418 



HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 



hibition usual enough in that country. Hav- 

 ing- first, therefore, produced a large serpent, 

 he assured the company that it was harmless; 

 and to convince them of what he said, he tied 

 up his arm, as is usual with those who are 

 going to be bled, and whipped the serpent till 

 it was provoked to bite him. Having drawn in 

 this manner about half a spoonful of blood from 

 his arm, he put the congealed clot upon his 

 thigh. He then took out a much smaller ser- 

 pent, which was no other than the cobra dica- 

 peilo ; and having tied up his neck, he procured 

 about half a drop of its venom , which he sprink- 

 led on the clot of blood on his thigh, which 

 instantly began to ferment and bubble, and 

 soon changed colour from a red into a yellow." 



This he pretended was caused by the ex- 

 treme malignity of that animal's venom : how- 

 ever, I have no doubt that the whole is either 

 a fable, or a trick of the Indian ; who, while 

 he seemed to mix the serpent's venom, actually 

 infused some stronger ingredient, some mineral 

 acid, into the mass of blood, which was capa- 

 ble of working such a change. It cannot be 

 supposed that any animal poison could act so 

 powerfully upon the blood already drawn and 

 coagulated ; for a poison that could operate 

 thus instantaneously upon cold blood, could not 

 fail of soon destroying the animal itself. 



Be this as it will, the effects of serpent-poi- 

 son are but too well known, though the man- 

 ner of operation be not so clear. As none of 

 this malignant tribe grow to a great size, the 

 longest of them not exceeding nine feet, they 

 seldom seek the combat with larger animals, 

 or offend others till they are first offended. Did 

 they exert their malignity in proportion to their 

 power, they could easily drive the ranks of 

 Nature before them ; but they seem uncon- 

 scious of their own superiority, and rather fly 

 than offer to meet the meanest opposer. Their 

 food chiefly consists of small prey, such as 

 birds, moles, toads, and lizards; so that they 

 never attack the more formidable animals, that 

 would seldom die unrevenged. They lurk 

 therefore in the clefts of rocks, or among stony 

 places ; they twine round the branches of trees, 

 or sun themselves in the long grass at the bot- 

 tom. There they only seek repose and safety. 

 If some unwary traveller invades their retreats, 

 their first effort is to fly ; but when either pur- 

 sued or accidentally trod upon, they then make 

 a fierce and fatal resistance. For this purpose 

 they raise themselves according to their strength 

 upon their tail, erect the head, seize the limb 

 that presses them, the wound is given, and the 

 head withdrawn in a moment. It is not there- 

 fore without reason, that the Asiatics, who live 

 in regions where serpents greatly abound, wear 

 boots and long clothes, which very well pro- 

 tect their lower parts from the accidental re- 

 sentment of their reptile annoyers. 



In the eastern and western Indies, the 

 numbers of noxious serpents are various ; 

 in this country we are acquainted only with 

 one. 1 The viper is the only animal in Great 

 Britain from whose bite we have any thing 

 to fear. In the tropical climates, the rattle- 

 snake, the whip-snake, and the cobra di capello, 

 are the most formidable, though by no means 

 the most common, From the general notori- 

 ety of those particular serpents, and the uni- 

 versal terror which they occasion, it would 

 seem that few others are possessed of such 

 powerful malignity. 



Vipers are found in many parts of this island ; 

 but the dry, stony, and particularly the chalky 

 countries, abound with them. 2 This animal 



1 It is a curious fact, that since the introduction of 

 sheep farming into the Highlands of Scotland, the num- 

 ber of vipers has greatly diminished there. This is owing 

 to the flocks of sheep trampling them to death as they go 

 along. Formerly the viper used to be very destructive 

 to cattle, by biting them in the udder as they lay down : 

 from this the sheep are protected by their wool. 



2 Common Viper or Adder. The Common Viper is 



happily the sole British representative of any of the 

 poisonous groups of Serpents, and indeed the only poison- 

 ous reptile indigenous to this country. It is far more 

 numerous in Scotland than the Common Snake, and is 

 found in abundance in all parts of England and Wales, 

 frequenting heaths, dry woods, and banks. In Ireland 

 it has never been seen ; and it may, almost with cer- 

 tainty, be stated that it does not exist there. On the 

 continent of Europe it is extensively distributed, being 

 found from the northern parts of Russia to the south of 

 Italy and Spain. It is everywhere deservedly feared oa 

 account of its venom, which, although less virulent than 

 that of many other species, is yet sufficiently so to pro- 

 duce severe symptoms, and sometimes, in the warmer 

 climates, even fatal results. In this country I have 

 never seen a case which terminated in death, nor have 

 I been able to trace to an authentic source any of the 

 numerous reports of such a termination, which have at 

 various times been confidently promulgated. At the 

 same time the symptoms are frequently so threatening, 

 that I cannot but conclude that in very hot weather, and 

 when not only the reptile is in full activity and power, 

 but the constitution of the victim in a state of great 

 irritability and diminished power, a bite from the Com- 

 mon Viper would very probably prove fatal. The reme- 

 dies usually employed are the external application of 

 oil, and the internal administration of ammonia. 



The poisonous fluid is perfectly innocuous when swal- 

 lowed. Dr Mead, and others, have made this experi- 

 ment, and never experienced the slightest ill effects from 

 it. It is, however, clear that there would be danger in 

 swallowing it, were any part of the mouth, the throat, or 

 the oesophagus, in a state of ulceration, or having an 

 abraded surface. 



It will not perhaps be wholly uninteresting to des- 

 cribe briefly the very beautiful apparatus by which the 

 poison wounds are inflicted, which render these, and sd 

 many other serpents, so formidable. On each side of 



