Chapter II (1)

Various modes of capturing Fish--The hook and line--Military use
of the hook--Putting a hook in the jaws--The fishing
spear--Different kinds of net--The casting-net--Prevalence of
this form--Technical words among fishermen--Fishing by
night--The draught of Fishes--The real force of the
miracle--Selecting the Fish--The Fish-gate and Fish-market--Fish
killed by a draught--Fishing in the Dead Sea--Dagon, the
fish-god of Philistina, Assyria, and Siam--Various Fishes of
Egypt and Palestine.

As to the various methods of capturing Fish, we will first take the simplest plan, that of the hook and line, as is mentioned in the passage quoted above from Ezekiel. Sundry other references are made to angling, both in the Old and New Testaments. See, for example, the well-known passage respecting the leviathan, in Job xli. 1, 2: "Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?

"Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn?"

It is thought that the last clause of this passage refers, not to the actual capture of the Fish, but to the mode in which they were kept in the tanks, each being secured by a ring or hook and line, so that it might be taken when wanted.

On referring to the New Testament, we find that the fisher Apostles used both the hook and the net. See Matt. xvii. 27: "Go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up." Now this passage explains one or two points.

In the first place, it is one among others which shows that, although the Apostles gave up all to follow Christ, they did not throw away their means of livelihood, as some seem to fancy, nor exist ever afterwards on the earnings of others. On the contrary, they retained their fisher equipment, whether boats, nets, or hooks; and here we find St. Peter, after the way of fishermen, carrying about with him the more portable implements of his craft.

Next, the phrase "casting" the hook into the sea is exactly expressive of the mode in which angling is conducted in the sea and large pieces of water, such as the Lake of Galilee. The fisherman does not require a rod, but takes his line, which has a weight just above the hook, coils it on his left arm in lasso fashion, baits the hook, and then, with a peculiar swing, throws it into the water as far as it will reach. The hook is allowed to sink for a short time, and is then drawn towards the shore in a series of jerks, in order to attract the Fish, so that, although the fisherman does not employ a rod, he manages his line very much as does an angler of our own day when "spinning" for pike or trout.

Sometimes the fisherman has a number of lines to manage, and in this case he acts in a slightly different manner. After throwing out the loaded hook, as above mentioned, he takes a short stick, notched at one end, and pointed at the other, thrusts the sharp end into the ground at the margin of the water, and hitches the line on the notch.

He then proceeds to do the same with all his lines in succession, and when he has flung the last hook into the water, he sits down on a heap of leaves and grass which he has gathered together, and watches the lines to see if either of them is moved in the peculiar jerking manner which is characteristic of a "bite." After a while, he hauls them in successively, removes the Fish that may have been caught, and throws the lines into the water afresh.

This mode of fishing is mentioned in Habakkuk i. 15: "They take up all of them with the angle."

There are one or two passages which seem to refer to the custom of angling, though they really bear on a different subject. One of these is to be found in Ezek. xxxviii.: "And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth and all thine army, horses and horsemen." There is another passage of a similar character in Amos iv. 2: "The Lord God hath sworn by His holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that He will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fish-hooks."

The word which is here translated as "hook" may more properly be rendered as "ring," and the prophet alludes to the cruel custom then prevalent of passing a sharpened hook through the nose or cheek of a prisoner taken in war, twisting it into a ring, tying a cord to it, and so leading him just as a bull is led by the ring in the nose.

There are several references in the Scriptures to the hook used for this cruel purpose. See 2 Kings xix. 28: "Because thy rage against Me and thy tumult is come up into Mine ears, therefore I will put My hook in thy nose, and My bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest."

The reader will perceive how much more forcible is this passage when understood rightly than when the word "hook" is taken as signifying a mere fish-hook, the sum of it being that the Assyrians should be made captives and slaves, and driven back to the country whence they came. The passage in Ezek. xxix. 4 must be taken in the same sense: "But I will put hooks in thy jaws."

That the spear was used in the old Scriptural times as it is at the present is shown from several passages of Holy Writ. See, for example, Job xli. 7: "Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish-spears? as also in the same chapter, "The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon.

"He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.

"The arrow cannot make him flee: sling-stones are turned with him into stubble.

"Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear" (ver. 26-29).

Fishing with the spear is much used in the smaller tributary streams of the Jordan, and the weapon, instead of being many-pointed and barbed in trident fashion, has but one point, and is without barbs. With these spears the people contrive to catch a considerable variety of Fish.

