
with an elegant blush of red. They are esteemed, in the East
beyond all other jewels.
We find this word but once in our common translation of the
Old Testament, namely Job xxviii. 1 8, answering there to the
Hebrew word vrii gabish, the meaning of which is very uncer
tain. The word signifies " hail," large hail stones, Ezek. xiii.
11, 13; and xxxviii. 22 ; and, when applied to precious stones,
should seem to refer to a kind resembling hail, in form, or in
clearness, or in both : this leads to chrystalr rather than to any
other ; accordingly the LXX. so render it. The word otjb
peninim, in the same verse, and in Prov. iii. 15 ; viii. 11 ; xx.
15; xxxi. 10; and Lam. iv. 7, translated "rubies," undoubtedly
signifies pearls. The learned Bochart, in an elaborate disser
tation On this subject, maintains this rendering, and remarks, that
hence the words Tlmx, otvvjvo? Aiflo?, arivvixov, pinna,, are retain
ed, in Greek and Latin, either for the pearl-oyster, or the pearl
*Deven's Poetical Paraphrase of Job, p. 33,

342 THE NATURAL HISTORY
itself: and Mr. Bruce mentions a shell-fish, which retains the
name " pinna," from which is obtained a most beautiful pearl.*
He remarks, that " it is tinged with an elegant blush of red."
" Upon the maturest consideration, I have no doubt that the
pearl found in this shell, is the penim or peninim rather, for it is
always spoken of in the plural, to which allusion has often been
made in Scripture. And this derived from its redness, is the
true reason of its name. On the contrary, the word pinna has
been idly imagined to be derived from " penna," a feather, as
being broad and round at the top, and ending at a point, or like a
quill, below. The English translation of the Scriptures, errone
ous and inaccurate in many things more material, translates this
peninim by rubies, without any foundation or authority, but be
cause they are both red, as are bricks and tiles, and many other
things of base and vile materials. The Greeks have translated it
literally pina, or pinna, and the shell they call pinnicus ; and
many places occur in Strabo, ^Elian, Ptolemy, and Theophras-
tus, which are mentioned famous for this species of pearl. I
should imagine also, that by Solomon saying it is the most pre
cious of all productions, he means that this species of pearl
was the most valued, or the best known in Judea. For though
we learn from Pliny, that the excellence of pearls was their
whiteness, yet we knbw that pearls of a yellowish cast are those
esteemed in India to this day, as the peninim or reddish pearl was
in Judea in the days of Solomon."
II. In the New Testament pearls are several times mentioned,
where the Greek word is MAPrAPITHS.
"PELICAN, nxp kaath.*
Occ. Levit. xi. 18; Deut. xiv. 17; Psal. cii. 7; Isai. xxxiv.
11 ; and Zeph. ii. 14.
A very remarkable aquatic bird, of the size of a large goose.
Its colour is a greyish white, except that the neck looks a little
yellowish, and the middle of the back feathers are blackish.
The bill is long, and hooked at the end, and has under it a lax
membrane, extended to the throat, which makes a bag or sack,
capable of holding a very large quantity. Feeding her young
from this bag, has so much the appearance of feeding them with
her own blood, that it caused this fabulous opinion to be propa-
* Travels, Vol. vi. p. 276, ed. 8vo.
f As nxp ea(th, signifies to vomit up, the name is supposed to be very
descriptive of the pelican, who receives its food into the pouch under its
lower jaw, and, by pressing it on its breast with its bill, throws it up for the
nourishment of its young.

©F THE BIBLE-. 343
gated, and made the pelican an emblem of paternal, as the stork
had before been chosen, more justly, of filial affection.
The voice of this bird is harsh and dissonant ; which some say
resembles that of a man grievously complaining. David com
pares his groaning to it. Psal. cii. 7. On this passage Mr. Mer
rick remarks, that the Hebrew word nsp kaath, which occurs
several times in scripture as the name of a bird, is here translat
ed by the Septuagint, Apollinaris, the Vulgate, and Jerom, the
pelican ; but elsewhere, by the last of them, the onocrotalus ;
which is called so by the Greeks, and by the Arabians the water
camel, from its loud and harsh noise. Sir George Wheeler, in
his jpurney into Greece,* describes, from his own inspection, a
bird which we, as he says, call the pelican, and the modern
Greeks toubana ; and which Mr. Spon thought the onocrotalus.
It may, I imagine, have that name from the word to£«, the same
in modern Greek with the Latin tuba, with reference to the
noise it makes ; as the bittern is observed by Bochart to be
called in Italian, on the' same account, trombone, from the sound
of a trumpet. Bochart thinks that the onocrotalus may rather
be the cos, which occurs in the verse of the Psalmist ; and con
sequently that some other bird is meant by kaath. But, as his
explanation of the word cos does not seem sufficiently supported,
I see no necessity of departing from the ancient versions above
mentioned. Mr. Merrick has therefore retained the word peli
can in his translation of the passage, and says that he does it with
the more confidence as it has in our language been applied, by
writers of great note, to the onocrotalus : and that it was anciently
so applied (which circumstance may perhaps reconcile Jerom's
different versions of kaath) is allowed by Bochart himself,t who
quotes Oppian's exeutica, of which a Greek paraphrase is extant,
for the use of the word. Mr. Ray, in his nomenclator classicus,
says that the onocrotalus is now acknowledged to be a far diffe
rent bird from the bittern, with which some moderns have con
founded it, and to be that which we call in English the pelican. J:
Hasselquist gives an account of this bird under the name of
pelecanus onocrotalus.^ Professor Michaelis thinks the same.||
If the name pelican strictly means the spoonbill, which, as we
may collect from this learned writer's words, is the opinion of fo-
* Page 304
t Hieroz. p. 2. 1. 2. c. 20.
| See likewise Sir T. Brown's Vulg. Er. 5. 1. Willoughrt, ornith. b
3. sec. 2, c. 1.
{ Trav. p'. 208. quoting Lin. syst. nat. p. 132. n. 1.
|| Receuil des questions, Sic. Q. 100.

344 THE NATURAL HISTORY
reign naturalists, and not the onocrotalus, it may be necessary, to
obviate a difficulty raised by Bochart, who thinks that the bird
mentioned by the Psalmist ought to be a clamorous bird, but finds
no account of noise made by the pelican. Dr. Hill says that
the spoonbill is as common in some parts of the Low Countries
as rooks are in England, and makes more noise. I would also
just observe that, though a considerable number of ancient in
terpreters, above quoted, give us the pelican in this text in
Psalms, M. Michaelis seems mistaken in adding to their autho
rity that of Aquila: neither Monteaucon's hexapla nor Trom-
mius, direct us to any text in which Aquila has translated the
word kaath. As the kaath seems to be a water bird, it may be
asked why it is said to inhabit the desert, which may be suppos
ed destitute of water ? To this Bochart answers, that all deserts
are not so ; as three lakes are placed by Ptolemy in the inner
parts of Marmarica, which are extremely desert, and the Israelites
are said to have met with the waters of Marah and the fountains
of Elim in the deserts of Arabia, Exod. xv. 23. 27. We may add
that in a passage of Isidore* the pelican is said to live in the soli
tudes of the river Nile : which circumstance well agrees with Dr.
Shaw's supposition? that the prophet Amos might with sufficient
propriety call the Nile a river of the wilderness."% And it may
be farther remarked that it appears from Damir, quoted by Bor
chart, that the onocratulus does not always remain in the wa
ter, but sometimes retires far from it. And, indeed, its enor
mous pouch seems to be given it for this very reason, that it
might not want food for itself and its young ones when at a dis
tance from the water.
PIGEON, n:v ioneh. See the article Dove.
Michaelis, in his Commentary on the Laws oT Moses, v.. ii.
p. 386. Smith's trl. says, " It may be doubted whether breeding
of pigeons was much practised among the Israelites ; for those
kept in dove-cotes are in the later Hebrew, called by a name
equivalent to Herodian doves, because Herod is said to have in
troduced them.§ Pigeons, it is true, appear frequently among
their offerings ; but then they might be of the wild kind, as well
as turtle-doves. Here, however, I speak dubiously ; for, even
in the patriarchal history, we find pigeons used as offerings ; and
Egypt, out of which the Israelites came, is at this day full of
pigeon-houses." * Lib. 12. c. 7, quoted in Maetinius's Lexic. Philolog.
f Trav. p. 288. and 290. ed. 28.
X See Murrick's Annot. on Psal. cii.
$ Bcxtorf, Cbald. Rabbin Lexic. p. 630.

OF THE BIBLE. 345
PINE-TREE.The pine appears in our translation three times, namely Ne
bcin, viii. 15; Isai. xii. 16, and lx. 13. These I proceed to
examine. I. Nehemiah viii. 15, giving directions for observing the
feast of tabernacles, says "Fetch olive branches, pine branches,"
myrtle branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths."
The Hebrew phrase \na yy etz shemen, means literally branches
of oily, or gummy plants. The LXX say cypress. Scheuchzer
says the Turks call the cypress zemin. The author of Scrip
ture Illustrated says, " I should prefer the whole species called
jasmin, on account of its verdure, its fragrance, and its flowers,
which are highly esteemed. The word jasmin, and jasemin qf
the Turks resembles strongly the shemen of the Hebrew original
here. The Persians also name this plant semen and simsyk."
The authority, however, ofthe Septuagint must prevail.
II. In Isai. xii. 19, and Ix. 1 ¦?, the Hebrew word is imn tida-
her. A tree, says Parkhurst, so called from the springiness,
or elasticity of its wood. Luther thought it the elm, which is a
lofty and spreading tree ; and Dr. Stock renders it the ash.
After all it may be thought advisable to retain the pine. La
Roche, Descr. Syrias, p. 160, describing a valley near to mount
Lebanon, has this observation ; " La continuelle verdures des
pins et des chenes verds fait toujours sa beaute."
PITCH, nst zephet. Exod. ii. 3. Isai. xxxiv. 9.
xtrQxAros, Septuagint.
A fat, combustible, oily matter ; sometimes called asphaltos
from the lake Asphallites [lake of Sodom] or dead sea, in Judea,
on the surface of which it rises in the nature of liquid pitch, and
floats like other oleaginous bodies ; but is condensed by degrees
through the heat of the sun, and grows dry and hard.
The word which our translators have rendered "pitch" in Gen. vi.
14, and " slime," -ran HHEMAR,Gen. xi. .3, and xiv. 1 0, is generally
supposed to be bitumen.* In the first of these places it Is men
tioned as used for smearing the ark, and closing its interstices.
It was peculiarly adapted to this purpose. Being at first, soft,
viscous, and pliable, it might be thrust into every chasm and cre
vice with the greatest ease ; but would soon acquire a tenacity
and hardness superior to those of our pitch. A coat of it spread
over both the inside and outside of the ark would make it per
fectly water-proof. The longer it was kept in the water, the
harder and stronger it would grow. The Arabs still use it for
* And so should it have been rendered, Exod. i. 14. ii. 3.
44

346 THE NATURAL HISTORY
careening their vessels. — In the second passage it is described as
applied for cement in building the tower, of Babel. It was much
used in ancient buildings in that region ; and, in the ruins of Ba
bylon, large masses of brick work cemented with it are discover
ed. It is known that the plain of Shinar did abound with it both
in its liquid and solid state :* that there was there a cave and
fountain which was continually casting it out, and that the famous
tower, and no less famous walls of Babylon were built by this
kind of cement, is confirmed by the testimony of several ancient
authors.? Modern travellers inform us that these springs of bi
tumen are called oyum hit, the fountains of hit ;' and that they
are much celebrated and used by the Persians and Arabs.
The slime pits of Siddim, Gen. xiv. 10, were holes out of which
issued this liquid bitumen, or naptha.
Bitumen was formerly much used by the Egyptians and Jews.
in embalming the bodies of their dead. J
POMEGRANATE, pn-". rimmon.
Occurs Numb. xiii. 24 ; xx. 5 ; 1 Sam. xiv. 2 ; and frequently
elsewhere. A low tree, growing very common in Palestine, and other
parts of the east Its branches are very thick and bushy : some
of them are armed with sharp thorns. They are garnished with
narrow spear shaped leaves. Its flowers are of an elegant red
colour, resembling a rose. It is chiefly valued for the fruit,
which is as big as a large apple, is quite round, and has the gene
ral qualities of other summer fruits, allaying heat and quenching
thirst. The high estimation in which it was held by the people
of Israel, may be inferred from its being one ofthe three kinds of
fruit brought by the spies from Eschol to Moses and the congre
gation in the wilderness ; Numb. xiii. 23 ; xx. 5 ; and from its
being specified by that rebellious people as one of the greatest
luxuries which they enjoyed in Egypt, the want of which they
* Thus Strabo tells us, "In Babylonia bitumen multum nascitur, cujus
duplex est genus, authore Krastop hens, liquidum et aridum Liquidum
vocant naptham. in ^usiano agro nascens ; aiidum vero quod etiam conge-
lescere potest in Babylonia fonte propinguo napthae" lib. xvi.
t Dioscorioes, 1. 1. c. 100. Thus Justin, I 1, speaking of Semiramis,
says, '' Haec Babyloniam rondidit, murumque urbis corto latere circumde-
dit, arena vice bitumine interstraio, quae materia in illis locis passim e ter-
ris exsestuat." Vitruvics also says. *• Babylonia, locus est amplissima
magni udine, babens supranatans liquidum bitumen, et latere testaceo struc-
tum inurnm -emiramis Babylom rircumdedit." lib. viii See also Stra
bo, lib xvi. Aristot. de mirab. torn. i. p. 1163. edit du. Val. tbl. Paris,
1619. Plin. Nat. Hist. I. 2 c 106. $ 103. 1. 28. e. 7. { 23.
J >ikf.bmi ill's art of embalming. Hence it was called " Cumrai fune-
rum," and "Mumia."

OF THE BIBLE. 347
felt so severely in the sandy desert. The pomegranate, classed
by Moses with wheat and barley, vines and tigs, oil-olive and
honey, was in his account, one principal recommendation of the
promised land. Deut. viii. 8. The form of this fruit was so
beautiful, as to be honoured with a place at the bottom of the
high priest's robe ; Exod. xxviii. 33, and Ecclesiasticus xiv. 9 ;
and was the principal ornament ofthe stately columns of Solomon's
temple. A section of the apple gives a fine resemblance of a
beautiful cheek. Cantic. iv. 3. The inside is full of small ker
nels, replenished with a generous liquor. In short, there is
scarcely any part of the pomegranate which doth not delight and
recreate the senses.
" Wine ofthe pomegranates," Cantic. viii. 1, may mean either
wine acidulated with the juice of pomegranates, which the Turks
about Aleppo still mix for this purpose ;* or rather, wine made of
the juice of pomegranates, of which, Sir John Chardin says they
still make considerable quantities of in the East, particularly in
Persia.t »
POPLAR. r\ab libneh.
Occ. Gen. xxx. 37, and Hosea iv. 13.
The white poplar, so called from the whiteness of its leaves,
bark, and wood. In both the above places, the Vulgate inter
prets itpoplar ; in the latter, the LXX. and Aquila, render it
Atvms, white, (i. e. poplar,) but in the former it is rendered
gxfifov <tto«{ ohcivjjv, a rod of styrax, by the LXX. ; and Michaelis
adopts this.
PULSE. 'Sp kali.
Occ. Levit. xxiii. 14; Ruth ii. 14; 1 Sam. xvii. 17; and 2
Sam. xvii. 28.
A term applied to those grains or seeds which grow in pods, as
beans, peas, vetches, &c. from Sia phul, a bean.
The Vulgate renders this kali, in 2 Sam. xvii. 28, " frixum
cicer," " parched peas." Now Dr. Shaw informs us, that the
cicer garavangos, or chich-pea, are in the greatest repute, after
they are parched in pans or ovens ; then receiving the name of
leblebby. This seems to be of the greatest antiquity, for Plau-
tus, Bacch. art. iv. sec. v. speaks of it as very common in his
time: " Tarn frictum ego ilium reddam, quam frictum est cicer."
* Russell, Nat. Hist, of Aleppo, p. 107.
f Harmer's, Obs. V. i. p. 377.

348 THE NATURAL HISTORY
And Horace, Art. Poet. 249, mentions it as the food ofthe poor
er Romans :
" Si quid fricti ciceris probat, et nucis emptor."
The like observation we meet with in Aristophanes, speaking
of a country clown, who was xv^xtu^av tou^s&vGod, parching cicers.
II. In Daniel i. 12, 16, the word rendered "pulse," oj'it
zeroim, may signify seeds in general. Various kinds of grain
were dried and prepared for food by the people of the East, as
wheat, barley, peas, &c. of the nature and preparation whereof,
some curious remarks may be seen in Harmer's Observations,
Vol. i. p. 271.
PURPLE. |BJ"lN ARGAMAN.
Occ. Exod. xxv. 4, and elsewhere frequently. nOP^TPA,
Mark xv. 17, 20 ; Luke xvi. ' 9 ; John xix. 2, 5 ; and Rev. xvii.
4; xviii. 12, 16.
This is supposed to be the very precious colour extracted from
the purpura or murex, a species of shell-fih; and the same with
the famous Tyrian dye, so costly, and so much celebrated in an
tiquity.* The purple dye is called in 1 Maccab. iv. 23, " pur
ple of the sea," or sea purple ; it being the blood or juice of a
turbinated shell-fish, which the Jews call pon chalson.
See Blue aud Scarlet.
Among the blessings pronounced by Moses upon the tribes of
Israel, those of Zebulon and Issachar, (Deut. xxxiii. 19,} are,
" they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of the trea
sures hid in the sand." Jonathan Ben Uzziel explains the lat
ter clause thus : " From the sand are produced looking-glasses,
and glass in general ; the treasures, the method of finding and
working which, was revealed to these tribes." Several ancient
writers inform us, that there were havens in the coasts of the'
Zebulonites, in which, the sand proper for making glass, was
found. The words of Tacitus are remarkable : " Et Belus
amnis Judaico mari illabitur, circa ejus os lectae arenae admixto
' nitro in vitrum excoquuntur." The river Belus falls into the
Jewish sea, about whose mouth, those sands mixed with nitre are
collected, out of which glass isformed.X But it seems much more
natural to explain the treasures hid in the sand, of those highly
* See this largely described, and the manner of dyeing with it, in Plinv,
N. Hist. I 9. c 60—65, ed Bipont (jogukt, Orig. of Laws, Arts. &c. V.
ii p. 98. ^winburne, in his Travels through the Sicilies, gives a particu
lar account of this dye. Sect 3!
f Strabo, 1. xvi. Plin. N.H.I, xxxvi. c. 26. Tacit. Hist. 1. v. c. 7.

OF THE BIBLE. 349
valuable murices and purpura, which were found on the sea-
coast, near the country of Zebulon and Issachar, and of which
those tribes partook in common with their heathen neighbours of
Tyre, who rendered the curious dyes made from those shell-fish,
so famous among the Romans by the names of " Sarranum Os-
trum," " Tyrii colores."
In reference to the purple vestment, Luke xvi. 1 9, it may be
observed that this was not appropriately a royal robe. In the
earlier times, it was the dress of any of higher rank. Thus all
the courtiers were styled by the historians " purpurati." This
colour is more properly crimson than purple ; for the LXX. Jo
sephus, and Philo, constantly use 7ro£<pu§#v, to express the He
brew jDJ-i.^, by which the Talmudists understood crimson : and
that this Hebrew word was not the Tyrian purple, but brought to
that city from another country, appears from Ezek. xxvii. 7.*
The purple robe put on our Saviour, John xix. 2, 5, was a Ro
man custom ; the dressing of a person in the robes of state, the in
vestiture of office : and the robe brought by Herod's or the Ro
man soldiers, scoffingly, as though it had been the " pictas ves-
tes" usually sent by the Roman senate.
In Acts xvi. 14, Lydia is said to be "a seller of purple."
Mr. Harmer, styles purple " the most sublime of all earthly
colours, having the gaudiness of red, of which it retains a
shade, softened with the gravity of blue."
PYGARG. \w\ dishon.
Occ. Deut. xiv. 5, only.
The translation pygarg is from the Septuagint, irvyx/tyoc, which
signifies white buttocks. Dr. Shaw, thus expresses himself- " be
sides the common gazelle or antelope (which is well known in
Europe,) this country likewise produces another species, of the
same shape and colour, though of the bigness of our roe-buck, and
with horns sometimes two feet long. Thjs the Africans call Lid-
mee, and may, 1 presume, be the Strepsicorus and Adduce of the
ancients. Bochart, from the supposed whiteness of the but
tocks, finds a great affinity between the Addace I have mentioned,
and the Dison, which our translation renders ' pygarg,' after the
Septuagint and Vulgate versions."
• QUAIL. \bw selav.
Occ. Exod. xvi. 1 3 ; Numb. xi. 31, 32 ; and Psalm cv. 10.
A bird ofthe gallinaceous kind. Hasselquist, mentioningthe
quail ofthe larger kind, says, " it is of the size of the turtle-dove.
* For curious information respecting the purple dye ofthe ancients, I re
fer to Gogvet, Vol. ii. p. 98—107.

350 THE NATURAL HISTORY
I have met with it in the wilderness of Palestine, near the shores
ofthe Dead Sea and the Jordan, between Jordan and Jericho,
and in the deserts of Arabia Petrea. If the food of the Israelites
was a bird, this is certainly it ; being so common in the places
through which they passed." '
It is said that God gave quails to his people in the wilder
ness upon two occasions. First, within a few days after they
had passed the Red Sea, Exod. xvi. 3 — 13, The second time
was at the encampment at the place called in Hebrew, Kibroth
Hatvavah, the graves of lust, Numb. xi. p>2, Psalm cv. 40. Both
of these happened in the spring when the quails passed from
Asia into Europe. They are then to be found in great quan
tities upon the coast of the Red Sea and Mediterranean. God
caused a wind to arise that drove them within, and about the
camp of the Israelites : and it is in this that the miracle consists,
that they were brought so seasonably to this place, and in so
great number as to furnish food for above a million of persons
for more than a month.
The Hebrew word shalav signifies a quail, by the agreement of
the ancient interpreters. And the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic
languages, call them nearly by the same name.* The Septua
gint, Josephus, and most of the commentators both ancient and
modern, understand it in the same manner ; and with them agree
Philo, (de Vita Mosis, 1. I .) Josephus, (antiq. 1. iii. c. i. § 12.)
Appollinaris, and the Rabbins. But LudolphusI has endea
voured to prove that a species of locust is spoken of by Moses.
Dr. Shaw| answers, that the holy Psalmist in describing this par
ticular food of the Israelites, by calling the animals feathered
fowls, entirely confutes this supposition. And it should be recol
lected that this miracle was performed in compliance with the
wish ofthe people that they might have flesh to eat.
But, not to insist on other arguments, they are expressly call
ed "\.<a sheer, flesh. Psalm lxxviii. 27. which surely locusts are
not : and the Hebrew word is constantly rendered by the Septua
gint, o^Tuyo,a»)T^*, a large kind of quail, and by the Vulgate,
" coturnices," quails. Com. Wisd. xvi. 2 ; xix. 12; Numb. xi.
31,32; and Psalm cv. 40; and on Numb. xi. observe, that
ExnDX.d keamathwim should be rendered, not "two cubits
high," but. as Mr. Bate translates it, " two cubits distant, i. e.
one from another ; for quails do not settle like the locusts one
* For the Arabic name salwa. see Herbelot. Bibl. Orient, p. 477, and
Salk's Koran, c. ii. p 1 1, V i ed. 8vo. note.
f Comment, ad Hist. jElbiop. p. 168.
| Trav. p. 189, 2d edit.

OF THE BIBLE. 351
upon another, but at small distances." " And, (says Mr. Park
hurst,) had the quails lain for a day's journey round the camp,
to the great height of tzoo cubits, upwards of three feet, the peo
ple could not havebeen employed two days and a night in gath
ering them. The spreading them round the camp, was in order
to dry them in the burning sands, for use, which is still practised
in Egypt."
I shall subjoin another authority which Ludolphus himself was
desirous of consulting, as it is produced by Mr. Maundrell, in
his journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem. Ludolphus, when Mr.
Maundrell visited him at Francroft, recommended this to him as
a subject of inquiry, when he should come to Naplosa, (the ancient
Sichem) where the Samaritans live. Mr. Maundrell, accoid-
inglv asked their chief priest what sort of animal he took the se-
lavim to be : he answered that they were a sort of fowls ; and by
the description, Mr. Maundrell perceived that he meant the
same kind with our quails. He was then asked, what he thought
of locusts, and whether the history might not be better account
ed for, supposing them to be the winged creatures which fell so
thick about the camp of Israel. By his answer it appeared,
that be had never heard of any such hypothesis.*
The difficulties which encumber the text, supposing these to
be quails, led bishop Patrick, also, to imagine them to be locusts.
But his opinion is ably confuted by Harmer, Obs, Vol. iv. p.
367; as is that of Ludolphus by Paxton, in "Illustrations of
Scripture," Vol. ii. p. 84 — 101.
RAM-SKINS, RED- o'dino aVs my oroth eylim
meadamim. Occ. Exod. xxv. 5.
Dr. Adam Clarke, in his note on this place, observes, that
" this phrase is literally the skins qf red rams;" and adds, " it
is a fact, attested by many respectable travellers, that in the Le
vant, sheep are often to be met with that have red or violet col
oured fleeces : and almost all ancient writers speak of the same
thing Homer, Odyss. 1. ix. v. 425, describes the rams of Poly
phemus, as having a violet coloured fleece.
" Strong were the rams, with native purple fair,
Well fed, and largest of the fleecy care." Pope.
Plinv, Aristotle, and others, mention the same : and from
facts of this kind, it is very probable, that the fable of the golden
fleece had its origin." * Merrick, Aonet. ia Psalm cv. 40.

352 THE NATURAL HISTORY
Without pretending to dispute these authorities, I am rather
disposed to understand the original, as referring to skins tanned,
or coloured in dressing.
RAVEN. 2ii^ oreb. Chald. orba. Syr. croac* Lat. cor-
vus. Occ. Gen. viii. 7 ; Levit. xi. 15 ; Deut. xiv. 14 ; 1 Kings xvii.
4. 6 ; Job xxxviii. 41 ; Psal. cxlvii. 9 ; Prov. xxx. 17 ; Cantic.
v. 1 1 ; Isai. xxiv. 1 1 .
KOPAS, Luke xii. 24, only.
A well known bird of prey. All the interpreters agree that
oreb signifies the raven, from oreb, evening, on account of its co
lour. M. Michaelis, in proposing a question respecting certain
birds, says ofthe oreb; " II est decidee, que c'est le corbeau; il
seroit done superflu de le demander. Mais je desirerois plus de
certitude sur le nom Syriaque des corbeaux." — One can hardly
doubt that it is taken from the note of this bird.
I. On the decrease of the waters of the flood, so that the tops
of the mountains became visible, Noah sent forth out of one of
the windows ofthe ark a raven, a bold adventurous bird, by way
of experiment, to see whether the waters were sunk or abated.
Forty days the violent rain had continued, and he might think
this therefore a likely time for the waters to run off again. In
the original text, in the Samaritan, in the Chaldee and Arabic it
is said that the raven returned to the ark ; but the Greek inter
preters, the Syriac, the Latin, and most of the eminent fathers
and commentators say that he did not return any more. Here
are great authorities on both sides ; but the latter reading, though
so contrary in sense to the other, yet in the Hebrew is not very
different in the form of the letters,! and appears to be the better
reading of the two. For, if the raven had returned, what occa
sion had Noah to send forth a dove ? or why did he not take the
raven in unto him into the ark, as he did afterwards the dove 1
or why did he not send forth the same raven again, as he did af
terwards the same dove again? It is not improperly expressed in
our translation, that "the raven went forth to and fro," flying hither
and thither, " until the waters were dried up from off the face of
* Anglice croak. Mr. Forskal mentions a raven, ghoreb, which lives on
carrion. This being the oreb of the Hebrews, shews the pronunciation of
that word.
t " Neque scriptura multum differunt 31t2n NIX' et -W NlVl. Nam
vau etjod in veteribus manuscripts litterse sunt tam similes, ut saepissime
permulentur. Et lamed a tsade'fere. solocornudiffert; quod tsade dextrum
babet et demissus. lamed sinistrum et elatius Sciunt quid velim. qui
Babbinorum lectioni assuevprunt. Hine igitur, nisi fallor, diversae lectio
nis et versioni« horurn verborum vera est origo." Bochart, Hieroz, pars
post. lib. ii. c 13. col. 212. Tom. it. p. 803. edit, Rosenmuller.

OF THE BIBLE. 358
the earth." He found perhaps in the higher grounds some ofthe
carcases of those who had perished in the deluge,*
II. Many have thought that the prophet Elijah was in his re
tirement fed by this bird. But a writer in the memoirs of litera
ture, for April, I710,t shews from many* authors, that there was
in the country of Bethschan, in Decapolis, by the brook Cherith
or Carith, a little town called Aorabi or Orbo : Judges vii. 25 ;
and Isai. x. 6. And he therefore explains the word orebim,
which in I Kings, xvii. 4, we translate " ravens," of the inha
bitants of that village, some of whom, he contends, daily car
ried bread and flesh to Elijah, who was retired to and laid in a
cave in the neighbourhood. And he supports this interpretation
by the opinions of Chaldee, Arabic, and Jewish writers.
On the other hand Scheuchzer vindicates the commonly re
ceived opinion. He introduces his examination of thjs piece of
history, with the following remark. " Two sorts of critics are
apt to occasion displeasure to the orthodox ; those who reduce
the miracles of Holy Scripture to a mere nothing, deny or
diminish the power of God over the operations of nature, to vary
them at his pleasure; and those who, desirous of discovering the
truth, and with the1 utmost veneration for truth when discovered,
seek new explications of things, and depart from received inter
pretations : these often meet with stronger blame than they de
serve, a severity even to injustice." — He proceeds to state that
he does not think the orebim of the Hebrew means the inhabi
tants of a town called Oreb, nor a troop of Arabs called Orbhim,
but the birds, ravens.
The editor of Calmet in the Appendix, under the article
" Elijah" has some pertinent observations on this subject. " We
ought to consider," says he, " i . That Ahab sought Elijah with
avidity, and took an oath of every people, no doubt also in his do
minions, that he was not concealed among its inhabitants ; his
situation therefore acquired the utmost privacy, even to solitude.
2. That when the brook Cherith was dried up, the prophet was
obliged to quit his asylum, which he needed not to have done
had a people been his suppliers, for they could have brought him
water as well as food.
" Let us now suppose for a moment, that Elijah was concealed
in some rocky or mountainous spot, where passengers never
* Bp. Newton's Diss. v. ii. p. 114.
t See also H. Von der Hart in a work entitled, " Renards de Simson,
Machoire d'Ane, Corbeaux d'Ellie, &c." Helmst. 1707. This opinion was
first advocated by Rabbi Jehudah, and afterwards by J. F. Scmidt, Dis-"
sert. Elias corvorum aluran. Altorf. Nov. 1718, and is solidly refuted by
Relandj Patestina, p. 194. 45

354 THE NATURAL HISTORY
strayed ; and here a number of voracious birds had built their
nests, on the trees which grew around it, or on the projections of
the rocks, &c. These flying every day to procure food for their
young, the prophet availed himself of a part of what they brought,
and while they, obeying the dictates of nature, designed only to
provide for their offspring, divine providence directed them to
provide at the same time for the wants of Elijah ; so that what
he gathered, whether from their nests, what they dropped, or
brought to him, or occasionally from both means, was enough
for his daily support. And the orebim furnished him bread (or
flesh) in the morning ; and bread (or flesh) in the evening. But,
I rather think, there being a good many of them, some might fur
nish him bread (i. e. grain,) and others flesh; and vice versa, at
different times ; so that a little from each made up his solitary,
but satfsYactory meal. To such straits was the exiled prophet
driven, and such was the dependence of this zealous man of God!
" As to God's commanding the Orebim, it is a mode of speech
used where vocal commands were not employed."
III. It has been said that when the raven sees its young newly
hatched, and covered with a white down, or pen-feathers, it con
ceives such an aversion for them, that it forsakes them, and does
not return to its nest till after they are covered with black fea
thers. It is to this, they say, the Psalmist makes allusion when
he says, Psal. cxlvii. 9. The Lord giveth to the beast his food, and
to the young ravens which cry : And Job xxxviii. 41. Who provi-
dethfor the raven his food? When his young ones cry unto GOD,
wandering for want of meat. But those who have more diligent
ly examined the nature of birds, are not agreed about this fact,
which indeed has too much the air of a fable to be credited with
out good proofs. Vossius says* that it is the extreme voracity
of the young ravens that makes the old ones sometimes forsake
their nests when they find themselves not able to satisfy them.
Others will have it, that this proceeds only from the forgetfulness
ofthe old ravens, that they think no longer of returning to their
nests, in order to feed their young. Others imagine that Job and
the Psalmist allude to what is said by some naturalists! that the
ravens drive out their young ones early from their nests, and
oblige them to seek food for their own sustenance. The same
kind providence which furnishes support to his intelligent offs
pring is not unmindful of the wants, or inattentive to the desires,
of the meanest of his creatures.
* Voss. de idol. 1. 3. c. 84. and Vales, de sac. phil. c 55.*
f Plin. 1. 10, c. 12. ^Ilian, 1. 11. c. 40. Arist. 1. 2. c. 41.

OF THE BIBLE. f.bo
" Lo, the young ravens, from their nost exil'd,
On hunger's wing attempt the aerial wild !
Who leads their wanderings, and their least supplies ?
To God ascend their importuning cries."*
Christ instructs his disciples, from this same circumstance, to
trust in the care and kindness of heaven. Consider the ravens,
for they neither sow nor reap, neither have store house, nor barn;
andGODfeedeth them. How much better are ye than the fowls.
Luke xii. 24.
The blackness of the raven has long been proverbial. It is
alluded to in Cantic. v. 1 1 .
Solomon, speaking of the peculiar regard and veneration due
to the worthy persons and salutary instructions of parents, ob
serves that an untimely fate and the want of decent interment
may be expected from the contrary : and that the leering eye
which throws wicked contempt on a good father, and insolent dis
dain on a tender mother, shall be dug out of the unburied expos
ed corpse by the ravens of the valley, and eaten up by the young
eagles. Prov. xxx. 17.t
It was a common punishment in the east, and one which the
orientals dreaded above all others, to expose in the open fields
the bodies of evil-doers that had suffered by the laws of their of
fended country, to be devoured by the beasts of the field and the
fowls of heaven. The wise man insinuates that the raven makes
his first and keenest attack on the eye ; which perfectly corres
ponds with his habits, for he always begins his banquet with that
part. Isiodore says of him, " primo in cadaveribus oculum pe
tit ;" and Epictetus, O; (jav jco^omcs? twii nriKivryflioruv rxs o<$QxA[A,%c
hv/jMtvovTxt, the ravens devour the eyes of the dead. Many ofher
testimonies might be adduced ; but these are sufficient to justify
the allusion in the proverb.
The raven, it is well known, delights in solitude. He fre
quents the ruined tower or the deserted habitation. In the pro
phecy of Isaiah, xxxiv. 11, itis accordingly foretold, that the ra
ven, with other birds of similar dispositions, should fix his abode
in the desolate houses of Edom. " The cormorant and the bit
tern shall possess it. The owl and the raven shall dwell in it;
and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the
stones of emptiness." The prophet Zephaniah, ii. 14, in like
manner, makes the raven croak over the perpetual desolations of
Nineveh. " Both the cormorant and the bittern, shall lodge in
* Scott.
f " Hie prior in cadaveribus oculum petit." Isiodor. orig. 1. 12, c. 7.
" Effossos oculos vorat corvus." Catul. ep. 105. v. 5.

SS6 THE NATURAL HISTORY
the upper lentiles of it ; their voice shall sing in the windows ; de
solation shall lie in the thresholds." In the Septuagint and
other versions the Hebrew word for " desolation" [choreb] is
rendered raven. The meaning is, that in those splendid palaces,
where the voice of joy and gladness was heard, and every sound
which could ravish the ear and subdue the heart, silence was, for
-the wickedness of their inhabitants, to hold her reign forever, in
terrupted only by the scream of the cormorant and the croaking
of the raven.*
REED, prjjx agmon.
Occ. Job xl. 21; xii. 2. 20; Isai. ix. 14; xix. 15; lviii. 5.
KAa'amOZ, Matth. xi. 7 ; and several times in the New Testa
ment. A plant growing in fenny and watery places : very weak and
slender, and bending with the least breath of wind. Com. Matth.
xi. 7 ; Luke vii. 24.
Thus in 1 Kings xiv. 15, it is threatened, " The Lord shall
smite Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up
Israel out of the good land which he gave to their fathers, and
shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their
idol-groves, provoking hjm to anger." The slenderness and fra
gility ofthe reed is mendtmed 2 Kings xviii. 20; Isai. xxxvi. 6 ;
and is referred to in Matth. xii. 20, where the remark, illustrat
ing the gentleness of our Saviour, is quoted from the prophecy of
Isaiah, xiii. 3. — The Hebrew word in these places is rup kaneh,
as also in Job xl. 21 ; Isai. xix. 6 ; xxxv. 7 ; and Ezek. xxix. 6.
See Cane.
Under the article Calamus I ought to have give its whole He
brew name, which is aai n:p kaneh-bosem ; and not have re
peated the description under the article Cane. I am inclined to '
think the Calamus aromaticus to be a different plant from the
Acorus verus ; the former being remarkable for its fragrance, the
latter for its warm pungent taste : the one is described as a reed,
the other as a flag. In the Encyclopedia Perthensis other
distinctions are stated.
lt was used for writing,! and hence called " Calamus Scripto-
rius," and answers to the word in our translation rendered " pen :"
as 3 John, verse 13. '¦ I have many things to write unto thee, but
I will not with pen, xxAxfjia, and ink," The Alexandrian manu-
* Paxton. Illustr. v. 2. p 37.
f " Arundines tenues. intus cavae, extus glabrae, fusco rubentes, quibus
Turcas et .viaiiri pro calamis scriptoria utuntur, pennarum anseriuarum
usum ignorantes >yringes seu Fistularis Oioscoridis." Rauwolf, Hodo-
ep. p. i. c. 8. p. 97.

OF THE BIBLE. 357
script is c^oivoy, juncus. So in Jerem. viii. 8, hmax/ao?, in the
LXX answers to the Hebrew word ay oith. In the third book of
Maccabees it is remarked that the writers employed in making a
list ofthe Jews in Egypt, produced their reeds quite worn out.
This usage was common among the ancients. Thus Persius,
Sat. iii. " Inque manus charts, nodosaque venit arundo."
The English word pen comes from the Latin penna ; but the
use of quills for writing is a modern invention, the first authentic
testimony of their being applied to this use is in Isiodorus, who
died in 636.
The long stalk of the reed was also used for a measuring rod.*
Com. Rev. xi. 1 ; xxi. 15, 16, with Ezek. xl. 5. Also for a ba
lance, Isai. xlvi. 6, probably after the manner of the steel-yard,
whose arm, or beam was a graduated reed.
A reference to this article enables me to correct two passages
in the book of Job, to which our English version does not dojus-
tice. The first is the second verse of chapter xii ; where the
word is translated "hook," but means a thong or rope qf rushes.
The passage should have been rendered thus :
Say, canst thou tie up his mnuth with a rush-rope,
And bore his jaw through with a thorn ?
The muzzle was to secure his mischievous jaws, and the thorn
to make it fast, and prevent its slipping off, by pinning it to his
cheeks. Thus the Greek word a-%oivos, which properly signifies
a bull-rush, is also used for a rope ;t and the Latin word juncus,
a bull-rush, a jungendo, from joining, for the same reason. We
even retain the word in English junk, an old rope. And Has
selquist observes that of the leaves of one sort of reed which
grow near the Nile the Egyptians now make ropes. " They lay
them in water, like hemp, and then make good and strong cables.
of them, which, with the bark of the date tree, are almost the
only cable used in the Nile."
The second instance is in the 20th verse, where the word is
rendered " caldron." It should be,
Out of his nostrils issueth smoke,
And the rushes are kindled before it-X See Bull-rush, Cane.
* " Altudine 6 vel. 8 ulnar, excrescunt." Forskal.
t Hence our English word skein.
X Ovid did not scruple to describe the enraged boar in figures equally
bold. " Fulmen ab ore venit, froudesque adflatibus ardent."

