Chapter VII · SIXTH DAY.

Section I.—On Quadrupeds and Reptiles.

Quadrupeds in general — Motion — Habits — Rumination — Proportion — Tastes — Clothing — Weapons — Proportionate Number — Faculties — Reptiles — Religious Improvement.

On the sixth day all terrestrial animals were formed. “And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind, and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind.” According to Dr. A. Clarke, the words נפש חיה nephesh chaiyah, translated living creature, are a general term used to express all creatures endued with animal life, in any of its infinitely varied gradations; from the half-reasoning elephant down to the stupid potto, or lower still, even to the polype,157 which seems equally to share the vegetable and animal life. The word חיתו chaiyeto, translated beast, and by Mr. Parkhurst, rendered wild beasts, seems to signify all wild animals, as the Lion, the Tiger, the Panther, the Lynx, the Hyæna, &c., and especially such as are carnivorous, or subsist on flesh. בהמה behemah, which we translate cattle, probably means those of the domestic species, such as are graminivorous, or live on grass and other vegetables; and are capable of being tamed, and applied to domestic purposes. The word properly means beasts, and is so understood by the Seventy, whose interpretation of the words of Job is, “Behold the beasts with thee, they eat grass like oxen.” According to Ab, Ezra, and the Targum, it is the “name of any great beast.” But R. Levi says, that it is “an animal peculiarly called by that name.”

The Hebrew behemah, says Buxtorf, is taken in the singular number for the Elephant, because of its vast greatness. Ainsworth says, the word generally implies all large beasts; and of this classification the Elephant is called Behemoth. “Behold now Behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.” The word here is plural, and signifies beasts; but in this passage one particular beast is meant, for it is usual with the Hebrews or Jews to express great and excellent things by words in the plural number. Though some later and very learned men take the Leviathan to be the Crocodile, and the Behemoth to be a creature called the Hippopotamus, or river-horse, yet says Henry, “I confess I see no reason to depart from the opinion, that it is the Elephant that is here described, which is a very strong, stately creature, of a very large stature, above any other, and of wonderful sagacity, and of such reputation in the animal kingdom, that, among so many four-footed beasts as we have had the natural history of, Job chap. xxxviii, xxxix, we can scarce suppose this should be omitted.”158

The Elephant may be thus denominated from its great bulk and strength. He is the largest of all land animals. Pliny tells us, that the Elephants in India are thirteen feet and a half high, and have two teeth of such enormous size that the Indians use them for posts to their houses: those of the male being six or seven feet long, while those of the female do not exceed one foot.

His strength is also equal to that of many beasts. “His bones are as strong as pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.” Some historians say, that in time of war people used to erect wooden towers on the backs of Elephants, and from these elevated forts men combated with their enemies. It is said that Antiochus had a great number of these huge animals with towers constructed upon them, in each of which were thirty-two men armed. “He is the chief of the ways of God:” that is, a signal instance of Divine power and wisdom, the most excellent of all mere animals, in size, strength, understanding, and sagacity. None of the beasts is more prudent, says Strabo: none of them approaches nearer to man in his capacity, says Pliny. “He moveth his tail like a cedar.” As his tail is not proportional to the bulk of his body, many understand by this term his proboscis or trunk. The original word זנב here rendered tail, signifies properly the extreme part of a thing; hence it is as applicable to his trunk, which hangs like a tail, though placed at the opposite extremity of his body. This he “moveth” with amazing dexterity, and, at pleasure, can stretch it out, and erect it like a “cedar” growing out of a mountain.—“Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can drink up Jordan into his mouth.” He being naturally of a hot constitution, and generally inhabiting hot climates, requires much liquid. His “drinking up a river,” is a hyperbolical expression implying his ardent thirst: and “hasteth not,” signifies his reluctance to quit the stream till his parching desire be fully satiated. His “trusting” that he can drink the river “Jordan” dry, is also an hyperbolical term to express his copious draughts. “He eateth grass as an ox, the mountains bring him forth food;” which he gathers, collects, and conveys to his mouth with his long trunk. He resides “where all the beasts of the field play.” So harmless is this strong animal, that the inferior part of the brute creation are not intimidated at his presence, but graze with him upon the mountains, and sport themselves about him in the plain, apprehending no danger from him. How wondrous are the works of God! in which are no less evinced the effects of his power, than the displays of his wisdom. The word cattle, also includes Horses, Kine, Sheep, Dogs, &c.

Quadrupeds enjoy many advantages above the lower tribes of the animal creation. They rank higher than the class of Birds, by bringing forth their young alive; they are superior to that of Fishes, by respiration through their lungs; they are exalted above the order of Insects, by a circulation of red blood through their veins; and they differ almost from every other description of creatures, being either wholly or in part covered with hair.

What admirable wisdom is displayed in the motion of animals, suited to their various occasions! Reptiles, to which a clod, a plant, a tree, or a hole, will afford the means of supporting life, and which protracted privations of food do not materially affect, require no legs to make extensive excursions, but their vermicular motion is adequate to every essential purpose. Beasts, whose necessities call for a larger sphere, possess accordingly a swifter motion; and this is imparted in various degrees, suitable to their range for food, and adapted to accelerate their speed in escaping from their enemies.

In the motion of animals, from the largest Elephant to the smallest Mite, the whole body is exactly balanced. The head is not too heavy, nor too light for its kindred parts, nor they for it. The bowels hang not loose, nor are so placed as to over-balance, or upset the system; but well-braced, and accurately distributed to maintain an equipoise. The most active members also are admirably well fixed, in respect to the centre of gravity, being placed in the very point which best serves to support and convey the body. Every leg bears its share of the weight.

The mouths of animals are nicely adapted to their different habits of life. The Ox, the Deer, the Horse, and the Sheep, have full lips, rough tongues, broad cutting teeth, corrugated cartilaginous palates, which qualify them for browsing, either by gathering large mouthfuls where the grass is long, or biting close where it is short. In those which subsist on flesh, the teeth are sharp, and calculated to hold and divide their food. The bore of the gullet in animals is answerable to their necessities. In a Fox, which feeds on bones, it is very large. But in a Squirrel it is exceedingly small, which prevents him from disgorging his meat in his descending leaps: and it is equally contracted in Rats and Mice, which run along walls with their heads downward.

In all animals, the strength and size of their stomachs are proportioned to the nature and quantity of their food. Those whose aliment is more tender and nutritive, have them smaller, thinner, and weaker: whereas they are large and strong in those whose food is less nutritive, and whose bodies require greater supplies. Carnivorous beasts have their stomachs small and glandular, as flesh is the most nutritious. Those that derive their support from fruits and roots have them of a middle size: while on the contrary, Sheep and Oxen, which feed on grass, have the largest stomachs; and those which ruminate have in general no less than four; in Africa, where the plants are nutritive, some of this class have only two. Yet the Horse, Hare, and Rabbit, though graminivorous, have comparatively small stomachs. The Horse is made for labor, and both he and the Hare are constructed for quick and continued motion; for these the most easy respiration, also the freest action of the diaphragm, is requisite. But this could not be, did the stomach lie heavy and cumbersome upon it, as in Sheep and Oxen.

Another very remarkable circumstance is, that those animals which have teeth on both jaws, possess but one stomach; whereas most of those which have no upper teeth, or no teeth at all, have three stomachs. For the meat which is first chewed, is easily digested; but that which it swallowed whole, requires a stronger concoctive power.

The Horse eats night and day, slowly, but almost continually: whereas the Ox eats quickly, and takes, in a short time, all the food nature requires; and then lies down to ruminate. This difference arises from the different conformation of these animals. The Ox, of whose stomachs the first two form but one capacious bag, can, at the same time, receive grass into both of them, without inconvenience, which he afterwards ruminates and digests at leisure. The Horse, whose stomach is small, and can receive but a small quantity of grass, is filled successively in proportion as he digests it; and it passes into the intestines, where is performed the principal decomposition of the food. Chewing the cud is but a vomiting without straining, occasioned by a re-action of the first stomach on the food which it contains. The Ox fills the first two stomachs, the paunch, and the bag, which is but a portion of the paunch. This membrane acts with force on the grass it contains; it is chewed but a little, and its quantity is greatly increased by fermentation. Were the food liquid, this force of contraction would occasion it to pass by the third stomach, which only communicates with the other by a narrow conveyance, and cannot admit such dry food, or, at least, can only admit the moistened parts. The food must, therefore, necessarily pass up again into the œsophagus, the orifice of which is larger than the orifice of the conduit, and the animal again chews and macerates it, and moistens it afresh with its saliva: he reduces it to a paste, sufficiently liquid to enter into this conduit, through which it passes into the third stomach, where it is again macerated before it goes into the fourth; and it is in this last receptacle that the decomposition of the hay is finished, which is reduced to a perfect mucilage. What chiefly confirms this explication is, that as long as the animals suck, and are fed with milk and other liquid aliments, they do not chew the cud; and that they chew the cud much more in winter, when they are fed with dry food, than in summer, when they eat tender grass.

