MOLLUSCS
The purple of Scripture—The sac containing the purple dye—Curious change of colour—Mode of obtaining the dye—The Tyrian purple—The king of the Ethiopians and the purple robe—The professional purple dyers—Various words expressive of different shades of purple.
Leaving the higher forms of animal life, we now pass to the Invertebrated Animals which are mentioned in Scripture.
As may be inferred from the extreme looseness of nomenclature which prevails among the higher animals, the species which can be identified are comparatively few, and of them but a very few details are given in the Scriptures.
Taking them in their zoological order, we will begin with the Molluscs.
We are all familiar with the value which was set by the ancients upon the peculiar dye which may be called by the name of Imperial Purple. In the first place, it was exceedingly costly, not only for its richness of hue, but from the great difficulty with which a sufficient quantity could be procured for staining a dress. Purple was exclusively a royal colour, which might not be worn by a subject. Among the ancient Romans, during the times of the Cæsars, any one who ventured to appear in a dress of purple would do so at the peril of his life. In the consular days of Rome, the dress of the consuls was white, striped with purple; but the Cæsars advanced another step in luxury, and dyed the whole toga of this costly hue.
The colour of the dye is scarcely what we understand by the term "purple," i.e. a mixture of blue and red. It has but very little blue in it, and has been compared by the ancients to the colour of newly-clotted blood. It is obtained from several Shell Fish belonging to the great Whelk family, the chief of which is the Murex brandaris.
The shell is shaped something like that of a whelk, but is very smooth and porcelain-like, and is generally white, ornamented with several coloured bands. It is, however, one of the most variable of shells, differing not only in colour but in form. It always inhabits the belt of the shore between tide-marks, and preys upon other Molluscs, such as the mussel and periwinkle, literally licking them to pieces with its long riband tongue.
This tongue is beset with rows of hooked teeth, exactly like the shark-tooth weapons of the Samoan and Mangaian Islanders, and with it the creature is enabled to bore through the shells of mussels and similar Molluscs, and to eat the enclosed animal. It is very destructive to periwinkles, thrusting its tongue through the mouth of the shell, piercing easily the operculum by which the entrance is closed, and gradually scooping out the unfortunate inmate.
Even the bivalves, which can shut themselves up between two shells, fare no better, the tongue of the Dog-Whelk rasping a hole in the hard shell in eight-and-forty hours.
In order to procure the animal, the shell must be broken with a sharp blow of a small hammer, and the receptacle of the colouring matter can then be seen behind the head, and recognised by its lighter hue.
When it is opened, a creamy sort of matter exudes. It is yellowish, and gives no promise of its future richness of hue. There is only one drop of this matter in each animal, and it is about sufficient in quantity to stain a piece of linen the size of a dime.
The best mode of seeing the full beauty of the purple is to take a number of the Molluscs, and to stain as large a surface as possible. The piece of linen should then be exposed to the rays of the sun, when it will go through a most curious series of colours. The yellow begins to turn green, and, after a while, the stained portions of the linen will be entirely green, the yellow having been vanquished by the blue. By degrees the blue predominates more and more over the yellow, until the linen is no more green, but blue. Then, just as the yellow yielded to the blue, the blue yields to red, and becomes first violet, then purple, and lastly assumes the blood-red hue of royalty.
The colour is very permanent, and, instead of fading by time, seems rather to brighten.
In some cases the ancients appear not to have troubled themselves with the complicated operation of taking the animal out of the shell, opening the receptacle, and squeezing the contents on the fabric to be dyed, but simply crushed the whole of the Mollusc, so as to set the colouring matter free, and steeped the cloth in the pulp. Tyre was one of the most celebrated spots for this manufacture, the "Tyrian dye" being celebrated for its richness. Heaps of broken shells remain to the present day as memorials of the long-perished manufacture.
The value which the ancients set upon this dye is shown by many passages in various books. Among others we may refer to Herodotus.
Cambyses, it appears, had a design to make war upon three nations, the Ammonians, the Carthaginians, and the Ethiopians. He determined to invade the first by land, and the second by sea; but, being ignorant of the best method of reaching the Ethiopians, he dispatched messengers to them, nominally as ambassadors, but practically as spies. He sent to the King of Ethiopia valuable presents—namely, a purple mantle, a golden necklace and bracelet, an elaborate box of perfumed ointment, and a cask of palm-wine, these evidently being considered a proof of imperial magnificence.
