p VIPER. Class III. 



rarely hear of the bite being fatal. The remedy, 

 if applied in time, is very certain, and is nothing 

 elfe but fallad oil, which the viper- catchers feldom 

 go without. The axungia viperitia, or the fat 

 of vipers, is alfo another. Doctor Mead fufpects 

 the efficacy of this lad, and fubftitutes one of his 

 own in its place*-, but we had rather trull: to vul- 

 gar receipts which perpetual trials have fhewn to be 

 infallible. 



The fymptoms of the venom, if the wound is 

 neglected, are very terrible : it firfl caufes an a- 

 cute pain in the place affected, attended with a 

 fwelling, firft red, afterwards livid, which by de- 

 grees fpreads to the neighboring parts ; great faint- 

 nefs, and a quick tho' low and interrupted pulfe 

 enfue ; great ficknefs at the ftomach, bilious 

 convulfive vomitings, cold fweats, and fometimes 

 pains about the navel; and in confequence of 

 thefe, death itfelf. But the violence of the fymp- 

 toms depends much on the feafon of the year, the 

 difference of the climate, the fize or rage of the 

 animal, or the depth or fituation of the wound. 



Dreadful as the effects of its bite may be, yet its 

 ftefh has been long celebrated as a noble medi- 

 Uses. cine. Doctor Mead cites from Pliny, Galen, and 

 other antients, feveral proofs of its efficacy in the 

 cure of ulcers, the elephantiafis, and other bad com- 

 plaints. He even fays he has feen good effects 



* JEJfay on Poi/ons, 47. 



from 



