OFSERPENTS. i 



they take Food into their Mouths, they raife up their Bodies a 

 little, that they may fwallow their Prey with lefs difficulty. 



They fwallow thofe little Animals whole without chewinsr. 

 In a Viper differed by a certain Gentleman, he found three large 

 Mice, intire, without any Change of their Form by hard Coni- 

 prefTure. Scorpioiis live chiefly upon Locufts, and other winged 

 Infedls, In Arabia, 'tis faid, they feed upon Balfam-Juices, and 

 feem to delight much in the Shadow of that Tree *. 



I T is remarkable, that Nature has provided young Vipers with 

 poifonous Teeth grown to Perfedtion, commenfarate to their 

 Bulk, that fo they may immediately feed them.felves, by being 

 able, in fome meafure, to kill their Prey as foon as they are born. 

 Some of thefe Animals have temporary Parts, as the Lacerta 

 Aquatica, a little Water-Serpent, which, when young, has four 

 ramified Fins, to poife and keep its Body upright, (which gives 

 it the Refemblance of a young Fifli) and thefe fall oft^ when the 

 Legs are grown : So Frogs and Toads, in their 'Tadpole State, have 

 Tails, which fall off when their Legs are grown out -f . Thefe 

 pafs through various Tranfmigrations, before they arrive at their 

 perfed: State. "^ 



o 



SECTION V. 



AS Serpents differ in Kind, fo in Size ; the Length to which 

 fome of them grow is moft furprizing. A certain Num- 

 ber is fent out with little Bodies; others are of monflrous Bulk, 

 and capable of making the ftrongefl Efforts againftall the At- 

 tempts made to deftroy them ; yea, are ftrong enough to contend 

 with Elephants, the greateft of Animals, and conquer them. e. gr. 

 ATT I LIU S REGULUS, the Roman General in Africa, 

 is faid to encounter a Serpent in that Country, of vaft Strength and 

 Stature, near the River Bagrada, 120 Feet long, which he and 

 his Army could not fubdue, without difcharging all their Engines 

 of War againfl it} and, when conquered and flea'd, its Skin was 



con- 

 » Conrad. Gefner, 85. f Derham's Phyf. Theal B. IV, 



