the matchless language of chapters xxxviii.-xl. His sovereign and absolute power; his glory, as the eternal God and creator of all things; his constant care over all his creatures; his might and majesty, seen in the greatest of the beasts which he has made; his complete control of all those laws under which nature is put-are all set before us in words of incomparable grandeur, beauty, and force

"Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?

Or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?
Have the gates of death been opened unto thee?

Or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?"

Trench, on the miracle of "the walking on the sea," says:—“ Eusebius finds a special fulfilment of these words of Job in this miracle of our Lord, as also he finds in these waves the symbol of a mightier and wilder sea, even that of sin and death, which Christ trod under his feet when he, in a far higher sense than that in which the words were first spoken

'metus omnes et inexorabile fatum

Subjecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari;'

and he quotes Psalm lxxiv. 13, 14—'Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest them to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness;' and Job xxxviii. 16, 17, where the Almighty says to man- Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth? Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? and hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?' that is, Hast thou done this as I have done?"

"Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?

Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail?

Out of whose womb came the ice?

And the hoar-frost of heaven, who gendered it ?" (ver. 22, 29.)

The reader is referred to Plates XXIV., XXX., for illustrations of the great variety of forms which crystals of snow and hail, and of the hoar-frost assume. A glance at the figures will show what treasures of symmetry and beauty are hid in every flake of snow, and every stone

of the hail.

"Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades,

Or loose the bands of Orion?

Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season?

Or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?" (ver. 31, 32.)

"Pleiades," "Orion," "Arcturus," are noticed under chapter ix.

"Mazzaroth," literally the Forewarners, denotes the signs of the zodiac or path in the heavens which the sun seems to describe by the earth's revolution around it. It is divided into twelve equal parts of thirty degrees. Each part is represented by a sign, as Sagittarius, the Archer; Scorpio, the Scorpion; Libra, the Balance, &c. The zodiac contains all the stars which lie in the so-called path of the sun. These luminaries are seen to traverse the circle once a year, and thus different parts of it receive them monthly. Thus their place as signs.

"The wild goats of the rock," or the yěhēlim (xxxix. 1), the Hebrew name for the ibex (Capra ibex, Plate XXII. fig. 1). When the hinds calve, “their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth and return not unto them" (ver. 4). "Corn," see under Gen. xlii. 3.

"Who hath sent out the wild ass free?

Or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?
Whose house I have made the wilderness,

And the barren land his dwellings.

He scorneth the multitude of the city,

Neither regardeth he the crying of the driver.

The range of the mountains is his pasture,

And he searcheth after every green thing" (ver. 5-8).

"The wild ass," Heb. pereh, in the first clause of verse 5, and ārōd, in the second. Two species seem to be referred to here. Have we any distinct traces of them in those regions with which Job must have been more or less acquainted? In the deserts of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Northern Arabia, the so-called "wild horse" of recent travellers is still abundant. It is not, however, a horse, but a true ass (Asinus hemippus; the Equus Asinus onager of some naturalists). In the wild uplands of Thibet, and thence northward into Mongolia and Southern Siberia, another species is abundant. This is the "dshitggetai" or "kijang" (Asinus hemionus; Equus hemionus of Pallas). The former answers to the ārōd of Job, the latter to the pereh. Another wild ass is named in some parts of India, the "ghor-khur," or "koulan." This has by many been held a distinct species; but Mr. E. Blyth has recently shown that is to be regarded as a variety only. Mr. Layard met the hemippus in the desert of Tel Afer, in his way from the Sinjar to Mosul:-"We attempted to follow them. After running a little distance, they stopped to gaze at us, and I got sufficiently near to see them well; but as soon as they found that we were in pursuit, they hastened their speed, and were soon lost in the distance." He adds in a note ("Nineveh and its

Remains," vol. i., 323):-"The reader will remember that Xenophon mentions these beautiful animals, which he must have seen during his march in these very plains. He faithfully describes the country, and the animals and birds which inhabit it, as they are to this day, except that the ostrich is not now to be found so far north. The country,' says he, 'was a plain throughout, as even as the sea, and full of wormwood; if any other kinds of shrubs or reeds grew there, they had all an aromatic smell; but no trees appeared. Of wild creatures, the most numerous were wild asses, and not a few ostriches, besides bustards. and roe-deer (gazelles), which our horsemen sometimes chased. The asses, when they were pursued, having gained ground of the horses, stood still (for they exceeded them much in speed); and when these came up with them, they did the same thing again; so that our horsemen could take them by no other means but by dividing themselves into relays, and succeeding one another in the chase. The flesh of those that were taken was like that of the red deer, but more tender' ('Expedition of Cyrus'). In fleetness they equal the gazelle; and to match them is a feat which only one or two of the most celebrated mares have been known to accomplish. The Arabs sometimes catch the foals during the spring, and bring them up with milk in their tents. I endeavoured in vain to obtain a pair. They are of a light fawn colour-almost pink. The Arabs still eat their flesh." See also under Psalm civ. 11.

The true rendering of verse 13 is referred to under 2 Chron. ix. 21; which see. The peculiarities of the ostrich, noticed in verses 13-18, are her joy in the flapping of her wings-"goodly wings are glad"— her habits of nesting, and her great speed. Shaw long ago pointed out the truthfulness to nature of this description of the ostrich (Struthio camelus). The great number of observers since his day have corroborated his notices. As to this flapping of the wings, implied in the original, he says:-"Whilst I was abroad, I had several opportunities of amusing myself with the actions and behaviour of the ostrich. It was very diverting to observe, with what dexterity and equipoise of body it would play and frisk about on all occasions. In the heat of the day particularly, it would strut along the sunny side of the house with great majesty. It would be perpetually fanning and priding itself with its quivering expanded wings; and seem, at every turn, to admire and be in love with its shadow. Even at other times, whether walking about or resting itself upon the ground, the wings would continue these fanning vibrating motions, as if they were designed to mitigate and