[
{"source_document": "", "creation_year": 1726, "culture": " English\n", "content": "HISTORY OF SERPENTS ***\nI. The First exhibits a general View of SERPENTS, in their various\n  Aspects; such as their Kinds, Bulk, Food, Motion, Propagation,\n  Coverture, Colours. In which is inserted a short Account of Vegetable,\n  Mineral, and Animal Poison, particularly that of the SERPENT; and its\n  Cure in various Nations; where also the SERPENT is used as Food and\n  Physick.\nII. The Second gives a View of most SERPENTS that are known in the\n  several Parts of the World; described by their various Names,\n  different Countries, and Qualities.\n      Illustrated with COPPER-PLATES, Engraved by the BEST HANDS.\nIII. To which is added a Third Part; containing Six DISSERTATIONS upon\n  the following Articles, as collateral to the Subject.\n    1. Upon the PRIMEVAL SERPENT in PARADISE.\n    2. The FIERY SERPENTS that infested the Camp of ISRAEL.\n    3. The BRAZEN SERPENT erected by MOSES.\n    4. The DIVINE WORSHIP given to SERPENTS by the NATIONS.\n    5. The ORIGIN and REASON of that MONSTROUS WORSHIP.\n    6. Upon the ADORATION of different Kinds of BEASTS by the EGYPTIANS,\n       with divers Instances of the same Stupidity in other Nations.\n     The whole intermix\u2019d with Variety of ENTERTAINING DIGRESSIONS,\n                     PHILOSOPHICAL and HISTORICAL.\n                        Printed for the AUTHOR.\n     Sold by JOHN GRAY, at the _Cross-Keys_ in the _Poultry_, near\n[Illustration]\n_SIR_,\nThe Serpent [_Subject_ of the following Sheets,] being one part of your\ncelebrated and expensive Collection of Rarities, naturally leads me to\nbeg the Honour of your Name to grace its Entrance into the publick\nWorld.\nI can\u2019t enter into the vanity of thinking, that the Book can be any\nimprovement to one who has been so long and laborious an Enquirer after\nTruth, and penetrated so far into the Empire of Nature: but as in\nDivinity, a willing Mind; so in Learning, the best Endeavour will be\naccepted. And tho\u2019 the Book cannot recommend it self to you, your Name\nmay recommend it to others.\nHappy are the Times, when Knowledge is the study of those who have\nsuperior Abilities for it: Happy therefore is the present Age, that has\nyou, among many other Learned, so eminent an Encourager of it.\nTho\u2019 elevated Minds direct all their concern to what they _should be_,\nand not to any Applause for what they _really are_; yet, if to delineate\ntheir Excellency be offensive to Modesty, the Sincerity with which it is\ndone, will, it is hoped, secure their Pardon.\nNow, what is it that makes the great Character, but Knowledge in all its\ndiversity, a Sollicitousness for the Spread of Arts and Sciences,\nexcelling in one\u2019s particular Station of Life, and being divinely\nforward to all the high Offices of Humanity? This is the Picture of real\nWorth, and what can forbid to say, that Sir HANS SLOANE is the Life?\nThat you may long continue the Restorer of Health, the Ornament of the\nDay, and in triumph over all the deadly Power of the _Old Serpent_, at\nlast possess eternal Health, are the most sincere Wishes of him, who\nwith a just Sense of Obligation, and the greatest Regards, is,\n            _Your most humble_,\n              _and devoted Servant_,\n    WARRINGTON,\n[Illustration]\n_The Divine Wisdom so variously displayed in the Works of Nature, even\nthe lowest Order of them, entertains the human Eye with Prospects\nexquisitely beautiful and pleasurable: As our Knowledge is defective, we\nare at a loss how to account perfectly for the particular Ends of their\nFormation, and Manner of their Subserviency to the Whole of the Eternal\nDesign._\n_However, by Observation and Improvements in Natural Philosophy, we are\nassured thus far; that as the Almighty Creator made nothing in vain, so\nall his Works are good, and admirably fitted to answer the Purposes of\nhis Will, and that his Wisdom, like his tender Mercies, shines through\nall the Systems of his Creatures._\n_That there is not a wise Purpose in every thing that is made, because\nwe do not understand it, is as absurd as for a Man to say, there is no\nsuch thing as Light, because he is blind, and has no Eyes to see it._\n_For the Illustration of this, we may take a short View of Creatures, in\nvulgar account too diminutive and despicable a Species, to deserve a\nclose Attention: And among these, if we consider the Noxious, we shall\nfind, if not an Argument why they should be made, yet we shall be able\nto discern no Reason why they should not, because their Noxiousness is\nnot so unavoidable, but that we may, and almost every one does avoid\nit._\n_General Histories of these Kinds we have been furnished with in the\nWritings of the Learned: Here I apply myself to the Discussion of one_\nparticular Species, _viz._ the Serpent: _in which I don\u2019t pretend to new\nDiscoveries, but only to collect, and bring into one View, what has been\nsaid by different Persons, which is not to be found by any without_ many\nBooks, _and_ much Time; _and which, without the present_ English _Dress,\nwould not be understood by others at all_.\n_In accounting for some things relative to the Subject, I have always\nchosen the Words of the Learned in the Physical Profession._ _The\nSubject being like_ Dust, _the_ Food of the Serpent, very dry, _I have\nendeavoured to give it some Agreeableness, by a Variety of Passages from\nHistory, and Reflections of many kinds; which, though they may not\nalways naturally arise from the Subject, yet being intended for the\nReader\u2019s Entertainment and Instruction (as he goes along in the\nprincipal Design of the Book) I hope they will find a favourable\nJudgment_.\n_Give me leave, upon this occasion, to adopt Sir_ William Temple\u2019_s\nWords_, viz. \u201cIt is not perhaps amiss, _says he_, to relieve or enliven\na busy Scene sometimes with such _Digressions_, whether to the Purpose\nor no.\u201d[1]\nFootnote 1:\n  _Temple_\u2019s Memoirs from 1672 to 1679. _Second Edit^n. p._ 57, 58, 59.\n_I shall only add, that in cultivating this Subject, I have attempted to\ngive a short Display of the Divine Perfections, which, as they appear\neminent in the System of the Creation in general, so in the Serpent they\nmay be seen in particular; and if it produces in the Reader a more\nexquisite Perception of God in all his Works, I have my End; who am_\n[Illustration]\n          Directions for the Binder, where to put the Plates,\n         25           Read _Bocca_, instead of _Baca_.\n         25           Four Lines from bottom, after _honor_,\n         53           After _Dauphiny_, r. _and instead of\n         58           Quotation, r. _Natural History of\n         74 L. 14.    instead of _Amphisb\u00e6nick Animals_, r.\n                        _Whether there be two-headed Serpents\n         76 L. 14.    from bottom, for _Tython_, r. _Python_.\n         134 \u2014\u2014 CXIV. r. _Attaligatus_.\n         141 Head     for _Navigation_, r. _Natation_.\n                        from bottom, in Quotation, r. _\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1_\n         171 L. 9.    r. _their other Faculties were_.\n         237          L. 14. a Comma should be after _adore_.\n_N. B._ In the Story of the Elephant, pag. 86. it is a mistake, to place\nthe Action at _Newcastle_; the Scene of it being in the _East-Indies_,\naccording to a Book called _Hamilton\u2019s Travels_.\n[Illustration]\n                        LIST of the SUBSCRIBERS.\n    _Mr._ Eliz. Abney.\n    _The Reverend Mr._ Acres, _R. of_ Newbury.\n    Joseph Adams _Esq._\n    _Mr._ Cornelius Adams.\n    _Mr._ James Adams.\n    John Adams _Esq_; of Whitland.\n    _Mr._ William Adair, _Merchant_.\n    _Mr._ Edward Addicot, _Apothecary at_ Exeter.\n    _Mr._ John Adkin.\n    _The Rev. Mr._ Aldred, _of_ Morley, Yorkshire.\n    _The Rev._ John Allen, M. D.\n    _Mr._ \u2014\u2014 Allen, _deceased_.\n    _Miss_ Alcock, _of_ Nottingham.\n    _Mr._ William Ambrose.\n    _The Rev. Mr._ Amory of Taunton.\n    _Mr._ Robert Anbury, _Surgeon_.\n    Joseph Andrews _Esq._; F.R.S.\n    _Mrs._ Andrews.\n    John Andrews, M. D. _at_ Exeter.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Mordecai Andrews.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Antelby.\n    _Mr._ Joseph Archer.\n    _Mr._ Jeremiah Armiger.\n    _Mr._ William Arnold.\n    _Mrs._ Sarah Ashurst.\n    Thomas Ashurst _Esq._\n    _Rev. Mr._ B. A. Atkinson.\n    Benjamin Avery, LL. D.\n    _Mr._ Sam. Bagnal, _of_ Chester.\n    _Mr._ Bakewell.\n    _Mrs._ Bakewell.\n    _Mr._ Geo. Baker.\n    Joshua Baker _Esq._\n    _Mr._ Edmund Baker.\n    _Mr._ Dan. Bailey, _of_ Manchester.\n    _Mr._ Samuel Bailey, _of_ ditto.\n    _Mr._ Bance, _of_ Newbury.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Rich. Banon, _of_ Leeds.\n    _Mr._ James Bankhead, _of_ ditto.\n    _Rev. Mr._ John Barker.\n    _Mr._ Edward Barnard.\n    _Mr._ Francis Barkstead.\n    John Barron, M. D. _of_ Haverford-West.\n    _Mr._ John Baring _Jun._ _of_ Exeter.\n    _Mrs._ El. Barns, _of_ Warrington.\n    _Mr._ John Barns, _of_ ditto.\n    _Mr._ William Barns, _of_ ditto.\n    Roger Barnston _Esq._; _of_ Chester.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Roger Barnston, _Prebendary of_ Chester.\n    _Mr._ Joseph Baron, _of_ Bury.\n    _Mr._ Joseph Barret,      B. 2.\n    _Mr._ N. Basnet.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Joshua Bayes.\n    _Mr._ Beech.\n    _Rev. Mr._ William Benson.\n    _Mr._ Nathaniel Bentley.\n    _Mr._ William Bentley.\n    _Rev. Mr._ John Bent, _of_ Chorley.\n    Francis Beyer _Esq._\n    William Bilbie _Esq._; _Alderman of_ Nottingham.\n    _Mr._ William Bilbie, _of_ ditto.\n    _Mr._ Jos. Bilbie, _of_ ditto.\n    _Mr._ Robert Birch, _of_ Manchester.\n    _Mr._ Geo. Bird, _of_ Warrington.\n    _Mr._ Elliot Bishop.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Mal. Blake, _of_ Blandford.\n    _Mr._ William Blakesly, _of_ Leicester.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Blackmore, _of_ Coventry.\n    _Mr._ William Blinkhorn, _of_ Manchester.\n    _Mr._ Nic. Blowing.\n    _Mr._ Nic. Blunt.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Blythe.\n    _Mr._ James Boddington.\n    _Mr._ George Boddington.\n    _Mr._ Samuel Boler.\n    Benjamin Bond _Esq._\n    _Miss_ Bond.\n    _Miss_ Eliz. Bond.\n    _Mr._ Nathan Booth, _of_ Warrington.\n    _Mr._ Daniel Booth.\n    _Mr._ John Bostock, _of_ Liverpool, _Merchant_.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Bourchier, M. A. _Minister of_ All-Saints, _at_ Hertford.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Bourn, _of_ Knowesly.\n    _Mr._ Thomas Bowles.\n    _Mr._ John Bowles.\n    _Mr._ Boydal, _of_ Coventry.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Braddock, _at_ Bury.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Thomas Bradbury.\n    Thomas Brereton _Esq._; _Member of Parliament_,      B. 2.\n    George Bridges _Esq._; _Member of Parliament_,      B. 2.\n    _Mr._ William Brinton.\n    _Mr._ James Bristow.\n    _Mr._ Jos. Brixy.\n    _Miss_ Brooke.\n    _Miss_ M. Brooke.\n    _Mr._ John Brooks, _of_ Liverpool.\n    _Mr._ William Brock.\n    _Mr._ Robert Brodribb.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Brooksbank, _of_ Elland.\n    _Mr._ Andrew Bruen, _of_ Chester.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Buck, _of_ Bolton.\n    _Mr._ Jonathan Buckerfield.\n    _Mr._ Thomas Budgen, at Croydon.\n    _Mr._ Benjamin Bull.\n    Daniel Burgess _Esq_.      B. 2.\n    _Rev. Mr._ James Burgess, _of_ Bolton le Sands.\n    Alexander Burden _Esq._; _at_ Nottingham.\n    _Mr._ Alexander Burden, _of_ Nottingham.\n    James Burrow _Esq._\n    _Mrs._ Jane Burrow.\n    _Mr._ John Burne, _Surgeon_, _at_ Croydon.\n    _Mr._ John Burton.\n    _Mr._ Busk, _of_ Leeds.\n    _Mr._ Thomas Butterworth, _of_ Manchester.\n    _Mr._ William Butterworth, _of_ ditto.\n    _Mr._ Edward Butler.\n    _Mr._ Thomas Cadel, _Bookseller_, _in_ Bristol.\n    _Rev._ Edmund Calamy, B. D.\n    _Mr._ Adam Calamy, _Attorney at Law_.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Jos. Cappe, _of_ Leeds.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Paul Cardale, _of_ Evesham.\n    Geo. Carlyle, M. D.\n    _Mr._ Charles Carleton.\n    _Mr._ Zech. Carleton.\n    _Mr._ John Carruthers, _of_ Nottingham.\n    _Mr._ James Castel.\n    _Mr._ Catcott, _of_ Bristol.\n    _Mr._ John Causton.\n    _Mr._ Peter Chaffont.\n    _Mrs._ Mary Chandler, _of_ Bath.\n    _Mr._ Richard Chandler, _of_ Gloucester.\n    _Mr._ William Chandler, _of_ ditto.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Samuel Chandler.\n    _Mr._ Benjamin Champion.\n    _Mr._ Christopher Cheesborough.\n    _Mr._ Jacob Chitty.      B. 7.\n    _Mr._ Cholmley.\n    _Mrs._ Cholmley.\n    _Revd. Mr._ Choppin, _of_ Dublin,      B. 7.\n    _Mr._ Edward Chorlton.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Samuel Clarke, _of_ St. Albans.\n    Matthew Clark, M. D.\n    _Mr._ Edward Clarke, _of_ Bury.\n    _Mr._ Richard Clarke, Alderman _of_ Hertford.\n    Jos. Clay _Esq._\n    _Mr._ Isaac Clegg, _of_ Manchester.\n    _Mr._ Samuel Cleuer.\n    _Mr._ George Clifford, _Merchant_, _in_ Amsterdam.\n    John Coe _Esq._\n    _Mr._ William Coe.\n    Thomas Coe, M. D.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Thomas Coad, _of_ Bere.\n    _Mr._ Robert Fowler Coad, _Merchant_ _in_ Lyme.\n    _Mr._ John Coles.\n    _Miss_ Collyer, _of_ Tooting.\n    _Miss_ Hester Collyer, _of_ d^o.      B. 2.\n    _Mr._ Joseph Collyer.\n    \u2014\u2014 Collett, M. D. _at_ Uxbridge.\n    James Colebrooke _Esq._\n    James Colebrooke _Junior_ _Esq._\n    _Mr._ James Collier, _Sollicitor in Chancery_.\n    _Mrs._ Collibee, _at_ Bath.\n    Peter Colthurst, M. D. _at_ Knutsford.      B. 2.\n    _Mr._ Benjamin Cooke, _of_ Hallifax.\n    _Mr._ Richard Cooke, _of_ ditto.\n    Richard Coope _Esq._\n    _Mr._ William Cooper, _Apothecary at_ Leicester.\n    _Mr._ Cooper, _at_ Nottingham.\n    _Mr._ Thomas Cooper,      B. 3.\n    _Mr._ James Cooper _Jun._\n    John Copeland _Esq._\n    _Mr._ Peter Copeland.\n    _Mr._ Samuel Corner.\n    _Mr._ John Corner.\n    _Mr._ Costard _Jun._ _of_ Frodsham.\n    _Mr._ John Cox.\n    _Mr._ John Cox.\n    _Mr._ Henry Crane, _of_ Kidderminster.\n    Peter Creffield _Esq._\n    _Mrs._ Crisp, _of_ Bloomsbury-Square.\n    _Mrs._ Eliz. Crisp, _of_ Warrington.\n    _Mr._ Thomas Crisp.\n    _Mr._ Nicholas Crisp.\n    _Mr._ John Anthony Crop, _Merchant in_ Amsterdam.\n    _Mr._ Daniel Cropper, _Merchant at_ Liverpool.\n    _Mr._ James Crosby, _Merchant at_ ditto.\n    _Mr._ George Crosby.\n    _Mr._ Cha. Croughton, _of_ Chester.\n    _Mr._ Jo^n. Cruikshank, _Merchant_.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Culcheth, _at_ Macclesfield.\n    _Mr._ Daniel Cuningham, _Attorney at Law_.\n    _Mr._ James Cuninghame, _Merchant in_ Amsterdam.\n    _Mr._ David Curry, _of_ Kirkudbright.\n    Richard Daniel, M. D.\n    Samuel Daniel, M. D.\n    _Mr._ Sam. Darbyshire, _of_ Bolton.\n    _Mr._ William Darbyshire, _near_ Warrington.\n    _Mr._ Thomas Darling.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Ev. Davies, _of_ Haverford-West,      B. 8.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Rees Davies, _of_ Abergavenny.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Tim. Davies, _of_ Cardiganshire.\n    John Davison, M. D.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Abraham Dawson, _of_ Rivington.\n    _Mr._ Dawson, _of_ Leeds.\n    _Mr._ Samuel Day.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Day, _of_ Lancaster.\n    _Mr._ James Deane.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Dell, _of_ Canterbury.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Jos. Denham.\n    _Mr._ Nathaniel Denison, _Merchant in_ Leeds.\n    John Derby _Esq._\n    _Rev. Mr._ Diaper, _of_ Bristol.\n    Michael le Dicker, M. D. _of_ Exon.\n    Michael Dickson, M. D. _of_ Taunton.\n    _Mr._ William Dickson, _of_ Newport-Pagnel.\n    _Mr._ Richard Dickinson, _of_ Ware.\n    _Mr._ Rivers Dickinson,       B. 3.\n    _Mr._ Thomas Dimsdale, _Surgeon at_ Hertford.\n    Robert Dinwoody, M. D.      B. 2.\n    _Mr._ Edward Dixon.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Dobson, _at_ Cocky-Moor.\n    _Rev._ Ph. Doddridge, D. D.\n    _Mr._ John Dodsworth.\n    _Mrs._ Margaret Dolins.\n    Daniel Dolins _Esq._\n    Mr. John Dove.\n    Mr. John Drinkwater.\n    _Sir_ William Dukinfield _Bart._\n    John Duer _Esq._ _of_ Exon.\n    Mr. John Dunn.\n    Mr. William Duncomb.\n    _Rev._ \u2014\u2014 Dunster, D. D. _Prebendary of_ Sarum.\n    Mrs. Sarah Dyson.\n    Mr. Jeremiah Dyson.\n    Mr. Ely Dyson.\n    Mr. John Eames, F. R. S.\n    _Rev._ Jabez Earle, D. D.\n    Peter Eaton, _Esq._\n    _Rev. Dr._ Eaton, _of_ Nottingham.\n    Mr. William Eaton, _Surgeon at_ Warrington.\n    Tim. Edwards, _Esq._; _of_ Carnarvanshire.\n    _Rev._ Mr. William Edwards.\n    Mr. Stephen Egginton.\n    Mr. John Ellicot, F. R. S.\n    _Sir_ Richard Ellis _Bart._ _dec^d._\n    _Rev._ Mr. John Enty, _of_ Exon,      B. 3.\n    _Rev._ Mr. David Evans, _in_ Cardiganshire,      B. 6.\n    Mr. John Evans, _Salt-Merchant in_ Exon,       B. 2.\n    Mrs. Eliz. Fagg, _of_ Mystole, Kent.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Faner, _of_ Elland, Yorkshire.\n    Mr. Jos. Farrer, _near_ Hallifax.\n    John Farringdon _Esq._\n    _Rev._ Mr. Hugh Farmer.\n    Mr. Benjamin Farrow.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Fawcet, _of_ Taunton.\n    Mr. Jonathan Fawconer, F.R.S.\n    Mr. Fellows, _of_ Nottingham.\n    Mr. Fentham.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Ferne, _of_ Avington, Hants.\n    Matthew Fetherstone _Esq._\n    Mr. William Field.\n    Mr. James Figgins.\n    Mr. Nathaniel Firmin.\n    _Rev._ Mr. E. Fisher.\n    Mr. James Fleetwood, _of_ Liverpool.\n    Mr. Robert Fleetwood, _of_ ditto, _Bookseller_.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Fletcher, _of_ Ware,      B. 2.\n    Mr. Thomas Fletcher, _of_ ditto.\n    Mrs. Jane Fletcher.\n    Litchford Flitcroft _Esq._; _of_ Manchester.\n    Martin Folkes _Esq._; _President of the R. S._\n    _Rev._ Mr. William Ford.\n    Mr. Gilbert Ford.\n    Mr. William Forrest, _of_ Liverpool.\n    _Rev._ Mr. James Foster.\n    Mr. Joseph Foster.\n    Mr. Jacob Foster.\n    Mr. Simon Foster.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Jac. Fowler, M. A.\n    Mr. Foxcroft, _of_ Nottingham.\n    Mr. Franceway, _of_ ditto.\n    Mr. William Frone, _of_ Croft.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Freeland, _of_ Bromsgrove.\n    Mrs. Delicia Fryer.\n    Mr. Benjamin Fuller.\n    Samuel Gale _Esq._\n    Nathaniel Garland _Esq._\n    Mr. John Garmston.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Gardner, _of_ Chester.\n    Mr. Robert Gaskhill, _of_ Warrington.\n    Mr. Thomas Gaskhill, _of_ Burtonwood.\n    Mr. Benjamin Gaskell.\n    Mr. Jonathan Gee, _of_ Coventry.\n    Mrs. Grace Gellibrand, _of_ Ashford.\n    Mr. Thomas Gibbs, _Apothecary_.\n    Mr. James Gibson.\n    Mr. William Gifford, _of_ Exon.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Robert Gilbert, _at_ Okeham.\n    _Rev._ Mr. William Gillespie.\n    Richard Gildart _Esq._; _Member of Parliament_.\n    Mr. William Gillison, _of_ Lancaster.\n    Mr. John Girle, _Surgeon_.\n    Mr. James Glover, _of_ Croydon.\n    Mr. Alexander Glover, _of_ Sutton.\n    Mr. Edward Godfrey.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Edward Godwin.\n    John Goldham _Esq._\n    Mr. Abraham Goodwin.\n    Mr. John Goodwin.\n    Mr. Nicolaus van Goer, _Merchant in_ Amsterdam.\n    Mr. John Grace.\n    Mr. James Green, _of_ Manchester.\n    Mr. Godfrey Green, _of_ Dublin, _Merchant_.\n    Mr. Anthony Green, _of_ d^o. d^o.\n    William Green, _Esq._\n    Mr. George Green, _Surgeon at_ Croydon.\n    Mr. Young Green, _at_ Poole.\n    Mrs. Aldress Green.\n    Mr. Gregg.\n    Charles Grey _Esq._\n    _Rev._ Mr. Jonathan Griffith, _of_ Bettus.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Joshua Griffith, _of_ Frenchay.\n    Mr. Evan Griffith, _in_ Pembrokeshire.\n    Mrs. Rebecca Griffith.\n    Mr. Samuel Griffiths.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Grimshaw.\n    _Rev._ Benjamin Grosvenor, D. D.