358 THE NATURAL HISTORY
ROE. 'ax tsebi. Arab, dsabi. Chald. tabitha. Persic zcsbe-
jat. [Meninski, 3168.]
Occ. Deut. xii. 15. 22; xiv. 5; xv. 22; 1 Kings .iv. 23; 1
Chron. xii. 8; 2 Sam. ii. 18; Prov. vi. 5; Cantic. ii. 7. 9. 17;
iii. 5 ; iv. 5 ; vii. .3 ; viii. 14; Isai. xiii. 14.
A0PKA2, Ecclesiasticus, xxvii. 20.
A small animal of the deer kind, being only three feet four
inches long, and somewhat more than two feet in height. The
horns are from eight to nine inches long, upright, round, and di
vided into three branches. The body is covered with long hair,
the lower part of each hair is ash colour, near the end is a narrow
bar of black, tipped with ash colour. The ears are long; their
insides of a pale yellow, and covered with long hair. The chest,
belly, legs, and inside of the thighs, are of a yellowish white ; the
rump of a pure white. The tail is very short.
The form ofthe roe buck is elegant, and its motions light and
easy, lt bounds seemingly without effort, and runs with great
swiftness. When hunted it endeavours to elude its pursuers by
the most subtle artifices : it repeatedly returns upon its former
steps, till, by various windings, it has entirely confounded the
scent. The cunning animal then, by a sudden spring, bounds to
one side ; and, lying close down upon its belly, permits the hounds
to pass by, without offering to stir.
They do not keep together in herds, like other deer, but live
in separate families. The sire, the dam, and the young ones, as
sociate together, and seldom mix with 'others.
It may, however, be questioned, whether this animal was a na
tive of those southern countries : Pliny says that it was not.*
The Greek name, dorcas, may as well be understood of the gazel,
or antelope, which is very common all over Greece, Syria, the
Holy Land, Egypt, and Barbary.
It may be further urged, that the characteristics attributed to
the dorcas, both in sacred and profane history, will very well
agree with the gazel. Thus Aristotle describes it to be " the
smallest of the horned animals," as it certainly is. being even
smaller than the roe. It is celebrated as having fine eyes ; and
they are so to a proverb. The damsel whose name was Tabitha,
which is by interpretation, Dorcas, spoken of Acts ix. 36, might
be so called from this particular feature and circumstance. Asa-
hel, likewise, is said, 2 Sam. ii. 1 8, to be as swift of foot as the
tzebi; and few creatures exceed the antelope in swiftness.
This animal also is in great esteem among the eastern nations,
* " In Africam autem nee esse apros, nee cervos, nee capreas, nee ursos."
Lib. viii. c 58.

OF THE BIBLE. 369
for food; having a very sweet musky taste, which is highly
agreeable to their palates ; and therefore might well be received
as one of the dainties at Solomon's table. 1 Kings iv. 23.
If then we lay all these circumstances together, they will ap
pear to be much more applicable to the gazel or antelope, which
is a quadruped well known and gregarious ; than to the roe,
which was either not known at all, or else very rare in those
countries. Its exquisite beauty probably gave it its name, which signifies
loveliness.* When the Arabians intend to describe a beauty, they make use
of several similitudes. They compare her face to the mild ma
jesty ofthe moon, &c. &c- Amongst others, a most remarkable
and common expression of this kind is, when thty compare her
eyes to those of a rock goat, which is a very common animal
in Syria and Palestine. Hasselquist, thinks this comparison
more remarkable, because Solomon in his Canticles,? uses some,
taken from the same animal ; and concludes that we have every
reason to suppose, the doe of the royal lover, the rock-goat.%
The beauty of the animal, its being common in the countries
where Solomon wrote his books, and finally, the custom, which
has continued to this day the same, are all circumstances which
help to confirm us in this opinion.
The ancient method of catching this animal, was by a net,
or snare. When entangled in the toils, it would use every ex
ertion to escape before the pursuer arrived. Like efforts are
recommended by Solomon, Prov. vi. 5, to the man who has rash
ly engaged to be surety for his neighbour. " Deliver thyself
as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from
the hand of the fowler." The snare is spread ; the adversa
ry is at hand ; instantly exert all thy powers to obtain a dis
charge from that in which you are entangled ; a moment's
hesitation may involve thee and thy family in irretrievable
ruin !
The word translated "roe," Prov. v. 19, Bochart supposes
to be the ibex, which has been described under the article Goat.
See Antelope and Hind.
* And the word is actually translated " beauty," 2 Sam. i. 19, and Ezek.
vii- 20 ; " beautiful," Isai. iv. 2 ; " goodly," Jer. iii. 19 ; and " pleasant,"
Dan. viii. 9.'
t He here confounds Cantic. ii. 9, with Prov. v. 19.
X See also, Good's Sacred Idylls, p. 83.

360 THE NATURAL HISTORY
ROSE, nbxan habetzeleth.
Occurs Cantic. ii. 1, and Isai. xxxv. 1, only.
The rose, so much and so often sung by the poets of Persia,
Arabia. Greece, and Rome, is, indeed, the pride of the garden
for elegance of form, for glow of colour, and fragrance of smell.
Tournefort, mentions fifty three kinds, of which the Damas
cus rose, and the rose of Sharon are the finest. The beauty of
these flowers is too well known to be insisted on ; and they are
at this day much admired in the East, where they are extreme
ly fragrant.* In what esteem the rose was among the Greeks,
may be learned from the fifth, and fifty-third odes of Anacreon.
Among the ancients, it occupied a conspicuous place in every
chaplet ; it was a principal ornament in every festive meet
ing, and at every solemn sacrifice. And the comparisons in
Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 14, and 1. 8, shew that the Jews were like
wise much delighted with it. The rose-bud, or opening rose,
seems in particular a favourite ornament. The Jewish sensual
ists in Wisd. ii. 8, are introduced saying, " Let us fill ourselves
with costly wine and ointments ; and let no flower of the spring
pass by us. Let us crown ourselves with rose-buds before they
are withered."!
From the Targum, R. David, and the Arabic, Celsius,
Hierob. V. i. p. 48-8, concludes that the flower spoken of in Can
ticles and Isaiah, is the narcissus. The 'author of Scripture Il
lustrated has the following remarks. " The LXX. and Jerom,
instead of rose, render ' the flower of the fields,' but the Chaldee
calls this flower, jardeh, rose ; and is followed by most western
interpreters : circumstances seem to determine this to be the
wild-rose, the uncultivated flower, which thereby correspounds to
the lily in the next verse. But besides this rose, Scheuchzer,
refers to Hiller, Hierophyt. p. 2, who rather seeks this flower
among the bulbous-rooted plants, saying, that the Hebrew word
rendered " rose," may be derived from 33n chabab, he has lov
ed, and bvi batjel, a bulb, (or onion,) bulbous root of any flow
er :' and he declares for the asphodel, whose flowers resemble
those ofthe lily. It is a very beautiful and odoriferous jflower ;
and highly praised by two of the greatest masters of Grecian
song, Hesiod, says it grows commonly in woods ; and Homer,
(Odyss. i. v. 24,) calls the Elysian fields, " meads filled with as
phodel ;" words which agree with the sentiment of the Hebrew
here, if we take Sharon (as seems perfectly proper) for the com-.
* Harmer's Outlines, p. 236, 239. Jones Poes. Asiat. Comment, p.
102, 113, and 136. Good's Sacred Idylls, p. 77.
f Harmer, Obs* V, iii. p. 188, illustrates this passage.

' OF THE BIBLE. 361
mon field. " I am the asphodel ofthe meadows (or woods ;) the
lily of the vallies," or places not cultivated as a garden is. I
prefer, however, the derivation from chabah, to hide, and tjel, to
shade, which denote a rose not yet blown, but overshadowed by
its calyx ; if to this we add the idea of a wild rose, we approach,
I presume, to the strength ofthe term ; " I am a wild rose flow
er, not fully blown ; but enclosed as yet," (partly alluding to her
enclosing veil.) She compares herself not to the full-blowu rose,
but to the bud with its beauties shaded and concealed ; the finest
emblem in nature of modesty and unassuming excellence. " A
little attention to the context, (says Bp. Percy,*) will convince us
that she does not here mean to extol the charms of her person,
but rather the contrary. The bridegroom had just before called
her fair ; she, with a becoming modesty, represents her beauty
as nothing extraordinary, as a mere common wild-flower. This,
he, with all the warmth of a lover, denied, insisting upon it, that
she as much surpassed the generality of maidens, as the flower
of the lily does that of the bramble : and she returns the com
pliment." In the East-Indies, an extract is made, called " ottar of roses,"
which is very costly. It is doubtless the most admirable perfume
in vegetable nature ; as a single drop imparts its fragrance
throughout the room or dwelling, and suppresses other less
agreeable odours.
RUBY, cms peninim.
Occ. Job xxviii. 18 ; Prov. iii. 15; viii. 10; xx. 15; xxxi.
10; and Lam. iv. 7.
The ruby is a beautiful gem, of a red colour, with a mixture
of purple: but the word here used means pearls. See Pearl.
' RUE. rmrANON.
Occurs Luke xi. 42, only.
A small shrubby plant, common in gardens. It has a strong*
unpleasant smell, and a bitterish, penetrating taste.
RUSH, tmi goma.
Occ. Exod. ii. 3 ; Job viii. 1 1 ; Isai. xviii. 2 ; xxxv. 7.
A plant growing in the water at the sides of rivers, and in
marshy, grounds.!
It may be the plant mentioned by Lobo, Voyage d'Abyssinie,
p. 51, when speaking ofthe Red Sea, he says, " Nousne l'avons
pas jamais vue rouge, que dans les lieux ou il y a beaucoup de
* New Trausl. of Sol. Song, p. 58.
f For a particular description, see Good's transl. of Job, p. 82.
46

362 THE NATURAL HISTORY
Gouemon." " II y a beaucoup de cette herbe dans la Mer
rouge." See Bull-rush.
RYE. rtDDO cussemeth.
Occ. Exod. ix. 32 ; Isai. xxviii. 35 ; and Ezek. iv. 9. In the
latter place rendered " fitches."
The word seems derived from aQ3 casam, to have long hair ;
and hence, though the particular species is not known, the word
must mean some bearded grain. The Septuagint calls it oXti^a,
the Vulgate, " far," and Aquila, fyx, which signifies the grain
called spelt ; and some suppose that rice is meant.* See Fitches.
SAFFRON, orro carcom ; Arab, zafran ; Pers. kerkem.
Occ. Cantic. iv. 14, only.
An early plant growing from a bulbous root, whence arise stalks
bearing a blue flower ; in the middle of which flower, are three
little golden threads, which are what is called saffron among
druggists. The flower is more generally known by the name
crocus, which is similar to what it is called in Hebrew.
SALT. nbn.
Occ. Gen. xix. 26 ; Levit. ii. 13, and elsewhere frequently.
AAA2, Matth. v. 13; and elsewhere several times in the New
Testament. A substance well known. It is found sometimes as a fossil, but
the common sort is produced from evaporated sea-water. For
its seasoning and preserving qualities, it has, in all ages been dis
tinguished. God appointed that salt should be used in all the sacrifices of
fered to him : Every oblation of thy meat offering, shalt thou
season with salt : neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the cove
nant qf thy God to be lacking from thy meat offerings ; with all
thy offerings thou shalt offer salt. Levit. ii. 13. Upon this pas
sage, Dr. A. Clarke remarks ; " salt was the opposite to leaven,
for it preserved from putrefaction and corruption, and signified
the purity and persevering fidelity that are necessary in the wor
ship of Gon. Every thing was seasoned with it, to signify the
* Jerom, in his Comment on Kzekiel, torn. iii. p. 722, says, " Quam nos
viciam interpretati suiniis, pro quo in Hebraeo dicitur chasamim ; Septua-
ginta Theodotinque posuerunt oweAv, quam alii avenam, alii sigalam putant.
Aqiiilae autem prima editio et >ymmarhus£Wc, sive c*«*?, interpretati sunt :
quas nos \e]far, vel gentili Halite Pannoniajque sermone spieam speliamque
dicimus." mOJ esse speltam, satis certe effecit Celsius, Hierob. p. ii. p. 98 — 101.
Rosenmuller, in loc.

OF THE BIBLE. 683
purity and perfection, that should be. extended through every
part ofthe divine service, and through the hearts and lives of
God's worshippers. It was called ' the salt of the covenant of
God,' because, as salt is incorruptible, so was the covenant
and promise of Jehovah. Among the heathens, salt was a
common ingredient in all their sacrificial offerings, and as it
was considered essential to the comfort and preservation of
life, and an emblem of the most perfect corporeal and mental
endowments, so it was supposed to be one ofthe most accepta
ble presents they could make unto their gods, from whose sacri
fices it was never absent. That inimitable and invaluable wri
ter, Pliny, has left a long chapter on this subject, the seventh of
the thirty-first book of his Natural History. He there observes,
" so essentially necessary is salt, that without it human life cannot
be preserved, and even the pleasures and endowments of the
mind are expressed by it; the delights of life, repose, and the
highest mental serenity, are expressed by no other term than
sales, among the Latins.* It has also been applied to designate
the honourable rewards given to soldiers, which are called "sala-
rii," salaries. But its importance may be farther understood by
its use in sacred things, as no sacrifice was offered to the gods
without the salt-cake."
Salt is the symbol ofwisdom, Col. iv. 6, of perpetuity and in-
corruption, Numb, xviii. 1 9, 2 Chron. xiii. 5, of barrenness and ste
rility, Judges ix. 45, Zeph. ii. 4. It is likewise the emblem of
hospitality ; and of that fidelity, which is due from servants,
friends, guests, and domestics, to those that entertain them, and
receive them at their tables : it is used in this sense, Ezra
iv. 14, where maintenance from the king's table should have been
translated, salted with the salt qf the palace, as it is in the Chaldee.
Salt is reckoned among the principal necessaries of man's life,
Ecclus. xxxix. 26, or 31. And it is now a common expression
of the natives in the East Indies, " I eat such an one's salt,"
meaning, I am fed by him. But this is not all ; for salt among
the Eastern nations, anciently was, as it still is, a symbol of hospi
tality and friendship, and that for very obvious reasons. Hence
to have eaten of a man's salt, is to be bound to him by the ties of
friendship. The learned Jos,. Mede, observes, (works, p. 370,
fol.) that in his time, " when the emperor of Russia, would shew
extraordinary grace and favour unto any, he sent hitn bread and
salt from his table ; and when he invited baron Sigismund,' the
«smperor Ferdinand's ambassador, he did it in this form : ' Sigis
mund, you shall eat our bread and salt with us." So Tamer-
* Hence salvs health.

364 THE NATURAL HISTORY
lane, in his Institutes, mentioning one Share Behraum, who had
quitted his service, joined the enemy, and fought against him,
" at length, (says he,) my salt which he had eaten, overwhelmed
him with remorse ; he again threw himself on my mercy, and
humbled himself before me." [Gent. Mag. for 1779, p. 604.]
And, what comes still nearer to the case, in Ezra, a modern Per
sian monarch, upbraids an unfaithful servant : " I have then such
ungrateful servants and traitors as these to eat my salt." [See
Harmer's Obs. V. iv. p. 458, &c.
To what height the Mahometans sometimes carry their respect
for salt as a symbol of hospitality and friendship, may be seen
in Herbelot's Bibl. Orient, art. Ja^oub Ben Laith.
We see from Ezekiel xvi. 4, that it was customary to rub new
born children with salt. Jerom and Theodoret in loc. thought
that they did this to dry up the humidity, and to close the pores
which are then too open. Galen, [de sanit. 1. xi. c. 77,] says
that salt hardens the skins of children, and make them more firm.
Avicenna acquaints us, that they bathed children with water in
which salt had been dissolved, to close up the navel, aud harden
the skin. Others think it was to hinder any corruptions that
might proceed from cutting off the navel-string.
Although salt in small quantities, may contribute to the com
municating and fertilizing of some kinds of stubborn Soil, yet,
according to the observations of Pliny, (Nat. Hist. 1. xxxi. ch.
7,) " all places in which salt is found, are barren and produce
nothing "
The effect of salt, where it abounds, on vegetation, is describ
ed by burning, Deut. xxix. 22, or 23. " The whole land thereof
is brimstone, and salt of burning, &c." Thus M. Volney, Voyage
en Syrie, tom.i. p. 282, speaking of the borders of the Asphaltic
lake, or Dead Sea, says " the true cause ofthe absence of vege
tables and animals, is the acrid saltness of its waters, which is in
finitely greater than that of the sea. The land, surrounding the
lake, being equally impregnated with that saltness, refuses to pro
duce plants ; the air itself, which is by evaporation loaded with
it, and which moreover receives vapours of sulphur and bitumen,
cannot suit vegetation ; whence that dead appearance which reigns
around the lake."
So a salt-land, Jer. xvii. 6, is the same as the parched places
pf the wilderness, and is descriptive of barrenness ; as saltness, also
is, Job xxxix. 6 ; Psalm cvii. 34. Comp. Ezek. xlvii. 1 1 ; Zech,
ii. 9. Thus Virgil, Georg. xi. lin. 238 :
" Salsa tellus, et quae perhibetur amara
Frugibus inlelix. ea nee mansuescit arando."
The soil where bitter sails abound,
Where never ploughshare meliorates the ground.

OF THE BIBLE. 365*
Hence the ancient custom of sowing an enemy's city, when
taken, with salt, in token of perpetual desolation. Jud. ix. 45,
and thus, in after times, (An. 1162,) " the city of Milan was
burnt, razed, sown with salt, and ploughed, by the exasperated
emperor, Frederick Barbarossa." [Complete Syst. Geog. V. i.
p. 822.]
The salt used by the ancients, was what we call rock or fossil
salt ; and also that left by the evaporation of salt lakes. Loth
these kinds were impure, being mixed with earth, sand, &c. and
lost their strength by deliquescence. Maundrell, describing
the valley of salt, says, " on the side towards Gibul there, is a
small precipice, occasioned by the continual taking away of the
salt ; and in this you may see how the veins of it lie. I broke a
piece of it, of which, that part that was exposed to the sun, rain,
and air, though it had the sparks and particles of salt, yet it had
perfectly lost its savour : the inner part, which was connected
with the rock, retained its savour, as I found by proof." Christ
reminds his disciples, Matth. v. 13, "Ye are the salt of (he
earth ; but if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be
salted ? It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and
and to be trodden under foot of men." This is spoken of the
mineral salt, as mentioned by Maundrell, a great deal of which
was made use of in offerings at the temple ; such of it as had be
come insipid, was thrown out to repair the roads, and prevent
slipping in wet weather. The existence of such a salt, and its
application to such a use, Schoetgenius has largely proved in
his Horae Hebraica?, vol. i. p. 18.
The salt t»t^l for the land, Luke xvi. 34, Le Clerc conjec
tures to be that made of wood ashes, which easily loses its savour,
and becomes no longer serviceable.
" Effoetos ciuerem immundnin jactare per agros."
Virg. Geor. i. v, 8!.
SAPPHIRE. YSJD SAPHIR.
Occ. Exod. xxiv. 10; xxvii. 18 ; Job xxviii. 6, 16; Cantic. v.
14; Isai. liv. 11 ; Ezek. i. 26 ; x. 1 ; xxviii. 13. 2An$EIP02,
Rev. xxi. 1 9, only.
That this is the sapphire there can be no doubt. The Septua
gint, tbe Vulgate, and the general run of commentators, ancient
and modern, agree in this.
The sapphire is a pellucid gem. In its finest state, it is ex
tremely beautiful and valuable, and second only to the diamond
.. in lustre, hardness, and value. Its proper colour is pure blue ; in
the choicest specimens it is of the deepest azure ; and in others,

366 THE NATURAL HISTORY
varies into paleness, in shades of all degrees between that and a
pure chrystal brightness and water, without the least tinge of co
lour, but with a lustre much supenour to the crystal.
The Oriental sapphire is the most beautiful and valuable. It
is transparent, of a fine sky colour ;* sometimes variegated with
veins of a white sparry substance, and distinct separate spots of a
gold colour. Whence it is that the prophets describe the throne
of God like unto sapphire. Ezek. i. 26 ; x. 1.
Isai. liv. 11, 12, prophesying the future grandeur of Jerusa
lem, says Behold Hay thy stones in cement ofvermillion,
And thy foundations with sapphires ;
And I will make thy battlements of rubies,
And thy gates of carbuncles ;
And the whole circuit of thy walls, shall be of precious stones.
" These seem, (says Bp. Lowth,) to be general images to ex
press beauty, magnificence, purity, strength, and solidity, agreea
bly to the ideas of the Eastern nations ; and to have never been
intended to be strictly scrutinized, or minutely and particularly
explained, as if they had each of them some precise moral or spi
ritual meaning." Tobit (ch. xiii. v. 16, 17,) in his prophecy of
the final restoration of Israel, describes the New Jerusalem in
the same oriental manner. " For Jerusalem shall be built up
with sapphires, and emeralds and precious stones; thy walls,
and towers, and battlements with pure gold. And the streets
of Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl, and carbuncle, and
stones of Ophir. Compare also Rev. xxi. 18 — 21.
SARDINE. 2APA1N02.
Occ. Rev. iv. 3.
The sardius ofthe next article.
SARD1US. oik odem.
Occ. Exod. xxviii. 17; xxxix. 10; and Ezek. xxviii. 13.
2APAIOI, Rev. xxi. 20.
A precious stone of a blood-red colour. It took its name from
Sardis, where the best of them were found. This is the render
ing of the Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, and Samaritan versions ;
of Josephus, Onkelos, and the Targums; and the best modern
commentators adopt it.
* " Sereni enim coeli et lucidissimi habet colorem." Boet.

OF THE BIBLE. 367
SARDONYX. 2APA0NTH. Occ. Rev. xxi. 20, only.
A precious stone which seems to have its name from its re
semblance partly to the sardius and partly to the onyx. It is
generally tinged with black and blood colour, which arc distin
guished from each other by circles or rows, so distinct that they
appear to be the effect of art.
SATYR, a'yya seirim.
Occ. Isai. xiii.. 21 ; and xxxiv. 14.
A name given by the ancients to a fantastic being, partly hu
man, and part beast. They are represented as having horns on
their heads, crooked hands, shaggy bodies, long tails, and the legs
and feet of goats. They were imagined to dance in all sorts of
uncouth and lascivious postures. It seems probable that some
large sort of monkey or baboon, that had been seen in the woods,
gave the first occasion to feign these demi-gods. Pliny, most
evidently, means some sort of ape under the name of satyr. , He
says,* satyrs are found in some mountains of India ; they are
nimble, running sometimes upon all four, sometimes erect like
men, and they are so swift that it is difficult to overtake them
except they are old or sick.
They are spoken of in our English translation of Isai. xiii. 21 ;
xxxiv. 1 4, but it has been often and decisively proved that goats are
there intended. t The English version of 1550 and 1574, have
it " and apes shall daunce there."
In the delineation of the Mosaic pavement at Praneste given
by Barthelemy [Mem. de I' Acad, des Inscriptions, xxx. p. 534.1
is represented an ape, or rather baboon, whose name, according
to the Abbe, should be read catypOc, satyrus.
Doederlein is of the opinion that the Hebrew means a spe
cies of ape called " maimon" or " mermon." They are said to
be shaggy like goats, and resembling them in appearance.
SCARLET, nj^in tolaat.
Occurs Gen. xxxviii. 28 ; Exod. xxv. 4, and elsewhere fre
quently. This tincture, or colour is expressed by a word which signifies
worm-colour ; and was produced from a worm, or insect which
grew in a coccus, or excrescence of a shrub of the ilex kind,^
which Pliny calls "coccus scolecius," the wormy berry, and
Dioscorides as " a small dry twig, to which the grains adhere
* L. 7. c. 2. and I. 8. c 54.
f See Spencer, de leg. hebr. 349. Vitringa on Rev. xviii. 2. cited by
Wetstein on .Matth iv. 2J. Lowman on Kev. xviii. 2. Farmer on
demoniacs, p. 329. and on miracles, p 250.
X Plin. N. H. 1. ix. c. 65 , 1. xxi. c. 22.

368 THE NATURAL HISTORY
like lentiles :" but these grains, as a great author observes on
Solinus, " are within full of little worms (or maggots) whose
juice is remarkable for dying scarlet, and making that famous
colour which we admire, and the ancients adored."*
We retain the name in the cochineal, from the opuntia of
America;! but we improperly call a mineral colour "Vermil
lion," which is derived from vermi cuius. The shrub on which
this insect is found is sometimes called the " kermez-oak," from
kermez the Arabic word both for the worm and the colour;
whence " carmasinus," the French •' cramoisi," and the' English
"crimson." The word scarlet, in our language, may be derived
from sar or sarra, Tyre, and lac, or lacca -.-.o':; making sar-lac,
i. e. " sarra-lacca," sive color rubrus Tyrius.|
All the ancient Greek and Latin writers agree that kermes,
called by the latter coccum perhaps also coccus, and often granum,,
were found upon a low shrubby tree, with prickly leaves, which
produced acorns, and belonged to the genus of the oak; and
there is no reason to doubt that they mean coccum ilicis, and that
low ever-green oak, with the prickly leaves ofthe holly (aquifo-
lium) which is called at present in botany quercus ilex. This
assertion appears more entitled to credit, as the ancients assign
for the native country of this tree places where it is still indige
nous, and produces kermes.
That the kermes-oak still grows and produces kermes in the
Levant, Greece, Palestine, Persia and India, is sufficiently prov
ed by the testimony of modern travellers. Bellon and Tour-
nefort saw kermes collected in the island of Crete or Candia ;§
the former also saw them between Jerusalem and Damascus,||
* Pausanias in Phociis gives a particular account of the coccus, and the
colour extracted from it See aUo Dioscorides, I iv. c 48. 1 refer also
to a Memoir of M. M mtpertuis in the Memoirs of the French Academy tor
1731. And the Annual Register for 1780. p. 100", <\at, Hist.
t Ulloa, Voyages, I. v. c. 2. p. 3-12. note.
| "Per K3'1D nihil aliud esse intelligendum quam SO;tD sarlaca, atque
sic esse scribendum, et emendandum locum Jarchii K3"i0 inserts tannim
litera b. Forsau male nostra editiones iO"10 cum duobus apicibus (").
Braunius de Vest. Sacerd. I. i.e. xv. p. 300.
§ Bellon 1 1 Itinerar i. 17. p. 23. Voyage du Levant par Tournefort,
i. p. 19.
|| Bellon. ii 88. p. M5. See also Voyage de la Terre Sainte du P-
Rover ltecollet. i, 2 and Voyase ie Vonconv. i. p. '79. I'D Brown's
Merkwurdige Riesen, nus der-, Er.giischen vi ersel-s , IVurnberg 1750, no. p.
145. Mariti, Beisen durch Cypern, Syrienund Palestina, Altenburg, 1777-
8vo. p. 155.

OF THE BIBLE. 36$
and lie informs us that the greater part of them was sent
to Venice.
The following is the opinion of professor Tyschen on the arti
cle Kermes, communicated to professor Beckman, and inserted
in his history of inventions, &c. vol. ii. p. 185.
The word kermes, karmes, and, with the article, al kermes, is
at present in the east the common name of the animal which pro
duces the dye, as well as of the dye itself. Both words have by
the Arabs and the commerce ofthe Levant been introduced into
the European languages. Kermes, Span, al charmes, al quermes,
or more properly, alkermes, alkarmes. Ital. cremesino, &c.
To what language the word originally belongs cannot with cer
tainty be determined. There are grounds for conjecturing seve
ral derivations from the Arabic : for example, karasa, extremis
digitis tenuit, which would not ill agree with ?ovu| ; and karmis
signifies imbecillus ; but this word may be derived from the small
insect, as well as the insect from it. As all these derivations,
however, are attended with grammatical difficulties, and as the
Arabians, according to their own account, got the dye and the
word from Armenia, it appears rather to be a foreign appella
tion which they received with the thing signified, when they
overran Upper Asia. Ibn Beithar in Bochart, Hierozoicon,
ii. p. 625, calls kermes an Armenian dye ; and the Arabian lexi
cographers, from whom Giggeus and Castellus made extracts,
explain the kindred word karmasal, coccineus vermiculatus, as an
Armenian word.
This dye however was undoubtedly known to the Hebrews,
the Phoenicians and the Egyptians long before the epoch of the
Arabians in the east. Among the Hebrews the dye occurs,
though not clearly, under other names, tola schani, or simply
tola, in their oldest writer, Moses. Tola is properly the worm ;
and, according to the analogy of kermes, worm-dye, scarlet.
The additional word schani signifies either double dyed, or, ac
cording to another derivation, bright, deep red dye. For both
significations sufficient grounds and old authorities might be quot
ed; but the former is the most usual, and, on account of its ana
logy with £t(ix<pov, seems to be the most probable.
But was the coccus known so early ? Is not tola, the worm-dye,
perhaps the same with purple, because the ancients made no dis
tinction between vermis and snail ? I believe not. For purple
the orientals have a particular name, argaman, argevan, which
is accurately distinguished from tola and is often added to it as
something distinct. All the ancients therefore translate the He
brew word tola by jcojocos', kermes, zehori and nehorito (deep red,
47

370 THE NATURAL HISTORY
bright dye,) which words they never put for argaman. As the
Phoenicians traded at so early a period with Spain and other
countries, Where the kermes are indigenous, it may be readily
comprehended how that dye was known in Palestine about and
before the time of Moses.
It must have been known also in Egypt about the same epoch ;
for when Moses, in the wilderness, required scarlet to ornament
the tabernacle, it could have been procured only from that coun
try. Whether kermes be indigenous in Egypt, I do not know,
On the word nxAxtvov quoted by Bochart from Hesychius as
Egyptian, the abbreviation of which, laia, in the Ethiopic lan
guage signifies scarlet, I lay no great stress, because it cannot be
proved. 1 st, That the word is originally Egyptian, as it occurs
several times in the Greek writers and in various significations ;
and 2dly, That it signifies scarlet dye, because the ancients ex
plain it sometimes by purple, sometimes by sea-colour. See
Bochart, 1. c. p. 7 >0. If the word be Egyptian, it signifies
rather red dye in general than defines purple colour. At any
rate, there is in, Coptic for the latter a peculiar word, scadschi, or
sanhadschi. The latter is explained by Kircher in Pradrom.
Copt. p. 33", mercator purpura, vermiculus coccineus, purpura.;
which is altogether vague and contradictory. The Arabic lexi
cographer, whom he ought to have translated, gives a meaning
which expresses only purple ware. t
If one might venture a supposition respecting the language of
a people whose whole history is almost bare conjecture, I would
ask if the Coptic dholi was the name of scarlet in Egypt. The
lexicographers explain it by a worm, a moth ; but in those pas?
sages ofthe translation ofthe Bible which I have compared, ano
ther word is always used, when allusion is made to worms which
gnaw or destroy. Was dholi the name ofthe worm that yields a
dye ? As dholi sounds almost like the Hebraeo-Phoenician tola,
we might further conjecture that the Egyptians received both the
name and the thing signified from the Phoenicians. But this is
mere opinion. The following conclusions seem to.be the natu
ral result ofthe above observations.
1st. Scarlet, or the kermes dye, was known in the east in the
earliest ages, before Moses, and was a discovery of the Phoeni
cians in Palestine, but certainly not of the small wandering He
brew tribes.
2d. Tola was the ancient Phoenician name used by the He
brews, and even by the Syrians ; for it is employed by the Syrian
translator, Isaiah, chap. i. ver. 18. Among the Jews, after their
captivity, the Aramaean word zehori was more common.

OF THE BIBLE. 371
3d. This dye was known also to the Egyptians in the time of
Moses ; for the Israelites must have carried it along with them
from Egypt.
4th. The Arabs received the name kermes, with the dye, from
Armenia and Persia, where it was indigenous, and had been long
known ; and that name banished the old name in the east, as the
name scarlet has in the west. For the first part of this assertion
we must believe the Arabs.
5th. Kermes were perhaps not known in Arabia ; at least
they were not indigenous, as the Arabs appear to have had no
name for them.
6th. Kermes signifies always red dye ; and when pronounced
short, it becomes deep red. I consider it, therefore, as a mere
error ofthe translation when, in Avicenna, iii. Fen. 21,13 ker-
mesiahis translated purpureitas. It ought to be coccineum."
The following remarks of M. Goguet upon this curious sub
ject are too important to be overlooked. " Opinions are divided
as well as to the sense of the Hebrew word, as to the coccus by
which the Septuagint and Vulgate have translated it. Some
think that is crimson, others that is scarlet. By adopting the
translation of the Septuagint and the Vulgate, which I believe
right, it is easy to shew that the colour called coccus by the
Greeks and Romans is scarlet, very different from crimson.
The examination of the materials proper for one and the other
colour ought to decide the question.
" Crimson, properly so called, is of a deep red, and is made
with cochineal, an ingredient absolutely unknown to antiquity.
Scarlet is of a lively and bright red. To make this dye, they use
a sort of little reddish grains, which they gather from a kind of
holm oak, a dwarf tree common in Palestine, in the Isle of Crete,
and many other countries.* They find on the leaves and on the
bark of this shrub, little nuts or bladders about the size of juniper
berries. These excrescences are occasioned by the eating of
little worms. t The Arabians have giveh them the name of
'kermes.' — Let us apply these principles to the question in
hand. " It is certain that the ancients had a red colour much esteem
ed, called ' coccus,' which they distinguished from the purple.
The coccus differed from the purple, as well by its preparation,
* P. Roger, Voyage de la Terre Sainte, 1. I.e. 2. Moncony's, Voyage
parti p. 179 Belon. Obs. 1. 1. c. 17. 1. 2. c. 88. Acad, des Scien. 1714.
Mem. p 435. An. 1741. Mem. p. SO.
t Kxod. xxv. 4. Plin. I. ix. c. 65. Quinctil. Inst. Or. 1. I.e. 2. at Rome
scarlet was allowed to every body, but the purple was reserved for the high
est dignities.

372 THE NATURAL HISTORY
as by its shade and the effect ofthe colour. Purple, as we have
seen, was of a deep red approaching to coagulated blood, and
was dyed with a liquor of certain shell-fishes. The coccus, on
the contrary, was of a gay red, lively, bright, approaching to the
colour of fire.* This dye was made with a sort of little grains,
which they gathered on the holm-oak.t The ancients even call
ed these the fruits ofthe holm-oak.% Neither were they ignorant
that these pretended fruits inclosed worms. § After this exposi
tion, it clearly appears that the colour named coccus by the an
cients was our scarlet. The Septuagint and Vulgate having
translated by that word the Hebrew term used by Moses to de
sign a red colour, other than purple, it follows that they believed
he meant the scarlet. But independently of the authority and
consideration which these interpreters deserve, the etymology of
the terms of the original text, proves the truth of the sentiment
which I propose. We see there plainly intenued, a dye made
with worms.
" But I do not think that this colour was as brilliant as that
which we now call scarlet. I even doubt whether the ancients
could approach towards it. Let us not forget, that before chemi
cal discoveries, the art of dying must have been very imperfect.
Without the preparations which chemistry affords, we could not
dye stuffs fine scarlet. This is the most bright and beautiful
colour in dying; but one ofthe most difficult to bring to its point
of perfection."
In Exod. xxv. 4; xxviii. 8, et al. njr^in tolaat, the worm or
colouring matter, is joined with -Jjy shani, which signifies " to
repeat," or " double," and implies that to strike this colour, the
wool or cjoth was twice dipped ; hence the Vulgate, renders the
original "coccum bis tinctum," scarlet twice dyed. And that
this was usual among the ancients is certain from many passages
which might be quoted. Thus Horace, 1. ii. od. xvi. v. 35.
 " Te bis Afro

IMuricae tinctte
Vestiunt lanse."
The wool with Africa purple double dyed.
* Plin. N. H. 1. ix. c. 65. p. 528. 1. xxi. c.22. p. 240.
t Theophrast. Hist, plant. 1. iii. c. 16. Plin. I. xvi. c. 12. Diosco
rid I. iv. c 48. Pacss. I. 10. c. 36.
j u^mKAprnv. Plut. in Thess. p. 7. Plin. 1. xvi. c. 12. calls these little
grains " cuSculia," from the Greek MJtuiM.uv, which signifies to cut little tx-
crescences ; because in effect they cut aud scrape these small grains off
the bark and leaves of the tree.
§ " Coccum ilicis celerrime in venuiculum se mutans." Plin. 1. xxiv.
c, 4.

OF THE BIBLE. 373
And again, Epod. xii. v. 21.
" Muricibus Tyriis iterataevellera lanae."
The wools with lyrian purple double dyed.
And Pliny, N. H. 1. ix. c. 1 6, mentions " dibapha Tyria," called
" dibapha," says he, because it was twice dyed, ("bis tiucta,") at
a great expense.
The word rendered " scarlet," in Dan. v. 7, 16, 29, should
be purple.
The scarlet mentioned in the New Testament, Matth. xxvii.
28 ; Hebr. ix. 19; and Rev. xvii. 3, 4, is kbwuvk, or coccus co
lour.* See Red and Purple.
SCORPION, zyy okrab.
Occ. Deut. viii. 15; 1 Kings xii. 11, 14; 2 Chron. x. 11, 14;
and Ezek. ii. 6. 2K0PEI102, Luke x. 9; xi. 12; Rev. ix. 3;
and Ecclesiasticus xxvi. 7 ; xxxix. 30.
It has been remarked, that the name is formed of two words,
which signify to kill one's father, and hence means " the father-
killer;" and both Pliny and Aristotle inform us, that it is the
character of the scorpion, to destroy its own parents. But Park
hurst, derives the name from py to press, squeeze, and :n much,
greatly, or :np near, close. Calmet remarks, that " it fixes vio
lently on such persons as it seizes upon, that it cannot be plucked
off without difficulty ;" and Martinus, Lex. Etymol. in Nepa,
declares, " habent scorpii forfices seu furcas tanquam brachia,
quibus retinent quod apprehendunt, postquam caudas aculeo
punxerunt." Scorpions have pincers or nippers, with which
they keep hold of what they seize after they have wounded it
with their sting.
The word JEkreb, and plural Ukraban, is found in the lexi
con of Meninski, 3256 and 3297, as the name of the scorpi
on ; the Arabs still retain the name ; and there is no difficul
ty in determining the animal.
* This is a crimson approaching to the. purple. Hebr. yb)T\ iwmtvw,
cramosinum. To illustrate Matth. xxvii. 28, comp. Philo in Flaccura,
where Carqbas, a mock king of Kgypt, is dressed in this colour. In John
xix. 2, the Syriac gives SOUIX, which answers to the Hebrew JI3J1N, and
is rendered by the Greeks, as the LXX swjijwgov ; yet the colour |DJ1K,
is the same, or nearly that expressed by i'Stri and a'W, LXX. Minium.
Thus Isai. i. 18 ; the Septuagint renders at wwmr, Lat. Vulgate, " cocci-
num."

374 THE NATURAL HISTORY
The scorpion, el-akerb is generally two inches in length,
and resembles so much the lobster in form, that the latter is
called by the Arabs " akerb d'elbahar," the sea-scorpion. It
has several joints or divisions in its tail, which are supposed to
be indicative of its age ; thus, if it have five, it is considered
to be five years old. The poison of this animal is in its
tail, at the end of which, is a small, curved, sharp-pointed
sting, similar to the prickle of a buck-thorn tree; the curve
being downwards, it turns its tail upwards when it strikes a
blow. The scorpion delights in stony places, and in old ruins.
Some are of a yellow colour, others brown, and some black.
The yellow possess the strongest poison, but the venom of each
affects the part wounded, with frigidity, which takes place soon
after the sting has been inflicted. Dioscorides, 1. vii. c. 7, thus
describes the effect produced : " where the scorpion has stung,
the place becomes inflamed and hardened ; it reddens by tension,
and is painful by intervals, being now chilly, now burning. The
pain soon rises high, and rages, sometimes more, sometimes less.
A sweating succeeds, attended by a shivering and trembling; the
extremities ofthe body become cold ; the groin swells ; the hair
stands on end : the visage becomes pale ; and the skin feels
throughout it, the sensation of perpetual pricking, as if by
needles." This description strikingly illustrates Rev. ix. 3, 4,
5, 10, in its mention of " the torment of a scorpion, when he
striketh a man."*
Some writers consider the scorpion as a species of serpent, be
cause the poison of it is equally powerful : so the sacred writers
commonly join the scorpion and serpent togetherin theirdescrip-
tions. Thus Moses, in his farewell address to Israel, Deut. viii.
15, reminds them, that God "led them through the great and
terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions."
We find them again united in the commission of our Lord to his
disciples, Luke x. 19 ; "I give you power to tread upon ser
pents, and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy ;"
and, in his directions concerning the duty of prayer, Luke xi. 11,
12. " If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will
he give him a stone ? or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him
a scorpion ?"
The scorpion is contrasted with an egg, on account of the oval
shape of its body. The body ofthe scorpion, says Lamy,T is ve-
* For an account ofthe scorpion sec Pliny, N. H. I. xi. c. 25. Tertul
lian, in his book, called " Scorpiacum," has well descrioed the scorpion :
see also, Scheuchzer, Phys. Sacr, tab. cccxxxiii-
f Apparat. Bibl. b. iii. c, 2, $ 8.

