COL 
the noftrlls; the fecond oblong-oval; the centra! lamina, 
between the eyes,- obverfe-ovate; the lateral fomewhat 
like crefcents; the pofterior pair roundilh, acuminate at 
-top : fo’rne (mailer laminae on each fide. The moiith not 
wide; the jaws nearly equal. The teeth very fmall, re¬ 
flex ; a marginal row in the upper jaw, and two palatal 
rows. The eyes lateral, orbicular. The noitrils fmall, 
round, near each.other. The trunk round, nearly of 
equal thicknefs from the neck to the anus, covered with 
very fmall ovate fcales. The length fourteen inches; the 
tail mealiires three inches, and is remarkable for the com¬ 
bination of fcuta and fquamae like the bora. From the 
anus to the commencement of the fquamse it diminifhes 
gradually; after which it tapers rapidly, and ends in a 
fliarp point. The colour black, with a brownifti yellow 
fillet on each fide the whole length. The Icuta of a pearl 
white. Abdominal fcuta 145, iub-caudal fcuta 21, and 
fub-caudal fquamte 28 ; in all 194. 
The other three fpecies of the coluber difcovered by 
Dr. Ruffell, not having any name as yet given them, we 
have forborn to defcribe. We mull therefore refer the 
inquifitive reader to tljat elegant and valuable work ; ob- 
ferving, with refpefit to the venom of thele reptiles, that 
it is in general more pernicious and deitrudilive, and more 
fatally rapid, in proportion as the heat abounds in thofe 
countries where they are produced; allowance being al(o 
made for the mature age and vigour of the animal. Upon 
comparing the eftefts of the poifons of five Eaft-Indian 
vipers on brute animals, with thofe produced by the poi¬ 
fons of the rattle-fnake, and the European viper, Dr. Ruf- 
fell in general remarked, that they all produce morbid 
fymptoms nearly fimilar, however much they may differ 
in the degree of their deleterious power, or in the rapi¬ 
dity of its operation. The bite of a ratfle-fnake in Eng¬ 
land killed a dog in two minutes; the bite of the molt 
pernicious ferpent employed in Dr. Rufleli’s experiments, 
was never oblerved to kill a dog in lefs than twenty-feven 
minutes. For the natural hiltory and reprelentation of 
the rattle-fnake, fee the article Crotalus, in vol. v. 
COTUBRINE, adj. \colubrinus , Lat.] Relating to a vi¬ 
per. Cunning; wily. 
COLUBRI'NUS LAPIS,/. The ferpent-ftone, fo called 
from the coluber, from which it was thought to be taken ; 
but it is now known to be an artificial compofition. It 
is made of hartlhorn, luted up in an earthen pot, where 
it burns to a blacknefs, and is afterwards polifiied. The 
Moors fay it is made of a kind of clay. It is fabled to 
be a cure for the bites of ferpents, by applying it to the 
wound. 
CO'LUMB MAGNA. See Saint Columb’s. 
CO'LUMBA,/ [from KoXv^Qaa, to lwim.] In ornitho¬ 
logy, the pigeon, or dove ; fo named from its fwimming 
motion in the air. In Greek it is named 7rs£irc£«; in 
Italian, Colombo, or colombd ; in Spaniffi, colont, or palorna ; 
in German-, taube, or tauben\ in Saxon, duve; in Swedifh, 
dwvoa\ and in Polilh , golab. This genus belongs to the 
Linnaean order of pafferes 5 and there are no lefs than feven- 
ty-one fpecies now known, belides numerous varieties. 
The generic charadters are as follow :—Bill llraight, fink¬ 
ing at the tip: noftrils oblong, half covered with a foft 
fwelling membrane: tongue entire. Tliefe birds are re¬ 
markable for the delicacy of their bill, and (hortlegs; 
their toes are generally red, and divided to their origin. 
