" Pharae's , Mouse." 295 



mpn chances to find an " Aspe " by the water- 

 side, " it ketcheth hold on the taile, and so drawetK, 

 tlie beast into the Water, anil receiveth help from 

 the fluds to devour her enemy ."' It will tte 

 observed that in neither of these Stories is there 

 any suggestion of any vegetable antidote to the 

 snake's poison, but that victory waits on the most 

 active and cunning of the combatants. The story 

 of the mungoose and its antidote is generally 

 ascribed to the natives of India; but it is noticeV 

 ab>le that Sir Emerson' Tennent 1 mentioned it as, 

 being of European origin, and said that the 

 natives of Ceylon attached no credit to it. The 

 ichneumon was also supposed to sometimes encase 

 itself in its armour of sun-dried mud before attack- 

 ing the crocodile in the manner described in 'our 

 recent article- a story which apparently sorely 

 exercised TopselFs mind, as, after describing the 

 animal as l< sitting close upon the liver of the. 

 Crocodile, and feeding full sweetly upon his 

 intrals," he expatiates upon it as follows : " I, 

 wonder for what cause the beast should rowle 

 her selfe in sand and durt, to enter into tHe 

 Crocodiles belly: For first of all, if after her 

 roling in the durt, she dry her selfe in the sunne, 

 yet will not that hard crust be any sufficient 

 armour of proofe to defend her small body from 

 the violence of the Crocodiles teeth, and besides, 

 it encreaseth the quantity of her body, making 

 her more unfit to slide downe through the Croco- 

 diles narrow throate; and therefore the ( 



