5. It is certain that the writers of the Bible were not more precise in their designation of objects of natural history than writers in general literature to-day. When speaking of grass, lilies, mustard, thorns, thistles, owls, bats and other sorts of natural objects, of which there are numerous species, belonging perhaps to several genera, writers of the Bible must not be understood as having in mind a particular species. An attempt to find for every allusion to natural objects a particular species, results in confusion of thought, and endless and insoluble controversy. In many eases where individual species are intended, de- cisive evidence is not to be found as to what the species is. In such cases we have adopted the
an of presenting the evidence for one or more interpretations, and making no attempt at a decision. Fortunately, these are usually the less important animals and plants.
6. In some cases popular errors as to species appear in the EV. Such is the application of
NATURAL HISTORY
NATURAL HISTORY
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the term ‘mole’ (Ly 1132) to the mole rat, Spalax typhlus, The.e are no true moles in Pal, and Syria. But the spalaz has the aspect and habits of a mole. Some imaginary animals, as the satyr, are spoken of in the Bible. It is as idle to look for their equivalents in nature as it would be when men- tioned in profane literature. But some such monster is a conception well-nign universal among mankind. In so far as possible it has been the aim of the author in these articles to give the evidences which establish or vitiate the claims of the names adopted in AV and RV, rather than the numerous and conflicting opinions of scholars. Those who may wish to enter into that phase of the question may easily find the topics in the indices of the large number of books on ancient and biblical natural history. Among the principal ancient and medieval authors who have written on these topics are Pliny, Dioscorides, Theophrastus, Galen, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Herodotus, Abu el-Fudli, Avicenna, and Ibn el-Bitaér. Their testimony, as well as that of others, has been summed up in the erudite works of Bochart (Hierozoicon), Celsius (Hierobotanicon), Rosenmiiller (Natural History of the Bible), Hiller, Royle, Ursinus (Arbor. Bibdlic.), etc. Many naturalists have written of the Fauna and Flora of Bible lands. Prominent among them are Hasselquist, Russell, Ehrenberg, Hemprich, Michaelis, Schweinfiirth, Ascherson, Hooker, Carruthers, Wood, Tristram, Houghton, and Boissier. Allusions to natural objects are frequent in all the standard works of travel, especially in Burckhardt, Robinson, Thomson, and Tristram. Pal. and Syria are at the meeting-point of three continents, Asia, Africa, and Europe. Their ani- mals and plants connect the Fauna and Flora of all. Furthermore, their surface is greatly diversi- fied. Lebanon is over 10,000 and Hermon over
9000 ft. above the sea. A number of peaks of Amanus and Akher Dagh are nearly as high, as
also the higher mountains of Sinai. The Joraan Valley is from a little below to 1294 ft. below the Mediterranean. In the 50,000 square miles be- tween Sinai on the S., Taurus on the N., the sea on the W., and the Syrian desert on the E., are maritime plains, seaward and landward mountain slopes, alpine summits, tropical valleys, the quag- mires and marsh thickets of the Hfleh, the salt lakes and marshes of Ale and Palmyra, the rolling plateaus of Moab, Gilcad, and Bashan, the ancient lake bed of Cole-Syria, and the arid Syrian desert. The natural result of these great diversities of surface and climate is a large num- ber of species and varieties in proportion to the extent of the land.
A, ANIMAL KINGDOM. —i. MAMMALS, — Tris- tram (fauna and Flora of Pal.) gives the number of mammals in the Holy Land at 113. This number, which has been considerably augmented by subsequent discoveries, is very eae in pro- portion to the size of the country. A number of those mentioned in Scripture, as the lion, the unicorn, and the wild ox, are now extinct. The larger carnivora, once so numerous, are now rare. The leopard is found only in lonely retreats, while the bear is confined to alpine Lebanon and Antilebanon. The hart is no longer found in Pal., but still exists in Armanus. The pygarg (Antilope Addax, Dt 14°) is now no longer found, or only onthe borders of the desert. Others of the Scrip- ture mammals which remain have become very scarce, as the wild goat, the coney, and the roe- buck. The last is likely soon to become extinct. The following is a complete list of the scriptural and apocryphal mammals :—Antelope (RV;= Wild Ox, AV), Ape, Ass, Wild Ass, Badger (AV;=Seal or Porpoise, RV), Bat, Bear, Balemath, Boar, Camel, Cat, Cattle, Chamois (Wild Sheep), Coney,