The Ethiopian king ridiculed the jewels, praised the wine, and asked curiously concerning the dye with which the purple mantle was stained. On being told the mode of preparation, he refused to believe the visitors, and, referring to the changing hues of the mantle and to the perfume of the ointment, he showed his appreciation of their real character by saying that the goods were deceptive, and so were the bearers.
The Hebrew word argaman, which signifies the regal purple, occurs several times in Scripture, and takes a slightly different form according to the Chaldaic or Hebraic idiom.
For example, we find it in Exod. xxv. 4: "This is the offering which ye shall take of them: gold, and silver, and brass,
"And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen," &c. &c.
It occurs again in 2 Chron. ii. 7: "Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue."
THE SNAIL
The Snail which melteth—Rendering of the Jewish Bible—Theory respecting the track of the Snail—The Hebrew word Shablul—Various Snails of Palestine.
There is a very remarkable and not very intelligible passage in Ps. lviii. 8: "As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away." The Jewish Bible renders the passage in a way which explains the idea which evidently prevailed at the time when the Psalms were composed: "As a snail let him melt as he passeth on."
The ancients had an idea that the slimy track made by a Snail as it crawled along was subtracted from the substance of its body, and that in consequence the farther it crept, the smaller it became, until at last it wasted entirely away. The commentators on the Talmud took this view of the case. The Hebrew word shablul, which undoubtedly does signify a Snail of some kind, is thus explained: "The Shablul is a creeping thing: when it comes out of its shell, saliva pours from itself, until it becomes liquid, and so dies."
Other explanations of this passage have been offered, but there is no doubt that the view taken by these commentators is the correct one, and that the Psalmist, when he wrote the terrible series of denunciations in which the passage in question occurs, had in his mind the popular belief regarding the gradual wasting away of the Snail as it "passeth on."
It is needless to say that no particular species of Snail is mentioned, and almost as needless to state that in Palestine there are many species of Snails, to any or all of which these words are equally applicable.
PEARL OYSTER.
THE PEARL
The Pearl of Scripture—Wisdom compared to Pearl—Metaphorical uses of the Pearl—The Pearl of great price—Casting Pearls before swine.
There is only one passage in the Old Testament in which can be found the word which is translated as Pearl, and it is certain that the word in question may have another interpretation.
The word in question is gabish, and occurs in Job xxviii. 18. Treating of wisdom, in that magnificent passage beginning, "But where shall Wisdom be found, and where is the place of understanding?" the sacred writer uses these words, "No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies."
In consequence of the labour and research required for seeking wisdom, it was proverbially likened to a Pearl, and in this sense we must understand the warning of our Lord, not to cast Pearls before swine. The "pearl of great price" is another form of the same metaphor.
The substance of Pearls is essentially the same as that which lines many shells, and is known as "mother of pearl."
Although a large number of shell-fish secrete "mother of pearl," only a few of them yield true Pearls. The finest are obtained from the so-called Pearl oyster, an illustration of which is given on the preceding page.
The Ancients obtained their Pearls chiefly from India and the Persian Gulf, where to this day the industry of Pearl-fishing is still carried on by the natives.
The oysters containing the Pearls are brought up from the bottom of the sea by divers, who go out in boats to the fishing-grounds, which are some distance from the shore.
Leaping naked into the water, carrying a heavy stone to enable him to sink quickly to the bottom, the diver descends to where the oysters lie, and secures as many of them as possible during the limited time that his breath lasts. On an average the divers remain under water from fifty to eighty seconds, though some can endure a much longer period.
Sharks are the special dread of Pearl-divers, and many are carried off by this fierce monster of the deep. To arm himself against their attack the diver carries a sharp knife, and instances are known of his having attacked and fairly defeated the dread destroyer in its own element.
Not only is the diver exposed to the danger of attack from sharks, but his hazardous calling is necessarily exhausting, and, as a rule, he is a short-lived man.
There are some kinds of fresh-water mussels which contain Pearls of an inferior quality; perhaps the most celebrated of these is the Pearl Mussel of the Chinese, who make a singular use of it. They string a number of globular pellets, and introduce them between the valves of the mussel, so that in course of time the creature deposits a coating of pearly substance upon them, and forms a very good imitation of real Pearls.
