106 ON THE ANIMAL CALLED SAPHAN 
It is remarkable for its long ears and fine fur ; and, while 
it is common to cold climates, it is no stranger to those that 
are warm. It dwells on trees, and not in rocks ; and this 
character, were no other wanting, is sufficient to shew that 
it is not the Saphan of the Hebrew Bible. 
Webro is the Arabic name of the other animal by which 
the Saphan has been rendered. This animal has been said 
by Jauharee, to be less than a cat, of a dusty or greyish 
colour, and to want the tail. Damir, however, says, that 
it has a tail, but very short, and that it is the animal which 
has got the name of Gannim beni Israel, ' the lamb of 
the children of Israel,' or, more shortly, Gannim Israel, 
^ Israel's lamb.' 
We shall shew, by-and-by, that this is the animal meant 
by the Saphan ; but we must first notice the opinions of 
BocHAET, who is justly regarded as a giant in Arabic 
literature. He says, that the Webro has less claim to be 
considered as the Saphan, than the Fennec, to which our 
attention has just been given. He takes the Webro to be 
the Marmot, of which there are several species. The most 
common of these is the Marmota alpina. It is larger in the 
body than a cat, but shorter in the legs. It is gregarious, 
and discovers no small sagacity in the construction of its 
hole, in which it becomes torpid during the winter. 
We agree with him in thinking that the Marmot cannot 
be the Saphan of the Hebrews, as it neither chews the cud, 
nor lodges in the rocks ; and is neither found in Judoea, nor 
the neighbouring countries ; — but dissent from him, when 
he says, that the Saphan is not the Webro, as some of the 
Arabic interpreters have thought it. 
But before further attention to the Gannim Israel, which 
we take to be the true Saphan, we must set aside the claims 
of the Jerboa, which Bochart, in his Hierozoicon, has ex- 
hausted all his learning to prove to be that animal ; and, in 
