Chap. 2.] WONDEErUL TOEMS OF DirEEEENT FATIOKS. 125 
that the Sauromatae, who dwell ten days' journey beyond the 
Borysthenes, only take food every other day.^ 
Crates of Pergamus relates, that there formerly existed in 
the vicinity of Parium, in the Hellespont, a race of men whom 
he calls Ophiogenes, and that by their touch they were able to 
cure those who had been stung by serpents, extracting the 
poison by the mere imposition of the hand/^ Yarro tells us, 
that there are still a few individuals in that district, whose 
saliva effectually cures the stings of serpents. The same, too, 
was the case with the tribe of the Psylli,^^ in Africa, according 
to the account of Agatharchides ; these people received their 
name from Psyllus, one of their kings, whose tomb is in exist- 
ence, in the district of the Greater Sj'rtes. In the bodies of 
these people there was by nature a certain kind of poison, 
which was fatal to serpents, and the odour of which over- 
powered them with torpor : with them it was a custom to ex- 
pose children immediately after their birth to the fiercest ser- 
pents, and in this manner to make proof of the fidelity of their 
wives, the serpents not being repelled by such children as were 
the offspring of adultery.*''' This nation, however, was almost 
entirely extirpated by the slaughter made of them by the 
Tertio die ;" literally, " on the third day." In reckoning the time 
between two periods, the Eomans included both of those periods in the 
computation, whereas we include but one of them. 
In countries where serpents abound, there have been, at all times, 
jugglers, who profess to have a supernatural power, by which they are ren- 
dered insensible to the poison of these animals. This is the case with the 
Egyptians, and some of the oriental nations. They remove the poison- 
fang from the serpent, and in this way render it perfectly harmless. Some 
of the feats whicn were performed by the magicians in the court of Pha- 
raoh, seem still to be practised in Egypt ; by pressing upon the upper part 
of the spine, the animal is rendered rigid, while on removing the pressure, 
the animal is restored to its original state. These jugglers were also in the 
habit, much to the surprise of the ignorant spectators, of sucking the 
poison from the wounds produced by the bite of the serpent, which they 
accompanied by various ceremonies and incantations : but it is a well- 
known fact, that this may be done with perfect safety, in reference to poisons 
of all kinds, provided there be no breach in the cuticle of the mouth or 
lips.— B. 
See B. xxviii. c. 7. The best account, probably, of the Psylli, is that 
found in Lucan*s Pharsalia, B. ix. c. 890, et. seq. 
This custom is referred to by Lucan, in his account of the Psylli, 
B. ix. 1, 890, et seq, ; and by -^lian. Hist. Anim. B. i. c. 57, and B. xvi. 
c. 27, 28.— B. 
