732 



A HISTORY OF 



themselves in motion at the word of command. 

 AV ten their keeper sings a slow tune, they 

 seen by their heads to keep time; when he 

 sings a quicker measure, they appear to move 

 brisk and lively. All animals have a certain 

 decree of docility ; and \ve find that serpents 

 themselves can be brought to move and ap- 

 proach at the voice of their master. From 

 this trick, successfully practised before the 

 ignorant, it is most probable has arisen all the 

 bo ssled pretensions which some have made 

 to charming of serpents; an art to which the 

 native Americans pretend at this very day. 

 O.io of Linnneus's pupils, we are told, pur- 

 chased the secret from an Indian, and then 

 discovered it to his master; but, like ail secrets 

 of the kind, it is probable this ended in a few 

 unmeaning words of no efficacy. 



Though the generality of mankind regard 

 this formidable race with horror, yet there 

 have been some nations, and there are some 

 at this day, that consider them with venera- 

 tion and regard. The adoration paid by the 

 ancient Egyptians to a serpent is well known: 

 many of the nations at present along the 

 western coast of Africa retain the same unac- 

 countable veneration. Upon the gold and 

 slave coasts, a stranger, upon entering the 

 cottages of the natives, is often surprised 

 to see the roof swarming with serpents, that 

 cling there without molesting and unmolested 

 by the natives. But his surprise will increase 

 upon going farther southward to the kingdom 



of Widah, when he finds that a serpent is the 

 god of the country. This animal, which tra- 

 vellers describe as a huge, overgrown creature, 

 has its habitation, its temple, and its priests. 

 These impress the vulgar with an opinion of 

 its virtues ; and numbers are daily seen to offer 

 not only their goods, their provisions, and their 

 prayers, at the shrine of their hideous deity, 

 but also their wives and daughters. These 

 the priests readily accept of, and after some 

 days of penance, return them to their sup- 

 pliants, much benefited by the serpent's sup- 

 posed embraces. Such a complicated picture 

 of ignorance and imposture gives no very 

 favourable impressions of our fellow-creatures; 

 but we may say in defence of Human Nature, 

 that the most frightful of reptiles is worshipped 

 by the most uncultivated and barbarous of 

 mankind. 



From this general picture of the serpent 

 tribe, one great distinction obviously presents 

 itself; namely, into those that are venomous, 

 and those that are wholly destitute of poison. 

 To the first belong the viper, the rattlesnake, 

 the cobra di capello, and all their affinities : 

 to the other, the common black snake, the 

 liboya, the boiguacu, the amphisbaena, and 

 various others, that, though destitute of venom, 

 do not cease to be formidable. I will, there- 

 fore, give their history separately, beginning 

 with the venomous class, as they have the 

 strongest claims to our notice and atten- 

 tion. 



CHAPTER CLXV. 



OF VENOMOUS SERPENTS IN GENERAL. 



THE poison of serpents has been for ages 

 one of the greatest objects of human conside- 

 ration. To us, who seldom feel the vengeful 

 wound, it is merely a subject of curiosity ; 

 but to those placed in the midst of the serpent 

 tribe, who are every day exposed to some new 

 disaster, it becomes a matter of the most seri- 

 ous importance. To remedy the bite of a 

 serpent is considered among our physicians, as 

 one of the slightest operations in medicine : 

 but among the physicians of the East, the anti- 



dotes for this calamity make up the bulk of 

 their dispensaries. In our colder climates, the 

 venom does not appear with that instantane- 

 ous operation which it exhibits in the warmer 

 regions ; for either its powers are less exqui- 

 site, or our fluids are not carried round in 

 such rapid circulation. 



In all countries, however, the poison of the 

 serpent is sufficiently formidable to deserve 

 notice, and to excite our attention to its nature 

 and effects. It will, therefore, in the first 



