222 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 
Here we have a knowledge of the properties of the magnet 
noticed, and the diamond, pearl, and carbuncle mentioned. It is pro- 
bable that these allusions were enlarged on and illustrated by the 
teachers; for in Bede’s description of these schools he represents the 
students ‘‘as going about from one master’s cell to another”’,® evi- 
dently seeking information on the subject of theit studies. The 
references in the poem thus became themes for more extended instruc- 
tion, and there is no reason why the properties of the magnet which 
were known to Pliny may not have been lectured on; or the diamond 
mines of Bengal, from which, according to Gibbon, the Romans were 
supplied with diamonds; or again, the pearl fishery of Ceylon. 
Passing over several countries in Asia, we come to the following 
in verse XV. :— 
Chaldea and Babylon the strong, 
Are conspicuous between Arabia, 
And the plain of Shinar northward, 
Wherein was built Nimrod’s tower. 
That Nimrod was the builder of the Tower of Babel is not in 
accordance with the Book of Genesis (chap. x.), but it was the con- 
stant tradition of the middle ages, and was no doubt derived from 
Josephus. The form of the name here (Nebruaid) is that of the 
Greek Septuagint Version. The Irish seem to have been much at- 
tracted to him as a warrior and mighty hunter. In a poem of Gilla 
Coemain he appears as ‘‘the giant Nebrodes,”’ and Dr. Keating also 
refers to him as the builder of the Tower of Babel. 
The prevalence of this tradition also appears from the mention of 
it by Dante— 
Nimrod I saw: 
At foot of the stupendous work he stood, 
As if bewilder’d, looking on the crowd 
Leagued in his proud attempt on Sennaar’s plain.” 
Passing on still westward we come to Palestina, or, as otherwise 
written, Felistina. In O’Curry’s Lectures, where the latter form 
occurs, he is uncertain whether it means Palestine or not, but here 
there can be no doubt that it does. There are several very curious 
linguistic changes in the poem which are worthy of notice; but I 
refer to this particularly for a reason which will appear farther on. 
The verse, xrx., runs thus— 
Palestina the glorious [land], 
There are the sons of Jacob; 
To the south the vigorous Nabatheans 
And the lands of the Saracens. 
6 Ecc. His. Lib. iii, cap. 27: ‘‘alii magis circumeundo per cellas magistrorum 
lectioni operam dare gaudebant’”’. 
_ 7 Purgatorio, x11. 34. See p. 233, note j. 
