394 
flint's ISTATIJEAL HISTOET. 
[Book XXIX. 
it is said, attached to the left arm in some wool that has been 
stolen from the shepherds, will effectually cure nocturnal fevers; 
while those recurrent in the daytime may he treated with 
equal success by enclosing the bugs in a piece of russet- coloured 
cloth. The scolopendra, on the other hand, is a great enemy 
to these insects ; used in the form of a fumigation, it kills 
them. 
CHAP. 18. PARTICULAllS EELATIYE TO THE ASP. 
The sting of the asp takes deadly effect by causing torpor 
and drowsiness. Of all serpents, injuries inflicted by the asp 
are the most incurable ; and their venom, if it comes in contact 
with the blood or a recent wound, produces instantaneous death. 
If, on the other hand, it touches an did sore, its fatal effects 
are not so immediate. Taken internally, in however large a 
quantity, the venom is not injurious, as it has no corrosive pro- 
perties ; for which reason it is that the flesh of animals killed 
by it may be eaten with impunity. 
I should hesitate in giving circulation to a prescription for 
injuries inflicted by the asp, were it not that M. Yarro, then 
in the eighty- third year of his age, has left a statement to the 
effect that it is a most efiicient remedy for wounds inflicted by 
this reptile, for the person stung to drink his own urine. 
CHAP. 19. EEMEDIES DEEIVED EEOM THE BASILISK. 
As to the basilisk, a creature which the very serpents fly 
from, which kills by its odour even, and which proves fatal to 
man by only looking upon him, its blood has been marvel- 
lously extolled by the magicians. This blood is thick and 
adhesive, like pitch, which it resembles also in colour : dis- 
solved in water, they say, it becomes of a brighter red than 
that of cinnabar. They attribute to it also the property of 
ensuring success to petitions preferred to potentates, and to 
prayers even offered to the gods; and they regard it as a 
remedy for various diseases, and as an amulet preservative 
against all noxious spells. Some give it the name of Saturn's 
blood." 
15 This is the fact. i^ gg^ b. viii. c. 33. 
17 The Magi of the East, probably. 
