KEPTILES. 



and of fomc other cafes of bites of Eall and Weft Indian 

 ferpents, fee tlie Pliil. Tranf. for 1810, p. 75. 



Riillel, in his account of Indian ferpents;, has furniftied 

 U" with the moll ample and iuterelling details concerning the 

 Indian poifonous ferpents. Of thefe the cobra de capello, or 

 ipedtacle fnake (coluber naja), and the katiika-rekula-poda 1 vi- 

 pera elegans', are the moll dangerous. It appears, from a 

 comparifon of the effefts of the venom of the Indian ferpents, 

 the rattlcfnakes, and the viper in the mammalia, that the fymp- 

 toms are nearly the fame in all, but that the term of their du- 

 ration dillcrs. The bite of a rattlefnake dcftroyed a dog 

 in England in two minutes ; while that of the nioft venomous 

 Indian fnake has never been fatal to this animal in Icfs than 

 thirty-feven minutes. A chicken bitten by the gedi para- 

 goodoo (bungarus CKruleus) was immediately attefted with 

 itupor ; in ten minutes, it was incapable of remaining up- 

 right ; a quarter of an kour after it was ftretched on the 

 ground, as if afleep ; it made fome efforts to rife, turning 

 the head to one lide and the other, became convulfed, and 

 perilhed in half an hour. 



A llout dog was bitten in the thigh by a ferpent of the 

 fame fpecies : he howled much from the bite, but walked 

 about freely. He lay down in a quarter of an hour, and 

 howled : when an attempt was made to make him Hand by 

 railing him up, it was found vhat the hind limbs were para- 

 lyfed. He grew worfe, ceafed to howl, and vomited 

 abundantly : he became benumbed, and remained lying on 

 the lide. He died in two hours, having had very bad con- 

 vulfions. 



A lean bitch, having been bitten near the groin, remained 

 fifteen minutes without exhibiting any fymptomsof fuffering. 

 In fifty minutes fhe lay down, and appeared much afFefted : 

 on attempting to make her iland, it was difcovered that the 

 limbs were paralyfed. She vomited a little, and was con- 

 vulfed till death, which occurred feventy minutes after the 

 bite. 



Wounds infliftcd by the fpeiStacle fnake, or coluber naja, 

 had the fame eflefts ; alfo thofe of the katuka rekula poda. 

 Death did not always follow in the latter cafe, particularly 

 in a dog, who was bitten fix times, and once inoculated with 

 the poifon. A horfe was bitten by the lall-mentioned (nake 

 on each fide of the nofe. Prodigious fwelling enfued, and 

 extended to the throat ; the animal rcfufed his food, vomited, 

 and appeared greatly affefted. He liad an emollient fo- 

 m.entation, and recovered on the third day. 



Experiments with the bodrou pam had the fame refults : 

 fwelling, numbnefs, paralyfis, convuliions, and death. 



Riidcl tried inoculation of^the venom with needles, thread, 

 5:c. Of fix trials on dogs, none proved mortal. Eight 

 out of twenty-four were fatal in chickens and pigeons. 



Several venomous and innocent ferpents were expofed to 

 the fpeiitacle fnake : it would not bite them until inftigated 

 to do it, and they died without attempting to retahate. But 

 Ruffel found, in repeated trials, that two of thefe animals 

 did not hurt each other ; they would fight, and wound each 

 other, but thefe wounds were not mortal. 



Many circumftances modify the refults of wounds in- 

 ffidled by venomous ferpents : w'z. the quantity of venom, 

 the condition of the ferpent as to vigour or wcaknefs, the 

 number of bites he has infhfted, the fituation and nature 

 of the part bitten, the fize of the animal, &c. 



