OP SERPENTS. 



PLATE XXVI. 



Class Reptilia. Order III. Ophidia : Serpents. 



WE now come to a tribe that not only their deformity, 

 their venom, their ready malignity, but also our prejudices, 

 and our very religion, have taught us to detest. The serpent 

 has from the beginning been the enemy of man ; and it has 

 hitherto continued to terrify and annoy him, notwithstanding 

 all the arts that have been practised to destroy it. Formida- 

 ble in itself, it deters the invader from the pursuit : and from 

 its figure capable of finding shelter in a little space, it is not 

 easily discovered by those who would venture to try the 

 encounter. Thus possessed at once of potent arms and inac- 

 cessible or secure retreats, it baffles all the arts of .man, though 

 never so earnestly bent upon its destruction. 



For this reason, there is scarcely a country in the world 

 that does not still give birth to this poisonous brood, that 

 seem formed to quell human pride, and repress the boasts of 

 security. Mankind have driven the lion, the tiger, and the 

 wolf, from their vicinity ; but the snake and the viper still 

 defy their power, and frequently punish their insolence. 



The various malignity that has been ascribed to European 

 serpents of old, is now utterly unknown : there are not above 

 three or four kinds that are dangerous, and their poison ope- 

 rates in all in the same manner. A burning pain in the part, 

 easily removable by timely applications, is the worst effect 

 that we experience from the bite of the most venomous ser 

 pents of Europe. But though we have thus reduced these 

 dangers, having been incapable of wholly removing them, in 

 other parts of the world they still rage with all their ancient 

 malignity. Nature seems to have placed them as sentinels 

 to deter mankind from spreading too widely, and from seeking 

 new abodes till they have thoroughly cultivated those at 