OF THE BIBLE. 376
jy like an egg, as its head can scarcely be distinguished ; especial
ly if it be a scorpion ofthe white kind, which is the first species
mentioned by ^Elian, Avicenna, and others. Bochart has pro
duced testimonies to prove that the scorpions in Judea, were
about the bigness of an egg. So the similitude is preserved be
tween the thing asked and given. The Greeks have a proverb,
'<*vti 7re£)ttj? <nco£?nov, instead qf a perch, or fish, a scorpion.*
Celsius? and Hiller,J conjecture that in 1 Kings xii.' 1 1 ;
2 Chron. x. 11 ; and Ezek. ii. 6, a thorn is spokqn of, whose
prickles are. of a venomous nature, called by the Arabians,
" scorpion thorns." But in the first of these places, the Chal
dee reads whip ; and we know that the ancients used the word
scorpion, to express a whip armed with points. Isiodore says,§
" If it be smooth it is a rod;; if it has either knots or points, it is
called a scorpion." Certain machines used in war, were also
called scorpions; and are mentioned. 1 Maccab. vi. 51. ||
Akrabbim, Numb, xxxiv. 4; Josh. xv. 3 ; and Judges i. 36 ;
was so named from being the haunt of scorpions. The place
was afterwards called Acrabatane. See 1; Maccabi v. 3. In
Ptolemy, we find a city in Mesopotamia, called Akraba, not far
from Charran, and a region on the Tigris named Acabene, for
which Bochart proposes to read Acrabene ; all of them al
luding to the number of scorpions with which they were in
fested.
SERPENT, am nachash.
Occurs first Gen. iii. 1 ; and afterwards frequently.
This word, says the learned Gataker,TT is in the Hebrew a
general term, common to all living creatures, in water, or on land,
that glide along, in one or on the other, with a wriggling kind of
motion, without the use of feet or fins.
Dr. Adam Clarke in his Note on Gen. iii. l,has the following
remarks. " The word, according to Buxtorf, and others, has
three meanings in Scripture. (1.) lt signifies to view, or observe
attentively, to divine or use enchantments, because in them the
augurs viewed attentively, certain omens, &c. and under this
* Erasm chiliad.
t Hierobot. p. ii p. 45.
X Hierophyt c. 42.
j.Orig. 1. v. c. 25.
|| These are described by Tertullian-, at the beginningof the book*
" Scorpiacum ;" by Vkgetius, 1. ivi c. 22'; Jostus f ips I. iii ; Poi.iir-
cet, dial iii. and Philo de; teUtrum comimvHonti inter Vet. JVlathemat.
Op. p. 73.
f Annot. in Isai. xxvii. 1 1.

376 THE NATURAL HISTORY
head it signifies to acquire knowledge by experience. (2.) It signi
fies brass, brazen, and is translated in our bible, not only
" brass," but " chains," " fetters," " fetters of brass," and in
several places, " steel ;" see 2 Sam. xxii. 35 ; Job xx. 24 ; Psal.
xviii. 34 ; and in one place at least, " filthiness," or fornication,
Ezek. xvi. 36. (3.) It signifies a serpent, but of what kind is not
determined. In Job xxvi. 1 3, it seems to mean the hippopota
mus. In Eccles. x. 2, the creature, of whatever kind, is compar
ed to the babbler; " surely the serpent, nach-ish, will bite with
out enchantment ; and a babbler is no better." In Isai. xxvii. 1,
the crocodile or alligator seems particularly meant by the origi
nal. And in Isai. lxv. 25, the same creature is meant as in Gen.
iii. 1 , for in the words, " and dust shall be the serpent's meat,"
there is an evident allusion to the words of Moses. In Amos ix.
3, the crocodile is evidently intended. " Though they be hid in
the bottom ofthe sea, thence will I command the serpent, amn,
ha-nachash, and he shall bite them." No person can suppose
that any of the snake or serpent kind, can be intended here ; and
we see from the various acceptations of the word, and the differ
ent senses which it bears in various places in the Sacred Writings
that it appears to be a sort of general term, confined to no one
sense." II. Thefiery serpent, 3"it» saraph, mentioned Numb. xxi. 6,
8; Dent. viii. 15; Isai. xiv. 29; and xxx. 6, was so called, pro
bably from the burning sensation which its bite occasioned. Plu
tarch speaks of a similar kind of reptiles.* " The inhabitants'
of the country round the Red Sea, (says he,) were tormented in
such a manner, as was never heard of till that time. Little dra
gons bit their arms and legs : and if you touched them ever so
lightly, they fixed themselves to the flesh, and their bite was intole
rably painfiil, and like fire.t The Hebrew original, signifies also a
winged serpent : and we are told, that such were very common
both in Egypt and Arabia.f The learned Bochart, describes
* Lib. viii. de fest. 9, 9.
¦j- Such a serpent is described, Virgil, Georg- iii. v 425—440.
X Herooopus, says he had seen them, and went to the city of Butus for
that purpose, 1 ii e. 75, 76. He in another place, gives a particular de
scription of them, "I. iii. c 107 — 110 ; and Pausanius says that a physician
brought into Ionia- a scorpion, which had wings like those of the grass-hop
per, Herodotus, Hist. " Euterpe," § 75, says, " There is a place in Ara
bia, near the city Butos, which I visited for the purpose of obtaining infor-
mat 'mi concerning the winged serpents. I saw here a prodigious quantity of
serpents, bonps and ribs, placed on heaps of different heights. Tbe place
itself, is a strait betwixt two mountains ; it opens upon a wide plain,
which communicates with Egypt. They affirm, that in the commence-

OF THE BIBLE. 377
them as short, spotted with divers colours, and with wings resem»
blihg those ofthe bat. He quotes a number of ancient and mo
dern authors to prove that they are the same with the hydra of
the Greeks or Latins.
The heathen writers concur in testifying that the deserts
wherein the Israelites journeyed, produced serpents of so veno
mous a kind, that their biting was deadly, beyond the power of
any art then known to cure it.* The ancients observed, in ge
nera!, that the most sandy and barren deserts, had the greatest
number, and the most venomous of serpents. Diodorus, 1. iii. p»
1 28, makes this remark more particularly concerning the sand3
of Africa; but it was equally true of the wilderness through
which the Israelites journeyed. Some writers have supposed
that the serpents that bit the Israelites were of the flying kind.
Herodotus, 1. iii. c. 109, informs us that Arabia produced this
sort : but Moses does not hint that they were flying-serpents ; he
calls them ha nechashim haserapim, Numb. xxi. 5 ; had he meant
flying-serpents, he would have said, nachashim serapim menope-
pim, for so they are described where they are mentioned in
the Scriptures. See Isai. xiv. 19 ; xxx. 6. Strabo, Geogr. 1.
xvi. p. 778, has taken notice of a kind of serpents in or near the
parts where the Israelites journeyed, Which might be called fiery
from their colour ; and both Diodorus, and he, were of opinion,
that the bites of these were incurable ; of which sort, probably,
were those which assaulted the Israelites.
Professor PAXTONt remarks, that the original term 33ij?n meo-
pheph, does not always signify flying with wings ; it often ex
presses vibration, swinging backwards and forwards, a tremulous
motion, a fluttering ; which is tbe motion of the darting serpent.
He also observes that the phrase will bear another interpretation
Which, perhaps, approaches still nearer the truth. The verb
Sy? ouph, sometimes means to sparkle, to emit coruscations of
light. In this sense, the noun nayn theepha, frequently occurs
in the sacred volume. Thus in Job xi. 17, Zophar says " the
coruscation, naj?n, shall be as the morning." The word may
therefore refer to the ruddy' colour of tbe serpent, and express
the sparkling ofthe blazing sun-beani upon its scales, which are
extremely brilliant.
ment of every spring, these winged serpents fly from Arabia towards Kgypt,
but that the Ibis here meets and destroys them. The Arabians say, that
in acknowledgment, of this service, the Egyptians hold the Ibis in great
reverence, which is not contradicted by that people."
* Strabo, Geogr. 1. xvi. p. 759. Herodot. 1. iii. c. 109. Diodor; 1. iii.
p. 128.
t Illustrations, V.i. p. 353.
48

378 THE NATURAL HISTORY
I have a little enlarged upon this serpent called saraph, be
cause it was ofsjich, that the Israelites were so grievously bitten
in the wilderness.* An imitation of one of these, formed of brass,
was by Moses erected on a pole, that those who should be bitten
by the saraphim might look up to it and be healed. The serpent
thus raised up for the security and the salvation of the people,
Christ informs us was a representation of his crucifixion, and an
allusion to its restorative design. John iii. 14.
The author of the Book of Wisdom, (ch. xvi. 5,) gives a most
beautiful turn to the means of deliverance appointed by God,
namely, looking up to the brazen serpent that the offending Is
raelites might be healed of the wounds made by these fiery ser
pents : " for when the horrible fierceness of beasts came upon
these (thy people,) and they perished with the stings of crooked
serpents, thy wrath endured not forever : but they were troubled
for a small season, that they might be admonished, having a sign
of salvation to put them in remembrance of the commandment of
thy law. For he that turned towards it, was not saved by the
thing that they saw ; but by thee, that art the Saviour of all.
And in this, thou madest thine enemies confess that it is thou that
deliverest from all evil ; for them, the bitings of grasshoppers and
flies killed, neither was there found any remedy for their life,
for they were Worthy to be punished by such : but thy sons, not
the very teeth of venomous dragons overcame ; for thy mercy
was ever by them, and healed them. For they were stung that
they should remember thy words, and were quickly saved, that
not falling into deep forgetfulness, they might be continually
mindful of thy goodness."
The learned. Michaelis, Quest. 83, recommended it to the
gentlemen who lately travelled into Arabia, at the expense of the
king of Denmark, to inquire after the existence and nature of
flying serpents. He remarks, " although modern naturalists
have not communicated any satisfactory information respecting
flying serpents, yet they are so often spoken of by the ancient
writers of nations near to the equator, who may be better acquaint
ed with the nature of serpents than we are, that I dare boldly re
commend farther inquiries to travellers respecting the existence
of such. If there be any, and if they have been seen by witnesses
deserving of credit, I beg every information, name, &c." Accord
ingly, M. Niebuhr, one of these learned travellers, in his "De-
* Numb. xxi. 9 ;. Isai. vi. 2 ; xiv. 29 ; xxx. 6. See farther, on the sub
ject of flying serpents, Bochart, de an. sacr. p. ii. 1. 3, c. 13. Cicero, de
nat. deor. I. i. Mela I. iii. c. 9. Lucan, 1. 6. and 9. Solinus, c. 32.
Am. Marcel, c. 22. ^Elian, I. ii. c. 38. Josephus, antiq. I. ii. c. 10.

OF THE BIBLE. 379
scription de l'Arabie," p. 156, speaks thus: " there is at
Basra, a sort of serpents, which they call ' Heie sursurie,' ' Heie
thiare.' They commonly keep upon the date-trees ; and, as it
woald be laborious for them to come down from a very high tree,
io order to ascend another, they twist themselves by the tail to
a branch of the former, which, making a spring by the motion
they give it; throws them to the branches of the second.
Hence it is that the modern Arabs, call them flying serpents,
' heie thiare.' I know not whether the ancient Arabs, of whom
M. Michaelis speaks, saw any other flying serpents. Admiral
Anson, also speaks of the flying serpents, that he met with at the
island of Quibo, but which were without wings." Thus M.
Niebuhr. The words in Anson's voyage are these : "The
Spaniards too informed us, that there was often found in the
woods, a most mischievous serpent, called ' the flying snake,'
which, they said, darted itself from the boughs of trees, on either
man or beast that come within its reach, and whose sting they. be
lieved to be inevitable death."* Mr. Parkhurst, after quoting
the account given by Niebuhr, says, " On the whole, I appre
hend that the fiery flying serptnt mentioned in Isaiah, was of that
species, which, from their swift, darting motion, the Greeks
called ' acontias,' and the Romans, 'jaculus,' of which, see
more in Bochart, Hieroz. V. iii. p. 411, and to these the term
seems as properly applicable in ffebrew, as ' volucer,' which
Lucan applies to them in Latin, ' jaculique volucres.' "t
The serpent was worshipped in Chaldea, and among several of
the oriental nations. In the Egyptian language, it was called
" oub," and was the same in the Chaldee dialect : hence, the
Greek oQk. Thus we read jLevit. xx. 27, " A man or a woman
that hath a familiar spirit, ni3K oboth, or that is a wizard, shall
surely be put lo death." So xx. 6 ; Deut. xvii. 1 1 ; 1 Sam.
xxviii. 3, 7, 9 ; 2 Kings xxi. 6 ; xxiii. 24 ; and 2 Chron. xxxiii.
6. The woman at Endor, who had a familiar spirit, is called " a
mistress of ob," nis, and it is interpreted " Pythonissa." Kir
cher says, that obion is still, among the people of Egypt, the
name of a serpent. It is said that Jotham, king of Israel, built
much oitthe wall of ophel, i. e. the serpent god.% See Asp.
* Voyage, p. 308, ed. 1748.
.The description of Plinv, N. H. 1. viii. c 23, is observable. " Jaculum
ex arbornm ramis vibrari, nee pedibus tantura cavere serpentes, sed et
missili volare tormento."
t Sed other authorities in " Scripture Illustrated," p,540.
X For an account of this species ;of idolatry, consult Vossius, de orig. Idol.
1. 1. i. c. 5. Bryant's Mytbol. V. i. p. 420 — 490, and Dimock " observa-

380 THE NATURAL HISTORY
SHEEP, rw seh.
Occurs frequently ; and jks tsan, a general name for both sheep
and goats, considered collectively in a flock. Arab, zain.
A well known animal. The benefits which mankind owe to it
are very numerous. Its fleece, its skin, its flesh, its tallow, and
even its horns and bowels, are articles of great utility to human
life and happiness. Its mildness and inoffensiveness of manners,
strongly recommend it to human affection and regard ; and havo
designated it the pattern and emblem of meekness, innocence,
patience and submission. It is a social animal. The flock fol
low the ram as their leader ; who frequently displays the most
impetuous courage in their defence : dogs, and even men, when
attempting to molest them, have often suffered from his sagacious
and generous valour.
There are two varieties of sheep found in Syria. The first,
called the " Bidoween sheep," differs little in appearanee
from the large breed among us, except that the tail is some
what longer and thicker. The second, is much more common,
and is more valued on account of the extraordinary bulk of its
tail, which has been remarked by all the Eastern travellers.*
The carcase of one of these sheep, without including the head,
feet, entrails, and skin, weighs from fifty to sixty pounds, of which,
the tail makes up fifteen pounds. Some of a larger size, fatten
ed with care, will sometimes weigh one hundred and fifty pounds,
the tail alone composing one third of the whole weight.f It is
of a substance between fat and marrow, and is not eaten sepa
rately, but mixed with the lean meat in many of their dishes, and
often also used instead of butter. A reference to this part is
made in Exod. xxix. 22, and Levit. iii. 9, where the fat and the
tail were to be burnt on the altar of sacrifice. Mr. Street con
siders this precept to have had respect to the health of the Israel-
tions on the serpent," annexed to his critical and explanatory notes on
Genesis, &c. London 1804. 4to.
It is a curious coincidence, that the African negroes denote those
whom they conceive to possess the power of enchantment, particularly the
power of inflicting disease and death. " Oei men and women." They
may, perhaps have borrowed the word from the Moors, who use a corrupt
Arabic. " The appalling myteries of Obi's spell."
Montgomery's W. Indies.
See Dallas' History of the Maroons among the mountains of Jamaica.
Also Dr. Mosslgv's Treatise on Sugar.
* Ovis platyura. Lin, Syst. Nat. p. 97.
t Russell's Aleppo, V. ii, p. 147. Pennant, Zool. Scheuchzer,.
Phys. Sacr. on Exod. xxix. 22, and plate.

OF THE BIBLE. 381
ites ; observing, that " bilious disorders are very frequent in hot
countries ; the eating of fat meat is a great encouragement and
excitement to them ; and though the fat of the tail is now consid
ered as a delicacy, it is really unwholesome." The conclusion
ofthe 17th verse, which is, " ye shall eat neither fat nor blood,"
justifies this opinion. The prohibition of eating fat, that is, of fat
unmixed with the flesh, the omentum or caul, is given also, Levit.
vii. 23.
SHITTIM, SITTIM, SITTAH. xsvtm, ma.
Occ. Exod. xxv. 5, 10, 13, 23, 28 ; xxvi. 26, 32, 37 ; xxvii. 1,
6 ; xxx. 5 ; xxxv. 7, 24 ; xxxvi. 20, 31, 36 ; xxxvii. 1,4, 10, 15,
25, 28 ; xxxviii. 1, 6 ; Deut. x. 3 ; and Isai. xii. 19.
What particular species of wood this is, interpreters are not
agreed. The LXX. render xtryfirrx Qax, incorruptible wood.
St. Jerom says, the shittim wood grows in the deserts of Ara
bia, and is like white thorn, as to its colour and leaves : but the
tree is so large as to furnish very long planks. The wood is
hard, tough, smooth, and extremely beautiful. It is thought that
this wood is the black acacia, because that, it is said, is the
most common tree growing in the deserts of Arabia ; and agrees
with what the Scriptures say ofthe shittim wood.*
The acacia vera, grows abundantly in Egypt, in places far
from the sea ; in the mountains of Sinai, near the Red Sea,
and in the deserts.t It is of the size of a large mulberry tree.
The spreading branches and larger limbs are armed with thorns,
which grow three together. The bark is rough. The leaves
are oblong, and stand opposite each other. The flowers,
though sometimes white, are generally of a bright yellow : and
the fruit, which resembles a bean, is contained in pods like those
of the lupin..):
" The acacia tree, (says Dr. Shaw,)§ being by much the largest
and roost common tree in these deserts, [Arabia Petraea] we have
some reason to conjecture, that the shittim wood was the wood of
the acacia ; especially as its flowers are of an excellent smell, for
the qhittah tree is in Isai. xii. 19, joined with the myrtle and other
* The Zmvov .Wjev of Dioscorides, which is the acacia vera. " Ex /Egypta
superiore Sues defertur, et potissima pars est lignorum ad naves struenv
das." Forskal, p. lvii.
t Prosp, Alpinus, Belon. observat. 1. ii. c. 56, and 80. ^Stios, 1, iv.
o. 11.
| From the unripe pods, the acacim verm succus of the ancients, was ex
pressed. Murray, App. Med. ii. 412. The seeds yield a reddish dye.
Jackson's Marocco.
J Trav. p. 444.

382 THE NATURAL HISTORY
fragrant shrubs." — It may be remarked of the two Hebrew
names, that one is feminine, the other masculine. So Mr. Bruce
observes, that, " the acacia seems the only indigenous tree in the
Thebaid. The male is called the saiel ; from it proceeds the
gum Arabic on incision with an axe. This gum chiefly comes
from Arabia Petra^a, where these trees are most numerous. But
it is the tree of all deserts, from the northmost part of Arabia to
the extremity of Ethiopia ; and its leaves the only food for camels
travelling in those desert parts."*
SILK, 'tra meschi.
Occurs Ezek. xvi. 10. 13, only.
The word " silk" appears several times in our common trans
lation answering to a word in the original which I have explained
under the article Flax. The term used in this place of Ezekiel
is supposed to be derived from nsra which signifies to draw with
a gentle hand, and therefore to mean " silk of the finest thread,
drawn out with care and nicety."t Castel and Houbigant
take it from the Arabic ia) to paint, and suppose it to mean the
" pictae vestes," of the ancients. Parkhurst observes " I meet
with no evidence that the Israelites in very early times, (and to
these Ezekiel refers) had any knowledge of silk, much less of
the manner in which it was formed; the word therefore I think
means some kind of fine linen or cotton cloth, so denominated
from the fineness with which the threads were drawn out." —
From the expression in the prophet it seems to mean simply
a veil, a mesh of fine reticulated threads.!
In the Septuagint it is rendered r^xirrov, which may be un
derstood of a net, worn by the women over their hair. Symmachus
translated it by amvfrvfjM, a head dress ; and Aquila by xvfepuwi
flourished work.
As the word which is rendered "silk" in our version, more
probably meant cotton, or rather muslin, it is doubtful whether
silk is mentioned expressly in the scripture, unless, perhaps, in
Isaiah xix. 9, where we find the Hebrew word roans? serikoth,
from ma yellowish, tawny ; which is generally the natural colour
of raw silk ; hence the Latin sericum : or it may be from the
Seres, a nation whence the Greeks and Romans first obtained the
* Trav. v. i. p. 93. — In Prosper Alpinus is a description and engraving
of the tree. ,
f Taylor's Hebr. Cone. Hence perhaps our English word " mesh,"
a net. ,
X " Errant, judice Braunio, qui putant his significari sericum, cujus usum
optimis argumentis probat fuisse ignotnm antiquis Hebrseis." Lamy de
Tabernaculo, p. 481.

OF THE BIBLE. 383
article silk.* Calmet remarks that " the ancient Greeks and
Romans had but little knowledge of the nature of silk. They
imagined that a kind of spider spun it out of its own bowels,
wound it with its feet about little rods or branches of trees, and
that these threads of silk were unravelled again by sprinkling the
coils with water. Pliny, N. H. c. xvii. says, ' Seres lanificio
sylvarum nobiles perfusam aqua depertentes sylvarem cani-
tiem.'t — The Seres communicated their silk to the Persians,
from whom it passed to the Greeks, and from them to the Ro
mans. But the Persians and orientals for a long time kept the
secret of manufacturing it among themselves."
Silk was first brought into Greece after Alexander's conquest
of Persia, and came into Italy during the flourishing times ofthe
Roman empire ; but was long so dear in all these parts as to.be
worth Its weight in gold. At length the emperor Justinian, who
died in the year 565, by means of two monks, \vhom he sent into
India for that purpose, procured great quantities of silk- worm's
eggs to be brought to Constantinople, and from these have sprung
all the silk-worms and all the silk trade that have been since in
Europe.}: See Flax.
SILVER. !jD3 keseph.
Occurs first Gen. xx. 16 ; and afterwards frequently.
APITPION. 1 Pet. i. 18 ; Acts iii. 4; and xx. 33.
A well known metal, of a white shining colour : next in value
to gold. i ,
It does not appear to have been in use before the deluge ; at
least Moses says nothing of it: he speaks only of the metals,
brass and iron ; Gen. iv. 22. But in Abraham's time it was be
come common, and traffic was carried on with it; Gen. xxiii. 2;
15. Yet it was not then coined, but was only in bars, or ingots ;
and in commerce was always weighed.
* " Sericum dictum, quia id Seres primi miserunt. Verraiculi enim ibi
nasci perhibeutur a quibus base circum arbores fila ducuntur. Vermes au
tem ipsi Grace jS'o/ji&iiit nominantur." Isiodor. 1. xix. c. 27.
f " Apud lndos et Seras sunt quidem in arboribus vermes, et bombyces
appellanlur, qui in aranearum morem, Ipnuissima filadeducunt. Unde est
sericum : nam lanam arboream non possumus accipere, quia ubique pro-
creatur." Servius, in Virg. Georgie. I. ii. v. 120.
X For farther satisfaction na this subject the reader may consult Pri
deaux, Connect, part 2. book 8. note at the end. Vossius, de brig, et
progr. idol. lib. iv. c. 90. from whom tbe above particulars are taken, Har
ris's voyages, vol. i. p. 506. and the Encyclopedia Brit, article India, No.
24. Gibbon's Rome, v. 4. p. 71. and Robertson's India, note xxiii. p.
23.'5.

384 THE NATURAL HISTORY
SNAIL.
We find this word twice in our translation of the Bible. The
first is the rendering ofthe Hebrew word Ban chomet, Levit. xi.
30, where a kind of Lizard is spoken of; the other is Psal. lviii.
8, Siww sabelul, which the LXX and Vulgate render rvax ; but
which Bochart has amply demonstrated, from the most ancient
Jewish writers, to be the snail. Parkhurst is of opinion that
the name may be deduced from the peculiar manner in which
snails thrust themselves forward in moving, and from the force
with which they adhere to any substance on which they light.
The wise Author of nature not having furnished them feet and
claws to creep and climb, has compensated them in a way more
commodious for their state of life, by the broad thin skin along each
side of the belly, and the undulating motion observable there :
by the latter they creep ; by the former, assisted by the glutinous
slime emitted from their body, they adhere firmly and securely
to all kinds of superficies, partly by the tenacity of their slime, and
partly by the pressure of the atmosphere.* Thus the snail ap
pears to waste itself by its own motion, every undulation leav
ing something of its moisture behind ; and in the same manner the
actions of wicked men prove their destruction. They may, like
the snail, carry their defence along with them, and retire into it
on every appearance of danger; they may confidently trust their
own resources, and banisb away the fear of evil ; but the princi
ples of ruin are at work within them, and although the progress
¦may be slow, the result is certain.?
SOAP. iVD BORITH.
Occurs Jer. ii. 22 ; and Mai, iii. 2.
Some purifying or cleansing herb, or composition. In Jere
miah the LXX render it by Tloixv, or Uoxv, the herb ; Jerom and
the Vulgate by " herbam Borith," the herb borith. In Malachi
the LXX translate by Uotx uavvovtcov the herb of the washers ;
Vulgate by " herba fullonum," the herb of the fullers.
With respect to the herb borith, says M. Goguet, Orig. of
Laws, &c. v. i. p. 1 32. I imagine it is sal-worth [salt-wort.]
This plant is very common in Syria, Judea, Egypt, and Arabia.
They burn it and pour water upon the ashes. This water be
comes impregnated with avery strong lixivial salt, proper for tak
ing stains or impurities out of wool or cloth."! Michaelis,
* Derham's Phys. Theol.
t Paxton, Illustrations of the Holy Bible, v. i. p. 335.
X The plant is called " usnen" by the Arabs. It is the " Salsola Kali,"
•described by Forskal, Flor. .(Egypt. Arab. p. 54, or rather tbe " Suseda

®F THE BIBLE. 385
feowever, Supplem. ad Lex. Hebr. p. 230, thinks n'13 means,
not the herb or plant kali, but thealcaline or liiivial salt procur
ed from the ashes of that and other plants ; though he owns that
in Jer. ii. 22, it may be also rendered soap made of such salt.
But he supposes the alcaline salt, itself to be intended in Mai. iii.
?; such as fullers indeed use, but which he apprehends is in this
passage mentioned only in respect to its use in liquifying and
purifying metals, by causing their impurities to vitrify and melt
down into scoriae, thus leaving the metal pure : and in like manner
he interprets Isai. i. 25.
I am led to suppose that critics have confounded the borith
with the salt called by the Arabians " bora," said to be extracted
from the earth ; and which perhaps is the borax, which is some
times found in a native state, and the use of which in fusing and
soldering metals has been long known.
Dr. Gorham, in his Elements of Chemical Science, v. i. p.
364, § ccclxv. "Of Boron," observes, " There is a peculiar salt
brought from the East Indies in an impure state, and refined in
Europe, where it is employed in some of the arts. It is known
by the name, of borax, and is composed of soda combined with a
peculiar acid called the boracic. The acid is sometimes found
near volcanoes in an uncombined form, and in the state of a white
crystaline solid."
There is also an unctuous kind of earth called " steatites," or
" soap-earth" of much esteem in the bagnios of the east for
cleansing and softening the skin. Of this kind, probably, and for
this use, were the two mules' burthen of earth spoken of in 1
Kings v. 13.
SOW. TS, Gr. Lat. sus.
Occ. 2 Pet. ii. 22. See Swine.
SPARROW, -im tzippor.
Occurs first Gen. vii. 14, and afterwards frequently.
2TPOT01ON, Matth. x. 29, and Luke xii. 6, 7.
A little bird every where known. The Hebrew word is used
not only for a sparrow, but for, all sorts of clean birds, or such
whose use was not forbidden by the law.* The rabbins, Kimchi,
monoiea," which, in page 70, he thus describes. " Haec est planta, e qua
Arabes Yemanenses sal alkali trabunt, cujus dilula solutione vestes lavan-
tur, aotequam sapone imbuantur."
* It is translated bird in Gen. vi 6; vii 14 51 ; li. 52, 53; Lev. xiv
52; Deut xxii. 6; Job, xii 5: Psal. xi. 1; cxxiv. 7 ; Prov vi. 5; vii 23»
xxvi. 2; xxvii. 8; Keel. xii. 4; Lain iii. 52; Amos, iii, ft; Hos, xi. 11 ;
Write Gen. xv. 10; Lev. xiv. 5. 56 ; Deut. xiv. 11 ; Psal. civ. 17 ; Keel. ix.
49

386 THE NATURAL HISTORY
Pomarius, and Aq_uinas, even pretend, that it signifies all bird*
in general ; which is confirmed by Bochart. But this last men
tioned interpreter shews also, that it signifies a sparrow in par
ticular; yet, that in most passages where translators have render
ed it "sparrow," it may be understood of birds in general.
And indeed nothing can be nearer to the natural note of this bird
than the Hebrew name : hence qxas tsipsip, to chirrup, or cry
like a little bird. And its name in Arabic signifies " sibilare, fis-
tulare, et sibiloso sono cecinare."
That the sparrow is not intended in Psal. cii. 7, is evident from
several circumstances; for it is intimated that it is a bird of night,
a solitary, and a mournful one, none of which characteristics is
applicable to the sparrow which rests by night, is gregarious, and
cheerful. It seems rather to mean a bird melancholy and droop
ing, much like one confined in a cage.
Psal. lxxxiv. 4, may be thus explained — " Even as the sparrow
findeth her house, and the dove her nest where she hath laid her
young, so should i find thine altars, O Jehovah of hosts, my king,
and my God." According to this exposition David illustrates his
vehement longing after the sacred tabernacle, and the public wor
ship of God, (whence he had been driven during Absalom's re
bellion) by the storge of birds, and by that eagerness with which
they return to their brood after they have been absent from them1.
And this avoids the impropriety of supposing birds to build their
nests on the altar of burnt offerings where they must be continu
ally disturbed by the necessary ministrations of the priests about
the numerous sacrifices offered on it ; though it is allowed that
they build on the rafters and covings of houses.
SPICES. n»oJ necoth.
Occ. Gen. xxxvii. 25, and xiii. 11, only.
APilMA, Mark xvi. 1 ; Luke xxiii. 56 ; xxiv. 1 ; John xix. 14.
The signification of this word is uncertain. The paraphrast
Jonathan, the Arabic version of Erpenius, and Bereshith Rabba,
sect. 91, render it wax. The LXX render it perfumes ; Aquila
says storax. The Syriac version puts resin ; Kimchi, a desirable
thing ; Jarchi, a composition qf aromatics. Bochart supports
his opinion that this word signifies storax, by observing, 1. That
this drug is abundant in Syria, according to Pliny, 1. xii. q. 25;
whence it is brought even now. Artemidorus says it abounds
in Phenicia ; Josephus, 1. xv. c. 23, says in Galilee. 2. It is
among the most famous aromatics. 3. Pliny says that the Arabs
12; Isai. xxxi. 5; IVk. xxxix. 4 ; fowl Deut. iv. 17 ; Psal viii. 8; cxlviii.
10; Ezek. xvii. 23 , xxxix. 17; Neh, v. 8; and sparrow Psal. lxxxiv. 3;
xcii. 7.

OF THE BIBLE. 387
aollect the storax, which they burn in their houses to correct ill
smells. 4. Moses joins with this necoth, resin, honey, and myrrh.;
which agree with the nature ofthe storax,*' which is the resin of
at tree ofthe same name, frequent in Syria, of a reddish colour,
and peculiarly pleasant fragrance.
II. The word oem bosem, connected with cinnamon, Exod.
xxx. 23, and with calamus, Isai. iii. 24, and in various other
places translated " spices," may mean some grateful aromatic.
Mr. Harmer in his observations on Cantic. iv. 14. 16 ; v. 13;
and viii. 14, says, the word translated "spices" undoubtedly
sometimes signifies "odoriferous plants or flowers;" and "the
chief spices" may therefore mean the principal aromatics that
were known and esteemed in those days :
•" Whate'er the east supplies

Balm for perfumes, and gums for sacrifice."
III. The word crao sammim, rendered Exod. xxx. 7, "in-
eense," and verse 34, " spices " intends drugs, aromatics.
IV. The Jews object to the relation given by St. John, xix.
39, ofthe quantity of spices which was brought by Nicodemus to
embalm the body of Jesus. " A hundred weight of myrrh and
aloes was enough (say they) for two hundred dead bodies."
Bishop Kidder! hath attempted to obviate this cavil ; but not
satisfactorily. An anonymous critic in Wetstein's Prolegome-
naj proposes to alter ex.«Tov to mx^iniv. The verse will then stand
thus : (pepaiv p-typM epwyny; km ifcAotj? &J<rei AiTp«? EKA2TXW, i. e.
Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a pound
each. This emendation, however, is omitted in the folio edi
tion : for inxsac is not each, applied to two things, but to more,
except in Alexandrian Greek. Dr. Markland proposes to read
siwrepaiv, where the sp being abreviated, it became skxtov. AiTp«c
he puts in the genitive. This makes the sense the same as the
above critic in Wetstein. In confirmation of this reading, the
learned doctor observes, that if St. John had written mx-rav, as in
the present copies, the participle would have been xyav not<f>spov.
Dr. Owen, however, very justly, supports the present reading,
and observes, that ' if fifty pounds of each be thought too much,
* "Constat scilicet ex Camus, apnd Arabes n'32 esse e numero w "|Klt?,
quod nomen generate est, quo omnia dentrificia designuntur, quse in quoti-
diano usu sunt apud Arabes, et inter ea maxime aestimantur aromata quse-
dam, quibus non tantum dentes munduntur, sed pracipue fragrantia hali-
tui oris conciliatur." Rosenmuller in Gen. xxxvii. 25.
t Demonst. part 3. p. 65. ed. fol.
t 4to. p. 471.

388 THE NATURAL HISTORY
one pound of each might be thought too little. Could the trifling
act of bringing two pounds of spices, be deemed either a fit token
of Nicodemus' regard, or a fit object of the evangelist's notice ?
That great quantities of spices were expended by the Jews at fu
nerals, is evident from what we read in 2 Chron. xvi. 14. In the
Talmud, Massecheth SemacothMXU. it is said, that no less than
eighty pounds of spices were used at the funeral of Rabbi Gama
liel the elder. And at the funeral of Herod, Josephus* informs
us, that the procession was followed by five hundred of his domes
tics carrying spices, x^up.xro^ot, that is, in the language of SL
John, xpoifA.a'rx $sfovTs?.' Tbis note is much to the purpose : it
well illustrates the fact recorded, and at the same time justifies
the use ofthe word (pepwv, objected to by Markland.T
SPIDER. jy'33j' acchabis.
Occ. Job viii. 14; and Isai. lix. 5, only.
A insect well known ; remarkable for the thread which it spins,
with which it forms a web of curious texture, but so frail that it is
exposed to be broken and destroyed by the slightest accident.
To the slenderness of this filmy workmanship, Job compares the
hope of the wicked. This, says Mr. Good, was " doubtless a
proverbial allusion; and so exquisite, that it is impossible to con
ceive any figure, that can more fully describe the utter vanity of
the hopes and prosperity ofthe wicked."
"Deceiving bliss ! in bitter shame it ends ;
His prop a cobweb, which an insect rends."
So Isaiah says, " they weave the web of the spider; of their
webs no garment shall be made ; neither shall they cover them
selves with their works."
An ingenious illustration of this passage is furnished in " Illus-.
trations of the Holy Scriptures," by Rev, J. Paxton, vol. i. p,
309. " Weak and unstable as the spider's web, are all the pro
fessions and works ofthe hypocrite, The filaments which com
pose the flimsy texture in which she dwells, are finely spun, and
curiously woven ; but a single touch dissolves the fabric : equally
frail and evanescent are his wisest and most elaborate contrivan
ces. She fabricates her web, to be at once a covering to herself,
and a snare to her neighbour ; and for the same odious purposes,
he assumes the garb of religion : but the deceitful vei] which he
throws over the deformity of his character, can remain only for a
short time ; like the spider's web, it shall soon be swept away,
* Antiq lib. xvii. c. 8, sec. 3.
r, See Bower's erit. couj. and obs. on the N. Test. 3d edit. 4to. 1782;

OF THE BIBLE. 389
and his loathsome form exposed to every eye. Like her, he
shall perish in the ruins of the habitation which he constructed
With so much care, and where he reposed in fatal security."
The greater part of modern interpreters, among whom are to
be numbered our own translators, suppose this insect intended by
Solomon in these words, " the spider taketh hold With her hands,
and is in king's palaces." Prov. xxx. 28. But the wise man
uses a different word from the common name of this creature*
rroos? shemamah ; and subjoins a description, which, in one
particular, is by no means applicable to it ; for, although several
ancient writers have given fingers to the spider, not one has ho
noured her with hands. An ancient poet has accordingly taught
her to say,
" Nulla mibi manus est, pedibus tamen omnia fiunt."
Had Solomon intended to describe the spider, he would not have
merely said, " she taketh hold with her hands," but, she spins her
thread, and weaves her toils ; circumstances, assuredly much more
worthy of notice ; nor would he have said that she takes up her
abode in king's palaces, when she more frequently constructs her
dwelling in the cabins of the poor, where she resides in greater
security and freedom. The opinion of the celebrated Bo
chart, that the newt, a small species of lizard, is meant, seems,
in every respect, entitled to the preference.* This reptile, an
swers to the description which the royal preacber gives of her
form and habits : nature has furnished her with claws resembling
hands, and taught her to aspire to the superiour accommodations
Which the palace of an Eastern monarch affords.
Bellonius makes mention of this kind of lizard which creeps
into the walls of houses, and catches flies, and which is called by
the Greeks, samiamaton, a name very near the Hebrew word here
used.t Pliny, speaks of the stellio, as being in doors, windows,
and chambers ;J and St. Austin makes mention of it as a domes
tic animal. § " A number of little grey lizards, (lacerla agilis,
Lin.) says, SonniniJJ loved to approach the habitations of men.
They are to be seen on the walls, and even in the houses. This
species is common all over Egypt. It is there called ' bourse.'
It is an animal which is sacred both among the Turks and EgypT
* Bochart, Hieroz. V. ii. p. 610.
t Apud diateric. Antiq. bibl. p. 470.
X Nat Hist. 1. xxx. c. 10.
5 Confess. 1. x. c. 35.
II Trav. V. iii. p. 288.

390 THE NATURAL HISTORY
tians, and the veneration which they entertain for them, doubtless
is connected with the exercise of that hospitality, which is now
generally adopted in the East. They are unwilling to injure
harmless and innocent animals, which approach man with confi
dence, and which seem to take up their abode with him, solely
for the purpose of purging his habitation of a swarm of insects,
which constantly torment him in those countries, where the exces
sive heat renders them more numerous, and more troublesome
than in other places."*
SPIKENARD, -na nard.
By this was meant, a highly aromatic plant growing in the In
dies, called " nardostachys," by Dioscorides, and Galen ;
from whence was made the very valuable extract or unguent, or
favourite perfume, used at the ancient baths and feasts, " unguen-
tum nardinum," " unguentum nardi spicatae,"t which, it appears
from a passage in Horace, was so valuable, that as much of it
as could be contained in a small box of precious stone, was con
sidered as a sort of equivalent for a large vessel of wine, and a
handsome quota for a guest to contribute at an entertainment, ac
cording to the custom of antiquity:
 " Nardo vinum merebere

Nardi parvus onyx eliciet cadum."
Sir William Jones remarks, " the very word nard occurs in
the Song of Solomon ; but the name and the thing were both
exotic : the Hebrew lexicographers imagine both to be Indian ;
but the word is, in truth, Persian. The Arabs have borrowed
the word nard, but in the sense of a compound medicinal oint
ment." Dioscorides, mentions the " Nardus Syriaca," as a species
different from the " Indica ;" whence it is probable, that there
was in that country, a nard, though it might have been less
fragrant, and costly than the Indian.
The plant called " nard," or " spikenard," has recently been
the subject of inquiry by two learned men, Dr. Gilbert Blane,
F. R. S.J and Sir William Jones.§ These interesting memoirs,
* My nephew, Mr. Charles A. Tofts, informs me, that at Mobile, a
species of small lizard is sometimes seen in considerable pumbers in the
houses, particularly those which are built with logs, and which afford crevi
ces for the lurking-places of this harmless, but disgusting visitant.
f Salmasius in Solin, p. 750.
X See Philos- Transactions, Vol. lxxx. p. 284.
5 Asiatic Researches. See also " Botanical Observations on the Spike
nard of the ancients, intended as a supplement to the late Sir William
Jones' papers, by William Roxburgh, M. D."