\n    John Grundy, _Esq_; _of_ Thornton.\n    Mr. Nicholas Grundy, _of_ ditto.\n    Mr. Grundy, _of_ Nottingham.\n    _Rev._ John Guyse, D. D.\n    _Rev._ Mr. William Guyse.\n    Mr. Richard Gynes.\n    Mr. John Haddock.\n    Mr. Jos. Hall.\n    Mr. Francis Hall.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Thomas Halley.\n    Mrs. Hallows.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Jos. Hallet, _of_ Exon.\n    William Hallet, M. D. _of_ ditto.\n    _Rev._ Mr. John Halford.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Corn. Handcock, _of_ Uxbridge.\n    Mr. Matt. Handcock, _of_ Nottingham.\n    Mr. John Hardman, _Merchant at_ Liverpool.\n    Mr. James Hardman, _Merchant at_ Rochdale.\n    _Rev._ Mr. George Hardy, _at_ Farnham.\n    Mr. Richard Harper.\n    Mr. Robert Harris.\n    Mr. Nathaniel Harris.\n    Mr. John Harrison.\n    Mr. Robert Harrison.\n    Mr. Amos Harrison.\n    Mr. James Harrop.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Thomas Harrop, _of_ Nottingham.\n    _Sir_ John Hartopp, _Bart._\n    Mr. John Hart, _of_ Warrington.\n    Mr. George Hart, _Apothecary at_ Chard.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Samuel Harward.\n    Mr. Oxenbridge Harward, B. 3.\n    Samuel Haswel _Esq._\n    _Rev._ Mr. Farnham Haskul.\n    Mr. Thomas Hatton.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Haynes, _of_ Nantwich, B. 2.\n    Mr. William Hazel.\n    Mrs. Sarah Henry, _of_ Chester.\n    _Rev._ Mr. John Henson.\n    Mr. William Henderson.\n    Mr. Richard Hett, _Bookseller_, B. 6.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Heskith, _of_ Eastwood.\n    Mr. Hewish, _at_ Nottingham.\n    Mr. John Hewitt, _at_ Knutsford, _Bookseller_.\n    Mr. Arthur Heywood, _Merchant at_ Liverpool.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Eli. Heywood.\n    Mr. Robert Hibbert _Junior_, _of_ Manchester.\n    \u2014\u2014 \u2014\u2014 Higgs, M. D. _at_ Birmingham.\n    Mr. John Higham, _Apothecary_.\n    Mr. Thomas Hinks, _Merchant at_ Chester.\n    Mr. William Hocker.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Hodge, _at_ Gloucester.\n    Mr. Hodges, _Surgeon_.\n    Mr. John Hodshon, _Merchant in_ Amsterdam.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Holt.\n    John Holloway, _Esq._; _at_ Farnham.\n    Mr. Timothy Hollis.\n    Mr. Philip Hollingworth.\n    Mr. Edward Holbrook, _at_ Manchester.\n    Mr. Richard Holland, _at_ ditto.\n    Mr. John Holland, _at_ Mobberly.\n    Mr. John Holland, _Merchant in_ Chester.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Holden, _at_ Rochdale.\n    Fraser Honywood _Esq._\n    _Rev._ Mr. Hool, _at_ Manchester.\n    Mr. John Hood.\n    Mrs. Mary Hood.\n    Mr. John Hope.\n    Mrs. Hopkins, B. 4.\n    Mrs. Mary Hopkins.\n    Mrs. Elizabeth Hopkins.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Hopkins, _at_ Northwich.\n    Mr. John Horsman.\n    _Sir_ Henry Houghton, _Bart._\n    Mr. John Howe.\n    Mr. Edward Howse, _Apothecary in_ Bath.\n    Mr. Andrew Howard, B. 6.\n    Mr. Thomas Huckle.\n    _Rev._ Obadiah Hughes, D. D. B. 16.\n    Mrs. Ph. Hughes.\n    Mr. John Hughes.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Ob. Hughes, _at_ Clifton.\n    _Rev._ Mr. William Hunt.\n    Phineas Huffey _Esq._\n    _Miss_ Huthwait, _at_ Nottingham.\n    Mr. Richard Iles, _at_ Hertford.\n    Mrs. Anne Iles, _at_ ditto.\n    Mr. Samuel Inglesant, _at_ Nottingham.\n    Joshua Iremonger _Esq._\n    Mr. Matthew Iremonger, _at_ St. Albans.\n    Mr. John Ives, _at_ Ware.\n    _Rev._ Mr. John Jackson, _Prebend. of_ Wherwel, _&c._ _at_\n       Leicester.\n    Henry Jacomb _Esq._ B. 2.\n    Mr. George James, _in_ Pembrokeshire.\n    Mr. Thomas Jee.\n    Mr. John Jee _Junior_.\n    Bartholom. Jeffery _Esq. of_ Exon.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Jo^n. Jennings, _at_ St Ives.\n    Mr. Obadiah Jones.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Sam Jones, _at_ Pentwyn.\n    Mr. John Jones, _Merchant_.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Griff. Jones, _R. of_ Llandowror.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Griff. Jones, _V. of_ Llandewey-Velfrey.\n    Mr. Richard Jones, _Surgeon at_ Coventry.\n    _Rev._ Mr. William Johnston.\n    \u2014\u2014 Kay, M. D. _at_ Manchester.\n    Mr. Richard Kay, _near_ Bury.\n    Mr. John Kennedy, _Merchant in_ Exon.\n    Mr. John Kershaw, _near_ Hallifax.\n    _Rev._ Mr. George Kilby.\n    Mr. King, _Apothec. at_ Newbury.\n    _Rev._ H. Knight, M. A. _at_ Manchester.\n    James Lamb _Esq._\n    Mrs. Lamb.\n    Mrs. Mary Lamb.\n    Tho. Lane _Esq. Counsel. at Law_.\n    _Rev._ Mr. William Langford.\n    Mr. Jos. Langford.\n    Jos. Langford _Esq. of_ Basford.\n    _Rev._ Mr. N. Lardner.\n    Mr. Jac. Larwood _Jun. Merchant in_ Amsterdam.\n    Mr. Sam. Latham, _Apothecary_.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Lavington, _of_ Exon, B. 2.\n    Mr. Wm. Lavington, _of_ ditto.\n    Andr. Lavington, M. D. _of_ ditto.\n    _Rev._ Samuel Lawrence, M. D.\n    Mr. Edward Lawrence.\n    Mr. Leckonby, _Merc. in_ Chester.\n    \u2014\u2014 Legh, D.D. _V. of_ Halifax.\n    Thomas Legh _Esq. of_ Booths.\n    Mr. Jonath. Lees, _at_ Manchester.\n    Mr. Thomas Lees.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Leigh, _Archd. of_ Salop.\n    Mr. James Leigh, _at_ Leeds.\n    Mr. Daniel Legg.\n    Mr. Pet. Legrand, _at_ Canterbury.\n    _Rev._ John Leland, D. D.\n    Mr. James Lemon, _Jun._\n    Sam. Lessingham _Esq. Treasurer of_ St. Thomas\u2019s _Hospital_.\n    Mr. Thomas Lessingham.\n    Mrs. Lethieullier.\n    Mrs. Sarah Lethieullier _Jun._\n    James Lever _Esq._\n    Mr. John Lewin.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Lewis, M. A. _of_ Mergate.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Benjamin Lewis, _at_ Leominster.\n    Mrs. Lewis.\n    Mr. John Lingard, _at_ Manchester.\n    Mr. Ralph Lingham.\n    Mr. George Lisle.\n    _Rev._ Mr. William Lister.\n    Mr. Littlefear, _Apothecary_.\n    Alexander Littlejohn, M. D.\n    Mr. Richard Llewhelyn, _in_ Pembrokeshire.\n    Mrs. Lloyd.\n    Mr. H. Lloyd.\n    Mr. Benjamin Lomas.\n    _Rev_. Mr. Dav. Longueville, M.A.\n    _Pastor of the_ English _Church in_ Amsterdam.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Lord, _at_ Knutsford.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Lowe, _of_ Losco.\n    Mr. Robert Lowe.\n    _Rev_. Mr. Moses Lowman.\n    Roger Lyde _Esq.; of_ Bristol.\n    Lionel Lyde _Esq.; of_ ditto.\n    Mr. John Lyde, _of_ ditto.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Daniel Mace, _of_ Newbury.\n    Mr. Mackin _Junior, at_ Warrington.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Makant, _at_ Chorley.\n    Mrs. Marshal.\n    Mr. William Marshal, _of_ Treby.\n    Mr. Thomas Marsden, _of_ Chorley.\n    Thomas Mather, M. D. _at_ Nottingham.\n    Mr. Isaac Mather, _Apothecary_.\n    William Matson _Esq.; at_ Kendale.\n    Mr. Hugh Matthews.\n    Mr. Henry Maundy.\n    Mr. William Maundy, _at_ Sandwich.\n    _Rev._ Mr. William Maurice, _in_ Pembrokeshire.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Thomas Maurice, _in_ Cardiganshire.\n    _Rev._ Mr. William May.\n    Mr. John Meakin.\n    Mr. Nathaniel Meakin.\n    Richard Mead, M.D. _and_ F.R.S. _Physician in Ordinary to his\n    Benjamin Mee _Esq._ B. 4.\n    Mr. Rob. Merry, _at_ Liverpool.\n    Mr. John Merriman, _at_ Newbury.\n    _Rev._ Mr. H. Miles, _at_ Tooting.\n    Mr. James Miller.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Mills, _at_ Maidstone, B. 7.\n    Mr. Samuel Milnar.\n    _Rev._ John Milner, D. D.\n    John Mitchel, M. D.\n    Mr. Thomas Mitchel.\n    Mr. David Mitchel.\n    Mr. John Moore, _Apothecary in_ Bath.\n    Mr. Thomas Moore, _of_ Knutsford, _Singing-Master_.\n    Mrs. Morley, _at_ Nottingham.\n    William Morehead _Esq._\n    Mr. Robert Morgan, _Surgeon_, B. 7.\n    Mr. Morgan Morse, _Attorney at Law_.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Moss.\n    _Rev._ Mr. William Moth, _at_ Basingstoke.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Mottershead, _at_ Manchester.\n    Mr. Thomas Moult, _at_ Manchester.\n    Mr. James Moulton.\n    Mr. John Moulson, _in_ Chester.\n    Mr. William Mount, B. 2.\n    Mrs. Sarah Mount.\n    Mrs. Anne Mount.\n    Mrs. Eliz. Mount.\n    Mr. Peter Schout Muilman, _Merchant in_ Amsterdam.\n    Mr. Nicolaus Muilman, ditto _in_ ditto.\n    Mr. Dionis Muilman, d^o. _in_ d^o.\n    Mr. Daniel Roelof Muilman, d^o. _in_ d^o.\n    Mr. John Murray, _Merchant in_ Chester.\n    Richard Nangreave, _of the_ Inner Temple, _Esq._\n    Mr. Iliff Narborough.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Daniel Neal, M. A. B. 5.\n    Mr. Nathaniel Neal.\n    Mr. David Nesbet, _of_ Glasgow, B 7.\n    \u2014\u2014 Nettleton, M. D. _of_ Halifax.\n    Mrs. Anne Newey.\n    Mr. William Newham, _at_ Nottingham.\n    Mr. John Newdigate.\n    Mr. John Newman.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Thomas Newman, B. 2.\n    Mr. Nathaniel Newnham _Jun._\n    _Miss_ Eliz. Newnham.\n    Mr. John Newton.\n    Mr. Thomas Nicholas.\n    Mr. John Nicholson, _Merchant at_ Liverpool.\n    \u2014\u2014 Nicholson, M. D.\n    Mr. John Nicholson.\n    Mr. Benj. Noble.\n    Mr. Samuel Noble, _Attorney at_ Taunton.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Norris, _at_ Newbury.\n    Mr. William Norris.\n    Mr. Francis Norris.\n    Mr. John North, _at_ Ware.\n    _The Right Rev._ Thomas _Lord Bishop of_ Oxford.\n    _The Right Hon._ Arthur Onslow _Esq.;_ _Speaker of the House of\n       Commons_.\n    Mr. Samuel Ogden, _Merchant at_ Liverpool.\n    Mr. John Oldham.\n    Denzil Onslow _Esq.;_ _Member of Parliament_.\n    Mr. Orchard.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Job Orton, _of_ Salop.\n    Mrs. Osborne.\n    Mr. Thomas Osgood.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Osland, _of_ Bewdley.\n    Mr. Josiah Owen, _of_ Widdens.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Josiah Owen, at Rochdale.\n    Mr. Thomas Page, B. 2.\n    Mr. William Paget.\n    Nathaniel Paice _Esq._ B. 2.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Geo. Palmer, _at_ Swanzey, B. 7.\n    _Rev._ Mr. H. Palmer, _in_ Pembrokeshire.\n    Mr. Thomas Pangbourne.\n    Mr. Bartholomew Par, _Surgeon in_ Exon.\n    John Par, M. D. _at_ Knutsford.\n    Mr. Edw. Clark Parish.\n    Mrs. Anne Parker, _at_ Bath.\n    _Rev._ Mr. John Partington, M. A.\n    Mr. Thomas Parsons, _in_ Bristol.\n    Mr. John Patch, _Surgeon in_ Exon.\n    Mr. Paul, _Surgeon_.\n    Mr. Nathaniel Peacock, _of_ High-Legh.\n    _Rev._ Thomas Pearce, M. D.\n    Mr. John Pearless.\n    Mr. Thomas Peck _Junior_.\n    _Rev._ Mr. John Peirce, _at_ Mere.\n    Mr. Jos. Peirce.\n    Mr. James Peirce, _at_ Newbury.\n    Mrs. Aldress Pennel.\n    Mr. H. Pennel, _at_ Knutsford.\n    Mr. Thomas Penny, _at_ Bathwick.\n    _Rev._ Mr. John Penny, _V. of_ Ashton.\n    Thomas Percival, M. D.\n    Mr. James Percival, _Merchant in_ Liverpool.\n    Mr. Henry Perkins, _Merchant in_ Chester.\n    Mr. Nicholas Peters, _Surgeon at_ Topsham.\n    Mr. Pettit.\n    Mr. John Phillimore.\n    Mrs. Phillimore.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Lewis Philips, _in_ Carmarthenshire.\n    _Rev._ Mr. John Philips, _at_ Kingsley.\n    Mr. Robert Philpot, _in_ Chester.\n    Mr. John Philpot, _in_ ditto.\n    Mr. Robert Phipps.\n    John Pickering _Esq.; of_ Cheshire.\n    Mr. James Pilkington.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Pilkington, _at_ Preston.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Pilkington.\n    Mr. Edward Pitts.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Michael Pope.\n    Mr. Miles Poole, _of_ Kingston.\n    Mr. William Poulson.\n    Mr. Thomas Pougfher.\n    William Powel _Esq.; of_ Clapham.\n    Mr. William Powell.\n    Mr. Benjamin Powell.\n    Mr. John Poyner, _at_ Islington.\n    Mr. William Price.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Samuel Price.\n    Mr. Jonathan Priestly, _near_ Halifax.\n    Mr. Stephen Prutheroe, _of_ Haverford-West.\n    Mr. Smoult Pye.\n    _The Right Hon. the Countess of_ Rothes.\n    Mr. Daniel Radford.\n    Mrs. Radford.\n    _Miss_ Mary Radford.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Ogle Radford.\n    Matthew Raper _Esq.;_\n    Moses Raper _Esq.;_\n    Mr. Moses Raper.\n    Mr. Peter Rasbotham, _at_ Manchester.\n    Mr. John Ratcliffe.\n    Mrs. Rawlins.\n    Mr. William Rawson.\n    Mrs. Rawstorn, _in_ Canterbury.\n    Mrs. Raymond.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Kirby Rayner, _in_ Bristol.\n    Mr. Jos. Rayner, _at_ Leeds.\n    _Rev._ Mr. H. Read.\n    Mr. Simon Reader.\n    _Rev_. Thomas Rennell, D. D. _Rector of_ Drewsteington, Devonshire.\n    Mr. John Reynolds.\n    _Master_ Richard Reynolds, _at_ Hertford.\n    Mr. Rhodes, _at_ Nottingham.\n    Mr. George Rhodes, _Surgeon at_ Modbury.\n    Richard Riccards _Esq._\n    _Rev._ Mr. Richards, _in_ Bristol.\n    Mr. Travers Richards.\n    Mr. John Richards.\n    Mr. Richard Richardson, _at_ Liverpool.\n    Mr. John Rigby, _at_ Manchester.\n    Mr. John Roberts.\n    Mr. Richard Roberts.\n    Mr. William Robinson.\n    Mr. Samuel Robinson.\n    Mr. James Roffee.\n    Mr. Thomas Rogers.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Ca. Rotheram, _at_ Kendal.\n    Mr. Geo. Ruck.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Rudsdale, _at_ Gainsborough.\n    Mr. Sampson Salt, _at_ Macclesfield.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Edward Sandercock.\n    Mr. Edward Sanderson.\n    Mr. Nathaniel Sanderson.\n    _Rev._ Mr. J. Sandford, _at_ Pontefract.\n    Servington Savery _Esq.; of_ Exon, B. 3.\n    Mr. John Savidge.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Samuel Say.\n    Mr. Edward Score, _Bookseller in_ Exon.\n    Mr. Daniel Scot, _Apothecary_.\n    Mr. Robert Seagrave, _at_ Nottingham.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Arthur Shallett.\n    Mrs. Sharp, _of_ Treby.\n    Mr. Peter Sharp.\n    Mr. Edward Shepheard, B. 4.\n    Thomas Shepherd _Esq. of_ Kendal.\n    Mr. John Sherbrook, _of_ Nottingham.\n    Mr. John Sherbrook.\n    Mr. Nathaniel Sheffield, _Attorney at Law_.\n    Mr. Ellis Shipley, _Attorney at_ Leicester.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Sidebottom.\n    _Rev._ Mr. Jos. Simmons.\n    _Mr._ Nathaniel Simpson.\n    _Miss_ Simpson.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Patr. Simpson, _at_ Coventry.\n    _Mr._ William Slinger.\n    _Rev. Mr._ James Sloss, _at_ Nottingham.\n    _Mr._ Thomas Smallwood.\n    _Mrs._ Eliz. Smith.\n    _Mrs._ Sarah Smith.\n    _Mrs._ Margaret Smith, _at_ Manchester.\n    William Snell _Esq._\n    _Mrs._ Staples.\n    _Mr._ Staples.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Jos. Standen.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Stanley.\n    _Mr._ Frederick Stanton.\n    _Mr._ Jos. Stell, _at_ Keighley.\n    _Mrs._ Stephens _of_ Epsom.\n    _Rev._ Bennet Stephenson, D. D. _of_ Bath,  B. 2.\n    _Mr._ John Steward.\n    _Mr._ Samuel Steyart.\n    _Miss_ Mary Stile.\n    _Mr._ John Stockport, _at_ Manchester.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Stoddon, _at_ Taunton.\n    _Mr._ Stone, _at_ Treby.\n    _Mr._ Jos. Stubbings, _at_ Brockstow.\n    _Rev._ William Stukely, M.D. _and_ F. R. S.\n    _Mr._ Gerrard Suffield.\n    John Sutton, M. D. _of_ Leicester.\n    _Mr._ John Swain, _at_ Walsal.\n    _Mr._ Robie Swan, _at_ Nottingham.\n    _Mr._ James Smith, _Banker in_ Dublin.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Swinton, _at_ Knutsford.\n    _Mr._ Henry Tatham.\n    _Mr._ William Tatnall.\n    _Mrs._ Anne Tatnall.\n    _Mr._ Samuel Taylor, _at_ Manchester.\n    _Mr._ Richard Taylor, _at_ ditto.\n    _Mr._ Sam. Taylor, _at_ Rochdale.\n    _Mr._ William Tayler,   B. 3.\n    _Mr._ John Taylor, _at_ Manchester.\n    _Mrs._ Mary Temple.\n    Sir John Thompson _Knt. and Alderman of_ London.\n    William Thomas _Esq.;_\n    _Rev. Mr._ Samuel Thomas, _at_ Carmarthen, B. 6.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Thomas.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Thomas Thorburn, _at_ Keighley.\n    _Mr._ William Thornhill, _Sen._\n    _Mr._ Thomas Tipping, _at_ Manchester.\n    _Mr._ John Tomlins.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Isaac Toms.\n    _Mr._ John Toms.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Matt. Toogood.\n    _Mr._ Richard Tottie, _at_ Leeds.\n    _Mr._ Cha. Totterdel, _Surgeon_.\n    _Mr._ Thomas Touchet, _at_ Manchester.\n    _Mr._ John Touchet, _at_ ditto.\n    _Mr._ Peter Touchet.\n    _Mrs._ Jane Trimnell.\n    _Mr._ Eben. Tristram, _at_ Chester.\n    _Mr._ Jonathan Tucker, _Merchant in_ Exon.\n    _Mrs._ Turner, _in_ Canterbury.\n    _Mr._ Thomas Turner, _at_ Warrington.\n    _Mr._ John Twells.\n    Thomas Tylston, M. D. _in_ Chester.\n    _Mr._ Jonathan Underwood.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Thomas Valentine, _at_ Epsom.\n    _Mr._ Vawdry.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Venables, _at_ Oswestry.\n    _Mr._ William Venables, _in_ Chester.\n    _Mr._ Mason Victor.\n    _Mr._ Jos. Vipen, _at_ Sutton-Golt.\n    _Mr._ Henry Visser, _Merchant in_ Amsterdam.\n    _Mrs._ Catharina Visser, _in_ ditto.\n    _Mr._ Abraham de Vrijer, _Merchant in_ ditto.\n    John Wade _Esq.; of_ Gloucester.\n    _Mr._ Abel Wainwright, _at_ Nottingham.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Wainman, _at_ Pudsey.\n    _Mr._ William Wakeford, _at_ Odiham.\n    _Mr._ Daniel Walker, _at_ Manchester.\n    _Rev. Mr._ John Walker, M. A.\n    Anthony Walburge _Esq.;_\n    _Rev. Mr._ John Walrond, _in_ Exon.\n    Henry Walrond _Esq.; in_ ditto.\n    _Mr._ Samuel Waring, _at_ Bury.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Ward, _V. of_ Presbury.\n    _Mr._ Edmund Warkman.\n    _Mr._ John Warner.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Warren, _at_ Coventry.\n    _Mr._ Robert Wastfield.\n    _Rev._ Isaac Watts, D. D. B. 2.\n    Richard Watts, M. D.\n    _Mr._ Joel Watson, _Merchant_.\n    _Mr._ Michael Watson.\n    _Mr._ Thomas Watson _Jun._\n    _Mr._ Weaver.\n    _Mr._ Jos. Weaver.\n    George Wegg _Esq.;_\n    _Mr._ B. Wellington, _Surgeon at_ Hertford.\n    Simon Welman _Esq.;_\n    _Mr._ John Wells, _Attorney at Law_.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Welsh, _at_ Rossendale.\n    _Mr._ Thomas West.\n    _Mr._ John Weston.\n    _Mr._ John Wheelwright.\n    _Mr._ White.\n    John Whitby _Esq.;_ _of_ Staffordshire.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Whitlock, _at_ Radford.\n    _Mr._ Thomas Whitaker, _at_ Leeds.\n    John Whitty _Junior_, M. D. _at_ Lyme  B. 2.\n    _Mr._ Obadiah Wickes.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Willets, _at_ Newcastle-under-Lyme.\n    _Mr._ John Wilkinson.\n    _Mr._ Tho. Wilkinson, _at_ Arnold.\n    Francis Wilkes _Esq._\n    John Wilkes _Esq._ _at_ Croydon.\n    _Mr._ Jos. Williams, _at_ Kidderminster. B. 2.\n    _Mr._ Thomas Williams, _at_ Haverford-West.\n    _Mr._ John Williams, _at_ ditto.\n    Clerke Wilshawe, M. D.\n    _Mr._ William Wilson.\n    _Mr._ Samuel Wilson.\n    _Mr._ Wimpey, Bookseller _at_ Newbury.\n    Henry Winder, D. D. _at_ Liverpool.\n    _Mr._ John Withers, _in_ Exon.\n    _Mr._ Peter Woodcock, _Merchant at_ Warrington.\n    _Mr._ William Woodcock, _of_ d^o.\n    _Mr._ John Woodcock.\n    _Rev. Mr._ James Wood, Lancashire, B. 7.\n    _Mr._ John Wood.\n    _Mr._ Nathaniel Wood, _at_ St. Albans.\n    William Woodhouse, M. D. _at_ Leicester.\n    John Godden Woolfe _Esq.;_\n    Wight Woolley _Esq.;_\n    Houlton Woolley _Esq.;_\n    _Mr._ Tho. Woolrich, _at_ Leeds.\n    _Mr._ John Worsley, _at_ Hertford, B.3.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Hugh Worthington, _in_ Cheshire.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Hugh Worthington, M. A. _at_ Leicester.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Samuel Wreyford.\n    _Rev._ Samuel Wright, D.D. B. 2.\n    Henry Wright _Esq.; of_ Mobberly.\n    _Mr._ Samuel Wright.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Witter, _at_ Hull. B. 20.\n    _Mr._ Tim. Wylde, _Merchant_.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Wylde, _at_ Nottingham.\n    _Mr._ Isaac Wylde, _at_ ditto.