INSECTS
THE LOCUST
Insects—The Locust-The two migratory Locusts at rest and on the wing—The Locust swarms—Gordon Cumming's account—Progress of the insect hosts—Vain attempts to check them—Tossed up and down as a Locust—Effect of the winds on the insect—The east and the west winds—Locusts used for food—Ancient and modern travellers—The food of John the Baptist.
Of the Locusts there are several species in Palestine, two of which are represented in the accompanying plate. Those on the ground are the common Migratory Locusts, while those on the wing, which have long heads, are a species of Truxalis.
The Locust belongs to the great order of Orthoptera, or straight-winged insects. They have, when fully developed, four wings, the two front being thick and membraneous, while the two hinder wings are large, delicate, translucent, and folded longitudinally under the front pair of wings when the insect is at rest. In the Locusts these characteristics are admirably shown. The appearance of a Locust when at rest and when flying is so different that the creature is at first sight scarcely recognisable as the same creature. When at rest, it is a compact and tolerably stout insect, with a dull though delicately coloured body; but when it takes flight it appears to attain twice its previous dimensions.
The front pair of wings, which alone were seen before they were expanded, became comparatively insignificant, while the hinder pair, which were before invisible, became the most prominent part of the insect, their translucent folds being coloured with the most brilliant hues, according to the species. The body seems to have shrunk as the wings have increased, and to have diminished to half its previous size, while the long legs that previously were so conspicuous are stretched out like the legs of a flying heron.
All the Locusts are vegetable-feeders, and do great harm wherever they happen to be plentiful, their powerful jaws severing even the thick grass stems as if cut by scissors. But it is only when they invade a country that their real power is felt. They come flying with the wind in such vast multitudes that the sky is darkened as if by thunder-clouds; and when they settle, every vestige of green disappears off the face of the earth.
Mr. Gordon Cumming once saw a flight of these Locusts. They flew about three hundred feet from the ground, and came on in thick, solid masses, forming one unbroken cloud. On all sides nothing was to be seen but Locusts. The air was full of them, and the plain was covered with them, and for more than an hour the insect army flew past him. When the Locusts settle, they eat with such voracity that the sound caused by their jaws cutting the leaves and grass can be heard at a great distance; and even the young Locusts, which have no wings, and are graphically termed by the Dutch colonists of Southern Africa "voet-gangers," or foot-goers, are little inferior in power of jaw to the fully-developed insect.
As long as they have a favourable wind, nothing stops the progress of the Locusts. They press forward just like the vast herds of antelopes that cover the plains of Africa, or the bisons that once blackened the prairies of America, and the progress of even the wingless young is as irresistible as that of the adult insects. Regiments of soldiers have in vain attempted to stop them. Trenches have been dug across their path, only to be filled up in a few minutes with the advancing hosts, over whose bodies the millions of survivors continued their march. When the trenches were filled with water, the result was the same; and even when fire was substituted for water, the flames were quenched by the masses of Locusts that fell into them. When they come to a tree, they climb up it in swarms, and devour every particle of foliage, not even sparing the bark of the smaller branches. They ascend the walls of houses that come in the line of their march, swarming in at the windows, and gnawing in their hunger the very woodwork of the furniture.
We shall now see how true to nature is the terrible prophecy of Joel. "A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
LOCUSTS.
"A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
"And the Lord shall utter His voice before His army: for His camp is very great" (Joel ii. 2-11).
Nothing can be more vividly accurate than this splendid description of the Locust armies. First we have the darkness caused by them as they fly like black clouds between the sun and the earth. Then comes the contrast between the blooming and fertile aspect of the land before they settle on it, and its utter desolation when they leave it.
There is one passage in the Scriptures which at first sight seems rather obscure, but is clear enough when we understand the character of the insect to which it refers: "I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust" (Ps. cix. 23).
Although the Locusts have sufficient strength of flight to remain on the wing for a considerable period, and to pass over great distances, they have little or no command over the direction of their flight, and always travel with the wind, just as has been mentioned regarding the quail. So entirely are they at the mercy of the wind, that if a sudden gust arises the Locusts are tossed about in the most helpless manner; and if they should happen to come across one of the circular air-currents that are so frequently found in the countries which they inhabit, they are whirled round and round without the least power of extricating themselves.
In the account of the great plague of Locusts, the wind is mentioned as the proximate cause both of their arrival and their departure. See, for example, Exod. x. 12, 13:
"And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.
"And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts."
