48 A NATURAL HISTORY 



TTSIPHONE, one of them, enraged at an innocent 

 Youth, pluck'd off one of her Snakes, and threw it at him, which 

 wound about his Body, and immediately fbrangled him. Some 

 fay, that we fee thefe three Furies on a Medal of the Emperor 

 Philip, flruck at Antioch, on whofe Reverfe are reprefented three 

 Women, arm'd with a Key, burning Torches, Poniards, and Ser- 

 pents. 



The Daffodil was facred to the Furies, and fach as offered 

 Sacrifice to them were crowned with it*. 



A s foon as departed Souls had been examined by Minos, Ra- 

 damanihus, and Macus, and found guilty, and Sentence pait, they 

 were delivered to the Furies, who cafi: them down headlong into 

 Tartarus, the Place of Torment, — and all thofe who had lived 

 well, were conducted to the Eiyjian Fields. 



HOME R fpeaks of them as the Executioners of Jufdce upon 

 falfe Swearers, among other Inilances : 



Infe?'nal Furies, and Tartarean Gods, 



Who rule the Dead, aiid horrid Woes prepare 



For perjur'd Kings, and all who faljly J'wear. 



The Harpies •j- were monftrous and cruel Birds defcrib'd with 

 Women's Faces, and Dragons Tails, to render them more formi- 

 dable to Mankind : The Antients looked upon them as Dsemons 

 or Genii, which lafl Homer calls Podarge. About Kaskan in 

 Perfia, is a fine and fertile Country, but plagued with Multi- 

 tudes of Scorpions, which haunt the Inhabitants, efpecially in that 

 Town (one of the moft populous and eminent Marts in that Em- 

 pire) where the Inhabitants, for fear of that venemous Animal, 

 dare not fleep upon the Floor (as in other Places, where they on- 

 ly throw a Quilt upon the Tapeftry) but have light Couches, 

 hanging down from the Roof, like Seamens Hammocks, or hang- 

 ing Beds on fliip-board. 



They have indeed a ready Help againft its venemous Wounds, 

 which is made of the Filings of Copper, tempered with Vinegar 

 and Honey, which proves a Ipeedy Cure ; but if negledled, the 

 Patient is in danger of his Life. This, fa3^s the Hiflorian, 

 I prefume, has been firfl found out by the antipathetick Qua- 

 lity, 



* From Eiijiathnis, on the firfl Book of the Iliad, 

 f Jello, Ocipete, and Cclaiw, Virg. ^neid. lib. 3. 



