408 A DESCRIPTION OF 
ried to such an extent that a Boa Constrictor can swallow 
a bullock whole, suffering no other inconvenience than 
lying in a state of torpor, while digestion is going on. 
Serpents generally roll themselves up when in a state of 
repose, with the head in the centre ; and when dis- 
turbed they first raise the head, before they uncoil 
the body. Serpents also frequently raise themselves 
erect, supporting themselves on the tail. The Ser- 
pent is often made a subject of poetry ; and as it was 
the form adopted by the arch fiend to seduce Eve, it is 
generally considered the emblem of insinuation and 
flattery. 
-on his rear, 
Circular base of rising folds that tower'd 
Fold above fold, surprising maze, his head 
Crested aloft, and carbuncle his eyes . 
With burnish'd neck of verdant gold, erect 
Amidst his circling spires that on the grass 
Floated redundant ; pleasing was his shape 
And lovely .... Oft he bow'd 
His turret crest, and sleek enamell'd neck, 
Fawning, and lick'd the ground whereon she trod. 
PARADISE LOST. 
The ancients paid great honours to Serpents, and some- 
times called them good genii : they frequented sepulchres 
and burying places, and were addressed like the tutelary 
divinities of these places. We read in the fifth book of 
the .^Eneis, that, when the Trojan hero sacrificed to his 
father's ghost, a serpent of this kind made his appearance, 
-and from the tomb began to glide 
His hugy bulk on seven high volumes roll'd; 
Blue was his breadth of back, and streak'd with scaly gold, 
Thus riding on his curls he seem'd to pass 
A rolling fire along, and singe the grass ; 
