OF SERPENTS. 



Several dreadful things are attributed to his venemous Qualities, 

 fo fing the Poets *. 



According to PUm and other antient Hiftorians, this Ser- 

 pent in its Motion, inclines to the Eredt ; it goes half upright,, 

 the middle and pofterior parts of the Body only touching the 

 Ground. The Venom of the Bafilifk is faid to be fo exalted, that 

 if it bites a Staff, 'twill kill the Perfon that makes ufe of it ; but 

 this is Tradition without a Voucher \. 



The reafon why this Serpent is dubb'd KiJig^ is not becaufe 

 'tis larger in bulk than others of the Fraternity, or becaufe it wears 

 a Crown, or becaufe that Title feems to be recognized by a divine 

 Prophet, who fpeaking of Ahaz and his Son Hezekiah, fays,. 

 Out of the Serpe7ifs Root fiall come forth a Cockatrice, a7jd his- 

 Fruit Jf J all be a fiery flying Serpent. The Hebrew exprefles it by 

 a word, that fignifies a Prince or King, but not with a View to 

 Empire over the ferpentine Race. 



But 'tis moft probable, that the royal Stile is given to this- 

 Serpent, becaufe of its majefiic Pace, which feems to be attended- 

 with an Air of Grandeur and Authority. It does not, like other 

 Serpents, creep on the Earth ; which if it did, the fight of it 

 would not be frightful, but moving about, in a fort of an eredl 

 Pofture, it looks like a Creature of another Species, therefore they 

 conclude 'tis an Enemy. Serpents are for Uniformity, therefore 

 ean't endure thofe that differ from them in the Mode of Motion. 



'T I s faid of this Creature, that its Poifon infedls the Air to-- 

 that Degree, that no other Animal can live near it, according to 

 the Tradition of the Elders famous for magnificent Tales. Thefe- 

 little Furiofo's are bred in the Solitudes of Africa, and are alfo- 

 found in fbme other Places, and every where are terrible Neigh- 

 bours. 



The crown'd Bafilifk leads me to O'viA, who, fpeaking of 

 Man's eredt Poflure, fays 'tis a Mark of Diftin<aion due to the 

 Excellencies of the human Mind ; 



79 



^ 



* Tarn tctcr vacuas odor hihc exhalar in aurrs-, 



Atque propsnquantes penetrant non legniter artus. W'can. 



Ante venena nocens, late fibi fubmovet omre 

 Valgus, & in vacua rcgnan Bafilifcus aren,a. Liican 270. 



f JEUan. Gyllii Accejfa, cap. xviii. p. 247. Jotjponi Hijioria Natur-ah Ser^. 



P- 34> 35- 



5 



