OF SERPENTS. 141 



that of our Vipers, and the Tail, which feems to have a touch 

 of the Rattle, ends acutely. 



Its Wounds are deadly, and burn like Fire ; hence the Name- 

 it bears : Though fiery in Nature, is flow and winding in Mo- 

 tion, and may be avoided by the Traveller, if he has Eyes and 

 Ears. Its ufual Reiidence is in Mountains, and the higher Moun- 

 tains are, the greater the Cold, (becaufe they only receive direft, 

 and but Httle of the refledted Rays of the Sun) yet are the Habi- • 

 rations of fiery Animals. 



The Learned obferve, there are Mountains a Mile and an half 

 high, to the tops of which, no Vapour, and confequently no Clouds, 

 can ever reach : And hence it is that in very high Mountains, as 

 the Pico de T^heide in Bohemia^ though the middle part be always 

 inverted with Snow, and the bottom fcorched with intolerable 

 Heat \ yet on the top you will find yourfelf in a pure, thin, fe- 

 rene Air, and view the Clouds hovering at a confiderable diflance 

 below you *. 



Hence it is that all Thunder is confined within lefs than a 

 Mile's Height, The Air is coldefl in the highefl places, and 

 hottefl in the loweft; but in the intermediate Atmofphere, where 

 we live, very unequal ; but no Climates, however fituated, are 

 privileged, with Exemption from venemous Creatures, and where 

 they are lefs peflered with them, 'tis owing to the Cultivation of 

 the Land. 



The Wounds given by this Serpent are dangerous, and cured 

 by an Herb called j^ncola^ by Jo?iJionus, p. 26, 27^ but Anola:^. 

 by Nierembergius, p. 277, 283. 



CXXVI. The H^driis^ or Natrix, an aquatic Serpent : The 

 former word from u«^»^p, Water ^ of which 'tis an Inhi^bitant ; the 

 other word denotes its Skill in the Art of Navigation; it goes un- 

 der various Denominations, as appears in 'yonJ}c?ius ; who, from 

 Pliny obfervcs, that this Serpent i^Jliperior to r-wfl in Beauty^ and 

 inferior to none in Poifon •\. 



N ICA N D E Ry who calls the terreftrial Hydrus, a foul co- 

 loured Beafl, vindicates the beauiiful Charadier of the Marine;-^ 

 who yet is not very nice in its Choice of Water, for muddy and. 



clear. 



* Moniihui Te^eztlanicis. f Jgnfioni HiJiorU Nat. p. 28.. 



