^()6 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



are also kinds of lizards — the Kevised Version furnishes this state- 

 ment in the margin and translates great lizard, lizard, sand lizard, etc. 

 The best lexicograi)hical authority agrees with this view. Nor are we 

 to be surprised at this number of words in Hebrew for lizard, since 

 they are very abundant in Palestine, about forty species having been 

 enumerated. Among the most common is the green lizard and its 

 varieties. 



YiPER {Vipera a.spis; Uehrew, Ef eh). — The generic name in Hebrew 

 of any serpent is Nahash. The serpent is first mentioned in Genesis 

 iii, 1, 13, where it is said to be more subtle than all the beasts of the 

 field. Jesus alludes to the wisdom of the serpent,^ "Be ye therefore 

 wise as serpents and harmless as doves." The different species are 

 referred to by various names — pethen, sliejiforij 'alishuh, and gif on% 

 usually rendered by adder. The viper is mentioned in Isaiah xxx, 6; 

 lix, 5; Job xx, 10: "The viper's tongue shall slay him," and often in 

 the New Testament.^ It is assumed that the viper that fastened on 

 the hand of the Aiiostle Paul-^ was the Vipera aspis. Upward of thirty 

 species have been found in Palestine. 



INSECTS; 



Six specimens of the insects of the Bible concluded the illustration 

 of the Biblical fauna. 



Horsefly {Mippohosca equina; Hebrew, Aroh). — It is probable that 

 the horsefly is meant by arob (English versions, "swarms of flies," 

 " divers sorts of flies"), sent as a plague upon Egypt.^ The rendering, 

 "swarms of flies," as indicating a mixture of various insects, is very 

 old, being found in the Talmud and in Jerome. The horsefly in Egypt 

 settles on the human body, sucks blood, and produces festering sores. 

 It is also the means of spreading ophthalmia. 



Breeze flies [JKematopotaphirialis and Chrysops-coecutiens, Hebrew 

 Zehuh). — The name Zehub occurs but twice in the Old Testament, Isaiah 

 vii, 18, as a figure of swarming and troublesome armies coming from 

 Egypt, "The Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of 

 the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria;" 

 and Ecclesiastes x, 1, as corrupting ointment, "Dead flies cause the 

 ointment of the perfumer to send forth a stinking savor; so doth a 

 little folly outweigh wisdom and honor." A species of Tahanus or 

 breeze fly is common in the valleys of the Jordan and the Nile, and is 

 very injurious to animals; it attacks both man and beast."* 



The Phenicians invoked against the flies Baalzebub,^ the lord of flies, 

 the god of Ekron.' 



1 Matthew x, 16. 



2 Matthew iii, 7. 

 ^ Acts xxviii, 3. 



^Exodus vii, 21-31; compare Psalms Ixxviii, 45; cv, 31. 



6 Hart. Animals of the Bible, p. 101, 102; compare also Smith Dictiouary, see Baal. 



6 In the New Testament, Beelzebub, Matthew x, 25. 



' II Kings i, 2. 



