8 Bulletin American Museum uf Natural History. [Vol. XXVII, 



" IS. And the swan, and the peHcan, and the gier-eagle, 



" 19. And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. 



"20. All fowls [? flying creatures] that creep, going upon all four, shall be an 

 abomination unto you. 



"21. Yet these ye may eat, of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all 

 four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth ; 



"22. Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald 

 locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind. 



" 23. But all other flying creeping things, which have four feet, shall be an abomi- 

 nation unto you 



"27. And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go 

 on all four, those are unclean unto you 



"29. These also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep 

 upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind, 



"30. And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the 

 mole 



"46. This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature 

 that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth; 



"47. To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the 

 beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten." 



B. Assyrian Natural History. 



Joachim Menant, 'Decouvertes assyriennes. La Bibliotheque du 

 Palais de Ninive,' Paris ISSO. Quoted in Henry Smith Williams, 'The 

 Historian's History of the World,' Vol. I, 1904, pp. 567-568. 



"The exact sciences were cultivated in Assyria from the earliest times; nor had 

 natural sciences been neglected. Zoology, botany and mineralogy are largely repre- 

 sented in the library of Nineveh, and as all these tablets contain a Sumerian as well 

 as the equivalent Assyrian text, we are justified in believing that the Ninevites, in 

 this respect, still followed the traditions of their predecessors. 



"We find lists of animals arranged in a certain order which indicates an attempt 

 at classification ; thus the dog, lion and wolf are in the same category, whilst the ox, 

 sheep and goat form another. In the enumeration of the different animals, there is 

 a very evident design of establishing genera and families, and of distinguishing 

 species. Thus we have a family comprising the great Carnivora ; the dog, lion and 

 wolf; then we have different species in the dog family, such as the dog itself, the 

 domestic dog, the coursing dog, the small dog, the dog of Elam, etc. The scientific 

 side of this classification is revealed by an easily recognized circumstance; thus one 

 finds after the common name a special nomenclature, which belongs to a scientific 

 classification with which the Assyrians seem to have been familiar. 



"Among the birds similar attempts at classification are evident. Birds of rapid 

 flight, sea birds, or marsh birds are differentiated. Insects form a very numerous 

 class; we see an entire family whose species are differentiated according as they 

 attack plants, animals, clothing, or wood. Vegetables seem to be classified according 

 to their usefulness, or the service that industry can make of them. One tablet enum- 

 erates the uses to which wood can be put, according to its adaptability, for the timber 

 work of palaces, the construction of vessels, the making of carts, implements of 



