240 JOURNA L, BOMB A Y NA TUBAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XV HI 



made use of in my paper from the late Professor Owen, emanatin g 

 from a less worthy source, would, I feel sure, evoke scepticism, and 

 derision from many. 



The fact that we must acknowledge that there are such creatures as 

 " flying snakes " at the present day will doubtless make many who 

 learn this for the first time recall allusions to such beings in the Bible, 

 and it may interest them to discuss the belief in such among the 

 ancients, and subsequently. 



The two allusions to " flying serpents ' ; in the Bible occur in 

 Isaiah. 



In the original the Hebrew word used is " saraph " in both places, 

 and it is translated as " fiery flying serpent". 



The same word occurs in Numbers* (Chap. XXI, verse 6) in its 

 plural form " seraphim," but is here translated simply as " fiery 

 serpent." 



The first allusion (Chap. XIV, verse 29) reads as follows : — " Re- 

 joice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote 

 thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cock- 

 atrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent." 



The second reference (Chap. XXX, verse 6 j reads as follows: — "The 

 burden of the beasts of the South: into the land of trouble and anguish, 

 from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying- 

 serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young 

 asses, and their treasures upon the hunches of camels, to a people that 

 shall not profit them." 



Isaiah describes the seraphim as follows (Chap. VI, verse 2 ): — 

 " Each one had six wings ; with twain he covered his face, and with 

 twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly." 



Chamber's Encyclopaedia says of them that they were " celestial 

 beings on either side of the throne of Jehovah, seen in prophetic 

 vision by Isaiah, and by him alone." The first allusion (Chap. XIV) 

 refers obviously to these mythical celestial beings, in association with 

 and in fact the progeny of another fabulous being, the cockatrice 

 which the late Canon Tristram says was a creature supposed to be 

 hatched by a cock from serpent's eggs and so represented as a dragon 

 with a cock's head. It was called also " basilisk," or crested serpent. 

 The second reference (Chap. XXX) has far greater interest to the 



• Encyclopaedia Britta uca. 