They inhabit only the temperate and hot regions; are 
monogamous, and difplay tendernefs and fenfibility in 
their courtftiips, and in the rearing and education of their 
young. The fpecies are as follow : 
1. Columba oenas, the Itock pigeon, which is fuppo/ed 
to be the only original of all the domeftic kinds ; whence 
its name. It is in length fourteen inches : the bill pale 
red ; head a(h-coloured; hind part of the neck, and fides, 
green gold gloffid with copper in different lights; the 
upper part of the back and wings are dull afh-colour; the 
fore part of the neck a(h-colour; the lower part of it, and 
the bread, vinaceous; the four or five outer quills are 
black, with the exterior edges white 5 the relt afti-colour, 
4 
COL 815 
with the ends black: on each wing are two tranfverfe 
bars of black; the tail one-third of the end black; two 
of the outer tail feathers white; legs red. Multitudes of 
ftock-pigeons bree.d in the rabbit burrows on the downs 
of Suffolk; and the young are every year (old by the 
fliepherds. They are frequent in the louth of Ruffia, and 
breed in turrets, and on the high and deep banks ot rivers. 
In winter valt numbers refort to the clefts of the Ork¬ 
neys, Hebrides, and frelh-water rocks at the back of the 
Ifle of Wight. 
2. Columba domeftica, the domeftic or common pi¬ 
geon. The ancients found it eafy to domefticate the 
heavy birds, luch as the common fowl, the turkey, and 
the peacock; but to tame thofe which fly on rapid wing, 
required attention and art. A low hut, rudely con- 
ftrudted, is lufilcient for lodging and railing our poultry ; 
but to induce the pigeons to fettle, we mult eredt a lofty 
building, well covered, and fitted up with numerous cells. 
Yet they are not domeftics, but rather voluntary captives, 
or tranfient guefts, who continue to refide in the dwelling 
afligned them, only becaufe they are pleated with a fitua- 
tion which affords them abundance of food and comfort. 
It is certain that the ffock-pigeon and the common pi¬ 
geon breed together when paired ; fo that in this fpecies 
we can trace all the gradations between the wild and the 
domeftic ftate. The ftock-pigeon is imitated, in a Way 
that cannot be milunderftood, by thofe deferters which 
leave our pigeon-houfes; they perch on trees, which is 
the firft and ftrongeft (hade in their return to the ftate of 
nature: thefe pigeons, though bred domeftics, and appa¬ 
rently reconciled to a fixed abode, often abandon their 
dwelling, renounce fociety, and feek a fettlement in the 
woods; and thus, impelled by inftindt alone, refume their 
native manners. Others feemingly lefs courageous and 
lefs intrepid, fly from our pigeon houfes, and leek a (oli- 
tary lodgment in the holes of old walls, or, forming a 
fmall body, they haunt feme unfrequented towers ; and 
in fpite of the hardfhips to which their fituation expofes 
them, and the multiplied dangers that affail them from 
all (ides, they ftill prefer thefe uncomfortable dwellings 
to the convenience and plenty of their former manfion : 
this is the fecond gradation to the ftate of nature. The 
wall-pigeons do not completely adopt their native habits, 
and do not perch like the former, yet they enjoy a much 
larger (hare of freedom than thole which remain in the 
domeftic condition. The third gradation is the inhabi¬ 
tants of our pigeon-houfes, which never leave their dwel¬ 
ling but to fettle in one more comfortable, and which 
roam abroad only to feek amulement, or to procure fub- 
fillence. And as even among thefe there are fome de¬ 
ferters, it would feem that the traces of their primaeval 
inftindls are not entirely effaced. The fourth and fifth 
gradations have totally changed their nature. Their 
tribes, varieties,-and intermixtures, are innumerable, be¬ 
ing completely domeftic from many generations; and 
man, while he has improved their external forms, has 
changed their internal qualities, and extinguhhed in them 
every (entiment of freedom. Thefe birds, the offspring 
of inceffant attention in the pigeon-fancier, are (or the 
molt part larger and more beautiful than the common 
dove-houfe pigeons; they are more prolific, fatter, and 
finer flavoured, and on thefe accounts' more pains have 
been bellowed upon them ; for they are inadtive helplels 
creatures, and require our utmoft care, fince the greateft 
hunger cannot in them call forth thofe little arts in which 
animals are ufually fo prompt. Thefe are, therefore, the 
completely domefticated fancy-pigeons, and mult he en¬ 
tirely dependent on their breeders for their food. 
In its wild Hate the pigeon has two broods in a-year, 
but in its firft ftate of confinement in the dove-hou!e ge¬ 
nerally three: and fo on in proportion, to their almolt 
total confinement, or perfect domefticated ftate; for in 
this lall circumftance they lay often ten, and even 
twelve, times in a-year. This, on coniideration, will be 
found to hold good in feveral kinds of poultry. Nor is 
this all j for to a ftate of domeftication, if we may fo 
term. 
