194 LEAVES FROM THE 



particularly make use of, are not hurtful in the mouth but in the 

 wound. Therefore, whosoever will, after their example, suck the 

 wound, will be in no danger himself, and will save the life of the 

 wounded person.' — Medecin. lib. v. c. 17.* 



Aristotle {Hist Aoiim. lib. viii. c. 29) states, that the 

 saliva of a man is hostile to most serpents ; and Nicander 

 declares that serpents fly from even the smell of human 

 spittle. 



Of the efficacy of sucking the wound there can be no 

 doubt, as we shall see when we come to consider the 

 treatment of persons bitten by serpents. At present we 

 must return to the regions of enchantment, from which 

 honest Dr. Mead has drawn us aside, and call up one or 

 two of the ancient worthies, whose names as serpent- 

 charmers and serpenticides have survived to this day. 



Whether Atyr was a Psyllian or Marsian does not 

 appear; but Silius Italicus has immortalized him and his 

 powers : — 



Nee non serpentes diro exarmare veneno 

 Doctus Atyr, tactuque graves sopire chelydros. 



Lucian has handed down the name of Babylonius the 

 Chaldsean, who, sallying forth in the morning into the 

 open country, pronounced certain sacred names from an 

 ancient volume, made his lustrations with sulphur and a 

 torch, stalked solemnly round in a circle thrice, and 

 evoked all the serpents that infested the region. The 

 reptiles obeyed him as if he had been another St. Patrick, 

 crept out at his summons whether they would or no, and, 

 no doubt, suffered accordingly. 



That it was part of the ancient priestcraft to render 

 the most venomous serpents innoxious, hardly needs 

 proofs. 



Herodotus relates that, in the neighbourhood of 

 Thebes, there are sacred serpents which are quite harm- 



* Mead on Poisons, 