\n    _Mr._ William Yarnold.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Rob. Yates, _at_ Darwen.\n    Jos. Yates _Esq.;_ _of_ Manchester.\n    _Rev. Mr._ Geo. Lewis Young.\n    _Mr._ Edmund Atkinson.\n    _Mrs._ Fletcher _Junior_.\n    _Mr._ William Foster.\n[Illustration]\n[Illustration]\nI begin with the Division of Serpents, which I distribute into\n_Terrestrial_, that live upon Land only; _Aquatick_, that live in Water;\nand _Amphibious_, that inhabit both Elements. Under these I comprehend\nall the Relatives to the venomous Tribe. But how can Land-Serpents live\nin Water? I answer, their Bodies are equally formed for both Places.\nAmong Animals, some breathe by _Lungs_, and others by _Gills_, as all\nsanguineous Fish, (excepting the _Whale_.) By _Gills_, I mean those\nmembranous cartilaginous Parts on both sides the Head, whereby they hear\nand respire: What we call _Gills_ in Fish, are properly their _Lungs_.\nRespiration (which is an involuntary Motion of the Breast, whereby Air\nis alternately taken in and thrown out) is as necessary to Fish as to\nLand-Animals: In Water, is a great Quantity of Air inclosed, and it is\nthat Air they respire, and by their _Gills_ they separate the Air from\nthe Water, and present it to the _Blood_, after the same manner as \u2019tis\npresented to the Lungs of Land-Animals.\nThe _Gills_ of Fish have an alternate Motion of Dilatation and\nCompression; when they _dilate_ their _Gills_, the Water is taken in;\nwhen they _contract_ them, \u2019tis expelled again. Thus the Water is\ncarried in by the Mouth, and carried off again (stript of its Air) by\nthe _Gills_, which perform the Office of Lungs. Their sucking Water is\nBreathing, and their Food as little of Water, perhaps, as other\nCreatures use.\n_SERPENTS_ will swim in all Liquids; this appears in the Experiment made\nby a _learned Italian_, who put a Serpent into a large Glass-Vessel of\nWine, where it lived swimming about six Hours: and when it was by force\nimmersed and kept under that Liquid, it lived only about an Hour and a\nhalf. He put another in common Water, where it lived three Days; but\nwhen it was kept under Water, it lived only about twelve Hours[2].\nFootnote 2:\n  _Fr. Redi Exper. circa res nat._ p. 170.\nSome Serpents are reptitious, creep on the Belly, and some have Feet;\nthe Form of their Legs is peculiar and different in divers Species,\nwhence the slow Motion of some, and wonderful Agility and Swiftness in\nothers: Their Feet are some cloven (as it were) into Hoofs, others\ndivided into Claws, with Variety of different Nails to answer the\nseveral Purposes of Life; among them are _Flying Serpents_: for which\npurpose, they are furnished with Wings to buoy themselves up in the\nfluid Air, whereby they keep their Bodies on a due Balance in their\nMotion.\nSerpents are provided with Tails of different Length and Size; these\nalso are necessary to adjust their Motion, and guard them against\nStimulation of Flies. In winged Serpents, the Tail serves as a Rudder to\ngovern them in flying through the Air; and, in the marine Serpents, they\nserve as Oars. But another says, the flying of a Bird, in effect, is\nquite a different Motion from the sailing of a Ship: Birds don\u2019t vibrate\ntheir Wings towards the Tail, as Oars are struck towards the Stern, but\nwaft them downward; nor does the Tail of the Bird cut the Air at right\nAngles as the Rudder does the Water, but it is disposed horizontally,\nand preserves the same Situation what way soever the Bird turns[3].\nFootnote 3:\n  _Borelli._\nThey are painted with variety of Colours, as red, black, white, brown,\ngreen; the Composition of these, in some of their Garnitures, forms\nBeauties exquisitely fine. Some of them have very little Eyes, others\nlarge ones: Some wound with their Teeth, others with the Tail that\nterminates in a Sting, which is an Apparatus in the Body of certain\nInsects like a little Lance, serving them as a Weapon of Offence.\nMention is made by Historians of harmless Serpents, and of Persons who\nhave tamed Serpents, and whose Hair has been kissed by a tame Dragon,\nand which, with its Tongue, gently lick\u2019d its Master\u2019s Face[4].\nFootnote 4:\n  _Raii Synopsis. \u00c6lian. Hist._\nThe Serpent seems to be one of the distinguished Favourites of the Air,\nseeing it subsists by aerial Food all Winter; that is, in those Regions\nwhere it dare not turn Ranger. Sleep is the Nurse of Nature, a Nurse\nthat greatly indulges the animal Spirits, and, by arresting voluntary\nMotion, prevents their daily Consumption, and, at the same time, allows\nthe perpetual Motion of the Arteries, Veins, Heart. We know but little\nof the real peculiar Nature of what we call Air, only that it is the\nmost heterogeneous Body in the World, a kind of secondary Chaos, being a\nCompound of minute Particles of various Kinds, Earth, Water, Minerals,\nVegetables, Animals, _&c._ collected either by solar or artificial Heat.\nThese Particles together constitute an Appendage to our Earth, called\nAtmosphere; or that thin, elastick, fluid Mass, wherein we live, move,\nand have our being; which Air we continually receive, and expel by\nRespiration, and no Animal can live, or Vegetable grow without it.\nThus Serpents inclosed in the Receiver, are immediately (I may say)\nstarved when deprived of Air, which is their only Winter-Food.\u2014_N. B._\nWhatever is put in a Receiver so exhausted, is said to be put _in\nVacuo_: Animals that have two Ventricles, and no _Foramen Ovale_, as\nBirds, Dogs, Cats, Mice, die in it in less than half a Minute; a Mole\ndied in one Minute; a Bat lived seven or eight; Insects, as Wasps, Bees,\nGrashoppers, seem dead in two Minutes[5].\nFootnote 5:\n  _Derham._\nNor will any Vegetation proceed _in Vacuo_, or without Air: Seeds\nplanted will not grow. OBJECTION. _Beans grow in Vacuo._ I answer, they\ngrow a little tumid, but that kind of Vegetation is only owing to the\nDilatation of the Air within them; they swell a little by the Expansion\nof the Air, but they never bud.\nAmong the Ancients were very strange Notions about the _Original_ of\nSerpents, and other Animals: _Bees_, says a certain Orator, Historian,\nand Philosopher, were bred from the Carcass of Oxen; _Wasps_ from the\nCorruptions of Horses; _Beetles_ from Asses; and _Serpents_ from human\nMarrow: Hence they consecrated a Dragon to Kings and Princes, as a\nCreature peculiar to Man[6].\nFootnote 6:\n  _Plutarch_\u2019s Lives of _Cleomenes_ and _Agis_.\nI don\u2019t know how to form an Apology for the old Philosophers, whose\nAccount of spontaneous Generation is perfectly romantick: What can be\nmore so, than to say Frogs are engendered of Slime, or in the Clouds,\nand dropt down in the Showers of Rain? So the _Egyptians_ said, that\nMice were produced from the Mud of _Nilus_, and Insects from putrified\nMatter animated by the Sun. The Principle of this equivocal Generation,\nwas the old Doctrine of _Egypt_, and now justly exploded, as contrary to\nReason and common Sense, as well as to the Design of the Creator in\nmaking Animals Male and Female; the End of which Difference in Sexes,\nall Animals exactly answer, as if they were endued with human Reason. No\nWoman more tender of her Babe, or careful in providing for it, than\nAnimals are of their Young Ones.\nThe knowledge of mere Animals (who have no School for Arts and Sciences)\nis most surprising; these without visible Instructors, know how to\nperpetuate their Species to the End of the World; and how to order their\nEggs, as those, who are apprized, their Successors were contained in\nthem, and that it was in their power to produce them, and to perpetuate,\nor keep up the Name of their Family.\nThe Serpentine Animals are thus taught by Nature; these differ in the\nMode of Propagation; some of them are _viviparous_, an Epithet applied\nto such Animals, who lay their Eggs within their Bellies, who bring\nforth their Young Ones alive and perfect, as Vipers, Sheep, Hares;\nothers are _oviparous_, and bring forth their Young from Eggs, as\nSerpents, Snakes, Lizards, Frogs, Salmon, Tortoise, Herrings, _&c._[7]\nFootnote 7:\n  _Omnia ab ovo animalia._\nIn this Contrivance of Male and Female, and different Method of\nMultiplication for perpetuating the Species, we may see an admirable\nInstance of divine Wisdom: But for this Difference in Sexes, there would\nbe no Increase of Serpents nor other Animals. The oviparous and\nviviparous Manner of Propagation is as wonderful; for,\nWere they all _viviparous_, that is, brought forth living Births, there\nwould be but a small Number, and not sufficient to support the whole\nanimal Body: Corn, Grass, Fruits, _&c._ are no Production of the Sea,\ntherefore can be no Food for Fish: The Almighty Creator so ordained it,\nthat they should feed one upon another; and this made it necessary that\nthey should be _oviparous_, that they might increase in great Plenty,\nwhich they could not do, if they were of the _viviparous_ Kind; that is,\nbrought forth their living Offspring, as Vipers, Sheep, Hares, Cows do.\nBut Fish being _oviparous_, propagating their Kind by Eggs, which, for\nNumber, are infinite, their Progeny is innumerable, and sufficient to\nsupport all the Branches of the Marine Family; even the lesser Kind of\nFish send forth an incredible Number of Spawn.\nOn the other hand, if four-footed Beasts were propagated by Eggs, they\nwould soon cover the Face of the Earth, without a daily Destruction of\nthem, which would take up no little time, tho\u2019 an _Army of Nimrods_ were\nemployed. Birds increase by Eggs, and bring forth great Numbers; and\nperhaps, for this reason, that Birds of Prey and Serpents, Kitchens,\n_&c._ might not want proper Supplies. Now, if a Female Bird was great\nwith six or twelve Young Ones at once, the Burden would be intolerable,\nher Wings would fail, and she would become an easy Prey to her Enemies.\nBut you will say, what if they brought forth only one or two at a time,\ntill they amounted to the usual Number of their Eggs? I answer, that\nthen they would be troubled all the Year long with feeding their Young,\nor bearing them in their Womb.\nThis Production of Creatures by Eggs, is a wonderful Ph\u00e6nomenon in the\nanimal World; the Eggs are shelly and hard, to preserve the included\nEmbryo from Accidents, and to contain suitable Nutriment for it. \u2019Tis\nobservable that Chickens, while in their dark embryotick State, are\nnourished by the _White_ alone, till grown big, and then feed on the\n_Yolk_, as the stronger Diet; and, when that is consumed, the Shell\nopens, and lets out the Prisoners.\nThough all Fowl are hatched from Eggs, yet it is not always by the\nParent\u2019s Incubation, or Brooding, but by some other Warmth: The\n_Tortoise_ is said to lay no less than fifteen hundred Eggs, which she\ncovers in the Sand, and leaves the Sun to hatch them. The Eggs of the\n_Ostrich_[8] are hatched after the same manner; so the Serpent lays, and\nleaves her Eggs in the Dunghill.\nFootnote 8:\n  _Job_ xxxix. 14, 15. _Willoughby\u2019s Ornithol._ _lib._ ii. _cap._ 8.\nThe _Eggs_ of Serpents, and certain other Animals, are Parts formed in\nthe Ovaries of the Female, covered with a Shell, which includes an\nEmbryo of the same Species. In the days of old, the Egg was the Symbol\nof the World; the World, by Tradition, being made of an _Egg_: Hence\nEggs became of singular Importance in the Sacrifices of _Cybele_ the\nMother of the Gods. Some of the Pagan Deities were said to be produced\nfrom Eggs.\nIn some Parts of _Asia_, and at _Grand Cairo_ in _Egypt_, they hatch\ntheir Chickens in Ovens; each Oven contains several thousand Eggs which\nthe Country brings in, and have their Eggs returned in Chickens.\nBy this Method, they generally want some integral Part, as an Eye, a\nClaw, _&c._ which may be owing to a Want of equal Impression of Heat,\ntho\u2019 the artificial Warmth be continued. There are thousands, yea\nMillions at a Batch, thus produced in _Egyptian Ovens_;\u2014and may as well\nbe in _Europe_, if our Bakers had the knack on\u2019t. An Experiment has been\nmade by a _Duke of Tuscany_, who having built such Ovens, did produce\nliving Chickens in the same manner.\nUnder this _Section_, I shall consider the wonderful Sagacity of\nSerpents, in chusing their Paths for Deambulation, and finding out\nproper Receptacles for their Repose and Security in Winter; and that in\nClimates that are Opposites in their Nature.\nIn Summer, generally speaking, they are found in solitary and\nunfrequented dry Situations; others delight in moorish fenny Grounds;\nand in hot Countries, near to Groves, Rivulets\u2014These, like other\nAnimals, strictly adhere to the Constitutions of their Family, without\nDeviation.\nThey take up their Winter-Quarters in Caverns, hollow Places, Burrows,\nRocks, old Hedges, and under the Roots of Vegetables, especially the\nBirch, others say Beech-Trees, which were consecrated by the Pagans to\nthe supreme Numen.\nIn these lonesome Habitations they repose themselves during the Winter,\nin a kind of sleepy State, as half dead, with _open Eyes_[9]. In this\nSolitude they lie dormant, indulg\u2019d with a little humid Air, till the\nSun, by its Entrance into the northern Constellations, restores them to\nthe active Life; without some Air they could not live. Mr. _Boyle_ made\nthe experiment, by putting Vipers into the exhausted Receiver, which\nsoon died upon pumping out the Air.\nFootnote 9:\n  _Apertis Oculis._ Conrad. Gesner. pag. 3. _de Serp._\nIt argues no little Penetration, that they know when and how to shelter\nthemselves in Places of Safety in all Seasons; and what is yet more\nastonishing, is, that they live there so many Months without Food and\nwithout Action; and when released from their hybernal Confinement, how\nsoon do they find out their appointed Food? Taken in this light, they\nare not singular; for \u2019tis believed, there are other Animals that pass\nthe Winter-Season in a state of Indolence and Inactivity, as Cuckows and\nSwallows, making way by their Retreat for Woodcocks and Fieldfares,\nwhich visit us in Winter, and then return northwards: They are said to\nbreed in colder Countries, as _Norway_, _Russia_, _Sweden_, and the\n_Islands of Orcades_, the most northern Parts of _Scotland_; which\nIslands were formerly in possession of the _Norwegians_, and given and\nannex\u2019d to _Scotland_ by _Christiern_ I. King of _Denmark_ and _Norway_,\non the Marriage of his Daughter _Margaret_, with _James_ III. King of\n_Scotland_, about the Year 1474.\nIt is probable, that when these northern Countries are buried in Snow,\nand their Rivers are frozen up, these Birds take their Flight hither,\nand such like Places, where they have access to Water, _&c._ But as to\nCuckows and Swallows, as intimated above, \u2019tis generally allow\u2019d that\nthey sleep in Winter, having, as \u2019tis said, been found in hollow Trees\nand Caverns. Nor is this at all unlikely; tho\u2019 on the other hand, I can\nsee no Absurdity in supposing that these should go upon a Summer, as the\nother do upon a Winter Pilgrimage; that these pursue a lesser Heat, as\nwell as the others fly from a greater Cold. Yea, _Vegetables_ are said\nto _sleep in Winter_, and to be awake and lively in Summer: During the\nMonths of their Rest, a quantity of Oil is laid up in them for their\nDefence against the Cold, and in proportion to the Degrees of it, which\nthey are to sustain; whence it is, that the Trees of the northern\nClimates so much abound with Oil.\nOn the other hand, there are _Reptiles_ and _Insects_ that have Sense\nenough to lay up Winter-Store in Summer, as the _Bee_, _Wasp_,\n_Field-Mouse_, _&c._ a Property foreign to the ancient House of\nSerpents.\nIn Summer, the _Bees_ labor hard for Winter Provision: As soon as the\nAir grows mild and warm, they are out betimes, and gather their Harvest\nfrom the Simples of the Fields, which they suck into their Bodies, and\nupon their Return to the Hive they disgorge it, as Pigeons do their Food\nwherewith they feed their Young. When the Bees have fill\u2019d their\nStorehouse with the Delicacies of Nature, they lock the Doors, which\nthey seal up with delicate white Wax, to prevent the Emanation of the\nHoney, which is a vegetable Juice: The Combs in which their Treasure is\nlodg\u2019d, are geometrically nice, and exceed the most exquisite Art of\nMan.\nThe Ants also in this respect, are remarkable for Penetration and\nForesight. In _America_ are Ants which raise Hillocks four or five Foot\nhigh, and have such a way of cementing the Earth about them, that \u2019tis\nas firm as Lime and Stone, which protects them against the _Ant-Bears_,\nor Pismire-eaters; _i. e._ a kind of Creatures as big as Dogs, that feed\non these Insects.\nOne observes, that the _Spaniards_ left _Jamaica_, and went to _Cuba_,\nfor this Reason among others, because their Childrens Eyes were eaten by\nthese Ants, when left by themselves in the Cradle[10].\nFootnote 10:\n  Sir _Hans Sloan_\u2019s _Introduction to his Voyage_, p. 68.\nCeylon in the _East-Indies_ produces several sorts of remarkable Ants,\nparticularly a large red kind, which make their Nests on the Boughs of\ngreat Trees, with Leaves wrapt together in Clusters, in which they lay\ntheir Eggs: And another sort call\u2019d _Vacos_, whose Hinder-part is white,\nand the Head red; these swarm over the Land and devour every thing, but\nStone and Iron: They creep on House-walls, and always build an Arch over\nthemselves; on these their Poultry live chiefly; some of them bite\ndesperately.\nTo these I might add the _Wasps_, that have their Winter-Treasures in\nsubterranean Cells, and the Field-mice that know the proper Season to\ngather Acorns, which they carefully hide in hollow Places, (as\nMole-runs) in the Earth. Thus we see no Creatures so mean in our View,\nbut a Ray of divine Wisdom shines in their Foresight and Contrivance:\nWhen we consider how wonderfully these inferior Creatures are conducted\nin their Operations, how punctually they obey the Laws of their Creator,\nhow solicitously every one propagates his Kind, and makes proper\nProvisions for his Family; it looks as if it were done by some Principle\nthat\u2019s more perfect than the common Reason of Man. Nevertheless \u2019tis\npast doubt, that Brutes of the highest Order, and most refin\u2019d, are but\nBrutes, _i. e._ irrational, and it\u2019s well for us they are so.\nThis is call\u2019d _Instinct_, a natural Disposition, or Sagacity wherewith\nAnimals are endued; by virtue whereof they are enabled to provide for\nthemselves, know what is good for them, and are determin\u2019d to propagate\nand preserve their Species. _Instinct_ bears some Analogy to Reason or\nUnderstanding, and supplies the Defect of it in Brutes. The Narrative of\n_Eve_\u2019s Temptation begins with affirming, _The Serpent was more subtle\nthan any Beast of the Field_. And _Christ_ recommends the Wisdom of the\nSerpent, but not without the Innocence of the Dove.\nThe Proofs of its Subtilty are not so obvious; some produce such as\nthese, telling us, that the Serpent _Cerastes_ hides itself in the Sand,\nwith a view to bite the Horse\u2019s Foot that he might throw the Rider.\n_Jacob_ seems to allude to this, in the Blessing he gave to _Dan_, of\nwhom \u2019tis said, _Dan shall be a Serpent by the Way, an Adder in the\nPath, that bites the Horse\u2019s Heels, so that his Rider shall fall\nbackward_. Gen. xlix. 17. But more in Part third.\nSerpents are supposed to have many Enemies, besides Man, as the _Eagle_,\n_Hawk_, _Stork_, _Ibis_, _Ichneumon_, _Magaure_, _&c._ I shall only\ntouch upon some of these: _Ibis_ is a Bird of _Egypt_, and a faithful\nAlly in the War against Serpents; vast Numbers of winged Serpents are\nannually bred in _Arabia_, from whence, at certain Seasons, Swarms of\nthem take their flight across the _Red-Sea_ into _Egypt_: Upon the first\nnotice of their Arrival, the _Ibidian_ Birds assemble in Troops, and\nimmediately fly upon the Invaders, and soon destroy them. In the same\nmanner they execute Vengeance upon the Serpents of _Ethiopia_, when they\nmolest the Land[11].\nFootnote 11:\n  _Conradus Gesn._ p. 55. _Ray. Gyllius._\nThe _Storks_ destroy all Serpents that fall in their way, and are so\ngreatly regarded in _Thessaly_ for this kind office, that it is counted\na capital Crime to kill a _Stork_, and the Criminal is punished as in\nthe case of Man-slaughter.