we place the Geckotians, among which comes Hpi N, ana- kah, in our versions denominated/e?7-e^, but which is with more propriety transferred to the noisy and venomous abu-hurs of the Arabs. There is no reason for admitting the verb p3X, anak, to groan, to cry out, as radical for the name of the ferret, an animal totally unconnected with the preceding and succeeding species in Lev. xi, 29, 30, and originally found, so far as Ave know, only in West- ern Africa, and thence conveyed to Spain, prowling noiselessly, and beaten to death without a groan, though capable of a feeble, short scream when at play, or when suddenly wounded. Taking the interpretation •' to cry out," so little applicable to ferrets, in conjunction with the whole verse, Ave find the gecko, like all the species of this group of lizards, remarkable for the loud i: rating noise Avhicli it is apt to i\tter in the roofs and walls of houses all the night through ; one, indeed, is sufficient to dispel the sleep of a Avhole family. The particidar species most probably meant is the Lacerta gecko of Hasselquist, the Gecko lobatus of GeoffroA', distingidshed by having the soles of the feet dilated and striated like open fans, from Avhich a poisonous ichor is said to ex- ude, inflaming the human skin, and infecting food that may have been trod upon by the animal. See Fkreet. Hence the Arabic name of abn-burs, or '• father of lepro- sy," at Cairo. The species extends northAvards in Syria, but it may be doubted AAhether the Gecko Jascicularis, or tarentola of South-eastern Europe, be not also an inhabi- tant of Palestine; and in that case the ri^TZ^p, sema- mith of Bochart, Avould find an appropriate location. To these AA'e add the Chameleons proper; and then folloAvs the Scincus (in antiquity the name of Varanus arena- rius), among Avhicli Lacerta scincus, Linn., or Scincus officinedis, is the El-adda of the Arabs, figured by Bruce, and Avell knoAA-n in the old pharmacy of Europe. S. Cyprius, or Lacerta Cypritis scincoides, a large greenish species, marked Avith a pale line on each tlank, occurs also; and a third, <SV/«rKs variegafus or ocillatus, often noticed on account of its round black spots, each marked Avitli a pale streak, and commonly haA-ing likewise a stripe on each flank, of a pale color. Of the species of Seps, that is, viviparous serpent-lizards, having the body of snakes, AA-ith four Aveak limbs, a species Avith only three toes on each foot, the Lacerta chaleides of Linn., appears to extend to Syria.— Kitto. See further details in the Penny CyclopcBclia, s. y. Yaranida; ; Wood, £ible A nimals, p. 534 sq.
From this examination, it appears probable that the generic name for the lizard among the HebreAvs (being the only one thus rendered in the Auth. Version) is the nx::?, letaah, Avliich, although an unclean animal, does not usually designate a poisonous species. Among the
LIZEL
470
LLORENTE
various kinds with which the East abounds, the Lacerta stellio, or starry Hzard, may be selected as probably af- fordinjij the best type of the scriptural terms, or at least oi letaiih in general, as it is the most common in Egypt and Palestine. It is covered with tubercles, and is of a gray color. It lives in the holes of walls, and under stones, and covers itself with dirt. Belon states that it
Lcutita 'iUllio
sometimes attains the size of a weasel. This is said to be the lizard which infests the Pyramids, and in other countries where it is found, harbors in the crevices and between the stones of old walls, feeding on flies and oth- er winged insects. This may be the species intended by Bruce when he says, '' The number I saw one day, in the great court of the Temple of the Sun at Baalbek, amounted to many thousands; the ground, the walls, the stones of the ruined buildings, were covered with them ; and the various colors of which they consisted made a verj^ extraordinary appearance, glittering under the' sun, in which they lay sleeping and basking." Lord Lindsay also describes the ruins at Jerash (the ancient Gerasa) as "absolutely alive with lizards." Near Suez, he speaks of " a species of gray lizard ;" and on the as- cent towards Mount Sinai, " hundreds of little lizards of the color of the sand, and called by the natives scn-a- bandi, were darting about." In the Syrian desert. Ma- jor Skinner says, " The ground is teeming with lizards ; the sun seems to draw them from the earth, for some- times, when I have fixed my eye upon one spot, I have fancied that the sands were getting into life, so many of these creatures at once crept from their holes." Wil- kinson says, '• In Egypt, of the lizard tribe, none but the crocodile seems to have been sacred. Those which oc- cur in the hieroglyphics are not emblematical of the gods, nor connected with religion." See Snail.
Lizel, Geoiig, a German theologian, was born at Ulm, in Wurtemberg, Nov. 23, 1G94; attended succes- sively the universities of Strasburg, Leipsic, Jena, Halle, Wittenberg, Altdorf, and Tubingen, and in 1735 became vicar at Weidenstettcn, and soon after pastor at Steinen Kirch; but in 173G, ou account of false charges against his character, he lost his situation. In 1737 he was ap- pointed subrector at the Gymnasium of Ulm, afterwards inspector of the alumni and imperial poet laureate. The Prussian Koyal Society of Duisburg, and the German Society of Jena, elected him a member of their respect- ive bodies. He died jMar. 22, 17GI. His life was spent ill the investigation of science, and in the cause of re- ligion and education. While at the universities he ex- plored numerous antique libraries, and the results he gave to the jniblic in more than twenty volumes. As a theologian Lizel was faithful to his Church, and con- fronted and challenged Romanism. For a list of his works, see Diiring, Gelehrte T/ieol, Deufsc/iL vol, ii, s. v.