We now come to the practice of catching Fish by the net, a custom to which the various Scriptural writers frequently refer, sometimes in course of historical narrative, and sometimes by way of allegory or metaphor. The reader will remember that the net was also used on land for the purpose of catching wild animals, and that many of the allusions to the net which occur in the Old Testament refer to the land and not to the water.

The commonest kind of net, which was used in the olden times as it is now, was the casting-net. This kind of net is circular, and is loaded all round its edge with weights, and suspended by the middle to a cord. When the fisherman throws this net, he gathers it up in folds in his arms, and, with a peculiar swing of the arms, only to be learned by long practice, flings it so that it spreads out and falls in its circular form upon the surface of the water. It rapidly sinks to the bottom, the loaded circumference causing it to assume a cup-like form, enclosing within its meshes all the Fish that happen to be under it as it falls. When it has reached the bottom, the fisherman cautiously hauls in the rope, so that the loaded edges gradually approach each other, and by their own weight cling together and prevent the Fish from escaping as the net is slowly drawn ashore.

This kind of net is found, with certain modifications, in nearly all parts of the world. The Chinese are perhaps supreme in their management of it. They have a net of extraordinary size, and cast it by flinging it over their backs, the huge circle spreading itself out in the most perfect manner as it falls on the water.

At the present day, when the fishermen use this net they wade into the sea as far as they can, and then cast it. In consequence of this custom, the fishermen are always naked while engaged in their work, wearing nothing but a thick cap in order to save themselves from sun-stroke. It is probable that on the memorable occasion mentioned by St. John, in chap. xxi., all the fishermen were absolutely, and not relatively naked--_i.e._ that they wore no clothes at all, not even the ordinary tunic.

That a great variety of nets was used by the ancient Jews is evident from the fact that there are no less than ten words to signify different kinds of net. At the present day we have very great difficulty in deciding upon the exact interpretation of these technical terms, especially as in very few cases are we assisted either by the context or by the etymology of the words. It is the same in all trades or pursuits, and we can easily understand how our own names of drag-net, seine, trawl, and keer-drag would perplex any commentator who happened to live some two thousand years after English had ceased to be a living language.

Four or five of the Hebrew words give no clue whatever, being simply derived from a root that signifies weaving, and that therefore merely indicates the fact that the articles in question are nets. Some of them are derived from a word which signifies lying in wait, and another from a word which signifies catching or seizing.

The translators who rendered the Hebrew into the familiar form of the Septuagint either were unable to distinguish between the various Hebrew terms, or did not think that any discrimination was needed, inasmuch as they sometimes render the same Hebrew word by several Greek equivalents, and sometimes use the same Greek word to express several Hebrew terms.

When we come to the New Testament, we find a certain feeling of relief, because the three words used to signify different kinds of nets are easily understood.

There is, for example, the _amphiblêstron_ ([Greek: amphiblêstrun]), which is undoubtedly a casting net, as is signified by the etymology of the word, which is derived from two Greek words signifying to cast around. This word is used by Herodotus in a sort of parable related by Cyrus to the Ionians and Æolians, who had refused to revolt from Croesus when Cyrus asked them to do so; but, when they found he was sure to be their master, they sent an embassy to ask to be admitted among his subjects on the same terms which they had enjoyed when under the rule of Croesus.

When the embassy came before Cyrus, he only answered them with a parable: "A piper, seeing some fishes in the sea, began to pipe, expecting that they would come ashore; but, finding his hopes disappointed, he took a casting-net, and enclosed a great number of fishes, and drew them out. When he saw them leaping about, he said to the fishes, 'Cease your dancing, since when I piped you would not come out and dance.'"

The reader will doubtless have noticed the singular analogy between this parable and the saying of our Lord, "I have piped to you, and ye have not danced."

This is the net that is mentioned in Matt. iv. 18: "And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net (_amphiblêstron_) into the sea."

The second word, _diktuon_ ([Greek: dikton]), is derived from another word signifying to throw; so that if we use the expression "casting-net" for the word _amphiblêstron_, and "throwing-net" for the word _diktuon_, we shall be tolerably accurate. Practically both words are used for the same net, as we find by proceeding further with the sacred narration.

After mentioning that the future Apostles were casting a net (_amphiblêstron_), St. Matthew proceeds as follows: "And He said unto them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.

"And they straightway left their nets (_diktua_), and followed Him" (ver. 19, 20). In the following verse, where James and John are mentioned as being occupied in mending their nets after the wont of all practical fishermen, the word which is translated as "nets" is _diktua_.

