Bible animals : $b being a description of every living creature mentioned in the Scripture, from the ape to the coral.Wood, J. G. (John George)
Religion
Bible animals : $b being a description of every living creature mentioned in the Scripture, from the ape to the coral.
Wood, J. G. (John George)
Animals in the Bible; Nature in the Bible
As to the size of the animal Urus, it is evident, by measurement of
certain remains, that it must have well deserved Cæsar's comparison
with the elephant. A skull that is described by Cuvier gave the
following measurements. Width of skull between the bases of the
horn-cores (_i.e._ the bony projections on which the hollow horns are
set), rather more than twelve inches and an half. Circumference of the
cores at the base, twelve inches and nine-tenths. Length of the cores,
twenty-seven inches and nine-tenths; and distances between their tips,
thirty-two inches and a half.
According to the proportions of the domesticated ox, these
measurements indicated that the animal was twelve feet in length, and
six feet and a half in height. Now, if the reader will sketch out on a
wall an ox of these dimensions, he will appreciate the enormous
dimensions of the ancient Urus, far better than can be done by merely
reading figures in a book.
But this animal, gigantic as it was, is not the largest specimen that
has been discovered. A portion of an Urus skull was discovered in the
Avon, at Melksham, near Bath, the horn-cores of which, as described by
Mr. H. Woods, were seventeen inches and a half in circumference,
thirty-six inches and a half in length, and the distance from tip to
tip was thirty-nine inches. Taking the same proportions as those of
the ordinary ox, the author shows that the skull in question belonged
to an animal very much larger than that which was described by Cuvier.
In another specimen the distance between the tips of the horn-cores
was forty-two inches, but their length only thirty-six.
Of course, the size of the horn-cores gives little indication of the
dimensions of the horns themselves, and the principal point to be
noticed is the shape of the core, which in some specimens, though not
in all, instead of presenting the regular double curvature with which
we are so familiar in our domestic oxen, first curves outwards, then
bends backwards or a little downwards and forwards. This peculiarity
in the shape of the horns is specially noted by Cæsar, and we may
therefore receive with more security his account of their enormous
size.
A curious rabbinical legend of the Reêm is given in Lewysohn's
"Zoologie des Talmuds." When the ark was complete, and all the beasts
were commanded to enter, the Reêm was unable to do so, because it was
too large to pass through the door. Noah and his sons therefore were
obliged to tie the animal by a rope to the ark, and to tow it behind;
and, in order to prevent it from being strangled, they tied the rope,
not round its neck, but to its horn.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account