[cany and his court, put this beyond any doubt whatsoever. By these it appeared, that the serpent having once bitten, exhausted for that time the greatest part of its poison; and though the wound caused by its biting a second time was attended with some malignant symptoms, yet they were much milder than before. It appeared that the serpent biting upon a sponge, or a piece of soft bread, and then biting a dog immediately after, did not inflict a wound more dangerous than the prick of a needle. It appeared that the venom being collected, and a needle dipped therein, this produced almost as painful effects as the tooth of the animal itself. But what caused the greatest surprise in the court was the seeming rashness of one Tozzi, a viper-catcher; who, while the philosophers were giving elaborate lectures on the danger of the poison when taken internally, boldly desired a large quantity of it might be put together; and then, with the utmost confidence, drank it off before them all. The court was struck with astonishment, and expected that the man would instantly fall dead: but they soon perceived their mistake, and found that, taken in this manner, the poison was as harmless as water; so true is that famous passage of Lucan, nie odw » * twee book! What then shall we say to the speedy effect of so seemingly harmless a liquid taken into the circu lation? Let us first observe, that milk is one of the most mild and nourishing of all fluids, and seemingly the most friendly to the human consti 2 Σ tution y yet if milk be injected into a vein, it will quickly become fatal, and kill with more certain destruction than even the venom of the viper. From hence then we may infer, that the introducing not only the serpentine venom, but also a quantity of any other mixture, into the circulation, will be fatal, and that, consequently, serpents kill as well by their power of injecting the wound as by the potency of their poison. Some indeed may inject a more acrimonious mixture and this may produce more speedy effects; but any mixture thus injected would be dangerous, and many would be fatal. Moet lemas 911 to 1000 Ray gives us an instance of the potency of the serpent poison; which, though it has all the air of a fable, I cannot help transcribing. "A gentle"man who went over to the East Indies, while he ટ was one day sitting among some friends, was * accosted by an ne experiments respecting the accosted by an Indian smuggler, who offered to show him some venom of serpents; an exhibition usual enough in that country. Having first, therefore, produced "a large serpent, he assured the company that it was harmless; and to convince them of what he said, he tied up his arm, as is usual with those "who are going to be bled, and whipped the serpent till it was provoked to bite him. Having "drawn in this manner about half a spoonful of "blood from his arm, he put the congealed clot upon his thigh. He then took out a much smaller "serpent, which was no other than the cobra di "capello; and having tied up its neck, he procured "about half a drop of its venom, which he sprinkled "on the clot of blood on his thigh, which instantly "began to ferment and bubble, and soon changed colour, from a red into yellow.".sk bas 66 This he pretended was caused by the extreme malignity of that animal's venom; however, I have no doubt that the whole is either a fable, or a trick of the Indian; who, while he seemed to mix the serpent's venom, actually infused some stronger ingredient, some mineral acid, into the mass of blood, which was capable of working such a change. It cannot be supposed that any animal poison could act so powerfully upon the blood already drawn and coagulated; for a poison that could operate thus instantaneously upon cold blood, could not fail of soon destroying the animal itself. Be this as it will, the effects of serpent poison are but too well known, though the manner of operation be not so clear. As none of this malignant tribe grow to a great size, the longest of them not exceeding nine feet, they seldom seek the combat with larger animals, or offend others till they are first offended. Did they exert their malignity in proportion to their power, they could easily drive the ranks of nature before them; but they seem unconscious of their own superiority, and rather fly than offer to meet the meanest opposer. Their food chiefly consists of small prey, such as birds, moles, toads, and lizards; so that they never attack the more formidable animals, that would seldom die unrevenged. They lurk therefore in the clefts of rocks, or among stony places; they twine round the branches of trees, or sun themselves in the long grass at the bottom. There they only seek repose and safety. If some unwary traveller invades their retreats, their first effort is to fly; but when either* 7 pursued or accidentally trod upon, they then make a fierce and fatal resistance; For this purpose, they raise themselves according to their strength upon their tail, erect the head, seize the limb that presses them; the wound is given, and the head withdrawn in a moment. It is not therefore without reason that the Asiatics, who live in regions where serpents greatly abound, wear boots and long clothes, which very well protect their lower parts from the accidental resentment of their reptile annoyers.holde beold f 2 In the Eastern and Western Indies, the number of noxious serpents is various; in this country we are acquainted only with one. The viper is the only animal in Great Britain from whose bite we have any thing to fear. In the tropical climates, the rattle-snake, the whip-snake, and the cobra di capello, are the most formidable, though by no means the most common. From the general notoriety of these particular serpents, and the universal terror which they occasion, it would seem that few others are possessed of such powerful malignity..! Vipers are found in many parts of this island; but the dry, stony, and in particular the chalky countries abound with them. This animal seldom grows to a greater length than two feet; though sometimes they are found above three. The ground colour of their bodies is a dirty yellow; that of the female is deeper. The back is marked the whole length with a series of rhomboid black spots, touching each other at the points; the sides with triangular ones, the belly entirely black. It is chiefly distinguished from the common black snake by the 3 colour, which in the latter is more beautifully mot tled, as well as by the head, which is thicker than the body, but particularly by the tail, which in the viper, though it ends in a point, does not rün tapering to so great a length assim the other.” When, therefore, other distinctions fail, the differ ence of the tail can be discerned at a single glance. I Toe Jail པ་ wond ynisd 1938 The viper differs from most other serpents in being much slower, as also in excluding its young completely formed, and bringing them forth alivel The kindness of Providence seems exerted not only in diminishing the speed, but also the fertility of this dangerous creature. They copulate in May, and are supposed to be about three months before they bring forth, and have seldom above eleven eggs at a time. These are of the size of a blackbird's egg, and chained together in the womb like a string of beads. Each egg contains from one to four young ones; so that the whole of a brood may amount to about twenty or thirty. They continue in the womb till they come to such perfection as to be able to burst from the shell; and they are said by their own efforts to creep from their confinement into the open air, where they conu tinue for several days without taking hanya food whatsoever. We have been often assured," says Mr. Pennant, by intelligent people, of the truth of a fact, that the young of the viper when terri "fied will run down the throat of the parent, and seek shelter in its belly, in the same manner as the young of the opossum retire into the "ventral pouch of the old one. From this," continueshe, some have imagined that the 66 |