keep him hovering near. He may have found carrion left in the hollows among the heights; but that this consisted of the bodies of drowned Cainites, popularly held to have afforded him a resting-place on the wild waters, is an assumption wholly gratuitous. The distinct statement that the ark had rested on the mountains before the raven was sent out, shows that there was dry land.

"Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground: But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark; for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand,

and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark: And the dove came in to him in the evening, and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove, which returned not again unto him any more" (ver. 8-12). The view now given of Noah's object in sending out the raven, is corroborated by his choice of the dove as the next messenger.

Figures of the Syrian dove are given in this place chiefly with the view of having them before us, for the illustration of other passages in which no doubt it is mentioned. There is much greater difficulty in identifying

the species in this case, than in that of the raven. The term used here is generic. The Hebrew word Yonah means the dove kind generally (Columbida). When species are spoken of, except in the case of the turtle-dove (tor), it is rather by indicating habits than by any definite

name.

Several points of interest are suggested in the narrative of the sending forth of the dove. 1. It was to ascertain if the waters were abated. The raven had told plainly, by its home-feeling among the heights, that the high lands were dry. But these mountain tops would neither be suitable for the household of Noah, nor for the great majority of the creatures which he had taken into the ark. No distinct mention is made of an intervening period between the sending forth of the raven and the despatch of the dove. But that there was a period of a week is deducible from the narrative of the repeated acts. Indeed it is clearly implied in the expression, "yet other seven days," when she was sent forth a second time (ver. 10). All nature, however, was as yet desolate. The dove was not at home even among the heights on which the ark now rested. Her dwelling was lower down; and "she returned unto him into the ark." 2. Several expressions used here may warrant a closer approach to the determination of the species of dove referred to. We are told that "she found no rest for the sole of her foot." But the fact that the ark had rested, weeks previously, on Ararat, and that the raven had continued "going to and fro," supply strong evidence that there was much land dry. Then it is said he put forth his hand, and pulled "-literally, wholly lifted-"her in unto him into the ark." This implies that she was wearied by her flight. But if we add to these considerations the statement in verse 11, that when sent forth a second time, after a week had passed, "she came to him in the evening," it will appear highly probable that she had on the first occasion not only been long on the wing, but had flown to a great distance. We are entitled to conclude from the context that, had the species sent forth been the rock dove (Columba livia), it would have found "rest for the sole of its feet" when it had become weary on the wing, inasmuch as the jutting cliffs of the mountains had begun to appear again. This species has its home in the rocks, and frequently nests at about the same level as the raven, though it often chooses a spot lower down. Thus, had the rock dove been sent out, no other purpose would have been answered than had already been accomplished by sending forth the raven. 3. This view is strengthened by the fact, that when she returned she brought the olive leaf in her bill. This, too, may help us

to a satisfactory estimate of the geographical position of the olive-tree. She had gone in quest of her nesting places. These had been found at a distance, though she had not required to fly as far as before, for there is no mention of fatigue-" she came in to him in the evening." But why have returned? Her mate was still in the ark, and, under the control of the strong instinct for the preservation of the species, she brought back with her some material for their nest-" and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off." The incident proclaimed to Noah and his household that all their hopes were soon to be gratified. The slopes on which the olive was known by them to flourish were now left dry. A few days more, and they would tread again those very plains, now associated with memories as full of warning, as the new life on which they were about to enter, almost as if alive from the dead, was to them full of hope. Traces of the incident are to be met with in the traditions of every nation. The dove and the olive branch became a world-wide symbol of peace.

