APPENDIX.

571

Job, “ the wicked perish, and by the breatb of his nostrils are they con-snmed,” i. e. as fuel on the hearth is consumed by the blast of an eolipile.The Psalmist, describing God , says, “ there went up a smoke out of hisnostrils, and fire out of his mouth ; coals were kindled by it.” “ Behold[says Isaiah] the name of the Lord cometh from far burning with hisanger, [or the grievousness of flame as the margin has it,] his lips are fullof Indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire; and his breath as anoverflowing stream shall reach to the midst of the neck.” Again, “ To-phet is ordained of old, yea for the king it is prepared : he hath made itdeep and large : the pile thereof is fire and much wood, the breath of theLord like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it.”

It appears to us that here and in similar passages are allusions to eoli-piles of the human form, and to such images as Pusterich, from whoseeyes, mouths and nostrils issued streams of flame, smoke, steam, &c.Perhaps it will be said the expressions are figurative : true they are so ;but then there is in them an allusion to the tkings from which the figuresare derived. When God is said to melt his people, to rejme, to take awaythe dross from them, every one perceives the allusions to metallurgicaloperations, because such operations are known to all; and equally clearwould the passages quoted above appear had eolipilic blowers and idolscontinued in use to our times. We should then have perceived that suchexpressions as the sword of his mouth, swords of fire, fiaming swords, &c.were neither of figurative origin nor application only ; for from the varietyof eolipilic images, there is little doubt that inflammable fluids were madeto issue from different parts of them, and in various shapes—from theirmouths as tongues of fire, and from the hands as fiaming swords, &c. Weknow that ancient priests were exceedingly expert in working prodigiesby inflammable fluids, of which numerous examples might be quoted.When Octavius was in Thrace , he consulted the Oracle of Bacchus, andthe ministers of the temple finding it their interest to gratify him, con-trived that when the wine was poured on the altar, a body of flame shouldburst out and ascend above the roof of the temple; a portent, observes Sue-tonius, “ that had never happened to any but Alexander the Great , whenhe was sacrificing at the sarae altar.” They could, of course, as easily havemade the flame dart from the mouth and eyes of an idol as from the altar,if their views had so required it.

But if it should be contended that the passages quoted, rather gave riseto idols like Pusterich, i. e. were hints which heathen priests workedfrom in order to produce or imitate the same effeets, it will not affect theinference we wish to drawfrom them, viz. the antiquity of steam and vaporimages. In Connection with this subject, it may be observed, that thefamous Palladium of Troy was probably an eolipilic idol, in which inflam-mable fluids were used ; for on certain occasions fiashes of fire dartedfrom its e#es, as from the mouth and forehead of Pusterich.

If biblical critics would pardon our temerity, we would also suggestthat the Lares or images which Rachel stole from her father’s dwellingwere, like the small Saxon idol, (p. 398,) and those referred to in Isaiah,(p. 400) eolipilic fire blowers. They have exceedingly perplexed com-mentators, who after suggesting numerous explanations, generally concludeby observing that their nature and uses are unknown ; but had thesewriters called to mind the ancient employment on the domestic hearthof brazen eolipiles of the human form, they would have perceived that thename of Laban’s images gave an indication of what they were. In allancient languages proper narnes were invariably expressive of some pro-minent feature, attribute, or design of the objects named : so of these