If we turn to John xxi. we find the same word employed.

After the Resurrection, the fisher Apostles were pursuing their craft by night, as is still the custom, and had caught nothing--a very serious loss to them. Then at daybreak they saw their risen Lord standing on the seashore, and, as was several times the case after the Resurrection, did not recognise Him. He then told them to cast the net (_diktuon_) over the right hand of the boat, and as soon as that was done the net was filled with Fishes.

Now the knowledge of the real meaning of the word diktua gives to this passage a signification which it would not otherwise possess.

In ver. 11, St. John (who was one of the actors in the scene, and who therefore writes with the precision of an eye-witness) states that the number of large Fishes was a hundred and fifty-three, and yet the net was not broken. Knowing that the casting-net is comparatively small, we now see that a hundred and fifty-three _large_ Fishes would completely fill a net which could be cast by one man, and that the miraculous element was twofold.

Firstly, the complete filling of the net with large Fishes, whereas six or seven small Fishes are the usual complement of a casting-net; and, secondly, the fact that the net which was held merely by a single rope in the middle, and which retained its contents simply by the weight of the leads round its margin, did not give way, and allow the enclosed Fish to escape.

Indeed, the very fact that a casting-net took such a multitude of Fishes at once opened the eyes of St. John, who exclaimed to his fellow Apostles, "It is the Lord." St. Peter, with the impetuous zeal of his nature, acknowledged the truth of the exclamation, and, too impatient to wait until the boats could land, girt his fisher's tunic upon him, leaped into the sea, and swam ashore.

The third Greek word which is translated as "net" is _sagênê_ ([Greek: sagênê]), a word which still survives in our term "Seine."

The Sagene, or seine-net, was made in lengths, any number of which could be joined together, so as to enclose a large space of water. The upper edge was kept at the surface of the water by floats, and the lower edge sunk by weights.

This net was always taken to sea in vessels, and when "shot" the various lengths were joined together, and the net extended in a line, with a boat at each end. The boats then gradually approached each other, so as to bring the net into a semicircle, and finally met, enclosing thereby a vast number of Fishes in their meshen walls. The water was then beaten, so as to frighten the Fishes and drive them into the meshes, and the net was then either taken ashore, or lifted by degrees on board the boats, and the Fish removed from it.

As in a net of this kind Fishes of all sorts are enclosed, the contents are carefully examined, and those which are unfit for eating are thrown away. Even at the present day much care is taken in the selection, but in the ancient times the fishermen were still more cautious, every Fish having to be separately examined in order that the presence both of fins and scales might be assured before the captors could send it to the market.

It is to this custom that Christ alludes in the well-known parable of the net: "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind;

"Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away." Compare also Habakkuk i. 14-17.

The important part taken by Fish in the earlier scriptural days is shown by the fact that in Jerusalem there was not only a fish-market, but that the gate which opened upon that market was called the Fish-gate. See 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14: "Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish-gate."

Afterwards, when Nehemiah obtained permission from Artaxerxes to rebuild the burnt and broken-down walls of Jerusalem, he restored the Fish-gate as it had been before: "But the fish-gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof" (Neh. iii. 3).

About ten years afterwards, when the city had been rebuilt and repeopled, the fish-market was again established, the dealers being chiefly men of Tyre, who took advantage of the neglect of the law which had been the result of the captivity among idolaters, and sold their goods on the Sabbath day: "There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the Sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem" (Neh. xiii. 16).

It is evident that the Fish which these traders brought must have been dried and salted, or otherwise they would not have borne the journey to Jerusalem from Tyre. Dried Fish were, according to Herodotus, largely used in Egypt, and it is probable that the Jews learned the art of drying and salting Fish for future use during their captivity in that land.

There are one or two passages in the Scriptures which relate to Fish, though in a less direct manner than those which have been quoted. One of them refers to the times of drought which occasionally visit Palestine, and which always bring with them terrible privations, and sometimes cause actual famine. See, for example, Isa. 1. 2: "Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst." These words exactly express the condition of the country after a long drought. The springs are gradually exhausted from the absence of rain, the large rivers sink lower and lower in their beds, and the little streams and tributaries dry up altogether, leaving their inhabitants to perish for want of water.

By way of contrast to this passage, we will take another, which speaks, not of death, but of life. It occurs in Ezek. xlvii. 10, and forms part of the vision in which the future of the Church was foretold:

"And it shall come to pass, that everything that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and everything shall live whither the river cometh.

