74 VIPERA CERASTES. 



Cerastes, with his naked hand, from a number of others at the 

 bottom of a tub, put it in his bosom, twist it about his neck, and 

 last of all eat it with as little repugnance as if it had been a stock 

 of celery. All the black people of Sennaar are perfectly armed 

 against the bite of either scorpion or viper. They take them 

 without scruple in their hands, and toss them to one another like 

 balls, without irritating them so much as to bite. The creature, 

 however lively before, when seized by one of these barbarians, 

 always appeared languid and feeble, frequently shut his eyes, and 

 never turned his mouth towards the arm of the person that held 

 him ; yet, when a chicken was made to flutter before him, his 

 seeming indifference left him ; he bit it with great signs of rage, 

 and the chicken died almost instantly. These people pretend to 

 possess a natural exemption from the noxious power of serpents ; 

 and, by certain medicines, can communicate this exemption to 

 others. The Arabs acquire it from their infancy, by chewing a 

 certain root, and washing themselves with an infusion of certain 

 plants in water. Though the drugs were given to Mr. Bruce, and 

 he several times fortified himself for the experiment, his resolution 

 always failed him at the moment of trial. 



As no antidote is known to the bite of this poisonous reptile, 

 the sufferer can only be treated medicinally on general principles. 

 Aviccnna recommends, absurdly enough, to give the patient a 

 grain of horse-raddish, in wine, or to cover the wound with an 

 onion, pounded in vinegar. Celsus says, " at si cerastes, aut 

 dipsas, aut ha?.morrhois percussit, asphodeli, quod /Egyptian fabse 

 magnitudinem coquet, arefactum, in duas potiones dividendum est, 

 sic, ut ei rutae paulum adjiciatur. Ti ifolium quoque et mentastrum, 

 et cum aceto panaces ?eque proficiunt. Costumque, et casia, et 

 cinnamomum recte per potionem assumuntur,* 



* De Med. lib. v.c.27, p. 261. 



