NATURAL THEOLOGY. 109 



probably, to the killing of it, when caught, by a 

 mortal wound, inflicted in the passage to the 

 stomach, which may be no less merciful to the 

 victim, than salutary to the devourer. In the 

 viper, for instance, the poisonous fang may do that 

 which, in other animals of prey, is done by the 

 crush of the teeth. Frogs and mice might be 

 swallowed alive without it. 



2. But it will be said, that this provision, when 

 it comes to the case of bites, deadly even to hu- 

 man bodies, and to those of large quadrupeds, is 

 greatly overdone ; that it might have fulfilled its 

 use, and yet have been much less deleterious than 

 it is. Now I believe the case of bites which pro- 

 duce death in large animals (of stings I think 

 there are none,) to be very few. The experiments 

 of the Abbe Fontana, which were numerous, go 

 strongly to the proof of this point. He found that 

 it required the action of five exasperated vipers to 

 kill a dog of a moderate size ; but that to the kill- 

 ing of a mouse, or a frog, a single bite was suffi 

 cient ; which agrees with the use which we assign 

 to the faculty. The Abbe seemed to be of opin- 

 ion, that the bite even of the rattlesnake would 

 not usually be mortal ; allowing, however, that in 

 certain particularly unfortunate cases, as when 

 the puncture had touched some very tender part, 

 pricked a principal nerve, for instance, or, as it is 

 said, some more considerable lymphatic vessel, 

 death might speedily ensue. 



3. It has been, I think, very justly remarked, 



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