OF SERPENTS. 



Remedies well known in thofe. Countries. They are great De- 



vourers of Birds, 



He r e the Learned Ray, from Pifo, mentions ten other Ser- 

 pents, whofe particular Charadlers he confiders in his Defcription 

 of Fifhes ; then refers his Reader to thofe defcribed by Joan, de 

 Laet.* 



XLV. The Bibera is a venemous Lizard of Brazil. If you 

 afli., What are thefe BrafiUan Lizards? I anfwer. They are creep- 

 ing Serpents, of various Colours, and different Sizes : Some are the 

 length of a Finger, others many Feet ; have fparkling Eyes. 

 There is only one fort of them that is venemous, among which 

 is this Bibera : they are like the others, but lefTer, and are moft 

 mifchievous. They are of an afli Colour, inclining to the white ; 

 the Body and Limbs feem thick, but the Tail is fhort and broad. 



The Wounds given by thefe Serpents, are full of a thin flink- 

 ing Matter, attended with blue Swellings, and Pain in the Heart 

 and Bowels. A^. B. Great Things have been frequently done by 

 little Things. 



XL VI. The Ambua, fo the Natives of Er^zz;// call the Mille- 

 pedes and the Centipedes Serpents. Thofe Reptiles of thoufand 

 Legs bend as they craul along, and are reckoned very poifonous. 

 Thofe Lizards of hundred Legs are commonly found in the 

 Woods, where they deftroy the Fruit, and alfo do mifchief both 

 to Men and Cattle. 



I N thefe Multipedes, the Mechanifm of the Body is very cu- 

 rious ; in their going, it is obfervable, that on each iide of their 

 Bodies, every Leg has its Motion, one regularly after another; 

 fo that their Legs, being numerous, form a kind of Undulation, 

 and thereby communicate to the Body a fwifter Progreflion than 

 one could imagine, where fo many fhort Feet are to take fo many 

 fliort Steps, that follow one another, rolling on, like the Waves of 

 the Sea. 



The Palmer-Worm is alfo called Millepes, becaufe of its many 

 Feet, which are as Briftles under its Body: It is about fix Inches 

 long, and moves with incredible Swiftnefs. The upper part of 

 the Body is cover'd with hard fwarthy Scales, and it has a' fort of 



P 2 Claws 



* Rail Sjnopjls Animal, p, ■^z^.J^onditii ifipj- 



107 