\n[12]The Stork\u2019s Bill is very long and sharp, with which it makes a\nrattling kind of Noise: It is said, the Chirurgeons have learn\u2019d the\nClysterick Art from these Birds.\nFootnote 12:\n  _Pliny\u2019s Nat. Hist._ Tom. i. B. 10.\nThe _Storks_ also are esteemed the Clergy\u2019s Friends, for the Author of\nthe _Book of Nature_ says, they will not inhabit any City in _Germany_,\nwhere no Tythes are paid to the Priest. An Orthodox Brood of Birds!\nWhen _Moses_ conducted the _Egyptian_ Army against the _Ethiopians_, he\nwas to pass through a Country full of Serpents, and to secure his Forces\nfrom them in their March, he carried with him several of these _Ibidian_\nBirds, before whose Fury they fell or fled[13].\nFootnote 13:\n  _Josephus_, B. ii. Cap. v. p. 65.\n_ICHNEUMON_ is a little Animal of bold Spirit, and a great Destroyer of\nSerpents, and therefore the _Egyptians_ keep it in their Houses, as we\ndo Cats; and the young ones are commonly sold for that end at\n_Alexandria_. In form it resembles an overgrown Rat, and is called the\n_Indian-Rat_, and _Pharaoh\u2019s Rat_; and by its mighty Atchievements, it\nmust be of some considerable Bulk; for in its Encounters with great\nDogs, Crocodiles, Serpents, _&c._ it generally comes off victorious:\nUpon their Approach it bunches up, and bristles up its Hair, in token of\nDefiance: It couches on the Ground, and leaps like a Bull-dog at its\nPrey.\nBy some it is call\u2019d the _Egyptian Otter_; \u2019tis of a dun Colour, has\nround Ears, black Legs, and long Tail: It cannot endure the Wind, and\nruns for Shelter, when it rises, sometimes thrusting its Head between\nits hinder Legs, in a round Form like a Hedge-hog.\nThose who have examined into Kites Nests, have found Vipers in them,\nwhich are supposed to be Food for their young ones. In _China_ is a\nlittle Creature like a Weezel, called _Magaure_, that is a mortal Enemy\nto Serpents, which it kills by striking its Teeth into their Heads. The\n_Chameleon_ trembles at the Sight of this little Furioso[14]; whose Ears\nare short and round, its Nose like that of a Ferret, its Tongue and\nTeeth like a Cat, which is a Creature it destroys in a Minute, though\nnot the easiest to be killed. The _Argoli Serpents_ in _India_ destroy\nAsps; therefore by _Alexander_ the Great\u2019s Command, they were\ntransported to _Alexandria_[15].\nFootnote 14:\n  _L. Le Comte\u2019s Memoirs_, p. 504.\nFootnote 15:\n  _Johnstonus_, p. 16.\nWhether the Serpent hates Man more than other Creatures, is with me a\nquestion; be that as it will, it is wonderful to think, that\nnotwithstanding Man\u2019s and other Creatures invincible Hatred of Serpents,\nyet hitherto they have been able to support themselves in a State of War\nagainst all the World.\nEven among Vegetables are found Enemies to Serpents; as the _Dittany_ of\n_Virginia_, or the _wild Penny-royal_; the Leaves of which, says my\nAuthor, being bruised, we tied in the Cleft of a long Stick, and held\nthem to the Nose of the _Rattle-Snake_, who by turning and wriggling,\nlaboured hard to avoid it, and in half an hour\u2019s time was kill\u2019d by it:\nThis was done _July_ 1657, at which Season those Creatures are computed\nto be in the greatest Vigour of their Poison; it is also remarkable,\nthat in those Places where the _wild Penny-royal_ grows, no\nRattle-Snakes are observed to come[16].\nFootnote 16:\n  _Philos. Transact._ abridg\u2019d by _Lowthorp_, p. 811.\nThat _Dust_ was not the original Food of the Serpent, seems evident from\nthe Sentence passed upon the Paradisaic Serpent, but the necessary\nConsequence of the Change made in the manner of its Motion, _i. e._ the\nprone Posture of its Body, by which it\u2019s doomed to live upon Food\nintermix\u2019d with Earth, dried to a Powder; _Dust shalt thou eat_, is one\npart of the Curse. It\u2019s true, Serpents eat Flesh, Birds, Frogs, Fish,\nFruits, Grass, but as they continually creep on the Earth, \u2019tis\nimpossible but their Food must be often defiled with Dirt; some of them\nmay eat Earth out of Necessity, or at least Earth-Worms, which they\ncannot swallow without some Dirt with them. No Animal but has its proper\nFood; even the most minute Insects; those that seemingly feed upon Dust,\nin reality feed only upon some nutritive Particles therein. Insects have\nbeen seen through a Microscope to eat some Particles of Dust, and reject\nmany others, having accurate Organs of Sight, Smelling, and Feeling, as\nwell accommodated to Dust, as the Organs of Ducks and Hogs are to find\ntheir Food in Dirt.\nAnd here it may be observed, that what the Serpent does through a\nNecessity from the Divine Sentence, the earthly Man does from his own\nWill; the Serpent only by the Will of another, Man eats it from his own\nInclination to it; the Serpent would have better Food if it could, Man\nmight have better and will not: This shews that Man has a mind to be\nCompanion with the Serpent, and to carry on the Acquaintance, that was\nbegun in Paradise; the Serpent licks the Dust materially, the earthly\nPerson licks it morally; the one has its Tongue upon it, the other has\nhis Heart. The earthly Man is only a Man in shape, but a Serpent in\nPractice: What is the Punishment of the Serpent, is made the Happiness\nof the earthly Mind.\nSome Serpents are _carnivorous_, and feed on Flesh; others are\n_verminivorous_, and feed on Reptiles: Their Sustenance is various,\nsuited to their several Constitutions, and Nature of the Climates, where\nthey inhabit. Vipers and Adders feed on Herbs, Weeds, Dews, as well as\nupon Lizards, Mice, Frogs.\u2014When they take Food into their Mouths, they\nraise up their Bodies a little, that they may swallow their Prey with\nless difficulty. They swallow those little Animals whole without\nchewing. In a Viper dissected by a certain Gentleman, he found three\nlarge Mice, intire, without any Change of their Form by hard\nCompressure. _Scorpions_ live chiefly upon Locusts, and other winged\nInsects. In _Arabia_, \u2019tis said, they feed upon _Balsam-Juices_, and\nseem to delight much in the Shadow of that Tree[17].\nFootnote 17:\n  _Conrad, Gesner._ 85.\nIt is remarkable, that Nature has provided young Vipers with poisonous\nTeeth grown to Perfection, commensurate to their Bulk, that so they may\nimmediately feed themselves, by being able, in some measure, to kill\ntheir Prey as soon as they are born. Some of these Animals have\ntemporary Parts, as the _Lacerta Aquatica_, a little Water-Serpent,\nwhich, when young, has four ramified Fins, to poise and keep its Body\nupright, (which gives it the Resemblance of a young Fish) and these fall\noff when the Legs are grown: So Frogs and Toads, in their _Tadpole\nState_, have Tails, which fall off when their Legs are grown out[18].\nThese pass through various Transmigrations, before they arrive at their\nperfect State.\nFootnote 18:\n  _Derham\u2019s Phys. Theol._ B. IV.\nAs Serpents differ in Kind, so in Size; the Length to which some of them\ngrow is most surprizing. A certain Number is sent out with little\nBodies; others are of monstrous Bulk, and capable of making the\nstrongest Efforts against all the Attempts made to destroy them; yea,\nare strong enough to contend with _Elephants_, the greatest of Animals,\nand conquer them. _e. gr._\n_ATTILIUS REGULUS_, the _Roman_ General in _Africa_, is said to\nencounter a Serpent in that Country, of vast Strength and Stature, near\nthe River _Bagrada_, 120 Feet long, which he and his Army could not\nsubdue, without discharging all their Engines of War against it; and,\nwhen conquered and flea\u2019d, its Skin was conveyed to _Rome_ in\nTriumph[19]. This is the more credible, says _Pliny_, because, in\n_Italy_, we see other Serpents, called _Bo\u00e6_, so large that in the Reign\nof _Claudius_, there was one of them killed in the _Vatican_, within\nwhose Belly was found an Infant whole[20].\nFootnote 19:\n  _Pr\u0153lium grands & acre eumque magna totius exercitus conflictatione,\n  balistis atque catapultis diu oppugnatum\u2014Ejusque interfecti longum\n  corium pedes 120. Aul. Gellii Noct. Att._ _Liber_ VI. _Cap._ iii.\nFootnote 20:\n  _Nat. Hist._ B. VIII. _Cap._ xiv.\nAmong the _Andes_ in _America_, are Serpents of prodigious Magnitude,\nfrom 25 to 30 Foot long[21]. In the Province of _Caria_, are Serpents\nten Yards long, and Ten Hands broad, and their Eyes as large as two\nsmall Loaves. In _Brasil_, are found Serpents 30 Foot long. In\n_Gresham-College, London_, is a Snake preserved in Spirits, that is near\ntwo Yards long.\nFootnote 21:\n  _De Le Vega._\nIn _Norway_, we read of two Serpents of very large Proportion: One of\ntwo hundred Foot long, and lives in Rocks and desolate Mountains, near\nthe Sea, about _Bergen_; which in Summer-Nights ranges about in quest of\nPlunder, devouring Lambs, Calves, Swine, and other Animals, that fall in\nits way. In a calm Sea, it ransacks the Superficies of the Water, and\ndevours the _Polypus_ (_i. e._ a little Fish of many Feet) and all sorts\nof Sea-Crabs.\u2014\u2014Upon the Approach of a Ship, this Serpent lifts up its\nHead above Water, and snatches at the Mariners. My Author adds, that it\nrolls itself round about the Ship, the more effectually to secure its\nPrey[22]. The Representation of this you have in _C. Gesner._\nFootnote 22:\n  _Olaus Magn._ B. xxi. c. 27. p. 23. _Gesner ex Scalig._\nThe other Serpent is in the Diocess of _Hammer_, about fifty Cubits\nlong, by Conjecture. In _Bothnia_, on the _Livonian_ Sea, we read of\nmonstrous Serpents, with which the Shepherds of that Country were in\nconstant War. Wonderful Things are reported of the large Serpents that\ninfest the _Helvetian Mountains_. From the Instances above, \u2019tis evident\nthat the Northern Climates breed Serpents as well as the South; but with\nthis Difference, that they are not so venomous as those in _Africa_,\ntho\u2019 _Olaus Magnus_, Archbishop of _Upsal_, seems to except the\nShrew-Serpent. _Ibid._\nThere are _Marine_, as well as _Land-Dragons_, of uncommon Bigness: Some\nin _Ethiopia_ of 30 Paces long, and in _Phrygia_ ten Paces long.\u2014\u2014_N.\nB._ A geometrical Pace is five Foot; but if it be the lesser Pace only,\n_viz._ the Measure of two Foot and a half, it must be a monstrous\nAnimal[23].\u2014\u2014In the Reign of _Philadelphus_, two _Live-Dragons_ were\nbrought from _Ethiopia_ to _Alexandria_, one 13, the other 14 Cubits\nlong. In the Reign of King _Euergetes_, they took three Dragons, one\nseven Cubits, the other nine Cubits long. The third was carefully nursed\nin the Temple of _Esculapius_, and no Creature so highly reverenced[24].\nFootnote 23:\nFootnote 24:\nOn the _Pellon\u00e6on Hill_ in _Chius_, was a _Dragon_ whose hideous Noise\nfilled the Vicinity with Horror and Dread; so terrible, that none durst\napproach so near as to take its Dimensions. It happened, the Wilderness\nwherein it lived, took fire in a Storm; and being involved in the Smoke\nand fire, it perished, and, upon viewing its Bones, \u2019twas concluded to\nbe of a monstrous Bulk. _Ibid._\nThe _Ethiopian Dragons_ just mentioned, have no proper Name, and are\nonly known by a Periphrasis, _viz._ _Killers of Elephants_. The Method\nis, by winding themselves about the _Elephants_ Legs, and then thrusting\ntheir Heads up their Nostrils, sting them, and suck their Blood till\nthey are dead.\n_ALEXANDER_, in his Tour thro\u2019 the _Red-Sea_, says, he saw Serpents of\nincredible Magnitude, some about 30 Cubits long[25].\nFootnote 25:\n  _\u00c6lian_, lib. 17. cap. 1.\nWe read of monstrous Dragons, particularly two Draconic Monsters\nmentioned by _Alexander_\u2019s Ambassadors, seen by them in their Return\nfrom the Kingdom of _Abisaris_, one of 80 Cubits long, the other\nFootnote 26:\n  _Strabo_, de situ orbis, lib. 15. \u03b2\u03b9\u03b1\u03c3\u03b1\u03c1\u03bf\u03c5 \u03c7\u03c9\u03c1\u03b1 _Bisari_, alias\n  _Abisari Regio_.\nIn places adjacent to _Batavia_, a _Dutch_ Settlement in the\n_East-Indies_, we read of Serpents 50 Feet long; and the Skin of one,\nwhich was 20 Feet long, that swallowed an _Infant_, is shewn in\n_Batavia_, the _Metropolis_ of the _Dutch_ Empire in the _East-Indies_.\nIn _America_ also are Serpents of prodigious Bulk, from 25, to 30 Feet\nlong[27]; but this Subject will be further considered in the _Second\nPart_ of this Book.\nFootnote 27:\n  Atlas American.\nOn the other hand, there are Serpents, as remarkably little as the\n_Amphisb\u00e6na_, _Gallic_ Viper, and some of the Lizards, that are not\nabove four or six Inches long. Most of these Minutillos vary in outward\nForm.\nAnd here, I can\u2019t but observe that as the Magnitude of some other\nAnimals is very wonderful, so, on the contrary, the Minuteness of some\nis equally astonishing, if not more so: There are some very _little\nInsects_ that are conspicuous to the Eye, but more that are _invisible_\nwithout the Help of a _Microscope_, which is an optical Instrument, that\nmagnifies Objects, and makes them bigger than really they are; it helps\nto discover minute Particles, of which Bodies are composed, and the\ncurious Contexture of them.\nTo those who are not used to a rigid mathematic Proof, this may be\nillustrated by the Smallness of many organized Bodies. There is a Plant\ncalled _Harts-Tongue_, ten thousand Seeds of which hardly make the Bulk\nof a Pepper-Corn. Now the Cover of the true Body of each Seed, the\nparenchymous and ligneous Parts of both; the Fibres of those Parts, the\nPrinciples of those Fibres, and the homogeneous Particles or Atoms of\neach Principle, being moderately multiplied one by another, afford a\nhundred thousand Millions of formed Atoms in the space of a Pepper-Corn,\nsays the learned Dr. _Grew_[28].\nFootnote 28:\n  _Cosmologia Sacra_, B. i. chap. 3.\nThe same is yet more evident from the Stupendous Smallness of some\nAnimals, especially in the Sperm of smaller Insects; which have been\nobserved by Mr. _Leeuwenhoek_, to be some Millions of times smaller than\na grain Sand. This learned Gentleman has observed more of them in the\nSpawn of a Cod-fish, than there are People living on the Face of all the\nEarth at once[29].\nFootnote 29:\n  _Numerum animalculorum ex unius asselli majoris lactibus\n  provenientium, plus decies superare homines in universo terrarum orbe\n  viventes._\u2014_Epistola ad Dom. N. Grew_, p. 1.\n    _N. B._ It is the infinite Number of these little invisible\n    Animals that makes stagnating Waters or Pools appear of so many\n    different Colours, as green, reddish, brown,\u2014according to the\n    several Natures of these little Animals that live therein.\nThus, among Men, we find big and little; _Giants_ and _Pygmies_: Whether\nthat Disproportion be from meer natural Causes, or by Designation of\nProvidence, I determine not. It is very questionable whether there be a\nparticular Nation of _Pygmies_; but no doubt is made about the Existence\nof _Dwarfs_ in many Places as well as Giants. _Julia_, the Niece of\n_Augustus_, had a Dwarf called _Canopas_, that was about two feet in\nheight. _Philippa French_, born at _Milcomb_ in _Staffordshire_, aged\nabout 36, being then married, wanted something of three Feet in\nheight[30].\nFootnote 30:\n  Dr. _Plot_\u2019s Natural History.\u2014_Oxford_ 16.\nOn the other hand, we are not without Instances of Men, that were of a\n_gigantick Stature_, after, as well as before the Deluge, as _Goliah_\nand the Sons of _Anak_.\nIn the Days of _Claudius_ the Emperor, _Pliny_ tells us, that one called\n_Gabara_, brought out of _Arabia_, was nine Feet and nine Inches high:\nHe tells us also, of two others in the days of _Augustus C\u00e6sar_,\n_Iducio_ and _Secundilla_, that were half a Foot taller than\n_Gabara_[31]. _Maximinus_ the Emperor, was eight Foot and a half in\nheight. But to come near home:\nFootnote 31:\n  _Nat. Hist._ B. vii. cap. 16.\n_WILLIAM EVANS_ born in _Monmouthshire_, and Porter to King _Charles_ I.\nwas two Yards and a half high. _Walter Parsons_, Porter to King _James_\nI. was about the same height. \u201cSome say, _William Evans_ exceeded\n_Walter Parsons_ two Inches in height, but was far beneath him in\nproportion of Body. Tho\u2019 he halted a little, and going out squalling\nwith his Feet, yet made a shift to dance in an _Antimasque_ at Court,\nwhere he drew _Little Jeffrey_, the _Dwarf_, out of his _Pocket_, first\nto the Wonder, then to the Laughter of the Spectators[32].\u201d\nFootnote 32:\n  Fuller\u2019_s Worthies of_ Engl. Monmouthshire, _p._ 54.\nThe Apparatus in Serpents for their Motion is admirable. How curious the\nStructure of their Muscles, and their Junction to every Point, whereby\nthey are prepared for their different Motions, and enabled to move\naccording to their different Nature and Situation!\nIn those that go upon their Bellies, the Movement is very singular,\nwhich is in a Form curvilineal, different winding of their Bodies. The\nSerpentine Line, among Mathematicians, is borrowed from the Foldings of\na Serpent in its Motion.\nThe Learned observe, there is a great deal of geometrical Niceness in\nthe sinuous Motion of Snakes, Vipers, and other Serpents; to assist them\nin the right Management of it, the annular Scales under their Bodies are\nvery remarkable, lying cross the Belly, contrary to what those in the\nBack, and the rest of the System do; which Contrivance facilitates their\nMotion. This tortuous creeping Motion of the Reptile Species is very\ncurious: The whole Body of a Worm is, as it were, but a Chain of annular\nor spiral Muscles, whose round Fibres, by contracting, make each Ring\nmore strong. The Back-Bones of Serpents are a wonderful Composition: How\nthick are they with Joints? How numerous and strong are their\nco-operating Muscles? By this curious Articulation of the Joints, they\ncan turn and wind their Bodies any way without any difficulty.\nThe Outside of their Skin is a most elegant Composition: to a common\nEye, their Tegument has a rugged uneven Aspect; but, to a proper Judge,\nthe Scales of Vipers are found to be a most exquisite Piece of\nMechanism; the Symmetry of the whole is geometrically exact, and vastly\nbeautiful; not imitable by human Skill: Some of them are guarded by a\ncoverture not penetrable by a human Arm, which is their Security in a\nperilous Situation; yea, a greater Security than many innocent\nInhabitants of the Field are privileged with. Among Serpents, some are\nclothed as with a Coat of Mail, _i. e._ an Armature of strong Scales;\nand such of them as want that crustaceous Covering, have either a Sting\nin the Tail, or a Tooth in their Mouth, that bids the Assailant keep\noff, and observe his Distance.\nWhat is Poison? I answer, that, generally speaking, \u2019tis taken to be a\nmalignant Quality in some Vegetables, Minerals, and Animals, a small\nQuantity of which is hurtful, and even mortal, _&c._\nThe Learned in the Faculty tell us, _Poisons_ operate in various\nmanners; some by dissolving the Blood, others by coagulating it, and\nsome by corroding and destroying the Solids. The Learned Sir _Hans\nSloane_ says, \u201cSome attack equally all Parts, some only a particular\none. Thus the _Lepus Marinus_ is an Enemy to the Lungs, _Cantharides_ to\nthe Bladder[33].\u201d\nFootnote 33:\n  _His Voyage._\nSome Vegetables again, which prove Poison to Man, serve for Food to\nother Animals. Thus, says that learned Gentleman, _Mandragora_ and\n_Jusquiamnus_ that feed Hogs, kill Man.\n_HEMLOCK_, that is hurtful to Man, is wholesome for Goats; yea, the\n_Cassavi Plant_ poisons unprepared; but prepared, is the very Bread of\nthe _West-Indians_, particularly _Jamaica_ and the hotter Parts, with\nwhich they victual Ships. _Ibid._ Tea is said to be poisonous before it\nis cured.\nThis perhaps may serve to obviate an Objection made against the Goodness\nof the Deity, in planting a Tree in Paradise that had such malignant\nInfluences; because, supposing that it had any Properties, which might\ntend to the Dissolution of the human System, yet the same Tree might be\nvery salutary and useful to other Beings in the Creation.\nHaving divided _Poison_ into _Three Parts_, I shall, in the next Place\nconsider them distinctly.