Section Iii.--Zoology.

In this article we shall confine our attention to such animals as are mentioned in Holy Scripture; our object being restricted to an elucidation of the natural history of Palestine as it presents itself to the common reader, and not according to the arrangement which might be required by the rules of science.

In the fourteenth chapter of Deuteronomy, where a distinction is made between the clean and the unclean, or those which might be eaten and those which were prohibited, we find in the former class the ox, the sheep, the goat, the hart, the roebuck, the fallow-deer, the wild goat, the pygarg, the wild ox, and the chamois. As to the domesticated animals, which are common in all countries, we shall not waste time by exhibiting any description. The next in order, or "hart," is also quite familiar; but every scholar knows that the Hebrew term aïl is so vague in its import, that it has been understood to signify a tree as well as a quadruped. Thus the fine expression in the forty-ninth chapter of Genesis, uttered by Jacob in reference to one of his children, "Naphtali is a hind let loose; he giveth goodly words," has been translated by Bochart, Houbigant, and others, in these terms:--"Naphtali is a spreading tree, giving out beautiful branches." The meaning of the patriarch unquestionably was, that the tribe about to descend from his son would be active and powerful, enjoying at once unrestrained freedom and abundance of food. It might be expressed thus:--Naphtali is a deer roaming at liberty; he shooteth forth noble branches, or majestic antlers; his residence shall be in a beautiful woodland country; and, as Moses also predicted, "he shall be filled with the blessings of the Lord."

The roebuck, or tzebi of the Hebrews, is regarded by Dr. Shaw as the gazelle, or antelope,--a beautiful creature, which is very common all over Greece, Syria, the Holy Land, Egypt, and Barbary. It is known among Greek naturalists by the name of dorcas, from an allusion to its fine eyes, the brilliancy and liveliness of which have passed into a proverb in all eastern countries. The damsel whose name was Tabitha, which is by interpretation Dorcas, might be so called from this particular feature. The antelope likewise is in great esteem among the orientals for food, having a very sweet musky taste, which is highly agreeable to their palates; and, therefore, the tzebi might well be received as one of the dainties at Solomon's table. If, then, says the author just quoted, we lay all these circumstances together, they will appear to be much more applicable to the gazelle, or antelope, which is a quadruped well known and gregarious, than to the roe, which was either not known at all, or at least was very rare in those countries.

The fallow-deer, or yachmur of the Bible, is received among commentators as the wild beeve,--an animal equal in size to the stag, or red deer, to which it bears some resemblance. It frequents the solitary parts of Judea and the surrounding countries, and, like the antelope, is everywhere gregarious. Its flesh is also very sweet and nourishing, and was frequently seen at the tables of kings.

The wild goat, or akko, mentioned in Deuteronomy, is not held sufficiently specific by naturalists, who imagine that it must be identified with another animal called by the Seventy tragelaphus, literally the goat-deer. The horns of this species, which are furrowed and wrinkled as in the goat kind, are a foot or fifteen inches long, and bend over the back; though they are shorter and more crooked than those of the ibex or steinbuck. It is not unfrequently known by the more familiar name of lerwee.

Considerable obscurity hangs over the natural history of the pygarg, the characteristics of which have not hitherto been well determined. The word itself, it has been remarked, seems to denote a creature whose hinder parts are of a white colour. Such, says Dr. Shaw, is the lidmee which is shaped exactly like the common antelope, with which it agrees in colour and in the shape of its horns, only that in the lidmee they are of twice the length, as the animal itself is of twice the size.

The sixth species is the wild ox, or thau of the Mosaical catalogue, which has generally been rendered the oryx. Now this animal is described to be of the goat-kind, with the hair growing forward, or towards the head. It is further described to be of the size of a beeve, and to be likewise a fierce creature, contrary to what is observed of the goat or deer kind, which, unless they are irritated and highly provoked, are all of them of a shy and timorous nature. The only quadruped that we are acquainted with to which these marks will apply is the buffalo, well known in Egypt and in various parts of Western Asia. It may be so far reckoned of the goat kind, as the horns are not smooth and even as in the beeve, but rough and wrinkled as in the goat. It is, besides, nearly the same as the common beeve, and therefore agrees so far with the description of Herodotus. It is also a sullen, spiteful animal, being often know to pursue the unwary, especially if clad in scarlet. For these reasons, the buffalo may not improperly be taken for the thau or oryx, whereof we have had hitherto little account.

The chamois, or zomer of the ancient Jews, has by different authors been described as the camelopard or giraffe. The Syriac version renders the original term into one which signifies the mountain-goat, and so far coincides with our common translation of the Scriptures, though it is extremely doubtful whether the chamois or the ibex was to be found in any district of Palestine. Dr. Shaw holds the opinion that the zomer must have been the giraffe; for though it was a rare animal, and not known in Europe before the dictatorship of Julius Caesar, it might, he thinks, have been common enough in Egypt, as it was a native of Ethiopia, the adjoining country. It may therefore be presumed, says he, that the Israelites, during their long residence in the land of the Pharaohs, were not only well acquainted with it, but might at different times have tasted its flesh.

This inference is rejected with some show of reason by the editor of Calmet's Dictionary, who remarks, it is very unlikely that the giraffe, being a native of the torrid zone and attached to hot countries, should be so abundant in Judea as to be made an article of food. The same argument applies to the chamois, which, as it inhabits the highest mountains, and seeks the most elevated spots, where snow and ice prevail, to shelter it from the heat of summer, was probably unknown to the people of Israel. Hence, it still remains doubtful to what class of animals the zomer of Moses should be attached, though, in our opinion, the balance of authorities seem to incline in favour of a small species of goat which browsed in the hill-country of Syria.

