IN THE HEBllEW SCRIPTURES. 107 
our judgment, the Gannim Israel alone has a better 
claim. 
The J erboa has never been used for the Saphan in any 
Arabic translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. Once, and 
once only, it has been thought a fit rendering of the He- 
brew term for the common mouse. 
The Jerboa, according to the best accounts, burrows 
in loamy earth, 'and sandy hillocks, especially under the 
roots of spartium, spurge-laurel, or other plants, because 
these hinder the loose earth or sand from falling about its 
ears, and filling up its hole. 
This it constructs with uncommon art, supplying it with 
four entrances, as it is said, and these chiefly opposed to 
the four winds ; which construction facilitates escape from 
danger, as well as contributes to convenience and comfort. 
Hence it seems to have got the name of Jerboa ; or, as that 
word may be sounded Yerboa, from Rabia, in Hebrew and 
Arabic, * to divide into four quarters,' or ' act in four ways.' 
It has some resemblance to the hare, with which the 
Saphan is twice joined in the Hebrew Bible, as the fore- 
legs are much shorter than the hind-legs ; and, in fleeing 
from danger, it jumps rather than runs ; and hence it has 
got the name of the Mus jaculans. 
This animal abounds in Egypt and the deserts of Ly- 
bia, in Arabia, Palestine and Syria, and must have been 
well known to the Hebrew historians and poets. It has all 
the characters of the Saphan, but one, and this we reckon 
decisive of its claims, — " it does not build its house in the 
rocks."" 
The claims of the Jerboa being set aside, we go on to 
observe, that Dr Shaw, in his Travels, makes the Gannim 
Israel, already noticed, the Saphan of the Hebrews. 
Probably this animal, whose claims we are now to consider, 
got this odd name, because great numbers of them are to 
