Clafs III. vi 7 po pt Rt o1 
hear of the bite being fatal. ‘The remedy, if ap- 
plied in time, is very certain, and is nothing elfe but 
fallad oil, which the viper-catchers feldom go with- 
out. The axungia viperina, or the fat of vipers, is 
alfo another. Doctor Mead fufpects the efficacy of 
this laft, and fubftitutes one of his own in its place *; 
but we had rather truft to vulgar receipts which per- 
petual trials have fhewn to be infallible. 
The fymptoms of the venom, if the wound is 
neglected, are very terrible: it firft caufes an acute 
pain in the place affected, attended with a fwelling, 
firft red, afterwards livid, which by degrees fpreads 
to the neighbouring parts; great faintnefs, and a 
quick tho’ low and interrupted pulfe enfue ; -great 
ficknefs at the ftomach, bilious convulfive vomitings, 
cold fweats, and fometimes pains about the navel; 
and in confequence of thefe death itfelf**. But the 
violence of the fymptoms depends much on the 
feafon of the year, the difference of the climate, the 
fize or rage of the animal, or the ora or fituation 
of the wound. 
Dreadful as the effects of its bite may be, yet its 
fiefh has been long celebrated as a noble medicine. 
Doctor Mead cites from Pliny, Galen, and other an- 
tients, feveral proofs of its efficacy in the cure of 
ulcers, the elephantiafis, and other bad complaints. 
He even fays he has feen good effects from it in an 
obftinate /epra : it is at prefent ufed as a reftorative, 
tho’ we think the modern phyficians have no great 
dependence on its virtues. The antients prefcribed 
* Effay on Potfons, 47. ** Lib. xxix. op 
G3 it 
Effetts of 
its bite. 
Ufes, 
