580 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



into the hands of the great publishing honse of Plantin at Ant- 

 werp ; they were four years in printing and correcting it, and, 

 when it at last appeared, it seemed certain to establish the theo- 

 logical view of the Holy Land for all time. While taking abun- 

 dant care of other myths which he believed sanctified by our 

 sacred books, Quaresmio devoted himself at great length to the 

 Dead Sea, but above all to the salt statue, and divides his chapter 

 on it into three parts, each headed by a question : First, "Hoio 

 was Lot's wife changed into a statue of salt ? " Secondly, " Where 

 was she thus transformed ? " And, thirdly, " Does that statue still 

 exist ? " Through each of these divisions he fights to the end 

 against all who are inclined to swerve in the slightest degree 

 from the orthodox opinion. He utterly refuses to compromise 

 with any modern theorists. To all such he says, " The narration 

 of Moses is historical and is to be received in its natural sense, 

 and no right-thinking man will deny this." To those who favored 

 the figurative interpretation he says, " With such reasonings any 

 passage of Scripture can be denied." 



As to the spot where the miracle occurred, he discusses four 

 places, but settles upon the point where the picture of the statue 

 is given in Adrichom's map. As to the continued existence of 

 the statue, he plays with the opposing view as a cat fondles a 

 mouse, and then shows that the most revered ancient authorities, 

 venerable men still living, and the Bedouins, all agree that it is 

 still in being. Throughout the whole chapter his thoroughness 

 in scriptural knowledge and his profundity in logic are only ex- 

 celled by his scorn for those theologians who were willing to 

 yield anything to rationalism. 



So powerful was this argument that it seemed to carry every- 

 thing before it, not merely throughout the Roman obedience, but 

 among the most eminent theologians of Protestantism. 



As regards the Roman Church, we may take as a type the mis- 

 sionary priest Eugene Roger, who, shortly after the appearance 

 of Quaresmio's book, published his own travels in Palestine. He 

 was an observant man, and his work counts among those of real 

 value ; but the spirit of Quaresmio had taken possession of him 

 fully. His work is prefaced with a map showing the points of 

 most importance in scriptural history, and among these he identi- 

 fies the place where Samson slew the thousand Philistines with 

 the jaw-bone of an ass, and where he hid the- gates of Gaza ; the 

 cavern which Adam and Eve inhabited after their expulsion from 

 paradise ; the spot where Balaam's ass spoke ; the tree on which 

 Absalom was hanged ; the place where Jacob wrestled with the 

 angel ; the steep place where the swine possessed of devils plunged 

 into the sea ; the spot where the prophet Elijah was taken up in 

 a chariot of fire ; and, of course, the position of the salt statue 



