I^A TTLESNAKE HIS TOR V. 273 



appear to have taken the lead in science ; while at Florence 

 an assembly of ' Knowing Physicians ' were experimental- 

 izing with all the Vipers procurable in Southern Europe, 

 holding council as to the source of their 'Mischiefs' and 

 specific ' Remedies for their Bitings/ etc., with just such tests 

 with the ' Master Teeth ' of both living and dead vipers as 

 have of late again occupied the attention of living scientists. 

 In 1660 the learned Redi of Florence published his book on 

 Vipers, and soon after M. Moyse Charas, a Frenchman, 

 produced a work which would not be a bad text-book even now. 



And for the Scientific World what greater stimulus 

 could arise than the foundation of the ROYAL SOCIETY by 

 Charles IL, and the channel for ventilating discoveries and 

 inventions which their published Transactions afforded? Very 

 early in these do we find that viper poison was engaging profes- 

 sional attention, and soon did communications appear from 

 those ' knowing physicians ' at Florence. A correspondence 

 sprang up between M.D.'s of England, France, and Italy ; 

 and the details of their experiments proved very inciting to 

 the members of the Royal Society of London, who with the 

 limited subjects at their disposal — virtually only our own 

 little English viper — also set themselves to work to analyze 

 the * Poyson Bag.' 



One enthusiast, Mr. Piatt, addressing the Royal Society 



from Florence, with an account of some of the experiments 



then going on, made mention of the M. Charas who had 



written such an important work, and ended by hoping to 



animate the virtuosi here to ' do something that may be not 



unworthy your knowlege.' ^ 



' See Philosophical Transactions, London, 1672. 



S 



