compared with the Discoveries of the Modern Sciences. 265 
leaves her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust. 
A foolish and thoughtless mother, she cares not what may 
become of them ; forgetting that the foot may crush them, or 
that they may be destroyed by the cruel jaws of the tigers 
of the desert. But when it is the proper time, she raises her 
wings into the air ; trusting to the strength of her legs, she 
scorneth the horse and his rider.* 
The description of the horse is not less faithful: the Bible 
represents it to us as full of strength and vigour, and bound- 
ing like a grasshopper. His neck is adorned with a flowing 
mane, and he paweth the earth with his foot. He leaps for- 
ward with pride, and goeth forth to meet the armed men. 
His breathing scatters terror; he mocketh at fear, neither 
turneth he back from the sword. When the quiver rattleth 
against him, the glittering spear and the shield, he swallow- 
eth the ground with fierceness and rage. If he hears the 
sound of the trumpet, he exclaims, Let us advance ; he smell- 
eth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains and the 
shouting.} 
At the command of the Eternal, Scripture states, the 
hawk darts into the air, and extends her wings towards the 
south. At His voice, the eagle rises to the clouds, and places 
her nest on the top of the mountains. This bird inhabits the 
hollows of the rock, and dwells in the most inaccessible cliffs 
of the crag. From these elevated heights the eagle watches 
her prey ; her piercing eyes discover it afar off. When she 
has seized it, she carries it to her young, who drink its blood. 
Under the guidance of their mother, the young eaglets soon 
descend to the places where the carcass lies. Images of 
death, these birds bear, in some degree, its livery on their 
plumage. 
* See Job xxxix.13 to18. The description of the ostrich in the Book 
of Job is remarkable for its extreme truthfulness, as may be seen by per- 
using the passage referred to. It is singular to see in so ancient a book 
this habit of ostriches noticed, of raising their wings into the air when 
they wish to run before the wind. They know, by instinct, that their 
_wings, under such circumstances, will act as sails or oars, 
t See Job xxxix. 19 to 25. This description of the horse is superior 
to all others that have since been written. 
t See Job xxxix. 26 to 30. The Hebrew word nescher (eagle) is de- 