\nI. _This Contrivance of Divine Wisdom is so universal, that we find, in\nthe vegetable Kingdom, something more than what is merely analogous to\nPoison, both in Land and Water-Plants_; as the _Napellus_, _Cassivi_,\n_Nux Vomica_, _Aconite_, _Cicuta Aquatica_, _Solanum Lethale_, _Aconitum\nHyemale_. Some Poisons are of a Narcotic Quality, as Poppy and\nHenbane\u2014being taken in too great a Quantity, become poisonous. I shall\nonly add some Instances of Persons kill\u2019d by eating poisonous Plants,\nRoots, and Herbs. The Wife of _W. Matthews_, near _Salop_, who having\ngathered a Quantity of _Dog-Mercury_, which she took to be another Herb,\nboiled it for their Supper, which very sensibly affected the whole\nFamily. One of the Children slept from _Thursday_ Night till _Monday_\nEvening, then just opened her Eyes, and died immediately. The other two\nChildren slept about 24 Hours, and, upon their awakening, fell a\nvomiting and purging, which, \u2019tis thought, saved their Lives[34]. A\ncertain Woman near _Kilkenny_ in _Ireland_, eating by mistake, a\n_Hemlock-Root_ among _Parsnips_, was immediately seized with a Raving\nand Madness. _Ibid._\nFootnote 34:\n  _Lowthorp_\u2019s Abridg. Vol. II.\nEight young Lads went a fishing to a Brook near _Clonmel_ in _Ireland_,\nand there meeting with a great Parcel of _Oenanthe Aquatica succo\nviroso_, they mistook the Roots of it for _Sium Aquaticum_ Roots, and\ndid eat heartily of them. About four or five hours after coming home,\nthe eldest of them, on a sudden, fell down backwards, and lay kicking\nand sprawling on the Ground, foaming at the Mouth; soon after, four more\nwere seized the same way, and they all died before Morning: not one of\nthem having spoken a Word from the Moment in which the venenate\nParticles surprised the _Genus nervosum_[35]. Of the other three, one\nran stark-mad, but recovered; another had his Hair and Nails fallen off;\nthe third alone escaped: perhaps it might be owing to a strong\nConstitution, and eating less of that fatal Root; or perhaps it might be\nattributed to his speedy running above two Miles home (after he saw one\nyoung Man fall) together with his drinking a very large Draught of warm\nMilk from the Cow, in his midway, and a violent Sweating, which might\nexpel many of those venemous Particles. _Ibid._\nFootnote 35:\nAn Experiment has been made upon a Dog, by giving him the _Nux Vomica_,\nwhich soon poisoned him. The _American Physick Nut_ is said to be so\npoisonous, that no Animals make a near Approach to it. Wormwood in\n_Persia_ is so venemous, that if Horses, or any other Creatures, eat\nthereof, they die immediately; upon which account, say the Duke of\n_Holstein_\u2019s Ambassadors, we durst not unbit that day[36]. The _Indians_\nhave what they call _Juico Juice_ among them, which deprives such as\ndrink of it of their Reason, and renders them perfect Idiots; tho\u2019 at\nthe same time it leaves them in the perfect Enjoyment of their Health\nand natural Powers.\nFootnote 36:\n  Their Voyages and Travels to _Muscovy_ and _Persia_, p. 228. A. D.\n_CHARCOALS_ prepared from _Vegetables_, have a poisonous Quality; for,\nwhen kindled, they exhale a Vapour, which, if it be kept up, and\nconfin\u2019d to a close Place, proves fatal. \u2019Tis said, Charcoal made in\n_Cornwal_ affords a manifest arsenical and sulphurous Smell beyond\nothers; and yet Charcoal is a _commodious_ Fuel.\nEven when the sharp Points of Nettles pierce the Flesh, they instil a\nkind of venemous Juice into the Wound, which gives a painful Sensation.\nThe Leaf of a Nettle has some relation to a Sting; \u2019tis covered with\nvery sharp Prickles, whose Base, which is a Bladder of a flexible\nSubstance, has a Hole in the middle, by which this venemous Liquor runs\ninto the wounded Part, and excites Pain.\nThis may be easily perceived with a Microscope; if a Man press with the\nFinger, the End of those Prickles against its _Base_: for then, thro\u2019\nthese Prickles which are transparent, this Liquor is manifestly seen to\nmount, and to descend, as the ingenious Mr. _Hook_ assures us, he had\noften made the Experiment.\nIn _Carmania Deserta_, towards the _Persian_ Gulph, they have two sorts\nof dangerous Shrubs, one called _Gulbad-Samour_, i. e. the Flower that\npoisons the Wind, where there are many of these _Shrubs_. The Wind that\npasses thro\u2019 them, kills those who are near it. The other is _Kerzehre_,\nthe _Gall_ of _Asses_, because it kills those Creatures, and others that\neat of it; yea, the Water that falls from it is poisonous. They say,\nthat Part of its Root which spreads to the East is Poison: for which,\nthat on the South-side is an Antidote[37].\u2014\u2014_N. B._ Is not our Author\nmistaken? for can any Poison grow in the delicious Plains of the East,\nconsecrated to the Service of the Altar and Knee?\nFootnote 37:\n  _Tavernier_, in _Atl. Geo._ p. 349, and 396.\nAn Overdose of Opium, which is the condensed Juice of Poppies, is\npoisonous. The _Turks_ take _Opium_, which they call _Affion_, without\nany Preparation, it being merely the Juice of black Poppy, dried in the\nSun, without any purification. It is wonderful, _that use should make\nthat Liquid which is Poison to us, a Cordial to them_[38].\nFootnote 38:\n  _Wheeler_\u2019s Voyages, p. 203.\nThe Vapour arising from vegetable Liquors during their Fermentation,\nought not to be approached too near, because it is poisonous: We have\nAccounts in the _French_ and _German Transactions_, of People who were\nimmediately struck dead, by receiving at the Nose the Fumes that issued\nfrom large Vessels of Wine in the State of Fermentation[39].\nFootnote 39:\n\u201cI think, says a learned Physician, that God made no Poison, but all\nthings in the World were made for the Use of Man; their chiefest\n_Deleterium_ is either in the Quantity, or some other Circumstance, as\nin Lettice, Leeks,\u2014whose _Integra_ are Aliments, the Juices mortiferous.\nThose things that are pernicious, by their external Form, as beaten\nGlass, Sponges, have not deserved the Brand of Poison; those that are\nreally lethiferous, are but the Excrescences of Sin, and came in with\nthe Thorns. The Serpent was rather destructive to the Soul than the\nBody.\u201d\nAmong the Ancients was a Plant that killed Mice with its bare smell,\naccording to _Pliny_: The Poets feign it to have sprung from the Foam of\nthe Dog _Cerberus_, when _Hercules_ dragg\u2019d him out of Hell.\nThe _Aconite Plants_ also are extremely caustic and acrimonious, in\nvirtue whereof they have produced terrible Inflammations, that end in\nMortification. So great was the People\u2019s Dread of this Plant, for its\nvenemous Quality, that they durst not touch it and yet, \u2019tis said, they\nmade use of it against the Sting of _Scorpions_, which is supposed to be\ndeadned by the Touch of the Aconite, and restored to its Vigour by that\nof _Hellebore_.\n    _N. B._ The Root of the Plant is said to cure all Diseases\n    proceeding from Melancholy, as Disaffections from the\n    _Hypochondria_, _Herpes_ or cutaneous Inflammations.\nIt is also reported that Arrows dipped in the Juice of _Aconite Plants_,\nproved mortal wherever they wounded.\nII. _The Globe we inhabit, abounds with Variety of Minerals, of a very\nmischievous Nature_; as _Arsenic_, found in Copper-mines; _Orpiment_, a\nMineral found among Copper-mines, in Stones of different Bigness, Colour\nand Figure. These, and others of the same venemous Nature, are less or\nmore dangerous, according as their Salts receive a different Force from\nthe metallic Particles.\nThe Mineral Kingdom is very subject to Damps, or noxious Streams, and\noften found in Mines, Pits,\u2014\u2014and in Kinds various. There are also\nExhalations, a sort of Fumes issuing from Body, and diffusing themselves\nin the Atmosphere. Some make difference between Vapours and Exhalations:\nThe Term _Vapour_, they say, is appropriated to the moist Fumes raised\nfrom Water, and _Exhalation_, to the dry ones emitted from solid Bodies,\nas Earth, Fire, Minerals, Sulphur. The nocuous Effluvia sent forth from\nthem may infect the Air, and cause epidemical Distempers, and even new\nDiseases. About Mines and deep Caverns, are frequently found copious\nExhalations continually streaming out, which, in a Moment, destroy any\nAnimal that comes within their reach; so much as the very Insects\nthemselves not escaping: Therefore these Places were by the Ancients\ncalled _Gehenn\u00e6_, _Averni_,\u2014intimating thereby, that a _Mineral Pit_ was\n_Hell_, and that _Subterraneous Exhalations_ were _Steams_ from the\n_Fiery Lake_.\n_STRABO_ takes notice of a _Cave_ or _Grotto_ in _Natolia_, from whence\nissue pestilential Vapours that infect the Air: No sooner is any Animal\nput in, but it immediately dies. Bulls have been put in, and suddenly\ntaken out dead. Sparrows that have been thrown in, dropt down dead\ninstantly.\nThe _Turks_ fancy it to be haunted by evil Spirits, because those who\nhad the Curiosity to enter it, have either _died_ or fallen desperately\nFootnote 40:\n  _Strabo Geograph._\nMineral Poisons are more or less dangerous, as their Salts receive a\ngreater or less Force from the metallic Particles: And hence, as the\nmost virulent may be mitigated by breaking the Points of the saline\nCrystals, the most innocent Minerals may become corrosive, by combining\nthem with Salts, as is seen in the Preparations of Silver, Antimony,\nIron.\nNothing more fatal than mineral Poison, which often brings swift\nDestruction without remedy. To a large Dog, says the learned Dr. _Mead_,\nwas given a Drachm of _Mercury Sublimate_, mixt with a little Bread, who\nafter violent Evacuations, died next Morning. The same Gentleman\nobserves, that in _Arsenic_ is a very noxious quality: the factitious\nwhite is the most violent of all kinds, superior in force to _Mercury\nsublimate_.\nThese mortiferous Steams that flow from the Earth, are called\n_Mephites_, _poisonous Damps_; and are very common in Countries fruitful\nof Minerals and Mines: _Damps_ happen in most of the _Hungarian-Mines_,\nnot only in the direct Passages, where they walk on horizontally, but\nalso in the perpendicular Descents. Now, to guard themselves against the\nfatal Effects of these Exhalations, they sometimes clear their way by\nFire and the Bellows, but generally by long Tubes or Pipes, reaching\nfrom top to bottom, thro\u2019 which they let the Air in and out; and by this\nCirculation of the Air, they carry on their Work for some time without\nDanger.\n_CREMNITS_ in _Hungary_ (a small Town, reckon\u2019d the chief of the Berg,\nor Mine-Towns) is famous for its Gold-Mine which has been work\u2019d on 900\nYears, where the Workmen sometimes are troubled with pernicious Damps,\nand many are kill\u2019d by them; and so it happens in the Mines at\n_Schemnits_, the fairest of the seven Mine-Towns[41].\nFootnote 41:\nAmong the Minerals known to us, there are many more noxious than\nwholesome and the Power of the former to do mischief, is more\nefficacious than the Power of the latter to do good; which is evident\nfrom the little Benefit the Miner\u2019s Health receives from any mineral\nEffluvia, compar\u2019d with the great and sudden Damps, that are often\ncaused by the Expirations of _Orpiment_, _Sandarac_, and _white\nArsenic_, which is a deadly Poison, and most fatal of the whole Tribe of\nFossils. Hence the Refiners dread nothing so much as _Arsenic_ in their\nMetals; for its Fumes taken into the Lungs kill instantly, and the\noftner \u2019tis sublim\u2019d, the ranker it grows[42].\nFootnote 42:\n  _Boerhaave\u2019s Theory of Chemistry._\n_MERCURY_ is extremely volatile, being convertible into Fumes, even by a\nSand-heat. Those who practise the Art of Gilding, are but too well\nacquainted with these mercurial Fumes, which frequently render them\nepileptic and paralytic, and sometimes throw them into a Salivation.\nThis kind of Poison is found in _Friuli_, a Province in _Italy_,\nbelonging to the Emperor, and also in _Spain_, _Hungary_, _&c._\nThe miserable People condemn\u2019d, or hired to work in these Mines, all die\nin a little time: they are so affected with those venemous Fumes, that\nfrom Tremors they proceed to salivate, then their Teeth drop.\u2014One of\nthem who had been there six Years, was so full of _Mercury_, that\nholding a Piece of _Gold_ in his Mouth a little while, it became of a\n_Silver Colour_, and when taken out, it was found heavier than before,\n_COPPER_ is another poisonous Mineral, difficult of Fusion, and when\nfused, if a single Drop of Water do but fall upon it; or any Vessel it\nbe cast in, be ever so little moist, it flies into innumerable\nFragments, with incredible Noise, and destroys all the Persons near it.\n_Ibid._\n_TIN_, the lightest of all Metals, when urged by an easy Fire, it shines\nexceedingly; but this Splendor is succeeded by a sulphurous Steam, very\ndestructive to the Lungs, and throws the Body into a Consumption.\n_ibid._\nAt _Mendip_ in _Somersetshire_, those who are employ\u2019d in melting\n_Lead-ore_, if they work in the Smoke, are subject to killing Diseases.\nThere is a Flight (or Steam) in the Smoke, which falling on the Grass,\npoisons the Cattle that eat it. Those who live very near where Lead-ore\nis wash\u2019d, can\u2019t keep either Dog or Cat, or any sort of Fowl, but they\nall die in a short time[43].\nFootnote 43:\n  _Lowthorp_\u2019s _Abr._ vol. ii. p. 576.\nSuch are the _mephitical_ Exhalations in a little Cavern in _Italy_,\ncall\u2019d _Bacca Venosa_, the poisonous Mouth, not far from _Naples_, but\nmore generally known by _Grotto de Cani_, the _Dog\u2019s Cave_; because the\nExperiment of its poisonous Nature is frequently made upon Dogs; tho\u2019 it\nbe fatal as to any other Creatures that come within the Reach of its\nvenemous Fumes. This wonderful Cave is (situated at the Bottom of a\nHill) in Dimension, about eight Foot high, twelve long, and six broad.\nFrom the Ground within it, arises _a thin warm Fume_ (visible to the\nEye) which is one continued Steam covering the whole Surface of the\nBottom of the Cave; it does not disperse itself into the Air like Smoke,\nbut quickly after its Rise, falls back again into the Earth. The Fumes\nrise about a Foot high and never higher, and hurt no Creature whose Head\nis above that height; but when a little Dog, or the Head of any other\nCreature is forcibly held in the Steam, it falls down dead, the Limbs\nconvuls\u2019d, and trembling; and if left there a little while, it dies, but\nif taken out soon, and laid in the open Air, comes to Life again, and\nsooner, if thrown into the adjacent Lake.\n_CHARLES_ the Great, King of _France_, and Emperor of the _West_ (a\nTitle of Honour other _Gallick Monarchs_ have had in full view for some\ntime) made the Experiment upon an _Ass_, whose Head was held in the\nFume, and was soon destroy\u2019d. _Two Slaves_ put in with their Heads kept\ndown to the Earth, were both soon kill\u2019d. To this, I shall add some\nExperiments made by the ingenious Mr. _Addison_, who says\u2014\u2014\n    \u2014\u201cA Dog that has his Nose held in the Vapour (within the Cave)\n    loses all the Signs of Life in a very little time.\u201d Then he\n    observes, how long a Dog was expiring the first time, and after\n    his Recovery, and found no sensible Difference. \u201cA _Viper_ put\n    in, adds he, bore it nine Minutes the first time we put it in,\n    and ten the second. When we brought it out after the first\n    Trial, it took such a vast quantity of Air into its Lungs, that\n    it swell\u2019d almost twice as big as before, and it was perhaps, on\n    this Stock of Air, that it lived a Minute longer.\n    \u201cA Torch, Snuff and all, goes out in a moment, when dipt into\n    the Vapours or Steams of that Cave\u2014\u2014A Pistol can\u2019t fire in it. I\n    split a Reed, and laid in the Channel of it a Train of\n    Gun-powder, so that one end of the Reed was above the Vapour,\n    and the other at the bottom of it; and I found, tho\u2019 the Steam\n    was strong enough to hinder a Pistol from taking fire in it\u2014that\n    it could not intercept the Train of Fire, when it once begun\n    flashing, nor prevent it from running to the very end\u2014fire will\n    live in it no longer than in Water, because it wraps itself in\n    the same manner about the Flame, and by its Continuity hinders\n    any quantity of Air, or Nitre from coming to its succour[44].\u201d\nFootnote 44:\nNor are our Mines in _Great-Britain_ altogether free from these fatal\nDamps, that have turn\u2019d Coal-pits into Graves. In a Coal-pit belonging\nto Lord _Sinclair_ in _Scotland_, seven or eight Men intending to work\nin a Place where they had been the Day before, but stepping a little\nfurther, they all fell down dead, as if they had been shot. The Wife of\none of them, venturing to see her Husband, fell down dead as soon as she\ncame near the Corps[45].\nFootnote 45:\n  _Lowthorp_\u2019s _Abridgment_, vol. ii. p. 373.\nIII. We come now to the sensible Region, where animal Poisons reign;\nthat is, Poison drawn from Animals, as the Viper, Asp, Scorpion, Lepus\nMarinus: and here we are to encounter with an Army of Serpents, and\ntheir formidable Train.\nWhen we speak of the Poison of Serpents, we must not suppose it diffused\nthro\u2019 the whole Body, as some have imagined. Many Errors about the\nparticular Situation of it, have been happily removed by the Learned Dr.\n_Redi_, and Dr. _Mead_, who observes the Viper has always been so\nnotorious for its Poison, that the most remote Antiquity, made it an\nEmblem of what is hurtful and destructive, but were not agreed from\nwhence the Poison proceeded, whether from the _Saliva_, the _Teeth_, the\n_Gall_, _&c._ which leads me to a Passage in the _noble Italian_, who\nsays:\n... That as a certain Learned Society in _Italy_ were debating this\nPoint, one _Jacobus Sozzi_ (_audiendi grati\u00e2_) who was allow\u2019d to be\npresent, stationed himself in a corner of the Place, and hearing some of\nthem affirm that the Poison was in the Gall-bladder, fell a smiling; and\nbeing ask\u2019d the Reason, he answer\u2019d, that the Serpent\u2019s _Gall_ was an\ninnocent Part: Whereupon, in their Presence, he drank a Glass of Wine,\nmixt with the _Gall of a Viper_, without any ill Effect.\nOne of the Company said, he came thither with his Body prepared by\nAlexipharmicks. He, to convince them of the contrary, try\u2019d the\nExperiment upon Dogs, and other Animals, by giving them the _Gall_ of\nVipers to drink in abundance, without any Danger ensuing[46].\nFootnote 46:\n  _Redi nobilis Aretini Experim. in Res Naturales_, pag. 163, 164, 165.\nIn the Debate about the Seat of the Poison, the famous _Italian_\nmaintains, that all the _Venom_ of a Serpent consists in a _yellow\nLiquor_ contain\u2019d in a Bladder, at the bottom of its Tooth, which\nLiquor, upon its biting, by the Pressure of the Bladder, is forced thro\u2019\na Tube within the Tooth, into the Wound, and thence ensue direful\nEffects. This Hypothesis he supports by a good number of Experiments\nupon various Animals, which were bit by a Viper, after those venemous\nBags were taken out, without any Signs of Poison, or any ill Consequence\nat all[47].\nFootnote 47:\n  _Seignior Redi._\nAnother _celebrated Physician_ maintains, that this _yellow Liquid_ is\nnot poisonous, that he had given it to Pigeons as Food, without their\nbeing at all disorder\u2019d thereby.\u2014That the Viper\u2019s Bite, he had always\nfound mortal to Animals, even after the venemous Bag was taken out, as\nwell as before.\u2014That therefore the Poison must lie in the _irritated\nSpirits of the Viper_, which it exhales in the Ardor of its biting, and\nwhich are so cold that they curdle the Blood, and stop the\nCirculation[48].\nFootnote 48:\n  _Monsieur Charras._\nBoth these are ingenious Men; their Systems are opposite, yet both\nmaintain\u2019d by well-attested Experiments. The Publick, however, give into\nthe Sentiments of _Seignior Redi_, as answering the best to the\nMechanism of the Parts.\nSeignior _Vigani_ has in some measure reconciled these two Learned\nCombatants, who alledges, that the _yellow Liquor_ wherewith Dr. _Redi_\nkill\u2019d Pullets, _&c._ after the death of the Viper, was either saturated\nwith the Spirits of the enraged Viper, by whipping it before, or else\n(as \u2019tis probable) in the hot and dry Climates of _Italy_, those\nCreatures are more venemous than in colder Countries.