I©6 ON THE POISON 



of- the venom is the lame in all of them, and confe- 

 quently to be removed by the fame means : this 

 opinion appears to be juft and natural, though it 

 may not admit of any dire61: proof. It has uniformly 

 been obferved, that even the fame ferpent poflefTes 

 very different degrees of power in its bite, according 

 lo thefeafon of the year, and other circumftances : this 

 is beautifully touched upon by Virgil, when fpeak- 

 ing of a ferpent that was, in his time, common iq 



Poflquam cxliaufta palus, terra^que ardore dehifcqnt, 

 Exilit in ficcum, et flammantia lumina torquens 

 S^vit agris, afperque fid, atque extcrritus aeftu. 

 Ne mihi turn molks fub dio carpere fomnos, 

 Neu dorfo nemoris libeat jacuiffe per herbas : 

 Cum pofitis novus exuviis, nitidufque juventa 

 Volvitur, aut catulos tefli;, aut ova relinquens 

 Arduus ad fblem, et Unguis micac ore trifulcis. 



V^RG. Georg. lib. 3d. 



SECTION III. 



We are now to enquire in what manner the venom 

 produces fuch fatal effects upon the human body. 

 This it will be admitted is a very intcrefting queftion, 

 and has given rife to a great variety of opinions, but 

 after all, no fubjeft feems to be lefs underftood. 

 Ancient writers have offered a variety of crude con- 

 jectures, which have defervedly been forgotten ; they, 

 however, made one important obfervation, " that the 

 poifon produced its efFeSs in confequence of a wound, 

 and through the medium of the blood," Upon this 

 view of the difeafe, the whole of their practice was 

 founded ; it was the obje6t of all their applications, 

 as expreffed by Celsus, '* quo plus vitiati jam fan- 

 guinis extrahatur." This opinion, however, did not 

 ^^ontinue to be maintained : later phviicians, fupported 



by 