There are many fafts to prove, that the lecretion of the 

 venomous gland, which is fo adtive a poifon, when intro- 

 duced into a frefh wound, is quite innocent, and probably 

 inoperative, if taken into the llomach. The pfylli, or fer- 

 pent charmers, fo celebrated among the ancients for curing 

 perfons who had been bitten by vipers, fucked the wound 



llrongly and repeatedly. Recent wounds made by the fer 

 de lance (vipera lanceolata) of Martinique, the venom of 

 which is very atlive, are alfo fucked with impunity. Fon- 

 tana fwallowed the poifon of the viper, both mixed with 

 water, and pure ; it had even a mild taftc, inftead of pro- 

 ducing a caullic and burning fenfation, as fome have ftatcd. 

 The heads of vipers, with their fangs and glands entire, 

 have been eaten by dogs witliout any ill effcdts ; and even 

 the head of the terrible rattlefnake, with all its venomoua 

 apparatus, has been employed, with the reft of the body, in 

 making foup, which has been drunk with perfect im- 

 punity. 



Having thus defcribed the inftruments with which nature 

 has furnifhed the venomous ferpents, for the purpofe of at- 

 tacking, killing, feizing, and fwallowing their prey, we 

 cannot be at much lofs to underllaiid how thefe objects are 

 effctled ; yet the prevailing notions on the fubjeft are calcu- 

 lated, inllead of elucidating, to involve a plain matter in ob- 

 fcurity and myftery. Thefe will be moll efledlually dif- 

 pelled by the following Itatement of Palifot Beauvois, who 

 had confiderable opportunities of obferving the habits of fer- 

 pents in America. " Much has been written on the manner 

 in which ferpents feize their prey : fome afcribe to them a 

 kind of magical power, the effedl of which is to charm and 

 enchant the animals on whom they fix their looks ; others, 

 lefs fond of the marvellous, pretend that they infpire them 

 with cxceflive alarm, that, not knowing what they do, they 

 run from one fide to the other, fly, return, and at lall preci- 

 pitate themfelves into the jaws of the monller ; a third 

 opinion is, that ferpents diffufe around a fetid odour, by 

 the aid of which they fuffocate birds, fquirrels, rabbits, and 

 the different animals on whicli they feed. It mult be diffi- 

 cult to determine the means employed by thefe animals in a 

 Hate of nature, for the purpofe of feizing their prey ; and 

 It would probably be wrong if we were to fuppole tliat the 

 fame means are adopted in all inllances. Can we believe, for 

 example, that the black ferpent (coluber conllriilor), which 

 creeps with aflonifhing quicknefs, climbing flirubs, and not 

 at all venomous, fhould employ the fame means as the boi- 

 quira (crotalns durillus), a llow moving animal, never afcend- 

 iiig the fmallell plant, and furnifhed, like all tjie venomous 

 ferpents, with two fangs, the wound of which is fo quickly 

 fatal ? Yet, if we may judge of thefe reptiles in a flate of 

 liberty, by what goes on when they are prifoners, they cer- 

 tainly create only a common alarm, fuch as any creature will 

 feel, when endeavouring to efcape from its enemy. The 

 animals experience no enchantment, nor any attack of mad- 

 nefs, when a ferpent fixes his eyes on them. Serpents pro- 

 duce no bad fmell, ftill lefs a fetid vapour, capable of fuffo- 

 eating animals. The boiquira eats indifcriminately all the 

 dead birds brought to it. It will not eat frogs, which the 

 black ferpent, on the contrary, feems to prize highly. Faf- 

 ciiiation and charms are repugnant to reafon : forcerers and 

 magicians exilf no more among animals than men : cunning, 

 addrefs, and force, are in both cafes a fufficient, as well as the 

 only charm and power, to render the weak tributary and vic- 

 tim to the llrong. 



" I made, in conjunftion with Peale, the following obfer- 

 vations on a boiquira, which he had preferved alive for five 

 years, and on a black ferpent. 



" A living bird (idferus pheniceus) was put into the cage 

 with the rattlefnake, and remained there two days, without 

 any offenfive proceeding on the part of the ferpent. The 

 bird did not feem at all uneafy. As far as we could judge 

 from the countenance, the air which it breathed was the 

 fame as it would be in an ordinary clofed cage. During 

 the two days, the reptile ate a dead bird of the fame fpecies 



as 



