C '5? 3 
their Herbs, I have had 40 feveral Sorts, or near that 
Namber, fhewed me as great Secrets, for the Rattle- 
fnake-rootj or that kind of Snake-root which is good 
for curing the Bite of the Rattle-fnake : But I have 
no Reafon to believe, that any of them are able to 
effedl the Cure. One Gentleman fhewed me a cer- 
tain Root, which was a SmilaXy and aflured me, that 
that was certainly the Rattle-fnake-root. And after- 
wards, when I fliewed Mr. Secretary Spencer the 
fame Roof, he faid that certain Indians had given 
him of the fame Root for the Rattle- fnake-root, 
and that he had fome Quantity to fend for England j 
but this Root is by no means the fame with that 
which I have mentioned before, in Anfwer to G^uare 
12. which I faid was like the Root of an Apocynum, 
which I myfelf obtained from an Indian^ who 
feemed to prize it highly, having fewed it carefully 
up in Leather, on the Infide of his Belt. Others 
have fhewed me Chryfanthemum ferulaceis foliis for 
it ; others Chryfanthemum tragopyri foliis. Again ; 
general Report goes in favour or the Afarum Cycla- 
fninis foliis y which many therefore particularly call 
Rattle- fnake-root. There are ftrange Stories told in 
favour of an Herb called Hittany, which however 
is not of the IDittany kind, but is only a Mountain 
Calaminth. This, they fay, will not only cure the 
Bite of a Rattle-fnakey but that the Smell thereof 
v/ili kill the Snake. But however, * I have fome 
Reafon to believe, that this Herb will not cure 
the Bite, nor that the Smell thereof wilt kill the 
* See Mfcel.Ctmofa, Vol. III. p. 3^1. 
U Z 
Snake : 
