Blair Collection > History of the Celtic language

CELTIC LANGUAGE. 101
(not of Paganism, but) of the kingdom of heaven."
I will make thee an officer of a far other dispen-
sation.
Let us now suppose a few of the serpent tribe
passing before Adam in order that he may see
what to call them. Of these there were at least
ten species known to the ancients : we shall take
up four of them and show their names to be natural,
and corroborative of our grand proposition.
Auph, or Eph, a species of serpent called by us
now by transposition, and for the sake of euphony,
Behir, or Beithir; Hebrew n'S^'n Bphoe, the radix
being in be. This serpent, if our principle be true
to itself, must possess some property akin to an
animal which we call yiup, or Jp, the Ape. There
is this difference, however, that while ph in the
former allows the breath to escape, p in the latter
confines it. This is rather a nice point, and may
not be passed over without some argument. We
have all observed that the common note of the
Ape is aup, accompanied with a toss of its head
and a scowl. But,
" Auph, Oph, Effah" says Jackson in his account of
Morocco, " is the name of a serpent remarkable for its quick
and penetrating poison : it is about two feet long, as thick as
a man's arm, beautifully spotted with yellow and brown, and
sprinkled over with blackish specks similar to the horn-nosed
snake. They have a wide mouth by ichich they inhale a great
quantity of ai?; and when inflated therewith they eject it
with such force as to be heard at a considerable distance."