REMARKS EXTRACTED FROM DR. SIBTHORP'S JOURNALS. 285 



household furniture, and the pith is* used instead of tinder, tor con- 

 veying fire from one place to another. It is now called vd^driKoe, the 

 ancient name somewhat corrupted. 



Kcu?)( of Cypnis. — An veterum AspisPf 



April 17. — We left the Salines for Famagousta. Tlie reapers 

 were busy in the harvest, and the tinkling of the bells fixed to their 

 sides expressed their fears of the terrible Kov(pi. A monk of Fama- 

 gousta has the reputation of preventing the fatal effects of the 

 venom of this serpent by incantation ; and from the credulity of the 

 people had gained a sort of universal credit through the island. 

 We were frequently shewn as precious stones compositions fabricated 

 by artful Jews ; these were said to be taken out of the head of the 

 Kou'pt ; and were worn as amulets to protect the wearers from the 

 bite of venomous animals. | , 



• " Cet usage est de la premiere antiquite, et pent servir a oxpliquer un endroit d'Hesi- 

 odc, qui parlant du feu que Promethee voia dans le ciel, dil, qu'il I'emporta dans une 

 Ferule, Iv xoi'auj vapSrixi. E. xa.) H. 52. Suivant les apparences, Promethee se servit de 

 moelle de Ferule au lieu de moclie, et apprit aux hommes a conserver le feu dans les tiwes 

 de cette plante." Tournefort, Lett. vi. The following remark of Proclus on Hesiod (24 

 Ed. Heins.) may be added, "Es-Tip-sv Trvpo;ovTiu; ipvXctxTixb; 6 Nap^rjf, ^Viav ep^oJV ittaAaxo'rijra 

 Eicro;, xa) Tpsfsiv to Triip, xct'i fi^' diroc^evvuvai ouvafxe^iiy — Ed. 



f This is the Quaere of Forskal. " The most dangerous of the serpents in Cyprus (says 

 Drummond, who travelled in 1 745,) is the asp, the venom of which is said to be very deadly. 

 In order to frighten away these and other kinds of poisonous reptiles, the reapers, who 

 are obliged to wear boots, always fix bells to their sickles." A word, resembling Kovfi, 

 and applied to a species of serpent, is found in jElian ; and in Hesychius, xaxpluc. The 

 latter seems to consider it improperly as the same with Tuipxlac. Hasselquist (p. '131.) de- 

 scribes a serpent called by the Greeks of Cyprus, "Ac-mx; this may be the Ko6pi, and the 

 author of the work De Mir. Aus. speaks of a species of serpent in Cyprus, 6 tyjv ivvaftiv 



O/io/aV E^:l TW Iv AiyUTTTCO OKTTTitl. Ed. 



% The superstition of the ancient Greeks attributed a similar efficacy to the Lapis 

 ophites; Srjplahaixu zspiavTojJievoi, saysT)ioscorides. 'Euwopio-r. Lib. xi. c. 1 4 1 . ' 



