The Eaje. 499 



made to prevent the dire effect of the poison. The pro- 

 prietor was condemned to pay a deodand for the injury 

 done by the serpent. 



THE HAJE, OR EGYPTIAN ASP. (Naja Eaje.) 



THE HAJE, or Egyptian Asp, is from three to six feet in 

 length ; it has two teeth longer than the rest, through 

 which the venom flows. The body is covered with 

 small round scales, and is of a greenish colour, bordered 

 with brown ; its neck is capable of inflation. The jug- 

 glers of Egypt, by pressing this Asp on the nape of the 

 neck with the finger, throw the animal into a kind of 

 catalepsy, which renders it stiff and immovable; when 

 they say that they have changed it into a rod. The 

 habit which this species has of raising itself up when 

 approached, induced the ancient Egyptians to believe 

 that it guarded the fields where it was found ; and it is 

 sculptured on the gates of their temples as an emblem 

 of the protecting divinity of the world. 