All the parts of the same animal are adopted to each other. So, for instance, the length of the neck is always proportioned to that of the legs. Though the Elephant has a short neck, because the weight of his head and teeth would otherwise have been insupportable; but, then, he is provided with a trunk, which abundantly supplies the defect. In other beasts, the neck is always commensurate to the legs; so that they which have long legs have necks proportioned; and so vice versa, as is observable in Lizards of all kinds, even from the Eft to the Crocodile. And creatures that have no legs, as they want no necks, so they have none. This equality between the length of the neck and legs is peculiarly seen in beasts that feed on grass, in which these are very nearly equal; because the neck must necessarily have some advantage, for it cannot hang perpendicularly, but must incline a little.

These creatures, while feeding, bend their heads downward for a considerable time, which would be very laborious and painful to the muscles, were it not for a very stiff, strong cartilage, placed on each side of the neck, capable of stretching and shrinking again as need requires, which butchers call pax-wax. The one end of this is attached to the head, and the next vertebræ of the neck; and the other is knit to the middle vertebræ of the back: and by the assistance of this, animals are able to hold the head in that inclining posture all day long. The head being placed at the end of a long lever, in a direction nearly perpendicular to the joints of the neck, would be in constant danger of dislocation from its own weight, had not such a substance been added, which, by its great strength and toughness, retains the parts together, while, by its pliancy, it offers no obstruction to the free motion of the neck and head.

The members of animals are exactly adapted to their manner of living. A Swine, whose natural food is chiefly the roots of plants, is provided with a snout; long, that he may thrust it to a convenient depth in the ground without injuring his eyes; and strong and suitably formed, for rooting and turning up the earth: therefore the retiring under-jaw works after the manner of a plough-share, and makes its way to the food: and besides, his scent is extremely acute in discovering such roots as are fit for him. Hence in Italy, the usual way of finding truffles, or subterraneous mushrooms, is by tying a cord to the hind leg of a pig, and driving him into pastures. They who attend then mark where he stops and begins to root, and digging there, are sure to find a truffle. So in pastures where there are earth-nuts, though their roots are deep in the ground, and the leaves are quite gone, the Swine will find them by their scent, and root only in the places where they grow.159

In some animals the head is long, in order to give room for the olfactory nerves, as in Dogs, which hunt by scent. In others, it is short, as in the Lion, to give him the greater strength. In beasts of prey, as Lions, Tigers, Wolves, they have the trumpet-part or concavity of the ear standing forward, to meet the sound of the animals before them, which they pursue or watch. The ears of animals of flight are turned backward, to apprize them of the approach of the pursuing enemy, lest he should assail them unseen. Beasts of prey have their feet armed with claws, which some can sheath and unsheath at pleasure. The Babyrouessa, or Indian Stag, a species of Wild-Boar, found in the East Indies, has two bent teeth more than half a yard long, growing upward, and, which is very singular, from the upper jaw. These instruments are not wanted for defence, that service being provided for by two tusks issuing from the under jaw, and resembling those of the common Boar: nor does the animal thus use them. They might seem therefore both superfluous and cumbersome: however, they have their utility; for this animal sleeps standing, and, in order to support its head, hooks its upper tusks upon the branches of trees.

In the Mole we find a most scrupulous attention to the habits of the animal. It has short legs, feet armed with sharp nails, a pig-like nose, a velvet coat, a small external ear, a sunk protracted eye, all which are conducing to utility and safety. Its feet are like so many shovels, placed in so peculiar a manner as to enable the animal to remove the earth on each side, and throw it backwards. The cylindrical figure of the Mole, as well as the compactness of its form, arising from the terseness of its limbs, proportionably lessen its labor; because its bulk requires the least possible quantity of earth to facilitate its progress. The structure of its face and jaws is similar to those of a Swine, and equally adapted to work in the ground. The nose is sharp, slender, tendinous, and strong. The plush covering, which, by the smoothness, closeness, and polish of the short piles that compose it, rejects the cohesion of almost every species of earth, defends the animal from cold and wet, and from the impediment which it would otherwise experience by the adhesion of mould to its body. Being subterraneous, of all animals it comes out from soils of all kinds the brightest and cleanest. But its eyes are most to be admired. This animal occasionally visiting the surface of the earth, self-security required a perception of light. The Mole did not need large eyes to compass a great range of vision; and prominent eyes would have been less easily defended, whilst working under ground. To reconcile these inconveniences, these eyes are scarcely larger than the head of a corking pin; and these globules are so sunk in the skull, and sheltered with the velvet of their covering, that any contraction of the eye-brows, not only closes up the apertures, but offers a cushion to prevent any sharp or protruding substance from injuring them. These apertures in their open state, are like pin-holes in velvet, scarcely pervious to loose pieces of earth.160

The different tastes of animals show the wise economy of nature. Oxen delight in low grounds, because they afford the most palatable food. Sheep prefer barren hills, on which is produced a particular kind of grass called festuca, which they highly relish. Goats climb up the precipices of mountains, that they may browse on the tender shrubs; and accordingly have their feet constructed for jumping. Horses, not in a state of domestication, chiefly resort to woods, and feed on leafy plants. Nay, so various are the appetites of animals, that there is scarcely any plant which is not chosen by some, and left untouched by others. The Horse resigns the Water-Hemlock to the Goat; the Cow gives up the Monks-Hood to the Horse; for that on which some animals grow fat, others abhor as poison.—Hence no plant is absolutely poisonous, but only respectively. Thus the Spurge, that is noxious to man, is a most wholesome nourishment to the Caterpillar. That animals may not destroy themselves for want of knowing this law of nature, they are guarded by such a delicacy of taste and smell, that thus they can easily distinguish what is pernicious from what is wholesome; and when different animals subsist on the same plants, one kind always leaves something for the other, as the mouths of all are not equally adapted to lay hold on the grass; hence there is sufficient food for all.161 The leaves and fruits of trees are intended as food for some animals, such as the Sloth and Squirrel; the latter of which has feet adapted for climbing. The Camel frequents the sandy and burning deserts, in order to obtain the barren produce of those soils. How wisely has the Creator provided for him! he is obliged to traverse those trackless wastes where frequently no water is found for many miles. Other animals, so circumstanced, would perish with thirst: but he can endure it without much inconvenience; his belly being full of cells, where he reserves water for many days.162

Quadrupeds are furnished with such clothing as is suitable to their various offices. To beasts, hair is a commodious covering, which, together with the texture of their skins, fits them in all sorts of weather to lie on the ground, and to render service to man. The thick and warm fleeces of others are a good defence against the cold and wet, and also a soft bed; and to many, a comfortable shelter for their tender young. All the animals near Hudson’s Bay are covered with a close, soft, warm fur; and, what is very surprising, and shows the wisdom and goodness of Divine providence, the Dogs and Cats which are taken thither from England, on the approach of winter, change their appearance, and acquire a much longer, softer, and thicker coat of hair than they originally had.

Many animals are armed with weapons of self-defence, some of which are used for the destruction of others. Nay, we scarcely know an animal which has not some enemy to contend with. Wild beasts are the most pernicious and dangerous enemies. But, that they may not, by too atrocious a butchery, destroy a whole species, even these are circumscribed within certain bounds. As to the most fierce of all, it deserves to be noted, how few they are in proportion to other animals. The number of them is not equal in all countries. These fierce animals sometimes destroy one another. Thus the Wolf devours the Fox. The Dog infests both the Wolf and Fox. The Tiger often kills its own male whelps. And wild beasts seldom arrive at so great an age, as animals which live on vegetables. For they are subject, from their alkaline diet, to various diseases, which tend to accelerate their death: while the Elephant, which feeds on vegetables, is fifty or sixty years before he attains his full strength, is in the highest state of vigor at about a hundred, and lives two or three hundred years. But, though animals are infested by their peculiar enemies, yet they frequently elude their violence by stratagems and force. Thus the Hare, by her doublings, often confounds the Dog. When the Bear attacks Sheep and Cattle, these flock together for mutual defence. Horses join heads together, and fight with their heels. Oxen join tails, and fight with their horns. Swine unite in herds, and boldly oppose themselves to any attack, so that they are not easily overcome: and, what is remarkable, all of them place their young, as less able to defend themselves, in the middle, that they may remain safe during the battle. Some animals consult their safety by night. When Horses sleep in woods, one by turn remains awake, and, as it were, keeps watch. When Monkeys, in Brazil, sleep on trees, one of them keeps awake, in order to give the sign when the Tiger creeps toward them; and in case the guard should be caught asleep, the rest tear him in pieces.