"And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many."

Now this is one of the many passages which might be passed over lightly, because its general signification is so evident, and yet which requires to be understood before its full force can be comprehended. Both these places, En-gedi and En-eglaim, are on the shores of the Dead Sea, in which no creature can live. Thousands of small Fishes are daily carried into the Dead Sea from the Jordan, and as soon as the fresh water of the river mingles with the poisonous waves of the Dead Sea the Fishes die. Putting aside as foreign to the purpose of this work the metaphorical signification of the passage, we find that the prophet foretold a complete regeneration of the waters, so that, instead of destroying every creature that entered them, the Fishes should multiply so that fishermen should ply their trade from one part of the Dead Sea to another.

Again, in Hosea iv: 3, where the destruction of Fish is mentioned among the plagues that would follow the continual disobedience of the Israelites: "Because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land, ....

"Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven: yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away."

Lastly, we come to the religious, or rather superstitious, part played by Fish in the ancient times. That the Egyptians employed Fish as material symbols of Divine attributes we learn from secular writers, such as Herodotus and Strabo.

The Jews, who seem to have had an irrepressible tendency to idolatry, and to have adopted the idols of every people with whom they came in contact, resuscitated the Fish-worship of Egypt as soon as they found themselves among the Philistines. We might naturally imagine that as the Israelites were bitterly opposed to their persistent enemy, who trod them under foot and crushed every attempt at rebellion for more than three hundred years, they would repudiate the worship as well as the rule of their conquerors. But, on the contrary, they adopted the worship of Dagon, the Fish-god, who was the principal deity of the Philistines, and erected temples in his honour.

Their tendency to this Fish-worship is specially noticed in the commandment that they were not to worship "the likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground" (i.e. serpent-worship), "the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth" (Deut. iv. 18).

We learn from 1 Sam. v. 4 the form of this idol: "When they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him."

If the reader will refer to this passage, he will see that the latter part is rendered in the marginal reading as "the fishy part was left to him." The Jewish Bible has nearly the same reading, "only a fish-stump had remained of him."

It is evident, therefore, that Dagon had the head, body, and 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 gill-covers, 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 fishing-frog--_i.e._ by burying itself in the mud and attracting other Fishes by a worm-like appendage of its mouth, and pouncing on them before they are aware of their danger.

1. NILE PERCH. 2. SURMULLET. 3. STAR-GAZER.

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

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 dyers--Various 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 Molluscs belonging to the great Whelk family, the chief of which is the _Murex brandaris_. Another species is _Murex trunculus_, another is _Purpura hæmastoma_, and we have a fourth on our own coast, the common Dog-Whelk, or Dog-Periwinkle (_Purpura lapillus_).

The shell is shaped something like that of a whelk, but is very smooth and porcelain-like, and is generally white, ornamented with several coloured bands. It is, however, one of the most variable of shells, differing not only in colour but in form. It always inhabits the belt of the shore between tide-marks, and preys upon other Molluscs, such as the mussel and periwinkle, literally licking them to pieces with its long riband tongue.

This tongue is beset with rows of hooked teeth, exactly like the shark-tooth weapons of the Samoan and Mangaian Islanders, and with it the creature is enabled to bore through the shells of mussels and similar Molluscs, and to eat the enclosed animal. It is very destructive to periwinkles, thrusting its tongue through the mouth of the shell, piercing easily the operculum by which the entrance is closed, and gradually scooping out the unfortunate inmate.

Even the bivalves, which can shut themselves up between two shells, fare no better, the tongue of the Dog-Whelk rasping a hole in the hard shell in eight-and-forty hours.

Any of my readers who desire to obtain a very fair specimen of the old imperial purple can do so without difficulty.

Let him go down to the sea-shore, and collect a number of Dog-Whelks--a task of no difficulty, as a bushel may be obtained in a very short time. Let him provide himself with a piece of perfectly clean linen, or pure white woollen fabric, and a pair of fine scissors or a sharp knife.

In order to procure the animal, the shell must be broken with a sharp blow of a small hammer, and the receptacle of the colouring matter can then be seen behind the head, and recognised by its lighter hue.

When it is opened, a creamy sort of matter exudes. It is yellowish, and gives no promise of its future richness of hue. There is only one drop of this matter in each animal, and it is about sufficient in quantity to stain a piece of linen the size of a sixpence.

