to be out of the reach of a large company of Fleas that were hopping about on the floor!

Mr. Urquhart, experienced Orientalist as he was, found on one occasion that the Fleas were too strong for him. He had forgotten his curtain, and was invaded by armies of Fleas, that marched steadily up the bed and took possession of their prey. The people were quite amused at his complaints, and said that their Bey could not sleep without a couple of hundred of them in his bosom. Mr. Urquhart suggests that these little creatures act as a wholesome irritant to the skin, and says that the last two mouthfuls of every meal are for the benefit of the Fleas.

In order to show the perfect indifference with which the presence of these little pests is regarded, I quote a passage from Mr. Farley's "Druses of the Lebanon." He was in a Turkish bath, and was much amused at a scene which presented itself.

"A man, whose skin resembled old discoloured vellum, was occupying himself with the somewhat undignified pursuit of pursuing with great eagerness something that, from the movement of his hands, seemed continually to elude him, jumping about and taking refuge in the creases and folds of his shirt, that was spread out over his lap as he sat cross-legged on his bedstead like a tailor on his board. This oddity was no less a dignitary than a Pasha.”

This extract also serves to illustrate the two passages in Scripture wherein the word "flea" is mentioned, and in both of which it is used as a metaphor to express weakness on the one side and power on the other.

The first occurs in 1 Sam. xxiv. 14:- "After whom is the king of Israel come out? After whom dost thou pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea?" The second is in chap. xxvi. of the same book, ver. 20: "Now therefore . the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains." The reader will see how completely the anecdote of the Pasha in the bath illustrates this passage.

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ARACHNIDA.

THE SCORPION.

The Scorpions of Palestine-Signification of the word Akrabbim-Habits of the Scorpion-Dangers of mud walls-Venom of the Scorpion-Scorpions at seaThe Scorpion whip, and its use-The Scorpion Pass.

THE Arachnida are represented in Scripture by the Scorpion and Spider.

Scorpions are exceedingly common in Palestine, and to a novice are a constant source of terror until he learns to be accustomed to them. The appearance of the Scorpion is too well known to need description, every one being aware that it is in reality a kind of spider that has the venom claw at the end of its body, and not in its jaw. As to the rendering of the word akrabbim as "Scorpions," there has never been any doubt.

These unpleasant creatures always inanage to insinuate themselves in some crevice, and an experienced traveller is cautious where the Scorpions are plentiful, and will never seat himself in the country until he has ascertained that no Scorpions are beneath the stones on or near which he is sitting. Holes in walls are favourite places of refuge for the Scorpion, and are very plentiful, the mud walls always tumbling down in parts, and affording homes for Scorpions, spiders, snakes, and other visitors.

The venom of the Scorpion varies much in potency according to the species and size of the creature, some of the larger Scorpions being able to render a man ill for a considerable time, and even to kill him if he should be a sensitive subject. So much feared were the Scorpions that one of the chief privileges of the Apostles and their immediate followers was their immunity from the stings of Scorpions and the bite of venomous serpents.

It is said, however, that after a person has been stung once by a Scorpion, he suffers comparatively little the second time, and that if he be stung three or four times, the only pain that he

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THE SCORPION.

"And they had tails like unto scorpions: and there were stings in their tails."-REV. ix. 19.

We will now take a few of the Scriptural passages which allude to the Scorpion. As may be expected, most of them refer to the poisonous quality of its sting, though one or two allude to its habit of dwelling in desert places. See, for example, Deut. viii. 15, which forms part of the address that Moses delivered to the Israelites : Lest. thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

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"Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water."

A similar image of desolation is found in Ezek. ii. 6: “And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briars and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions."

Those passages which mention the venom of the Scorpion are numerous, though most, if not all, of them occur in the New Testament. See Rev. ix. 5: "And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months, and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man." Also ver. 10 of the same chapter: "And they had tails like unto scorpions: and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months."

The venom of the Scorpion is indirectly mentioned in other passages. There is, for example, the well-known saying of our Lord, "If a son shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?" (Luke xi. 12.) And in the preceding chapter of the same Evangelist Scorpions are classed with serpents in their power of injury: “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy;. and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

THERE is another reference to the Scorpion in the Old Testament, which requires an explanation. It forms part of the rash counsel given to Rehoboam by his friends: "My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke; my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions." The general tenure of this passage is evident enough, namely, that he intended to be far more severe than his father had been. But his words assume a new force when we remember that there was a kind of whip called a Scorpion. This terrible instrument was made for the express purpose of punishing slaves, so that the mere mention of it was an insult. It consisted of several thongs, each of which was loaded with knobs of metal, and tipped with a metal hook, so that it resembled the jointed and hooked tail of the Scorpion. This dreadful instrument of torture could kill a man by a few blows, and it was even used

in combats in the amphitheatre, a gladiator armed with a Scorpion being matched against one armed with a spear.

The prevalence of the Scorpion in Palestine and its neighbourhood may be inferred from the fact that a wady or pass between the south end of the Dead Sea and Zion was named after it. The southern boundary of Judah is said to be at Maaleh Akrabbim (Josh. xv. 3). Now the literal translation of these words is "The Ascent of Scorpions," or The Scorpion Pass.

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THE SPIDER.

Signification of the word Semamith--Various interpretations of a Scriptural passage-Talmudical opinions respecting the creature-The 'Akkabish and its web-Spiders of Palestine.

ALTHOUGH the word "spider" is mentioned three times in the Authorized Version of the Bible, one of them must be excluded, namely Prov. xxx. 28: "The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces." There is much doubt whether the word semamith, which is here translated a "spider," does not rather allude to the Gecko, a lizard which has already been described. Moreover, the passage is rendered very differently in the Jewish Bible: "A spider thou mayest catch with the hands, and is in kings' palaces."

Buxtorf mentions some curious Talmudical opinions regarding the Semam. For example, there is a kind of proverb"Dreaded as a Semam by a scorpion," founded on the belief that the Semam, whatever it might be, crept into the ears of the scorpion. Another proverb is, "A Semam against a scorpion," the idea being that if a Semam was crushed on the wound made by a scorpion, it would destroy the effect of the poison.

He further mentions that the word has been translated as araneus or aranea, i.e. Spider, as simia, i.e. an ape, as calamotes, which signifies a kind of fish, or as kalabotes and askalabotes, which is a kind of lizard. The Septuagint employs this rendering, to which Buxtorf himself leans.