On being sent out a third time, the dove "returned not again unto him any more." She had sought a mate in the ark, but had to leave it again alone. Would she be more successful among the olive groves now left dry? Impelled by instinct, she seeks them in search of a mate. Again we are called to admire the rare beauty of the narrative, and the truthfulness of these notices of birds to nature. The habits even of our domestic pigeons shed light upon these references. They love to form their nest, even when a breeding place is formed for them, with twigs, and may sometimes be seen, when free twigs are scarce, attempting to "pluck off" those still adhering to the bush or hedge. Frequently a domestic pigeon may be noticed, when deprived of its mate, hastening in its season to prepare a nest, and toiling at the work as hopefully as if wooed and won by a favoured suitor. The rock dove generally uses the same material-sticks and straws-for nest-making as most of the other species. But the eggs are sometimes found laid down on the bare rock, with only a few blades of withered alpine grass beneath them. Adding, then, the fact of its having returned with the olive leaf to the other fact, that when the olive groves were left dry it did not return, we have the fair inference that the species sent forth was one which nested in trees-it was not, in a word, the rock dove, which is generally allowed to be the parent of most of our domestic varieties, all of which, like the original species, love a solid place for nesting. This species, which may be regarded as. world-wide in its distribution, is mentioned in the Song of Solomon (ii. 14)—"O my

dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for thy voice is sweet, and thy countenance is comely." A fuller notice of it will be given under this passage; and the use made of the dove, as a type and emblem, by the writers of Scripture, will be considered under Leviticus i. 14. Meanwhile the place of this family of birds in the zoological scale may be indicated. The question of the true place of the doves (Columbida) in a system of classification has been very fully discussed, even from the days of the father of natural history-Aristotle. At least a dozen different positions have been assigned to it, according as it was viewed in the light of some one feature of its organization or its habits; and it was only at a period somewhat recent when naturalists were willing to admit into their comparative view of the family all known features as to both, that its present place was assigned to it, between the Climbers (Scansores), as the woodpecker, on the one hand, and the Gallinaceous Birds (Gallince), as the pheasant and domestic fowl, on the other. Linnæus associated the dove with the Singing Birds (perchers, Passeres), because in some of its habits it resembles them. Like them, he showed the male takes only one mate, tabers, or brings its head down on its breast when pairing, and takes its turn with the female in the process of incubation. He sought also to associate it with this family because of its mode of feeding its young, its habit of laying few eggs at one season, and its loving an elevated place for nesting. But so great variety prevails among the perching birds in regard to all these habits, that such characteristics were found wholly unsatisfactory as bases for a trustworthy scientific classification. 4. The leaf which the bird brought back was one "pluckt off." We are led to infer from this that the olive-trees continued to grow in their usual position. The waters of the deluge had retired so quietly from off the earth, as not to have swept away with them the vegetation which flourished before the flood. Much of this would no doubt perish. The olive had not.

The Olive (Olea Europaea, Hebrew Zayith), which is now first mentioned, occurs very frequently in other books of Scripture. It claims particular notice both on this account, and also because it has been associated by the Spirit of God with many thoughts of great beauty, with peculiarly rich views of the exceeding grace of God to man, and with some of the most touching incidents recorded in Holy Writ.

In the natural system of botany, this plant is ranked under the family Oleaceae or Olive-worts. The olive may be regarded as the type of this family, which includes such well known forms as the Ash

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tree (Fraxinus), the Privet (Ligustrum), and the Lilac (Syringa). To it also belong the Snow or Fringe tree (Chionanthus) of South America; the evergreen shrub Phillyrea, which has been introduced into British shrubberies from the shores of the Mediterranean; and the pretty Fontanesia. With one or two exceptions, Scripture references are made to the cultivated olive. In its wild state it is a low creeping bush, with crooked branches. When under careful cultivation, it grows into a goodly tree. The olive belongs to the highest group of trees-the Exogens, or those whose wood increases in thickness by the annual

addition, on the outside, of concentric layers. If the reader will examine the flower of the white lilac, he will have a good idea of that of the olive. The outer envelope (calyx) of the so-called flower is green and cup-like, consisting of one sepal, or calyx leaf (monosepalous). The flower (corolla) is united at the base, forming one petal or flower leaf (monopetalous), but, about the middle, it is cleft into four divisions. The stamens, or propagating organs of the flower,' are two in number, and the pistil which contains the ovary or seed receptacle, shows, when divided vertically, that this receptacle is two-celled. The flowers of