Divine Providence is evidently displayed in keeping a just proportion amongst all the different species of animals: this prevents any one of them from increasing too rapidly, to the detriment of others. For the produce of the ground would be insufficient for the support of the animal creation, were their increase not regulated and limited by the over-ruling power of God. To which we may add, that, if some animals did not feed on others, the earth would be annoyed with putrified bodies. Therefore, when an animal dies, Bears, Wolves, Foxes, &c., expeditiously take the whole of it away. But if a horse die near a public road, in a few days he is swoln, burst, and at last filled with innumerable grubs of carnivorous Flies, by which his flesh is soon entirely consumed, and so does not become a nuisance to passengers by his poisonous stench. Thus the earth is not only kept clean from the putrefaction of dead carcases, but at the same time, by this economy of nature, the necessaries of life are provided for many animals.

Though animals should not die a violent death, still their powers only continue for a limited time: they have their determinate periods of growth, perfection, and decay: hence it becomes necessary that one race should succeed and replace another, and for this purpose they are endowed with a power of procreation. The formation of the fœtus, the manner of its existence, and the growth of its parts, are great secrets of nature; and in all viviparous animals, the milk found in the female parent is a maintenance ready for the young animal, the moment it enters the world. We have here, the nutritious quality of the fluid—the organ for its reception and retention—the excretory duct, annexed to that organ—and the determination of the milk to the breast, at the particular juncture when it is about to be wanted. The advanced pregnancy of the female has no intelligible tendency to fill the breasts with milk. The lacteal system is a constant wonder: and it adds to other causes of our admiration, that the number of the teats or paps in each species is found to bear a proportion to the number of the young. In the Sow, the Bitch, the Rabbit, the Cat, the Rat, which have numerous litters, the paps are numerous, and are disposed along the whole length of the belly: in the Cow and Mare, they are few.163 And the teats of animals which give suck are exactly adapted to the mouth, particularly to the lips and tongue, of the suckling progeny. Herodotus observes, that the most useful animals are the most fruitful in their generation: whereas the species of those beasts that are fierce and mischievous to mankind are but scarcely continued. The historian instances in a Hare, which is always either breeding or bringing forth; and a Lioness, which bears but once and then loses all power of conception.

It is evident that animals have not only a principle of self-motion, but are endued with a degree of understanding; and have a will, including various passions. What then produces the disparity between men and brutes, the line which they cannot pass? It is not understanding: who can say that brutes have not this? We may as well assert that they have not sight, nor hearing. But the difference consists in this: man is capable of knowing and enjoying God; the inferior creatures are not. This is the specific difference between the two: the great gulf which the brute cannot pass over.

We meet with a striking instance not only of industry, but understanding in Beavers. In the northern parts of America, during the months of June and July, they assemble, and form a society, which generally consists of more than two hundred. They always fix their abode by the side of a lake or river; and in order to make a stagnant water above and below, they erect, with incredible labor, a dam or pier, perhaps fourscore or a hundred feet long, and ten or twelve feet thick at the base. When this dyke is completed, they build their several apartments, which are divided into three stories. The first is beneath the level of the mole, and is for the most part full of water. The walls of their habitations are perpendicular, and about two feet thick. If any wood project from them, they cut it off with their teeth, which are more serviceable than saws: and by the help of their tails, they plaster all their works with a kind of mortar, which they prepare of dry grass and clay, mixed together. In August or September, they begin to lay up their stores of food; which consist of the wood of the birch, the plane, and of some other trees. Thus they pass the winter, in the enjoyment of ease and plenty.164

In the Dog we perceive evident marks of sagacity, recollection, affection, and revenge. Sagacity:—In the year 1760, whilst one Richardson, a waterman of Hammersmith, was sleeping in his boat, the vessel broke from her moorings, and was carried by the current under a west country barge. Fortunately, the man’s dog happened to be present; and the sagacious animal awaked him, by pawing his face, and pulling the collar of his coat, at the instant when the boat was filled with water, and on the point of sinking; by which means he had an opportunity of saving himself from inevitable death.165 Recollection:—A Dog, which had been the favorite of an elderly gentlewoman, some time after her death, on seeing her picture, when taken down from the wall, and laid on the floor to be cleaned, discovered the strongest emotions. He had never been observed, Dr. Percival believed, to notice the picture previously to this incident. Here was evidently a case of remembrance, or of the renewal of former impressions. Affection:—A few miles from Aberdeen, as a gentleman was walking across the Dee, when it was frozen, the ice gave way in the middle of the river, and he sunk; but, by grasping his gun, which had fallen athwart the opening, kept himself from being carried away by the current. A dog, who attended him, after many fruitless attempts to rescue his master, ran to a neighboring village, and took hold of the first person he met. The man was alarmed, and would have disengaged himself: but the Dog regarded him with a look so kind and significant, and endeavored to pull him along with so gentle a violence, that he began to think there might be something extraordinary in the case, and suffered himself to be conducted by the animal; who brought him to his master in time to save his life.166 Revenge:—A pack of ravenous Fox-Hounds were half starved in their kennel, to render them more furious and eager in the chace: and were severely lashed every day by a merciless keeper, that they might be disciplined to the strictest observance of his looks and commands. It happened that this petty tyrant entered the kennel without his scourge. The dogs observed his defenceless state; and, instantly seizing him, at once satisfied their hunger and revenge by tearing him to pieces.167

The Monkey tribe is very numerous, and usually divided by naturalists into three classes. Those which have no tails are termed Apes, and such as have very short ones, Baboons; but by far the most numerous class consists of those which have long tails, and are known by the general name of Monkeys. Were we to dissect and examine the several component parts of any one creature which God has made, we should find a perfection among its several powers, and an adaptation of its construction to its situation in the grand scale of existence, far surpassing human wisdom.

At the Cape of Good Hope, Baboons are under a sort of natural discipline, and go about whatever they undertake with surprising skill and regularity. When they undertake to rob an orchard or vineyard (for they are extremely fond of grapes and apples,) they go in large companies, and with preconcerted deliberation. Part of them enter the inclosure, while one is set to watch: the rest stand without the fence, and form a line reaching all the way from their fellows within to their rendezvous without, which is generally in some craggy mountain. Every thing being thus disposed, the plunderers within the orchard throw the fruit to those that are without as fast as they can gather it; or, if the wall or hedge be high, to those that sit on the top; and these hand the plunder to those next them on the other side. Thus the fruit is pitched from one to another all along the line, till it is safely deposited at their head-quarters. They catch it with amazing dexterity; and while the business is going forward, a profound silence is observed. Their sentinel, during the whole time, continues on the watch, and when he perceives any one coming, instantly sets up a loud cry, on which signal the whole company scamper away. Nor are they willing to go empty-handed; for if they are plundering a bed of melons, for instance, they go off with one in their mouths, one in their hands, and one under their arms. If the pursuit be vigorous and close, they drop first that from under their arms, then that from their hands; and if it be continued, they at last let fall that which they had kept in their mouth.168 There is another species of Monkey in the West Indies, of the size of a Fox. These are in great numbers in the woods, and make aloud and frightful noise. But it is common for one only to make a noise, and the rest to form a mute assembly round him. Marcgrave says, “I have frequently seen great numbers of them meeting about noon: at which time they formed a large circle, and one placing himself above the rest, began to make a loud noise. When he had sung thus by himself for some time, the rest all remaining silent, he lifted up his hand, and they all instantly joined in the chorus. This intolerable yell continued, till the same Monkey, who gave the signal for the beginning, lifted up his hand a second time. On this they were all silent again, and so finished the business of the assembly.”

Thus we see, wherever we turn our eyes, the various species of creatures which God has made. Every element is stocked with inhabitants, the sea with fishes, the air with fowls, and the earth with quadrupeds and creeping things. All these different provinces are richly replenished with food for the support of all the innumerable creatures that live in them. And what surprising skill and sagacity do some in the brute creation discover; such as might make many, who pride themselves in their reason, to blush and be confounded! Who does not admire the exquisite contrivance of birds in building their nests? the subtlety of several creatures in seeking their proper food? and of others in securing and defending themselves? The art of the Spider in weaving and spreading her nets, to ensnare and entangle her prey? the sapience and industry of the Bee in building her combs, and filling them with pleasant food? and the care and foresight of the Ant, in laying up her store against winter? In the meanest reptile, the Divine wisdom and power are conspicuously displayed.

The word רמש remes, translated creeping thing, and rendered reptile by Parkhurst, includes all the different genera of serpents, worms, and such animals as are not pedaneous. What a disparity among animals! While some are of an enormous size, and stalk about in the greatness of their strength, others are of a delicate and diminutive appearance, bordering on comparative insignificance. But Divine “skill and power are not less displayed in the beautiful Chevrotin, or Tragulus, a creature of the Antelope kind, and smallest of all bifed or cloven-footed animals, whose delicate limbs are scarcely as large as an ordinary goose quill; nor the Shrew Mouse, perhaps the smallest of the many-toed quadrupeds. In the reptile race we see also the same skill and power; not only in the immense snake called Boa Constrictor, the mortal foe and conqueror of the Royal Tiger, but also in the Cobra de Manille, a venomous serpent, not much larger than a common sewing needle.”

