OF SERPENTS. 8i 



Serpent is adorn*d: For the fame reafon, a certaifl Species of the 

 Herpes, that is, a cutaneous Diftemper, which is a kind of fpread- 

 ing Inflammation, (and is like Millet-feed on the Skin) is called 

 Miliary : And by fome, this is called the Miliary Serpent *. 



This Serpent is compared by Nicander to a Lion ; either for 

 Cruelty in thirfting after Blood, or for its Courage^ which ap- 

 pears in all its Attacks. How furious in all its Wars, offenfivc 

 and defenfive ! always fighting, Lion-like, '^\\\\ 2in ereSledTiail : 

 Which leads me to a DigrefTion about the Turkifi Standardy 

 which is a Horfe-Tail ereSled: The Original of that Cuftom was 

 this, viz. One of the Turkijh Generals having his Standard taken 

 in a Battle with the ChriJiianSy and perceiving his Men difcouraged 

 by the lofs of it, he cut off a Horfe-'Tail, and faftening it to the 

 top of a Half-pike^ advanced it on high, crying out. This is the 

 great Standard^ let thoje that love me follow it : Upon which his 

 Men rallied, fought Y\\it Liens, and obtained the Vi6toryj-.. 



B u T to return to the Serpent, which moving in a diredl Line, 

 goes faft, but being of great Bulk, can't fuddenly wind about J: 

 Circumvolution is the way to avoid its Menaces. 'Tis commonly 

 found in the Ifland of Lemnos (the old Dipolis, and now the Sta~ 

 limene of the Turks) and aifo in Samothracia, an Ifland in the 

 Archipelago, a Province antiently famous for the J3ii Cabiri, that 

 is, certain Gods wor {hipped by the Samothracians and PhenicianSy 

 and had in fuch high Veneration, that it was a Crime to mention 

 Names fo facred among the People ||. Some fay they were God's 

 Minifters, others think they were Devils. 



XV. The Acontia **, called by the Latins, Serpens Macular is ^ 

 and by fome, the Flying Serpent, becaufe of the Celerity of it? 

 Motion. In Lemnos 'tis call'd Sagittarius, the Bowman or Archer: 

 By the modern Greeks, Saeta, a Dart j for it flies like an Arrow 

 at its Prey -f-f-. A certain Perfon in Cato\ Army call'd Paulusy was 



flain, 



* Ab aliquibus MiUarii appelUtur., JonflonuSj p 20. f Tavernier. 



:{: Et femper rs^o lapfurus limite cencris. Lucan. Pharfal. p. 2^9. 



(j Bocbart Geogr. Sacra, lib. i. cap. 12. 



** A%» ra uHovToq, quod, jaculi inftar, fe vibrer. 



ft Rumpat 8c Serpens iter inftitutum 

 Si per obliquum fimilis fagittce 

 Terruit mannos. 



M ■ ,. 