OF THE BIBLE. 391
are inserted in the volume of " Scripture Illustrated," and the
ingenious author of that work remarks from them, that the nard,
twice named in Cantic. iv. 13, 14, means two varieties, the Syrian
or Arabian plant, and the Indian nard, or true spikenard ; and
that the latter word merely wants some discriminating epithet,
answering to spike, which transcribers not understanding, have
dropped, or that a different mode of pronunciation distinguished
the names of these two plants, when mentioned in discourse :
[they are also differently pointed in the printed copies.]
II. St. Mark, xiv. 3, mentions " ointment of spikenard very
precious," which is said to be worth more than three hundred de
narii ; and John, xii. 3, mentions a pound of ointment of spike
nard, very costly — the house was filled with the odour of the oint
ment — it was worth three hundred denarii. It is not to be sup
posed that this was a Syrian production, but the true atar of In
dian spikenard ; an unguent containing the very essence of the
plant, and brought at a great expense, from a remote country.
The author of " Scripture Illustrated," adds, " I would query
whether there might not be in the answer of our Lord, some allu
sion to the remoteness ofthe country, from whence this unguent
was brought : ' wheresoever this gospel shall be preached,
through the whole world, shall be her memorial.' As much as
to say, ' this unguent came from a distant country, to be sure,
but the gospel shall spread to a much greater distance, yea, all
over the world ; so that in India itself, from whence this unguent
came, shall the memorial of its application to my sacred person
be mentioned with honour.' The idea of afar country, connect
ed with the ointment, seems to have suggested that of ' all the
world.' "
SPONGE. snorrOS, Lat. spongia.
Occ. Matth. xxvii. 48 ; Mark xv. 36 ; John xix. 29.
A sub-marine substance of animal origin, like the corallines ;
being the fabric and habitation of some species of worms. Upon
a nice inspection, sponge appears to be composed of fibres impli
cated in a surprising manner, and surrounded by thin mem
branes which arrange them in a cellular form. This structure,
no less than the constituent matter of sponge, renders it the fittest
of all bodies, to imbibe a great quantity of any fluid, and upon a
strong pressure to part with almost the whole quantity again.
STACTE. sdj nataph.
Occurs Exod. xxx. 34, only.
A gummy odoriferous substance, that distils in amber coloured
drops from a resinous tree, by some supposed the myrrh.* The
* Cocquius, Phytologia Sacr. c. xiv. sect. 2. p. 222.

392 THE NATURAL HISTORY
difference between the stacte and gum myrrh seems to be, that the
latter was obtained by incision, and the former oozed spontane
ously.* Dioscorides speaks of it as a finely smelling perfume ;
and Euripides mentions its being burnt on the altar ofthe gods.
STEEL, rmin: nechushah.
Occ. Job xx. 24 ; and Jer. xv. 12.
Why this should be rendered "steel," instead of copper, in our
common version, I know not. It is often put as a metal distinct
from iron ; and in two other verses in Job, [xxviii. 2 ; xl. 18j
as well as in various other places, is rendered " brass."
See Brass, Copper.
STORK. nTDn chasidah.
Occ. Levit. xi. 19; Deut. xiv. 8; Job xxxix. 13; Psalm civ.
17 ; Jer. viii. 7 ; Zech. v. 9.
A bird similar to the crane in size, has the same formation as to
the bill, neck, legs, and body, but is rather more corpulent.
The colour of the crane is ash and black ; that of the stork is
white and brown. The nails of its toes are also, very peculiar ;
not being clawed like those of other birds, but flat like the nails of
a man. it has a very long beak, and long red legs. It feeds
upon serpents, frogs and insects, and on this account might be
reckoned by Moses among unclean birds : as it seeks for these in
watery places, nature has provided it with long legs ; and as it
flies away, as well as the crane and heron, to its nest with its
plunder, therefore its bill is strong and jagged, the sharp hooks
of which enable it to retain its slippery prey.
It has long been remarkable for its love to its parents, whom
it never forsakes, but tenderly feeds and cherishes when they
have become old, and unable to provide for themselves. The very
learned and judicious Bochart,? has collected a variety of passa
ges from the ancients, wherein they testify this curious particular,
that the stork is eminent for its performance of what St. Paul en
joins,]: childrens' requiting their parents. Its very name in the
Hebrew language, chasida, signifies mercy or piety : and its English
name is taken, if not directly, yet secondarily, through the Saxon,
* Athen-Eus Deip. 1. xvii. Basil, in Psal. iv. So Plikv, N. H 1 xii.
c. 15, speaking of thetrees whence myrrh is produced, says, " Sudani au
tern sponte prius quam incidantur, stacten dictam, cui nulla prafertur."
f Hieroz. 1. ii. c. 19, p. 82, V. 3.
X 1 Tim. v. 4. " Cicosia etiam grata, peregrina, hospita,
Pietaticultrix, gracilipes, crotaliatria." Patson.

OF THE BIBLE. 393
from the Greek word storge, which is often used in our language
for natural affection.
" The Stork's an emblem of true piety ;
Because when age has seiz'd, and made his dam
Unfit for flight, the grateful young one takes
His mother on his back, provides her food,
Repaying1 thus her tender care of him,
E'er he was fit to fly." Beaumont.
The reader may find a number of testimonies to the same pur
port in Scheuchzer's Physica Sacra : to which it may not be
amiss to add what follows, from " the Inspector," No. 171, a pe
riodical paper, ascribed to that eminent naturalist, Sir John Hill.
The author, after having remarked the high antiquity, and conti
nued tradition of the opinion, that young storks requite their pa
rents by tending and supporting them when grown old, proceeds
thus : " Among those who have given their relation without the or
naments or the exaggeration of poetry or fable, is Burcherodde,
a Dane : his account is the most full and particular of all, and he
appears a person of gravity and fidelity. He tells us, he relates
what he has seen. ' Storks build (says he,) in the prefecture of
Eyderstede, in the southern part of Jutland : and men may be
taught by looking upon them. They are large birds, like herons,
of a white colour, with black wings, and red feet. In a retired
part of Eyderstede, some leagues from Toningen, towards the
German sea, there are clusters qf trees. Among these they build ;
and if any creature comes near them in the nesting season, which
lasts near three months, they go out in a body to attack it. The
peasants never hurt them, and they are in no fear of them.
" ' The two parents guard and feed each brood, one always re
maining on it, while the other goes for food. They keep the
young ones much longer in the nest than any other bird, and after
they have led them out of it by day, they bring them back at
night ; preserving il as their natural and proper home.
" ' When they first take out the young they practise them to fly ;
and they lead them to the marshes and to the hedge-sides, point
ing them out the frogs, and serpents, and lizards, which are their
proper food : and they seek out toads, which they never eat,*
and take great pains to make the young distinguish them. In the
end of autumn, not being able to bear the winter of Denmark,
they gather in a great body about the sea coasts, as we see swal-
* This circumstance is countenanced by LiNNiEcs, who, mentioning the
food of the stork, expressly says, that though they eat frogs, they avoid
toads. 50

nut- THE NATURAL HISTORY
lows do, and go off together : the old ones leading the young onea
in the centre, and a second body ofthe old behind. They return
in spring, and betake themselves in families to their several nests.
The people of Toningen, and the neighbouring coasts, gather to
gether to see them come ; for they are superstitious, and form
certain presages from the manner of their flight. At this lime,
it is not uncommon to see_ several of the old birds, which are.
tired and feeble with the long flight, supported at times on the.
backs of the young : and the peasants speak of it as a, cer
tainty, that many qf these are, when they return to their home,
laid carefully in the old nests, and cherished by the young
ones, which they reared with so much care the spring before.'
" If the account this gentleman gives, be singular, (says Sir
John,) it is in no part unnatural. We see innumerable instances
of what we call instinct ; and who shall say that this is too great
for credit. Who shall lay down the laws to determine, where the
gifts of a Creator to his creatures shall stop, or how they shall be
limited ?"
The word ni'cn chasida, says Mr. Merrick, in his commenta
ry on Psalm civ. 17, is variously rendered by the ancient inter
preters : but Bochart observes that the bird called by this name
appears from Scripture to be a bird of passage ; a circum
stance which belongs to none of the birds which the ancient
versions suppose to be thus named, except the kite* and the
stork. Professor Michaelis! says, that the word is generally
translated, the stork ; but adds that this translation is founded on
the authority ofthe Jews ofthe tenth century, and on that ofthe
illustrious author of the hierozoicon : but these writers them
selves, says he, have been led by an arbitrary etymology to this
interpretation, which is not, perhaps, to be met with in any of
the ancient versions. To which we may answer, that this inter
pretation is certainly of earlier date than the tenth century; since
Olympiodorus, in his commentary on Job, (a work old enough to
be mentioned by Anastasius Sinaita, who lived about the yeap
6 80,) I mentions, though with disapprobation, some interpreters
who affirmed the chasida to be the stork. § M. Michaelis thinks
that this text ofthe Psalms, as for the stork, the fir-trees are her
house, makes against the stork ; as, though it be true that this
bird sometimes builds on trees, yet it generally chooses to build
* The tiSms.
f Recueil des quest, p. 411.
X See habricius biblioth Gr.
¦i Bochart, hieroz. p. ii. I. 2, c. 28, sec. 3.

OP THE BIBLE. 3<)6
»n the tops of houses. Yet the same learned gentleman very
judiciously proposes, that it be inquired whether, as in the East
ern countries, the roofs of houses are flat and inhabited, this
very circumstance may not oblige them to build elsewhere.
The following passage from Dr. Shaw's travels,* may, at first,
seem to determine the question. " The storks breed plentifully
in Barbary every summer. They make their nests with dry
twigs of trees, which they place upon the highest parts of old
ruins or houses, in the canals of ancient aquseducts, and frequent
ly, (so familiar are they by being never molested) upon the very
tops of their mosques and dwelling-houses. The fir and other
trees, when these are wanting, are a dzoelling for the stork."
Here we see the storks building their nests upon the tops of
the Eastern houses : but, as Dr. Shaw has just before informed
us, that the Mahometans account it profane to kill, or even hurt,
or molest them, (to which we may add, from Hasselquist,! that
those persons among the Turks, who own a house where storks
have nested, are supposed to receive great blessings from heaven
and to be free from all misfortunes,) their access to the roofs is
free and undisturbed ; which might not be the case in Judea,
where no such supposition appears to have prevailed. That they
sometimes build on trees, is allowed by M. Michaelis himself,
and confirmed by J. H. Michaelis in his commentary on the
Psalms.t. It may be still more to our purpose to observe, that
Olympiodorus (who cannot well be supposed to have borrowed
the idea from this psalm, as he does not allow the chasida to be
the stork,) affirms in the place above referred to, that the stork
lays its eggs, not on the ground, but on high trees. Bochart
quotes also an Arabic writer, who says of this bird, it builds its
nest in some very lofty place, either on the top of a tower or
tree.§ A passage which he quotes from Varro, as it distinguishes
the stork's manner of building from that ofthe swallow, seems
greatly to favour our interpretation. || Aldrovandus affirms of
the black stork, that they are wont to make their nest on trees,
particularly onfir-trees.^ And Strahlenberg speaks of storks,**
* Travels, p. 411, ed. 4to.
t Travels into tbe East, p. 32.
X" Sic ipsemet in Germania non uno loco nidulantes ciconias in altis et
ssepius aridis quercubus vidi."
i; " Neque nidum sumit nisi in loco celso, puta in pharo, aut in arbore."
|| " Advenae volucrespullos facient, in agro ciconise, in tacto hirundines."
Vareo, de re rustica, 1. iii. c. 5.
IT  " in arboribus nidulari, presertim in abietibus."
** Descrip. of the N. and E, parts of Europe and Asia. p. 447.

39G THE NATURAL HISTORY
that frequent great forests. The word agyst, continues Mr.
Merrick, which he mentions as the Russian name of one kind of
stork, does not seem so remote from the Hebrew name, but that
it might possibly be derived from it, and may, on inquiry, lead to
the discovery of some other name of that bird, in languages akin
to the Russian, which approach still nearer to it.
Besides, the Psalmist does not say that the chasidah makes its
nest on the fir-trees, but that the- fir-trees are its house ; which
may mean no more, (to borrow the expression of Mr. Harmer,
Obs. V. iv. p. 175,) than that " there they rest, there they sleep,
after the wanderings of the day are over.'? And Doubdan, as
cited by the same author, positively affirms, that the prodigious
ly numerous storks, which he saw between Cana and Nazareth
in Palestine, did " in the evening rest on trees," that is, they
roosted there. Jackson, in his account of Morocco,^. 64, says,
" they are considered as sacred birds, and it is sacrilegious to
kill one ; for, besides being of the greatest utility in destroying
serpents and other noxious reptiles, they are also emblematical
of faith and conjugal affection, and on that account held in the
highest estimation. They build their nests, which are curious,
on the top of some old tower or castle, or on the terraces of un
inhabited houses, where they constantly watch their young, ex
posed to the scorching rays of the sun. They will not suffer
any one to approach their nests.
I have already remarked that it is a bird of passage. It is
spoken of as such in Scripture. Jer. viii. 7, " the stork knoweth
her appointed time," &c.
" Who bid the stork, Columbus like, explore
Heavens not its own, and worlds unknown before ?
Who calls the council, states the certain day,
Who forms the phalanx, and who points the way ?" Pope.
Bochart, has collected testimonies of the migration of storks.
jElian, 1. iii. c. 13, says, that in summer-time they remain sta
tionary, but at the close of autumn they repair to Egypt, Lybia,
and Ethiopia. " For about the space of a fortnight before they
pass from one country to another, (says Dr. Shaw,) they con
stantly resort together, from all the adjacent parts, in a certain
plain ; and there forming themselves once every day, into a dou-
wanne, or council, (according to the phrase of these Eastern na
tions,) are said to determine the exact time of their departure,
and the place of their future abodes."

OF THE BIBLE. 397
These particulars are thus recited by " the Poet of the
Seasons :" The stork-assembly meets ; for many a day

Consulting deep and various, e'er they take
Their arduous voyage through the liquid sky.
And now their route design'd, their leaders chose,
Their tribes adjusted, clean'd their vigorous wings,
And many a circle, many a short essay,
Wheel'd round and round, in congregation full
The figur'd flight ascends ; and, riding high
The aerial billows, mixes with the clouds." Thompson.
Milton, also, has described the flight of these birds :
" Part loosely wing the region, part, more wise,
In common, ranged in figure, wedge their way,
Intelligent of seasons, and set forth
Their airy caravan, high over seas
Flying, and over lands, with mutual wing
Easing their flight."
SWALLOW, did sis.
A bird too well known to need description.
Our translators ofthe bible have given this name to two differ
ent Hebrew words. The first, im deror, in Psalm lxxxiv. 3,
and Prov. xxvi. 2, is probably the bird which Forskal mentions
among the migratory birds of Alexandria, by the name of dururi ;
and the second, viy ogur, Isai. xxxviii. 14, and Jer. viii. 7, is the
crane : but the word did sis, in the two last places rendered in
our version, " crane," is really the Swallow. So the Septua
gint, Vulgate, and two ancient manuscripts, Theodotion and Je
rom, render it ; and Bochart and Lowth follow them. Bo
chart, assigns the note of this bird, for the reason of its name,
and ingeniously remarks, that the Italians about Venice, call a
swallow "zizalla," and its twittering, "zizillare."
" Regulus, atque merops, et rubra pectore Progne,
Consimili modulo zinzulare sciunt."
It is said that the goddess Isis was changed into a swallow :
and it is worthy of remark, that thirteen of Dr. Kennicott's
codices in Jeremiah, read D'Dl isis, as five more did originally.
The swallow being a plaintive bird, and a bird of passage, per
fectly agrees with the meaning of Isaiah and Jeremiah.
The annual migration ofthe swallow, has been familiarly known
in every age, and perhaps in every region of the earth. Ana-
creon, in one of his odes, addresses her thus : " friendly swallow,

398 THE NATURAL HISTORY
thou indeed coming annually, buildest thy nest in the summer,
but in winter disappearest." And Aristotle, 1. viii. c. 12, re
marks in the sober language of history ; " both the swallow and
the turtle leave us, to spend the winter in other climes." The
swallow says ^lian, announces the most delightful season of
the year ; she remains in the northern latitude six months ; and
the thrush and the turtle only three.
Mr. Jago, wrote an exquisitely beautiful Elegy on the flight of
swallows, from which I extract the following stanzas.
" Through sacred prescience full well they know
The near approach of elemental strife ;
The blustrv tempest and the chilling snow,
With every want and scourge of tender life.
" i'hu« taught, they meditate a speedy flight ;
For this, even now they prune their vigorous wing;
For this conult, advise, prepare, excite,
And prove their strength in many an airy ring.
" No sorrow loads their breast, or swells their eye
To quit their friendly haunts, or native home;
Nor fear they, launching on the boundless Sky,
In search of future settlements to roam.
" They feel a power, an impulse all divine,
That warns them hence ; they feel it, and obey ;
To this direction, all their cares resign,
Unknown their destin'd stage, unmark'd their way."
SWAN, nnann thinsemeth.
Occ. Levit. xi. 18 ; and Deut. xiv. 16.
The Hebrew word is very ambiguous, for in the first of
these places, it is ranked among water-fowls ; and by the Vul
gate, which our version follows, rendered " swan," and in the
30th verse, the same word is rendered " mole," and ranked
among reptiles. Some translate it in the former place, " the
bat," which they justify by the affinity which there is be
tween the bat and the mole. The LXX. in the former verse
render it 7Tog<X>v%tu»x, the porphyrion, or purple bird, probably
the flamingo; and in the latter, "Ibis."
Parkhurst shews that the name is given, from the crea
ture's breathing in a strong and audible manner; and Mi
chaelis, Quest, cci. learnedly conjectures, that in v. 18, and
Deut. xiv. 16, it may mean the goose, which every one
knows is remarkable for its manner of breathing out or hissing
when approached.

OF THE BIBLE. 399
SWINE. Yin chazir.
Occ. Levit. xi. 7 ; Deut. xiv. 8 ; Psal. lxxx. 13 ; Prov. xi. 22;
Isai. lxv. 4 ; and lxvi. 3. 17. And XOJPOS, Matth. vii. 6 ; viii.
30; Mark v. 14 ; Luke viii. 33 ; xv. 15.
The plural of hog.* An animal well known. In impurity and
grossness of manners, this creature stands almost unrivalled among
the order of quadrupeds ; and the meanness of his appearance
corresponds to the grossness of his manners. He has a most in
discriminate, voracious, and insatiable appetite. His form is in
elegant. His eyes diminutive and deep sunk in his head. His
carriage mean and sluggish. His unwieldy shape renders him
no less incapable of swiftness and sprightliness, than he is of
gracefulness of motion. His appearance also is drowsy and stu
pid. He delights to bask in the sun, and to wallow in the mire.
The flesh of this animal was expressly forbidden the Jews by
the Levitical law ; undoubtedly on account of its filthy charac
ter, as well as because the flesh, being strong and difficult to di
gest, afforded a very gross kind of aliment, apt to produce cuta
neous, scorbutic, and scrophulous disorders, especially in hot cli
mates. Maimonides, More Nevochim, part iii. c. 8, says, "The
principal reason wherefore the law prohibited the swine was be
cause of their extreme filthiness, and their eating so many impu
rities. For it is well known with what care and precision the law
forbid all filthiness and dirt, even in the fields and in the camp,
not to mention the cities: now had swine been permitted, the
pijblic places, and streets and houses would have been made
nuisances." — So Novatian, c. iij. de cib. Judaic. " Cum suem
cibo prohibet assumi, reprehendit omnino caenosam, luteam, et
gaudentem vitiorum sordibus vitam, bonum suum non in genero-
sitate animi, sed in sola carnem ponentem." And Lactantius,
1. iv. Instit. c. 17. "Cum Judaeos abstinere Deus jussita suibus,
id potissimum voluit intelligi, ut se a peccatis et immunditiis ab-
stinerent. Est enim lutulentum hoc animal ac immundum, nee
unquam caelum aspicit, sed in terra toto et corpore et ore projec-
tum, ventri semper et pabulo servit." — " Interdi'xit ergo ne por-
cina carne vescerentur, i. e. ne vitam porcorum imitarentur, qui
ad solum vitam mortem nutriuntur; ne ventri ac vohiptatibus ser-
vientes, ad faciendam justitiam inutiles essent ac morte afficeren-
tur. Item ne fcedis libidinibus immergerent se, sicut sus, qui se
ingurgitat cseno : vel ne terrenis serviant simulacris, ac se luto
inquinent." Tacitus tells us. that the Jews abstained from the
flesh of swine in consideration ot a leprosy by which they had
formerly suffered, and to which this animal has a disposition."
* Snine is formed from sow, as kine from cow.

400 THE NATURAL HISTORY
Plutarch, de hide, affirms that those who drink ofthe milk of
the sow become blotchy and leprous : and ./Elian, 1. x. c. 1 6,
quotes from Manetho, that whoever drinks sow's milk is quickly
covered with scabs and leprous itches. — Michaelis observes that
throughout the whole climate under which Palestine is situated,
and for a certain extent both south and north, the leprosy is an
endemic disease ; and with this disease, which is pre-eminently
an Egyptian one, the Israelites left Egypt so terribly overrun,
that Moses found it necessary to enact a variety of laws respect
ing it ; and that the contagion might be weakened, and the peo
ple tolerably guarded against its influence, it became requisite to
prohibit them from eating swine's flesh altogether.*
The prophet Isaiah, lxv. 4, charges his degenerate people with
eating swine's flesh, and having a broth of abominable things in
their vessels. They had not yet neglected to bring their sacrifi
ces to the altar of Jehovah ; but they no longer served their God
in sincerity and truth : " He that killeth an ox, is as if he slew a
man ; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut offa dog's neck ; he
that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood ; he that
burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea they have chosen
their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations."
Isai. lxvi. 3. Conduct so contrary to their solemn engagements,
so hateful in the sight ofthe Holy One, though long endured, was
not always to pass with impunity. " They that sanctify them
selves, and purify themselves in the gardens, behind one tree in
the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the
mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord." Isai. lxvi.
17. Such a sacrifice was an abomination to the Lord, because
the eating of the blood was prohibited, and because the sacrifice
consisted of swine's flesh ; and, to aggravate the sin ofthe trans
gressor, such a sacrifice is compared with the killing of a human
victim, or the immolation of a dog ; both of which Jehovah re
garded with abhorrence. To these precepts and threatenings,
which were often supported by severe judgments, may be trac
ed the habitual and unconquerable aversion of that people to the
use of swine's flesh ; an aversion which the most alluring pro
mises, and the most cruel sufferings, have been found alike insuf
ficient to subdue.
In such detestation was the hog held by the Jews that they
would not so much as pronounce its name, but called it " the
strange thing :" and we read in the history of the Maccabees, that
Eleazer, a principal scribe, being compelled by Antiochus Epi-
* Commentaries on the laws of Moses. Art. 203, v. ii. p. 230, Smith'*
translation.

OP THE BIBLE. 401
phanes to open his mouth and receive swine's flesh, spit it forth,
and went of his own accord to the torment, choosing rather to
suffer death than to break the law of God, and give offence to his
nation.* It is observed that when Adrian rebuilt Jerusalem, he set up
the image of a hog, in bas-relief, upon the gates of the city, to
drive the Jews away from it, and fo express the greater con
tempt for that miserable people.
It was avarice, a contempt ofthe law of Moses, and a design to
supply the neighbouring idolaters with victims, that caused whole
herds of swine to be fed on the borders of Galilee. Whence the
Occasion is plain of Christ's permitting the disorder that caused
them to fling themselves headlong into the lake of Genezareth.
Matth. Viii. 32.T
In vindication of this transaction, which some have objected to
as not conformable to the benevolent intention displayed by Je
sus in his other miracles, Mr. Farmer, (" Essay on Dasmoniacs,"
p. 294,) observes : " It was a just punishment of the owners.
For though Josephus calls Gadara, near which this miracle was
wrought, a Greek city, (Antiq. xvii. 11. 4; and elsewhere, Bell.
Jud. ii. 18. 1, a city of the Syrians,) and though it was a part of
the province of Syria ; yet, during the reign of Herod, it had be
longed to Judea, on which country it bordered, and was no doubt,
in part inhabited by Jews, who probably owned the swine : forto
that people Christ's personal ministry was confined, and on their
territory he then stood. Now the Jews were prohibited, as Gro-
tius observes, by the laws of Hyrcanus./rom keeping swine, (which
laws,however,sufficiently intimate the prevalence ofthe practice,)
and by the laws of Moses from using them for food. Their breach
ofthe former restriction, naturally led to the violation ofthe latter.
Our Lord, though he declined acting as a magistrate, yet as a
prophet, he might be commissioned by God to punish them either
for this or any other crime. And there was the greater proprie
ty in this act of punishment, as they were not subject to the juris
diction of the Jewish sanhedrim, living under heathen government.
The disposition they discovered upon this occasion, in being more
impressed with a loss of their substance than with the miracle
wrought for their conviction, shews how well they deserved cor
rection ; as the miracle itself served to manifest Christ's own
regard to the law of God."
* 2 Marcab. vi. 18, and vii. 1.
t For an explication of this, see Bp. Pearce, " Miracles of Jesus vindi
cated." Works, v. ii. p. 350. ed. 4to. 51

402 THE NATURAL HISTORY
We read, Matth. vii. 6, " Give not that which is holy unto the
dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample
them under their feet and turn again and rend you." There isa
similar maxim in the Talmudical writings. "Do not cast pearls
before swine :" to which is added, by way of explanation, " Do
not offer wisdom to one who knows not the value of it, but pro
fanes its glory." Another proverbial expression occurs 2 Pet.
ii. 22. " It has happened unto them according to the true pro
verb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that
was washed to her wallowing in the mire." — This is in part a
quotation from Prov. xxvi. 11. Gataker takes these two pro
verbs to "have a poetical turn, and to have been a distich of iam
bics. Horace has a plain reference to both, lib. i. Ep. 2. v. 26,
where he is speaking of the travels of Ulysses, and says, that if he
had been conquered by the charms of Circe,
" Vixisset canis iramundus, vel arnica luto sus."
He had lived like an impure dog, or a sow fond of the mire.
Blackwall says,* this proverb with great propriety and
strength marks out the sottishness and odious manners of wretches
enslaved to sensual appetites and carnal lusts ; and the extreme
difficulty of reforming vicious and inveterate habits..
SYCAMINE. 2TKAMIN02. Arab, sokam.
Occ. Luke xvii. 6.
This is a different tree from the " sycamore" mentioned Luke
xix. 4. Dioscorides,!. i. c. 181. p. 144, expressly, says that
this tree is the mulberry ; though he allows that some apprehend
that it is the same with the sycamore; and thus Galeh, lib. ii,
de. alimen'tis, and Athenaeus, 1. ii. Galen has afterwards a sepa
rate chapter on the " sycamorus," which he speaks of as rare,
and mentions as having seen at Alexandria in Egypt. The
Greeks name the " morus?'. the sycamine. Grotius says the word
a-rnxfjuvoi; has no connexion with trvK&i, the fig tree, but is entirely
Syrian yropa, Hebr. a^pa. It should seem, indeed, to be very
similar to the mulberry, as not only the Latin, but the Syriac, arid
the Arabic render it by " morus :" and thus Coverdale's, fhe
Rheims, and Purver's English translations render it by the "mul
berry ;" and so it is in Bp. Wilson's Bible. Hiller, Hierophyt.
v. i. p. 250, and Celsius, Hierobot. v. i. p. 288, with much
learning prove it to be the morus ; and WarnekrosT contends
* Sacred Classics, v. ii. p. 82.
+ Historia naturalis sycamori ex veterum botanic orum monumentis ei
itinerariisdeliueatio; in Repert. Lit. Bibl. et orientalis ab EiCHORNie
edit. T.,xi. p..224.

OF THE BIBLE. 403
that by tbe Imxfxtvoc ofthe ancients, and in Luke xviii. 6, we are
to understand the mulberry ; and takes notice of several mistakes
of the learned on this subject.
SYCAMORE, ninpty schikmot, O'npty schikmim. .
Occ. 1 Kings x. 27; 1 Chron. xxvii. 28; .2 Chron. i. 15;
Tsal. lxxviii. 47; Isai. ix. 9; Amos viii. 14.
2TKOM&PA1A. Luke xix. 4.
A large tree, according to the description of Theophrastus,
Dioscorides, and Galen, resembh'ng the mulberry tree in the
leaf, and the fig in its fruit ; hence its name, compounded of evxiy
fig, and [ao(>oc, mulberry : and some have fancied that it was ori
ginally produced by ingrafting the one tree upon the other. Its
fruit is palatable. When ripe it is soft, watery, somewhat sweet,
with a little of an aromatic taste.
The trees are very common in Palestine, Arabia, and Egypt ;
grow large and to a great height ; and though the grain is coarse,
are much used in building. To change sycamores into cedars,
Isai. ix. 10, means to render the buildings of cities and the state
of the nation much more magnificent than before. Dr. Shaw
remarks that, " as the grain and texture of the sycamore is re
markably coarse and spongy, it could therefore stand in no com
petition at all with the cedar for beauty and ornament." We
meet with the same opposition of cedars to sycamores 1 Kings x.
27, where Solomon is said to have made silver as the stones, and
cedars as the sycamores of the vale, for abundance. "By this
mashal, or figurative and sententious speech, says Bp. Lowth,
they boast (in this place of Isaiah) that they shall easily be able to
repair their present losses, suffered perhaps by the first Assyrian
invasion under Tiglath-Pileser, and to bring their affairs to a more
flourishing condition than ever."
The wood of this tree is very durable. "The mummy chests,
says Dr, Shaw, Trav. p. 376 and 436, and whatever figures and
instruments of wood are found in the catacombs, are all of them
of sycamore, which, though spongy and porous to appearance, .has
notwithstanding continued entire and uncorrupted for at least
tfiree thousand'years."
From its value in furnishing w°od for various uses, from the
grateful shade which its wide spreading branches afforded, and on
account ofthe fruit which Maillet says the Egyptians hold in the
highest estimation, we perceive the loss which the ancient inha
bitants of Egypt must have felt when " their vines were destroy
ed with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost." Psal. lxviii. 47.
Mr. Norden, in his Travels into Egypt and Nubia, v. i. p. 79,
feas given a particular account of the tree and its fruit, " The

404 THE NATURAL HISTORY
sycamore," says he, " is of the height of a beech, and bears its
fruit in a manner quite different from other trees ; it has them on
the trunk itself, which shoots out little sprigs, in form of grape-
stalks, at the end of which grow the fruit close to one another,
almost like clusters of grapes. The tree is always green and
bears fruit several times in the year, without observing any cer
tain seasons ; for I have seen some sycamores that have given
fruit two months after others. The fruit has the figure and smell
of real figs, but is inferior to them in the taste, having a disgusfc
fulsweetness. Its colour is a yellow inclining to an ochre, sha
dowed by a flesh colour. In the inside it resembles the common
figs, excepting that it has a blackish colouring with yellow spots.
This sort of tree is pretty common in Egypt; the people, for the
greater part, live upon its fruit, and think themselves well regal
ed when they have a piece of bread, a couple of sycamore figs,
and a pitcher of water." — This account, in several things, agrees
with what Pliny, N. H. 1. xiii. c. 7, and Solinus, Polyhisfor. c.
45, relate of this tree and its fruit. Very likely there might be
many of these trees in Judea. David appointed a particular of
ficer, whose sole duty it was to" watch over the plantations of Sy
camore and olive-trees. 1 Chron. xxviii. 28. And being join
ed with the olive, the high estimation in which it was held is inti
mated ; for " the olive is considered as one ofthe most precious
gifts which the God of nature has bestowed on the oriental na
tions." There seem to have been great numbers of them in So
lomon's time. 1 Kings x. 27 ; and in the Talmud they are men
tioned as growing in the plains of Jericho.
One curious particular in the cultivation of the fruit must not
be passed over. Pliny, N. H, 1. xiii. c 7; Dioscorides, 1. I.
c. 143; and Theophrastus, Hist. 1. iv. c. 2, observe that the
fruit must be cut or scratched, either with the nail or with iron, or
it will not ripen ; but four days after this process it will become
ripe. To the same purpose Jerom, on Amos vii. 14 ; says that
without this management the figs are excessively bitter. " Sy-
mori agrestes afferunt ficus, quas, si non vellicentur, amarissimas
cariculas faciunt." These testimonies, together with the LXX
and Vulgate version, are adduced to settle the meaning of the
word abz in Amos vii. 14, which, must signify scraping, or mak
ing incisions in the sycamore fruit ; an employmentiofAmos be
fore he was called to the prophetic office.
Hasselquist, Trav. p. 261, describing the "Ficus Sycamo-
rus," or scripture sycamore, says, " It buds the latter end of
March, and the fruit ripens in the beginning of June. At the
time when the fruit has arrived to the size of an inch diameter,
fhe inhabitants pare off a part at the center point. They say

OF THE BIBLE. 405
that without this paring it would not come to maturity." Th©
figs thus prematurely ripened are called "djumeiz baedri,"that is
pracosious sycamore figs.*
In Luke xix. 4, the c-vkoim>qouxv is rendered in the Arabic ver
sion "giumus ;" by which name the tree is described by Leo, 1.
ix. of his description of Africa, as having a fruit in taste like a figj
but which grows, not on the branches, but on the stem of the tree.
So Celsius, 1. iii. c. 18. This account perfectly suits that ofthe
Egyptian fig in botanical authors.t
As the sycamore is a large spreading tree, sometimes shooting
up to a considerable height, we see the reason why Zaccheus
climbed up into a sycamore tree to get a sight of our Saviour.
The incident also furnishes a proof that the sycamore was still
common in Palestine ; for this tree stood to protect the traveller
hy the side of the highway.
TARE, zizanon.
Occ. Matth. xiii. 25, 26, 27. 29, 30. 36. 38. 40.
It is not easy to determine, what plant or weed is here intend
ed, as the word zizania is neither mentioned in any other part of
scripture, nor in any ancient Greek writer. Some Greek and
Latin fathers have made use of it, as have also Suidas and Pha-
vorinus: but it is probable that they ha+e all derived it from this
text. As this gospel was first written in Syriac it is probably a
word belonging to that language. Buxtorf in his Rabbinical
Lexicon gives several interpretations, but at last concludes with
submitting it to the decision of others. In a treatise in the Mish-
na, called " Kilayim," which treats expressly of different kinds of
seeds, a bastard or degenerate wheat is mentioned by the name
of cmt zonim, which the very sound, in pronouncing, proves to
be the same as the zizanon; and which may lead to the true de
rivation of the word, that is, from the Chaldee |i, a kind or species,
of grain namely ; whence the corrupt Hebrew or Syriac wr,
which in the ancient Syriac version answers to the Greek Zifavix,
Matth. xiii. 25, et seq. In Psal. cxliv. 13, the words ft bx \m miz-.
zan al zan, are translated "all manner of store;" but they
* For other authorities and particulars see Bochart, Hieroz. v. i. p.
277 \ Calmet's Dictionary, in "Sycamore" and "Fig;" Sjcheuchzer,
Phys. Sacr. on 1 Kings x. 27, and Tab. qecclxiv. Shaw's Trav. p. 435.
H armer's Obs. v. ii. p. 309. The tree is represented, witb its fruit, plate
xxxv iii, of Norden. Pococke's Trav. v. i. p. 205. A very copious and
learned account of this tree has been given by Warnekros, ' Historia na
turalis sycamori ex veterum botanicorum monumentis et itineriis con-
scripta;" in Eichornii Repevtorium, Theil. xi. 224; xii 81.
t That which in this country we call " sycamore," and which the abo
rigines called "sugamug," is quite a different tree.

406 THE NATURAL HISTORY
properly signify from species to species.1 Might not the Chaldee
word -pit zunin, and the Greek word Zi^wov come from the Psalm
ist's ;tji zanzan, which might have signified a mixture of grain of
any kind, and be here used to point oul the mixing bastard or de
generate wheat among the good seed-wheat ?¦ Mintert says, that
" it is a kind of plant, not unlike corn or wheat, having at first the
same sort of stalk, and the same viridity, but bringing forth no
fruit, at least,' none good :" and he adds from John Melc'hior,
torn. i. p. m. 272, Zj£*vov, does not signify every weed in general
which grows among corn, but a particular seed, known in
Canaan, which was not unlike wheat, but, being put into the
ground, degenerated, and assumed another nature and form.
Parkhurst, and Dr. Campbell, render it " the darnel ;" "fo
lium temulentum." Lin. The same plant is called " zizanion"
by the Spaniards ; as it appears to be " zuvan" by the Turks
and Arabs. " It is well known to the people at Aleppo, (says M.
Forskal.) It grows among corn. If the seeds remain mixed
with the meal, they occasion dizziness to those who eat of the
bread. The reapers do not separate the plant ; but after the
threshing, they reject the seeds by means of a van or sieve."
Other travellers mention, that in some parts of Syria, the plant is
drawn up by the hand in the time of harvest, along with the
wheat, and is then gathered out, and bound up in separate bundles.
In the parable of the tares, our Lord states the very same cir
cumstances. They grew among the grain ; they were not sepa
rated by the tillers, but suffered to grow up together till the har
vest ; they were then gathered from among the wheat with the
hand, and bound up in bundles.*
TEIL-TREE. This word is found in our translation of Isai.
vi. 13, where it answers to the Hebrew vhm alah, which in all
other places is rendered " oak."
The Teil is the linden-tree. It is very common in Syria and
Palestine. Its leaf resembles that of the laurel, and its flower
that ofthe olive.
THISTLE. A well known troublesome plant.
There are several kinds of thistles in the East ; and probably
more than one kind is referred to in the Scripture. .The Tal-
mudt mentions abundance of thistles (carduus) as growing in a
valley not far from Bethlehem.
* See other illustrations in Scheuchzer, Pbys. Sacr. on Matth. xiii.
Michaelis, Quest, xv.and Campbell's Note.
f Tract. Schevi, c. ix. Beth-Netopha. Ezra ii. 22.

OF THE BIBLE. 407
I. The word Tin dardar, which occurs in Gen* iii. 18; and
Hosea x. 8, Bate,* tracing from a Hebrew root which signifies
round, thinks to be "so named from its round form, and being
encircled on all sides with prickles; or from its seeds being en
circled in a downy sphere, on which it easily rolls." The LXX.
render it tqiGoaqc, and St. Paul uses the same word, Hebr. vi. 8j
where in our version it is rendered " briers."
The tribules, briers, which answers to the Hebrew word dar
dar, is the name of certain prickly plants. Dioscorides, 1. iv*
c. 1 5, distinguishes two kinds ; one terrestrial, whose leaves are
like those of the purslain, but smaller, which extends its lesser
branches on the earth, and which has, along its leaves, stiff and
hard thorns ; the other kind, is the aquatic, the " tribuloides ;"
which, says Tournefort, is common enough in the waters. Dr.
Shaw, Specim. Phytograph. No. 97, pronounces tbe dardar of
of the Hebrews, and the tribulus of the ancients to be the Fago-
nia Arabica ; longissimis aculeis armata.
II. The word rendered "thistle," in the beautiful parable,
2 Kings xiv. 9 ; and in 2 Chron. xxv. 1 8, is rtin choach, which,
I have mentioned under the article Thorn.
III. The thistle, Job xxxi. 40, is in the original,, n»JO baseh,
upon the authority of Hasselquist, modern critics concur in ren
dering the " night-shade ;" a plant very commou in Egypt, Pa
lestine and the East: " And it must be observed, (says Mr.
Good,) that the Arabic bys, which is one ofthe terms for night
shade, in some degree supports this opinion. If this be the plant,
it is probably that species of solanum, which is essentially de
nominated pubescens; (hoary night-shade ;) though several other
species of this genus are also indigenous in the East. In other
parts ofthe Bible, however, n&'so appears to import a weed not
Only noxious, but of a fetid smell ; which character hardly ap
plies to any species of night-shade ; and in truth, the verb itself,
I9K3, in its primary signification bears the same meaning, viz. to
stink.X The Septuagint translate it Bxros, the blackberry bush ;
Castalio, " ebulus," the dwarf elder ; Symmachus, xTiAzir®oi>*iTX,
plants of imperfect fruit ; the. Chaldee, 'Din, noxious herbs
generally. It is rendered " wild-grapes" in Isai. v. 2, 4.
See' Grapes, wild, Sec; ii.
IV. The author of the Book of Wisdom, ch. v. 14, by a most
expressive comparison, has illustrated the immense difference
between the fate of bad men and of the righteous, by declaring
that the hope of the ungodly, is " like thistle down, blown away by
the wind."
* Crit. Hebr. See also Parkhurst, Hebr. Ley.
f Hence perhaps our English word base, vile, offensive.

