cal exigency. More and
more, as the organic world was observed, the vast multitude of petty
animals, winged creatures, and "creeping things" was felt to be a
strain upon the sacred narrative. More and more it became difficult to
reconcile the dignity of the Almighty with his work in bringing each
of these creatures before Adam to be named; or to reconcile the human
limitations of Adam with his work in naming "every living creature"; or
to reconcile the dimensions of Noah's ark with the space required for
preserving all of them, and the food of all sorts necessary for their
sustenance, whether they were admitted by twos, as stated in one
scriptural account, or by sevens, as stated in the other.

The inadequate size of the ark gave especial trouble. Origen had dealt
with it by suggesting that the cubit was six times greater than had been
supposed. Bede explained Noah's ability to complete so large a vessel by
supposing that he worked upon it during a hundred years; and, as to the
provision of food taken into it, he declared that there was no need of
a supply for more than one day, since God could throw the animals into
a deep sleep or otherwise miraculously make one day's supply sufficient;
he also lessened the strain on faith still more by diminishing
the number of animals taken into the ark--supporting his view upon
Augustine's theory of the later development of insects out of carrion.

Doubtless this theological necessity was among the main reasons which
led St. Isidore of Seville, in the seventh century, to incorporate
this theory, supported by St. Basil and St. Augustine, into his great
encyclopedic work which gave materials for thought on God and Nature to
so many generations. He familiarized the theological world still further
with the doctrine of secondary creation, giving such examples of it as
that "bees are generated from decomposed veal, beetles from horseflesh,
grasshoppers from mules, scorpions from crabs," and, in order to give
still stronger force to the idea of such transformations, he dwells
on the biblical account of Nebuchadnezzar, which appears to have taken
strong hold upon medieval thought in science, and he declares that
other human beings had been changed into animals, especially into swine,
wolves, and owls.

This doctrine of after-creations went on gathering strength until, in
the twelfth century, Peter Lombard, in his theological summary, The
Sentences, so powerful in moulding the thought of