The unicorn, or réem, mentioned in the book of Job, has given similar occasion to a variety of opinion. Parkhurst imagines that by this term is meant the wild bull, for it is evidently an animal of great strength and possessed of horns. Mr. Scott, in his Commentary on the Bible, adopts the same view, and reminds his reader, that the bulls of Bashan described by the Psalmist are by the same inspired writer denominated reems. Other expounders of Sacred Writ maintain that the creature alluded to by the patriarch of Uz can have been no other than the double-horned rhinoceros.

The wild ass, or para, celebrated by the same ancient author, is generally understood to be the onager, an animal, which is to this day highly prized in Persia and the deserts of Tartary, as being fitter for the saddle than the finest breed of horses. It has nothing of the dulness or stupidity of the common ass; is extremely beautiful; and, when properly trained, is docile and tractable in no common degree. It was this more valuable kind of ass that Saul was in search of when he was chosen by the prophet to discharge the duties of royalty. "Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings. He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing."

The "wild goats of the rock," described in the chapter just quoted, are supposed to be the same as the ibex or bouquetin. This animal is larger than the tame goat, but resembles it much in form. The head is small is proportion to the body, with the muzzle thick and compressed, and a little arced. The eyes are large and round, and have much fire and brilliancy. The horns are so majestic, that when fully grown they occasionally weigh sixteen or eighteen pounds. He feeds during the night in the highest woods; but the sun no sooner begins to gild the summits, than he quits the woody region, and mounts, feeding in his progress, till he has reached the most considerable heights. The female shows much attachment to her young, and even defends it against eagles, wolves, and other enemies. She takes refuge in some cavern, and, presenting her head at the entrance of the hole, resolutely opposes the assailants. Hence the allusion to this affectionate creature in the book of Proverbs, "Let thy wife be as the loving hind and the peasant roe."

The saphan of the Bible is usually translated cony. "The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for the conies." But it is now believed that the ashkoko, an animal mentioned by Bruce, presents properties which accord much better with the description of the saphan given in different parts of the Old Testament, than the cony, hare, or rabbit. This curious creature, we are told by that traveller, is found in Ethiopia, in the caverns of the rocks, or under great stones. It does not burrow or make holes like the rat or rabbit, nature having interdicted this practice by furnishing it with feet, the toes of which are perfectly round, and of a soft, pulpy, tender substance: the fleshy part of them projects beyond the nails, which are rather sharp, very similar to a man's nails ill-grown, and appear given to it rather for the defence of its soft toes, than for any active use in digging, to which they are by no means adapted.

A living writer, who has considered this subject with great attention, gives as the result of his inquiry, that the saphan of the ancient Hebrews, rendered "cony" in the English Bible, is a very different animal; that it has a nearer resemblance to the hedgehog, the bear, the mouse, the jerboa, or the marmot, though it is not any of these. It is the webro of the Arabians, the daman-Israel of Shaw, the ashkoko of Bruce, and clipdass of the Dutch.

The prophet Isaiah, in recording the idolatrous and profane habits of his countrymen, mentions the "eating of swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse." This is supposed to be the jerboa, an animal common in the East, about the size of a rat, and which only uses its hindlegs. There can be little doubt that this is the creature alluded to by the Hebrew legislator when he said, "Whatsoever goeth upon its paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you." Hasselquist tells us that the jerboa, or leaping-rat, as he calls it, moves only by leaps and jumps. When he stops he brings his feet close under his belly, and rests on the juncture of his leg. He uses, when eating, his fore-paws, like other animals of his kind. He sleeps by day, and is in motion during the night. He eats corn, and grains of sesamum. Though he does not fear man, he is not easily tamed; for which reason he must be kept in a cage.

The porcupine, or kephad, is spoken of in the writings of Isaiah under the denomination of the bittern. "I will make Babylon a possession for the bittern and pools of water." In another chapter, the inspired author associates the kephad with the pelican, with the yanshaph or ardea ibis, and with oreb, or the raven kind; and hence a considerable difficulty has arisen in regard to the class of animals in which it ought to be ranked. Bochart had no doubt that the porcupine was in the mind of the prophet when he wrote the description of the Assyrian capital wasted and abandoned. This creature is a native of the hottest climates of Africa and India, and yet can live and multiply in milder latitudes. It is now found in Spain, and in the Apennines near Rome. Pliny asserts that the porcupine, like the bear, hides itself in winter. In a Memoir on Babylon, by the late Mr. Rich, it is stated that great quantities of porcupine-quills were found on the spot; and that in most of the cavities are numbers of bats and owls.

The mole and the bat are reckoned among the unclean animals forbidden to the Jews by their Divine lawgiver. The latter is distinctly included under the following description: "Every creeping thing that flieth shall be unclean to you; they shall not be eaten." The legs of the bat appear to be absolutely different from those of all other animals, and indeed they are directed, and even formed in a very particular manner. In order to advance, he raises both his front-legs at once, and places them at a small distance forward; at the same time the thumb of each foot points outward, and the creature catches with the claw at any thing which it can lay hold of; then he stretches behind him his two hind-legs, so that the five toes of each foot are also directed backward; he supports himself on the sole of this foot, and secures himself by means of the claws on his toes; then he raises his body on the front-legs, and throws himself forward by folding the upper arm on the fore-arm, which motion is assisted by the extension of the hind-legs, which also push the body forward This gait, though heavy, because the body falls to the ground at every step, is yet sometimes pretty quick, when the feet can readily meet with good holding-places; but when the claw of the front foot meets with any thing loose, the exertion is inefficient.