NEW CHAPTERS IN THE WARFARE OF SCIENCE. 731 



ons," which have three rows of teeth to each jaw, and he piously 

 adds, " the principal dragon is the Devil." 



Near the end of the same century, Father Kircher, the great 

 Jesuit professor at Rome, holds back the skeptical current, insists 

 upon the orthodox view, and represents among the animals enter- 

 ing the ark sirens and griffins. 



Yet even among theologians we note here and there a skeptical 

 spirit in natural science. Early in the same seventeenth century 

 Eugene Roger published his Travels in Palestine. As regards the 

 utterances of Scripture he was soundly orthodox ; he prefaces his 

 work with a map showing, among other important points referred 

 to in biblical history, the place where Samson slew a thousand 

 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass, the cavern which Adam 

 and Eve inhabited after their expulsion from paradise, the spot 

 where Balaam's ass spoke, the place where Jacob wrestled with 

 the angel, the steep place down which the swine possessed of 

 devils plunged into the sea, the position of the salt statue which 

 was once Lot's wife, the place at sea where Jonah was swallowed 

 by the whale, and "the exact spot where St. Peter caught one 

 hundred and fifty-three fishes." 



As to natural history, he sees, describes, and discusses with 

 great theological acuteness the basilisk. He tells us that the 

 animal is about a foot and a half long, is shaped like a crocodile, 

 and kills people with a single glance. The one which he saw was 

 dead, fortunately for him, since in the time of Pope Leo IV as 

 he tells us one appeared in Rome and killed many people by 

 merely looking at them ; but the Pope destroyed it with his 

 prayers and the sign of the cross. He informs us that Provi- 

 dence has wisely and mercifully protected man by requiring the 

 monster to cry aloud two or three times whenever it leaves its 

 den, and that the divine wisdom in creation is also shown by the 

 fact that the monster is obliged to look its victim in the eye and 

 at a certain fixed distance before its glance can penetrate the vic- 

 tim's brain and so pass to his heart. He also gives a reason for 

 supposing that the same divine mercy has provided that the crow- 

 ing of a cock will kill the basilisk. 



Yet even in this good and credulous missionary we see the 

 influence of Bacon and the dawn of experimental science ; for, hav- 

 ing been told many stories regarding the salamanders, he secured 

 one, placed it alive upon the burning coals, and reports to us that 

 the legends concerning its power to live in the fire are untrue. 

 He also tried experiments with the chameleon, and found that the 

 stories told of it were to be received with much allowance : while, 

 then, he locks up his judgment whenever he discusses the letter 

 of Scripture, he uses his mind in other things much after the mod- 

 ern method. 