The best mode of seeing the full beauty of the purple is to take a number of the Molluscs, and to stain as large a surface as possible. The piece of linen should then be exposed to the rays of the sun, when it will go through a most curious series of colours. The yellow begins to turn green, and, after a while, the stained portions of the linen will be entirely green, the yellow having been vanquished by the blue. By degrees the blue predominates more and more over the yellow, until the linen is no more green, but blue. Then, just as the yellow yielded to the blue, the blue yields to red, and becomes first violet, then purple, and lastly assumes the blood-red hue of royalty.

The colour is very permanent, and, instead of fading by time, seems rather to brighten. Some two hundred years ago there was an established trade in this dye in Ireland; but it has long ago been crushed by the cheaper, though less permanent, dyes which have since been invented.

In some cases the ancients appear not to have troubled themselves with the complicated operation of taking the animal out of the shell, opening the receptacle, and squeezing the contents on the fabric to be dyed, but simply crushed the whole of the Mollusc, so as to set the colouring matter free, and steeped the cloth in the pulp. Tyre was one of the most celebrated spots for this manufacture, the "Tyrian dye" being celebrated for its richness. Heaps of broken shells remain to the present day as memorials of the long-perished manufacture.

The value which the ancients set upon this dye is shown by many passages in various books. Among others we may refer to Herodotus.

Cambyses, it appears, had a design to make war upon three nations, the Ammonians, the Carthaginians, and the Ethiopians. He determined to invade the first by land, and the second by sea; but, being ignorant of the best method of reaching the Ethiopians, he dispatched messengers to them, nominally as ambassadors, but practically as spies. He sent to the King of Ethiopia valuable presents--namely, a purple mantle, a golden necklace and bracelet, an elaborate box of perfumed ointment, and a cask of palm-wine, these evidently being considered a proof of imperial magnificence.

The Ethiopian king ridiculed the jewels, praised the wine, and asked curiously concerning the dye with which the purple mantle was stained. On being told the mode of preparation, he refused to believe the visitors, and, referring to the changing hues of the mantle and to the perfume of the ointment, he showed his appreciation of their real character by saying that the goods were deceptive, and so were the bearers.

This curious narrative occurs in the third book, chaps. 19-22.

The same historian has in another place a passing allusion to the trade of catching the purple-producing whelks. In his fourth book, chap. 151, he mentions a man who was a purple-dyer by trade, the word signifying equally one who procures the Molluscs as one who dyes the threads of which the purple fabrics are woven.

The dye-producing power is not restricted to the whelks, but is shared by other Molluscs. For example, the Diadem Staircase Shell (_Scalaria diadema_) secretes a substance which produces a purple hue, and the _Cerithium telescopium_ produces a dye which retains its green hue, instead of passing into blue and red.

The Hebrew word _argaman_, which signifies the regal purple, occurs several times in Scripture, and takes a slightly different form according to the Chaldaic or Hebraic idiom.

For example, we find it in Exod. xxv. 4: "This is the offering which ye shall take of them: gold, and silver, and brass,

"And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen," &c. &c.

It occurs again in 2 Chron. ii. 7: "Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue." These words are repeated in ver. 14.

A very important use of this word is found in Dan. v. 7: "And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet" ("purple" in margin), "and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom." Here we find that the dye in question was a regal one, that the wearing it was a matter of sumptuary law, and that the fact of being allowed to wear it was a sign that the wearer was of the very highest rank.

The Jewish Bible invariably translates the word as "red-purple."

That the preparers of the precious purple colour took care to preserve their art a secret, is evident from the writings of the Talmudists, who had the very vaguest ideas respecting the dye. They knew that it was obtained from a marine Mollusc, but thought that the creature only made its appearance once in seventy years, and that this scarcity was the cause of its costliness. They said that the dye obtained from one sea was blackish, evidently referring to the ink of the cuttle; that when it was obtained from another it was violet, and that the Phoenician waters alone produced the true red-purple hue.

They accounted for its colour by saying that the animal took the colour of the sea which it inhabited: the sea was like the sky which it reflected, the sky was like the throne of God, and the throne of God was like the sapphire. Therefore, the dye was like the sapphire. It is not impossible even that the dyers exhibited specimens of the Violet Snail, or Janthina, which is of a rich blue colour, and which would readily be accepted as the source of the Tyrian dye.

THE SNAIL.

The Snail which melteth--Rendering of the Jewish Bible--Theory
respecting the track of the Snail--The Hebrew word
_Shablul_--Various Snails of Palestine.