408 THE NATURAL HISTORY
V. The word for thistle, in Matth. vii. 16, is TPIB0A02 ; and
in Heb. vi. 8, the same word is translated " brier." " Do men
gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles ?" Galen, de
curat, has a passage very similar : .O ytwiiyos ouk «v awe d\ivip
cxno rxQiYpxt tov ^ixtov SKCpegsiv |3ot§ov, the husbandman would
never be able to make the thorn produce grapes : and Campa-
mella has borrowed the passage for illustrating the maxim,
" Ens nullum aliis dare posse, quod ipsum in se non habet."
" Nunquam lucem vidimus gignere tenebras, nee calorem frigus,
nee spinam lenire, nee grave levare : Nee colligunt de tribulis
ficus, ait Messias."*
THORN. A general name for several kinds of prickly plants.
So little was known of the natural history of the East, when
our version of the Bible was made, that it was impossible for
the translators to ascertain the varieties designated by appropri
ate words in the original ; and they seem to have been content
with rendering them, by the familiar names of plants and shrubs
armed with prickles or spines. Referring to the articles Bram
ble, Brier, Nettle, and Thistle, I shall here endeavour to
arrange in some order, the information I have been able to col
lect on this intricate subject.
Denon thus remarks in his lately published travels ; " One of
the inconveniences ofthe vegetable thickets of Egypt is, that it
is difficult to remain in them, seeing that nine-tenths of the trees
and plants are armed with inexorable thorns, which suffer only
an unquiet enjoyment of the shadow which is so constantly de
sirable, from the precaution necessary to guard against them."
It is no wonder, therefore, that among so many kinds of thorns,
we are embarrassed in identifying those mentioned in Scripture.
"Quid exempta juvat spinis de pluribus una ?"
I. In the curse denounced against the earth, Gen. iii. 18, its
produce is threatened to be " thorns and thistles," mil y)0
kutj ve dardar ; in the Septuagint, xkomQx; %xt t/>i£oaovc. St.
Paul uses the same words, Heb. vi. 8, where the last is rendered
" briers ;" they are also found Hosea x. 8. The word kutj is put
for thorns, in other places, as Exod. xxii. 6 ; Judges viii. 7 ; Ezek.
ii. 6 ; xxviii. 4,. but we are uncertain, whether it means a specific
kind of thorn, or may be a generic name for all plants of a thOrriy
kind. In the present instance, it seems to be general for all those
obnoxious plants, shrubs, &c. by which the labours of the hus-
* De sensu rerum, 1. i. c. 1, 'mil.

OF THE BIBLE. 409
bandman are impeded, and which are only fit for burning. If
the word intends a particular plant, it may be the rest-harrow*
a pernicious prickly weed, which grows promiscuously with the
large thistles in the uncultivated grounds, and covers entire fields
and plains, in Egypt and Palestine.
From the resemblance of the Hebrew dardar, to the Arabic
Word dardagi, Scheuchzer supposes the cnicus to be intended ;
the cnicus sylvestris spinosior tricephalos, of Bauhin ; the tri-
bulus and tricephalos, both referring to the same peculiarity
of the plant.
• II. For the word ma shamir, see the article Brier.
III. run choach, from its etymology, must be a kind of
thorn, with incurvated spjnes, like fish-hooks, similar to those of
the North-American witch hazel.X Celsius says that the same
word, and of the same original in Arabic, is the black thorn,
or sloe tree.f Prunus spinosa. Lin.
IV. O'vg sirim. It is impossible to determine what plants
are intended by this word. Meninski, Lexic. 2795, says that
serbin, in the Persic language, is the name of a tree bearing
thorns. In Eccles. vii. 7 ; and Nahum i. 10, they are mention
ed as fuel which quickly burns up ; and in Hosea ii. 6, as ob
structions or hedges ; it may be the Lycium Afrum.
V. pSo sillon.§ Mentioned Joshua xxiii. 13; Ezek. ii. 6 ;
and xxviii. 24. An explanation is suggested under the article
Brier, which may be farther illustrated by the following epigram
on a tyrant, in the Anthol. 1. ii. c. 43.
©aTTov «oni fj.o\t xstySago;, » yaK-t kwu-\-,
H av 'wetnauc,, o-jLoe7rtot w, ayuBov.
As well might honey be extracted from the scarabteus, or milk from the
cinips, as good obtained from such a scorpion as you.
From the vexatious characters, however, ascribed to this thorn
in the places just referred to, compared with Numb, xxxiii. 55 ;
and Judg. ii. 3, 1 am disposed to think it the KANTurrA as des
cribed by Bruce.
* Ononis spinosa. Hasselquist.
t In 2 Kings xiv. 9 ; 2 Chron. xxv. 18 ; and Job xxxi. 14, it is rendered
thistle; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11 ; Prov. xxvi. 9 ; Cantic. ii. 2 ; and Hosea ix.
6, thorn; Job xii. 2, hook; 1 Sam. xiii. 6, thicket; and Isai. xxxiv. 13,
bramble. X Hierobot. part i. p. 477.
§ Hine aiKKm et r/Meuw, Comicorum more convitiis ilfudere, ut putat
^VENARIUS. •52

410 THE NATURAL HISTORY
VI. By crop sicchim, Numbers xxxiii. 55, may be intended
goads, or sharp pointed sticks like those with which cattle were
driven.
, VII. The n't? scajith, Isai. v. 6 ; and x. 17, must mean some
noxious plant which overruns waste grounds.
VIII. The word o':x tzinnim, occurs Numb, xxxiii. 55 ;
Josh, xxiii. 13; and Isai. v. 5. It seems, from its application, to
describe a bad kind of thorn. Hiller supposes it to be the
vepris* Perhaps it is the Rhamnus paliurus, a deciduous plant
or tree, a native of Palestine, Spain, and Italy. It will grow
nearly to the height of fourteen feet, and is armed with sharp
thorns, two of which are at the insertion of each branch, one of
them strait and upright, the other bent backward.!
IX. n'Jpi3 barkanim, translated briers, Judg. viii. 16. "There
is no doubt but this word means a sharp, jagged, kind of plant :
the diiiiculty is to fix on one where so many offer themselves.
The Septuagint preserves the original word. We should hardly
think Gideon went far to seek these plants. The thorns are
expressly said to be from the wilderness, or common hard by ;
probably the barkanim were from the same place. In our coun
try this would lead us to the blackberry bushes on our commons ;
but it might not be so around Succoth. There is a plant men
tioned by Hasselquist, whose name and properties somewhat
resemble those which are required in the barkanim of this pas
sage. uNabca paliurus Athenai (Alpin, iEgypt. 16. 19.) the
Nabka of the Arabs. There is every appearance that this is the
tree which furnished the crown of thorns which was put on the
head of our Lord. It is common in the east. A plant more
proper for this purpose could not be selected ; for it is armed
with thorns, its branches are pliant, and its leaf of a deep green
like that of ivy. Perhaps the enemies of Christ chose this plant,
in order to add insult to injury by employing a wreath approach
ing in appearance that which was used to crown emperors and
generals." — I am not sure whether somewhat of the same ideas
might not influence Gideon : at least it is remarkable, that
though in verse 7 he threatens to thresh the flesh of the men of
Succoth with thorns, that is, to beat them severely; yet in verse
16 it is said he taught (made to know) perhaps made to be known
by wearing them. The change of words deserves notice ; and
so does the observation that he slew the men of Penuel, which is
not said of the men of Succoth. If the Nabka, (Nabaka) might be
* Hierophyt. pars i. c. 9. H.
t See a description of the plant, with an engraving, in Alpinus, de plan-
ij's Mgypti, p. 21.

OF THE BIBLE. 411
the na-barkan of this passage, the idea of its employment is re
markably coincident in the two passages."*
X. p-tn chedek ; mentioned only Prov. xv. 9 ; and Micah vii.
4. Celsius and Ray make it the Solanum pomifcrum fruclu
spinoso ; but I am inclined to think it may be the Colutea spinosa
of Forskal, p. 131, which is called in Arabic keddad, of which
there is an engraving in Russel, Nat. Hist, of Aleppo, tab. 5.
XI. isid sirpad. Hiller calls it the ruscus. Occurs only
once, Isai. Iv. 1 3, where, by the Septuagint it is rendered kovu^xv,
which would direct us to the Conyza major vulgaris, of Bauhin.
Parkhurst says it must mean some kind of wide-spreading
thorn. See Brier.
XII. ^nn charul. Job xxx. 7 ; Prov. xxiv. 81 ; and Zeph.
ii. 9. Perhaps the paliurus. a thorny shrub, growing sometimes
to a considerable height in desert and uncultivated places.
See Nettles.
XIII. The word a,xi3fj.'3 notjutjim, in Isai. vii. 18, is not a
plant, though translated thorns, but a place ; and means low
lands or meadows.
XIV. ywyi naazuz. This word is twice found, Isai. vii. 19;
and lv. 13. It may be the vepretum, rubus spinosus.
XV. In the New Testament, the Greek word translated
"thorn", is AKAN0A; and it occurs Matth. vii. 16; xiii. 7;
xxvii. 29 ; and Joh. xix. 2.
The note of bishop Pearce on Matth. xxvii. 29, is this : " The
word xkxvQmv may as well be the plural genitive case of the word
omxvQoi;, as of xkmiQ*i; if of the latter it is rightly translated "of
thorns," butHhe former would signify what we call "bears-foot,"
and the French " branche ursine." This is not ofthe thorny kind
of plants, but is soft and smooth. Virgil calls it "mollis acan
thus," Eccl. iii. 45 ; Geor. iv. 137. So does Pliny sec. Epist.
v. 6. and Pliny the elder (in his Nat. Hist. xxii. 22. p. 277, ed.
Hard.) says that it is " laevis," smooth ; and that it is one of those
plants that are cultivated in gardens. I have somewhere read, but
cannot at present recollect where, that this soft and smooth herb
was very common in and about Jerusalem. I find nothing in the
New Testament concerning this crown which Pilate's soldiers
put on the head of Jesus to incline one to think that it was of
thorns, and intended, as is usually supposed, to put him to pain.
The reed put into his hand, and the scarlet robe on his back,
were meant only as marks of mockery and contempt. One may
also reasonably judge by the soldiers being said to plat this
* Scr. Illustr. p. 82. — Rhamnus spina Chrisli. Lin.

412 THE NATURAL HISTORY
crown, that it was not composed of such twigs and leaves as were
of a thorny nature. I do not find that it is mentioned by any of
the primitive christian writers as an instance of the cruelty used
towards our Saviour before he was led to crucifixion, till the time
of Tertullian, who lived after Jesus' death at the distance of
above 160 years. He indeed seems to have understood xkxvQuv
in the sense of thorns, and says (De Corona Militar. sect. xiv. ed.
Pamel. Franc. 1597) "quale oro te, Jesus Christus sertum pro
utroque sexu subiit ? Ex spinis, opinor, et tribulis." The total
silence of Polycarp, Barnabas, Cl. Romanus, and all the other
christian writers whose works are now extant, and who wrote
before Tertullian, in particular, will give some weight to in
cline one to think that this crown was not platted with thorns.
But as this is a point on which we have not sufficient evidence, I
leave it almost in the same state of uncertainty in which I found
it. [The reader may see a satisfactory account of acanthus in
Quincy's English Dispensatory, part ii. sect. 3. ed. 8. 1 742.]
Dr. Adam Clarke, after quoting this note, observes that " the
species of acanthus described by Virgil and the two Plinys as
" mollis" and " lasvis," soft and smooth, is no doubt the same as
that formerly used in medicine, and described by Quincy and
other pharmacopoeists ; but there are other species of the same
plant that are prickly, and particularly those called " acanthus
spinosus," and the " hicifolius;" the latter of which is common in
both the Indies : but I do not conceive that this kind was used,
nor indeed any other plant of a thorny nature, as the Roman sol
diers who platted the crown could have no interest in adding to
our Lord's sufferings, though they smote him with the rod, yet
their chief object was to render him ridiculous for pretending, as
they imagined, to regal authority."
THYINE. 0TINO2.
Occurs Rev. xviii. 1 2.
The Thya tree, or Thyon. A tree which rises with a strong
woody trunk to the height of thirty feet or more. The bark,
when young, is smooth and of a dark brown colour ; but as the
trees grow old, becomes cracked, and less and less smooth. The
branches are produced irregularly on every side, standing al
most horizontally, and crossing each other nearly at right angles.
The younger branches only are garnished with leaves, which arc
placed imbricatim over each other, like the scales of fish. The
Sowers are produced from the side of the young leaves, pretty
near the footstalk. These are succeeded by oblong cones of a
beautiful grey colour, having scales which end in acute reflexed
points, containing one or two oblong seeds. The leaves have s
rank, oily scent, when bruised.

OF THE BIBLE. • 413
The wood of this tree is hard, receives a fine polish, and is a
valuable article.
Theophrastus, Hist. Plant, v. 5, says that " it resembles the
cypress in its boughs, leaves, stalk, and fruit ; and that its wood
never rots." It was in high esteem among, the heathen, who
often made the doors of their temples, and the images of their
gods of this wood.* See Algum.
Jackson, in his Account of Marocco, p. 73, says that " besides
producing the gum sandrac, the wood of the thya is invaluable,
being somewhat like cedar, having a similar smell, and being im
penetrable to the worm. The roofs of houses, and the ceilings
of rooms are made of this wood."
TIN. Via BEDIL.
Occ. Numb. xxxi. 22; Isai. i. 25; Ezek. xxii. 18. 20;
xxvii. 12.
A well known coarse metal, harder than lead.
Mr. Parkhurst observes that " Moses in Numb. xxxi. 22,
enumerates all the six species of metals." — " Silver, of all the
metals, suffers most from an admixture of tin, a very small quan
tity serving to make that metal as brittle as glass. The very
vapour of tin has the same effect as the metal itself, on silver,
gold, and copper, rendering them brittle." Hence we may see
the propriety of the denunciation of Jehovah by the prophet
Isaiah, ch. i. 25 ; for, having at the 22d verse compared the
Jewish people to silver, he declares at v. 25, " I will turn my
hand upon thee, and purge away thy dross, and remove all "j'V-U
thy particles qf tin :" where Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodo-
tion have nxn-<rtrt^ov <rov, and the Vulgate " stannum tuum," thy
tin ; but LXX xvopovc, wicked ones. This denunciation, how
ever, by a comparison of the preceding and following context,
appears to signify that God would, by a process of judgment,
purify those among the Jews who were capable qf purification,
as well as destroy the reprobate and incorrigible. Comp. Jer.
vi. 29, 30; ix. 7; Mai. iii. 3; Ezek. xii. 18. 20.
In Ezek xxvii. 12, Tarshish is mentioned as furnishing V"0 ;
and Bochart proves from the testimonies of Diodorus, Pliny,
and Stephanus, that Tartessus in Spain, which he supposes the
ancient Tarshish anciently did tin.
In Ecelesiasticus xlvii. 18, Solomon is said to have gathered
gold as aawwre^ov, tin, and to multiply silver as lead.
* For, other particulars, see Celsius, Hierobot. v. ii. p. 22. Plin. N.
H. I. xiii. c. 16. Salmasius iu Solin. c. xlvi. p. 667, et in Homol. Hyl.
Jatr. c. 67. Wesseling in Diod. Sic. v. c. 46. p. 667. Wetstein, N. T.
ii. p. 828.

414 THE NATURAL HISTORY
TOPAZ, mas pitdah.
Occ. Exod. xxviii. 17; xxxix. 10; Job xxviii. 1 9 ; Ezek.
xxviii. 13. TOriAZION, Rev. xxi. 10.
A precious stone of a pale dead green, with a mixture of yel
low ;* and sometimes of fine yellow like gold. It is very hard
and takes a fine polish.
We have the authority ofthe Septuagint and Josephus for as
certaining this stone.
The oriental topazes are most esteemed. Those of Ethiopia,
were celebrated for their wonderful lustre. Job xxviii. 19.f
TORTOISE, ax tsar.
Occurs Levit. xi. 29, only.
" All who know the tortoise, (says the author of ' Scripture Il
lustrated,') know that it partakes of the nature of the amphibia,
too much to be, with propriety, placed among those creatures
with whom we here, find it associated."
Dr. Shaw tells us, that the tzab of this passage, is a kind of
lizard, called in Arabic, " dab," or " dhab ;" it agrees nearly in
shape, and in the pointed annuli or scales of the tail, with the
" caudiverbera as it is represented by Gesner and Johnston.}:
With this idea the Septuagint agree; and Bochart quotes Dam-
ir and Avicenna in his support. Hasselquist has described the
creature under the name of " Lacerta iEgyptiae cauda verticilla-
ta, squamis denticulatis, pedibus pentadactylis," &c. Leo Afri-
canus, Descr. Africa, 1. ix. c. 52, describes a kind of lizard by
the name " dab."
Jackson, in his Account of Morocco, p. 48, says, " The Dub,
or Saharawan Lizard, is about eighteen inches long, and three or
four inches broad across the back. It is not poisonous. It lays
eggs like the tortoise. It is very swift ; and, if hunted, will hide
itself in the earth, which it penetrates with its nose, and nothing
will extricate it but digging up the ground."
TURTLE. Tn tur. Gr. rgvyov. Lat. turtur.
Occ. Gen. xv. 9 ; Levit. i. 14 ; v. 7, 1 1 ; xii. 6, 8 ; xiv. 22,
30; xv. 14, 29; Numb.vi. 10; Psalm lxxiv. 19; Cantic. ii. 12;
Jer. viii. 7. TPTrilN, Luke ii. 24.
* Plin. Nat. Hist. I. 37, c. 8. " Egregia etiamnum topazio gloria est,
suo virenti genere, et cum reperta est prelate omnibus."
f Consult Bravnius de Vestit. Sacerd. Hebr. 1. ii. c. 9, p. 508. J. de
Laet de Gemmis et lapidibus, 1. i. c. II. Salmasius et Solin. p. 169, et
ad EpiPHANiuMde gemmis, c. ii p. 87 ; Hiller, de Gem. in pectorali. p.
39. Wetstein, N. T. torn. ii. p. 845.
X Gesner de quadrup. ovip. p. 23. Johnston hist, quadr. tab. 79.

OF THE BIBLE. 416
We have the authority ofthe Septuagint, the Targum, and of
all the ancient interpreters, for understanding this of the turtle.
Indeed it is one of those evident instances in which the name of
the bird is by onomatopoeia formed from its note or cry.
In our version of Psalm lxxiv. 19, we read, "O deliver not the
soul of thy turtle-dove unto the multitude of the enemies :" but
there are no traces of this metaphor of the turtle-dove in any
old version whatsoever, which could not have missed it, at least
not all of them, if it had ever been in their copies. The truth is,
it is only the blunder of some negligent transcriber, propagated
down to us, who took a i d, for an i r, and so wrote pin thy
turtle-dove, for"]iin confessing thee ; for so the ancients translate ;
" O give not up to beasts, a soul confessing thee !" This reading
is that os the Septuagint and the Syriac ; and Houbigant ap
proves it.
The turtle is mentioned among migratory birds, by Jeremiah
viii. 7, and in this differs from the rest of its family, which are all
stationary. The fact to which the prophet alludes, is attested by
Aristotle, Hist. An. 1. viii. c. 3, in these words, " the pigeon
and the dove are always present, but the turtle only in summer;
that bird is not seen in winter :" and in another part of his work,
he asserts that " the dove remains, while the turtle migrates."
Varro, and other ancient writers, make the like statement.
Thus Solomon, Cantic. ii. 12, mentions the return of this bird
as one ofthe indications of spring ; " the voice ofthe turtle is
heard in the grove."
VERMILION, -ww sisir.
Occ. Jer. xxii. 14 ; and Ezek. xxiii. 14, only. MIATOS, Wis
dom xiii. 14.
A very beautiful red colour. So the LXX. p.tK-xw. Pliny
informs us, that " this, which the Greeks call fjuArog, was found
in silver mines, in the form of reddish sand, and was much used
by the Romans in his time as apaint, and formerly applied to sa
cred purposes." [Nat. Hist. lib. xxxiii. cap. vii.] Bochart,
[vol.'i. p. 484.] observes, that there is a lake in Africa, called
from the Phenicians, " sisara," so named, he thinks, both on ac
count of the vermilion or red paint, (-,aa) for which those parts
were famous, and also *f the neighbouring river, called likewise
in Latin,- " rubricatus," red coloured.
Ezekiel reproving the idolatry of the times, says, that Aholiab
" added to her idolatries ; for she saw men portrayed upon the
wall, images of Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, girded with
girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their
heads, after the manner of the Babylonians, even of Chaldea ;

416 THE NATURAL HISTORY
and she doted upon them as soon she cast her eyes on them."
These were the representations of Chaldean deities. In the
1 3th chapter of the book of Wisdom, is a fine ironical descrip
tion of these " vain idols," in which the carpenter is represented
as taking " the very refuse of his timber, being a crooked piece
of wood and full of knots, and carving it diligently when he hath
nothing else to do, and fashioning it into the image of a man, or
like some vile beast, laying it over with vermilion, and with
paint, colouring it red, and covering every spot therein. And
when he hath made a convenient room for it, he set it up in a
wall, and made it fast with irons ; for he provideth for it, that it
might not fall, knowing that it was unable to help itself; (for it is
an image and hath need of help.) Then maketh he prayer for his
goods, for his wife and children, and is not ashamed to speak to
that which hath no life. For health, he calleth upon that which
is weak ; for life, prayeth to that which is inanimate ; for aid,
humbly beseecheth that which hath least means to help ; and
for a good journey, he asketh of that which cannot set a foot for
ward ; and for gaining and getting good success of his hands,
asketh ability of him that is most unable to do any thing."
Bp. Lowth observes, that " the sacred writers are generally
large and eloquent upon the subject of idolatry : they treat it
with great severity, and set forth the absurdity of it in the strong
est light ; and that the passage of Isaiah xliv. 12 — 20, exceeds
any thing that was ever written upon the subject, in force of ar
gument, energy of expression, and elegance of composition.
One or two of the Apochryphal writers have attempted to imi
tate the prophet : Wisd. xiii. 10 — 19 ; xv. 7, &c. Baruch ch. vi.
especially the latter ; who injudiciously dilating his matter, and
introducing a number of minute circumstances, has very much
weakened the force and effect of his invective. On the contrary,
a heathen author, in the ludicrous way, has, in a line or two, giv
en idolatry one of the severest strokes it ever received.
" Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum :
Cnm laber, incertusscamnum faceretne Priapum,
Maluit esse Deum." Horat. I. i. sat. 8-
" Late a maimed fig-tree's trunk I stood,
A shapeless, useless, block of wood ;
When a rough artist, long in doubt
Into what shape to carve me out,
A bench or a Priapus, — deemed
A god would be the most esteemed,
And so, for reasons surely wise,
Into a god he bid me rise."

OF THE BIBLE. 417
VINE. |£U GEPHEN.
Occ. Gen. xl. 9, and elsewhere frequently. AM11EAOX,
Matth. xxvi. 29 ; Mark xiv. 25 ; Luke xxii. 18 ; John xv. 4, 5 ;
James iii. 12 ; Rev. xiv. 19.
A noble plant of the creeping kind, famous for its fruit, or
grapes, and the liquor they afford.*
The vine is a common name, or genus, including several spe
cies under it ; and Moses, to distinguish the true vine, or that
from which wine is made, from the rest, calls it, Numb. vi. 4,
the wine vine. Some of the other sorts were of a poisonous quali
ty ; as appears from the story related among the miraculous acts
of Elisha, 2 Kings iv. 39, 41. [See Grapes: Wild Grapes.]
The expression of " sitting every man under his own vine,"
probably alludes to the delightful Eastern arbours, which were
partly composed of vines. Capt. Norden in like manner speaks
of sine-arbours as common in the Egyptian gardens; and the
Praenestine pavement in Dr. Shaw gives us the figure of an
ancient one.
There were in Palestine many excellent vineyards. Scrip
ture celebrates the vines of Sorek, of Sebamah, of Jazer, of Abel.
Profane authors mention the excellent wines of Gaza, Sarepta,
Libanus, Saron, Ascalon, and Tyre. — Jacob, in the blessing
which he gave Judah, Gen. xlix. 1 1 , says, " Binding his foal unto
the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine, he washed his
garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes ;" to
shew the abundance of vines that should fall to his lot.
Noah planted the vine after the deluge, and is supposed to
have been the first who cultivated it ; Gen. ix. 20. Many are of
opinion that wine was not unknown before the deluge ; and that
this patriarch only continued to cultivate the vine after that
event, as he had done before it: but the fathers think that he
knew not the force of wine; having never used it before, nor
having ever seen any one use it. He was the first that gathered
the juice ofthe grape, and preserved it till by fermentation it be
came a potable liquor. Before him, men only ate the grapes like
other fruit.
The law of Moses did not allow the planters of vineyards to
eat the fruit before the fifth year. Levit. xix. 24, 25. The Is
raelites were also required to indulge the poor, the orphan, and
the stranger with the use of the grapes on the seventh year. A
traveller was allowed to gather and eat the grapes in a vineyard
* See Celsius, Hierobot. V. ii. p. 400, who has devoted forty-four pages
to the illustration of this article.
53

418 THE NATURAL HISTORY
as he passed along, but he was not permitted to carry any away.
Deut. xxiii. 24.
The scarcity of fuel, especially wood, in most parts of the east,
is so great, that they supply it with every thing capable of burn
ing ; cow dung dried, roots, parings of fruits, withered stalks of
herbs and flowers ; Matth. vi. 21 — 30. Vine-twigs are particu
larly mentioned, as used for fuel in dressing their food, by D'Ar-
vieux, La Roque and others: Ezekiel says in bis parable ofthe
vine, used figuratively for the people of God, " Shall wood be
taken thereof to do any work ? Or will men take a pin of it to
hang any vessel thereon ? Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel."
ch. xv. 3, 4. "If a man abide not in rae, (saith our Lord) he is
cast forth as a branch [of the vine] and is withered ; and men
gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burn
ed." Joh. xv. 6.
VINEGAR, ynn chometz.
Occ. Numb. vi. 3; Ruth ii. 14; Psal. lxix. 21; Prov. x.
26 ; xxv. 20.
OE02. Matth. xxvii. 48 ; Mark xv. 36 ; Joh. xix. 29, 30.
An acid produced by a second fermentation of vinous liquors.
The law ofthe Nazarite was that he should "separate himself
from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine
nor vinegar of strong drink, nor any liquor of grapes." Dr. A.
Clarke in his note on Levit. xi, 9, says that " the word "Oiy
shecer, from shacar lo inebriate, signifies any kind of fermented
liquors. This is exactly the same prohibition that was given ih
the case of John Baptist, Luke i. 15, otvov kxi ftKt^x tru py rcty,
¦wine and sikera he shall not drink. Any inebriating liquor, says
St. Jerom, Epist. ad Nepot. is called " Sicera," whether made of
corn, apples, honey, dates, or other fruits. One ofthe four pro
hibited drinks among the Mahomedans in India is called " sakar,"
(see the Hedaya, v. 4. p. 158) which signifies inebriating drink-
in general, but especially date wine. From the original word,
probably, we have our term cyder ov skier, which among us, ex
clusively means the fermented juice of apples."
Vinegar was used by harvesters for their refreshment. Boaz
told Ruth that she might come and dip her bread in vinegar with
his people. Pliny, N. H. 1. xxiii. c. 1, says, "Aceto gumma vis
in refrigerendo." It made a cooling beverage. It was general
ly diluted with water. When very strong it affected the teeth
disagreeably. Comp. Prov. x. 26.
In Prov. xxv. 20, the singing of songs to a heavy heart, is
finely compared to the contrariety or colluctation between vine
gar and nitre ; untimely mirth to one in anxiety serves only to

OF THE BIBLE. 419
exasperate, and as it were put into a ferment, by the iu-
. trusion. Of the vinegar offered to our Saviour on the cross, see the
articles Gall, and Myrrh.
VIPER. r\ysn ephoeh. Arab. Epha, Pers. mar-iefy ; and
by Avicenna al-ephai, and Abenbitar ephe*
Occ. Job xx. 16 ; Isai. xxx. 6 ; lix. 5.
EX1ANA. Matth. viii. 7 ; xii. 34 ; xxiii. 33 ; Luke iii. 7 ; Acts
xxviii. 3.
A serpent famed for the venomousness oftits bite, which is one
of the most dangerous poisons in the animal kingdom.
Our translation of Job xx. 16, has "the vipers tongue shall
slay him ;" and Isaiah speaks of the evil to be apprehended from
this venomous reptile.
Dr. Shaw, Travels, p. 179, says, " the most common as well as
malignant of the serpent tribe is the leffah. It is about a foot in
length : it is not always ofthe same colour, but varies a little ac
cording to the quality of the earth, sand, or rocks where it is
found. t The " torrida dipsas" answers very well both to the
name and the quality of this serpent, which is so called from
leffah, to burn.
So remarkable, says Dr. Mead,J has the viper been for its ve
nom, that the remotest antiquity made it an emblem of what is
hurtful and destructive. Nay, so terrible was the nature of these
creatures, that they were very commonly thought to be sent as
executioners of divine vengeance upon mankind, for enormous
crimes which had escaped the course of justice. § An instance of
such an opinion as this we have in the history of St. Paul, Acts
xxviii, whom the people of Melita, when they saw the viper leap
upon his hand, presently concluded to be a murderer ; and as
readily made a god of him when, instead of having his hand in
flamed, or falling down dead, one or other of which is usually the
effect of these bites, he without any harm shook the reptile into
the fire : it being obvious enough to imagine, that he must stand
in a near relation at least to the gods themselves, who could thus
* Hence the Greek o<?«, a serpent. If we pronounced our word viper
vi-pher, laying an aspirate on the p, it would resemble the Arabic and
Hebrew apha, apho, apher.
f This circumstance and quality in the serpent kind has been taken no
tice of by Pliny, I. vii. c. 18. " Vulgatum est serpentes plerosque colo-
rem terra habere, qua occultantur." Vid. etiam Nicand. in Sepe et
. Sepedone. X Essay on poisons.
i Herodot- 1. 2. c. 74. dT.lian de auimalib. I. 17. c. 5.

420 THE NATURAL HISTORY
command the messengers of their vengeance, and counterwork
the effects of such powerful agents. See Asp ; Cockatrice.
Capt. Riley describes an exhibition of two Arab serpent
eaters at Millah in Morocco, one of whom suffered himself to be
bitten by two serpents ; one of which was called El Effah, and
the other El Busehfah. The first he describes as " about four feet
long and eight inches in circumference. His colours were the
most beautiful in nature, being bright and variegated with Jeep
yellow, a purple, a cream colour black and brown, spotted, &c.
The other black, very shining, and appeared to be seven or eight
feet long, but not more than two inches in diameter." He says
that he afterwards saw engravings of these two serpents in Jack
son's Marocco which are very correct resemblances. " These
are said to be very numerous on and about the south foot of the
Atlas mountains, and border of the desert, where these were
caught when youngs and where they often attack and destroy
both men and beasts. The effah's bite is said to be incurable,
and its poison so subtle as to cause a man's death in fifteen mi
nutes. When I saw the effah, it brought to my mind the story
of the fiery serpents that bit the children of Israel in the deserts
of Arabia, near mount Hor, as recorded in the 21st chapter of
the book of Numbers; merely because the effah resembled, in
appearance, a brazen serpent. The two serpent eaters said
they came from Egypt about three years ago."*
Isai. lix. 5, illustrating the mischievous character of wicked
men, and the ruinous nature of sin, the prophet says, " They
hatch cockatrice eggs, and weave the spider's web : he that eat-
eth their eggs dieth ; and that which is crushed breaketh out
into a viper." The cockatrice here undoubtedly means the
viper; for the egg of one creature never produces one of a diffe
rent species. When the egg is crushed, the young viper is dis
engaged, and leaps out, prepared for mischief. It may be ob
jected, that the viper is not an oviparous but a viviparous ani
mal ; and consequently the prophet must refer to some other
creature. But it is to be remembered, that although the viper
brings forth its young alive, they are hatched from eggs perfectly
formed in the belly of the mother. Hence Pliny says of it,
" Terrestrium eadem sola intra se parit ova unius coloris et molle
ut piscium." The viper alone, of all terrestrial animals, pro
duces an egg of a uniform colour, and soft like the eggs or
roc of fishes. This curious natural fact . reconciles the state
ment ofthe sacred writer with the truth of natural history. If
by any means the egg of the viper be separated from the body,
* Capt. Riley's Narrative, p. 415.

OF THE BIBLE. 421
the phenomenon which the prophet mentions may certainly
take place.*
UNICORN. OKI REEM.
Occ. Numb, xxiii. 22 ; xxiv. 8 ; Deut. xxxiii. 17 ; Job xxxix.
9, 10; Psal. xxii. 21 ; xxix. 6; xcii. 10; Isai. xxxiv. 7. In
each of these places it is rendered in the Septuagint f*ovo!C£§of,
monoceros, except in Isaiah, where it is xi^ot, the great or migh
ty ones.
An animal which, as it is generally pictured, never existed any
other way. It is represented as having the legs and body of a
deer, the tail, mane, and head of a horse, and with only one long
and strait horn placed in the middle ofthe forehead. Our trans
lators have imagined this fabled animal to have really^ existed,
and given its name to the Hebrew reem.
For all that can be now known ofthe opinions ofthe ancients
respecting the unicorn, I refer the curious inquirer to the learned
and ingenious work of Thomas Bartholinus, De unicornu ob-
servationes nova : secunda editione auctiores et emendatiores editce
a filio Casp. Bartholino. Amst. apud Wetstein 1678. 12mo., to
the chapter in Bochart, Quid veteres et recentiores scripserint de
animalibus unicornibus. Tom. ii. p. 313 — 335, and to Barrow's
Travels in Southern Africa, p. 294, who has given a drawing of
the head ofthe unicorn, "a beast with a single horn projecting
from the forehead ;" accompanied with such details, as, he
thinks, offer strong arguments for the existence of such animals
in the country of the Bosjesmans. He observes that this creature
is represented as " a solid-ungulous animal resembling a horse,
with an elegantly shaped body, marked from the shoulders to the
flanks with longitudinal stripes or bands." Still he acknowledges
that the animal, to which the writer of the book of Job, who was
no mean natural historian, puts into the mouth ofthe Almighty a
poetical allusion, has been supposed, with great plausibility, to
lie the' one-horned rhinoceros: and that Moses also very proba
bly meant the rhinoceros, when he mentions the unicorn as hav
ing the strength of God."
" It is very remarkable," says Mr. Bruce, " that two such ani
mals as the elephant and rhinoceros should have wholly escaped
the description ofthe saered writers. Moses, and the children of
Israel, were long in the neighbourhood of the countries which
produced them, both while in Egypt and in Arabia. The class
ing of the animals into clean and unclean, seems to have led the
legislator into a kind °f necessity of describing, in one of the
classes, an animal which made the food of the principal Pagan na-
* Paxton's Illustrations, v. i. p. 336.

422 THE NATURAL HISTORY
tions in the neighbourhood. Considering the long and intimate
connexion Solomon had with the south coast of the Red Sea, it
is next to impossible that he was not acquainted with them, as
both David his father, and he, made plentiful use of ivory, as
they frequently mention in their writings, which, along with gold,
came from the same part. Solomon, besides, wrote expressly on
zoology, and we can scarce suppose was ignorant 'of two of the
principal articles of that part of the creation, inhabitants of the
great continent of Asia, east from him, and that of Africa on
the south, with both which territories he was in constant corres
pondence. " There are two animals named frequently in scripture with
out naturalists being agreed what they are. The one is the
behemoth, the other the reem ; both mentioned as types of strength,
courage, and independence on man ; and as such exempted from
the ordinary lot of beasts, to be subdued by him, or reduced un
der his dominion. Though this is not to be taken in a literal
sense, for there is no animal without the fear or beyond the
reach of the power of man ; we are to understand it of animals
possessed of strength and size so superlative, as that in these qua
lities other beasts bear no proportion to them.
" The behemoth, then, I take to be the elephant ; his history is
well known, and my only business is with the reem, which I sup
pose to be the rhinoceros. The derivation of this word, both in
the Hebrew and Ethiopic, seems to be from erectness, or stand
ing straight. This is certainly no particular quality in the animal
itself, who is not more, nor even so much, erect as many other
quadrupeds, for its knees are rather crooked ; but it is from the
circumstance and manner in which his horn is placed. The
horns of all other animals are inclined to some degree of parallel
ism with the nose, or os frontis. The horn of the rhinoceros
alone is erect and perpendicular to this bone, on which it stands
at right angles ; thereby possessing a greater purchase or power,
as a lever, than any horn could possibly have in any other posi
tion. " This situation of the horn is very happily alluded to in the
sacred writings : My horn shalt thou exalt like the horn qfa reem ;
Psal. xcii. 10. And the horn here alluded to is not wholly figu
rative, but was really an ornament worn by great men in the days
of victory, preferment, or rejoicing, when they were anointed
with new, sweet, or fresh oil ; a circumstance which David
joins with that of erecting the horn.
"Some authors, for what reason I know hot, have made
the reem, or unicorn, to be of the deer or antelope kind,
that is of a genus, , whose very character is fear and weak-

OF THE BIBLE. 428
ness, very opposite to the qualities by which the reem is de
scribed in Scripture : besides, it is plain the reem is not of the
class of clean quadrupeds ; and a late modern traveller very
whimsically takes him for the leviathan, which certainly was a
fish. It is impossible to determine which is the silliest opinion of
tlie two. Balaam, a priest of Midian, and so in the neighbour
hood ofthe haunts ofthe rhinoceros, and intimately connected
with Ethiopia, for they themselves were shepherds of that coun
try, in a transport, from contemplating the strength of Israel
whom he was brought to curse, says, they had as it were the
strength ofthe reem.* Job makes frequent allusion to his great
strength, ferocity and indocility.t He asks, will the reem be wil
ling to serve thee, or abide at thy crib? That is, will he wil
lingly come into thy stable, arid eat at thy manger ? and again,
canst thou bind the reem with a band in the furrow, and will
he harrow the vallies after thee ? In other words, canst thou
make him to go in the plough or harrows ?
"Isaiah.t. who of all the prophets seems to have known Egypt
and Ethiopia the best, when prophesying about the destruction of
Idumea, says, that the reem shall come down with the fat cat
tle : a proof that he knew his habitation was in the neighbour
hood. In the same manner as when foretelling the desolation of
Egypt, he mentions, as one manner of effecting it, the bringing
down the fly from Ethiopia, § to meet the cattle in the desert and
among the bushes, and destroy them there, where that insect did
not ordinarily come but on command, || and where the cattle fled
every year, to save themselves from that insect.
¦¦" The rhinoceros in Geez is called arw'e harish, and in the
Amharic auraris, both which names signify the large wild beast
with the horn. This would seem as if applied to the species that
had but one horn. On the other hand, in the country of the
Shangalla, and in Nubia adjoining, he is called girnamgirn, or
horn Upon horn, and this would seem to denote that he had
two. The Ethiopic text, renders the word reem, arw'e harish,
and this the Septuagint translates monoceros, or unicorn.
" If the Abyssinian rhinoceros, had invariably, two horns, it
seems to me improbable the Septuagint would call him monoce
ros, especially as they must have seen an animal of this kind ex
posed at Alexandria in their time, then first mentioned in history,
at an exhibition given to Ptolemy Philadelphus, at his accession
to the crown, before the death of his father.
* Numb, xxiii. 22. t J°b xxxix. 9, 10. X I8ai- xxxiv. 7.
5 Isai. vii. 18, 19. II Exod. viii. 22.

