GECKO LIZARD 
35 
Saeva Lacerta rubris stellata in tergore guttis, 
iS Contactuque nocens, viridi vomit ore venenum 
C( Mortiferum, superans quae dant Aconita novercae 
“ Hoc tabo inficiunt, metuendi cuspide Javae 
<c Tela sua, et certum quae dant hastilia mortem.” * 
€{ Some lizards fierce with bloody spots o’erspread, 
<c Noxious in touch, and in their bite more dread, 
Envenom’d slime from lurid jaws distil, 
<£ Deadlier than aconite, of swifter ill, 
“ To Javan arms a certain death impart, , ", * 
“ And give the arrow’s wound a keener smart.” 
The same author tells a fearful tale of the effects produced by 
its feet upon the chest of a sailor, over whom it walked whilst he 
slept ; the skin becoming covered with blisters like those occa- 
sioned by boiling water, and speedily mortifying, j* He also declares, 
seemingly from his personal knowledge, that the Javanese, whom he 
denounces as “ scelesti veneni propinatores poison their arrows by 
besmearing them with the blood and saliva of the gecko, and ob- 
tain the latter by a method which would suit the rites of a 
Shakespearean witch. He states, that having suspended the enraged 
animal by the tail, they collect a yellow viscid liquor which it pours 
from its jaws, and having dried it in the sun, use it as a deadly 
poison ; and by daily feeding the animal in this situation, keep it 
alive, and excite it to secrete its peculiar venom for several months. J 
* Bontius, Hist. Natur. et Medic, p. 57- 
f Hoc de solo hujus insecti attactu experientia didici, in decumbente quodam socio 
navali, in Nosocomio nostro Batavico, cujus pectori, dum denudatus dormivit, supercurrerat 
Lacerta haec, et, solo contactu, vesicam per transversum in musculis thoracis excitaverat, 
qualem in cute oriri videmus, a fervente aqua; subtus vero caro, jam livida erat 
et ad gangraenam tendens, &c. Bontius,' Hist. Nat. et Medic., p. 57* 
J Javani sanguine, et sanie hujus lacertas, tela sua tingunt. Turn scelesti isti veneni 
propinatores, qui hie utriusque sexus phirimi sunt, hoc animalculum e laquearibus lane 
cauda alligato suspendunt, quod turn prae ira glutinosum et flavum liquorum assiduo e 
gutture destillat, quem exceptum fictili subtus apposito colligunt, et soli expositum, in 
* H 4 
