Bible animals

by J. G. Wood

There is one passage which seems to imply that the word tannin may signify a cetacean. It occurs in Lam. iv. 3: "Even the sea-monsters [tannin] draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones." If the sacred writers were aware that the cetaceans were mammals and suckled their young, and that the Crocodile left its offspring to find food for themselves, there would be no doubt on the subject. But it is not at all likely that the Prophet Jeremiah, his soul torn by the crimes of his country and the calamities which he foresaw, persecuted by his own people, his life endangered by the forebodings that he was compelled to utter, imprisoned, exiled, and at last dying in a strange land, would have been versed in natural history, or would have troubled himself to inquire as to the manner in which the young of the Crocodile were fed. The sense of the passage is plain enough, and contains a rebuke to the people in that they neglect their children, and were worse than the ferocious inhabitants of the water, as we shall see on reading the whole of the passage: "Even the sea-monster draws out the breast; they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.

"The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst; the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them."

THE LETÂÂH OR LIZARD.

Difficulty of identifying the Letââh—Probability that it is a collective and not a specific term—Various Lizards of Palestine—The Green or Jersey Lizard—The Cyprius, its appearance and habits—The Glass Snake or Scheltopusic—Translation of the word chomet—Probability that it signifies the Skink—Medicinal uses of the Lizard—The Seps tribe—The common Cicigna, and the popular belief concerning its habits—The Sphænops and its shallow tunnel.

In Leviticus xi. 30, the word Lizard is used as the rendering of the Hebrew word letââh (pronounced as L'tâh-âh). There are one or two difficulties about the word, but, without going into the question of etymology, which is beside the object of this work, it will be sufficient to state that the best authorities accept the rendering, and that in the Jewish Bible the word Lizard is retained, but with the mark of doubt appended to it.

In all probability, the sacred lawgiver employs the word letââh as a general term; so that, although he prohibits certain Lizards by name, as having been used for food by the various nations with whom the Israelites were necessarily brought in contact during their captivity, their wanderings, and their final conquest of Palestine, he implies that the whole of the Lizard tribe are to be considered as unfit to be eaten by the chosen people.

We shall presently examine some of those which are prohibited by name, and it will be sufficient in the present case to glance at the Lizard tribes of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria.

These lands absolutely swarm with Lizards. Even in our own country, Lizards are far more common than is generally known. I have caused the greatest surprise in an agricultural county by catching and showing to the field-labourers the common Scaly Lizard (Zootoca vivipara). The little reptile was exceedingly plentiful, and yet not one of the labourers, nor even their employers, had seen it.

In warmer parts of the earth, the Lizards are so numerous and so comparatively large that they force themselves upon the notice. For example, the well-known Green or Jersey Lizard (Lacerta viridis) is exceedingly plentiful, and may be seen darting among the leaves in search of prey, after the erratic manner of Lizards generally, which will remain absolutely motionless for hours together, then whisk about so rapidly that the eye can scarcely follow their movements, and subside into quiescence as suddenly as they started from it.