There is a very remarkable and not very intelligible passage in Ps. lviii. 8: "As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away." The Jewish Bible renders the passage in a way which explains the idea which evidently prevailed at the time when the Psalms were composed: "As a snail let him melt as he passeth on."

The ancients had an idea that the slimy track made by a Snail as it crawled along was subtracted from the substance of its body, and that in consequence the farther it crept, the smaller it became, until at last it wasted entirely away. The commentators on the Talmud took this view of the case. The Hebrew word _shablul_, which undoubtedly does signify a Snail of some kind, is thus explained: "The Shablul is a creeping thing: when it comes out of its shell, saliva pours from itself, until it becomes liquid, and so dies."

Other explanations of this passage have been offered, but there is no doubt that the view taken by these commentators is the correct one, and that the Psalmist, when he wrote the terrible series of denunciations in which the passage in question occurs, had in his mind the popular belief regarding the gradual wasting away of the Snail as it "passeth on."

It is needless to say that no particular species of Snail is mentioned, and almost as needless to state that in Palestine there are many species of Snails, to any or all of which these words are equally applicable.

THE ONYCHA.

Ingredients of the sacred incense--The Onyx, or
Onycha--Derivation of the word--The Arabic Dofr--The Doofu of
Abyssinia--Odour of the perfume.

In Exod. xxx. 34 there occurs a remarkable word, _shecheleth_, which is used to describe one of the ingredients of the incense to be used in Divine worship. The Jewish Bible renders the word rightly, "onycha," while Buxtorf renders it by "onyx," a word which is likely to mislead the reader, and to cause him to believe it to be a mineral, and not an animal substance.

The Onycha is the operculum of one of the Strombi or Wing-shells, and derives its name from the resemblance which it bears in those shells to a nail or claw. The Greek word _onyx_ primarily signifies a nail, and is indeed the origin of our own word. Secondarily, it is used to denote a precious stone, partly because the white bands of the sardonyx bear some resemblance to the white semi-lunar marks at the base of human nails. In consequence of the resemblance of the operculum to a claw or nail, the Arabs call the Wing-shell "Dofr-el-afrit," or Afrit's (_i.e._ demon's) claw.

The operculum of the Wing-shells has a sharp and powerful scent when burned, and, when mixed with substances more fragrant but less powerful, it has the effect of adding to their potency if not to their fragrance.

A remarkable corroboration of this rendering occurs in Mr. Mansfield Parkyns's valuable "Life in Abyssinia." In the Appendix to vol. i. in which the commerce of Abyssinia and the Red Sea is described, the following entry occurs:--"_October 5, 1848._ Sailed for Suakim in a native boat. Cargo: muslins, marawdi, Surat tobacco, sandal-wood, and doofu. This article is the operculum or horny substance with which some species of shell-fish are furnished to protect the mouth of their shells. These in some parts of Nubia are used for perfume, being burnt with sandal-wood."

Here we have one or two points worthy of notice. In the first place, it is evident that the Doofu of the Abyssinians is identical with the Dofr of the Arabs. In the second place we find that it is not used alone as a perfume, but is burned together with the fragrant sandal-wood. Lastly, we find that the materials of the incense which were ordained for the special use of the Jewish worship were derived from North-Eastern Africa, and were in all probability familiar to the Jews from their long residence in Egypt.

The opercula of all the Strombidæ possess this powerful, though not very fragrant odour, which has been compared to that of spices, or castoreum, and probably acts the part which is played in many modern perfumes by materials which in themselves possess an odour the reverse of fragrant.

The mineral onyx is represented by a different Hebrew word, namely, _shoham_.

THE PEARL.

The Pearl of Scripture--Wisdom compared to Pearl--Different
renderings of the Hebrew word--Opinions of the
Talmudists--Structure of Pearls--The Pearls of the marine and
aquatic mussels--Pearl-fisheries of the Conway--Metaphorical
uses of the Pearl--The Pearl of great price--Casting Pearls
before swine--An ancient proverb.

There is only one passage in the Old Testament in which can be found the word which is translated as PEARL, and it is certain that the word in question may have another interpretation.

The word in question is _gabish_, and occurs in Job xxviii. 18. Treating of wisdom, in that magnificent passage beginning, "But where shall Wisdom be found, and where is the place of understanding?" the sacred writer uses these words, "No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies." This is the only passage in the Bible which contains the word in its simple form, but there are two others in which it is found with the addition of the syllable _el_, connected with the word _abne_, or stone. In this form, it is translated in the Authorized Version as "hailstones."

