Before I proceed, give me leave to speak something of this golden Idol, which was the Figure of a Calf, which the _Israelites_ cast, and set up to worship in _Moses_’s Absence; who, upon his return from the Mount, burnt the Figure, ground it to Powder, and made the People drink it mixt with Water, _Exod._ xxxii. The Learned are divided in their Sentiments on this Article; that is, the golden Calf, that was burnt and pulverized. To pulverize Gold and render it potable, is an Operation in Chymistry of the last Difficulty; and ’tis hard to conceive how it should be done at that time, before Chymistry was heard of, and in a Wilderness too, where they had no proper Instruments. Many therefore suppose it to be done by a Miracle. But the chymical Art seems to be of greater Antiquity, and was very probably practised in the antediluvian World by _Tubal Cain_. _Moses_ is the next Chymist mention’d in the Bible, whose Skill in chymical Operations, in pulverizing the golden Calf, seems to be incontestable, and artificial. The Art is now much improved. Bid a Chymist convert Gold into Glass; and by means of a burning Concave, or otherwise, he presently does it: Ask him to Shew you Gold in Powder, and by mixing a little _Antimony_ with that Metal, he will soon render it pulverable[388]. Footnote 388: _Boerhaave_’s _new Method. Proces._ 268, 317. But to return: Among other living Creatures, the _Egyptians_ also paid a great Devotion to _Dogs_ and _Cats_. We read of a certain _Roman_ Soldier, that was like to be torn to pieces by the People, for having _kill’d a Cat by Accident_; and that when a Dog happen’d to die, the whole House went into Mourning[389]: Yea, in case of a great Famine, they would eat Man’s Flesh, before they would touch their sacred Animals; _ibid._ The Stork, Raven, Eagle, Hawk, Ibis, and other Birds, have had divine Honours paid them in _Egypt_ and other Places.... Footnote 389: _Diodor. Siculus, Herodot._ The City of _Mendez_ in _Egypt_ worshipped a _Goat_; the City of _Mira_, the _Crocodile_. In other Provinces they erected Altars to Lions, Baboons, Wolves.... The _Hog_ was ador’d in the Island of _Crete_ (now _Candy_) in the Mediterranean. Bats and Mice had Altars consecrated to them in _Troas_ and at _Tenedos_. Nothing can be supposed more ridiculous than the Adoration given by the _Egyptians_ to their brutal Deities, which were either within or near their Temples; had Tables with delicious Meats and Beds prepared for them, and when any of them died, they went into Mourning, prepared sumptuous Funerals and magnificent Tombs for them, as may be seen at large in _Diodorus Siculus_, _Herodotus_, and others[390]. Footnote 390: _Plut. Herodot. Jurieu’s Critical History._