Bible animals — Edition Insights

two species of Camel, and the mode of distinguishing them--Value of the Camel in the East--Camels mentioned as elements of wealth--Uses of the Camel--The Jews forbidden to eat its flesh--The milk of the Camel--Thirst-enduring capability--The internal reservoir--The hump, and its uses to the animal--The Camel as a beast of draught and burden--How the Camel is laden--Knowledge of its own powers--Camels for riding--Difficulty of sitting a Camel--A rough-paced steed--Method of guiding the Camel--The mesh'ab, or Camel-stick of office--The women's saddle--Rachel's stratagem--Ornaments of the Camel--The swift dromedary, Heirie, or Deloul--Its ungainly aspect--Speed and endurance of the Deloul--The Camel-posts of Bornu--Camel-drivers and their conduct--The driver's song--Young Camels and their appearance--The deserted Camel 216

The Camel and its master--Occasional fury of the animal--A boy killed by a Camel--Another instance of an infuriated Camel--Theory respecting the Arab and his Camel--Apparent stupidity of the Camel--Its hatred of a load, and mode of expressing its disapprobation--Riding a Camel through the streets--A narrow escape--Ceremony of weaning a young Camel--The Camel's favourite food--Structure of the foot and adaptation to locality--Difficulty in provisioning--Camel's hair and skin--Sal-ammoniac and desert fuel--The Camel and the needle's eye--Straining at a gnat and swallowing a Camel 233

General description of the animal--Its use in mountain roads--Peculiar formation of the foot--Uses of a mixed breed--Its power of enduring cold--Used chiefly as a beast of draught--Unfitness for the plough--The cart and mode of harnessing--The load which it can draw--Camel-skin ropes--A Rabbinical legend 244

The Hebrew words which signify the Horse--The Horse introduced into Palestine from Egypt--Similarity of the war-horse of Scripture and the Arab horse of the present day--Characteristics of the Horse--Courage and endurance of the Horse--Hardness of its unshod hoofs--Love of the Arab for his Horse--Difficulty of purchasing the animal--The Horse prohibited to the Israelites--Solomon's disregard of the edict--The war-chariot, its form and use--Probable construction of the iron chariot--The cavalry Horse--Lack of personal interest in the animal 248

Importance of the Ass in the East--Its general use for the saddle--Riding the Ass not a mark of humility--The triumphal entry--White Asses--Character of the Scriptural Ass--Saddling the Ass--The Ass used in agriculture--The Ass's millstone--The water-wheel and the plough--Reminiscences of the Ass in the Scriptural narrative--Its value as property--The flesh of the Ass--The siege of Samaria and its horrors--Various legends respecting the Ass--The impostor and his fate--Samson and Balaam 264

The Arod and Pere of Scripture--Various allusions to the Wild Ass--Its swiftness and wildness--The Wild Ass of Asia and Africa--Knowledge of the animal displayed by the sacred writers--How the Wild Ass is hunted--Excellence of its flesh--Sir R. K. Porter's meeting with a Wild Ass--Origin of the domestic Ass--The Wild Asses of Quito 279

Ancient use of the Mule--Various breeds of Mule--Supposed date of its introduction into Palestine--Mule-breeding forbidden to the Jews--The Mule as a saddle-animal--Its use on occasions of state--The king's Mule--Mules brought from Babylon after the captivity--Obstinacy of the Mule--The Mule as a beast of burden--The "Mule's burden" of earth--Mules imported by the Phoenicians--Legends respecting the Mule 285

The Mosaic prohibition of the pig--Hatred of Swine by Jews and Mahometans--A strange use of bacon--The prodigal son--Resistance to the prosecution of Antiochus--Swine hated by the early Egyptians--Supposed connexion between Swine and diseases of the skin--Destruction of the herd of Swine--The locality of the event discovered--Pigs bred for the monasteries--The jewel of gold in a Swine's snout--The wild boar of the woods, and the beast of the reeds--The damage which it does to the vines--General account of the wild boar of Palestine--Excellence of its flesh 292

The Elephant indirectly mentioned in the Authorized Version--Solomon's ivory throne--Ivory used in Egypt--Horns of ivory--The ivory palaces--Beds of ivory--The Tyrian ships--Ivory mentioned by Homer--Vessels of ivory--The Elephant as an engine of war--Antiochus and his Elephants--Oriental exaggeration--Self-devotion of Eleazar--Attacking the Elephants, and their gradual abandonment in war--The Talmudical writers on the Elephant--A funeral and an omen 302

The Shaphan of Scripture, and the correct meaning of the word--Identification of the Shaphan with the Syrian Hyrax--Description of the animal--Its feet, teeth, and apparent rumination--Passages in which the Coney is mentioned--Habits of the animal--Its activity and wariness--The South African Hyrax, and its mode of life--Difficulty of procuring it--Similarity in appearance and habits of the Syrian species--Three species of Hyrax known to naturalists--The Talmudical writers on the Shaphan--The jerboa and the rabbit--A curious speculation and a judicious compromise 312

Literal translation of the word _Behemoth_--Various theories respecting the identity of the animal--The Hippopotamus known to the ancient Hebrews--Geographical range of the animal--"He eateth grass like the ox"--Ravages of the Hippopotamus among the crops--Structure of the mouth and teeth--The "sword or scythe" of the Hippopotamus--Some strange theories--Haunts of the Hippopotamus--The Egyptian hunter--A valuable painting--Strength of the Hippopotamus--Rising of the Nile--Modern hunters--Wariness of the Hippopotamus--The pitfall and the drop-trap 318

THE LÄMMERGEIER, OR OSSIFRAGE OF SCRIPTURE.