CHAPTER IX.. _the Natural History of Palestine_.

The Natural History of Palestine.

Travellers too much neglect Natural History; Maundrell, Hasselquist, Clarke. GEOLOGY--Syrian Chain; Libanus; Calcareous Rocks; Granite; Trap; Volcanic Remains; Chalk; Marine Exuviae; Precious Stones. METEOROLOGY--Climate of Palestine; Winds; Thunder; Clouds; Waterspouts; Ignis Fatuus. ZOOLOGY--Scripture Animals; The Hart; The Roebuck; Fallow-Deer; Wild Goat; Pygarg; Wild Ox; Chamois; Unicorn; Wild Ass; Wild Goats of the Rock; Saphan, or Coney; Mouse; Porcupine; Jerboa; Mole; Bat. BIRDS--Eagle; Ossifrage; Ospray; Vulture; Kite; Raven; Owl; Nighthawk; Cuckoo; Hawk; Little Owl; Cormorant; Great Owl; Swan; Pelican; Gier Eagle; Stork; Heron; Lapwing; Hoopoe. AMPHIBIA AND REPTILES--Serpents known to the Hebrews; Ephe; Chephir; Acshub; Pethen; Tzeboa; Tzimmaon; Tzepho; Kippos; Shephiphon; Shachal; Saraph, the Flying Serpent; Cockatrice Eggs; The Scorpion; Sea-monsters, or Seals. FRUITS AND PLANTS--Vegetable Productions of Palestine; The Fig-tree; Palm; Olive; Cedars of Libanus; Wild Grapes; Balsam of Aaron; Thorn of Christ.

Every one who writes on the Holy Land has occasion to regret that travellers in general have paid so little attention to its geological structure and natural productions. Maundrell, it is true, was not entirely destitute of physical science; but the few remarks which he makes are extremely vague and unconnected, and, not being expressed in the language of system, throw very little light on the researches of the natural philosopher or the geologist. Hasselquist had more professional learning, and has accordingly contributed more than any of his predecessors to our acquaintance with Palestine, viewed in its relations to the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral kingdoms. Still the reader of his Voyages and Travels in the Levant cannot fail to perceive, that some of the branches of natural knowledge, which are now cultivated with the greatest care, were in his day very little improved; and more especially, that they were deficient in accuracy of description and distinctness of arrangement. Dr. Clarke's observations are perhaps more scientific than those of the Swedish naturalist just named, and particularly in the departments of mineralogy and geology to which he had devoted a large share of his attention. But even in his works we look in vain for a satisfactory treatise on the mountain-rocks of Palestine, on the geognostic formation of that interesting part of Western Asia, or on the fossil treasures which its strata are understood to envelop. We are therefore reduced to the necessity of collecting from various authors, belonging to different countries and successive ages, the scattered notices which appear in their works, and of arranging them according to a plan most likely to suit the comprehension of the common reader.