424 THE NATURAL HISTORY
" The principal reason for translating the word reem, uni
corn, and not rhinoceros, is from a prejudice that he must
have but one horn. But this is by no means so well found
ed, as to be admitted as the only argument for establishing
the existence of an animal, which never has appeared after
the search of so many ages. Scripture speaks of the horns
of the unicorn,* so that even from this circumstance, the reem
may be the rhinoceros, as the Asiatic and part of the African
rhinoceros may be the unicorn. "t
The rhinoceros, in size, is only exceeded by the elephant ; and
in strength and power is inferior to no other creature] He is
at least twelve feet in length, from the extremity of the inout to
the insertion of the tail ; six or seven feet in height, and the cir
cumference of the body is nearly equal to its length. \ He is
particularly distinguished from the elephant and all other ani
mals, by the remarkable and offensive weapon he carries upon
his nose. This is a very hard horn, solid throughout, {direct
ed forward, and has been seen four feet in length. There is
also a two horned rhinoceros, as mentioned above by Mr.
Bruce ; one horn being placed above the other. Mr. Browne,
in his travels, p. 299, says, that the Arabians call the rhinoce
ros " Abu-kurn," father of the one horn.
Mr. Salt, who travelled into the interior of Abyssinia, in the
years 1809, and 18:0, says " The only species of the rhinoceros,
which I could hear of, was the two horned rhinoceros, similar to
that found in the neighbourhood of the Cape of Good Hope; of
which a very admirable drawing is given by Mr. Barrow. This
I believe was first described by Mr. Sparman. I myself never
met with it alive, as it frequents only the low countries bordering
en the Funge, or the wild forests of Wojjerat ; but I procured seve
ral sets ofthe horns, fastened together by a portion of the skin ;
whence it appears that they have no connexion whatever with the
bone of the head, a fact which gives a considerable degree of
probability to the notion, generally received among the natives of
Africa, that this animal possesses a power of depressing or raising
the horns at will. Bruce ridicules Sparrman for mentioning this
circumstance ; but as the drawing given by the former is evident
ly very incorrect,:}: no great weight can be attached to his opinion."
*Deut. xxxiii. 17; Psalm xxii. 21.
f BaucE, Trav. Vol. v. p. 89.
X The drawing of Mr. Bruce appears to have been copied from Burrow's
one horned rhinoceros, and to have had the second horn annexed to it, as
the two horned rhinoceros wants the folds in the skin which are there
given.

OF THE BIBLE. 425
In th§.book of Job xxxix. 9, 10, the reem is represented as an
unmanageable animal, which, although possessed of sufficient
strength to labour, sternly and pertinaciously refused to bend his
neck to the yoke.
Will the Reem submit to serve thee ?
Will he, indeed, abide al thy crib ?
Canst thou make kis harness bind the reem to the furrow ?
Will he, forsooth, plough up the valleys for thee ?
Wilt thou rely on himfor his great strength,
And commit thy labour unto him ?
Wilt thou trust him that he may bring home thy grain,
And gather in thy harvest ?
The rhinoceros is very hurtful by the prodigious devastation
which he makes in the fields. This circumstance peculiarly il
lustrates the passage from Job. Instead of trusting him to bring
home the grain, the husbandman will endeavour to prevent his
entry into the fields, and hinder his destructive ravages.
In a note upon this passage, Mr. Good says " the original reem,
by all the older translators rendered Rhinoceros or unicorn, is
by some modern writers supposed to be the bubalus, bison,
or wild ox. There can be no doubt, that rhinoceros is the pro
per term, for this animal is universally known in Arabia, by the
name of reem, to the present day."
The rhinoceros, though next in size, yet in docility and inge
nuity, greatly inferiour to the elephant, has never yet been tam
ed, so as to assist the labours of mankind, or to appear in the
ranks of war.
The rhinoceros is perfectly indocile and untractable, though
neither ferocious nor carnivorous. He is among large animals;
what the hog is among smaller ones, brutal and insensible ;
fond of wallowing in the mire, ¦ and delighting in moist and
marshy situations near the banks of rivers. He is, however, of a
pacific disposition ; and, as he feeds on vegetables, has few
occasions for conflict. He neither disturbs the less, nor fears the
greater beast of the forest, but lives amicably with all. He sub
sists principally on large succulent plants, prickly shrubs, and the
branches of trees ; and lives to the age of seventy or eighty years.
The author of " Scripture Illustrated," has contributed many
ingenious criticisms to the explanation of those passages of which
the reem is. mentioned; and has an article expressly on the
subject. 54

426 THE NATURAL HISTORY
VULTURE, pint daah, and ntn raah.*
Occ. Levit. xi. 13, and Isai. xxxiv. 15.
A large bird of prey, somewhat resembling the eagle. . There
are several birds of the vulturine kind, which, though they differ
much in respect to colour and dimensions, yet are all easily dis
tinguished by their naked heads, and beaks partly straight and
partly crooked.
They are frequent in Arabia, Egypt, and many parts of Africa,
and Asia. They have a most indelicate voracity, preying more
upon carrion than live animals. t They were declared unclean
in the Levitical constitution.
The name appears in Levit. xi. 13, written with i, (daah)
and in Deut. xiv. 13, with "v (raah ;) " if the first of these be cor
rect, (says the author of ' Scripture Illustrated,') it leads us not
to the vulture, but the hawk ; as the import of it is the swift or
rapid; and this is countenanced by the Samaritan version, which
reads dailhah. If this be admitted, it tends much to support the
opinion, that the second of the eagle kind is the vulture ; since
the vulture could hardly be omitted in this list, and its proper
place among its associates should seem to be earlier than
this." As there is so great a similarity in the daw to the Hebrew nsn,
I am almost disposed to appropriate it.
The word rrx ajah, rendered " vulture" in Job xxviii. 7, is
translated " kite," in Levit. xi. 14, and Deut. xiv. 13.
See Kite.
WAX. jjn donagh.
Occ. Psalm xxii. 14 ; Ixii. 8 ; xcvii. 5 ; Micah i. 4.
Thus the LXX. throughout, K^o?, and Vulgate " cera ;" so
there is no room to doubt but this is the true meaning of the word ;
and the idea of the root appears to be soft, melting, yielding, or
the like, which properties are not only well known to belong to
wax, but are also intimated in all the passages of Scripture, where
in this word occurs.
*"l resh et 1 daleth permutatis, quia sunt literas similes." Bochart.
A lite change of tliis letter is observable in other words ; as E3\nn
dodanim, Gen. x- 4, D'3"in rodanim, 1 Chron. i, 7 ; ns'1 riphath,
Gen. x 4, ; nS"\ diphath, 1 Chron. i. 6 ; *7Xljn daguel, Numb, i, 14, vii.
2, biilyi rkguel, Numb. ii. 14; and of Jehovah it is said, 2 Sam. 'xxii. 11,
KT1 he appeared, for NT1 he flew, Psalm xviii. 1) ,
t Hasselquist, p. 194.

OF THE BIBLE. 427
WEASEL, nbn choled.
Occurs Levit. xi. 29, only.
Most versions and commentators have been content to render
Ihe Hebrew choled, by weasel ; but Bochart thought it was the
mole ; observing that the Syriac chuleda, the Arabic chold, the
Turkish chuld, all signify the mole ; which is also called khuld,
at Aleppo.*
WEEDS, aid suph.
This rendering ofthe Hebrew word occurs only in Jonah ii. 6,
of our translation of the Bible ; but the word suph is to be found
also in the following places in the original ; Exod. ii. 3, 5 ; xiii.
18; xv. 4; Numb. xiv. 25; xxi. 4; Jud. xi. 16; 1 Kings ix.
26; Psalm cvi. 7, 9, 22; cxxxvi. 13, 14; Isai. xix. 6 ; and Jer.
xlix. 21. According to Parkhurst, as a collective noun, it
means plants or weeds which grow on the borders of a river or
sea, and are continually swept or brushed by the waves.
What is now called the Red Sea, is in Hebrew Jam Suph, the
weedy sea; and it has been thought, that this appellation was
given it, from the great quantity of weeds with which it abound
ed. Thus both Diodorus Siculus, and Artemidorus in Strabo,
(cited in Bochart, V. i. p. 282,) have taken particular notice of
the jw-vjou and cpwto?, moss and sea-weed, (algce,) with which this
sea abounds, and from which they account for its remarkably
green colour. (Compare Wisdom xix. 7.) Dr. Shaw, also, in
his travels, p. 447, is for translating Jam Suph, " the sea of
weeds," from the variety of alga and fuci, which grow in it, and
at low water, particularly after strong tides, winds, or currents,
are left in great quantities upon the shore.
WHALE, jn than, and pn thannin.
Occurs in our translation, Gen. i. 21 ; Job vii. 12; and Ezek.
xxxii. 2 ; KHTOS, Matth. xii. 40.
The largest of all the inhabitants ofthe water.
It is well ascertained that the writers of the bible must have
been ignorant of this animal ; as it is never seen near Jerusalem
or Egypt, and as they could have no history of Greenland and
Spitzbergen. And a late author.t in a dissertation expressly for
the purpose, has proved that the crocodile, and not the whale, is
spoken of in Gen. i. 21. I shall transcribe his concluding argu
ment. " There yet remains an argument which proves that the cro
codile, and not the whale, is to be understood in Gen. i. 21. At
* Russel, V. ii. p. 182.
fllev. Jamks>Huedis, " Critical dissertation upon the true meaning ef
the Hebrew word translated whale, inGen. i. 21." 8vo, 17S0.

42a THE NATURAL HISTORY
whatever time Moses wrote the book of Genesis, whether before
or after the departure ofthe Israelites from Egypt, to assure them
that the Lord their God was the creator of the crocodile, has a
manifest propriety, which is not to be found in the present trans
lation. For he might naturally suppose, should they incline to
idolatry, one ofthe first objects of their adoration, would be the
crocodile, which they had seen worshipped in Egypt."
And Dr. Geddes* thinks that the circumstance of its being an
Egyptian divinity, might induce the historian to particularize it, as
being but a mere creature, like the rest.
The word in Job vii. 12, must also be for the crocodile. It
must mean some terrible animal, which, but for the watchful care
of Divine Providence, would be very destructive. Our transla
tors render it dragon in Isai. xxvii. 1, where the prophet gives
this name to the king of Egypt : He shall slay the dragon that is
in the sea. The sea there is the river Nile, and the dragon, the
crocodile. Compare Ezek. xxxii. 2.
On this passage Bochart remarks ; the pjn is not a whale, as
people imagine ; for a whale has neither feet, nor scales, neither
is it to be found in the rivers of Egypt; neither does it ascend
therefrom upon the land ; neither is it taken in the meshes of a
net : all of which properties are ascribed by Ezekiel to the pn of
Egypt. Whence it is plain, that it is not a whale that is here
spoken of, but the crocodile.
Merrick supposes David in Psalm lxxiv. 13, to speak of the
tunnic, a kind of whale, with which he was probably acquainted :
and Bochart thinks it has its Greek name thunnos from the He- ,
brew thanot. The last mentioned fish, is undoubtedly that spo
ken of in Psalm civ. 6.
We are told that in order to preserve the prophet Jonah when
he was thrown overboard by the mariners, " the Lord prepared a
great fish to swallow him up." What kind of fish it was, is not
specified : but the Greek translators take the liberty to give us
the word kjjto?, (whale) and though St. Matthew, xii. 40, makes
use ofthe same word, we may conclude that he did so in a gene
ral sense ; and that we are not to understand it as an appropriated
term, to point out the particular species of the fish; since the
naturalists have informed us, that the make of the whale will not
permit it to swallow a human body, as the shark and some
other of the water animals are known to be capable of doing :
and it is notorious that sharks are a species of fish common in
the Mediterranean.!
* New translation of Gen. i. annexed to his proposals, &c.
fSee Bochart, Vol. iii. p. 743. Univ. Hist. V. x.p. 564. Le PLuritf
Nat. displayed, V. iii. p. 140.

OF THE BIBLE. 423
Bochart and Linnaeus suppose it the charcarias* or lamia,
which has a throat and belly so prodigiously great that it can
easily swallow a man without the least hurt. It is much more
natural to believe that it was one of these fishes who swallowed
Jonah, than to multiply miracles without necessity, by supposing
that God, who kept him alive for three days in the belly ofthe
fish, should have brought a whale from northern coasts, and then
enlarge its throat for his reception.
Our Lard observes, Luke xi. 30, that Jonas " was a sign to
the Nincvites ;" and it may be well worth remarking, that the
fame of the prophet's miraculous preservation, was so widely
propagated as to reach even Greece ; whence, as several learn
ed men have observed, was, no doubt derived the story of Her
cules escaping alive out of a fish's belly, which is alluded to by
Lycophron, who calls Hercules,
TeiHrniQi A6M'7cc, ov m£\z yyA&ott '
TgiTOIVOff H/XAK*^.t KAg^AeOt num.
That fam'd three-nighted lion, whom of old
Triton's carcharian dog, with horrid jaws
Devoured.
That is, says Bochart, whom the canis charcarias, or shark,
sent by Neptune, swallowed.
Thus the poet not only agrees with the Scripture account of
Jonah as to the time his hero remained entombed, but even men
tions the very species of fish by which it is most probable that
the prophet was swallowed. JEneas Gaz^us, however, calls
the fish that devoured Hercules, as the LXX. and St. Matthew
do that which swallowed Jonah, xtrroc. 'Clfirtq kxi 'HfasxAijs
xtinxt, "ftecgfixkiayg Tys veoif, «<p' n\c vkau, iiro KHTOT2 nxrxiro-
8ijv«i jwsi <5W&>£eir8o5i. "^Hercules also is reported, when he
was shipwrecked, to have been swallowed by a [wpoi] whale.
and yet to have been saved.X
The author of "Fragments &c. as an appendix to Calmet,"
No. cxlv. explains this, not of a living animal, but a floating
preserver, by which Jonah was saved from drowning. He re
marks, that though jt dag, signifies primarily "a fish," yet that it
also signifies' " a fish-boat," and figuratively " a preserver."
So that the passage will admit of being rendered, " the Lord pre-
* Syst. Nat. v. i. p. 400, -No. 12. " Jonam prophetam, ut veteres Her
culean, trinoctem, in hujus ventricnlo tridui spatio, hresisse verosimile est."
t The reader may see more on this subject in Bochart, Hieroz. V. iii.
p. 687. Vossius de orig. Idol. 1. ii. i. 15. Grotius de Verit. I. i. J 16, not.
105, and the author of "Fragments in addition' to Ca-lh-et," in his '• In
vestigations on the Dag of Jonah."

)T

430 THE NATURAL HISTORY
pared a large dag [preserver,] to receive Jonah, and Jonah was
in the inner part [the belly, or hold] of this dagah, three days and
nights ; and then was cast up on the shore."* This allusion
is adverted to by our Lord, Matth. xii. 40, who says, " Jonah
was in [tii xoiAi* tou xijIou?,] the hollow cavity of the KHTOS
three days and nights, so shall the Son of man be in the heart
of the earth."?
The word " whale" occurs in the translation of Ecclesiasticus
xliii. 25, and in the " Song of the three children," v. 57 ; in
both which, the Greek word jojto? is used.See Dragon and Fish.
WHEAT, man chetheh.
Occ. Gen. xxx. 14; Deut. viii. 8; and freq. 2IT02, Matth.
xiii. 25 ; Luke xvi. 7 ; 1 Cor. xv. 37.
The principal and most valuable kind of grain for the service of
man. See Barley and Fitches.
In the 2d chapter of Leviticus, directions are given for obla
tions, which in our translation are called " meat offerings ;" but
as meat meansflesh, and all kinds of offerings there specified, were
made of wheat, it had been better to render it wheaten-offerings ;
Calmet has observed, that there were five kinds of these ; simple
flour, — oven cakes, — cakes of the fire-plate, — cakes ofthe frying-
pan, — and green ears of corn.
The word ia bar, translated " corn," Gen. xii. 35, and
" wheat," in Jer. xxiii. 28 ; Joel ii. 24 ; and Amos v. 1 1 , and
elsewhere, is undoubtedly the burr, or wild corn of the Arabs
mentioned by Forskal.
According to our English version, we read in Ezek. xvii. 17,
that the Tyrian merchants traded in " wheat of Minnith and Pan-
nag, and honey, and oil, and balm." But a late writer,}: sup
poses nun minnith, and jjsi pannag, to be a corrupt reading;
and would substitute in the room of them zith, uphag. The text
will then be rendered, " they traded in thy market with wheat,
the olive and the fig, and honey, and oil, and balm." This is
a proper detail, he thinks, of the commodities of Canaan : and
fit subjects of commerce with the merchants of Tyre. But
I imagine the pannag to be the panic.
* " Surely it is as rational to think God made use of a ship, called Dag.
to preserve Jonah, as to suppose that all the laws of nature were suspend
ed, and a number of miracles performed to accomplish the same purpose."
f Great ships were called " ketos."
X Dimock, Sermon on Ezek. xxvii. 17. 4to. 1783.

OF THE BIBLE. 431
WILLOW, crany arabim.
Occ. Levit. xxiii. 40 ; Job xl. 22 ; Psalm cxxxvii. 2 ; Isai. xv.
7 ; xliv. 4.
A small tree, well known, growing in low and wet places.
It is out of doubt, that the word arabim, orebim, or gorebim,
signifies ivillows : all interpreters agree in it, and the LXX.
translate it so. The Arabs call this tree " garabon," which ap
proaches the Hebrew appellation.
We read in Ezekiel, xvii. 5, " he took of the seed of the land
and planted it in a fruitful field ; he placed it by great waters,
and set it as a willow-tree ; and it grew, and became a spreading
vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the
roots thereof under him : so it became a vine, and brought
forth branches, and shot forth sprigs." The Rabbins uniform
ly agree in interpreting the nsvax tzaphtzapha, of this place,
the willow* R. Salomon, says it is the species vulgarily nam
ed selce, [salix ?] Avicenna says the Tziphtzaph is the Chilaf;
which, according to Abu'lfadli, is of the willow kind named
by the Greeks frtx. Paul Lucas in Itiner. Africano, part ii.
p. 91, remarks : " Les Arabes le nomment sofsaf, qui signifie
en Arabe saule." This brings us again to the willow. The
chief difficulty in this interpretation, arises from its being call
ed " a vine ;" but the term may imply, a spreading plant, as
well as a creeping one. Parkhurst, indeed, thinks nsxss to
be " used here adverbially, for very circumspectly ;" and Bp.
Newcomk, renders it, " he set it with much care :" but in a note
on the place, makes this acknowledgment, " Dathius justly
observes, that the word signifies a xoillow-tree in Arabic. Go
lius, p. 1362." The Arabic version justifies this rendering;
and the opinion of all the ancient Rabbins confirms it. Rau-
wolf, Flora Orientalis, No. 33, p. 13, under the Eleagnus,
places " salicis species, incolis safsaf, Theophrasto vera Eleag-
nos dicta."
WINE, p iiN.t
Occ. Gen. xix. 32, and elsewhere frequently. OIN02, Matth.
ix. 17, and freq.
*R. David Kimchi. R. Obadias de Bartinora ad Tr. Sticca, c. iii.
3. Maimqnides, Tr. Sue c. vii. \ 4. R. Ben Melech.
See also Prosp. Alpinus, De plant. ./Egypti, c. xiv. p. 35, and Celsius
Hierobot. V. ii. p. 107.
f It seems worthy of remark, that the Hebrew name for wine, has been
retained, with little variation in many other languages, as in the Greek,
wot the Latin, vinum, Italian and Spanish, vino, French, vin, Celtic, or
Welsh, gwin, Cimbric, uin, Gothic, nein, old German, uuin, Danish, Wen.
"Dutcb, min, and English, wine.

432 THE NATURAL HISTORY
' A liquor expressed from grapes. Before the art of distillation
was discovered, the wines must have been much inferior, both
for exhilaration and intoxication to those of modern manufacture.
This discovery was made by the Saracens.
The art of refining wine upon the lees was known to the Jews.
The particular process as it is now practised in the island of Cy
prus is described in Mariti's Travels, ch. 27 and 28. The1 Wine
is put immediately from the vat into large vases of potters ware,
pointed at'the bottom, till they are nearly full, when they are co
vered tight, and buried. At the end Of a year what is designed
for sale is drawn into wooden casks. The dregs in the vases are
put into wooden casks destined to receive wine, with as much of
the liquor as is necessary to prevent them from becoming dry
before use. Casks thus prepared are very valuable. When the
wine a year old is put in, the dregs rise, and make it appear mud
dy, but afterward they subside and carry down all the other fecu-
lencies. The dregs are so much valued that they are not sold
with the wine in the vase, unless particularly mentioned. -
The " new-witie," or must, is mentioned Isai. xlix. 26 ; Joel i.
5 ; iv. 18; and Amos ix. 1 3, under the name D'DJ\
The "mixt-wine," iddd, Prov. xxiii. 30, and in Isai. lxv.
11, rendered "drink offering," may mean wine made stronger
and more inebriating by the addition of higher i and more power
ful ingredients, such as honey, spices, defrutum (or wine inspis
sated by boiling it down,) myrrh, mandragora, and other strong
drugs.* Thus the drunkard is properly described, Prov. xxiii. 30, as
one that seeketh " mixed wine," and is mighty to mingle strong
drink, Isai. v. 22 ; and hence the Psalmist took that highly poeti
cal and sublime image of the cup of God's wrath, called by Isaiah,
li. 17, "the cup of trembling," containing, as St. John expresses
it, Rev. xiv. 10, pure wine made yet stronger by a mixture of
powerful ingredients. " In the hand of Jehovah is a cup, and
the wine is turbid ; it is full of a mixed liquor ; and he poureth
out of it, (or rather, he poureth it out qf one vessel into another, to
mix it perfectly) verily the dregs thereof, (the thickest sediment
ofthe strong ingredients mingled with it) all the/ ungodly of the
earth shall wring them out, and drink them."
" Spiced-wine," Cantic. viii. 2, was wine rendered more pala
table and fragrant with aromatics. This was considered as a
great delicacy. Spiced wines were not peculiar to the Jews ;
* Such were the exhilarating, or rather stupifying, ingredients, which
Helen mixed in the bowl, together with the wine, for her guests oppressed
with grief, to raise their spirits ; the composition of which she had learned
in Egypt. Homer, Odyss. iv. 20.

GF THE BIBLE. 433
Hafiz speaks of wines " richly bitter, richly sweet." The Ro
mans lined their vessels, " amphorae" with- odorous gums, to give
the wine a warm bitter flavour : and the orientals now use the
admixture of spices to give their wines a favourite relish.
The " wine of Helbon," Ezek. xxvii. 1 8, was an excellent
kind of wine, known to the ancients by the name of " Chalibo-
nium vinum." It was made at Damascus : the Persians had
planted vineyards there on purpose, says Posidonius, quoted by
Athen^us, Deinosoph. 1. i. See also Strabo, 1. xv, and Plu
tarch de fortun. Alexandr. This author says that the kings pf
Persia used no other wine.
Hosea xiv. 7, mentions the wine of Lebanon. The wine from
the vineyards on that mount are even to this day in repute : but
some think that this may mean a sweet-scented wine, or wine
flavoured with fragrant gums.
Ofthe medicated wine 1 have spoken in the articles Gall and
Myrrh. WOLF. 3Kt zeeb. Arab. zeeb.
Occ. Gen. xlix. 27 ; Isai. xi. 6 ; lxv. 25 ; Jer. v. 6 ; Ezek.
xxii. 27 ; Zeph. iii. 3 ; Hab. i. 8.
ATKOZ. Matth. vii. 15 ; x. 16; Luke x. 3 ; Joh. x. 12; Acts
xx. 29 ; Ecclesiasticus xiii. 1 7.
M. Majus derives it from the Arabic word zaab or daaba, to
frighten: and hence, perhaps, the German word dieb, a thief.*
A fierce, strong, cunning, mischievous, and carnivorous quadru
ped : externally and internally so nearly resembling the dog that
they seem modelled alike, yet have a perfect antipathy to each
other. The scripture observes ofthe wolf, that it lives upon rapine;
is violent, bloody, cruel, voracious, and greedy; goes abroad by
night to seek its prey, and is a great enemy to flocks of sheep.
Indeed this animal is fierce without cause, kills without re
morse, and by its indiscriminate slaughter seems to satisfy its
malignity rather than its hunger.
The wolf is weaker than the lion or the bear, and less coura
geous than the leopard; but he scarcely yields to them in cruel
ty and rapaciousness. His ravenous temper prompts him to
destructive and sanguinary depredations ; and these are perpe
trated principally in the night. This circumstance is expressly
mentioned in several passages of scripture. " The great men
* In the Prenestine pavement an^ animal is represented, as if howling,
with the mouth half open; jaws long, and well armed with teeth; bearing
tbe inscription EIOT, which may be the asybyie or 'gijbt, the Ethiopie
name plural. pf the wolf.

434 THE NATURAL HISTORY
(said Jeremiah, v. 6.) have altogether broken the yoke, and burst
the botlds ; wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and
a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them." The rapacious and
cruel conduct of the princes of Israel is compared by Ezekiel,
xxii. 27, to the mischievous inroads of the same animal. " Her
princes in tlie midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey.
to shed blood, to destroy lives, to get dishonest gain :" and Ze-
phaniah, iii. 3, says, " Her princes within her are roaring lions, her
judges are evening wolves ; they gnaw not the bones till the mor
row." Instead of protecting the innocent and restraining the
evil doer, or punishing him according to the demerit of his crimes,
they delight in violence and oppression, in blood and rapine, and
so insatiable is their cupidity that like the evening wolf they
destroy more than they are able to possess.
The dispositions of the wolf to attack the weaker animals, es
pecially those which are under the protection of man, is alluded
to by our Saviour in the parable of the hireling shepherd.
Matth. vii. 1 5, " The wolfcatcheth them, and scattereth the flock."
And the apostle Paul, in his address to the elders of Ephesus,
gives the name of this insidious and cruel animal to the false tea
chers who disturbed the peace and perverted the faith of their
people. " I know this, that after my departing, shall grievous
wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock." Acts xx. 29.
In the sacred writings the wolf is every where opposed to the
sheep and the goats ; as if his cruelty and rage were reserved
especially for these creatures. Compare Luke x. 3 ; Matth.
vii. 15 ; x. 16 ; Isai. xi. 6 ; lxv. 25.
The " valley of Zeboim," 1 Sam. xiii. 18, and Nehem. xi. 34,
probably means haunts of the Zeeb. Some suppose the name
to be derived from a species of serpent which abounded herea
bouts ; and in the verse of Samuel, the Chaldee renders " the
valley of the serpent." But I rather suppose the wolf or the
byasna to be intended.
WORM.
The general name for little creeping insects. Several kinds
are spoken of in scripture.
I. Those that breed in putrified bodies, n»"i rimmah, Exod.
xvi. 20. 24; Job vii. 5; xvii. 14; xxi. 26; xxiv. 20; xxv.
6; Isai. xiv. 11 ; and aiwArf;, Ecclesiasticus vii. 17; x. 13; 1
Maccab. ii. 62; 2 Maccab. ix. 9; Judith xvi. 15; Mark ix.
44. 46. 48; and Acts xii. 23.
II. That which eats woollen garments ; DD sas, Isai. li. 8 ;
and 2H2, Matth. vi. 19, 20; Luke xii. 33.
III. That which perforating the leaves and bark of trees
causes the little excrescences called "kermes," whence is

OF THE BIBLE. 435
made a crimson dye, ybm thola. Deut. xxviii. 89 ; Job xxv.
6; Psal. xxii. 6; Isai. xiv. 11; xii. 14; lxv. 24; Ezek. xvi.
20; Jonah iv. 7.
IV. The worm destructive of the vines, referred to in Deut.
xxviii. 39; which was the Pyralis vitance, or Pyr a lis fas ciana,
of Forskal, the vine-weevil, a small insect extremely hurtful
to the vines.
WORMWOOD, tuyb laanah.
Occ. Deut xxix. 18; Prov. v. 4; Jer. ix. 15; xxiii. 15;
Lam. iii. 15. 19; Amos v. 7; vi. 12.
AYINOOZ. Rev. viii. 11.
In the Septuagint the original word is variously rendered,
and generally by terms expressive of its figurative sense, for
what is offensive, odious, or deleterious ; but in the Syriac
and Arabic versions, and in the Latin Vulgate, it is rendered
wormwood, and this is adopted by Celsius, Hierobot. vol. i.
p. 480, who names it the Absinthium Santonicum Judaicum,
a plant that Rauwolf thus describes, " Circa Bethlehem pro-
venit copiosum Absinthii genus, foliis cinereis, quale est nos-
tratis, in quorum vertice semen copiosissimum est, gravis odo-
ris, qui nauseam moveat etiam valde molestam, gustu acre,
salsum, amarum. Hanc plantam Arabes Scheba vocant. Se
men ejus minutissimum est, lumbricis necandis utilissimum,
quamobrem semen contra vermes mercatoribus nuncupatur."*
From the passages of scripture, however, where this plant
is mentioned, something more than the bitterness of its quali
ties seems to be intimated, and effects are attributed to it
greater than can be produced by the wormwood of Europe.
The Chaldee paraphrase gives it even the character of "the
wormwood of death." It may therefore mean a plant allied
perhaps to the absinthum in appearance and in taste, but
possessing more nauseous, hurtful, and formidable properties.
* " Hanc plantam amaram, in Judea et Arabia copiose nascentem, et
mterpretum auctoritate egregie sufiultum, ipsam esse Ehraeoruru nJjn,
pro indubitato habemus." Celsius.

Having, in the alphabetical order of the preceding
work, introduced only those names which occur in our
common translation of the Old and New Testament,
I have found it necessary to make an Appendix for
the illustration of a few others, which our Translators
have not mentioned expressly, and some, which are to
be found only in the Apochrypha.

APPENDIX.

Amaranthine, amapantinos. [From «, negative
and p,x%xnopMi, to fade, wither. Thai cannot fade away, not
capable of fading.]
This word occurs in 1 Peter v. 4, where the apostle seems
to allude to those fading garlands qf leaves, which crowned
the victors in the heathen games, and were consequently in
high esteem among them. Comp. 1 Cor. ix. 25 ; 1 Peter i. 4.
But the learned Henry Stephens, in his Greek Thesaurus,
thinks it improbable that Peter should use xp,xf>xvrt\)o<; for xpd-
gxvroe, since xfjvx^xvrtvoc is not formed from the adjective x/JixgxV-
rof, as signifying unfading, but from the substantive xp.x^xviroc,
the name of a flower, Amaranth, so called from its not speedily
fading. Ap.xf>xvrtvos, therefore, will properly signify amaran
thine, but will be equivalent to unfading.
Immortal Amaranth ! a flower which once
In Paradise, fast by the tree of life,
Began to bloom ; but soon, for man's offence,
To heaven remov'd, where first it grew, there grows,
And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life ;
And where the river of bliss, through midst of heaven,
Eolls o'er Elysian flowers ber amber stream :
With these, that never fade, the spirits elect
Bind their resplendent locks, inwreath'd with beams." Milton.

AMIANTHUS. AMIANT02.
The fibrous mineral substance, commonly called Asbestos.
" Lapis ex quo fila duci possunt, et telae fieri, quae comburi non
possunt." Hederic Lex. in verb.*
* It is called tw&wrof, from a negative, and o-Cso-tos quenchable, from <r£tmu,
to quench, and means indestructible in the fire ; or, as in Matth. iii. 12;
Mark ix. 43, 45, and Luke iii. 17, as an adjective, unquenchable, inextinguisha
ble. By Strabo, I. ix. p. 606, it is used as an epithet for the constantly
burning lamps in the temples ; and in Plutarch, Numa, p. 66, for the
vestal fire.

440 THE NATURAL HISTORY [appendix.
That this extraordinary mineral and its use, were well known to
the ancients is evident from the following passage, cited and trans
lated from Dioscorides, lib. iv. c. 156. " The mineral called
Amiantus is produced in Cyprus, and resembles the scissile, or
plumose alum ; and as it is flexible, they manufacture and make
it into cloth, as an object of curiosity ; for if one throws this cloth
into the fire, it burns indeed, but without being consumed, and
comes out more beautiful." Pliny, N. H. 1. xix. c. 1, speaking
of the same, says, " We meet also with a kind of cloth which is
not consumable by fire. They call it living, (or immortal ;) and
I have at feasts, seen towels made of it, burning in the fire, and
in this manner more thoroughly cleansed, than they could have
been with water. Of this are made the funeral vests of kings, to
preserve the ashes of their bodies separate from the rest. It Js
rarely to be found, and hard to weave by reason of its shortness $
and is exceeding costly."*
From its peculiar property of not being destroyed by fire, the
term xp,txvSos, is figuratively used for imperishable, indestructible.
In 1 Peter i. 3, 4, we read, " Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy hath
begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead ; to an inheritance incorruptible, and unde
fined, and that fadeth not away." This blessed inheritance is
called xQ^xgrov, incorruptible, because it will not, like the earth
ly Canaan, be corrupted with the sins of its inhabitants, [Levit.
xviii. 28.] For into the heavenly country, entereth nothing that
defileth. [Rev. xxi. 27.] It is declared to be x[mxvtov, inde
structible, because it shall neither be destroyed by the waters of
a flood, as this earthbath been, nor by fire, as in the end, the earth
will be : and it is to be x/AXgxvrov, unfading, because its joys will
not wither, but remain fresh through all eternity.
Scheuchzer, in his Physica Sacra, conjectures that the D313
garpas, in Esther i. 6, may mean the cloth made of Asbestos, ov
Amiantus. The Septuagint, render it by a word derived from
the Hebrew, %a,%7rx<rtvtQg, and the Vulgate " carbasini."t But,
* It is thus described by Hierooles : Xgav7*i Si «rS»ri kivh th at iwgtoy \i-
(W T« {MtPU/AATA (J.AXAKA XM iiPflATA, o Si truv itpAtvu^tv e£ W I/tpeW^MT* ytynTtu,
t*Mi nvtn KAto/xevA, fjufle uSati ttA&Aipofj.ffiA *m' wtsiSav purr* kai ttahitSos tiu9rhnQtit
ifiSh.«6ivTA ut <phoyA, tux.* x-ai SiAifAvii yivtrAt, i. e. Utuntur veste linea, exlapidi-
bus. Quod quidem texunt. Mollia sunt iapidum stamina, et membranse
ex quibus panni fiunt, qui neque igne exuruntur, neque aqua expurgantur,
sed cum sordes et maculas contraxerunt, in flammam injecti albescunt.
f Valerius Maximus describes carbasus as a robe that the rich wore*
made of fine linen. The word, also is used for cloth of which sails are
made.  ,  " Carbasa ventis
Credit dubius navita vitae." Seneca, H. F. 150-
From the Hebrew word above, we may derive carpet.

appendix.] OF THE BIBLE. 441
though we may suppose this kind of cloth to be known to the
Persians in the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus, yet it is hardly
to be imagined that it could have been procured in quantities suf
ficient to form any considerable part of that vast veil which was
expanded over the court ofthe royal gardens. Taylor, Hebr.
Lex. says, " I am inclined to think it calico :" but besides the
uncertainty whether this kind of fabric was then known, it seems
insufficient to answer the purpose of an awning from the thinness
of its texture. It was more probably a strong, and thick kind of
cloth ; but of what material it was made, it is now impossible to
determine. ANTIMONY.* ai3 t-huph; Gr. Qvw, Lat. fucus. .
In 2 Kings ix. 30, the Septuagint render itts-tp.pi<rxTo. In Jer.
iv. 30, the Chaldee renders it by brio cohal, and the Septuagint,
fi/3»). Grandius explains the cohal, or al-cohal, of the mineral
called in the East, " surma."t
Antimony, is a ponderous, brittle, semi-metal ; composed of
long shining streaks, intermingled with a dark lead coloured sub
stance. The Scripture speaks of its use as a kind of paint, with which
the women blackened their eyes. Thus we read of Jezebel, 2
Kings ix. 30, that, understanding that Jehu was to enter Sama
ria, she decked herself for his reception, and, (as in the original
Hebrew,) put her eyes in paint. This was in conformity to a
custom which prevailed in the earliest ages ; originally, perhaps,
as a prescription for curing disorders ofthe eyes.J but afterwards
as an ornament. As-large black eyes were thought the finest,
* The reason of its modern denomination is referred to Basil Vai entine,
a German monk ; who, as the tradition relates, having thrown some of it
to the nogs, observed, that after it had purged them, they immediately fat
tened ; and therefore, he imagined that his fellow monks would be better for
a like dose. The experiment, however, succeeded so ill, that they all
died ol'it ; and the medicine was thenceforward called antimoine ; monk's
bane. f Grandics, " Disert, de bm, sive stibio, ejusque usns apud antiquos in
re cosmetica, per epistolam, "in cujus exordio de aqua Nilotica, deiude de
stibie mentions in Sacris litteris, et de fucorum materia disquiritur." [In
Epbemerid Naturas Curios, decad ii. an. vi. p. 83.
" Hispanis eodem vox etiam nunc in vulgari usu est, uti et alcoholar fu-
care, et alcoholado, meatus. Scilicet et has voces cum innumeris aliis a
Saraceuis Arabibusque retinuerunt " Haseus.
See also a Dissertation, " De lapide puch, ad Isai. liv. 11, in Biblioth.
Brem. Class, viii. Fasc. v. p. 791-
| The use is thus commended by Galen ; OtpSa^ss fi Tovwnit toi Sia th
^tuyus m6x xjpufttvos £«§a> xawvit* Occulos vere ipsos corroborabis si sicco ,
collyrio quod ex Phrygio lapide componatur. 56

442 THE NATURAL HISTORY [appendix.
the women, to increase their lustre, and to make them appear
larger, tinged the corner of their eye-lids with the impalpable
powder of antimony or of black lead. This was supposed also to
give the eyes a brilliancy and humidity, which rendered them
either sparkling or languishing, as suited the various passions.
The method of performing this among the women in the Eastern
countries at the present day, as described by Russel, in his
Natural History of Aleppo, p. 102, is " by a cylindrical piece of
silver or ivory, about two inches long, made very smooth, and
about the size of a common probe : this is wet with water, and
then dipped into a powder finely levigated, made with what ap
pears to be a rich lead ore,* and applied to the eye, the lids are
closed upon it while it is drawn through between them. This
blacks the inside, and leaves a narrow black rim all round the
edge. That this was the method practised by the Hebrew women,
we infer from Isaiah iii. 22, where the prophet, in his enumera
tion of the articles which composed the toilets of the delicate
and luxurious daughters of Zion, mentions " the wimples and
the crisping pins," or bodkins for painting the eyes. The
satyrist Juvenal describes the same practice.
" II le supercilium madida fuligine tinctuin
Obliqua producit acu, piugitque trementes
Attollensoculos." sat. ii.
" These with a tiring-pin their eye-brows dye,
'Till the full arch give lustre to the eye." Gifford.
This custom is referred to by Jeremiah, iv. 30.
Though thou clothest thyself in scarlet.
Though thou adornest thyself with ornaments of gold,
Though thou distendest thine eyes with paint,
In vain shalt thou set forth thy beauty ;
Thy paramours have rejected thee.
And Ezekiel, describing the irregularities of the Jewish na
tion, under the idea of a debauched woman, says; ch. xxii. 40,
yyy rhr\3, thou didst dress thine eyes with cohol ; which the
Septuagint render ef(€if» tou? atyQaApovc <rov, thou, didst dress
thine eyes with stibium ; just as they do when the word -pa
is employed. [Compare 2 Kings ix. 30 ; Jer. iv. 30.] They
supposed, therefore, that -jia and VuVor in the Arabic form Al-
* It is called " Ismed ;" the ore is prepared by roasting it in a quince,
apple, or truffle, then it is levigated with oil of sweet almonds on a marble
stone. If intended to strengthen the eyes, they often add flowers of oliba-
num or amber.

appendix.] OF THE BIBLE. 443
cohal, meant the same' thing; and probably the mineral used
of old for this purpose is the same that is used now.*
" Wherefore this boldness, wherefore thus desire
By shameless acts low passion to inspire !
For whom dost thou so wantonly display
Thy pride in ornaments and rich array ;
Round the bold eyes the deepening dye bestow,
And prompt them with insidious fire to glow ?"
The author of the book of Enoch says that before the de
luge the angel Azleel taught the women the art of painting
themselves. Without, however, going so far for the origin of
the practice, we may infer that it was very ancient from the
name which Job gave to one of his daughters, Karenhapfuc,
that is, a vessel of antimony ;X and from the circumstance
that in some of the mummy pits in Egypt are found coffers
containing "small statues of females, in very free attitudes,
with pots of surm'e, or antimony for blackening the eyes."{
Xenophon, Cyropaed. 1. i. p. 15. ed. Hutchinson, speaks of
Astyages, the king of Media, as adorned Q($xAp.w vnoy^aQvi,
with painted eyes ; and Clemens Alexandrinus, Paed. 1. iii.
c. 2. mentions uitoy^xtyxs o<X>ixAp,a>v, the painting qf the eyes,
as a practice of the Alexandrian women in his time; and'
Tertullian, De Cultu fsemin. exclaims thus against the cus
tom, " Inunge occulos non stibio Diaboli, sed collyrio Christi."
Josephus, de Bell. Jud. 1. iv. c. ix. § 10, mentions some infa
mous men, a short time before the siege of Jerusalem by the
Romans, as abounding in that devoted city, who affected the
manners and dress of women, xxt twos wit(>nritxv vTroygxtyovTw to?
o<p8asA/*»?, and, to set themselves off, tinging their eyes. In later
times Herodian, 1. v. c. 1&, says the emperor Heliogabulus
TlgOYiti, \)iroy%x<§op.v>o<; to? o<p8#ty«?, came into public with his
eyes tinged. Commodianus, a christian writer of the third cen
tury, in his Instructions, 1. ix. v. 6, reproaches a christian matron
in these terms,
* The Ethiopic word is cuchel. See Meninski, Lexic. 3886. 3998.
Niebuhr, Description de l'Arabie, p. 58. /Speaking of the women in
Arabia Felix, says, " They paint the edges of their eye lids with lead ore
prepared, which is called kochel," and Savary, let. xi. sur l'Egypte, p.
131, tells us, "Cohel is a preparation of burnt tin with nut galls, which
the Turkish women use for blackening and lengthening their eye brows."
And this al-kohel, both Sandys and Dr. Shaw mention as a powder of black
lead ore.
f See Heath on Job xxxii. 14 ; and Monthly Review, vol. xiv. p. 244.
X De Pau, Recherches sur les Egyptiennes.

