Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/587

Rh ANIMALS 521 ANIMALS insect very common on the Syrian holm-oak, from the female of which the crimson dye {kermes) is prcpartHl. The complete name in Ilehrew is eciuiva- lont to "scarlet insect", the "insect" being not un- frciiuently omitted in the translations. Cock, Hkn*. — Domestic poultry are not mentioned till after the captiWty. 2^o wonder, consequently, that the three times we meet with the word cock in the D.V. it is owing to a misinterpretation of the primitive text. (1) Job, xxxviii, 30, the word stkliwi means soul, heart: "Who hath put wi.sdom in the heart of man? and who gave his .soul understanding?" (2) Prov., XXX, 31, ztirzir should be translated as "hero". (3) Is., xxii, 17, where the word gi'hher, great, strong man. has been rendered according to some rabbinical conceptions. In Our Lord's time domestic poultrj', introduced from India through Persia, had become common, and their well-known habits gave ri.se to familiar expressions, and affordetl good and easy illustrations (Mark, xiii. 35; xiv, 30, etc.). Jesus Christ compared His care for Jerusalem to that of a hen for her brood. Cock.tkice. — .A. fabulous ser- iicnt supposed to be protluced from a cock's egg nrooded by a serpent; it was alleged that its hissing would drive away all other serpents, and that its breath, even its look, was fatal. The word is used in A.V. as the regular equivalent for Hebrew, (-ip/ic'onf. Colt. — See .ss's Colt (sup.). Coney. — See Chero- grillus (.su/j.). Cor.vl. Hebrew, ram/ilh, should probably be substituted, Job, xxviii, 18, for "emi- nent things", anil Kzcch.. xx-ii, 16, for "silk" in the D.V. The coral dealt with at Tyre was that of the Red Sea or even of the Indian Ocean; coral seems to have been scarcely known among the Jews. CoR- MOR.W'T (Lev.. XI, 17; Deut., xiv, 17), very fre- (luently met with on the coasts, rivers, and lakes of Palestine, probably corresponds to the shalak of the Hebrew, although this name, which means "the plunger", might be applied to some other plunging bird. Cow. — See Cattle {sup.). Crane (grus cine- rea). — The word tloes not occur in D.V., but .seems the best translation of Hebrew, 'agbt7r, read in two passages: Is., xxxviii, 14, and Jer., viii, 7, where its loud voice and migratory instincts are alluded to. There is little doubt that the two above indicated places of D.V., where we read "swallow", should be corrected. Cricket, a good translation for Hebr., fe/ofd/, "chirping", which besides the feature sug- gested by the etymology, is described Deut., xxviii, 42, as a voracious insect. See Blast (su/).). Croco- dile.— We do not read this word in any other place than Lev., xi, 29 (D.V.), where it corresponds to the Hebrew, c<i6; the animal is, nevertheless, oftener spoken of in the Holy Books under cover of several metaphors: r/ihab, "the proud" (Is., li, 9); lAnnin, "the stretcher" (ICzech., xxix, 3); tlwcuathdn (levia- than) [Ps. Ixxiil (Hebr., Ixxiv), 1-1; Job, xl, 20, xli, 2,5]. See Dragon (inf.). The crocodile (crocodilus rulgaris) is still found in great numbers, not only in the upper Nile, but also in Palestine. A remarkable description of the crocodile has been drawn by the author of the Book of Job. He depicts the dilli- culty of capturing, snaring, or taming him, his vast size, his irnpcnctnible scales, his Ha.shing eyes, his snorting, and his immen.se strength. Dreadful as he is, the crocodile was very early regarded aiul wor- shipped a-s a deity by the KgT|-i)tiaiis. He is. in the Bible, the emblem of the people of I^gJ7>t and their Pharao, sometimes even of all Israel's foes. Cuckoo, according to .some, would be the bird called in He- brew shAhiiph (Lev., xi. Id; Deut., xiv, 1,5), and there reckoned among the unclean birds. Two species, the cuculu.i cannrus, and the oiytophus glan- dariu.i hve in the Holy Land; however there is little probability that the cuckoo is intended in the men- tioned p.i.ssages, where we should perhaps see the shear- water