583 



LETTER LX. 



ef Lo ! the green serpent, from l;i# dark abode. 

 Which ev'n imagination fears la tread ; 

 At noon forth issuing, gathers up his train 

 la orbs immense; 



. . . . . . with threatening tongue 



And deatnfol jaws erect, the monster curls 

 His flaming crest." 



THOMSON. 

 DEAR SIR, 



AFTER continuing our range for so long a time 

 among the various tribes of animal life, we now come' 

 to a class, which, above all others, has excited terror 

 in man, as well as in almost every other creature. 

 This is the serpent race, of which the view always 

 excites sensations of horror. 



The distinguishing characteristic of serpents arc, 

 that they breathe, through the mouth, and have nei- 

 ther legs, ears, nor fins. The serpent tribe are not 

 in any of the European countries sufficiently nume- 

 rous or formidable to be truly objects of terror. There 

 are not above three or four kinds that are dangerous, 

 and the poison of all operates "in the same manner. 

 A burning pain, easily removed by timely applica- 

 tion, is the worst consequence that is to be appre- 

 hended from the bite of any of the serpents of this 

 quarter of the globe. However, although Europe be 

 happily delivered from these dangerous reptiles, in 

 the tropical regions where the climate is sultry, the 

 forests thic.k, and the inhabitants few in number, ser- 

 pents multiply in proportion. Along the swampy 

 banks of the great rivers of Africa and America, par- 

 ticularly the Niger and Oroonoko, they are seen 

 clinging in amazing numbers to the branches of trees ; 

 and in those parts they carry on unceasing hostilities 

 against all the other animals in their vicinity. In 

 those wana and fertile countries, the serpent tribes 



