Should the Hyrax manage to catch a glimpse of the enemy, it utters a shrill cry or squeal, and darts at once to its hole--an action which is followed by all its companions as soon as they hear the warning cry. It is a tolerably prolific animal, rearing four or five young at a birth, and keeping them in a soft bed of hay and fur, in which they are almost hidden. If surprised in its hole and seized, the Hyrax will bite very sharply, its long chisel-edged teeth inflicting severe wounds on the hand that attempts to grasp it. But it is of a tolerably docile disposition, and in a short time learns to know its owner, and to delight in receiving his caresses. Three species of Hyrax are known to naturalists. One is the Klip-das, or Rock-rabbit, of Southern Africa; the second is the Ashkoko of Abyssinia; and the third is the Syrian Hyrax, or the Coney of the Bible. The two last species have often been confounded together, but the Syrian animal may be known by the oblong pale spot on the middle of its back. The Talmudical writers were greatly perplexed about the proper reading of the word Shaphan, some of them thinking it to be a jerboa, and others considering it as the rabbit. Lewysohn sums up the arguments after a rather curious fashion. According to him, the strongest argument against the translation of the Biblical word Shaphan as "rabbit" is that the animal came from Spain, and was probably unknown to the earlier Talmudists, though the later writers might have known it. Then, struck with the resemblance of the Hebrew word [Hebrew: Sh'p'n] and Spain, he proceeds to discuss the probability of the Shaphan deriving its name from Spain, the country of its origin, or of Spain being so called on account of the number of rabbits which inhabited it. He comes at last to the conclusion that the jerboa was probably the animal which was prohibited in the Mosaic law; but that, as the rabbit answered in every respect to the Talmudical conditions, it may, for all practical purposes, be accepted as the representative of the Shaphan of Scripture. BEHEMOTH. Literal translation of the word Behemoth--Various theories respecting the identity of the animal--The Hippopotamus known to the ancient Hebrews--Geographical range of the animal--"He eateth grass like the ox"--Ravages of the Hippopotamus among the crops--Structure of the mouth and teeth--The "sword or scythe" of the Hippopotamus--Some strange theories--Haunts of the Hippopotamus--The Egyptian hunter--A valuable painting--Strength of the Hippopotamus--Rising of the Nile--Modern hunters--Wariness of the Hippopotamus--The pitfall and the drop-trap.