THE SERPENT KIND. 



739 



such formidable accounts : fortune, however, 

 seemed favourable to him, for he grasped it 

 by the head, so that it had no power to bite 

 him, and only twisted its folds up his arm. 

 In this manner he held it, till it was killed by 

 those who came to his assistance. 



To this formidable class might be added the 

 Asp, whose bite however is not attended with 

 those drowsy symptoms which the ancients 

 ascribed to it. The Jaculus of Jamaica also, 

 is one of the swiftest of the serpent kind. 

 The Haemorrhois, so called from the haemorr- 

 hages which its bite is said to produce ; the 

 Seps, whose wound is very venomous, and 

 causes the part affected to corrupt in a very 

 short time ; the Coral Serpent, which is red, 

 and whose bite is said to be fatal. But of all 

 others, the Cobra di Capello, or Hooded Ser- 

 pent, inflicts the most deadly and incurable 

 wounds. Of this formidable creature there 

 are five or six different kinds ; but they are all 

 equally dangerous, and their bite followed by 

 spee'ly and certain death. It is from three to 

 eight feet long, with two large fangs hanging 

 out of the upper jaw. It has a broad neck, 

 and a mark of dark brown on the forehead ; 

 which, when viewed frontwise, looks like a 

 pair of spectacles ; but behind like the head of 

 a cat. The eyes are fierce and full of fire ; 

 the head is small, and the nose flat, though 



covered with very large scales, of a yellowish 

 ash-colour ; the skin is white, and the large 

 tumour on the neck is flat, and covered with 

 oblong, smooth scales. The bite of this ani- 

 mal is said to be incurable, the patient dying 

 in about an hour after the wound ; the whole 

 frame being dissolved into one putrid mass of 

 corruption. 



To remedy the bite of all these animals, 

 perhaps salad-oil would be very efficacious: 

 however, the Indians make use of a composi- 

 tion, which is called, in Europe, Petro de Co- 

 bra, or the Serpent-stone ; and which applied 

 to the wound, is said to draw out the venom. 

 The composition of this stone, for it is an ar- 

 tificial substance, is kept a secret ; and per- 

 haps its effects in extracting the venom may 

 be imaginary : nevertheless, it is certain that 

 it has a power of sticking to the skin, and 

 sucking a part of the blood from the wound. 

 This it may do somewhat in the same manner 

 as we see a tobacco-pipe stick to the lips of a 

 man who is smoking : yet still we are igno- 

 rant of the manner ; and the secret might 

 probably be of some use in medicine. It were 

 to be wished, therefore, that those who go into 

 India would examine into this composition, 

 and give us the result of their in.quiries : but I 

 fear that it is not to benefit mankind, that our 

 travellers now go to India. 



CHAPTER CLXVI. 



OF SERPENTS WITHOUT VENOM. 



THE class of serpents without poison, may 

 be distinguished from those that are venom- 

 ous, by their wanting the fang-teeth : their 

 heads, also, are not so thick in proportion to 

 their bodies ; and, in general, they taper off 

 to the tail more gradually in a point. But 

 notwithstanding their being destitute of venom, 

 they do not cease to be formidable : some 

 grow to a size by which they become the 

 most powerful animals of the forest ; and 

 even the smallest and most harmless of this 

 slender tribe, find protection from the simili- 

 tude of their form. 



The fangs make the great distinction among 



NO. 63 & 64. 



serpents ; and all this tribe are without them. 

 Their teeth are short, numerous, and, in the 

 smaller kinds, perfectly inoffensive : they lie 

 in either jaw, as in frogs and fishes, their points 

 bending backwards, the better to secure their 

 prey. They want that artificial mechanism 

 by which the poisonous tribe inflict such dead- 

 ly wounds : they have no gland in the head 

 for preparing venom ; no conduits for convey- 

 ing it to the teeth ; no receptacles there ; no 

 hollow in the instrument that inflicts the 

 wound. Their bite, when the teeth happen 

 to be large enough to penetrate the skin, (for, 

 in general, they are too small for this purpose,) 

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