732 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



In the second half of the same century Hottinger, in his Theo- 

 logical Examination of the History of Creation, breaks from the 

 belief in the phoenix ; but his skepticism is carefully kept within 

 the limits imposed by Scripture. He avows his doubts, first, " be- 

 cause God created the animals in couples, while the phoenix is 

 represented as a single, unmated creature " ; secondly, " because 

 Noah, when he entered the ark, brought the animals in by sevens, 

 while there were never so many individuals of the phoenix spe- 

 cies " ; thirdly, because " no man is known who dares assert that 

 he has ever seen this bird " ; fourthly, because " those who assert 

 there is a phoenix differ among themselves." 



In view of these attacks on the salamander and the phoenix, 

 we are not surprised to find before the end of the century an at- 

 tack on the basilisk ; the eminent Prof. Kirchmaier, at the Uni- 

 versity of Wittemberg, treats both phoenix and basilisk alike as 

 old wives' fables. As to the phoenix, he denies its existence, not 

 only because ISToah took no such bird into the ark, but also be- 

 cause " birds come from eggs, not from ashes." But the unicorn 

 he can not resign, nor will he even concede that the unicorn 

 is a rhinoceros ; he appeals to Job and to Marco Polo to prove 

 that this animal, as usually conceived, really exists, and says, 

 " Who would not fear to deny the existence of the unicorn, since 

 Holy Scripture names him with distinct praises ? " As to the 

 other great animals mentioned in Scripture, he is so rationalistic 

 as to admit that behemoth was an elephant and leviathan a 

 whale. 



But these germs of a fruitful skepticism grew, and we soon 

 find Dannhauer going a step further and declaring his disbelief 

 even in the unicorn, insisting that it was a rhinoceros, only that 

 and nothing more. Still, the main current continued strongly 

 theological. In 1712 Samuel Bochart published his great work 

 upon the animals of Holy Scripture. As showing its spirit we 

 may take the titles of the chapters on the horse : 



Chapter VI. Of the Hebrew name of the horse. 



Chapter VII. Of the colors of the six horses in Zechariah. 



Chapter VIII. Of the horses in Job. 



Chapter IX. Of Solomon's horses and of the texts wherein the 

 writers praise the excellence of horses. 



Chapter X. Of the consecrated horses of the sun. 



Among the other titles of chapters are such as : Of Balaam's 

 Ass ; Of the Thousand Philistines slain by Samson with the Jaw- 

 bone of an Ass ; Of the Golden Calves of Aaron and Jeroboam ; 

 Of the Bleating, Milk, Wool, External and Internal Parts of Sheep 

 mentioned in Scripture ; Of Notable Things told regarding Lions 

 in Scripture ; Of Noah's Dove and of the Dove which appeared at 

 Christ's Baptism. Mixed up in the book with the principal mass 