444 THE NATURAL HISTORY [appends.
" Nee non et inducis malis medicamina falsa ;
In occulis puris stibium perverso decore."
Ludolph, Hist. iEthiop. 1. vii. c. 7, describes this custom;
among the Ethiopians ; Pollux, Onomastic. 1. v. c. 16, among
the Greeks ; Pliny, N. H. 1. xxxii. c. 6, and xxxiii. c. 9, among
the Romans ; and most modern travellers mention it among
the Arabs, Turks, Persians, and indeed all the oriental nations,
as not only of present, but immemorial usage. Referring to
some of the principal in the note,* I shall only make one or two
quotations. Pietro della Valle, Viaggi, v. i. let. 17, giving a description
of his wife, an Assyrian lady, born in Mesopotamia and educated
at Bagdad, whom he married in that country, says,, " Her eye
lashes, which are long, and according to the custom of the east,
(as we often read in the scriptures ofthe Hebrew women of old,
and in Xenophon of Astyages the grandfather of Cyrus, and of
the Medes of that time) give a dark, and at the same time majes
tic shade to the eyes."
Sonnint, in his travels in upper and lower Egypt, v. i. p. 263,
observes, " The most remarkable trait of beauty in the east is
large black eyes, and it is well known that nature has made this
a characteristic ofthe women of those countries. But, not con
tent with these gifts of nature, those of Egypt employ every ef
fort of art to make their eyes appear larger and blacker. For this
purpose, females of every description, Mahometan, Jew, Chris
tian, rich and poor, all tinge the eye brows and eye lashes with
black lead, [Galena tessalata,] known in the commerce of the
Levant by the name of alquifoux or arquifoux. They reduce it
to a subtil powder, to which they give consistency by mixing it
with the fuliginous vapour of a lamp. The more opulent em
ploy the fumes of amber, or some other fat and odoriferous sub
stance, and have the drug always prepared at hand in small
phials. With this composition they themselves paint the eye
brows and eye lids, and with a small piece of wood or reed, or a
feather they likewise blacken the lashes with it by. passing it with
a light hand between the two eye lids ; an operation which the
Roman ladies practised of old, and which Juvenal has described
with so much exactitude. They besides mark with it the angles
of the eye, which makes the fissure appear greater."
* Sandvb' Trav. fol. p. 35. Hanwav, v. i. p. 272. Shaw, p. 229, and
376. Russell, NvH. of Aleppo, p. 101. Conformity of Customs between
the Fast Indians and; the Jews, Art. xv. Lady Montague's Letters, v. ii.
p. IP. Niebuhr Voyage, v. i. p. 234. La Rocjiue, Voyage dans la Pales
tine, p. 261. Svmes' Embassy to Ava, v. ii. p. 235. See also Scheuch
zer, Physique Sacree, fol. vol. v. p. 144, with a beautiful plate.

appendix.] OF THE BIBLE. 445
Jackson, in his History of Morocco, p. 28, also observes,
"The eye and figure ofthe gazel, so well known to all Arabian
poets, are emblematical of beauty ; and the greatest compliment
that can be paid to a beautiful woman, is to compare her eyes to
those of the gazel. Much art is employed by the Arabian fe
males to make their eyes appear like those of this delicate ani
mal. Eyes originally black and lively are made to appear lar
ger and more languishing by tinging the outer corner with Elka-
holfilelly, a preparation of the lead ore procured from Tafilelt,
which gives an apparent elongation to the eye. The eye lashes
and eye brows being also blackened with this composition, ap
pear peculiarly soft and languishing. It is said also to improve
and strengthen the sight. Every one who has accurately observ
ed the eye of the African gazel will acquiesce in the aptness of
the simile, before alluded to."*
ANUBIS. A symbolical Egyptian deity, represented by a
human figure, with the head of a dog.
The word rt3J nobeh to bark, as a dog, occurs Isai. lvi. 10.
Hence, perhaps the naun hanubeh, the barker, had his name.
Virgil, Mn. viii. v. 689, and Ovid, Metam. 1. ix. fab. xii. v.
689, call him " latrator anubis." A Babylonish idol, mentioned
Isai. xlvi. 1, is called laj nebo, and the god of the Hivites, men
tioned 2 Kings xvii. 31, named [na: nibhaz, is supposed to be
the same with Anubis.
Mr. Bruce, Trav. vol. ii. p. 337. 2d. ed. maintains that anu
bis is the same as Osiris ; and that Osiris is sirius, the dog-star,
derived from seir, which, in the language of the first inhabitants
of the Thebaid, as well as in that of the low country of Meroe
signifies a dog. It farther appears that seir or siris was the ori
ginal name of the Egyptian god ; for Diodorus Siculus informs
us that the Greeks by putting O before the word had rendered
it unintelligible to the Egyptians. Sirius then was the dog-star,
designed under the figure of a dog; because the warning he
gave to Atbara, when the first observations were made there, at
his heliacal rising or his disengaging himself from the rays of the
sun, so as to be visible to the naked eye. He was the latrator
anubis, and his first appearance was figuratively compared to the
barking of a dog, by the warning which it gave to prepare for
the approaching inundation.
The theory of Jablonski is a little different from this, but is not
inconsistent with it ; and they both tend to prove that the mytho
logy of the Egyptians had its origin chiefly in astronomy.
* Perhaps our English word coal, is derived from vita, this black sub'
stance.

446 THE NATURAL HISTORY [appendix.
St. Clement of Alexandria, who was well informed in the mys
tic theology ofthe Egyptians, explains the emblematical deity by
a reference to astronomy. It would seem that at first it was
only a symbolical image invented by astronomers to give a sen
sible expression of their discoveries ; that afterwards, the people
accustomed to see it in their temples, which were the deposito
ries of science, adored it as a deity; and that the priests favour
ed their ignorance by connecting it with their religion. The
worship of Anubis introduced that of the dog, as his emblem.
CAT. EAOTPOS. Baruch vi. 22.
The sixth chapter of Baruch professes to be " the epistle which
Jeremiah sent to them which were to be led captive into Baby
lon." It contains spirited and judicious strictures against idola
try, of which the vanity is forcibly exposed. In the twenty-se
cond verse he represents odious animals as resting upon the bo
dies of the idols ; and among these cats. From this reference I
imagine that this animal was held in contempt by the Jews, and
was probably domesticated by the Babylonians, and suffered to
frequent their temples in search of prey. By the Egyptians the
cat was held in high veneration. Herodotus informs us that
when a cat died in a house, the owner of the habitation shaved
his eye brows ; that they carried the cats when dead into conse
crated houses to be embalmed, and interred them at Bubastis, a
considerable city of Lower Egypt ; and that if any killed a cat
designedly, it was a capital offence, and must be punished by a
fine determined by the priests. These enactions were politically
useful. It was necessary to put under the immediate guardian
ship of the laws, a species of animals whose protection was indis-
pensible against the prodigious multitudes of rats and mice with
which Egypt was infested, and the iriost effectual means of se
curing them from injury, was to render them objects of religious
veneration. Cats, no longer regarded as sacred in Egypt, are, nevertheless,
to this day, treated with the utmost care in that country, and are
to be found in all the houses.
II. By the word a-,s tsijim, in Isai. xiii. 21 ; xxxiv. 14 ; and
Jer. 1. 39, rendered " wild beasts of the desert ;" and Psalm
lxxiv. 14, " pepple inhabiting the wilderness," Bochart, thinks
that wild cats are meant. He strengthens1 his opinion by finding
in the Arabic dsaivvan, as the name of a cat, and dsajttin a kitten ;
names somewhat resembling the Hebrew. Bishop LoWth trans
lates the Hebrew word in one place, " mountain cats ;" and Dr.
Blaney, renders it, in the passage in Jeremiah, " wild cats."
Aurivilius in his " Dissertatio de nominibus animalium qua? le-

appendix.] OF THE BIBLE. 447
gunturEs. xiii. 21," contends, in answer to Bochart, that the
animal referred to is the vespertilio vampyrus, Linnjei. Mi
chaelis, in Suppl. ad Lex. Hebr. p. 2086, intimates that ser
pents are. intended. But Rosenmuller, in his note on Bochart,
thinks their arguments invalid. It is impossible to determine
what particular kind of animals are meant.
J. E. Faber, in " Dissert, de animalibus quorum mentio fit
Zeph. ii. 14,"* asserts that the wild cat is intended by the He
brew word -nity, rendered in our version, " beasts of the Gen
tiles." Cats are found in a state of wildness, in the deserts of Asia and
Africa. They are distinguished from the varieties of those that
are domesticated, by the superiority of their size, and by being of
greater strength, and more formidable spirit.
COTTON. Gossypium arboreum. Linn^i.
A woolly, or rather downy substance, inveloping the seeds of
the Gossypium ; which is a small shrub. The plant puts forth
many yellow flowers, the ground of which is purple, and striped
within. These are succeeded by a pod, as large as a pigeon's
egg, which, when ripe, turns black, and divides at top into three
parts, disclosing the soft lanuginous contents, called " cotton."
Referring to the articles Flax and Linen, in the preceding
pages of this volume, I would here add, that Prosper Alpinus,
de plantis AUgypti, p. 69, gives an engraving of the cotton plant.
He observes, that the product is called by the inhabitants " Bes-
sa." This bears some resemblance to the yia butz, of the He
brews ; whence the jSwriro? of the Greeks, and the byssus of the
Latins. We do not find this name for apparel among the Jews,
till the times of their royalty, when by commerce they obtained
articles of dress from other nations. See 1 Chron. iv. 21 ; xvy
27; 2 Chron. ii. 13 ; iii. 14; v. 12 ; Esth. i. 6 ; viii. 15 ; and
Ezek. xxvii. 16. It was probably, therefore, a word of foreign
extraction. That the article translated " fine linen" in our version, was the
cotton, is shown in an elaborate treatise " de bysso antiquorum,"
by Dr. J. S. Forster. The probability of this is strengthened by
the description given of the byssus by Pollux, Onomasticon, lib.
vii. c. 17, which cannot be applied to any thing but cotton. He
says that this material came from a nut which grew in Egypt and
also in India, they opened the nut, extracted this substance, spun
it, and wove it for garments. Philostratus, describes it much
in the same manner. Besides, it seems evident from the analogy
* Adnexa est C. F. Cbameri libro, cui inscriptnm Scythisce Benkmaler
in Palastina,

448 THE NATURAL HISTORY [appendix.
of languages, that the word used by Moses, Gen. xii. 42, in de
scribing the garments with which Joseph was arrayed by Pha
raoh in Egypt, must mean cotton. This is the opinion of some of
the most learned interpreters and commentators. We learn far
ther, from profane authors, that robes of cotton were very an
cient in Egypt, and. that they were worn only by persons of the
greatest distinction. By Pliny, they are called " vestes Sa-
cerdotibus gratissimae ;" and wrappers of it, according to Plu
tarch de Iside, and Herodotus, 1. ii. c. 86, were the sacred
winding-sheets and fillets ofthe mummies. Pausanius, Eliac, 1. i.
says, H St ftwros y sv tij HAei, AettIot/ij'Io? px» tnx.x, ovx. xnoSa rtjg
'lJo(>xtu>v, sfj Si oux ap-aiois |&v9ij. ' The fine byssus in Elea, is not
inferior in tenuity to that ofthe Hebrews, but it is less yellow.' On
which Forster remarks, p. 43, "HancHebraaorumByssum suspi-
cor non ex gossypio factum, verum ex bombacis lanugine, quas co-
loris est fusci et flavescehtis." The bombax, or silk cotton-tree, is
a native ofthe Indies, where it grows large. The fruit is as big
as a swan's egg, having a thick ligneous cover, which, when ripe,
opens in five parts, and is full of a silky down, or cotton. This is
spun and wrought into clothes. This must be distinguished
from the bombyx, the name of the silk-worm ; whence we have
the word, bombasine, for a slight silken stuff. Lirsius, ad Taciti.
Annul, xi. gives this caution. " Nolim erres ; distincta genera
vestium olim Byssina, et Bombycina. Byssina e lino, Bombyci
na e verme." But whether the Jews were acquainted with a
cloth of this fabric, seems very doubtful.
Some writers, indeed, suppose that the byssus ofthe ancients
was the product of a shell-fish; and we know, that from remote
periods, the silky threads by which the pinna marina, fix their
shells to the rocks or stones at the bottom of the sea, have been
spun and woven into different articles of dress. Aristotle,
Hist. 1. v. c. 25, says, A« Si irrnxt o^S«i(poov7a.i ex. rov -fivcra-ov ev
toi? xp.p.u>Si<rt kxi fio$£o(>u>Ssn. ' The pinnae are found on
the beach or sands of the sea-coast, and from these the byssus
is obtained.'* In " Memoirs de l'Academie Royale des
Sciences," 1712, p. 207. M. Godefroi has given an account
of the pinna, and of the knowledge which the ancients had of
it as furnishing materials for apparel. To obtain the article,
the shells are dragged up by a kind of iron rake with many
teeth, each about seven inches long, and three inches asunder ;
and attached to a handle proportionate to the depth of the water
in which the shells are found. When the byssus is separated, it
is well washed to cleanse it from impurities. It is then dried in
* See also, Basil, inhexara. orat. p. 7. Procopius de Justin, fabriciis I.
iii. p. 30.

appendix.] OF THE BIBLE. 449
the shade, straightened with a large comb ; the hard part from
which it springs is cut off, and the remainder is properly carded.
By these different processes, it is said that a pound of byssus, as
taken from the sea, is reduced to about three ounces. This sub
stance, in its natural colour, which is a brilliant golden brown, is
manufactured, (with the aid of a little silk to strengthen it,) into
small articles of dress, of extremely fine texture.
It is not at all likely, that this difficult and curious fabric is
ever mentioned in Scripture ; though from the following passage
of Maimonides it appears to have been known to the Jews : " Est
in urbibus maritimis quaedam lana, quae nascitur in lapidibus, in
mari salso, aurei coloris et tenerrima, nomine calach : ilium
cum lino misceri vetitum est, propter externam speciem, quia
similis est lana? agnorum. Sic etiam sericus et calach non licet
misceri propter externam speciem."
DROUGHT. pNOX tsimmaon.
Occ. Deut. viii. 15.
This word is by some thought to be the serpent dipsas, whose
bite causes an intolerable thirst. The poet Lucan, in the ninth
book of his Pharsalia, has given a particular description of 'he^
terrible effects of the bite of the dipsas, which is thus translated
by Rowe :
" Aulus. a noble youth of Tyrrhene blood,
Who bore the standard, on a dipsas trod ;
Backward the wrathful serpent bent her head,
And fell with rag,e. the unheeded wrong n paid.
Scarce did some little mark of hurt remain,
And scarce he found some little sense of pain.
Nor could he yet the danger doubt nor fear
That death with all its terrors, threatened there.
When Io ! unseen the secret venom spreads.
And every nohler part at once invades ;
Swift flames consume the marrow and the brain,
And the scorch'd entrails rage with burning pain;
Upon his heart, the thirsty poisons prey,
And drain the sacred juice of life away.
No kindly floods of moisture bathe his tongue,
But cleaving to the parched roof it hung ;
No trickling drops distil, no dewy sweat.
To ease his weary limbs and cool the raging heat."
Gregory Nazianzen, Iambic, 22, describes the dipsas as in
festing the deserts of Egypt.
Ai^ai Tit to-Ti rm tfttSvAtwi ytvm,
Txtw, 'it' » tl*ff.ot AiyuirTX <pirti.
-.,-, . . . • ,57

450 THE NATURAL HISTORY [appendix,.
And Avicenna, v. ii. p. 1 39, mentions these serpents as nume
rous in the regions of Africa and Syria.
ME.'.'iNSKr, 3986, mentions a venomous serpent by the name of
symem, which may be that here described.
ELEPHANT. EAE*A2. 1 Maccab. vi. 34, only.
Bochart, Hieroz. c. xxii. v. i. p. 233, desirous of finding the
elephant in scripture, was for reading o-arw schenhabbim, in
this manner zaunp'fi? schen kahabbim ; because the elephant is
called in Arabic " alikhaban." I imagine that the ali is only the
titular distinction, or merely the article al', and that khaban is the
name ; so in Hebrew schen is tooth, and habfim elephants.
The elephant is well known as the largest and strongest of
quadrupeds. The height of a full grown one is from nine to fif
teen feet ; and the body has been found to weigh four thousand
and five hundred pounds. -
It is not easy to convey in words a distinct idea of the form of
any animal. Words may assist the imagination to recal a form
with which it is familiar ; but scarce any clearness of verbal
description will give the mind a distinct impression of an image
entirely new to it. In attempting to describe the elephant, this
difficulty is felt.
The body is very bulky ; the neck short and stiff. His back is
considerably arched. His legs are thick and clumsy and shape
less. His feet are undivided, but have their margins terminated
by five round hoofs. His tail is similar to that of a hog, and fring
ed at the extremity with a few long hairs ofthe bigness of a pack
thread. The body is bare, covered with a rough strong hide.
His eyes are small, but lively ; and distinguished from those of
all other animals by their pathetic sentimental expression. The
ears are long, broad and pendulous. *¦ The trunk is a remarkable
organ, peculiar to the elephant. It is a cartilaginous substance,
composed of numerous rings, terminating in a small moveable
kind of hook ; and having the nostrils in its extremity. This
proboscis the animal can contract, dilate and bend in any direc
tion. The sense of feeling is centered in this organ; and, is as
delicate and distinct as in the human species. » By means of this
trunk he conveys his food and his drink into his mouth, which is
situated below where this singular organ commences. The su
perior part of this protuberance projects forward about five
inches, and answers as a kind of finger, and enables him to lay
hold ofthe minutest things with great facility, to pick up grains
of corn, &c*" His tusks, also, distinguish the elephant in a singu
lar manner. Neither jaw is furnished with fore teeth. Each
has four large flat grinders. But in the upper are two enormous

appendix.] OF THE BIBLE. 451
tusks, of a solid, white, and fine grained substance ; which, as
they proceed from the gums in which they are rooted, first point
forwards, and then bend slightly upwards. These are often
seven feet long, and have been found to weigh a hundred and
fifty pounds. ;
The elephant is nourished on vegetable food ; fruits, leaves^
branches, corn and other grains, which he devours in large quan
tities. He grows slowly, and is supposed to live to a great age ;
it is said from one to two hundred years. With his trunk he ut
ters occasionally a sound like that of a trumpet. When enraged
or alarmed, his voice, which seems to proceed from his throat
and mouth, is very terrible. His sense of hearing is quick. He
delights in the sound of instruments ; and seems particularly fond
of music. He has an exquisite smelling; and is passionately
fond of perfumes ot all sorts, and of fragrant flowers.
Plains, forests, and gently rising hills are the favourite abodes
ofthe elephant. He is a native of Africa and of Asia. He can
not bear the heat of the torrid regions under the line ; but is
still more impatient of cold.
> Mankind have, in all ages, been at great pains in taming ele
phants. They are caught in the forests by artifice, dexterity,
strength, and terror. They are subdued -by threats ; and do-
' mestieated by kind treatment and caresses; and at last render
ed tractable and submissive. Indeed, when tame, the elephant
is perhaps the most docile, gentle, and obedient of all animals.
He forms an attachment to his keeper ; comprehends signs ;
learns to distinguish the various tones ofthe human voice, as ex
pressive of anger, approbation, or command ; is even capable of
being taught to understand the import of articulate language ;
adopts in many instances the manners and the sentiments of man
kind ; discovers a sense of probity and honour, and expects to be
honestly dealt with ; resents every affront with force and digni
ty ; is generous, grateful, patient, magnanimous, and humane. .
Elephants are fond of gorgeous trappings; and formerly were
much used in war.
The following is a description of the Elephant by Oppian.
'• None of the forest kind so vast arise ;
When swells the elephant before thine eyes;
Of massive strength his bulky head be rears,
And smooth, and short, and roncave are his ears.
Smaller his eyes than such a bulk demands :
Huge in the midst his trunk projecting stands,
Curved, slender, lithe, as grasp of human hands.
This, his proboscis named, at will he wields,
As nature urges, and despoils the fields.

452 THE NATURAL HISTORY [appendix.
No like proportion in his feet we find ;
Before he lifts them hieher than behind.
Rough, dusky, thick, the skin his frame surrounds,
Which not hard iron's piercing sharpness wounds.
Fierce and untam'd amidst the shady wood,
But mild with men, and of a gentle mood.
When midst the flowery lawns and hills he roves,
The beeches, olive-trees, and palmy groves,
Are crasb'd beneath him. as he sways around
His tnskv cheeks, and roots them from the ground.
But man's strong hands the furious beast reclaim;
Lost is his anger, and his heart is tame.
He bears th.- yoke, his lips the curb obey,
Boys stride his back, and point bis onward way."
Elton's translation.
Historians and travellers relate many tales concerning the pru-
denre, penetrating sagacity, and obliging temper of the elephant,
which seem almost incredible. It is certain that they appear to
be more influenced by a regard to the consequences of their ac
tions than any other domesticated animals. On the promise of
a reward, they are often induced to extraordinary exertions of
ingenuity and strength. They are said to be particularly fond
of wine ; and it is frequently offered them to induce them to per
form labours, and given to reward exertion. We find it used in
this manner, successfully, in the wars of the Maccabees. 1 Mac
cab. vi. 34.
The tusks of the elephant have long been applied, under the
denomination of ivory, to a variety of important uses in the arts.'
Sep Jv-jry. '
To the longevity, and other prominent qualities of the ele
phant, Thompson alludes in the following animated lines.
"Peaceful, beneath primeval trees, that cast
Their ample shade o'er Niger's yellow sfream,
And where the Ganges rolls his sacred wave ;
Or mi I the central d.»pth of hla^k^oing woods,
High rai-ed in solemn theatre around.
Leans 'he huge elephant : wi'esi of brutes!
O truly wise! witli gentle mind endowed,
Though powerful, not destructive ' Here he sees
Revolving ages sweep the changeful earth,
And empires rise and fall; regardless he
Of what the never-resting race of men
Project : thrice happy could he 'scape their guile
Who mine, from cruel avarice, his steps ;
Or witli his towery grandeur swell their state —
The p/ide of kings ! or else his strength pervert,
And bid him rage amid tie mortal fray,
Astomsh'd at the madness of mankind."

appendix.] OF THE BIBLE. 453
FISH.
In Ezekiel xxix. 4, is a prophecy against Pharaoh king of
Egypt, under the emblem ofthe crocodile, which, among the an
cients »vas a symbol of Egypt, in these words, "Lo I am against
thee Pharaoh, king of Egypt; the great crocodile [i<mii«] that
lieth in the midst of his rivers ;* that saitb ' My river is mine
own, and I have made it for myself:' and I will put hooks in thy
jaws, and make the fish of thy rivers cleave to thy scales, aid I
will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers and all the fish of
thy rivers shall cleave to thy scales." This latter circumstance
may be understood as a reference to the "echeneis neucrafes"
the keid. or kaml cl kersh, i. e. the louse ofthe shark, so called
because it often adheres very strongly to this fish. It is mention
ed by For-kal as seen at. Gidda. and b) Hasselquist at Alexan-.
dria. The echeneis is the Remora, which Plinv describes as
adhering to the sides of a vessel, and stopping ils course.! W be-
thei these fish fasten themselves upon the crocodile, as they do
upon the shark, I am not able to say ; but it might have been
thought so, and perhaps observed by the ancients.
II. In reference to the fish burned by Tobias when in compa
ny with Sarah at Ecbatana. Tobit vii. 2, 3. by the fumigation to
drive away the evil spirit, the author of " Scripture Illustrated"
quotes the following from Forskal, •' The eg^s of the common
ray, called by the Greeks rina dioudan, are exhibited as a domes
tic medicine in intermitting fevers : being laid on burning coals,
tbe sick person, when the paroxysm is seizing him, inhales the
fume arising from them by his mouth and nostrils. At the se
cond trial, the fever will cease ; as some Greek fishermen at
Constantinople affirmed." The exhibition of such fumigations,
if customary still farther east, which nothing forbids us from sup
posing, shews pretty clearly the nature of that transaction in To
bit, and the allegorical manner employed in that work. If we
suppose a temporary fever, through excess of passion, to be the
disease dispersed by such a remedy, we may dismiss the agency
of the evil spirit; and yet admit the physical effect of the medi
cine.
HOLM TREE. nriNOX.
Occ. Susannah v. i>8.
The Ilex. One ofthe elders who accused Susannah, said that he
saw her talking with a young man uaro cr^ivov under a mastich tree ;
Daniel, alluding to the sound of schinos, answers him, " the an-
* The Nile had seven mouths. Rivers also emptied themselves into it,
and channels were cut from it.
t Plinv, N. H. lib. xxxii. c. 1.

454 THE NATURAL HISTORY [appendix.
gel of the Lord, e-ytau <rt p.nrov shall cut thee in two." And
when the other elder said " it was, vsro wfivov, under a holm-
tree ;" he replied, in allusion to this also, " the angel of the
Lord waiteth, jt^io-xi <re jMtov, to cut thee in two." From these
allusions, some have imagined that the story could have been
written in no other language than Greek, and consequently that
Daniel was not the author of it. This was the objection raised
against it by Julius Africanus and Jerom ; and several of the
moderns have renewed it. See Mastich-tree.
Many instances of this figure of speech called paronomasia are
to be found in the sacred writings. In the Hebrew of the fifth
chapter of Isaiah, verse 7, it is, he looked for (mischpat) judg
ment, and behold (mischpach) tyranny : for (tsedaka) righteous
ness, but behold (tsaaka) the cry qf the oppressed. See also
Isai. xxiv. 18. He that flieth from fear, (pahhad) shall fall into
the pit (pahhath,) and Isai. Ixi. 3, a beautiful crown, (phear)
instead of ashes, (apher.) The like allusion is observable in
the Hebrew text of Eccles. vii. 1 ; but Dan. v. 25 — 2(<, is
nearest to the passage before us. Many other examples might
be collected out of both testaments. See Jer. i. 11, 12; Ezek.
vii. 6 ; Hosea ix. 15 ; Amos v. 5 ; viii. 2 ; John xv. 2 : Rom. i.
29—31 ; xii. 3; 2 Thes. iii. 11 ; Heb. xi. 37. All which in
stances have an affinity of sound with each other, like these of
Daniel, but cannot easily be translated into another language,
and therefore the beauty of them is frequently lost.
HYiENA. ymt. tseboa; in the the Syro-hexapl. of Aquila,
Tsabu; in Arabic, Dzuba, [Russel's Aleppo, Vol., ii. p. 186,]
Dubba, [Shaw's Trav. p. 173, ed. 4to.] and Dsabuon, [Bo
chart, Hieroz. V. ii. p. 163.]*
TAINA, Ecclus. xiii. 18.
This word does not occur in our version ofthe canonical books
of the Old Testament ; but is found in Ecclesiasticus xiii. 1 8.
There are however, several passages in which the animal is sup
posed to be referred to. These I shall proceed to explain, after
describing the animal itself.
* Bysena dicitur Arabicus Tsabu, quod quoque nomen ejus Hebraicum
fuisse videtur. J712X forte dictus fuit, quod pellis ejus striis subalbis et in-
fuscis di < t incta sit. Nam J>3X colorandi et tingendi not ionem habet ; et ani
malia vel a vocis sono, vel a colore et forma externa, vel.abfteconomia et m,u-
ribus nomina sua apud Veteres reperisSe constat."
Tvchskn, Fnysiologus Syrus, p. 26.
In the Tigre, the Hyaena is called " Zibee ;" and " Gib," in the Am
baric.

appendix.] OF THE BIBLE. 455
The hyaena is a kind of ravenous wolf, in Arabia, Syria, and
Africa. It is a little bigger than a large mastiff dog, which it re
sembles in many respects. Its colour is grey, and streaked trans
versely with black. The hair is harsh, long, and rather shaggy.
This animal is silent, savage, and solitary ; cruel, fierce, and un
tameable. It is continually in a state of rapacity ; forever growl
ing, except when devouring its food. Its eyes then glisten, the
bristles on its back stand erect, and its teeth appear ; which, alto
gether give it a most dreadful aspect ; and the terror is heighten
ed by its terrible howl, which, it is said, is sometimes mistaken
for that of a human voice in distress. For its size, it is the most
ferocious, and the most terrible of all other quadrupeds. Its
courage is equal to its ferocity. It defends itself against the lion,
is a match for the panther, and frequently overcomes the ounce.
Caverns ofthe mountains, the clefts of the rocks, and subterrane
ous dens, are its chief lurking places. Its liking to dog's flesh,
or, as it is commonly expressed, its aversion to dogs, is particu
larly mentionnd by Mr. Bruce. This animosity between the
two animals, though it has escaped the notice of modern natural
ists, appears to have been known to the ancients in the East:
Bochart has quoted several striking authorities. In Ecclesias
ticus, ch. xiii. 18, it is asked ''What agreement is there between
the hyaena and the dog ?" A sufficient proof that the antipathy
was so well known, as to be proverbial.
In 1 Sam. xiii. 18, O'jna'in 'J " the valley of Zeboim," Ao_ui
la, Svmmachus, and Theodotion, render ipx^xyyx rcav xixivusvi
the valley of Hyanas. The Chaldee Targum on the passage,
reads it ?,j»ax ; substituting 3 for 3, and so understanding it vi
pers, as if some party-coloured serpents were there intended, of
which Bochart shews there are several sorts, and one in par
ticular, called by the Greeks vxtvx, no doubt from its streaked
skin. This valley is again mentioned, Nehem. xi. 34, and has
its appellation from having been the haunt ofthe tseboa.
'' Our translators render jpm ay in Jer. xii. 9, " a speckled
bird ;" but the LXX. who must not only have best known the
meaning of the original, but be best acquainted with the natural
history ofthe country, have rendered it ctcvjaxiov vdivnis, the cave
of the hyana. The learned Bochart, excellently, and at large
defends this reading;* according to which, the passage would be
" My heritage is unto me as the ravenous hyaena:
Fierce beasts ofthe desert are round about it."
* " Accedat itaque necesse est pertinax Bochartorcm et Oedmannq-
rcm industria, et felix ingeninm adistas in Hist. JVat Sacra dispellandas
tenebras." Tyschbn, Physiol. Sacr. p. 30i

456 THE NATURAL HISTORY [appendix.
Bp. Blaney, in a long and very ingenious note upon the place,
vindicates his translating it " the ravenous bird tseboa ;"
acknowledging, however, that " there is no determining with cer
tainty, the particular species of bird to which the name ;>Ud is
given." , But the continuator of Calmet, has a criticism which clears
up the difficulty, and restores the allusion to tlie hyana. His
remarks, with a translation a little varied, I shall adopt.
" / have abandoned my dwelling ;
I have relinquished my herilair ;
The place I delighted in I h-ivc surrendered to enemies.
Mine heritage became 'o me as a lion's lair ;
lis inhabitant gave out its growl against me.
Insomuch that I therefore hated il.
Like the oith tjebuo is my heritage to me :
The oith turns himself every way round upon il —
[i. e. repelling my approach al any part]
Go, then, assemble ye wiUt beasts qf the field!
Proceed ye to devour it '."
" The idea seems to be that of a person, who, having met with
ingratitude, leaves the ingrateful to all calamities ; his field hav
ing got one wild beast in it. he relin uishes it to all wild beasts.
The question is, What is this wild beast ? Let us investigate the
import of the words.
" The word uith, signifies ' the rusher;' whether bird, beast,1
or man. The word tjebuo. signifies streaked or striped : ' the
striped rusher,' then, is the literal meaning of the words used.
The hy.ena is the animal most probably intended. ' It is well
know at Aleppo, (says Russel) lives in the hills at no great dis
tance from the town ; and is held in great horror.' lt is of the
size of a large dog; is remarkably shiped or streaked ; has much
similitude to the wolf, in nature and form, but has only four ioes
on each foot, in which it is very nearly singular; it is extremely
wild, sullen and ferocious; will sometimes attack men; rushes
with great fury on flocks and cattle ; ransacks graves, devours
dead bodies," &zc.
Our critic adds: '• I cannot avoid suggesting a possibility that
that very obscure animal the sheeb, may be the tjabuo of this
place. I'find the following account of it in Russel, Vol. ii. p.
185. ' The natives talk of another animal,, named sheeb, which
they consider as distinct from the wolf, and reckon more fero
cious. Its bite is said to be mortal, and that it occasions ra'. ing
madness before death. It is like the woif; is perhaps only n mad
wolf. Long intervils elapse in which nothing is heard ofthe
sheeb. In 1772, the forepart and tail of one, was brought from

appendix.] OF THE BIBLE. 457
Spheery to Dr. Freer. It was shot near Spheery; was one of
several that had followed the Bassora caravan over the desert, from
near Bassora to Aleppo. Many persons in the caravan had been
bitten, all of whom died in a short time, raving mad. It was re
ported that some near Aleppo were bitten, and died in like man
ner ; but the doctor saw none himself. The circumference of
the body and neck rather exceed that of the wolf." If an ani
mal of properties so terrible had taken its abode in any person's
heritage, no wonder he should abandon it to its fate. As the
creature was scarce, (never seen by Dr. Russel, or his brother)
may not this account for the ignorance of translators ? Were a mad
dog to get into any one's house here, would he not quit it ? This
creature coming from the desert, agrees with "the valley of Ze
boim, toviards the wilderness."
IBIS.
A bird peculiar to Egypt, and, in early ages, held there in the
utmost veneration, so that it was deemed a capital crime to kill
one. Polyjeneus, Stratagem, belli, lib. vii, states that Camby-
ses, king of Persia, who was not unacquainted with this supersti
tion, placed some of these birds before his army while he besieg
ed Damietta. The Egyptians, not daring to shoot against them,
nor consequently against the enemy, suffered the town to be ta
ken, which was the key of Egypt.
The ibis feeds upon serpents and destroys their eggs, and also
. devours destructive reptiles and insects ; and is thus very ser
viceable to the inhabitants. This, probably, is the reason for the
grateful estimation in which the bird was formerly held.
Hasselquist is inclined to believe the ardea Ibis to be the ibis
ofthe ancient Egyptians, but Bruce has made it very evident
that the ibis is the bird no* called Abou Hannes in Egypt. That
the bird was known to the Hebrews seems highly probable, and
under the article Owl, in the preceding part of this work, I have
mentioned it.
For a particular account of this celebrated bird, I refer to a
memoir by J. Pearson, in the Philosophical Transactions for
1805, part 2. " Histoire naturelle et mythologique d'lbis, par
M. Sevignx, avec planches, Paris, 1805;" to the Monthly Re
view, new series, vol. xlvi. p. 523, and xlix. p. 531 ; and to a
memoir on the ibis of the ancients by Cuvier, in the Annales de
.Museum, vol. iv ; Paris, 1804. He denominates it the Nume-
nius Ibis.
IVY. KISSOS. Lat. Hedera.
Occ. 2 Maccab. vi. 7.
In this passage we are informed that " the Jews were com
pelled to go in procession to Bacchus, carrying ivy." The
58

458 THE NATURAL HISTORY [appendix.
feasts of this heathen god were celebrated by frantic votaries
crowned with ivy.
LOTUS.
Some have thought the plant translated " leek" in Numbers xi.
5, to be the lotus ; and Lowth so renders the word which in our
version of Isaiah xix. 6, is called " flags."
The lotus is an aquatic plant peculiar to Egypt; a kind of wa
ter-lily; which, says Homer, II. xxii, "is the first of plants which
grow for the pleasure ofthe gods." Alpinus, de plantis JEgypti,
p. 1 03, says " this is the white nenuphar. The Egyptians, dur
ing the heats of summer, eat the whole stalk, raw, with the up
per parts : they are watery, proper to moisten and refresh ; and
are called razelnil."
Herodotus, Hist. Euterpe, § xcii, says "the Egyptians who in
habit the marshy grounds, to procure themselves more easily the
means of sustenance make use of the following expedient : when
the waters have risen to their extrernest height, and all their
fields are overflowed, there appears above the surface an im
mense quantity of plants ofthe lily species, which the Egyptians
call the lotos ; these having cut down they dry in the sun. The
seed ofthe flower, which resembles that ofthe poppy, they make
into a kind of bread and bake ; they also eat the root of this plant,
which is round, of an agreeable flavour, and about the size of an
apple. There is a second species of the lotos which grows in
the Nile : the root of which is very grateful either fresh or
dried." M. Sonnini describes the Mus as a water lily, with white and
odoriferous flowers.* He remarks that its roots form a tubercle,
which is gathered when the waters of the Nile subside, and is
boiled and eaten like potatoes, which it somewhat resembles in
taste. This forms one of the most common aliments of the
Egyptians now, as we learn from history it did those of ancient
times. It appears singular that several authors, from Maillet
down to M. Pau, should have overlooked this lotus in the nym-
phea, and that the latter should have declared that this plant
had disappeared out of Egypt, where it formerly grew in great
abundance. But what has contributed to confuse the history of
the lotus nymphea is, that it has frequently been mistaken for a
totally different plant, which the ancients also called lotus, and
which composed the principal nourishment of certain nations of
Africa, who, on that account, were called " lotophagi." This
latter bears no relation to the lotus which grojvs in Egypt ; but
* Travels in Egypt translated by Hunter, vol. i. p. 314. See also
Forskal, Flor jEgyptiaca, p. 100. Le Pi.dche Hist, of the Heavens,
vol. ii. p. 308 ; -and Shaw's travels, ed. 4to. p. 143, note.

appendix.] GF THE BIBLE. 459
is a shrub, a species of wild jujube-tree, as M. Desfontaines has
ascertained, and which grows in several parts of Barbary.*
MASTIC-TREE. 2XINOS.
Occ. Susannah v. 40.
The mastic or lentisk tree rises with a stalk ten or twelve feet
high, dividing into many branches covered with a dark brown
bark. The leaves are placed alternate on the branches ; are
about an inch and a half long, and half an inch broad at their
base, lessening gradually to a point, and have a few saws on their
edges : they are of a lucid green, and when bruised emit a tur
pentine odour. The flowers are produced in loose bunches at
the end of the branches : they are small, white, and have no
fragrance. ' Mastic gum is procured from the tree by making incisions in the
bark ; from these, says Mr. Legh, Journey, Lond. 1 8 1 7. p. 1 7, a li
quid juice distils, that gradually hardens, forming tears, which
either remain attached to the shrub, or fall on the ground and are
afterwards gathered up. It is fragrant ; and is principally used
for disorders of the gums and teeth.
Under the article " Holm-tree," 1 have mentioned the refe
rence to this tree by the apocryphal writer of the story of Su
sannah. Michaelis, in his Commentaries on the Laws of Moses,
vol. iv. p. 335, remarks that " the play upon the words is merely
a Greek paronomasia between irj^ivos and eyt^ui ; according to
Porphyry's shrewd remark, which we know from Jerom's pre
face to his exposition of Daniel, and to which, as an objection,
Jerom very properly replied, that it did not at all affect the
book of Daniel,, because the story of Susannah was not found in
the Hebrew; nor did it, even in the Greek belong to that pro
phet ; being only a part of a book ascribed to Habakkuk the son
of Jesus, ofthe tribe of Levi. We find, moreover Jerom him
self adducing these Greek puns as a proof that this book was not
genuine, but a fiction of a later period.
" The word <r%tvoc: means the mastic-tree, a native of the island
of Chio, a country which was anciently so entirely unknown in
Asia that it has not so much as a name in Hebrew, Arabic, Sy
riac, or Chaldee. For the Arabs and Chaldeans borrow it from
the Greek ; and in this very passage, the oriental translators, not
understanding what <T£iiw meant, name any tree that occurs to
them : and one Arabic version absolutely retains the Greek word,
expressing it very awkwardly in Arabic letters, al-schakin. A
tree, therefore, is specified in the first man's answer, which, in
all probability, was not then known in Babylon."
* Journal de Physique, Oct. 1783. The Rhamnus Lotus Linnczi.

