The Haje. 499 
made to prevent the dire effect of the poison. The pro- 
prietor was condemned to pay a deodand for the injury 
done by the serpent. 
THE HAJE, OR EGYPTIAN ASP. (Naja Haje.) 
The Haje, or Egyptian Asp, is from three to six feet in 
length ; it has two teeth longer than the rest, through 
which the venom flows. The body is covered with 
small round scales, and is of a greenish colour, bordered 
with brown ; its neck is capable of inflation. The jug- 
glers of Egypt, by pressing this Asp on the nape of the 
neck with the finger, throw the animal into a kind of 
catalepsy, which renders it stiff and immovable ; when 
they say that they have changed it into a rod. The 
habit which this species has of raising itself up when 
approached, induced the ancient Egyptians to believe 
that it guarded the fields where it was found ; and it is 
sculptured on the gates of their temples as an emblem 
"of the protecting divinity of the world. 