\nThis Poison of Vipers seems to lie in their hollow Teeth, because the\nMountebanks of old, to impose on the People, used to stop those\nCavities, or hollow Places in the Teeth, with some kind of _Paste_,\nbefore they suffered the Vipers to bite them in sight of Spectators;\nwhich was commonly done, and succeeded according to their wish;\u2014and\nsometimes, with a Needle scratch\u2019d the Gums, and press\u2019d out the\nPoison[49]. _Pliny_ says, they have but one venemous Tooth.\nFootnote 49:\n  _Lowthorp_\u2019s _Abridg._ vol. ii. p. 815.\nDr. _Mead_, having given the various Symptoms attending venemous Wounds,\nproceeds to the Remedies; and in particular, mentions the _volatile Salt\nof Vipers_, as alone sufficient to do the Work, if given in due time, in\nproper quantities, and duly repeated[50].\nFootnote 50:\n  _Mechanical Account._\nMr. _Robert Burdet_, an _English_ Merchant at _Aleppo_ (in _Turkish\nAsia_) was bit by a Serpent about ten in the Morning, and died about\nthree in the Afternoon. The People of that Country say, the only Cure in\nthat Case, is immediately to suck the Wound; but they must rub first\ntheir Gums and Teeth with Oil, that none of the Poison may touch any\nplace where the Skin is broken, and spit out immediately what they\nsuck[51].\nFootnote 51:\n  _Lowthorp_\u2019s _Abridg._ vol. ii. p. 814.\nThe Learned _Batavian_ observes, as a present and effectual Remedy in\nthe Case of the Bite of a mad Dog, or other venemous Animal, immediately\nto burn the affected Part with a hot Iron, or rather thrust deep into\nthe Wound; for by this means, the Juices about the Part being\ncoagulated, and an Escar produced, all Communication of the Poison to\nany other Vessels is stopt, and thus the Cure may be easily effected.\nNot that the hot Iron draws out the Poison, as is vulgarly imagined, but\nrenders the Parts uncapable of being penetrated, or affected\nthereby[52].\nFootnote 52:\n  _Boerhaave_\u2019s _new Method of Chemistry_, part. iii. _proces._ 104. p.\nBut to come nearer home, and to a cheap and easy Antidote against the\nserpentine and canine Venom, by a certain Experiment lately made in\n_England_, which was thus, _viz._\n... One _William Oliver_, and his Wife from _Bath_, who follow the\nBusiness of catching and selling Vipers, offer\u2019d themselves\u2014to be bit by\nany Viper, that should be procured, trusting to the Virtue of a certain\nRemedy they had found out by chance in trying things, when the Woman was\nonce accidentally bitten.\u2014\u2014The usual known Medicine, even the _Oil of\nVipers_, having no Effect in assuaging her Pains, they had recourse to\nthe _common Oil of Olives_, which proved an effectual Remedy. The\nCircumstances of the Case were\u2014\u2014\nOn the first of _June 1735,_ in the Presence of a great number of\nPersons, the said _William Oliver_ was bit by an old black Viper, or\nAdder, (brought by one of the Company) upon the Wrist, and Joint of the\nThumb of the Right-Hand, so that Drops of Blood came out of the Wounds:\nHe immediately felt a violent Pain, both at the top of his Thumb, and up\nhis Arm, even before the Viper was loosen\u2019d from his Hand: Soon after he\nfelt a Pain resembling that of Burning, trickle up his Arm; in a few\nMinutes, his Eyes began to look red and fiery, and to water much.\nIn less than half an Hour, he perceived the Venom seize his Heart, with\na prickling Pain, which was attended with Faintness, Shortness of\nBreath, cold Sweats: In a few Minutes after this, his Belly began to\nswell, with great Gripings, and Pains in his Back, which were attended\nwith violent Vomitings, and Purgings.\nDuring the Violence of these Symptoms, his Sight was gone for several\nMinutes; but he could hear all the while: He said, that in his former\nExperiments, he had never defer\u2019d making use of his Remedy longer than\nhe perceived the Effects of the Venom reaching his Heart; but this time,\nbeing willing to satisfy the Company throughly, and trusting to the\n_speedy Effects of the Oil_, which had never fail\u2019d him, he forbore to\napply any thing till he found himself exceeding ill, and quite giddy.\nAbout an Hour and Quarter after the first of his being bit, a\nChafing-dish of glowing Charcoals was brought in, and his naked Arm was\nheld over it as near as he could bear it, while his Wife rubb\u2019d in with\nher Hand the _Sallad Oil_, turning his Arm continually round, as if she\nwou\u2019d have roasted it over the Coals.\nHe said the Pain soon abated, but the Swelling did not diminish much;\nmost violent Purgings and Vomitings soon ensued, and his Pulse became so\nlow and so often interrupted, that it was thought proper to order him a\nRepetition of Cordial Potions. He said he was not sensible of any great\nRelief from these, but that a Glass or two of _Olive Oil_ drank down\nseemed to give him ease: Continuing in this dangerous Condition, he was\nput to Bed, where his Arm was again bath\u2019d over a Pan of Charcoal, and\nrubb\u2019d with _Sallad Oil_ heated in a Ladle over the Charcoal, by Dr.\n_Mortimer_\u2019s Direction.\u2014\u2014Whereupon he declared he found immediate Ease,\nas tho\u2019 by some Charm\u2014\u2014then fell into a profound Sleep, and after about\nnine Hours found Rest, awak\u2019d, about six the next Morning, and found\nhimself very well; but in the Afternoon, on Drinking some Rum and strong\nBeer, so as to be almost fuddled, the Swelling return\u2019d with much Pain\nand cold Sweats; which abated soon on bathing the Arm as before, and\nwrapping it up in a brown Paper soaked in the Oil.\nThe learned Dr. _Mortimer_, relates the Success of this simple Medicine,\ntried afterwards on other Animals, who were purposely bitten, both by\nthe same, and by fresh Vipers, to experience the Efficacy of it[53].\nFootnote 53:\n  Dr. _Cromwell Mortimer_ R. S. Secr. his _Narrative_ relating to the\n  Viper-catchers.\nIn the Sequel, he has occasion to mention a Remedy for the Bite of a mad\nDog, under the Title of _Dampier\u2019s Powder_, the Composition of which is,\n_viz._ _ash Colour Groundwort and black Pepper_. It was first published\nby Sir _Hans Sloane_, in _Numb. 237_ of _the Transactions_, A. D. 1720,\nunder the Name of _Pulvis Antilyssus_; where the Manner of giving it,\nnot only to Men, but to Dogs and Cattle, is accurately set down. The\nDoctor says, the _Lichen Cinereus Terrestris_ is accounted exceedingly\nefficacious in curing Dogs bitten by mad Dogs; then adds, _viz._\nThat King _James_, when Duke of _York_, caused this _Lichen Cinereus\nTerrestris_ to be given to a whole Kennel of Dogs bit by a mad one,\nwhich were all cured, except one of them, to whom none of it was\ngiven[54].\nFootnote 54:\n  _Philosophical Transact._ Numb. 443, for _Oct. 1736_.\nIn _Norway_, and on a great Moss near _Warrington_, are many Serpents;\nand their Wounds are cured by _Venice-Treacle_.\nIn _Africa_, they have an odd Way of curing Persons hurt by Poison; they\nrub the Venom of Snakes with their own Spittle, between two Stones and\nhaving mixed them well, they scratch upon the Wings of the Stomach, and\nto the Part so scratch\u2019d, which is bloody, they apply a small Part of\nthe Mixture; the rest they take inwardly.\u2014\u2014This never fails to expel the\nPoison in the Wound, or in any other Part affected with it: In about a\nMonth\u2019s time a perfect Cure is made; in order to which, when they judge\nthe Poison is expell\u2019d, they cleanse the Wound, and apply to it the\nleaves of _Buchu_, _Dacha_, and other _salutiferous_ Herbs: But they\nsay, the least Neglect of such a Wound, (be it by a poisonous Arrow, or\nany other way) is dangerous[55].\nFootnote 55:\n  _Peter Kolben_\u2019s present State of the Cape of _Good Hope_, and of the\n  _Hottentots_, writ in _High-German_, and translated by Mr. _Guido\nSnake-wood is very common in the Island of _Ceylon_, (suppos\u2019d to be the\n_Taprobane_ of _Ptolemy_) which is much esteem\u2019d by the _East-Indians_,\nwho, with the Powder of it taken in Water or Wine, cure many Distempers,\nand among others, the Stings of Serpents, which abound in that Country.\nTheir Naturalists say, the Virtue of it was first discovered by a small\nCreature, like our Ferrets, which when stung by Serpents, runs and eats\nof the Snake-wood, and is cur\u2019d.\nFather _Regnault_, speaking of Poisons, mentions several Methods of\nCure, as Incisions, Ligatures, Caustics, Vomits, Oil of Olive, Baths,\nTreacle, Juice of Citron.\nBy a Ligature, which hinders the Poison from spreading.\nBy Caustics, or red-hot Iron brought within a certain Distance of the\nWound; because Heat attenuates the Poison by its action, and dissipates\nit.\nThis Effect of Poison has some Analogy with that which happens upon\nsyringing (thro\u2019 Curiosity) some acid Liquor into the Veins of a living\nDog, or other Creature; for in a short time he falls into Convulsions,\nand dies. A Decoction of _white Hellebore_ injected into the jugular\nVein of a Dog, as soon as it enter\u2019d the Heart, kill\u2019d as suddenly as if\nshot thro\u2019 the Heart with a Bullet. On _January 4, 1679_, a Drachm and a\nhalf of _Spirit of Salt_, diluted in an Ounce and half of Water, and\ninjected into the jugular Vein of a Dog, kill\u2019d him immediately. We\nkill\u2019d a Dog almost in a Moment by injecting into his jugular Vein an\nOunce of _Spirit of Wine_, in which was dissolved a _Drachm of\nCamphire_: The same Day we injected warm into the crural Vein of a Cat,\n50 Grains of _Opium_, dissolved in an Ounce of Water, which was soon\nseized with convulsive Motions, and died within a Quarter of an Hour. We\ninjected an _Ounce of Oil of Olives_ into the jugular Vein of a Dog,\nwhich suffocated him the same Moment.\n       _N. B._ In all that were suffocated by Oil, we found their\n               Lungs fill\u2019d with a very thick Froth[56].\nFootnote 56:\n  Mr. _Benj. Motte_\u2019s Philosophical Transact. abridg. Vol. 1. Part. ii.\n  p. 220, 221, where you may find many Instances of the same Nature.\n          The Remarkables here are,\nI. _That a small Portion of this venemous Liquid should in so short a\ntime do such terrible Executions_: That it should so soon infect so\ngreat a Quantity of Fluid, as the whole Mass of Blood in the wounded\nAnimal. A very learned Physician accounts for it thus, _viz._\n    \u201cThat in the Drop of Poison are pungent Salts, by which little\n    Bladders in the Blood are prickt, and the elastick Matter in\n    them being let out, carries those acute Salts thro\u2019 the whole\n    Region of Fluids; upon which follows a Coagulation[57].\u201d\nFootnote 57:\n      Dr. _Mead_\u2019s Mechanical Account.\nAll venemous Creatures hurt, by instilling a liquid Poison into the\nWound, suppose the Wound to be given by the Tooth or Tail. The aforesaid\ningenious Physician says, _viz._ \u201cThis venemous Juice it self is of so\n_inconsiderable a Quantity, that it is no more than one good Drop that\ndoes the Execution_.\u201d\u2014\u2014In order, adds he, to examine the Texture of the\nLiquor, I enrag\u2019d a Serpent till it bit upon something solid, so as to\nvoid its Poison; whose Parts I view\u2019d with a Microscope as nicely as I\ncould.\n    \u201cUpon the first Sight, I could discover nothing but a Parcel of\n    small Saks nimbly floating in the Liquor, which soon shot out,\n    as it were, into _Crystals_ of incredible Tenuity and Sharpness,\n    with something like Knots here and there, from which they seemed\n    to proceed; so that the whole Texture in a manner represented a\n    Spider\u2019s Web, tho\u2019 infinitely finer, and more minute; and yet\n    withal so rigid were these pellucid _Spicula_ or Darts, that\n    they remain\u2019d unalter\u2019d upon my Glass for several Months[58]\u201d.\n    \u2014\u2014_N. B._ These saline Particles appeared to be Acids.\nFootnote 58:\nMost surprising this! to see an Army of Flesh and Blood, tremble and\nfall before a single Atom of Matter! to see the _Cedars of Lebanon_\ndemolish\u2019d by the single Stroke of a contemptible Worm. So in the Moral\nWorld. Even in the Paradisaical State, how malignant the Poison of\nforbidden Fruit that spread Mortality over the whole human Race, and\nwill affect Millions; dreadful Effects of once eating forbidden Fruit!\nWhat a World of Evils flows from one Disease or Disorder in the human\nNature! _It was by one false Step the unquenchable Fire was first\nkindled._\nII. _That Poison is not so dangerous, if it does not mix with the\nBlood._ Even that venemous Liquid may be tasted, yea, and swallow\u2019d\nwithout mortal Effects, say some of the Learned. Hence it is, wounded\nPersons have been directed to get the Venom immediately suck\u2019d out,\nwhich has been practis\u2019d without ill Consequences to the Sucker.\nFor this Method of curing venemous Wounds by Suction, _Avicenna_, an old\n_Arabian_ Philosopher and physician, is quoted; who says, that those who\nsuck out the Poison are in no danger, so their Teeth be sound and\nperfect, and their Mouths be free from all Ulcers. At _Rome_ was an\nOrder of Servants whose Office was to suck venemous Wounds, which they\ndid with Safety and Applause[59].\nFootnote 59:\n    \u201cMany _acid Substances_ taken into the Stomach, are, by its\n    action turned into _Alcalious_; so there is no question but\n    these _saline Spicula_ are, partly by the muscular Motion of the\n    Fibres, partly by the salival Juice, all broken and dissolved;\n    or if any escape into the Intestines, the Balsam of the Bile\n    will be an Antidote for them. _p. 14._\u201d\nCreatures reputed venemous, are indeed no Poisons when swallowed, tho\u2019\nthe Venom may prove so when put into Wounds.\nThe Venom that falls upon the Skin, is not so mischievous as that which\nenters into the Stomach, or is communicated by a Wound. \u201cYea, the Venom\nof a Viper, in itself, is not mortal to a robust and strong Body; and\ntho\u2019 very unhappy and mischievous Accidents attend it, as Convulsions,\nVomitings, _&c._\u201d yet in eight or ten Days at most, these are over; tho\u2019\nthe Patient may be very ill, yet he recovers, while the Poison having\nrun thro\u2019 divers Parts of the Body, at last always throws itself into\nthe _Scrotum_, and is discharg\u2019d by a great Quantity of Urine: This\nEvacuation being the ordinary and most certain Crisis of the\nDisease[60].\nFootnote 60:\n  Philosoph. Transactions abridged by _Lowthorp_, Vol. II. p. 814.\n  _Noxia Serpentum est admisso sanguine partis._ Lucani Pharsalia.\n  Amstelod. Edit. p. 266.\nThe Water\u2014which amphibious Serpents frequent, receives no venemous\nTincture from them. When _Marcus Cato_ commanded in _Africa_ (the\nElement of poisonous Animals) he had in his Army a Number of those\nNatives called _Psylli_ and _Marci_, the supposed Aversion of Serpents,\nand who suck\u2019d the Wounds of those hurt by them. It is said, these\n_Psyllians_ inchanted Serpents, who fled at the sight of them, as if\ntheir Bodies exhaled some _corpuscular Effluviums_ that were most\noffensive to Serpents, and put them into such pain that made them run.\nTo these, the General added another Set of Persons, famous for curing\nthe wounded by other Methods; and all little enough, Serpents being the\nLords of the Country through which they were to pass[61].\nFootnote 61:\n  _Auli Gellii Noctes Attic\u00e6_, lib. 16. c. 11. p. 161. _Herodot._ lib.\n  4. _Plutarch in Cato._\nThe Author of the Description of _Cato_\u2019s marching the Remains of\n_Pompey_\u2019s Army through the _Lybian Deserts_, observes, how the Army\nbeing almost choak\u2019d with Thirst, and coming to a Brook full of\nSerpents, durst not drink for fear of being poisoned, till convinced by\ntheir Superiors, that their being in the Water, did by no means infect\nit: Upon which they refreshed themselves with Water from the Serpentine\nRiver[62].\nFootnote 62:\n  _Redi_, 178. Lucan_\u2019s_ Pharsal.\u2014_Pocula morte carent_\u2014lib. 9.\nAdd to this, the Example of Queen _Cleopatra_, who, to prevent her being\ncarried to _Rome_ in Triumph, \u2019tis said, poisoned herself, by holding a\nSerpent to her own Breast. _Galen_ mentioning this Story, relates from\nAuthors, that she killed herself, by pouring the Poison of an Asp into a\nWound made in her Arm by her own Teeth; as if under Conviction, that the\nPoison would not effectually answer the End, without touching the Blood.\n_Ibid._ Of which more in the _Second Part_ of this Discourse.\nIII. _In Serpents is an inexhaustible Store of Poison._ If they\ndischarge all their Artillery to-day, their Arsenal will be full\nto-morrow. \u2019Tis true, by a speedy repeated Emission of Poison at one\ntime, the Viper loses its force, probably by a Diminution in Quantity;\nbut is recruited in a Short space. Thus, one Viper cannot poison six\nCreatures, one immediately after another; the Truth of which is\nconfirmed by uncontestable Facts.\u2014\u2014An Experiment was made by Dr.\n_Areskine_, when he was at _Paris_.\u2014Having got a large female Viper, he\nmade it bite six Pigeons, one immediately after another. The first and\nsecond that were bit, died within half an Hour; one a little before the\nother; the third lived about two Hours; the fourth seem\u2019d to be very\nsick for a while, but recover\u2019d; the fifth and sixth that were bitten,\nwere no more hurt than if prick\u2019d with a Pin. _Ibid._\nThe learned _Italian_, Seignior _Redi_, says, that having, at the\nEntrance of Winter, a Scorpion sent him to _Rome_ from _Tunis_ in\n_Africa_, he irritated it to sting Pigeons and Pullets, without any bad\nEffects; but upon the approach of warm Weather, after eight Months\nfasting it was provoked to sting two Pigeons successively, which soon\ndied; but the third and fourth received no hurt from its Wound. The\nAuthor of the _Natural History of Carolina_, speaking of the\n_Rattle-Snakes_, says, they can\u2019t renew their Poison as oft as they\nwill; for he had seen a Person bit by one of them, who never rightly\nrecovered, and very hardly escaped with Life; and another Person\nimmediately after being bit by the same Snake, received no more Hurt\nthan if bit by a Rat. _p._ 129.[63]\nFootnote 63:\n  New Collection of Voyages, printed A. D. 1711.\n    _N. B._ Poison in different Countries, is more or less dangerous\n    according as it is exalted and heighten\u2019d by various Degrees of\n    Heat; for by Increase of Heat, that venemous Quality is\n    increased.\n_How is it consistent with Divine Goodness to create such venemous\nAnimals, that are so dangerous and destructive to their\nFellow-Creatures?_ I answer,\nI. _That as the Power of God shines in the Formation of all Creatures,\nso does his Goodness in their natural Perfections, which is the Goodness\nof their Being._ Every Creature is good, and if any Branch of the\nCreation be hurtful to another, \u2019tis the Effect of moral Evil, and not\nany necessary Consequence arising from their Creation.\nThis noxious Quality in Serpents, is God\u2019s Creature, and must answer\nsome valuable Purpose, tho\u2019 concealed from an Eye blinded by the Venom\nof Sin. Nor must we forget that they seldom hurt their Fellow-Creatures,\nbut when they are provok\u2019d; and when they hurt, they present us with a\nhealing Remedy, that is, _the volatile Salt of Vipers, which if rubbed\ninto the Wound, has been generally applied with Success_.\nII. _Their poisonous Liquid must some way be beneficial to themselves._\nWe are not told what their original Food was; but now they live by\nPlunder, and by their Venom they are enabled to make sure of their Prey,\nwhich otherwise might escape, or grow too strong for them, and so they\nmight starve for want of proper Means to support Life; and what they\ntake by their venemous Fangs and Stings, is good Nourishment.\nTheir Poison also, is to them as a Life-Guard. Were there not something\nterrible in their Weapons of War, every one would trample upon them. Add\nto this, that perhaps their Constitution may be so modify\u2019d and framed,\nthat this venemous Liquid may be as useful to digest their Food, as our\n_Saliva_ is to us in that respect.