The Lizard tribe are distinguishable at first sight from other oviparous animals. They have no shields, like the Tortoises, and are furnished with tails, which are wanting in Toads and Frogs. They are covered with scales, of greater or less rigidity, or with a kind of warts or tubercles. Some of the species are scarcely more than two inches in length, whilst others extend even the length of twenty-six feet. The larger ones live on animals, which they seize by stratagem, and the smaller ones on insects. The aquatic species undergo a metamorphosis, from a tadpole to a perfect state. Most of them are produced from eggs, but some are brought forth alive. In many of the species the color and form are exceedingly beautiful. They principally inhabit the warmer regions of the globe, and many of them serve mankind for food.

As according to the economy of nature, the Lion seems appointed to the dominion of the immense deserts of the torrid zone, the Eagle to rule as sovereign of the air, and the Whale to have the pre-eminence in the seas; so the Crocodile169 and the Alligator appear to rule over the shores of the large rivers of tropical climates. All the rivers of Guinea are pestered with vast shoals of the former, M. Adanson having seen in the great river Senegal more than two hundred swimming together; and the latter are natives of the warmer parts of America.—The Guana, which grows to the length of four or five feet, is very common in Surinam, the woods of Guiana, Cayenne and Mexico, and in many parts both of Africa and Asia; but is now become scarce in the West Indies, in consequence of being much sought after for the table.—The Nimble Lizard, measuring from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail about six inches, is known in almost every part of the temperate regions of Europe. The Green Lizard and the Nimble Lizard, are considered by Dr. Shaw as varieties of the same species. The Green Lizards are considered by the inhabitants of Carolina as very useful animals, in consequence of destroying flies, and other troublesome and noxious insects. They will sometimes remain motionless for half a day, waiting for insects; and when one appears, they spring at it with the swiftness of an arrow. They are so familiar as to enter the houses without fear, and, in pursuit of prey, ascend the tables whilst families are eating, and even leap on their clothes. They are so beautiful and cleanly, as to be suffered to run across the tables, and even the plates, without exciting the least alarm or disgust.

The Chameleon is a native of India, the Indian Islands, Africa, some of the warmer parts of Spain and Portugal, and several of the countries of South America. Its usual length is about ten inches, and the tail nearly the same. All the motions of this creature are extremely slow, so that when travelling from one branch of a tree to another in pursuit of food, it may rather be said to lie in ambush among the leaves, in order to catch such insects as may come within the reach of its long adhesive tongue, than go in search of prey. When walking on the ground, it steps forward in a cautious, groping manner, seeming never to lift one foot till it is well assured of the firmness of the rest. From these precautions, its motions have a singular appearance of gravity, when contrasted with its diminutive size, and the activity that might be expected in an animal so nearly allied to some of the most active in the creation. Each of its eyes is covered with a rough membrane, which is divided by a narrow horizontal slit, through which the bright pupil, as if bordered with burnished gold, is seen. The eyes have this singular property, of looking at the same instant in different directions. One of them may frequently be seen to move when the other is at rest; or one will be directed forward, whilst the other is attending to some object behind; or in the same manner upward and downward. The property of changing its color is singular, and has led to various conjectures as to the cause.

Serpents are distinguishable from those already mentioned, by their total want of feet. The banded Rattle-Snake, found both in North and South America, is the most dreaded of all serpents. Providence has given to man a security against its bite; for it generally warns the passenger by the rattling of its tail, as well as by its odor, which is extremely fetid. When it has been irritated, or the weather is very hot, its poison being introduced into a wound, often proves fatal in a short time. If not provoked, it is inoffensive, being so much alarmed at the sight of men, as always, if possible, to avoid them, and never commencing an attack. The Great Boa, which is the largest of all the serpent tribe, is frequently from thirty to forty feet in length, and of a proportional thickness. It is a native of Africa, India, the largest Indian Islands, and South America, where it chiefly resides in the most retired situations in woods and marshy retreats. We are assured, that one of these serpents killed and devoured a buffalo, in the island of Java. It is happy for mankind that their rapacity is often the means of their own punishment; for whenever they have gorged themselves in this manner, they seek a retreat where they may lurk for several days and digest their meal, become unwieldy, stupid, helpless, sleepy, and may be approached and destroyed with safety.170

The snake tribe comprises nearly two hundred species, which differ from each other both in size and habit, and about one-fifth of the whole have been discovered to be poisonous. “The deserts of Arabia,” says Adanson, “are entirely barren, except where they are found to produce serpents; and in such quantities, that some extensive plains are almost entirely covered with them.” The apparatus of poison in the Viper is very similar to that of the Rattle-Snake, and all the other poisonous serpents. The fang of a Viper is a wonderful instance of contrivance. It is a perforated tooth, loose at the root: in its quiet state, lying down flat on the jaw, but furnished with a muscle, which with a jerk, and by the pluck, as it were, of a string, suddenly erects it. Under the tooth, close to its root, and communicating with the perforation, lies a small bag containing the venom. When the fang is raised, the closing of the jaw presses its roots against the bag underneath; and the force of this compression sends out the fluid, with a considerable impetus, through the tube in the middle of the tooth. By this singular apparatus, the animal is enabled to inflict on its enemies a most deadly bite, and infuse into the wound the most deleterious liquid. Yet, though in the mouth, this, in the quiescent state of the reptile, does not interfere with its ordinary office in taking its food.171

No less curious is the clothing of Reptiles. How well adapted are the rings of some, and the contortions of the skins of others, not only to guard the body sufficiently, but enable them to creep, perforate the earth, and perform all the functions of their stations, better than any other covering! Virgil gives the following description of a Sicilian serpent:

Even the tegument of the Earthworms is made in the completest manner, for effecting a passage in the earth, wherever instinct directs their motions. Their bodies are composed of small rings, and have a curious apparatus of muscles, which enables them with great strength to extend or contract the whole body. Each ring is likewise armed with stiff, sharp prickles, which they can open or close at pleasure. And under their skins is a shining juice, which they emit, as occasion requires, to lubricate their bodies, and facilitate their passage into the earth. By all these means they are enabled, with ease and speed, to work themselves into the ground, which they could not do, if they were covered with hair, feathers, scales, or such clothing as any of the other creatures.—One of the most singular properties of the serpent tribe is that of casting their skins from time to time. The beauty and lustre of their colors are then highly augmented. The old skins have a tarnished and withered appearance, and are forced off by the growth of the new. When this takes place, so complete is the spoil or coat-skin, that even the external coat of the eyes themselves make a part of it.

Among creeping things, the Spider engaged the attention of Solomon who observes, that he is one of those “little things on the earth, that are exceeding wise.” This creature subsists on flies, wasps, and similar insects, without having wings to pursue them; a circumstance apparently of great difficulty, yet provided for by a resource, which no stratagem nor effort of his own could have produced, had not both the external and internal structure of this animal been specifically adapted to the operation. What surprising skill and sagacity does the Spider discover in weaving and spreading her nets to ensnare and entangle her prey! How wonderfully artificial is her web, or house! How astonishingly curious its architecture! With the fine and delicate threads she spins out of her bowels, how thin a web does she weave, constructed for the purpose of procuring food! It is fastened according to the rules of mathematics, for its lines are drawn exactly from the centre at parallel distances.172 When this net is spread, that she may the more effectually secure her prey, she cunningly conceals herself in her covert, to evade the discovery of flies. It is from the accuracy of this geometrical workmanship, that this cunning artist is immediately apprized of the approach of a fly, or any other insect of the like nature, when she sallies forth and seizes on her prey. She is furnished with a very sharp hooked forceps, placed near the mouth. With this weapon she seizes and pierces the flesh of such insects as entangle themselves in her web; and, at the same instant, by means of a small white proboscis, she infuses a deadly juice into the wound, which, in a moment, kills the animal. This poison must be very deleterious; for flies, and many other insects, may be mutilated by depriving them of their legs, wings, and even cutting their bodies through the very middle of their abdomen, and, in that condition, will survive several days.—The Centipeds, the Scorpion, and the Tarantula, are all provided with poisonous weapons.

Appendix to the Chapters on Plants, Fishes, Fowls and Quadrupeds.

[If we will attentively examine the fossil remains of fishes, animals, birds, and vegetables, so abundantly preserved entombed in the crust of our earth, we shall easily see the necessity of looking into the sepulchres of these primitive creatures if we would freely describe the “Mosaic Creation.” Many of their genera and species are now extinct: and those which remain seem to have dwindled down to mere dwarfs in comparison with their prototypes.

It is a matter of great satisfaction, that these interesting remains of the primordial world are so well preserved. They are called by one the medals of creation: they reveal the ancient condition of our earth; the successive events; and the attending organic appendages of sensitive beings: and it is a matter of great pleasure to the Christian, that what they disclose so clearly on this subject agrees expressly with the Bible.

The class of animated beings called pisces, or fishes, is not so well known in regard to their genera, and species, as the classes of quadrupeds and birds.

