232 LECTURE VI . 



whole is nothing more than a metaphorical illus- 

 tration of the effects of the hot south-winds and 

 clouds of sand, which at a particular period, viz. 

 during the spring, invade, or as it were threaten 

 the borders of Egypt, at which time all man- 

 ner of contagious diseases prevail, and of the 

 salubrious effects of the cooling north-winds, 

 which blow after the inundation of the Nile, at 

 which time the Ibis makes its appearance, and 

 may therefore be said to have conquered the 

 winged Serpents; i. e. the hot winds, with all their 

 accompanying evils. The Cerastes or horned 

 Serpent, which is an inhabitant of the hot sandy 

 deserts, was therefore very naturally made an em- 

 blem of the malignity of these winds, with their 

 accompanying sands and diseases ; while the Ibis, 

 which so constantly accompanied the effects of 

 the cooling north-winds and the recovered ver- 

 dure of the country, became a kind of emblem of 

 salubrity, and of the conquest over the winged 

 Serpents. 



The Egyptians, according to this author, instead 

 of saying in common language. The sands, in 

 which the Cerastes resides, are blown into the air 

 and arrive among us with their train of evils j 