Afterwards, when Moses was brought before Pharaoh, and entreated to remove the plague which had been brought upon the land, the west wind was employed to take the Locusts away, just as the east wind had brought them.
"He went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the Lord.
"And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red Sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt" (Exod. x. 18, 19).
Modern travellers have given accounts of these Locust armies, which exactly correspond with the sacred narrative. One traveller mentions that, after a severe storm, the Locusts were destroyed in such multitudes, that they were heaped in a sort of wall, varying from three to four feet in height, fifty miles in length, and almost unapproachable, on account of the odour of their decomposing bodies.
We now come to the use of Locusts as food.
Very few insects have been recognised as fit for human food, even among uncivilized nations, and it is rather singular that the Israelites, whose dietary was so scrupulously limited, should have been permitted the use of the Locust. These insects are, however, eaten in all parts of the world which they frequent, and in some places form an important article of diet, thus compensating in some way for the amount of vegetable food which they consume.
When their captors have roasted and eaten as many as they can manage to devour, they dry the rest over the fires, pulverize them between two stones, and keep the meal for future use, mixing it with water, or, if they can get it, with milk.
We will now take a few accounts given by travellers of the present day, selecting one or two from many. Mr. W. G. Palgrave, in his "Central and Eastern Arabia," gives a description of the custom of eating Locusts. "On a sloping bank, at a short distance in front, we discerned certain large black patches, in strong contrast with the white glisten of the soil around, and at the same time our attention was attracted by a strange whizzing, like that of a flight of hornets, close along the ground, while our dromedaries capered and started as though struck with sudden insanity.
"The cause of all this was a vast swarm of locusts, here alighted in their northerly wanderings from their birthplace in the Dahna; their camp extended far and wide, and we had already disturbed their outposts. These insects are wont to settle on the ground after sunset, and there, half-stupified by the night chill, await the morning rays, which warm them once more into life and movement.
"This time, the dromedaries did the work of the sun, and it would be hard to say which of the two were the most frightened, they or the locusts. It was truly laughable to see so huge a beast lose his wits for fear at the flight of a harmless, stingless insect, for, of all timid creatures, none equal this 'ship of the desert' for cowardice.
"But, if the beasts were frightened, not so their masters. I really thought they would have gone mad for joy. Locusts are here an article of food, nay, a dainty, and a good swarm of them is begged of Heaven in Arabia....
"The locust, when boiled or fried, is said to be delicious, and boiled and fried accordingly they are to an incredible extent. However, I never could persuade myself to taste them, whatever invitations the inhabitants of the land, smacking their lips over large dishes full of entomological 'delicatesses,' would make me to join them. Barakàt ventured on one for a trial. He pronounced it oily and disgusting, nor added a second to the first: it is caviare to unaccustomed palates.
"The swarm now before us was a thorough godsend for our Arabs, on no account to be neglected. Thirst, weariness, all were forgotten, and down the riders leaped from their starting camels. This one spread out a cloak, that one a saddle-bag, a third his shirt, over the unlucky creatures, destined for the morning meal. Some flew away, whizzing across our feet; others were caught, and tied up in sacks."
Mr. Mansfield Parkyns, in his "Life in Abyssinia," mentions that the true Abyssinian will not eat the Locust, but that the negroes and Arabs do so. He describes the flavour as being something between the burnt end of a quill and a crumb of linseed cake. The flavour, however, depends much on the mode of cooking, and, as some say, on the nature of the Locusts' food.
Signor Pierotti states, in his "Customs and Traditions of Palestine," that Locusts are really excellent food, and that he was accustomed to eat them, not from necessity, but from choice, and compares their flavour to that of shrimps.
Dr. Livingstone makes a similar comparison. In Palestine, Locusts are eaten either roasted or boiled in salt and water, but, when preserved for future use, they are dried in the sun, their heads, wings, and legs picked off, and their bodies ground into dust. This dust has naturally a rather bitter flavour, which is corrected by mixing it with camel's milk or honey, the latter being the favourite substance.
We may now see that the food of John the Baptist was, like his dress, that of a people who lived at a distance from towns, and that there was no more hardship in the one than in the other. Some commentators have tried to prove that he fed on the fruit of the locust or carob tree—the same that is used in some countries for feeding cattle; but there is not the least ground for such an explanation. The account of his life, indeed, requires no explanation; Locust-dust, mixed with honey, being an ordinary article of food even at the present day.