\nIII. _SERPENTS, tho\u2019 venemous, are of special Use to Mankind, as they\nare Part of the_ Materia Medica, _and bear a great Share in some of the\nbest Antidotes, or Remedies against Poison_. Vipers make a considerable\nArticle in Medicine; their Flesh either roasted or boiled, the\nPhysicians unanimously prescribe as an excellent Restorative,\nparticularly in Consumptions, Leprosy.\u2014\u2014\nThe learned Dr. _Mead_ recommends the Broth or Jelly of Vipers; or, as\nthe Antients did, to boil and eat them as a Fish, or at least to drink\nWine, wherein they have been long infused: The Apothecaries sell the\n_Pulvis Viperinus_, which is only _dried Vipers pulverized_, Heart,\nLiver, and all other Parts, and past through a fine Sieve. Some call it,\n_Animal Bezoard_.\n_BEZOAR_ is a _Persian_ Word, _Pazahar_, primarily denotes\n_Counter-Poison_, and is applied to several chymical Compositions of\nthat Intention. _Theriaca_, or Treacle, a Name given by the Antients to\nvarious Compositions, is reckoned good against Poison.\u2014The Basis or\nFoundation of the Composition is Viper\u2019s Flesh[64].\nFootnote 64:\n  _Cyclop\u00e6dia._\nEven in _Tartary_, an uncultivated Nation, the Viper\u2019s Flesh is reckoned\nto be wonderful good Physick. In some of the Rivers of _Siam_, are many\nCrocodiles, which the _Siamese_ call _Cayman_, and use them as good\nPhysick with Success[65].\nFootnote 65:\n  _Struys_\u2019s Voyages, _ad annum_ 1657. I. c. III p. 29.\nIt is supposed, when Viper-Catchers were hurt, they immediately cured\nthemselves by rubbing this _volatile Salt_ of Vipers into the wounded\nPart. An Experiment was made by enraging a Viper to bite the Nose of a\nyoung Dog: The Part began to swell; to which was applied this _volatile\nSalt_, and the Dog was very well next day. The Viper was made to bite\nthe Dog again in the Tongue, and no Application being made, he died\nwithin a few Hours[66].\nFootnote 66:\n  Dr. _Mead_\u2019s Mechanical Account, p. 17.\nOne of the first that made use of the Viper in medicinal Purposes, was\n(as my learned Author thinks) _Antonius Musa_, the famous Physician to\n_Octavius C\u00e6sar_; of whom _Pliny_ tells, _that when he met with\nincurable Ulcers, he ordered the eating of Vipers; and by this means\nthey were quickly healed_. The same Author adds from _Porphyrius_, that\nthe great _Greek_ Physician _Craterus, very happily cured a miserable\nSlave, whose Skin in a strange manner fell off from his Bones_, by\nadvising him to _feed upon Vipers, drest after the manner of Fish_.\nIbid.\nA late eminent Physician, speaking of Vipers, says,\u2014\u2014\u2019Tis certain, very\nnoble Medicines are prepared from them, and a Wine from their Flesh,\nsingular in consumptive, leprous, and scorbutick Cases: They afford also\na _volatile Salt, the most generous Cordial in Nature_[67].\nFootnote 67:\n  Dr. _Charles Leigh_\u2019s Natural History of \u2014\u2014 p. 148.\nIn _Italy_ is a subterraneous Cavern, called _Grotto de i Serpi_, large\nenough to hold two Persons, perforated like a Sieve; out of which, in\nthe Spring, issues a numerous Brood of young Snakes, of divers Colours.\nIn this Cave they expose their leprous, paralytic, arthritick Patients,\nwhere the Warmth of the Steams resolving them into Sweat, and then\nSerpents clinging variously all around, licking their naked Bodies, they\nare soon restored to Health, by repeating the Operation. This\n_Serpentine Cave_ was visited by _Kircher_, the celebrated Philosopher\nand Mathematician; who says, he saw the Holes, and heard a murmuring\nhissing Noise in them, tho\u2019 he did not see the Serpents, it not being\ntheir Season to creep out; yet he saw a great Number of their _Exuvi\u00e6_,\nor _Sloughs_, and an Elm at a small distance laden with them. The\nDiscovery was by the Cure of a Leper going from _Rome_, who losing his\nway, and being benighted, happen\u2019d upon this Cave, and finding it very\nwarm, pull\u2019d off his Clothes; and being weary and sleepy, had, says my\nAuthor, the Good-fortune not to feel the Serpents about him, till they\nhad wrought his Cure. _Mus\u00e6um Wormian. in Cyclop\u00e6dia._\nIV. _Serpents are not only Physick, but common Food in many Parts of the\nWorld, and esteemed a most delicious Entertainment._ Formerly, nothing\nmore terrible to Men than these veneniferous Animals, but now (Men being\nbetter acquainted with their natural Qualities) are very familiar to\nmany People; insomuch that there are but few Persons of Distinction, in\n_France_, and other Places, where they may be had, but make use of them,\nas _a good and most agreeable Diet_; and the ingenious Virtuoso makes\nliving Vipers his Domestick Divertisement.\nThe _Italian_ and _French Physicians_ do commonly prescribe the _Broth_\nand _Jelly_ of _Vipers_, to purify and invigorate the Mass of Blood,\nexhausted with Age and chronical Diseases.\nWe read of the _Ophiophagi_, a People so called because they are\n_Serpent-Eaters_. It is observed from _Aristotle_, that the\n_Troglodytes_, who are _Africans_, not far from the _Arabian Gulph_,\nleading a pastoral Life, lived by hunting\u2014and fed on Serpents[68].\nFootnote 68:\n  _Strabo_, lib. 16. \u0392\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2 \u03bd\u03bf\u03bc\u03b1\u03b4\u03b9\u03c7\u03bf\u03c2\u2014_Cluverii Introduct._\nAmong the _Andesian_ Mountains in _America_, is a Serpent called\n_Juanna_, big as a Rabbit, has a spotted Skin, four Feet, and is never\nobserved to have any Voice, is much eaten by the Inhabitants, and\ncounted better Meat than Rabbits, as it is prepared by the\n_Barbarians_[69].\nFootnote 69:\n  _Ray_, p. 329. _Atl. Geograph. America_, p. 129.\nThe _Kanina Serpent_ that feeds upon Birds, is eaten by the Inhabitants,\nthe _Brasilians_, and their _Negro-Labourers_, after they cut off the\nHead and Tail. _Ibid._ The _Dutch_, _Portuguese_, and others in that\nCountry, feed upon the _Lyboya Serpent_; \u2019tis of a prodigious, large\nBulk, and described in another Place. _Ibid._ In old _Mexico_, we read\nhow the _Indians_ took a certain Serpent that carried thirty Young\u2019s,\nwhich were each a Finger long, and crept about immediately; and the old\none being above 20 Foot long, served the Natives for Venison[70].\nFootnote 70:\n  _Atl. Geograph. for America_, from _Laet._ p. 628.\n_AMERICUS Vespusius_, (a _Florentine_, who was the first, after\n_Columbus_, that discover\u2019d _America_, and wrote the History of his four\nYears Voyages) says, he saw some Serpents in _America_, which the\nInhabitants commonly feed upon: They were of diverse Colours, and as big\nas Kids. In the History of that Country, we find the Natives of the Land\nfed upon Adders, Serpents, Toads,\u2014\u2014without any Scruple of Mind, or\nInjury to their Health.\nThe Natives of _Tonquin_, a large Kingdom of _India_, beyond the\n_Ganges_, in treating their Friends, give them _Arrack_, a rich Cordial,\nin which Snakes and Scorpions have been infus\u2019d; and is esteem\u2019d an\nAntidote against all Poisons.\n_INDIA_ breeds Serpents in abundance of all Sizes, and Variety of most\ncharming Colours: The People of _Siam_ catch prodigious Numbers of them\nin the Woods, and expose them to Sale in the Markets, as Eels in\n_England_, for Animal Food[71].\nFootnote 71:\n  _Le Comte_\u2019s Memoirs, p. 504.\nExperiments have been made upon Animals, as Pigeons, Chickens\u2014that were\nbit by Serpents, which have been eaten without any manner of Hurt, or\npainful Sensation; yea, Serpents that were slain have been given to\nDogs, who fed upon them without danger, or any uneasiness[72].\nFootnote 72:\nThe _Circulatores_, or Dealers in Serpents, devour\u2019d at their Tables\neven their Heads, and pour\u2019d the Gall into their Cups when they drank,\nlaughing at their Neighbours Timidity, who transform their Imaginations\ninto Bug-bears.\nThe Inhabitants of Mount _Athos_, between _Macedonia_ and _Thracia_, are\ncalled _Macrobii_, that is _Long-livers_, or long-liv\u2019d; and their\nLongevity is attributed to their feeding on Viper\u2019s Flesh, which is a\nmost elegant Nutritive[73].\nFootnote 73:\nThe _Ethiopians_ are number\u2019d among those who feed upon Serpents, as one\nvaluable Branch of their sustenance.\nIn the Kingdom of _Congo_ in _Africa_, the _Negroes_ roast the Adders,\nand not only greedily feed upon them, but esteem them as a most\ndelicious Food[74].\nFootnote 74:\n  _Purchas Pilgrim_, Part ii. l. 7.\n_ST. HELENA_, one of the _African_ Islands, abounds with Serpents which\nthe _Dutch_ eat as a greater Dainty than Eels[75]. We read of a Man who\nliv\u2019d at _Colonia Agrippina_ in _Germany_, that fed upon Spiders, as the\nmost delicate Dish.\u2014_N. B._ This _Cologne_ is called _Agrippina_ from\n_Agrippina_ the Mother of _Nero_ (who poison\u2019d _Claudius_ her own\nHusband, to make _Nero_ her Son Emperor) and would have the Town\nhonoured with a _Roman_ Colony, as being the Place of her Birth[76].\nFootnote 75:\nFootnote 76:\n  _Tacitus_\u2019s Annals, Vol. 1. B. iv.\nIn _Cuba_, an _American_ Island, they were pester\u2019d with many sorts of\nSerpents, not so much from the ill Condition of the Soil, as by an old\nsuperstitious Whim of the Savages, who in former Times were not suffered\nto kill them, (this being a royal game, and a nice Dish reserved for the\nHigher Powers) and were not able afterwards to destroy them, when it\nwould have been suffered[77].\nFootnote 77:\n  _Heylin_\u2019s Cosmography, B. iv. p. 151.\nThe _Kalmuck Tartars_ feed very much upon Snakes, Adders and Foxes\u2014\u2014The\n_Syrians_ eat Crocodiles, which live on the Land only.\n_MITHRIDATE_, formerly one of the Capital Medicines in the Shops, has\nthe Name from the Inventor, _viz._ _Mithridates_ King of _Pontus_, who\nbeing overcome by _Pompey_, would have poison\u2019d himself; but no Poison\nwould work upon him, having accustom\u2019d himself to eat Poison; thus\ndescribed in an old Doggrel Rhyme, _viz._\n               _King_ Mithridates _cou\u2019d not poison\u2019d be,\n               He drinking Poison oft, grew Poison-free_.\nAfter King _Mithridates_ was vanquish\u2019d, _Cneus Pompeius_ found in his\nCloset the following Receipt, against Poison, writ with his own Hand, in\nthis Manner, _viz._\n_TAKE two dry Walnut-kernels, as many Figs, of Rue twenty Leaves, stamp\nall these together into one Mass, with a Grain of Salt._\u2014\u2014Under this\nReceipt was writ\u2014\u2014_Whoever eats this Confection in the Morning fasting,\nno Poison shall hurt him that Day_[78]. In _America_, where Lizards are\nvery good, they eat them, and so large, that one Lizard is enough to\nsatisfy four Men. \u2019Tis very probable that they were eaten in _Arabia_\nand _Judea_, since _Moses_ ranks them among the unclean Creatures[79].\nFootnote 78:\n  _Pliny_\u2019s Natural Hist. Tom. ii. B. 23.\nFootnote 79:\n  _Calmet in verbum\u2014\u2014Hieronym. contra Jovinian._ lib. ii.\nThough the Flesh of venemous Creatures be nutrimental, and eaten with a\ngood Relish, in many Places, yet it must be allow\u2019d our old\nHistoriographers in some Things hyperbolize upon the Subject. Thus\n_Avicenna_, the great _Arabian_ Doctor, and others, speak of a young\nMaid, who was fed with the Flesh of poisonous Creatures, from her tender\nAge; by which her Breath became venemous to those who stood by her. And\nthus _Porus_, a certain _Indian_ King, is said to use Poison every Day,\nthat he might kill others. It is a known History, adds he, of a young\nWoman, fed with Poison, with which the _Persian_ Kings destroy\u2019d whom\nthey pleas\u2019d.\nAdd to this another traditional Opinion, _viz._ that some particular\nPersons have an evil Eye, which affects Children and Cattle; yea, that\nsome have this unhappy Faculty, tho\u2019 at the same Time void of any ill\nDesign. This has been an old Tradition, as appears from that of the\nPoet[80].\nFootnote 80:\n  _Nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos._ See _Martin_ on the\n  Western Islands, _p._ 122, 123.\nOn the Mountains of _Ceylon_ in the _East-Indies_, are Serpents of such\nvast Size, that they swallow young Cattle: Their Flesh is very delicate,\nand has a most pleasing Taste; therefore is very much eaten.\nThis Island of _Ceylon_ is one of the most charming Situation on the\nEarth, the Key and Glory of the _Indies_; the Air so temperate, that,\nproperly speaking, they feel neither Heat nor Cold; the Vales and Hills\nare always covered with Flowers, the Fields cover\u2019d with Fruits of all\nSorts; and in the Woods are Serpents call\u2019d _Lizards_, full three Hands\nlong, whose Flesh is excellent Meat[81].\nFootnote 81:\n  _Ribeyro_\u2019s History of _Ceylon_, presented to the King of _Portugal_,\n  1685, translated out of _Portuguese_ into _French_, printed at\nIn the second Part is a more ample Description of _Ceylon_.\nThe _Iguana_ Serpent is amphibious, lays numerous Eggs, grateful to the\nTaste, is very good Nourishment, preferable to _Spanish_ Rabbits; and in\nthe City of _Mexico_ these Serpents are brought to the Markets,\nespecially in the quadragesimal Days.\nA _Spanish_ Historian says, the _Iguanas_ are shap\u2019d like the\n_Alligators_, very ugly, as big as Lap-dogs, of several Colours; the\n_Spaniards_ observe, that their Flesh tastes like the Pheasants, and\nfeed upon it with pleasure[82].\nFootnote 82:\n  _Herrera_\u2019s Hist. Vol. ii. p. 14.\nThe learned _Ray_, speaking of the _Liboya_, that monstrous _American_\nSerpent, says, that after it has swallow\u2019d a large Animal, its Head\ngrows heavy and sleepy, that it can neither run nor fight; the Hunters\nfinding it in this stupid Posture, soon strangle him with a Rope; and\nbeing kill\u2019d, cut the Carcass into Parcels, and sell the Flesh for Food,\nwhich is reckon\u2019d a delightful Entertainment[83]. The same Author adds,\nthat both _Africans_ and _Americans_ having cut off the Head and Tail of\nthe _Kanina_ Serpent, eat the Body as part of their constant Repast.\nFootnote 83:\n  _Raii Synopsis_, p. 334,\u2014_Solo reste_\u2014_caroque ejus pro cibo\n  gratissimo venditur_.\n_BRASILIAN_ Serpents call\u2019d _Lizards_ are slay\u2019d, broil\u2019d as little\nFishes, and eaten by the Negroes or Blackmoors that are transported into\nthat Country from _Africa_.\nI am inform\u2019d of a Gentleman of the Law at _Ludlow_, who having prick\u2019d\na living Toad in various Parts, sucks its Moisture, and leaves it as\nmust a Skeleton as the Purse of a Client.\nThus we see that the Almighty is so far from being chargeable with\nDefect of Wisdom and Goodness, in forming of Serpents, that both as Food\nand Physick, they may be equally improv\u2019d to our Advantage.\nI shall only add one Remark here, that if Serpents, and other venemous\nCreatures, are hurtful to us, \u2019tis only by Accident, that is, they are\nnot vexatious to us, of Necessity, but through our own Ignorance,\nCarelessness, or Mistake; _e. gr._\n    \u201cThe Birds we call _Stares_, safely feed upon _Hemlock_;\n    _Storks_ feed on Adders, and Slow-Worms; which, and other\n    hurtful Creatures, would be as harmless to ourselves, had we\n    always Caution enough to avoid them, or Wit enough to use them\n    as we should. Thus _Aloes_ has the Property of promoting\n    H\u00e6morrhages; but this Property is good or bad, as \u2019tis used: if\n    by one that has the _Green Sickness_, it will prove a good\n    Medicine; if by one subject to a _Dysentery_, or to spitting of\n    Blood, a pernicious Poison.\u201d[84]\nFootnote 84:\n      Dr. _Neh. Grew_\u2019s _Cosmologia Sacra_, B. iii. cap. 2. p. 103.\nAnd it is very probable, that the most dangerous Poisons skilfully\nmanaged, may be made, not only innocuous, but, of all other Medicines,\nthe most effectual. Opium corrected, loses its narcotic Quality, and is\nsafely given in great Doses, in Fluxes, Catarrhs, and convulsive Cases.\nIt is generally agreed, there is no Part of a Viper, not even the Gall\nitself, but may be swallowed without harm; accordingly the Ancients,\nand, as several Authors of Credit assure us, the _Indians_ and others at\nthis day, both of the East and West, eat them, as we do, Eels.\nSpontaneous Productions of the Earth were the first Food, and still are\nthe Sustenance of numerous Nations. It was some time before they came to\nthe Juices of Cattle, as Milk, and longer before they commenced\ncarnivorous, and devoured their Fellow-Animals.\nSome think the Fruits of the Earth were intended as Man\u2019s sole Food, and\nthat nothing but Necessity or Luxury first prompted to feed upon Flesh:\nAnd indeed, by the Structure of Man\u2019s Teeth, it looks as if they were\nnot proper to devour Flesh; and that Nature had rather intended and\nprepared them for cutting Herbs, Roots,\u2014\u2014than, for tearing of Flesh.\nYea, Children don\u2019t affect Animal Food, till their Palates be vitiated\nby Custom; and, further, when we feed upon Flesh, it must be prepared by\nroasting or boiling, which makes it harder of Digestion, than all other\nAnimal Food; and therefore forbid in Fevers, and other Distempers.\n_That venemous Creatures have been made Instruments of divine and human\nVengeance, is most evident._ The romantic Account given in Antiquity, of\nstrange Feats done by a poisonous Breath\u2014does not affect the Truth of\nthis Proposition.\nThe Antients divided Serpents, into good and evil Ministers; thus the\n_Egyptians_ looked upon some of them to be Administrators of Mercy, and\nothers to be Messengers of Justice. _Osiris_[85] one of their Gods, is\nsaid to send out Serpents, to chastise Evil-Doers[86].\nFootnote 85:\n                  \u2014\u2014\u03b4\u03c1\u03b1\u03ba\u03c9\u03bd \u03b5\u03c0\u03b9 \u03bd\u03c9\u03c4\u03b1 \u03b4\u03b1\u03c6\u03c9\u03b9\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2\n              \u03a3\u03bc\u03b5\u03c1\u03b4\u03b1\u03bb\u03b5\u03bf\u03c2, \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 \u1fe5\u2019 \u03b1\u03c5\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 \u03bf\u03bb\u03c5\u03bc\u03c0\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2 \u03b7\u03ba\u03b5 \u03c6\u03bf\u03c9\u03c2 \u03b4\u03b5.\nFootnote 86:\n  _\u00c6lian. Hist. Animalium._\nWhen the Church of _Israel_ murmured against God in the Wilderness, and\ncensured the Conduct of Providence, he employs an Army of Serpents as\nhis Agents, to correct the Rebels.\u2014\u2014Plagues, and other pestilential\nDiseases, were, in old times, reputed to be the Messengers of the Gods,\nand commissioned by them, to execute Wrath upon the Wicked.\nSome of the Heathens had exalted Notions of Virtue, and believed Men of\nVirtue to be the Favourites of the Gods, and that a vicious Life, being\nopposite to the Sanctity of their Nature, they could not let it pass\nwith Impunity.\nAn Instance to this purpose we have in the History of the Apostles,\n_Acts_ xxviii. 1-6. The _Island_ was called _Melita_. _And when Paul had\ngathered a Bundle of Sticks, and laid them on the Fire, there came a\nViper out of the Heat, and fastened on his Hand. And when the Barbarians\nsaw the venemous Beast hang on his Hand; they said among themselves, No\ndoubt this Man is a Murderer, tho\u2019 he has escaped the Sea, yet\nVengeance_ (\u03b4\u03b9\u03ba\u03b7, _Justice_) _suffers not to live\u2014\u2014They looked when he\nshould have swoln, or faln_ _down\u2014And when they saw no harm come to him,\nthey changed their Mind, and said he was a God._ _How_ came they to\nalter their Opinion? Because, according to their Divinity, none else\ncould thus command, and controul a venemous Serpent, which was one of\nthe _Messengers of the Gods_.\n\u201cNo venemous Beasts, according to the fabulous Tradition, will live in\nthe Island, which they ascribe to St. _Paul_\u2019s Blessing, when he was\nshipwreck\u2019d there.\u201d They shew the Cave where they pretend he resided,\nand reckon the Earth of it, an Antidote against Poison.\nFrom this historical Passage, \u2019tis evident, that these Barbarians did\nbelieve a _Providence_, and the Doctrine of _Divine Justice_, which\n_Justice_ they openly adored, under the Name of _Vindicta_, or\n_Nemesis_, which was the _Goddess_ of _Revenge_, whose Province was to\ninspect the moral Conduct of all Men, and distribute Rewards and\nPunishments as the Case required. It was painted in the same manner as\n_Justice_, with a Pair of _Scales_ in one hand, and a _Sword_ in the\nother.