OF SERPEN TS. 55 



of the Ckufa, (an Herb like our Hemlock) was among the Athe- 

 nians. 



Some fay 'tis of the afpick kind, as the Arabians ; in length a 

 Cubit or more, with two Horns on the Head, refembling Snail- 

 Shells : It lies perdue near travelling Paths, and is very crafty in 

 decoying little Birds into the Snare. 



Its Wounds foon kill, if one of the Pjyilian People be not im- 

 mediately called in. N. B. Thefe Pjy/Ii are a noted People of 

 Syrenaica in Africa, endued with a natural Faculty of deftroying 

 Serpents upon light, and curing their Wounds by a Touch of the 



Hand j of whom we have this Account, viz Crates of Per- 



gamus fays, that about Parium in the Hellefpont, there were Men, 

 named Ophiogenes, who cured thofe wounded by Serpents with a 

 Touch. Varro teftifies there were fome of them in his time. 



AG A THE RCIDES writes, that in Africa the PfylUam 

 (a People fo called from King PJyllus, from whom they were de- 

 fcended, and whofe Sepulchre is to be feen at this day in the greater 

 Syrtes) did in the fame manner heal People wounded by Serpents. 

 'Tis faid they had fome extraordinary Quality in their Nature, that 

 would fuddenly kill all Serpents. 



I T was by thefe they tried the Chaftity of their Wives, thus, 

 niiz. When a Child was born, and its Legitimacy queftionable, 

 they laid it in a great Vejfel full of thefe cerajiick Serpents, that 

 immediately breathed Deftruftion ; but when they came near the 

 Child, their Rage foften'd, and they immediately fled from it ; 

 which proved the Legitimacy of the Child, that he was a true 

 Pfyllian, born in lawful Wedlock, becaufe Serpents could not 

 poifon it, nor endure its Prefence *. 



HowEVE R this romantic Account may appear, itmay doubt- 

 lefs be philofophically accounted for by Effluviums emitted from 

 their Bodies, that proved fatal to Serpents. 



The Englijb Annotator upon Lucan, who was Nephew to 

 Seneca, obferves much to the fame purpofe, when he fays, Thefe 

 Pjylli (a People inhabiting thofe parts oi Africa called Mar?narica, 

 bordering on the Nile) are fortify'd by Nature with an incredible 



Privilege 



*^ln dnlium cerafiarum plenum hifantem conjicere-, yElian. lib. i. cap. 57, Gyllii : 

 Accei'io, car" 37- W. B. It the Child was bego;ten by a Stranger, 'tv/as Icil'ed by 

 Poiion j if lawfully btgotten, the Privilege of his Father's Blood proteded hira 

 agdintt che Venom. 



