On the Poison of t lie Viper. 429 



6. What is the nature of the rock or bed in which they are 

 found ? 



7. Are the bones disposed in entire skeletons ? are those of 

 different animals mingled together ? 



S. Are the shells worn, broken, crushed, or thrown out of 

 their natural position ? Are the different species confusedly in- 

 teiinixed ? 



{). Does this mixture extend not tnerelv to species and tribes, 

 but even to classes ? i. e. are the remains of fish and sea shells 

 accompanied bv those of land animals and vegetables ? 



10. Are any analogous living species now found, or known to 

 have been formerly found, in their vicinity or elsewb.ere ? 



11. Among the various organic remains, can any traces be 

 observed of the existence of man ? 



XCIX. Memoir on the Poison of the Fipei\ Bj Professor 

 Mangili*. 



-L HE ancients believed that the poison of the viper when intro- 

 duced directly into the alimentary canal, was not productive of 

 auy injurious effect to the animal ceconomy. They grounded this 

 belief on the fact, that a person may vvich impunity suck a wound 

 inflicted by this animal ; and this was even prescribed as one of 

 their remedies. The same opinion was adopted by Redi. 



More lately Fontana maintained that though a small dose of 

 poison might be imbibed without danger, a greater dose would 

 produce the most serious consequences — even death. He killed 

 eight vijiers, and extracting ail the venom out of them, he intro- 

 duced it into the stomach of a pigeon wliich had not eaten for 

 eight hours before. In less than a minute tiie animal appeared 

 sicktucd; at the end of two other minutes it began to stagger, 

 fell on its side, and died in six minutes in strong convulsions. 



This experiment was contrary to one made by Redi, who, 

 having diluted in a glass of water some poison extracted frotn the 

 heads of four vipers, and having given a part of it to a kid, and 

 the rest to a water-dog, no sort of harm resulted from it. 



At last Jacob Sozzi drank with ecjual impunity the poison of 

 .': viper diluted in half a glass of wine ; at another time he drank 

 i '. the same manner the poison of three vipers. 



With the desire of clearing up this matter, the author of this 

 nr;emoir made at first experiments on four young blatkbir<ls. 

 The first swallowed the venomous fluid of three vipers;^the se- 

 cond that of four ; — the third that of five ;— and the fourth that 



* rroiTi tl:(.' Ciurnuif dc risicu, C/iimica, Hfc. vol. ix. 



of 



