, we are certain; for he was expressly commanded
by God to gather food for himself and for them. "Take thou unto thee,"
it was said to him, "of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather
it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them." What
provision was made for the _carnivorous_ animals, for lions, tigers,
vultures, kites, and hawks? Some of these would require not simply meat,
but _fresh_ meat, which could not be provided for them unless superfluous
animals were taken into the ark to be killed, or Noah had learned the
art of potting flesh. Otters would require fish, chameleons flies,
woodpeckers grubs, night-hawks moths, and humming-birds the honey of
flowers. What vast quantities of water also would be consumed! In
fact, the task of collecting food to last all the inmates of the ark,
including the eight human beings, for more than a year, must have been
greater even than that of bringing them together in the first place from
every zone. The labors of Hercules were mere trifles compared with those
of Noah. Poor old patriarch! He amply earned _his_ salvation. Had he
been possessed of one tithe of Jacob's cunning and business sagacity, he
would have struck a better bargain with God, and have got into the ark
on somewhat easier terms. Few men would have undertaken so much to gain
so little.

3. How were all the animals, with their food, got into the ark? The
dimensions as given in the Bible would be insufficient to accommodate a
tithe of them; the ark could not have contained them all, if they were
packed together like herrings or sardines. Even if they were so packed,
space would still be required for their food; and for what a vast
quantity! An animal even with man's moderate appetite would consume in
the course of twelve months solid matter to the extent of four or five
times its own weight, and some animals are of course far more voracious.
This difficulty as to stowing the animals and their food into the ark is
quite insuperable; it is not to be obviated by any employment of
miraculous intervention. Not even omnipotence can make a clock strike
less than one, and God himself must fail to make two things occupy the
same space at the same time.

4. How where the inmates of this floating menagerie, supposing them got
in, supplied with fresh air? According to the Bible narrative the ark
was furnished with but one window of a cubit square, and one door
which was shut by God himself, and it may be presume