96 The American Naturalist. (January, 
ANTHROPOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY. 
The Discovery of the Pool of Bethesda, Jerusalem.—Until 
. a comparatively recent date the large reservoir known as Birket Israel, 
immediately beneath the north wall of the Temple Enclosure (Mosque 
of Omar), and a few paces inside of St. Stephen’s Gate, has been ac- 
cepted generally as the Pool of Bethesda. This, for a long period, has 
not been supplied with water, unless during the ‘‘ rainy season,” when 
a small pool may occasionally collect at the bottom. Also, it is fast 
being filled with rubbish by the Turkish authorities, and will soon dis- 
appear from sight. There were many discrepancies connected with 
the place, however, which forbade the more critical from being satis- 
fied that it was the correct site. 
Meanwhile, the discoveries in the ruins adjoining and northwest of 
the old Crusader Church of St. Ann, which stands a short distance to 
the northward of the Birket Israel, have gradually established the fact 
that the true site of the Bethesda is not the Birket Israel, but is beneath 
the ruins which, for centuries buried in rubbish, are still partly built 
over by the comparatively modern houses of the Moslems; for this is 
in the Mohammedan quarter of Jerusalem. Some few years ago, €X- 
cavations brought to light a crypt beneath the remains of an old church 
or chapel constituting a principal part of the ruins ; and beneath this, 
again, a large cistern-like chamber cut in the rock and decked over 
with solid masonry. In this reservoir water collected during the peri- 
odical rains, and many considered the evidence already sufficient to 
prove it the Bethesda. 
Subsequent explorations have revealed the remains of two tiers of 
five-arched porches, the upper tier in the crypt, the lower in the pool. 
And the intelligent labors of the Algerine Monks, who are in charge 
of the property, have been further rewarded recently by the recovery 
of another pool, to the westward of that first discovered, containing 4 
good supply of water; the entire agreeing with the descriptions of the 
Bethesda as given by the Fathers of the Church and Christian pilgrims 
and writers as early as the fourth century. 
The correspondence of the five-arched porches to those mentioned 
in the gospel of St. John (v., 2.) will not escape notice. The remains 
of the upper porches extend above the pool at right angles from the 
_ north wall of the crypt beneath the church, in which the apse, at the 
east end, though dilapidated, is still distinctly defined. 
rubbish which has been removed contained a number of inter- 
esting antiquities, including Jewish and Roman coins, and fragments 

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