The Cockatrice, or Basilisk. 
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THE COCKATEICE, OR BASILISK. 
The fruitful imagination of man knows hardly any bounds. 
The animal which bears the name of Basilisk was ori- 
ginally supposed to be a serpent, with a sort of comb or 
crown on its head : but that was not sufficiently marvel- 
lous. It was supposed also to be hatched from a cock's 
egg, upon which a snake had performed the office of in- 
cubation ; and the animal had the head of a cock, and 
the wings and tail of a dragon. Hatched near a spring 
of water, the common resort of serpents, it was asserted 
that, frightened at his own extraordinary shape, he soon 
precipitated himself to the bottom, whence, by the mortal 
look from his fiery eyes, he had the power of killing 
whoever dared to gaze at him. There are no less than 
four kinds of basilisks mentioned by various authors. 
One burnt up everything near him, and reduced the 
place he lived in to a complete desert ; another kind had 
the power of producing a stony rigidity in whoever 
looked at them, which was followed by death ; or the 
gazers' flesh fell from their bones. The basilisk was said 
to be killed by carrying a mirror to its lair ; and the 
creature encountering the reflection of its own baleful 
glance, was killed with its own weapons. 
