its skin. Again, it seems probable that the
form is of symbolic significance. However this may be, we find that this
universal serpent worship of primitive man was a form of phallicism so
prevalent in former times.

Many other animals may be mentioned. The sacred bull, so frequently met
with in Egypt, Assyria and Greece, was a form under which Bacchus was
worshipped. R. P. Knight speaks as follows: "The mystic Bacchus, or
generative power, was represented under this form, not only upon coins
but upon the temples of the Greeks; sometimes simply as a bull; at other
times as a human face; and at others entirely human except the horns and
ears."

We would probably be in error to interpret all these animal symbols as
exclusively phallic although many were definitely so. Thus, while
Hermes was a priapic deity, he was also a deity of the fields and the
harvests; so the bull may have been chosen for its strength as well as
its sexual attributes.

There are many animals which were symbolic of the female generative
power. The cow is frequently so employed. The Hindus have the image of a
cow in nearly every temple, the deity corresponding to the Grecian
Venus. In the temple of Philae in Egypt, Isis is represented with the
horns and ears of a cow joined to a beautiful woman. The cow is still
sacred in many parts of Africa. The fish symbol was a very frequent
representative of woman, the goddess of the Phoenicians being
represented by the head and body of a woman terminating below in a fish.
The head of Proserpine is frequently surrounded by dolphins. Indeed, the
female principle is regularly shown by some representative of water;
fire and water respectively being regarded as male and female
principles.

Male and female attributes are often combined on coins for purposes of
sexual symbolism. R. P. Knight explains these symbols as follows: "It
appears therefore that the asterisk, bull, or minotaur, in the centre of
a square or labyrinth equally mean the same as the Indian lingam,--that
is the male personification of the productive attribute placed in the
female, or heat acting upon humidity. Sometimes the bull is placed
between two dolphins, and sometimes upon a dolphin or another fish; and
in other instances the goat or the ram occupy the same situation. Which
are all different modes of expressing different modifications of the
same meaning in symbolical or mystical writings. The female
personifications frequently occupy the s