See Ezek. xiii. 11: "Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great Hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it." Also xxxviii. 22: "And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great Hailstones, fire, and brimstone."

The Jewish Bible accepts the rendering of "hailstones" in both these passages, but affixes the mark of doubt to the word, whereas in Job xxviii. 18 it translates the word _gabish_ as "pearls" without using any mark of doubt. In Buxtorfs Hebrew Lexicon, the word is translated as "_Unio, Margarita pretiosa._" It is not, however, difficult to see that the word _gabish_ may primarily signify either ice or Pearl, and that the one may have been used metaphorically for the other.

The Talmudical writers had much to say on the subject of Pearls, but, before proceeding to their curious disquisitions, it will be as well to describe briefly the Pearl and its origin.

We are all familiar with the shining inner coating or "nacre" possessed by many bivalve molluscs, such as the common mussels and oysters. This coating is sometimes found upon extraneous substances deposited on the "mantle" of the animal, and then takes the name of "Pearl." Sometimes these are found in the common oyster.

For example, I have before me some Pearls about as large as No. 5 shot, that I took out of a single plateful of oysters. They are dull in colour and irregular in form, but they are perfect Pearls.

Then the common edible mussel frequently contains Pearls, which, however, are almost invariably small, and comparatively valueless. It is mentioned by Pliny that Julius Cæsar obtained in Britain a sufficient number of Pearls to cover a breastplate, which he dedicated to Venus, and hung in her temple. It is evident from Pliny's account that the Pearls in question were small and comparatively valueless, and it has been shrewdly suggested that Cæsar only presented them to the goddess because the Roman ladies would not have worn them.

These Pearls were in all probability obtained from the common edible mussel which grows so abundantly on our coasts, and not, as has been generally thought, from the river Pearl-mussel, which really produces Pearls of considerable value. The celebrated pearl-fishers of the Conway employ the edible mussel, and sell the Pearls at a certain price per ounce.

The scientific name of the river Pearl-shell is _Unio margaritiferus_, which is found in best condition in rapid mountain streams. It is plentiful in many of the Irish rivers, from which Pearls of considerable value have been procured. One of these Pearls, seen by Sir R. Redding set in a necklace, was purchased for thirty pounds by the owner, who had refused nearly three times the sum for it.

Perhaps the most celebrated Pearl-mussel is that of the Chinese, _Dipsas plicatus_. This species attains a considerable size, a specimen in my possession being seven inches in length and five in width.

"_And the twelve gates were twelve pearls._"--REV. xxi. 21.]

The Chinese make a singular use of this mussel. They string a number of globular pellets, and introduce them between the valves of the mussel, so that in course of time the creature deposits a coating of pearly substance upon them, and forms a very good imitation of real Pearls. They also stamp little images, popularly called josses, out of metal, and force the animal to cover them with nacre in a similar manner. Six such josses are in my specimen. Frequently, however, these incorrigible imitators actually counterfeit the sham pearls, merely taking the josses and pellets, laying them in shells from which the animal has been removed, and washing them with a solution which, when dry, looks so like nacre that it cannot be distinguished from that substance without much difficulty.

The best Pearls are those which are procured from the well-known PEARL OYSTER (_Meleagrina margaritifera_), which is found in several parts of the world, and which constitutes the principal source of wealth to the localities where it most abounds.

The Talmudical commentators wrote rather copiously about the Pearl, respecting the nature of which they were somewhat perplexed, as it was a gem and yet not a mineral. They thought that it lay at the bottom of the sea, under flat, slab-like stones some of which had Pearls beneath them, but the greater part were without them. In consequence of the difficulty of diving and the precariousness of the search, a number of proverbs were current. For example, a person who persevered in some fruitless search was said to be a diver who brought up stones without Pearls. If one person laboured and another took the credit, it was said that the one would not have found the Pearl if the other had not brought up the stone.

In consequence of the labour and research required for seeking wisdom, it was proverbially likened to a Pearl, and in this sense we must understand the warning of our Lord, not to cast Pearls before swine. The "pearl of great price" is another form of the same metaphor.

This metaphor holds good in almost all Oriental languages.

There is also a proverb which bears a curious resemblance to the well-known "painting the lily and gilding refined gold:" "Whoso praises a priceless pearl undervalues it."

INSECTS.

