Chap. 23.] EEMEDIES DERIVED FEOM THE SALAMANDEE. 397 
Dumerous other remedial properties, as we shall have occasion 
more fully to mention from time to time : hence it is that the 
snake is consecrated to JEsculapius.'^^ As for Democritus, he 
has given some monstrous preparations from snakes, by the aid 
of which the language of birds, he says, may be understood.^^ 
The ^sculapian snake was first brought to Rome from 
Epidaurus,^^ but at the present day it is very commonly reared 
in our houses^^ even ; so much so, indeed, that if the breed 
were not kept down by the frequent conflagrations, it would 
be impossible to make head against the rapid increase of them. 
But the most beautiful of all the snakes are those which are 
of an amphibious nature. These snakes are known as 
hydri,"^^ or water- snakes : in virulence their venom is in- 
ferior to that of no other class of serpents, and their liver is 
preserved as a remedy for the ill effects of their sting. 
A pounded scorpion neutralizes the venom of the spotted 
lizard.^^ From this last animal, too, there is a noxious preparation 
made ; for it has been found that wine in which it has been 
drowned, covers the face of those who drink it with morphew. 
Hence it is that females, when jealous of a rival's beauty, are 
in the habit of stifling a spotted lizard in the unguents which 
they use. In such a case, the proper remedy is yolk of egg, 
honey, and nitre. The gall of a spotted lizard, beaten up in 
water, attracts weasels, they say. 
CHAP. 23. — EEMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE SALAMAIiTDER. 
But of all venomous animals it is the salamander^^ that is 
25 The god of Medicine. 
26 A favourite reverie with the learned of the East. Dupont de Ne- 
mours, Ajasson informs us, has left several Essays on this subject. 
27 In Peloponnesus, the principal seat of his worship. A very full 
account of his introduction, under the form of a huge serpent, into the 
city of Eome, is given by Ovid, Met. E. xv. 1. 544, et seq. This took 
place B.C. 293. 
28 Among the snakes that are tamed, Ajasson enumerates the Coluber 
flagelliformis of Dandin, or American coach-whip snake ; the Coluber con- 
structor of Linnaeus, or Black snake ; and the Coluber viridiflavus of 
Lacepede. The JEsculapian serpent is still found in Italy. 
29 Or " chersydri," "amphibious." 
30 Or " starred lizard — " stellio." In reality it is not poisonous. 
21 See B. X. c. 86. Some kind of starred lizard, or an eft or newt per- 
haps, was thus called : but in most respects it appears to be entirely a 
fabulous animal. 
