THE DRAGON. 189 



THE DRAGON. 



THIS word, which frequently occurs in the English Bible, gen- 

 erally answers to the Hebrew Tan, and Tannin, though these words 

 are sometimes rendered serpents, sea-monsters, and whales. The 

 Rev. James Hurdis, in ' A Dissertation upon the true meaning of 

 the word tanninimj contends, that in its various it invariably signi- 

 fies the crocodile ; an opinion which cannot be supported by authen- 

 tic facts, or a legitimate mode of reasoning. The learned editor of 

 Calmet, who argues at great length for restraining the word to am- 

 phibious animals, is of opinion that it includes the class of lizards, 

 from the water-newt to the crocodile, and also the seal, the manati, 

 the morse, &c. His arguments are certainly ingenious and deserv- 

 ing of attention ; but they have failed to convince us of the legiti- 

 macy of his deduction?. The subject is involved in much obscuri- 

 ty, from the apparent latitude with which the word is employed by 

 the sacred writers. In Exod. vii. 9, et seq., Deut. xxxii. 33, and Jer. 

 li. 34, it seems to denote a large serpent, or the dragon, properly so 

 called; in Gen. i. 2J, Job vii. 12, and Ezek. xxix. 3, a crocodile, or 

 any large sea animal ; and in Lam. iv, 3, and Job xxx. 29, some 

 kind of wild beast, probably the jackal or wolfj as the Arabic teenan 

 denotes. It is to the dragon, properly so called, that we shall now 

 direct our attention. 



Three kinds of dragons were formerly distinguished in India. 

 1. Those of the hills and mountains. 2. Those of the valleys and 

 caves. 3. Those of the fens and marshes. The first is the largest, 

 and covered with scales as resplendent as burnished gold. They 