Insects--Beetles not mentioned in Scripture--The Locust--Various
species of the insect, and different words used to signify
it--The Arbeh of Scripture, and its derivation--The two
migratory Locusts at rest and on the wing--The Locust
swarms--Gordon Cumming's account--Progress of the insect
hosts--Vain attempts to check them--Tossed up and down as a
Locust--Effect of the winds on the insect--The east and the west
winds--Locusts used for food--Ancient and modern travellers--The
food of St. John.

Considering the vast variety of insects which are found in Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, it is somewhat remarkable that so few should be mentioned by name. Not one single coleopteran is mentioned; for, although the Hebrew word _chargol_, which occurs in Lev. xi. 21, 22, is rendered in the Authorized Version as "beetle," the context shows that it could not have been a coleopterous insect at all, but must have belonged to the locusts. We will therefore pass to the insect next in order.

THE LOCUST.

Of the LOCUSTS there are several species in Palestine, two of which are represented in the accompanying plate. Those on the ground are the common Migratory Locusts (_OEdipoda migratoria_), while those on the wing, which have long heads, are a species of _Truxalis_.

At least four species of Locust are mentioned in the Scriptures, one of them being the beetle of the Authorized Version; and it is probable that one or two words which are differently rendered in the Authorized Version are either names of different species of Locusts, or are synonyms for the same species.

We will first take the different Hebrew words which are translated as "Locust," and then proceed to the description of the insects themselves.

The first of those words is _arbeh_, about the rendering of which there is no doubt whatever. It occurs many times in the Scriptures, and, even if its signification were doubtful, the context would be sufficient to denote the proper rendering of the word. Take, for example, the account in Exod. x. of the threatened plague of Locusts. Nothing can be more terse and graphic than the description of the Arbeh, its vast multitudes, its sudden arrival, and its destructive power.

In Judges vi. 5 the word is translated as "grasshopper." "For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it." Translating the word rightly as "Locust," we see the real force of this passage. Grasshoppers may inhabit a spot, and do no great harm, but the Locusts invade whole districts, coming like destructive armies upon it, and causing utter destruction as long as they remain.

In 1 Kings viii. 37, Solomon speaks of the presence of the Arbeh among the most terrible calamities that can befall a country, and classes it with famine, drought, pestilence, and siege. In Prov. xxx. 27 the same writer remarks on the curious fact that these creatures are gregarious and migratory, and yet have no leader, as is mostly the case with gregarious animals. "The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by hands."

Allusion is made to the vast number of the Arbeh in Jer. xlvi.: "They shall cut down her forest, saith the Lord, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable." The voracity of the Arbeh is mentioned in Joel i. 4 and ii. 25. These are but a few passages selected out of the many in which the Arbeh is mentioned, in order to show how completely the word corresponds with the character of the Locust. The word is derived from a Hebrew root signifying multitudes, and is therefore appropriately used for these insects, which singly are so feeble, and collectively are so terrible.

Next comes the word _chagab_, which evidently signifies some migratory and gregarious Locust, though we cannot say precisely to which species it refers. The word is mostly translated as "grasshopper," and, from the context of several passages, it seems to have been less in size than the Arbeh, inasmuch as it is used as a metaphor to express smallness. See, for example, Numb. xiii. 31-33, where is recorded the false report of the spies whom Moses sent to inspect the land. "The men that went up said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.

"And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.

"And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers" (_chagabim_), "and so we were in their sight."

A similar metaphor is employed by the Prophet Isaiah: "It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers" (xl. 22). And in Eccles. xii. 5 extreme weakness is forcibly indicated by the words, "the grasshopper" (_chagab_) "shall be a burden."

Now the two principal species of Locust which travel in bands and devastate the country are the common Migratory Locust (_OEdipoda migratoria_) and the _Acridium peregrinum_. If, therefore, the word _arbeh_ expresses one of these insects, it is probable that the word _chagab_ signifies the other.

The Bald Locust of Lev. xi. 22 is probably some species of _Truxalis_, the insects belonging to this genus having long and smooth heads. The Hebrew word is _sallom_, and the Jewish Bible leaves it untranslated. The word _chargol_ which also occurs in the same passage, and is translated in the Authorized Version as "beetle," is in all probability a species of Locust, as it is classed with those insects which have "legs above their feet to leap withal."

Besides these words, we find that others translated as "caterpillar," "palmerworm," and "cankerworm" may be synonyms for the Locust, either different species, or as expressing the same species in its various stages of development. (See Lepidoptera, page 632.)

We will now pass on to the insect and its habits, taking the Migratory Locust as the type of its family.