and the various species of sea-gulls. Daboia Zantiiina. — See Basilisk (sup.). Da- man. — See Cheroijrillus (sup.). Deer. — (Hebr., 'At/i/al). Its name is frequently read in the Scrip- tures, and its habits have afforded many allusions or comparisons, which fact supposes that tlie deer was not rare in Palestine. Its handsome form, its swift- ne.ss, its shyness, the love of the roe for her fawns, are alhuled to; it .seems from Prov., v, 19 and some other imliruct indications that the words 'difyal and 'dijyaUih (deer and hind) were terms of endearment most familiar between lovers. Demons (Is., xxxiv, 14). — So does D.V. translate ^ii/yim; it is certainly a mistake. The word at issue is generally believed to refer to the hyena (hycrnn slriala), still found every- where in caves and tombs. So also is the word "devils" of Bar., iv, 35. We possess no longer the Hebrew text of the latter; but it possibly contained the same word; anyway, "hyena" is unquestionably a far better translation than the mere meaningless "devils". DipsAS. — The D.V., following the Vulgate (Deut., viii, 15) thereby means a serpent whose bite causes a mortal thirst; but this interpretation seems to come from a misunderstanding suggested by the Septuagint; the original writer most likely intended there to mean "drought", as the A.V. rightly puts it, and not any kind of serpent. Dog. — The aog in the East does not enjoy the companion- ship and friendship of man as in the western coun- tries. Its instinct has been cultivated only in so far as the protecting of the flocks and camps against wild animals is concerned. In the towns and vil- lages it roams in the streets and places, of which it is the ordinary scavenger; packs of dogs in a half- wild state are met with in the cities and are not unfrequently dangerous for men. For this reason the dog h;us always been, and is still looked upon with loathing and aversion, as filthy and unclean. With a very few exceptions, whenever the dog is spoken of in the Bible (where it is mentioned over forty times), it is with contempt, to remark either its voracious instincts, or its fierceness, or its loathsome- ness; it was regarded as the emblem of lust, and of all uncleanne.ss in general. As the Mohammedans, to the present day, term Christians "dogs", so diii the Jews of old apply that infamous name to Gen- tiles. Dove (Hebr., y/inah). — Though distinguish- ing it from ti'ir, the turtle-dove, the Jews were per- fectly aware of their natural affinity and speak of them together. The dove is mentioned in the Bible oftener than any other bird (over fifty times); this comes both from the great number of doves flocking in Palestine, and of the favour they enjoy among the people. The dove is first spoken of in the record of the flood (Gen., viii, 8-12); later on we see that Abraham offered up some in sacrifice, which would indicate that the dove was very early domesticated. In fact several allusions are made to dove-cotes, with their "windows" or latticed openings. But in olden times as well as now, besitles the legions of pigeons that swarm around the villages, there were many more rock-doves, "iloves of the valleys", as they are occasionally termed (Kzech., vii, 16; Cant., ii, 14; Jer., xlviii, 28), that fillet! theeclioesof the mountain gorges with the rustling of their wings. The metallic lustre of their plumage, the swiftness of their flight, their habit of sweeping around in flocks, their plaintive coo. arc often alhuled to by the difTercnt sacred writers. The dark eye of the dove, encircleii by a line of bright red skin, is also mentioned; its gentleness and innocence made it the tj-pe of trust and love, and, most naturally, its name was one of the most familiar terms of endearment. Our Lord spoke of the dove as a symbol of simplicity; the sum of its perfections made it a fitting emblem for the Holy Spirit. Dr.oon. a word frequently found in the tran.slations of the Bible as substitute, so it seems, for other names of animals that the translators