460 THE NATURAL HISTORY ' [appendix.
OCHRE, itbj.
A fossil earth, of a chalky nature. Bishop Lowth translates
the Hebrew word, improperly rendered "line" in our version of
Isai. xliv. 13, red-ochre. It may be of the kind found in the island
of Ormus in the Persian gulf, Whence it is by some called " Per
sian earth." This is of a fine purple, or glowing red colour, of
a tolerably compact and hard texture.
PHGENIX.
The expression of Job xxix. 1 8, " Then I said, I shall die in
my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand," has been un
derstood by some ofthe ancient interpreters to be an allusion to
the phoenix, which is said to live several hundred years, and to
expire in a funeral pile, prepared by itself of frankincense, and
myrrh, and other aromatics, from which arises another phoenix.
The Jewish rabbins, who are fond of fabulous explications, were
the first to propose this explication ;* and some ofthe Christian.
Fathers adopted it: thus Tertullian quotes it, [De Resur. c."
xiii.] as an image of the resurrection, as does also Epiphanius,
in Physiologo, c. xi. See also the Apostolical Constitutions, 1 v.
c. 7. Greg. Nazianz, Carm. 3. Origen, contra Cels. 1. iv.
Eusebius, Vit. Constant, and Junius Patritius, Not. ad. Epist.
Clem, ad Corinth. t
If the passage be an allusion to the palm-tree, it may relate
either to its vigorous growth, towhich there arc several refer
ences in Scripture, or to the fresh shoots which put out from the
stump after the tree is cut down. J Pliny, N. A. 1. xiii. c. 4, re
marks of the palm-tree, " Procerioribus sylva arbore ex ipsa.
Gaudet et riguis totoque annobibere:" which agrees with the
observation of Job in the next verse to that which occasioned
this article,

My root was spread out by the waters,
And th dew lay all night updh my branch.

* SeeR. Osaja in Bereschit Rabba; IVIidras Samuel, sect. xii. Poma-
rius. in libr. Tsemach. and S. Jarchi, whom the author of the Tigurln
version follows.
f For some curious particulars of this " rara avis in terra," see Kjump-
fer, Amoenitates exotirte, p. fi62, and his'history of Japan, p 124. Plinv,
N H. 1.x c. 2 Tacitus, annal. 1 vi. C 28. Dion. Hist. 1. vii. stib fin.
Xiphilin, Vila Tiber. Aurul. Victor, Epist. de Claudio. SoLinusj c.
xiii. |" !psum Phoenicia nomen ex palma derivatum ferunt ; quod arbor i|la
annosa sit, et veluti post cineres renascens ; cum in cineres redacto
trunco, novo e radice geroiina erumpunt " Calmet, Prolegom. p. 335.
" Minim de ea acrcpminus cum Phoenice ave, quae putatur ex hujus Pal-
mte (Syagrorumj argumento, nomen accepisse emori ac renasci a seipsa."
Plin. N. H. 1. xiii. c. 4.

appendix.] OF THE BIBLE. 461
The Phoenix is a fabulous bird, which the ancients described
as of the size of an eagle; its eyes sparkling like stars ; its head
finely crested with a beautiful plumage; its neck covered with
feaihers of a gold colour; its tail white; and its body purple.
One only phoenix, they said, existed at the same time, and this
lived in the wilderness for a space of five or six hundred years.
When thus advanced in age, il built itself a pile of sweet woods
and aromatic gums ; in which, fire being obtained from the sun
and fanned witli the wings ofthe bird, it voluntarily consumed it-
seil. From the ashes, in process of time, arose a new phoenix.
In the sixth book of the Annals of Tacitus, it is observed, hat
in the year of Rome 787, the phoenix re-visited Egypt, an event
which occasioned much speculation among the learned. This
creature is sacred to the sun in that country. Of its longevity,
the accounts are various. The common persuasion is, that it
lives 500 years; but by some the date is extended to 1461.
The several eras when the phoenix has been seen, are fixed by
tradition. The first, we are told, was in the reign of Sesostris ;
the second in that of Amasis ; and in the period when Ptole
my, the third of the Macedonian race, was seated on the
throne of Egypt, another phoenix directed its flight towards He
liopolis. When, to these circumstances are added the brilliant
appearance of the phoenix, and the tale that it makes frequent ex
cursions with a load on its back, and that it flies to the altar
of the sun to be there consumed ; it cannot but appear proba
ble, that the learned of Egypt had inveloped under this allegory,
the philosophy of comets.
The Septuagint, however, render the Hebrew word dro chol,
by <J>oiv/|, which is the palm-tree ; and Kempfer says, that the
fruit of the wild palm or date, is by the Arabians and Persians
called nachl, and chalaal ; which approach the Hebrew.
PRECIOUS STONES. The following endmeration of the
precious stones, I extract from an_ ancient English poet, princi
pally on account of its reference to passages oi Scripture.
" 'Tis thus rapacious misers swell their store ;
To diamonds diamonds add and ore to ore :
Turquoises next, their weaker minds surprize, '
Kich. deeply aztired, like Italian skies.
Then are the fiery rubies to be seen,*
And emeralds tinctured with the rainbow's green,}1
Translucent beryl.X flame-eyed chrysolite,^
And sardonyx, refresher ofthe sight. ||
With these the empurpled amethyst combines,!!
And topaSt vein'd with rivulets, mildly shines," FI arte,
* " Nazarites more ruddy than rubies." Lam. iv. 7.
t " A rainbow in sight, like an <merald " tsev. iv. 3.
tDan. x. 6; Rev.xxi.20. 5 Ezek. xxviii. || Rev. xxi. 20, H Ex. xxviii.19.

462 THE NATURAL HISTORY [appendix.
RICE. A plant very much resembling wheat in its shape
and colour, and the figure and disposition of its leaves ; but it has
a thicker and stronger stalk. Its seed is extremely farinaceous.
It thrives only in low, damp, and marshy lands, when they are
even a little overflowed.
It has been wondered why rice, which, as Dr. Arbuthnot
observes, is " the food of two thirds of mankind," should never
have been enumerated among the grains of Scripture ; especially
as it is cultivated in most Eastern countries, and at present so
much abounds in Egypt. A passage however in Isai. xxxii.
20, according to Sir John Chardin's manuscript note on the
place, exactly answers the manner of planting rice ; for they
sow it upon the water : and before sowing, while the earth is
covered with water, they cause the ground to be trodden by
oxen, horses, and asses, who go mid leg deep ; and this is
the way of preparing the ground for sowing. As they sow the
rice on the water, they transplant it in the water.* This will
explain Eccles. xi. 1.
Dr. Shaw supposes that the word nnD3 cussemeth, translated
rye, Exod. ix. 31, should have been rendered rice. The same
word is rendered fitches, Ezek. iv. 9. But the LXX. Theodo-
tion, and Aquila, render it zea or spelt ; and this Parkhurst
considers as its true meaning.
SPICES. Herodotus, 1. iii. c. 3, observes that " the Greeks
learned the name luvvx^oipvov from the Phenicians ;" and it may
be remarked, that, as all spices came from the East to Greece
and Italy, so they have eastern names, not only in Greek and
Latin, but generally in English, and the other modern lan
guages. I shall cite some instances from Bochart, V. i. p. 713.

jlDJD, uvvxixufMii, cinnamo-
mon, cinnamon.
njrxp, KXfffftx, cassia.
nap, xmvvx, canna, cane.
11D, Mvg(>x, myrrha, myrrh.
TMib, AtGxm, libanus, oli-
banum.

ruabn, XxaSxvv, galbanum.
nibns, AAoij, aloe.
TO, NxgSac, nardus, nard.
isio, Kutt^o?, Cyprus.
sd:,

SUGAR. The inspissated juice of the cane. We are not
certain that the granulated form ofthe sap was known. Under
the word " cane," we have shown that the knowledge of the
plant was as old- among the Jews as the time of Moses. It is
agreed that our sugar is a term borrowed from the Arabic. The
* Habmer's ob. i. v. i. p. 280. Lowtb's notes upon Lai. p. 166.

appendix,] OP THE BIBLE. 463
Saracens or Arabians, propagated the cane in their conquests.
¦oat, as a noun, is used nineteen times, and uniformly translated
" strong drink." The etymology may make it not only the " si-
cera" ofthe Greeks and Latins, but also the " saccharum." It
is uniformly coupled with wine, and used without any separate
verb, [See Levit. x. 9 ; Deut xiv. 26 ; xxix. 6 ; Jud. xiii. 4, 7,
14 ; 1 Sam. i. 15.] It is mentioned Numb. vi. 3, both with and
without wine ; but the verse seems to imply, that the repetition
of the fermentation is only to render the commandjnore emphati-
cal, as it is in the same manner repeated with respect to the
wine. It is possible that they might have a kind of beer, made
by fermenting the syrrup of the cane ;, but. perhaps more proba
ble that they used it to sweeten their wine ; as we put honey in
to cider, to encourage people to drink freely. The texts quoted
above, will then be rendered " wine and sugar," or sweetened
wine. . In Solomon's time, and afterwards, the wine and sweet cor
dials seem generally to have been used separately, as we may
conclude from the phraseology ; they having usually their sepa
rate verbs. [Compare Prov. xx. 1 ; xxxi. 4, 6 ; Isai. v. 11,
22 ; xxiv. 9 ; xxviii. 7 ; xxix. 9 ; lvi. J2.] The only place after
Solomon, in which I find it used, simply as joined with wine, is
in Micah ii. 11.
Strabo speaks of canes from which honey is made. I do not
know that " saccharum" is used by any author prior to Pliny and
Dioscorides. See Salmas, exercit. Plin. V. ii.
TREES. The Gemara Babylonica, Onkelos in the Chaldee
paraphrase, R. Salomon, R. Abahu, Eben Ezra, and several
critics imagine that by -nn yy etz hadar, rendered " goodly
trees," Levit. xxiii. 40, the citron tree is intended : my yy etz
aboth, rendered " thick trees," in the same verse and in Nehem.
viii. 15 ; and Ezek. xx. 28 ; according to the Rabbins, the Chal
dee paraphrase, the Syriac version, and Deodatus, is the myrtle.
The word Sb>k eshel, or asel, translated " grove" in Gen.
xxi. 33, has been variously translated. Parkhurst renders it an
oak, and says, that " from this word may be derived the name
of the famous asy lum, opened by Romulus between two groves
of oak at Rome." Dionyss. Hal. 1. ii. c. 16. On the other
hand, Celsius, Hierobot. V. i. p. 535, Michaelis Suppl. Lex.
Hebr. and Dr. Geddes render it the Tamarisk, which is a lofty
and beautiful tree, which grows abundantly in Egypt and Arabia.*
The same word in 1 Sam. xxii. 6 ; and xxxi. 13, is rendered
" a tree." It must be noted too, that in the first of these places,
* Tamaris. JVlyrica. Arabis Tharse; Athbl, incolis. Raowolj1, Flora
Orientals, N. 93, page 35.

464 THE NATURAL HISTORY, &c. [appendix.
the common version is equally obscure and contradictory, by
making ramah a proper name. It signifies hillock or bank.
Boothroyd translates it, " now Saul was sitting on a hill in Gibe
ah, under a tamarisk tree."
TREES THAT PRODUCED PRECIOUS BALSAMS. Of
these, there was one in particular that long flourished in Judea,
having been supposed to have been an object of great attention
to Solomon, which was afterwards translated to Matarea in Egypt,
where it continued till about two hundred and fifty years ago,
according to Maillet, let. iii. p. Ill, who gives a description of
it, drawn, 1 suppose, from the Arabian authors, in which he tells,
" this shrub had two very differently coloured barks, the one red,
the other perfectly green ; that they tasted strongly like incense
and turpentine, and when bruised between the fingers they smelt
very nearly like cardamons." " This balsam (he tells us) which
was extremely precious and celebrated, and was used by the Cop
tic church in their chrism, was produced by a very low shrab;
and it is said that all those shrubs that produced balsams are, eve
ry where low. and do not exceed two or three cubits in height."
TURPENTINE. TEPEBIN0O2.
Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 16, "As the turpentine-tree I stretched
out mv branches, and my branches are the branches of honour
and grace."
The terebinth- tree here spoken of, is described under the arti
cle " Oak."
ZACCOUN, orZACCHOM ; a tree so called from Zaccheus, is
found in the plain of Jericho. It is thus described by Mariti,
Trav. v. ii. p. H. "The branches are covered with prickles
four or five inches long ; the bark knotty and wrinkled, and green
on the tree, but yellow when dry. The wood is ofthe colour of
box-wood. The leaves are like those of the olive ; but narrow
er, sharper, and a more beautiful green. It bears a white odo
riferous flower. Its fruit, which is a kind of acorn, without a
calyx, and inclosed in a pellicle, yields, when squeezed an oil,
which for contusions and wounds is preferred even to the balsam
of Mecca. That of the best quality is obtained by expression,
and an inferior sort by boiling the pumice after it has been
pressed." Perhaps this is the oil mentioned Mark vi. 15; Luke x. 33;
and James v. 14.
The tree is probably the Eleagnus, mentioned by Hassel
quist, p. 287.

Exhibiting a list of the articles according to the English translation,
followed by the original names ; and then the modern or scientific
appellation, as nearly as I have been able to identify the individuals.
For tlie Precious Stones, however, I have retained the names as
found in Theophrastus or Pliny.

ENGLISH.

HEBREW.

1.IKN.EAN, On 8CIBNT1FIC.

FAG I

Adamant

Schmir

Smyris. [Lapis, quo annularii et
marii utuntur, ad expoliendas

gem-gem-

mas.] .... ....
-
1
Adder
Shephiphon
Coluber cerastes ...
-

Pethen
 See A
sp-
2
Achsub
Coluber Hannasch Msuad. Forskai
Tsepba
Lacerta bassiliscus ?
—
Agate
Schebo
Achates. Pun. -
-
5
Alabaster
AAABASTPON
Algum
Algum
See Almug.
6
Almond
IjUZ
Amygdalus Communis -
.
_
Almug
Almugim
Pinus Orientalis -
.
7
Aloe
Olar
Aloe Succotrina -
-
8
Ahaloth
Agallochum prastantissimum -
-
9
Amaranthine
430
Amber
Chasmal
Succinum electricum
-
10
Amethyst
Ahalmab
Amethystus. P. - - -
-
11
Amianthus
....
Asbestus amianthus
-
439
Anise
ANH60N
Anethum graveolens
-
11
Ant
Nemala
Formica Salomo?iis
-
12
Antimony
Phuph
441
Anubis
Hanubeli
445
Ape
Koph
Simia Diana - - - -
-
16
Apple-tree
Taphuah
Arab. "Tyffah" Pyrus Malm. Forskal
17
Ash-tree
Oren
Arbor Arabica spinosa. baceifera
-
20
Asp
Peten
Coluber hasten. Forskal
-
—
Ass
Chamor
Equus Asinus ...
-
21
Para
25
Aton
28
Orud
Equus Memionus -
-
29
Badger
Tachash
Vitulus Marinus
-
31
Balm
Tzeri
Balsamum Judaicum
-
33
Amyris opohalsamum
-
—
Balsam-tree
Baal-shemen
Amyris Gileadensis
-
34
Barley .
Shoreh
Holcus Schccir. Forskal.
-
37
Shureh
Holcus Shair. Holcus durra -
-
38
MTisman
Sesamon Orienlale - - -
-
—
Bat
Othelaph
F'espertilio Vampyrus -
-
39
Bay-tree
iEsrach
Laurus nobilis ....
-
-""
466

INDEX.

ENv ' 1SH.

HEBREW.

LIKnAaN, OR SC

'.ENTIFIC

yjt.BE

Bdellium

Bedolah

Ellipomacrostyla. Hi

jL.

. .

40

Bean

Phul

Faba rotunda. Phaseolus

.

41

Bear

Dob

Ursus arctos -

.

.

—

Beasts

Tziim 1

Achim >
43
Nhoarirn S
Bee
De burali
Apis-mellifera
.
.

Beetle
Chargol
Gryllus onos. Blatta Mgifpt
aca
45
Beeves
Bekar
Belluce. Armenia -
.
-
46
Behemoth
Behemoth
Hippopotamus
.
.
47
Beryl
Tarshish
Beryllus. P.
.
.
54
Birds
Tsippor
Bitter-herbs
JVlururim
Chironia frutescens ?
.
.
56
Bittern
Kephud
Otisflavicans -
-
.

Black
Shakor, )
Aish, Koder \
57
Blue
Thecheleth
Helix janthina
-
.
_
Boar
Hazir
58
Box-tree
Teashur
Buxus sempervirens
.
.
59
Bramble
Atad
Jasminoides aculeatum
? .
. ,
__
Brass
Nehest
60
Brier
Haharkanim
Nabka paliurus. Hasselquist
61
Chedek
Colutea Spinosa. Forskal
.
__
Serebim
Tabanus Bovinus ? -
.
-
62
Sillon.Sillunim
...
See Thorn.
—
Sirpad
Solanum Cragulans ?
.
-
—
Samir
Carduus Ardbicus ?
.
.
63
Brimstone
Gophrith
Sulphur nativum -
.
.
—
Bull
Shor, Tor
Bos. Taurus -
.
.
64
Bull-rush
Goma
Cyperus Papyrus -
-
-
65
Bush
Sinab
Rubus sanctus
-
-
66
Calamus
Caneh-bosem
Calamus aromaticus.
Acoru
s verus
—
Calf
Ogel
67
Camel
Gamal
Camelus vulgaris -
-
.
71
Camphire
Copher
Cyprus Ahhenna. Lawsonia
inermis
75
Cane
Kaneh
Calamus aromaticus
-
.
77
Canker-worm
.Ialek
Scarabaeus sacer. Bruchus
.
78
Carbuncle
Bareketh
Anthrax, Plin. -
-
.
79
Cassia
Kiddah
Cassia fistularis
.
80
Kesioth
Oleum cariophillon ?
-
-
81
Cat
EAOTPOS
Felis calus
-
-
446
CaterpillarCedar
Chasil
Bruchvs
-
-
81
Erez
Cedrus Libani conifera
-
-
—
Chalcedony
XAAKHAfiN
¦Lapis chalcedonius. P
- ,
-
81
Chameleon
Thinsemeth
Lacerla chameleon -
-
-
—
Coach
Lacerta guaral
-
-
85
Chamois
Zamor
Anlilnpc orientalis ?
•
-
—
Antilope Gasella -
- .
-
—
Chesnut-tree
Ormun
Platanus orientalis
-
-
—
Chrysolite
XPT20Aie02
Chrysolithus. P. -
-
-
—
Chrysoprasus
XPT20nPA202
Chrysoprasus. P. -
-
-
—
Cinnamon
Kinnemon
Canella. Laurus cinnamomum
87
Clay
Chomer
—
INDEX.

4G7

ENGLISH.

HEBREW.

Cock

AAEKTOP

Cockatrice

Ijeplmon )
Tsiphoni \

Cockle

Ba>eh

Cony

Sbaphan

Copper

Nehest

Coral

Pamuth

Coi lander

Gad

Cormorant

Salach

Kaath

Corn

....

Cotton

....

Crane

Sis

Ogur

Crimson

Carmel

Crystal

Koreh

Cuckow

Sacaph

Cucumber

Kischyim

Cummin

Cam mon

Cypress

Tirzah

Date

....

De'er

Ail

Diamond

Jahalom

Schmir

Dog

Cheieb

Dove

Jona

Dragon

Than.

Dromedary

Bacar

Achasteran
Drought
Tsimmaon
Eagle
Nisr
Ebony
Bobnim
Egg
Betzim
Elephant
EAE«A2
Elm
Aiah
Emerald
IS ophec
Fallow-deer
Yachmur
Ferret
Anakah
Fig-tree
Teenah
Fir-tree
Berosh
Fish
Dag
Fitches
Ketsah
_
Cusmeth
Flag
Achu
Suph
Flax
Pishtah
Flea
Paros
Flics
Oreb
Zebub
Deburrah
Tsira
LINN.EAN, OR SCIENTIFIC.
Gallus Gallinaceus -
Coluber lebetinus
Aconitvm album
Ihjrax Syriacus
Dipus JEgyptiacus
CuprumGorgonia coralloides
Coriandrum sativum
Pelecanus Carbo
Cuculis orientalis
Cucumis sativus.
Cummimum -
C'ypressus
Cervus Dama?
A Jamas. Plin.
? — Cepphus
Cucumis chate
See Palm.
See Adamant.
Canis familiaris
Canis JEthiopicus
Columba domestica
Crocodilus Africanus
Camelus dromas
Camelus A&share. Shaw.
Coluber dipsas
Vultur barbatus ? -
Eheni ligna - - -
Ovum - - - -
Smaragdus. Theophr. •
Antilope bubalus -
Lacerta Gecko
Ficus Carica
Pinus Abies
Nigella orientalis -
Zea spelta -
Juncus effusus - <
Carex sari
Linum usilatissimum
Pulex irritans
Cynamia Muscat
See Oak.
13d and
8790 91
9497
98
See Pelican. —
447
Gossypium arbore*am ...
- - - - See Swallow.
Ghornak Alba. Forskal. - - 99
 100
101102
103
106113 120
449 121
126
450 127
128
129133
453 136
138
143152153
154
T See Bee
See Hornet
4G8

INDEX.

Flint Fowl

Fox
Frankincense Frog Fuller's soap
Galhanum Gall
Garlick
Gier-Eagle GlassGledeGnat
Goat

Gold Gopher
Gourd wild

Grape  wild
GrassGrasshopper
Grey-houndHareHart Hawk
HayHazelHeathHemlockHenHeron
Hind
HogHolm-treeHoney Hornet
Horse Horse-leechHusks

Sarabim Bak
Cionim Halamisb
Ouph AitBarburim
Tsippor ShualLebonab
TsephardeaChelbonah Rash
Srhum Racham
TAA02 Daja
KUNfl* "z
Akko
JaalZahab Etz-gopherKikiunPekaim HanabBaeshim
Desha
ChagabTirzir ArnebethAjalNetz
Chajir Lutz
OrorRoshOPNI2 Anapha
Ajalah
npiNOS Debash
Tsireah Sns Alakah
KEPATION

UNN&IAN, OR SCIENTIFIC. PAGE
Tabanus bovis - - - - 159
----- See Gnat
----- See Louse
 162
Aves .-.--. —
Accipitres » —
Gallince .----- —
Passeres ..... —
Canis schacal ----- —
Thus ----'-- 173
Rana - - - - - - 174
Steatites ... See Soap 176
Bubon galbanum. Lin. -
Ferula Galbanifera, Tournef. - —
- See Hemlock. 177
Allium Ascalonicum - - - 180
Vultur percnopterus - - 181
 182
Falco Mgyptiaca - - - - 187
Culex Mgypti. Hasselquist
Culex Molestus. Forskal - - 188
Capra agagrus - - - - 189
Antilope lervia .... 195
Capra Ibex ..... —
Aurum ------ 196
Cupressus sempervirens ? - - 197
Ricinus communis - - - - 199
Cucumis prophetarum. Hasselquist
Cucumis Colycinthis ... 202
Uva  203
Labrusca. Solanum incanum. ) „c\h
Hasselquist \ 206
Gryllus cucullatus ? - - - 207
-  209
Lepus timidus . . . . —
Antilope rupicapra ? - - ' - 210
Falco sacer ) o,,
Falco cinereo-ferrugineus. Forskal. <j
 212
Amygdalus sytvestris ... 213
Tamarix articulata ... 214
Hyocyamus reticulalus. Michaelis 215
Falco montanus - - - - 216
 See Hart 217
 See Swine 219
 453
Mel  219
Vespa crabro* .... 222
Equus caballus - - - - 223
Hirudo sanguisuga - 229
Ceratonia siliqna ... —

INDEX.

469

HysenaHvssop Ibis
Incense IronIvory Ivy
JacinthJa«per JuniperKid Kite LapwingLeadLeek LentilLeopard
Leviathan Ling-aloeLigure Lily

Lime Linen Lion Lizard
Locust

LotusLouse
Mallows MandrakeManua MarbleMastic-tree MelonMillet Mint
Mole Moth
Moose

LINS.tAN, OR SCIENTIFIC.

Tseboa Esoi>

Barzel
SchenhabbiinK1520S
TAKrN602 Jaspeh Rothem
Gedi AjahDukiphah
Opbreth
Cnatzir Odeshim NirorLeviathanAhalim LeschemShushankpinon Seed

Ari
Letaah ArbehGobGazam
ChagabChanamal ChasiiChargol
Jelek Solam
TzaltsalCinnim Malnach Dudaim .Man
Sis
2XINOS AbatacbimDochan
HAT02MONCholed Ois Acbbar

Cani.5 Hyena •
Hyssopus officinalis
Numenius Ibis
Thus - - - -
Ferrum -
Ebur - - - -
Hedera helix -
Hyacinthus. Theophbastcs
Jaspis JEgyptia
Spartium ramosissimum ?
Hadus ...
Falco milvus?
Upvpa epops
Plumbum -
Allium porrum
deer lens. Ervum lens -
Felis Leopardus
Crocodilvs Africanus
Agalochum - - -

Amaryllis lAitea
Pancratium Forskal -
Fritillaria Imperialis

254
230 457 232233 457
236 237 239
240

243 244245258 260 261

Felis leo ...
Lacerta Nilntica
Gryllus gregarius -
Gryllus migratorius
Gryllus cristatus
Gryllus coronatus -
Eruca - - - -
Gryllus verucivorus
Gryllus onos - - -
Bruchus umbellatarum -
Gryllus eversor
Gryllus gryUotalpa -
Nymphaa lotus
Cynips - - - -
Halimus - -
Atriplex maritimafruticosa
Cucumis dudaim
Alropa mandragora
Manna - - - -
Marmor nobile
Pistacia lentiscus -
Cucumis Sativa
Holcus dochna. Forskal.
Mentha glabrala
Talpa Europaa
Tinea argentea
Mus musculus
Mus campestris

263 2P5266271

273274

458
281 285287289
292 459 293
294 295

295',

470

INDEX.

Mulberry-treeMuleMustard
Myrrh Myrtle,NardNettlesNight-hawkNitreNutsOak

Ochre
OilOil-treeOlive-treeOnionOnychaOnyx OspreyOssifrage
OstrichOwl

Ox
Palm-tree
Palmer-wormPannag Paper-reed
PartridgePeacockPearlPelican
Fheenix PigeonPine-tree PitchPomgranatePoplar
Precious-stones Pulse Purple
PygargQuail

BacaPered
2INAIH Mor Loth
Had as

Charul Kemosh Ta ch mas
Nether Batanim
Aguz A Hon
Ail

Shemen t'tz-shemen
Zait Batzal
SchechelethShohem Azaniah
Peres
JonehCos YansuphKippoz Lilith Bacre
TheoTamar
Gazam Pannag
Goma KraThouciim PeninnimKaath

Joneh Etz-sheraen
Tidahar
Zephet Kimmon
Libneh^KaliArgamanDishon
Selav

I.1NK.EAN, OR SCIENTIFIC.

Bazca. Forskal. ....
Equus hemionos ....
Sinapis Orientalis - - - -
Myrrha. Cistus ladanifera -
Gummi cisti ladanifera - - -
Myrtus communis -
- - - - See Spikenard
Kantuffa ? Bruce. See Thorn -
Urtica Verticillata - -
Strix orientalis - -
Salsola kali. Forskal - - -
Pistacia vera -
Nux juglans - - - - -
Quercus ballota ....
Pistacia terebinthus ...
Ilex aquifolium - - -

Oleum oliva

Olea europaa - - -
Allium cepa -
Ladanum ...
Onyx. Plin.
Vultur niger -
Vultur monachus ? -
Strulhio camelus
Strix bubo -
Tantalus Ibis
Strix aluco. Tyschen -
Strix otus ? -
Bos
Antilope Oryx
Phavnix dactylifera -
Eruca - - - -
Panicum Mgypliacum -
Cyperus Papyrus -
Tetrao perdix
Pavo cristatus
Margarita -
Pelecanus onocratulus

Columba domeslica
Pinus Halepensis -
Pinus orientalis
Bitumen Asphalthum.
Malus Punica
Populus alba -
Legumina

300301303
304305306

307
308 309
311 460
311 313314
315316
317 318328329

331 332337338
339340341342 460
344345

B. Mumia - —
346
347 461347348

<e pygarga -
Antilope Sterpsicorus
Tetrao Israelitarum

349

INDEX.

471

ENGLISH.

HEBREW.

L1NNJT.AN, OR SCIENTIFIC,

PAGE

Barn-skins

Haven
Oreb
Corvus Mgyptius -
-
.
352
Reed
Agmon
Calamus scriptorius
-
.
366
Rice
...
Orysa Saliva -
-
-
462
Roe
Tsebi
Antilope Dorcas -
.
-
358
Rose
Habetzeleth
Rosa moschata
.
.
360
Ruby
Peninnira

See Pearl
361
Rue
nHTANON
Ruta Chalepensis •
-
-

Rush
Goma
Arundo palustris -
-
-
— ,
Bye
Cussemeth
Triticum spelta
.
-
362
Saffron
Carcom
Crocus sativus
.
.

Salt
Maleh
Sal -
-
.

Sapphire
Saphir
Sapphirus. Plin.
-
-
305
SardineSardius
2APAINOS Odein
> Sardius lapis. Plin. -
-
-
366
Sardonyx
2APAONTS
Sardonyx. Plin. -
-
-
367
Satyr
Seirim

Scarlet
Tolaat
Coccus scolecius. Plin. -
.
-
_
Scorpion
Okrab
Scorpio afer -
-
-
373
Serpent
NachashSaraph
375376
Sheep
Seh
Oves. Ovis platyura
-
-
380
Shittim
Shittim
Acacia vera - - -
Mimosa Nilotica.
"
-
381
Silk
Meschi
382
Silver
Keseph
Argenlum - - -
-
-
383
Snail
Choinet
Lacerta -
-
-
384
Sabelul
Umax lavis - - -
.
-

Soap
Borith
Suada monoica. Forsk.
.
-
__
Sow
T2
Sus scrofa •
-
-
—
Sparrow
Tsippor
Passer domesticus -
-
-
385
Spices
JVecoth Bosem
> Aromata ...
386
and
462
Sammiin
Ammomum -
-
-
386
Spider
Acchabis
Aranea insidialrix -
-
388
Shemamah
Lacerta agilis
-
-
389
Spikenard
Nard
Nardus lndica .
-
-
Valeriana Jalamansi
-
-
390
Sponge
snoisiros
Spongia infundibuliformis
-
-
391
Stacte
Nataph
—
Steel
Kechushah
.....
See Brass
392
Stork
Chasidah
Ardea Ciconia
-
-
—
Sugar
.
Saccharum -
-
-
462
Swallow
Sis
Hirundo domesticus
-
-
397
Swan
Thinsemeth
Anas Cygnus -
anas JEgyptiaca ?
-
-
398
Swine
Chazir
Sus scrofa - - -
-
-
399
Sycamine
2TKAMINOS
Morus - - - -
-
-
402
Sycamore
Schikmot
Ficus JEgyptiaca -
Ficus Sycomorus
-
-
403
Tare
Zizanon
Ervum vicioides ? -
-
-
405
Teil-tree
Aiah
See Oak
472

INDEX.

ENGLISH.

HEBREW.

LIKNiEAK, OR SCIENTIFIC.

PAGE

Thistle

Dardar

Fagonia Arabica

407

Choack

.

See Thori

i —

Baseh
Solanum pubescens
. .
—
/
TPIBOA02
Carduus Tribulus
408
Thorn
Kutj
Ononis spinosa
409
Shamir
.
See Brie
r —
Choach
Prunus spinosa
—
Sirim
Lycium Afrum
—
Sillon
...
. See Brie
r -?-
Sicchim
410
Scajith
—
Tzinnim
Zizyphus paliurus
.
—
Barkanim
. See Brie
r
Chedek
Colulea spinosa. Forskal
411
Sirpad
Conysa major vulgaris.
Bauhin
—
Charul
Kantuffa ? Bruce. See Nettles
—
Notjutjim
—
Naazuz
Vepretum, rubus spinosus
—
AKAN0A
Acanthus mollis ? .
—
Thyine
eriNos
Thya Orientalis
412
Tin
Bedel
Stannum
413
Topaz
Pitdah
Topasion. Theophr.
.
414
Tortoise
Isab
Lacerta Algyptia cauda verlicillata
I -
Hasselquist
Turpentine
TEPEBIN0O2
464
Turtle
Tur
Columba turtur
,
—
Vermilion
Sisir
Miltos, (anliquorum)
.
415
Vine
Gephen
i
417
Vinegar
Chometz
418
Viper
Ephoeh
Vipera Ephe. Forskal
.
—
Unicorn
Reem
Rhinoceros unicornus
.
421
Vulture
Daah
Vultur percnopterus
426
Wax
Donagh
—
Weasel
Choled
Talpa Europaa
427
Weeds
Suph
Alga et fuci .
.
—
Whale
Than '
Cetos Jona. Charcarias .
—
Wheat
Chetheh
Triticum compositum
430
Willow
Arabim
Salix Babylonica .
•
431
Wine
lin
—
Wolf
Zeeb
Lupus Dib. Forskal. .
.
433
Worm
Rimmah
Sas
434
Wormwood
Laanah
Absinthum santonicum Ji
daicum .
435
Zaccoun
.
Eleagnus
¦
464
a:

OF REMARKABLE PASSAGES.

PAGE
Alabaster Vase »- . 5
Antimony used in ornamenting
the eyes . . . 44 1
Apis, worship of 70
Apollo, god of Physic . 157
Apples of Sodom, explained 206
Arioch, or Ariel, the lion-god 270
Aurichalcum ... 95
Baalzebub, the fly-god, worship
ped .... 154
Bitter waters of Marah . 8
Bora, or Borax, not the Borith
ofthe Hebrews . . 385
Bottles made of goats' skin 194
Byssus of the ancients . 447
Calmbac, a mixed metal 95
Camel, proverbs respecting 73, 74
Camels'-hair raiment . 74
Canopy, made of goats' hair 193
Cedar trees on Mount Lebanon,
number of ... 82
Citron trees and fruit . 18
Condiments mixed with bread 137
Conjugal affection and fidelity 196
Copper, vessels of, precious as
gold .... 95
Corinthian Brass . . 96
Cotton . . 382 and 447
Covenant of the Calf . 67
Crane, Rabbinical fable of . 99
Crocodile, sacred, of Thebes 249
 worshipped ¦. 258
Cyrus compared to the Eagle 124
Dog, the name of a pathic, or
catamite . . . 104
— — held sacred by the Egyp
tians . . 105 and 154
Dress, transparent . . 186
Eagle, the Babylonian standard 125
Electron . . . 11
Elephants, irritated with the
sight of blood . . 300
Embalming, drugs for . . 8
Eyes of women, ornamented
with black paint . . 441

Fiery serpents . . . 376
Fish not eaten by the Egyptian
Priests . . . .135
Flax, Egypt celebrated for ma
nufacturing . . . 143
Glass, no reference to in the Old
Testament . . 183
 first discovery of making 
Goat, worship paid to . 190
Golden Calf reduced to powder 68
Heliogabalus, feast of . 72
Honey of Dates . . . 220
 pot . . . 222
Indigo . 57
Ivory houses . . . 234
Jonah, pathetic expostulation
with ' . . . . 201
Lead, inscriptions on . 241
Lizard frequenting houses 389
Looking-glasses, mirrors of po
lished copper . . 185
Maronites, account of . .82
IVlirrors . 96
Natural Historv of the Bi
ble, difficulty of ascertain
ing . . . . 86. 153
Nimrod, a famous hunter 245
Obi, superstition of . 380
Onion, worshipped by the Egyp
tians . . .315
Palm wine and honey . 334
Palmyra, a city . . 335
Papyrus, ancient method of
making . . 338
Paranomasia, instances of 197.297.
454. and 459
Phoenix of the ancients 460
Plaistered tables of tbe law 263
Prenestine pavement . 48
Pythonic spirit . . . 157
Red Sea, whence so called 140
Sackcloth .... 75
Sails made of matting . 149
Semiramis . . . 107
Serpents, effect of music on 2

CO

474

INDEX.

PAGE
Serpents, worshipped . 379
Sesamum, a kind of grain 38.137
Silk not known to the ancient
Hebrews . . . . 382
Silver not in use before the
deluge .... 383

Sindon, a garment
Solomon's work on Botany
Sugar cane .
Vessels of bulrushes
Vulcan, Tubalcain
Zimb described

PAGE 149
231 78
6561
157

PASSAGES OP SCRIPTURE PARTICULARLY ILLUSTRATED.

PAGE

PAGE

Genesis

iii. 7

129

2 Sam; v. 23,24 .

300

viii. 8-12
107
xiv. 27 .
221
xxxvi. 24
301
1 Kings, xvii. 4
353
xii. 42 .
150
xix. 4 .
237
xlix. 9
. 269
2 Kings, iv. 39
202
 17
1
vi. 25 .
23
 21
. 217
vii. 25 .
. 112
Exodus,
viii. 2 .
174
viii. 15 .
193
 14
23
ix. 30
441
ix. 31 .
37
xix. 26 .
213
xv. 25
8
xx. 7
130
xix. 4 .
122
1 Chron. xxix. 2 .
317
xxii. 1
64
Job ii. 8
257
xxiii. 19
191
iv. 10, 11
269
 28 .
222
viii. 14 .
388
xxviii. 9, 10
317
xi. 12 .
27
xxix. 22
380
xiii. 28
296
xxx. 23-25
80. 312
xviii. 15 .
63
xxxii. 20
68
xix. 23, 24 .
240
xxxiii. 8
185
xvii. 18
297
Levit.
ii. 13
362
xxx. 4 .
238
xi. 20-22
275
xxxv iii. 18
97
xxxiii. 14 .
98
xxxix. 9-12
425
Numb.
v. 15 .
37
 13-18 .
321
xiii. 23
xxiv. 6 .
203258
19 °5
223
 27-30 .
122
Deut.
xxii. 6
55
xl. 16
47
 10
22
xii. 34 .
248
xxiii. 18 . ,
104
 2
357
xxvii. 1-4
263
 20 .

xxxii. 17
16
Psalm, vi. 7
297
 33
119
xxix. 9 .
218
 33, 34
205
xxxi. 9
297
xxxiii. 19
248
xxxix. 11

Judges,
xv. 4, 5 .
163
Ivii. 8
384
1 Sam.
xvi. 20
23
lviii. 5 . i
' and 4
xix. 13
193
lix. 6. 14, 15
103
xxvi. 20
339
lxiii. 10
171
INDEX.

476

Psaln

£ccles.

Cantic

Isaiah,

xxxviii. 14
 21

PAGE Kid
386291 333394 20
239 354 195 12
217 62 19
221 387 31
212229355 12
38<? 150
161 3
7. 208 111
134
360
261 171 111
221 111
263333310
39. 295 186
205 44
158
213 66
37. 137
330
273 63
355 112
130
206208 145 77

Isaiah,

Jerem.

Ezek.

Hosea,
Joel,Amos,
Jonah, Nahum,

Zeph.
Zach. Matth.

1.9
li. 6
— 8
— 20
liv. 11
lix. 5
— 11 .
i. II
ii. 24 .
iv. 30
vi. 20 .
— 29
viii. 7 .
 17
xvii. 11
xxxi. 29
xxxiv. 18
i. 4. 27
ii. 6
iii. 9
viii. 2 .
xxiii. 14
xxvii. 6
xxix. 4
xxxii. 17 — 22
ix. 10
xiv. 2 .
i. 2-7
ii. 2-10 .
iii. 12
vi. 6
iv. 6-10
ii. 7
— 11, 12
iii. 12 .
— 16,17
ii. 14 .
vii. 12
v. 13 .
vi. 19, 20
— 28-30
vii. 6
viii. 32 .
ix. 17
xii. 20 .
xiii. 31, 32
xix. 24 .
xxi. 19
xxiii. 23
 24
 37
xxvi. 6, 7
 37
xxvii. 29
 34

135.

PASI 297 296297331366
127. 388 112 7
28
442 78
243 396 3
339
204 67 10
62 1
10
415 59
453
242 130 67
277
277 194
189
201 112
269 130
273 57 1
365298
261
105. 402401 194 145
302 72
130 11
74. 188
21$ 6
87
411 177

476

INDEX.

PAGE

PAGE
Matth.
xxvii. 47
.
304
John-,
xix. 29
. 231
Mark,
xi. 13 .
.
130
— 39 . '
8. 387
xiv. 3
,
391
Acts,
xvi. 16
. 21
xv. 23 .
, 177
303
1 Cor.
xiii. 12 .
187
Luke,
ix. 58
.
172
2 Cor.
iii 18
. 187
x. 19 .
374
1 Pet.
i. 3, 4 .
440
xi. 12
.
126
Rev.
ix. 8
79
xiii. 34 .
.
215
THE END.
5367