JONAH’S "GREAT FISH.”

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3279, 26 July 1911, Page 7

JONAH’S "GREAT FISH.”

THE BIBLICAL COLLECTION OF ANIMALS AND BIRDS. r ' v ELIJAH AND THE RAVENS. The Biblical collection, which was opened at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, is on view in Section No. VII., the fourth archway on the right of the main entrance hall. Here is shown practically every animal, bird, plant, and precious stones mentioned in the Bible. Some are necessarily represented by photographs, drawings, skulls, heads, or models, the restricted space in which the collection is placed prohibiting the inclusion of lifesize lions, elephants, whales, or crocodiles.

The whole collection is contained in five showcases. On the left-hand wall is the case containing the animals. These include a half-section model of a sperm whale, representing Jonah’s “ great fish ” ; a photograph of “ Behemoth,” whose modern name is hippopotamus; sheep, wild ass, ox, mule, camel, wild boar, wild goat, chamois, roebuck, lion, bear, leopard, elephant, fox, dogs and hyaenas. Further along are the reptiles, the serpent, the adder, the cockatrice and Cleopatra’s asp. Among these are also the coney, the snail, the frog, the bat (a beautifully preserved specimen of the Egyptian tomb-bat), the mole, and the ferret. FEEDING ELIJAH.

The end wall is entirely taken up by a stuffed dugong, a huge, blunt-nosed fish whose skin was used for roofing the tabernacle. It is supposed that the terms.porpoise and dolphin refer to this unprepossessing monster. On the right hand wall are all the birds, of which there are seventeen stuffed specimens. These include the rock-thrush, hoopoe, swift, dove, quail, sacred ibis, kite, pelican, stork, raven, vulture, kestrel, eagle, owl, partridge and swan. In this case are also preserved hornets, bees, gad-flies, moths, horseleeches, scorpions, locusts, and the shells of the molluscs from which the famous purple dye was made. These were a kind of whelk.

A picture of the Biblical dog, with a reference to Proverbs xxx., revealed the most interesting point that the species was the African deei hound, a splendid specimen of which made a sensation, as a new introduction, at the principal dog shows in London tv o years ago. It seems to have been the old practice, described in the synonym <c girt-about-the-loins,” to fasten a belt round the dog to prevent it from overfeeding.

It was remarkable how many of the visitors, including a number of clergymen, took voluminous notes, especially as to the mistranslations in the Revised Version, which are numerous and very much astray from a zoological and botanical standpoint. The most revolutionary suggestion, to which several visitors objected, was that the ‘ravens, which fed Elijah, were not birds, but the people of the neighbouring village of “ Or bo ” or “ Raven.” THE JEWELS. The botanical cases are of great interest. “ Tares ” stand for “ darnel,” a, weed with poisonous seeds, at first indistinguishable from wheat, a point adding much to the symbol of the parable. Manna is a pea-like lichen which is often blown by strong winds into the Syrian valleys, where it is collected. Among the many herbs, mint is shown as the plant that used to be eaten with the Paschal lamb. Aaron’s blossoming rod was an almond. Finally there is the case containing the jewels. Of these the most noticeable is a large oval beryl three inches in length. This was the first stone of the fourth row of the High Priest s breastplate and also the eighth foundation of the New' Jerusalem. A white sapphire does duty as a diamond. Another remarkable stone is-a large amethyst. Others are the emerald, sard, carnelian, crystal, jacinth, citrine, agate, chalcedony, sapphire, sardonyx, jasper, onyx, chrysolite, topaz, peridot, and carbuncle.