multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were
the fifth day."--Genesis i., 20-23.

In these words, so full of busy, active, thronging life, we now enter
on that part of the earth's history which has been most fully
elucidated by geology, and we have thus an additional reason for
carefully weighing the terms of the narrative, which here, as in other
places, contain large and important truths couched in language of the
simplest character.

1. In accordance with the views now entertained by the best
lexicographers, the word translated in our version "creeping things"
has been rendered "prolific or swarming creatures." The Hebrew is
_Sheretz_, a noun derived from the verb used in this verse to denote
bringing forth abundantly. It is loosely translated in the Septuagint
_Erpeta_, reptiles; and this view our English translators appear to
have adopted, without, perhaps, any very clear notions of the
creatures intended. The manner in which it is used in other passages
places its true meaning beyond doubt. I select as illustrations of
the most apposite character those verses in Leviticus in which clean
and unclean animals are specified, and in which we have a right to
expect the most precise zoological nomenclature that the Hebrew can
afford. In Leviticus xi., 20-23, _insects_ are defined to be _flying
sheretzim_, and in verse 29, etc., under the designation "_sheretzim
of the land_," we have animals named in our version the weasel, mouse,
tortoise, ferret, chameleon, lizard, snail, and mole. The first of
these animals is believed to have been a burrowing creature, perhaps a
mole; the second, from the meaning of its name, "ravager of fields,"
is thought to have been a mouse. Some doubt, however, attends both of
these identifications, but it appears certain that the remaining six
species are small reptiles, principally lizards. We learn, therefore,
that the smaller reptiles, and _perhaps_ also a few small mammals, are
_sheretzim_. In verses 41 and 42 we are introduced to other tribes.
"And every _sheretz_ that swarmeth on the earth shall be an
abomination unto you; it shall not be eaten; whatsoever goeth upon the
belly (serpents, worms, snails, etc.), and whatsoever hath more feet
(than four) (insects, arachnidans, myriapods)." In verses 9 and 10 of
the same chapter we have an enumeration of the _sheretzim_ of the
waters: "Whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas
and in the rivers, them