From the fossil remains of each, and their position in the crust of the earth, it is well ascertained, that their genera were created successively, and that the most ancient genera are extinct. The same is true in regard to vegetables. It is equally true, that, connected with the successive creation, was a successive improvement in the delicacy and complexity of their structure and parts. There was also a reduction in the size of fishes, and quadrupeds, and a great reduction in the amount of vegetation, as well as the size of many of the plants.

These periodic variations in all early organized bodies, were evidently owing to the variations of the state of the surface of our earth, and the surrounding atmosphere. The Divine Being appears to have created the different genera suited in constitution to the condition of the world at the time. The cause of their successive extinction appears to have been successive catastrophes, which altered the constitution of our earth and atmosphere.

All these facts taken together indicate, that, in the early periods of the earth, the soil, water, and air were better calculated to sustain the simply huge, and inconceivably powerful and fierce creatures of the animal kingdom, than the delicate and beautiful beings of the present period. The same is eminently true in regard to vegetables, specially their quantity. They were of trunks, and spreading branches so huge as to exceed belief, did we not see them well preserved in a fossil state. Their quantity also was immense; hence the amount of vegetable coal found in the earth.

These facts clearly indicate that, in the early periods of our earth, the surface was moist, perhaps, marshy for a long time, gradually drying, and passing to a habitable state: the air was very moist and gross, and the temperature of the earth was much higher than at present. Hence the huge and abundant vegetable productions. These general facts shall be confirmed by a few remarks in regard to each class.

Fishes.—Under this class is included, here, testaceous, and crustaceous creatures, as well as fishes commonly so called. The most ancient of this family seem to be entirely extinct, and their remains are found in great abundance in the lower transition rocks. There are many localities where fossil fish, of various kinds, are found abundantly. They are sometimes found in the heart of mountains, thousands of feet above the level of the sea. Their localities are so numerous they need not be mentioned. They are found in all possible positions, and in every degree of preservation—some are contorted, and crushed; indicating sudden violence. Others are inhumed in the very act of swallowing their prey, and in every easy and natural position; indicating that they expired without violence. Some of these, which are thus quietly buried, are of the most active species; thus proving the suddenness of the catastrophe.

So extensive are the depositions of shell-fish, that whole beds of rock, in some cases, appear to be composed of them; and, indeed, in some instances, mountains are composed principally of these rocks filled with organic remains.

From these facts, it is allowed by all, that the sea once covered these localities; and when it is recollected that some of the rock strata, composed of the exuviæ of these marine creatures, are hundreds of feet thick, the conclusion will be irresistible, that the sea covered them for a long time, and that these rocks which contain them were deposited at the bottom of the sea, which have since become dry, by the retiring of the waters, or by some subjacent force upheaving the bed of the sea, and of course these deposits which had been made at its bottom—when these fossil remains are found in mountain masses they have been upheaved—when in low lands, where the rocks lie in situ, the sea has exposed them by retiring.

Amphibious Creatures.—There are yet a few animals of this class; but they can scarcely be called the types of the ancient races, now extinct, whose remains have lately been discovered, and attracted so much attention in Europe. They are principally of the crocodile, and saurian (or lizard) families. Their size, and indicated power, ferocity, and fierceness, are astonishing beyond measure. Their structure clearly indicates their proper element was wet, marshy, and reedy places, such as the crocodile delights in at this time: thus indicating that they were in the earth as the ancient chaotic seas retired, and was leaving the earth dry.

If a single skeleton only, of any one of these creatures had been found, naturalists would have pronounced it a lusus naturæ. But many have been found, of different genera and species: only two or three shall be mentioned here.

One of the crocodile family, as is supposed, had a spine composed of 133 vertebræ, or joints, taken together 21½ feet in length. The head was nearly 4 feet. Its species are extinct; some refer even this huge animal to the lizard family.

The Megalosaurus. The skeleton of this huge creature has been satisfactorily examined, and ascertained to belong to the lizard family. Its thigh bone is 32 inches long. It is said some have been found 4 feet. At 32 inches, the animal must have been 48 feet in length. Dr. Buckland, from some fossil remains, calculates some of them were as high as our largest elephants, and sixty or seventy feet in length. And yet this was a lizard of the ancient world!

The Pterodactyle. This is a species of the saurian family as those above. Its distinctive character is the elongation of its fourth toe, so as to support a membrane for the purpose of flying: hence its name, wing-toed. It is indeed a curiosity. Its species is extinct.

The Ichthyosaurus. This is also a reptile of the lizard kind: but because it so much resembles a fish; it has this name, i.e. fish-lizard. It has a moderate tail—long pointed muzzel armed with sharp pointed teeth; two huge eyes; breathed air; swam in the water; crawled in marshy, reedy places, but could not walk or run on land, having flat fins, or bony paddles, somewhat like seals. The skeletons indicate some of them to have been 25 feet long.

The Plesiosaurus. This animal, as its name imports, was rather akin to lizards, than decidedly of the genus. Its very peculiar characteristic is the immoderate length of its neck, and the unexampled number of vertebræ of which it is composed. In other respects it approaches the ichthyosaurus. Its remains indicate an animal, according to Cuvier, at least 30 feet long.

The Iguanodon, was of the lizard genus, three or four times as large as the largest crocodile; having jaws equal in size to the incisors of the rhinoceros, and crested with horns. (Dr. Buckland.)

Many more creatures of the early periods of our earth might be mentioned, which would come expressly under the title of this volume; and the knowledge of which is durably preserved in the fossils of the earth, all of which would confirm the facts stated in the commencement of this paper, viz: that during the first and grossest periods of our earth previously to the creation of man, great numbers of genera and species of huge and misshapen animals existed, which are now extinct. For instance: the skeletons of animals of the frog and toad families, have been found so large, as to induce some naturalists at first to call them human remains. A tapir has been found the size of an elephant; and a species of the sloth tribe as long as a rhinoceros!!

These things will indeed appear incredible to the reader at first; but let him recollect that the evidences of these astonishing facts are contained in the solid crust of the earth, and cannot be deceptive. They may be seen, measured, weighed, and put up so as to form the whole animal, an object of inspection to thousands.

There are but few fossil remains of birds found in the earth, and these are principally in the upper tertiary strata, and in company with the fossil remains of such animals as are companionable and serviceable to man. The reason of this is obvious: the earth was not suitable for the habitation of birds until it had become comparatively dry, and the seas had retired in a great measure, and vegetation abundant. The aquatic genera appeared first, of which there are a few remains. Moreover this class of creatures could not be overtaken with any violent catastrophe, so as to bury them in a body, or in particular strata. It is, therefore, probable that birds, as a class, have preserved their genera and species from the first; and are now nearly the same in this respect, as well as in size, as in the earlier periods of the world.

Vegetables.—In the vegetable kingdom we are if possible, more astonished than in the animal, of the ancient periods of our earth. From their fossil remains, well and abundantly preserved, it is very evident that the vegetation of the first periods of our earth was abundant and heavy, beyond any thing which we can conceive at this time. It cannot be doubted but that the vegetative powers of the earth was very much greater than at this time, or within the memory of man. This is evident from the immense production of vegetable coal.

This statement may be rendered somewhat more credible when it is recollected, that the earth, in its first periods, was of a much higher temperature than now; and of course not only produced more abundantly, but all parts of the earth produced vegetation in abundance. This is evident from the fact, that within the arctic circle, where now reigns eternal winter, and no vegetation can be found, there was anciently successive products of heavy vegetation. (See appendix to our paper on volcanos.) This is proven by plants being found fossilized on the spot, and in the position in which they grew; as also the leaves and fruits of plants, which are known now to be tropical, so well preserved, and in such a natural, easy position as to prove clearly they grew on the spot on which they were fossilized.

The flora of the primordial world was expressly a part of the ‘Mosaic creation,’ and which is but little understood as yet. Some of the principal plants were of the fern and palm genera; but their size very far exceeded those now found growing. By closely examining these fossil plants, it will be found, that they increase in size and quantity as the period of their growth is distant from the time in which man was created: thus indicating an increasing temperature of the earth as we ascend in time. This also corresponds with the well known fact, that the size of these plants now increases progressively from the polar regions to the equator.

Our author has given a concise and edifying description of the principal families and individuals which now exist, and are found in the earth. The above remarks are intended to direct the attention to those which have long since passed away.]

The propriety of the distinction between clean and unclean beasts, mentioned in the Scripture, will appear on the first hearing of their names; for we find amongst the clean creatures, Oxen, Sheep, Goats, and Lambs: and on the other side, Lions, Tigers, Wolves, Foxes, Swine, Moles, and Serpents. It is evident that there is a wide difference between these two parties, with respect to their manners and ways of life.

