Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

arms of a man, and that the figure terminated in a Fish's tail. In fact, there is little doubt that to the various figures of this deity is owing the wide-spread belief in mermen. We find the same image among the Assyrians, who not only represented the god as half man and half fish, but who dressed his priest in a garment representing the skin of a Fish, with the head worn as a helmet, and the rest of the skin flowing down the back.

We find precisely the same worship at the present day in Siam, where Dagon has exactly the same form as among the Philistines of old. There is now before me a photograph of a great temple at Ayutia, the entrance to which is guarded by two huge images of the Fish-god. They are about sixty feet in height, and have both legs and feet like man, but in addition the lower part of the body is modified into the tail of a Fish, which, in common with the whole of the body, is covered with gilded scales.

It is conjectured that the Fish was chosen as an emblem of fecundity, on account of the wonderful fertility of the Fish tribes. That the Israelites were familiarly acquainted with this fact is shown by a passage in the benediction of Jacob. In speaking of Joseph, he uses these words: "The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude" ("as fishes do increase," marg. trans.) "in the midst of the earth" (Gen. xlviii. 16).

In order that the reader may see examples of the typical Fish which are to be found in Egypt and Palestine, I have added three more species, which are represented in the following illustration.

The uppermost figure represents the NILE PERCH (Lates Niloticus). This Fish is plentiful in the Nile, and in the mouths of many Asiatic rivers. It is brown above, silvery white below, and may be distinguished by the armed gillcovers, and the three strong spines of the anal fin. The tongue is smooth.

Immediately below the Nile Perch is the STAR-GAZER (Uranoscopus scaber).

This Fish is found in the Mediterranean, and derives its name from the singular mode in which the eyes are set in the head,

so that it looks upwards instead of sideways. It is one of the mud-lovers, a fact which accounts for the peculiar position of the eyes. It is said to feed after the fashion of the fishingfrog-i.e. by burying itself in the mud and attracting other Fishes

[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

"We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely."-NUMB. xi. 5.

by a worm-like appendage of its mouth, and pouncing on them before they are aware of their danger.

This is not a pretty Fish, and as it is very spiny, is not pleasant to the grasp, but its flesh is very good, and it is much valued by those who can obtain it.

The last Fish to be noticed is the SURMULLET (Mullus Surmuletus), a Fish that is equally remarkable for the beauty of its colours and the excellence of its flesh.

INVERTEBRATES.

MOLLUSCS.

The purple of Scripture-Various Molluscs from which it is obtained-The common Dog-Whelk of England-The sac containing the purple dye-Curious change of colour-Mode of obtaining the dye-The Tyrian purple-The king of the Ethiopians and the purple robe-The professional purple dyersVarious words expressive of different shades of purple-Care taken to keep the preparation of the dye secret.

LEAVING the higher forms of animal life, we now pass to the Invertebrated Animals which are mentioned in Scripture.

As may be inferred from the extreme looseness of nomenclature which prevails among the higher animals, the species which can be identified are comparatively few, and of them but a very few details are given in the Scriptures.

Taking them in their zoological order, we will begin with the MOLLUSCS.

WE are all familiar with the value which was set by the ancients upon the peculiar dye which may be called by the name of Imperial Purple. In the first place, it was exceedingly costly, not only for its richness of hue, but from the great difficulty with which a sufficient quantity could be procured for staining a dress. Purple was exclusively a royal colour, which might not be worn by a subject. Among the ancient Romans, during the times of the Cæsars, any one who ventured to appear in a dress of purple would do so at the peril of his life. In the consular days of Rome, the dress of the consuls was white, striped with purple; but the Cæsars advanced another step in luxury, and dyed the whole toga of this costly hue.

The colour of the dye is scarcely what we understand by the term "purple," i.e. a mixture of blue and red. It has but very little blue in it, and has been compared by the ancients to the colour of newly-clotted blood. It is obtained from several

« ForrigeFortsett »