134 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XIV. 



religion, or the natural history of the country. It 

 has been found embalmed in the tombs of Thebes, 

 and S. Passalacqua has thence brought specimens 

 of two species. It is remarkable that one of these 

 is larger than any with which we are acquainted. 

 Herodotus * tells us that they removed the shrews 

 which died to Butos, where they were buried ; in 

 consequence of their being sacred to Buto, or La- 

 tona, the Goddess of that city; and Plutarcht as- 

 serts that it received divine honours from being- 

 blind, and was therefore looked upon as a proper 

 emblem of darkness, which was more ancient than 

 light. The notion of its blindness they doubtless 

 derived from its habit of coming forth only at night, 

 when all was darkness, and from their impression 

 that no animal who had the power of sight could 

 neglect to take advantage of so valuable a gift; 

 but however we may ridicule the Egyptians for 

 believing the blindness of the Mygale, we find a 

 parallel in the proverbial stigma we have attached 

 to the mole and the bat. 



I have already noticed t the character of tl>e 

 Goddess Buto, or Latona, of whom it was the em- 

 blem. According to the mcta])hysical notions of 

 the priesthood, she was that primordial " darkness 

 which covered the deep," represented, according 

 to their custom, by the name and under tlie form 

 of a Deity. The Gods of Egyi)t consisted, as I 

 have frequently shown, of abstract ideas, as well as 

 those things on which the divine intellect o])crated. 



* Ilcrodot. ii. 07. f Pint. Symp. iv. Quaest. 5. 



t Supra, Vol. I. (2cl Scries) p. 273. 