Those only are admitted among clean animals, which “divide the hoof and chew the cud.” Animals which divide the hoof are more inoffensive with their feet, than the several tribes of wild beasts, whose paws are armed with sharp claws, to seize their prey. Quadrupeds with a divided hoof tread surer than those whose hoof is entire; there being a plain mechanical reason why a foot, which presents several angles and edges, should take faster hold on the ground. They are not only surer footed, but also more orderly and regular in their progress. Sheep have a natural tendency to follow each other’s steps. They approach the fold, or return from it, in a train; as well as traverse their pastures in the like order. Oxen tread in the very footsteps of their predecessors: so that a drove of them, on passing through a deep and narrow road, leave the surface divided into a regular succession of ridges and furrows, as if it were the work of art. If animals could reason and dispute as men can, this plodding practice of the Ox might possibly be ridiculed by the Ass; as the orthodox believer, who is content to tread in the steps of his forefathers, is scoffed at by the rambling freethinker, who uses it as the privilege of his nature, to deviate into by-ways, untrodden by those who were much wiser than himself. Sure footing is an image not improperly applied to elementary truth and science: whence it will not be unnatural to suppose, that this first character of the clean animals was intended to be expressive of rectitude and certainty of principle in moral agents. Error is various and changeable in its nature: but truth, being uniformly the same in all ages, will always be productive of sobriety and regularity in those who follow it.

The other character of clean animals is that of “chewing the cud;” a faculty expressive of that act of the mind, by which it revolves, meditates, and discourses on what it has laid up in the memory; and the word ruminate has the same metaphorical meaning. An animal thus employed has the appearance of abstraction in its countenance, as if it were engaged in deep meditation; and it ruminates more particularly when lying in an horizontal position, for then the food is more easily recalled into the mouth from its temporary lodgment in the stomach. This character then, is expressive of devout thought and holy conversation: for the word of God is the food of the mind, which, being laid up in the heart, should be frequently revolved; so that being properly applied to the inward man, it may contribute to a daily increase in faith, purity, and goodness.

The clean animals were also sacred; that is, set apart by the law for the purpose of sacrifice. The propriety of which is evident: for if the worshipper, who offered an animal to God, meant by that act to devote himself, using the animal as his substitute or proxy; then certainly it was not fit that he should represent himself by an unclean creature, whose instincts and habits would convey an odious idea of his own person and character, and consequently make his devotion appear ridiculous. In order to make a sacrifice acceptable, it was requisite that the qualifications of the offerer should correspond with those of the offering. The innocent manners of a clean victim, were a tacit reflection on an unclean offerer. When the worshippers of the true God were corrupt in their principles or morals, their oblations were no longer either proper or acceptable: which was signified to them in those words of the prophet—“He that killeth an ox, as if he slew a man: he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck: he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood.” The reason is added: “They have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.” But there is another sense in which the institution of sacrifice is to be understood: for every sacrifice had its prophetic use, and was prefigurative of the true sacrifice of Jesus Christ; with respect to whom it was necessary that every animal, preferred to this sacred application, should be recommended by every possible character of innocence, purity, and perfection: therefore the sacrifices were taken from the tribes of Sheep, Goats, and Oxen.

The diet of the Jews being thus immediately connected with the most solemn acts of religious adoration, the daily course of their living carried with it an exhortation to purity of mind and body, and directed their faith to its supreme object, the vicarious sacrifice of the Messiah. The moral necessities of man can only be supplied by the death and benefits of a propitiatory sacrifice, the common substitute of all mankind: whence God has mercifully ordained, as well by the present condition of creation itself, as by the appointment of revelation, that the life of his body should be sustained in like manner: thereby to remind us every day, that the life of man is in a state of forfeiture; and that there can be neither the preservation, nor the remission of sins, without the shedding of innocent blood. Thus does mankind conspire in offering up a daily sacrifice, and attesting the truth of the Christian doctrine, and many persons with the same insensibility that Caiaphas uttered a similar prophecy in its favor, “It is necessary that one man should die, that the whole people perish not.”

These clean and unclean animals, with respect to their several ways of life, are as opposite as their dispositions. Sheep, Oxen, Goats, Deer, &c., are formed into societies, they herd peaceably together, and are subject to the laws of government, as well for their own advantage as for the service of man. But beasts of prey roam by themselves in forests and deserts, incapable of entering into any friendly communion. They are so many single tyrants, who acknowledge no superior, but fight their way, and live in a state of hostility with the whole creation. If they ever unite in gangs, it is with the spirit of thieves and murderers, who are banded together only that they may plunder the innocent with greater security. And, like other depredators, they are all fond of darkness. When the sun goes down, the Lion stalks forth from his den: at which time the Sheep, under the direction of the shepherd, are retiring to their fold. And when the cattle are climbing up the mountains to their pasture, invited by the reviving rays of the rising sun, the tyrants of the night are warned back to their hiding-places.173

The blindness of the Mole, the petulance and immodesty of the Dog, the subtlety of the Fox, the poisonous teeth and double tongue of the Serpent, afford ample scope for reflection. The Egyptian hieroglyphics were certain visible representations of creatures, whose inclinations and actions led to the knowledge of those truths which they intended for instruction. A profane and voluptuous man was represented by a Swine, whose filthy disposition caused it to be hated by all the eastern people. A great hypocrite, or a notorious dissembler of wicked intentions, was expressed by a Leopard, because this animal acts craftily, concealing his head that he may with less difficulty catch his unwary prey; for the creatures are as much alarmed at his presence, as they are pleased with the agreeable scent of his body: when therefore they approach him, delighted with the perfume, he will cover his head with his paws, till they come within his reach. An incorrigible person was also expressed by a Leopard’s skin, because its spots no art can remove. A Chamelion likewise was the hieroglyphic of a hypocrite, who can accommodate himself to any religion that will serve his turn; for this animal can change its color. A stupid, ignorant person, an enemy to religion, was signified by an Ass; and one that was not acquainted with men and things, or knew not how to acquit himself with decency and propriety in the world, was painted with the head and ears of an Ass. The Egyptians were accustomed to put the heads of animals on the bodies of men, to express the dispositions and conduct of those persons they were intended to represent. A Tiger, being a most fierce animal, signified a savage, cruel, revengeful disposition, opposed to all goodness. A Fox is notorious for his craftiness; therefore he is an emblem of a subtile person, under the influence of wicked thoughts and intentions.174

Rams, and Bullocks of Bashan, Lions, or any animal of prey, are figures frequently used by the sacred writers for cruel and oppressive tyrants and conquerors. “Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, which oppress the poor.” Bashan was a very fruitful place, a fine and fattening pasture, in which were the best fed and strongest cattle. To these, the prophet compares the great men among the Israelites, especially their judges and magistrates, who were proud, insolent, wanton and mischievous, like the bulls of Bashan; who oppressed the poor, as high fed cattle push and gore the weaker sort. “The Lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate: and thy cities shall be laid waste without an inhabitant.” By this animal is meant Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, so termed on account of his great power and fierceness; and as the Lion is commonly in the forest among the thicket, so this terrible political ruler had his strong hold and principal seat at Babylon, which residence he left to commit awful desolation among the cities of Judah and Israel.

The prophet Isaiah, with a boldness and majesty becoming the herald of the Most High, begins his prophecy with calling on the whole creation to attend, when Jehovah speaks. “Hear, oh heavens; and give ear, oh earth; for the Lord hath spoken; I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.” A charge of gross insensibility and ingratitude is then brought against the Jews; by contrasting their conduct with that of the Ox, and the Ass, which is the most stupid of animals. “The Ox knoweth his owner, and the Ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people do not consider.” What a cutting reproof! what an indelible reproach! to have been favored with the best means of instruction, and yet to be exceeded by the herd of the stall! To perish for lack of knowledge, after having had the best means to acquire it, evinces the grossest inattention, and most censurable insensibility.

The prophet Jeremiah lamented the wickedness of the age in which he lived, and the vice and immorality that every where abounded. He saw with grief of heart the holy Sabbath profaned, the worship of God neglected, and his house and ordinances defiled. While a sorrowful witness to their gross abominations, he saw the punishments that awaited their immorality, and then wept over what he could not amend. He gave them faithful admonitions from God, but they disregarded them, and drank in iniquity like water, and drew sin as with a cart-rope: because they had been taught to do evil (for so the margin reads,) trained up in their evil ways, had learned to sin by precept and example, and were great proficients in vicious pursuits: from their youth their natural propensity to evil had increased by continued practice, till sinning was become habitual, and there was little hope left of amendment. Therefore he exclaims, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the Leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” The Ethiopian’s skin is of so sable a hue, that no water can wash it white. A Leopard’s skin is beautifully spotted, which is not the result of accident, but nature, and cannot be defaced. By these two similes the prophet designs to represent, not only the natural impossibility without Divine aid, but also the extreme difficulty of habitual sinners learning to do well, after they have long accustomed themselves to do evil. The least sin is to be avoided, the least growth of sin to be prevented; for sin indulged in thought will beget desire, desire will break out into action, action will grow into custom, custom will settle into habit, and then, there is the utmost danger of both body and soul being irrecoverably lost.

