them, with the wings of bats, though some occur with the feathered wings of birds. Had the Egyptians themselves believed the existence of that kind of serpent, we may reasonably suppose they would not have omitted it, in the numerous scenes connected with the Evil Being, of whom this hateful monster would have been an appropriate type. We may therefore conclude that Herodotus was imposed upon, by some deceitful or credulous Egyptian, who showed him the back bones of serpents mixed with the wings and bones of bats; which last abound in great numbers in Egypt, and may have been found in the gorge, near Buto.* The common Ibis mentioned by Herodotus corresponds with the Numenius Ibis, or Ibis religiosa, of modern naturalists, as Cuvier has shown t; but this is not the Ibis famed for its attack on the serpents, which was less common, and of a black colour. Those we find embalmed are the Numenius. They are white, with black pinions and tail : the body measures 12 inches, and 4 in diameter, and the beak about half a foot. The leg, from the knee to the plant of the foot, is about 4 inches, and the foot the same length; the wing, from the pinion-joint to the extremity of the feathers, being nearly 10 inches. The Ardea Ibis of Hasselquist, which is a small heron with a straight beak, has no claim to the title * From his never mentioning locusts, some might suppose he had made this mistake on seeing the bones and wings of those insects; but the form of the snakes, the bat's wings, and what he afterwards says of their living in Arabia, prevent this conclusion. Herodot. ii. 75. and iii. 107. 109. + Jameson's Cuv. Theory of the Earth, p. 300. et seq. of Ibis of the ancients. The black, and the common Egyptian, Ibis were related to the curlews, both having curved beaks. The Tantalus Ibis of Linnæus is indefinite, from its comprehending, as Cuvier says, "four species of three different ge nera. That the Ibis was of great use in destroying locusts, serpents, scorpions, and other noxious creatures which infested the country, is readily credited. And its destruction of themt led to the respect it enjoyed; in the same manner as the stork was honoured in Thessaly‡, where it was a capital offence to kill one of those birds. § Some have doubted the bill of the Ibis having sufficient power to destroy serpents; and therefore, questioning the accuracy of Herodotus's description of the birds, which attacked them in the desert near Buto, have suggested that they were of the Ardea kind. But it is evident that the bill of the Ibis is sufficiently strong for attacking serpents || of ordinary size, and well suited for the purpose. With regard to the statement of Herodotus, nothing conclusive can be derived from it; his whole testimony, as Cuvier observes, only proving that he saw a heap of bones, without having ascertained, beyond report, how they were brought to the spot. Bronze figures of the Ibis represent it attacking snakes; which, if not of ancient Egyptian, but of * Cuv. p. 329. Plut. de Is. s. 74. + Plut. de Is. s. 75. Some birds, as the secretary and others, attack snakes by striking them with the edge of their pinions, and having stunned them, then use Roman, time, suffice to show the general belief respecting it; and Cuvier actually found the skin and scales of a snake, partly digested, in the intestines of one of these mummied birds. The food of the common Ibis also consisted of beetles, and other insects; and in the body of one, now in the possession of Sir Edwin Pearson, are several coleopteræ, two of which have been ascertained by Mr. Hope to be Pimelia pilosa, and Akis reflexa of Fabricius, common in Egypt at the present day. Insects, snakes, and other reptiles, appear to have been the food of both kinds of Ibis. Plutarch and Cicero pretend that the use it made of its bill taught mankind an important secret in medical treatment. The form of the Ibis, when crouched in a sitting position, with its head under its feathers, or when in a mummied state, was supposed to resemble the human heart ‡: "the space between its legs, when parted asunder as it walks, was observed to make an equilateral triangle §," and numerous equally fanciful peculiarities were discovered in this revered emblem of Thoth. Mr. Pettigrew says ||, "The heart was looked upon by the Egyptians as the seat of the intellect; and in this way it has been attempted to explain * M. Latreille's genus Trachyderma; so named from their thick elytra. The bill is not a tube. is a mistake. Plut. s. 75. ii. 35. &c. Horapollo, i. 10. 36. The κλυζομενην και χαδαφομενην υφ' εαυτης Cicero, Nat. Deor. lib. ii. Ælian, Nat. An. Ælian, x. 29. § Plut. s. 75. He says, τη δε ποδων διαβάσει προς αλληλους και το φυγχος ισοπλευρον ποιεί τριγωνον. The expression "and the beak " is very unintelligible. || Vide his valuable History of Egyptian Mummies, p. 205. the attribute of the Ibis, which was no less than to preside over and inspire all sacred and mystical learning of the Egyptian hierarchy." Horapollo describes the Egyptian Hermes as "the president of the heart, or a personification of the wisdom supposed to dwell in the inward parts." Ælian's story of the length of its intestines, ascertained by those who presided over the embalming of this bird to be 96 cubits long*, and its obstinate refusal to eat any food when taken out of Egypt, are among the number of idle tales respecting the Ibis.t I have stated that it was particularly sacred to Thoth, the Moon, or the Egyptian Hermes, and that Hermopolis was the city in which it received the greatest honours. As an emblem of Thoth it was represented standing on a perch; and the God himself was almost invariably figured with the head of this bird. There was another Hermopolis, distinguished by the adjunct Parva, where it was also revered as an emblem of the same God; and the town of Ibeum, situated, according to the Itinerary of Antoninus, 24 miles to the north of Hermopolis, was noted for the worship of the Ibis. But all Egypt acknowledged its sacred character; and there is no animal of which so many mummies have been found, particularly at Thebes, Memphis, and Hermopolis Magna. In the former, they are enveloped in linen bandages, and are often perfectly preserved; at M. Larcher says they were ascertained at the Académie des Sciences to be 4 ft. 8 in. French. Herod. Larch. p. 231. Ælian, + M. Larcher has also freed it from the imputation of a felo de se. Memphis, they are deposited in earthenware vases of conical shape, but nearly always decomposed; and at the city of Hermes, in wooden or stone cases of an oblong form. Some have been found mummied in the human form; one of which, in the collection of S. Passalacqua, is made to represent the God Thoth.* Both kinds of Ibis, mentioned by Herodotus, were doubtless sacred to the Egyptian Hermes. The Ibis is rarely found in Egypt at the present day, though said sometimes to frequent the lake Menzaleh, and occasionally to be seen in other parts of the country. Cuvier and others have made considerable researches respecting it; and that celebrated naturalist brings forward a curious proof of its having been domesticated, from the discovery of a mummied Ibis, whose "left humerus had been broken and joined again." For, he observes, "It is probable that a wild bird whose wing had been broken would have perished before it had healed, from being unable to pursue its prey, or escape from its enemies."+ It is probable that many of the heron or crane tribe were looked upon with respect by the Egyptians, though they did not receive the same honours given to the Ibis; and some were chosen as emblems of other Gods, distinct from every connection with Thoth. Some were killed for the table and the altar‡; and the Egyptian chasseur is * Vide Pettigrew, Plate 13. fig. 6. |