192 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



he had failed in accomplishing the destruction of the woman and 

 her seed. The venom of poisonous serpents is commonly ejected 

 by a perforation in the fangs, or cheek teeth, in the act of biting. 

 We learn, however, from several facts mentioned by Mr. Taylor, 

 that serpents have the power of throwing out of their mouth a 

 quantity of fluid of an injurious nature. The quantity cast out by 

 the great red dragon s is in proportion to his immense size, and is 

 called a flood or stream, which the earth, helping the woman, open- 

 ed her mouth to receive. Gregory, the friend of Ludoiph, says, in 

 his History of Ethiopia, ' We have in our province, a sort of ser- 

 pent as long as the arm. He is of a glowing red color, but some- 

 what brownish. This animal has an offensive breath, and ejects a 

 poison so venomous and stinking, that a man or beast within the 

 reach of it, is sure to perish quickly by it, unless immediate assist- 

 ance be given. At Mouree, a great snake, being half under a heap 

 of stones and half out, a man cut it in two, at the part which was 

 out from among the stones ; and as soon as the heap was removed, 

 the reptile, turning, made up to the man, and spit such venom into 

 his face, as quite blinded him, and so he continued some days, but 

 at last recovered his sight. 



The prophet Jeremiah alludes to the hideous voracity of the boa, 

 where he predicts the destruction of Babylon, the cruel oppressor 

 of his people. 'Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, hath swal- 

 lowed me up ; he has filled his belly with my delicacies,' ch. li. 34. 

 The same writer, in his description of a severe famine, represents 

 the wild ass, upon the summit of a rock, 'snuffing up the wind 

 like dragons,' ch. xiv. 6. Nor do these terrible reptiles content 

 themselves with catching the passing breeze ; they are said to suck 

 from the air the birds that fly above them, by the strength of their 

 breathing. When the ancient Hebrews observed the dragons erect, 

 and with expanded jaws fetching a deep inspiration, they interpret- 

 ed the circumstance as if with their eyes lifted up to heaven they 

 complained to their Maker of their miserable condition ; that, hated 

 by all creatures, and confined to the burning and sterile deserts, they 

 dragged out a tedious and miserable existence. 



'ihe silent and barren wilderness is the chosen haunt of the 

 dragon. It is on this account the prophets of Jehovah, in predict- 

 ing the fall of populous cities, so frequently declare, ' They shall 

 become the habitation of dragons ; ' by which they mean to threat- 

 en thein with complete and perpetual desolation. The same allu- 

 sion is involved in the complaint of the Psalmist: ' Thou hast bro- 

 ken us in the place of dragons : ' or, as Aquila not improperly ren- 

 ders it, in the place which cannot be inhabited. 



The word dragon is sometimes used in scripture to designate the 

 devil (Rev. xii.freq.), probably on account of his great power, and 

 vind ictive cruelty ; though not without reference to the circum- 

 stances attending the original defection of mankind. 