When our Saviour sent forth his apostles to preach the Gospel, he informed them of the hardships, dangers, and discouragements they would have to encounter, in the faithful discharge of their ministry; especially after his resurrection, when they would be deprived of his personal presence; for we do not read of any great persecutions they endured while he was with them. These sufferings he foretold, that they might not be surprised at their approach; and that, by the accomplishment of this prediction, their faith might be confirmed. “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of Wolves.” Here we have a prediction of their perilous condition; they were to be as Sheep in the midst of Wolves. And what situation more dangerous! What can sheep, that are feeble creatures, and destitute of natural armour to defend themselves, expect, in the midst of ravenous wolves, but to be rent and torn to pieces? So those, amongst whom the apostles were to be sent, would have as great an inclination, arising from their malicious dispositions, to destroy them, as wolves have from their nature to devour sheep. Wicked men are like wolves, whose nature it is to destroy and devour sheep; they are of a diabolical disposition towards the ministers of the Gospel.

Our Saviour also gave his apostles advice, how to conduct themselves in such very unpleasant and dangerous circumstances. “Be ye therefore wise as serpents,” not cunning as foxes, whose aim is to deceive others; but as serpents, whose policy is only to defend themselves, when they are in danger. A serpent’s wisdom appears in a care to guard and secure its head, that it may not be hurt; in stopping its ears against the voice of the charmer, which it does, says a certain naturalist, by laying one ear close to the ground, and stopping the other with its tail; and in sheltering itself in the clefts of a rock, when in danger. So should Christ’s ministers, in a time of peril, use all lawful means for their own safety and preservation; they should be wary and circumspect to keep themselves from harm, either of body or soul. “And harmless as doves.” Ministers should be meek, do no person any harm, bear no ill-will, be without gall, as is said of the dove; though their enemies should be fierce and savage, like wolves, yet they must not study how to revenge the injuries done them. It should be their continual care to be inoffensive, in word and deed: wisdom and innocence should dwell together. Ministers must not be altogether doves, lest they fall into danger; nor altogether serpents, lest they injure others; but they must be both serpents and doves, the one for wisdom, the other for innocence.

Our Saviour likewise cautions his followers against false teachers. “Beware of false prophets.” The term prophet in the Scripture, signifies one who foretells things to come; this is the most proper signification of the word. It also means one who expounds the predictions of the Old Testament. And sometimes we are to understand by it, one employed in the ministry of the Gospel; in this sense a prophet and a teacher are reciprocal terms. So that by prophet here our Saviour means false teachers, who, pretending authority from God, exercised themselves in the ministry, and published false doctrine, or at least represented truth in a corrupt manner, with a fraudulent intention, from base motives, and for vile ends; by whose doctrine persons were in no small danger of being seduced from their simplicity, and drawn away from the truth, sincerity, and power of godliness; into a dead and lifeless formality, and an empty show of religion and piety. Now against such men, Christ, in the days of his public ministry, warned his hearers, to prevent their deception, apprising them that they would “come in sheep’s clothing.” They disguised their dangerous principles and base intentions, under a show of external religion, and fair professions of love, that, thereby they might deceive others. “But inwardly they are ravening Wolves.” They were as dangerous to the souls of men, as ravenous Wolves are to Sheep, which watch for an opportunity to seize their prey, silently approach the sheep-fold to see whether the dogs be asleep, or the shepherd be absent: so false teachers with wretched hypocrisy and sophistry, counterfeit sincerity, humility, and sanctity; and were it not for this semblance of piety, their efforts to injure the church of God would be ineffectual. He compares these false teachers to Wolves, especially on account of their cruelty. These animals are not content to satisfy their hunger, but will destroy multitudes merely to gratify their voracious nature. So false teachers strive to injure the whole church of God, and thus destroy souls.

Our Saviour exhorted his auditory to the exercise of Christian prudence, in the dispensing of spiritual things. “Give not that which is holy unto the Dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before Swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” The deep things of God, relating to doctrines, are not to be divulged to those who are wallowing in sin; neither are the great things he has done in his people to be declared to profane, furious persecutors: but both classes of wicked men may be reproved on proper occasions. By Dogs, our Saviour means froward, perverse, malicious, revengeful, boisterous, incorrigible, and irreclaimable sinners, who scorn holy institutions, mock at every thing sacred, scoff at religion, deride the word of God, and all serious reproofs and admonitions, whether given by parents, masters, ministers, governors, and others; who are ready to persecute those who preach the Gospel, and endeavor to promote their salvation. By Swine, he means such sinners as are profane and sensual, and like Swine wallow in the mud of sin and wickedness; to whom it is as pleasant to live in their beastly lusts, as it is for Swine to wallow in the mire; and to disregard, abuse, and trample on holy things.

St. Peter, in showing what all men are in the sight of God, before they receive his grace, and what those are who turn apostates from the truth, alludes to two offensive actions of Dogs and Swine. “It has befallen to them according to the true proverb, the Dog is turned to his vomit, and the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.” Blackwall says, this proverb, with great propriety and strength, marks out the sottishness and odious manners of persons enslaved to sensual appetites and carnal lusts; and the extreme difficulty of reforming vicious and inveterate habits. As a Dog, observe Bishop Patrick, when he has vomited up his meat which made him sick, is no sooner well but he returns to it, and eats it up again, forgetting how ill it agreed with him; so an imprudent person commits the same error over again, for which he formerly smarted. The evil nature remaining, and at last gaining the ascendency, in a man, who had through grace reformed his life, renders him like the loathsome and detestable Sow, as Dr. Doddridge remarks; for the Sow that was washed from the filthiness she had before contracted, having still the same unclean nature prevailing, is returned to wallow in the mire, and so makes herself as filthy as she had ever been before. And, adds Dr. Whitby, these two proverbs are expressive of the folly of those men who return to those vices they had formerly renounced.

Section II.—Man.

Body: — Its Creator — Formation — Vitality — Blood — Heart — Arteries and Veins — Digestion — Respiration — Glands — Absorbents — Nervous System — Organs of Sense — Bones — Sinovia — Muscles — Tendons — Cellular Membrane — Skin. Soul: — Its Immateriality — Freedom — Immortality — Moral Image — Adam’s Dominion over the Creatures — Woman — Paradise.

All things necessary, convenient, and delightful, being prepared for the accommodation of Man: light, that he might see; air, that he might hear and breathe; dry land, on which he might walk; herbs and fruit-trees, for his gratification and sustenance; fish, fowl, cattle, and creeping things, for his service: then God proceeded to make him, as the last and greatest display of his wisdom and power, the master-piece of all sublunary creatures, whose creation alone is represented in the sacred History, as an effect resulting from a divine consultation. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” It appears from the ingenious Parable of Protagoras in Plato, it was a very ancient opinion that man was last created after the other living creatures.

In all the former works, God only said, Let such and such things be, and they were; he spake the word, and it was done. But now, when Man was to be made, God is spoken of as calling a council, “Let us make man, in our image, after our likeness.” This imports that Man was to be a creature different from all that had been produced, and far more excellent and wonderful in his constitution; a compound of flesh and spirit, heaven and earth, put together, the visible image of the Divine glory, and dedicated and devoted to his Creator’s service. Man was the work of Elohim, the Divine Plurality, marked here more distinctly by the plural pronouns us and our; all the Three Subsistencies in the Godhead are represented as united in counsel and effort to bring into existence this astonishing creature.

Aben Ezra, a Jewish Rabbi, imagined that the souls of all men were made on the first day of the creation, and that God consulted them to obtain their consent before he would assign them bodies of flesh, hereafter to be created. This is a groundless hypothesis, derived from the Platonic philosophy; for God says, “Let us make man in our image,” which shows that Adam’s soul had then no existence, for in that case, it doubtless would have been in the image of God.

Some other Jewish Doctors, as Manasseh ben Israel, ridiculously conceived that God spake to the elements. But this is more absurd than the former; for the expression, “Let us make man,” implies capacity of consultation in those spoken to, and real efficiency. But the elements are not intelligent beings, neither efficient, but only material parts of man.

Nor does God here speak to the angels, as the authority of the Paraphrase, which is called Jonathan’s, suggests. The words of the Paraphrase are these: “God said to the angels, which ministered before him, Let us make man.” It is a noted saying of the Jewish Rabbis, that God does nothing without consulting his family above: they mean, his holy angels. Several heretics, in the first and second centuries of Christianity, were of opinion, that this lower world was made by angels. This notion is likewise erroneous: God here speaks to those in whose image man was to be formed, but he was not made in the image of angels.

It is pretended by those who are enemies to the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity, that this is a figurative way of speaking, only to express the dignity of God, not to denote any plurality in him; that he here speaks in the plural number after the manner of princes, who say, We will and require, or, It is our pleasure. But this is only a far-fetched invention, to evade the doctrine of the Trinity, by persons in latter times, and no way agreeable to the first ages of the world, or the Hebrew style. Melchizedeck, Abimelech, Pharoah, and Balak, all speak in the singular number. The kings of Israel used the same style, as did Saul, David, and even Solomon in all his glory. And also the Eastern monarchs: “I (Darius) make a decree. I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree.” Nor is there in the Scriptures one example to the contrary.

