Naphtha and bitumen are here given forth separately in equal abundance; and these two substances, boiled together in certain proportions, form a third kind of cement, superior to the slime or mud, but inferior to lime-mortar.

Petroleum, called by the Orientals _mumia_, is another product of the bitumen-pits.
The wild animals indigenous in Babylonia appear to be chiefly the following:--the lion, the leopard, the hyeena, the lynx, the wild-cat, the wolf, the jackal, the wild-boar, the buffalo, the stag, the gazelle, the jerboa, the fox, the hare, the badger, and the porcupine.

The Mesopotamian lion is a noble animal.

Taller and larger than a Mount St.
Bernard dog, he wanders over the plains their undisputed lord, unless when an European ventures to question his pre-eminence.

The Arabs tremble at his approach, and willingly surrender to him the choicest of their flocks and herds.