Beside, how absurd it is to suppose that God would borrow his mode of speaking from a practice which did not exist! And even granting this possible, yet the cases are not parallel. For though a King, or Governor, may say us and we, there is certainly no figure of speech that will allow a single person to say, one of us, when he speaks of himself. It is a phrase that can have no meaning, unless there be more persons than one concerned. Yet in addition to US and OUR, this we find is the style in which God has spoken of himself.

There are some persons who maintain, in opposition to the clear light of revelation, that there is but one Subsistence in the Divine Nature. This was the opinion of the Sabellians, a denomination which arose in the third century; and, certain persons, in modern times, have embraced the same. These contend that God here speaks to himself, as consulting with himself, to create man, and that, though the words be plural, yet the sense is singular, as if he had said, Let me make man.

One of the Persons, or Subsistencies in the Godhead, here speaks to the other Two, and who more likely than the Father, who is first in the order of arrangement, as given by the sacred Writers. The Father, not the Son, is the first; the Son, not the Holy Spirit, is the second; and the Holy Spirit, not the Father, is the third. Hence, the Father, when he said, “Let us make man,” addressed himself to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, who were therein joint and equal Creators with him. “None saith, Where is God my Maker?” in the Hebrew, Makers, is the language used in the Book of Job, implying a Plurality of Persons in a Unity of Essence: a phraseology like that of Solomon, “Remember thy Creator,” in the original, Creators. The prophet Isaiah adopts the same style, “Thy Maker is thine husband,” in the Hebrew, thy Makers are thy Husbands. Thus it evidently appears, that this consultation was among the Persons in the Godhead; that all the Three, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, were concerned in man’s creation; and were therein joint Creators, equal in nature, power, and efficiency.

Dr. Waterland says, that this text, Let us make man, has been understood of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, or at least of Father and Son, by the whole succession of Christian writers, from the times of the apostles; which is a circumstance of considerable importance, and will impress the minds of sincere and impartial men. That the Christian Fathers were unanimous in their judgment, that these words were spoken by the Father to the Son, or Spirit, or both, appears in their works, from which we shall adduce a few proofs.

Barnabas says:—“And for this the Lord was contented to suffer for our souls, though he be the Lord of the world; to whom God said, the day before the formation of the world, Let us make man after our image and similitude.”175

Hermas:—“He was present in counsel with his Father for the forming of the creature.”176

Theophilus of Antioch:—“He directed these words, Let us make man, to none other than his own Word and his own Wisdom.”177

Irenæus:—“His Word and Wisdom, his Son and Spirit, are always present with him, to whom also he spake, saying, Let us make man, &c.”178 Again:—“Man was fashioned after the image and likeness of the uncreated God, the Father willing his creation, the Son ministering and forming him, the Holy Ghost nourishing and increasing him.”179

Tertullian:—“Nay, because his Son is ever present with him, the second person, his Word; and the third, the Spirit in the Word; therefore he spake in the plural, Let us make man in our image.”180

Novatian:—“Who does not acknowledge the Son to be the second person after the Father, when he reads that it was said to the Son by the Father, Let us make man.”181

Origen:—“To him also spake he (the Father,) Let us make man after our image.”182

Athanasius:—“Who is this that God converses with here? To whom are these notifications and determinations of his pleasure directed? Not to any of the creatures already made; much less to those things which were not yet created; but, undoubtedly to some person, who was then present with the Father, to whom he communicated his councils, and of whose agency he made use in the creation of them. And who could this be but his eternal Word? With whom can we conceive the Father holding his conference, but with his Son, the divine LOGOS, that Wisdom of God, that was present with him, and acted with him, in the creation of the world, who was in the beginning with God, and was God? and who saith of himself, When he prepared the heavens, I was there; when he appointed the foundations of the earth, then was I by him, as one brought up with him.”

St. Augustine:—“Had God said no more than, Let us make man, it might, with some color, be understood as spoken to the angels, whom the Jews pretend he employed in framing the body of man, and other creatures; but seeing it immediately follows, after our image, it is highly profane to believe, that man was made after the similitude of angels; and that the similitude of God and angels is one and the same.”

St. Ambrose speaks to the same purpose:—“God would not speak thus to his servants, because it is not to be thought, that servants were partners with their Lord, in his works of creation; or the works with their Author. And, supposing this should be admitted, that the work was common to God and angels, yet the image was not common.”

Nay, the second Council of Sirmium, which was held in 351, pronounced an anathema on all those who denied this. The words of the Council are these:—“If any say, that the Father did not speak to the Son, when he said, Let us make man, but that he spake to himself, let him be accursed.”183

Epiphanius:—“This is the language of God to his Word, and Only-begotten, as all the faithful believe.”184 And again he says, “Adam was formed by the hand of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”185

I observe more at large from Irenæus, that he rejects the notion of the Jews and Heretics, who supposed God spake to his angels. For disputing against Heretics, who attributed the creation of the world to angels, and powers separate from the one true God, he says thus:—“Angels did not make us, nor did they form us; neither was it in their power to make the image of God: none but the Logos could do this; no powers distinct from the Father of all things: for God did not want their assistance in making the things which he had ordained. For his Word and his Wisdom, the Son and the Holy Ghost, are always with him; by whom and with whom, he made all things freely, and of his own accord; to whom also he spake in these words, Let us make man in our image and likeness.”186

The testimony of Dr. Kennicott will be respected by those who are lovers of the truth. “God, says he, being about to create man, is introduced saying—Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; in consequence of which the historian tells us—so God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him. It is evident then, that God created man in his own image; this is mentioned thrice by way of emphasis, and to prevent, if possible, all possibility of misconstruction. Now what God did, was certainly what he proposed to do; God created man in his own image, that is, in the image of the Godhead, and therefore God proposed to create him in the image of the Godhead. But if God proposed to create him in the image of the Godhead, the proposal must have been made to the Godhead; because the words are—Let us make man in our image. And if the proposal be here made by God to the Godhead, it is absurd to suppose it made to the same Person that makes it; and consequently reasonable to think it made to the other two persons in the Unity of the Godhead.”187

The creature now to be made is man.188 And God said, Let us make man. It is evident that God, by introducing the creation of man with this peculiar phraseology, intends to impress the mind with a sense of something extraordinary in his formation. The word אדם Adam, which is translated man, is intended to designate the species of animal, which is vastly superior to all the rest. Though the same kind of organization may be found in Man, as appears in the lower animals, yet, as one observes, there is a variety and complication in the parts, a delicacy of structure, a nice arrangement, a judicious adaptation of the various members to their great offices and different functions, a dignity of mien, and perfection of the whole, which are sought for in vain in all other creatures.

Man is a compound creature, consisting of two distinct essential parts, body and soul. The union of these constitutes man, for neither of them when separated can be so denominated. The body was made before the soul, and formed out of the earth, or, as עפר âpher implies, the dust. “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground.” He afterwards pronounced, Dust thou art. This led Solomon to affirm, “All are of the dust.” The Apostle adds, “The first man was of the earth, dusty,” as Ainsworth renders it. And we are said to “dwell in houses of clay,” and to have our “foundation in the dust.” Of the soul it is said, “God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life:” רוח חיים ruach chayim, the breath of lives; i.e. animal, intellectual, and spiritual. While this breath of God expanded the lungs, and set them to play, his inspiration gave both spirit, understanding, and felicity. Thus we see that the soul and the body are not the same thing; the one is of the earth, the other is from God. The Rabbins say, “The form of the soul is not compounded of the elements, &c., but is of the Lord from heaven. Therefore when the material body, which is compounded of the elements, is separated, and the breath perishes because it is not found, but with the body, and is needful for the body in all its actions; this form (i.e. the soul) is not destroyed, &c., but continues for ever. This is that which Solomon by his wisdom said, ‘Then shall the dust return unto the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.’”

As the formation of man’s body was effected previously to the infusion of his soul, we shall attend to the same order, in attempting to elucidate this important and very interesting subject. The word ייצר jitzer, rendered he formed, observes Mr. Benson, is not used concerning any other creature, and implies a gradual process in the work, with great accuracy and exactness. It is properly used of potters forming vessels on the wheel; and Rabbi D. Kimchi says, that, when used concerning the creation of man, it signifies the formation of his members. Bishop Patrick intimates, that the body of man was made not of dry, but moist dust; and that this agrees with the Hebrew Jitzer, formed, which is used concerning potters, who make their vessels of clay, not of dry earth. Diodorus Siculus says, “Man was made out of the slime, or mud, of the Nile.” The word of the Lord once came to Jeremiah, saying, “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheel. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand!” A scene like this is presented to our imagination by the words of Moses; the Lord God formed, moulded, or modelled man, as a potter does; we see the work, observes Bishop Horne, as it were upon the wheel, rising and growing under the hands of the Divine Artificer!