\nIn _Ethiopia_, we read of a large Country, this side the _Cynamolgi_,\nthat was laid waste, and entirely depopulated by Scorpions, before whom,\nthe Inhabitants not being able to stand, fled for their Lives. The same\nDesolation was made by the Scorpions at _Salamin_, an island not far\nfrom _Athens_, called the _Island of Dragons_, for which _Lycophron_ is\nquoted[87].\nFootnote 87:\n  _Conrad. Gesner. de Scorp._\nThe Inhabitants of _Amycl\u00e6_, a Town in _Italy_, were destroyed by\nSerpents, being, as \u2019tis said, of the _Pythagorean Race_, whose Laws\nforbid to kill Animals, and by suffering these venemous Creatures to\nmultiply without Controul, they became insufferable[88].\nFootnote 88:\n  _Ibid._\nThe Inhabitants of _Pescara_, an antient City in _Africa_, were\nconstrained to forsake their Habitations in _Summer_, by reason of\n_Scorpions_ that were very numerous, and in that Season, their Sting\nmost dangerous: In Winter, when their Wounds were less dangerous, the\nRefugees turned to their Houses[89].\nFootnote 89:\n_DIODORUS SICULUS_ observes how many Regions have been deserted, for\nthis reason; both People and Cattle being driven away by an Army of\n_Scorpions_, and their Allies.\nIn the _Canary-Islands_, these venemous Animals are more dreaded than\nthe Pestilence. \u2019Tis said they are hunted and taken by the _Turks_, who\nprepare the _Oil_ of _Scorpions_ from them[90]. In _India_, about the\n_Arrahban-Lake_, the Country has been intirely dispeopled by these\nmischievous Creatures. _Ibid._\nFootnote 90:\n  _Conrad. Gesner._ p. 29.\nIn Times of War, Serpents have been prest into the Service. Thus\n_Heliogabalus_ (Emperor of _Rome_, so called because he was _Priest_ of\nthe _Sun_ before his Election) having, by his _Sacerdotal Incantators_,\nor sacred Conjurers, gathered together several Serpents, contrived a\nMethod to turn them loose, before day, among his Enemies, which soon put\nthem into a terrible Hurry, and a Motion, that was a Trial for their\nLives; the Sight of the crooked Serpent being far more dreadful, than\nthe Whizzing of a straight Arrow[91]. The same Author informs us of\nSnakes thrown by a Sling-Staff into the Camp of the Barbarians, which\ndid great Execution.\nFootnote 91:\n  _Gesner. de Scorp._\nKing _Prusias_ being overcome by King _Eumenes_, by Land, and intending\nto try his Fate by Sea, _Hannibal_, by a new Invention, made him\nvictorious. The Stratagem was this: _Hannibal_ having procured a great\nNumber of Serpents, put them into earthen Vessels; and by another\nDevice, and in midst of the Engagement, convey\u2019d them into _Antiochus_\u2019s\nFleet, which proved more dreadful than Fire-balls, and feather\u2019d\nWeapons, that flew amongst them. At first, it seemed ridiculous to the\n_Romans_, that they should arm themselves, and fight with _earthen\nPots_; but when they were broken, an Army of Snakes rush\u2019d out, which so\nterrified the Marines, that they immediately yielded the Victory to\n_Prusias_, the _Carthaginian_ Hero\u2019s Friend[92].\nFootnote 92:\n  _Justini Hist._ lib. xxxii. ad finem.\nWe read in History, how _Juno_, out of her hatred to _Hercules_, sent\ntwo dreadful Serpents to devour him in the Cradle, which he soon crush\u2019d\nwith his Infant-Hands.\nIt was common among the _Antient Swedes_, to send out certain Flies\n(which they pretended to be their Familiars) to plague their Enemies.\nThey also made _Magical Balls_ for the same purpose, boasting how they\nthereby conveyed Serpents into their Enemies Bodies.\nThe _Laplanders_ had their _Magical Tyre_, which was a Ball about the\nBigness of a small Apple, (made of Moss, or Hair of Beasts) which, they\nsay, is quickned and moved by a particular Art; they persuade\nthemselves, that by this _Tyre_, they can send Serpents, or what they\nplease, into any Man, to torment him. When this _Ball_ is thrown, it\ngoes like a Whirlwind, and as swift as a pointed Arrow[93].\nFootnote 93:\n  _Schefferus_\u2019s History of _Lapland_, cap. xi. p. 60.\nIn the Book of _Daniel_, mention is made of several kinds of Magicians\nin _Chaldea_, under King _Nebuchadnezzar_; one is _Mecasphim_, a word\nwhich by St. _Jerome_, and the _Greeks_ is translated _Malefici_,\n_Inchanters_, such People as make use of noxious Herbs and Drugs, the\nBlood of Victims, and Bones of the Dead, for their superstitious\nOperations[94].\nFootnote 94:\n  _Calmet_\u2019s Hist. Crit.\u2014Dictionary.\n    \u201cThe Tyrants of _Japonia_ invented a strange Punishment for\n    those who confessed Christ.\u2014\u2014They hung them with their Heads\n    downwards, half their Bodies into a large Hole digged in the\n    Earth, which they filled with _Snakes_, _Lizards_, and other\n    poisonous Vermin; but even those (says my Right Reverend Author,\n    the learned and pious Bishop _Taylor_) were better Companions\n    than those infernal Dragons in the Pit of Hell[95].\u201d\nThe _Romans_, when they punish\u2019d any for _Parricide_, to express their\nAbhorrence of so heinous a Murder, they shut him up in a Sack, with a\nSerpent, an Ape, and a Cock.\nFootnote 95:\n  _Contemplations_, Book ii. chap. 6.\nTo these Instances, I shall add, that the Attendants of _Pluto_, Prince\nof the Infernal Regions, are represented in a _Serpentine Habit_, viz.\nthe _Furies_, _Harpies_\u2014\u2014\nIn his Train, are three _Dir\u00e6_, _Eumenides_, or Furies, _viz._ _Alecto_,\n_Meg\u00e6ra_, and _Tysiphone_, whose Heads are covered with long and\ndreadful Snakes, instead of Hair, with Whips, Chains, and flaming\nTorches, in their Hands, to punish the Guilty. These also attended the\nThrone of _Jove_, and were accounted to be Messengers of the Gods, whose\nOffice it was to execute their Decrees in the Infliction of Calamities\nupon Mortals.\nThese _Furies_ had their Temples and Worshippers, and were described in\nFigures of so frightful a Form, that they durst scarce mention their\nNames without Horror.\n_TYSIPHONE_, one of them, enraged at an innocent Youth, pluck\u2019d off one\nof her Snakes, and threw it at him, which wound about his Body, and\nimmediately strangled him. Some say, that we see these three Furies on a\nMedal of the Emperor _Philip_, struck at _Antioch_, on whose Reverse are\nrepresented three Women, arm\u2019d with a Key, burning Torches, Poniards,\nand Serpents.\nThe Daffodil was sacred to the Furies, and such as offered Sacrifice to\nthem were crowned with it[96].\nFootnote 96:\n  From _Eustathius_, on the first Book of the _Iliad_.\nAs soon as departed Souls had been examined by _Minos_, _Radamanthus_,\nand _\u00c6acus_, and found guilty, and Sentence past, they were delivered to\nthe Furies, who cast them down headlong into _Tartarus_, the Place of\nTorment,\u2014and all those who had lived well, were conducted to the\n_Elysian_ Fields.\n_HOMER_ speaks of them as the Executioners of Justice upon false\nSwearers, among other Instances:\n             _Infernal Furies, and Tartarean Gods,\n             Who rule the Dead, and horrid Woes prepare\n             For perjur\u2019d Kings, and all who falsly swear._\nThe _Harpies_[97] were monstrous and cruel Birds describ\u2019d with Women\u2019s\nFaces, and _Dragons Tails_, to render them more formidable to Mankind:\nThe Ancients looked upon them as D\u00e6mons or Genii, which last _Homer_\ncalls _Podarge_. About _Kaskan_ in _Persia_, is a fine and fertile\nCountry, but plagued with Multitudes of _Scorpions_, which haunt the\nInhabitants, especially in that Town (one of the most populous and\neminent Marts in that Empire) where the Inhabitants, for fear of that\nvenemous Animal, dare not sleep upon the Floor (as in other Places,\nwhere they only throw a Quilt upon the Tapestry) but have light Couches,\nhanging down from the Roof, like Seamens Hammocks, or hanging Beds on\nship-board.\nFootnote 97:\n  _Aello_, _Ocypete_, and _Cel\u00e6no_, Virg. \u00c6neid. lib. 3.\nThey have indeed a ready Help against its venemous Wounds, which is made\nof the Filings of Copper, tempered with _Vinegar_ and _Honey_, which\nproves a speedy Cure; but if neglected, the Patient is in danger of his\nLife. This, says the Historian, I presume, has been first found out by\nthe antipathetick Quality, which seems to be between _Scorpions_ and\n_Copper_; for not far from the City is the Copper-Mine, where, as\nbefore, if one of these Animals be brought, it dies immediately. _Q.\nWhether this be not_ Herbert_\u2019s_ Parthian?\nYea, to render a future State terrible to Mortals, the Heathens,\nspeaking of departed Souls, feigned, that at their Descent from\n_Charon_\u2019s Boat (who was the Ferryman of Hell) they met _Cerberus_, a\nmonstrous Dog, with three Heads, who was covered all over with\n_Serpents_, instead of Hair. There was the Monster _Chim\u00e6ra_ that\nvomited Fire, her Head like a _Lion_, Middle like a _Goat_, and her Tail\nlike a furious _Dragon_; so sings the Poet:\n        \u2014\u2014Cerberus, _who soon began to rear\n        His crested Snakes\u2014he gapes with three enormous Mouths_.\n        Dryden\u2019s Virgil.\nSo another:\n              _For as the_ Pope _that keeps the Gate\n              Of Heaven, wears three Crowns of State;\n              So he, that keeps the Gates of Hell,\n              Proud_ Cerberus, _wears three Heads as well.\n              And, if the World have any Troth,\n              Some have been canoniz\u2019d in both_.\nBut further, we may observe, that besides this frightful Appearance of\nSerpents to salute their Entrance into Hell, there was Variety of\nPunishments for them when there. Thus the _Danaides_ were condemned to\n_Tartarus_ by the Poets, to be continually employed in filling a Cask\nperforated at the bottom; _Phlegas_, condemned by _Apollo_ to Hell,\nwhere he sat upon a rolling Stone, in constant danger of falling into a\nPit of greater Misery; _Tityus_, adjudged to Hell, where a Vultur feeds\non his Liver, and the Liver always grows with the Moon: Nay, such were\nthe horrible Preparations in Hell, that _Virgil_[98], after a Survey of\nit, declares, that had he a hundred Mouths and Tongues, they would not\nsuffice to recount all the Plagues of the Tortured: so that it is no\nwonder to see them represent the infernal Prison in Figures the most\nfrightful.\nFootnote 98:\n  _\u00c6neid._ lib. vi. ver. 638.\nAnd as the Heathen had their terrible Place for bad Men, so, to prompt\nthem to Virtue, they had their _Elysium_, i. e. a Place of Pleasure in\n_Hades_, furnished with most pleasant Fields, agreeable Woods, Groves,\nShades, Rivers; whither the Souls of good People were supposed to go\nafter this Life. These are finely described by the Poet:\n                 \u2014\u2014_locos l\u00e6tos & am\u0153na virenta\n                 Fortunatorum nemorum sedesque beatas_.\n[Illustration]\n[Illustration]\n_Which gives a View of most Serpents that are known in the several Parts\n    of the World, describ\u2019d by their various Names, different Countries,\n    Qualities_, _&c._\nThe Serpents are a numerous Tribe, and their Dominions of large Extent,\nlying both in Sea and Land: No part of the World but what is replenish\u2019d\nwith them, more or less, in some form or other. In describing them, I\nshall begin with,\nI. The _Viper_, or _Adder_, a subtle and poisonous Creature, slender in\nBody, about a Foot and half long, with fiery and flaming Eyes, a long\nand cloven Tongue, which when irritated, it darts forth with Violence,\nand looks like a glowing Firebrand; has a big Head, and flattest of the\nserpentine kind.\nIt is slow in its motion, and does not leap like other Serpents, but is\nvery nimble to bite when provok\u2019d. The Scales under the Body resemble\nthat of well-polish\u2019d Steel. They appear in divers Colours, yellow, ash,\ngreen; and others of _Libya_, like the Inhabitants, of a blackish Hue;\nits Front not unlike that of a Hog.\n_VIPERS_ of other Nations, are supposed to be larger than the\n_European_, especially the _Troglodite-Viper_[99], which is said to be\nabove fifteen Cubits long: and the Historian adds, viz. _That there are\nno domestick Vipers_. I presume, he means they are not brought up among\nthe Children of the Family, as some Serpents are said to have been; this\nlittle venemous Reptile being of a more mischievous Nature[100].\nFootnote 99:\n  _\u00c6lian de Nat. Animal._\nFootnote 100:\n  _Conrad. Gesner. Hist._ p. 75.\nThe _Viper_ differs from the _Snake_ in bulk, being not so large, and\ntheir Scales more sharp, and Head more large: They also differ in this,\n_viz._ Snakes lay their Eggs, twenty, thirty, sixty, and a hundred\nsometimes, in one Nest, not quite so large as that of a Magpye (which\nare inclosed with a whitish Skin, but not with Scales) in Dunghills and\nother warm Situations, where they are hatch\u2019d by adventitious Heat,\ncommonly call\u2019d Adders in this Country; whereas Vipers make use of their\nown Matrix, and bring forth live Vipers: Their young ones come forth\nwrapt up in thin Skins, which break on the third day, and set the little\nvenemous Creatures at liberty, therefore rank\u2019d among the viviparous\nAnimals.\nTheir Births are much like young Snigs for Bulk; they generally bring\nforth about twenty young ones, but only one each day. It is observ\u2019d of\nthe Viper, that its Internals are not fetid, like those of some other\nSerpents, that are intolerable. The Eggs of _Lizard-Serpents_, which are\nso much esteem\u2019d in the _French-Islands_ of _America_, are of the same\nSize and Figure as those of Pigeons, and are generally used in all sorts\nof Sauces: When the Females lay their Eggs, they make a Hole in the\nSand, and cover them with it, and the Heat of the Sun is sufficient to\nhatch them[101].\nFootnote 101:\n  _Fevillee\u2019s Journal of the Phil. Math. and Bot. Obs._\n_ALBERTUS_ is quoted for a Battle between a Viper and a Magpye,\noccasioned by her creeping up into a Magpye\u2019s Nest, and devouring her\nBrood in the Mother\u2019s absence, who upon her Return made a hideous\nclattering, which soon brought in its Mate; whereupon both, with united\nBeaks, fell upon the Plunderer, and after a sharp Engagement demolish\u2019d\nthe Enemy.\n    Father _Fevillee_ in the Woods of the Island _Martinique_,\n    \u201cbeing frighted by a large Serpent, which he could not well\n    avoid, his Dog immediately fell on, and took the Serpent by the\n    Head: The Serpent surrounded him and press\u2019d him so violently,\n    that the Blood came out of his Mouth; and yet the Dog never\n    ceased till he had entirely tore it to pieces. The Dog was not\n    sensible of his Wounds during the Fight, but soon after, his\n    Head prick\u2019d by the Serpent swell\u2019d prodigiously, and he lay on\n    the ground as dead; but his Master having found hard by a\n    _Bananier_, which is a very watry Tree, he cured him with the\n    Juice of it, and some Treacle[102].\u201d\nFootnote 102:\n      _Fevillee\u2019s Journal of the Phil. Math. and Bot. Obser._\nThe _Viper_ is common in some parts of _France_, especially in\n_Dauphiny_ and in _Poictou_, from whence all the Vipers come that are\nsold in _Paris_. They are usually taken with wooden Tongs, or by the end\nof the Tail, which may be done without danger; for while held in that\nPosition, they can\u2019t wind themselves up to hurt their Enemy. The\nViper-Catchers have their Specificks, in which they can safely confide,\nas not to be afraid of being bitten; which they say is _the Fat of a\nViper_, immediately rubb\u2019d into the Wound, which is one of the most\nvenemous in the animal World.\nThese Vipers are usually put and kept in a Box with Bran or Moss; not\nthat these Ingredients serve to feed upon, as some may fancy; because\n\u2019tis said, _they never eat after they are taken_ and confin\u2019d, but live\non the Air, and will live so, many Months: But more hereafter. _The\nDestruction_ of Vipers by human Spittle, the Coition of the Marine with\nLampreys, the pregnant Viper biting off her Companion\u2019s Head, and the\nRevenge of it by the Younglings\u2014\u2014I place among vulgar Errors.\nII. The _Amodytes_ is a Serpent very venemous and fierce, of a sandy\nColour, black Spots, and of about a Cubit long. The Wound given by the\nFemale, the weaker Vessel, is said to be most dangerous: Its Jaws are\nlarger than the common Vipers, and from some Eminencies upon the Head,\nlike a Tuft of Flesh, is called _Cornutus_. Its Wounds prove fatal\nwithout a speedy Cure. It is found in _Lybia_, a Limb of _Africa_, and\nalso in _Illyricum_, and in some parts of _Italy_[103].\nFootnote 103:\n  _Comitatu imprimis Goritiensi invenitur._\u2014_Ray._\nThis Serpent is called _Cornutus_, a horned Beast[104]. Of this Form, is\na numerous Herd; we read, that in the _Roman_ Army was a Band of Foot\nSoldiers called _Cornuti_.\nFootnote 104:\n  _Lucan. Pharsal._ lib. ix.\nUpon the Continent of _America_ are Bulls and Cows, that have no Horns,\nsays Dr. _Ch. Leigh_\u2014\u2014who adds,\n    \u201cThe Defect of _Horns_ in these Beasts, brings into my mind a\n    remarkable Phenomenon of one _Alice Green_, whose Picture I have\n    seen in _Whalley-Abby_, in _Lancashire_. This Woman had _two\n    Horns_ which grew out of the back-part of her Head; they grew\n    backwards like those of Rams, and were about three Inches long;\n    these she cast once in three Years, and had always intolerable\n    Pains, before the Horns broke out[105].\u201d\nFootnote 105:\n      His _Natural History of Lancashire_, Book ii. p.3.\nHe might have mentioned another innocent Creature, on whose Head a\ntreacherous Companion inoculates a Scion, which intitles him to the\nTitle of Cuckold, a word derived from _Cuckows_, who having no Beds of\ntheir own, invade their Neighbour\u2019s. Of the _Cuckow_ \u2019tis said, that\nhaving no Nest, she takes possession of some other Bird\u2019s Nest, destroys\nthe Eggs, and lays in it an Egg of her own, which the innocent Bird\nbrings forth and nurses for its own[106].\nFootnote 106:\n  Dr. _Willoughby_, who writ the History of Birds, affirms this Account\n  of the Cuckow to be true upon his own Knowledge, according to Mr.\nIII. The _Cerastes_ is a Serpent of the viperine Kind; its Head\nresembles the _Cornigerous_; it belongs to the _Libyan_ and _Nubian_\nFamily: Its Teeth are like those of the Viper, and it brings its\nSuccessors into the World after the same manner.\nIts Constitution is very dry, which refines and exalts its Poison, and\nmakes it more dangerous; the Wound is generally attended with\nDistraction, and continual pricking as with Needles. Some say, \u2019tis of a\nwhitish Colour, others arenaceous; it loves sandy Habitations, where it\noften surprises the unwary Traveller: And all agree \u2019tis of a most cruel\nNature; and therefore in some Places \u2019twas made the Executioner of\nMalefactors[107], as the Juice of the _Cicuta_, (an Herb like our\n_Hemlock_) was among the _Athenians_.\nFootnote 107:\n  _Nunc potes actutum insidiatoremque Cerasten\u2014Non is corpus habet, sed\n  quatuor aut duo profert Cornua._ Nicander in Ther.\n[Illustration:\n  _Plate 1^{st}_\nSome say \u2019tis of the aspick kind, as the _Arabians_; in length a Cubit\nor more, with two Horns on the Head, resembling Snail-Shells: It lies\nperdue near travelling Paths, and is very crafty in decoying little\nBirds into the Snare.\nIts Wounds soon kill, if one of the _Psyllian_ People be not immediately\ncalled in. _N. B._ These _Psylli_ are a noted People of _Syrenaica_ in\n_Africa_, endued with a natural Faculty of destroying Serpents upon\nsight, and curing their Wounds by a Touch of the Hand of whom we have\nthis Account, _viz._ ... _Crates_ of _Pergamus_ says, that about\n_Parium_ in the _Hellespont_, there were Men, named _Ophiogenes_, who\ncured those wounded by Serpents with a Touch. _Varro_ testifies there\nwere some of them in his time.\n_AGATHERCIDES_ writes, that in _Africa_ the _Psyllians_ (a People so\ncalled from King _Psyllus_, from whom they were descended, and whose\nSepulchre is to be seen at this day in the greater _Syrtes_) did in the\nsame manner heal People wounded by Serpents. \u2019Tis said they had some\nextraordinary Quality in their Nature, that would suddenly kill all\nSerpents.\nIt was by these they tried the Chastity of their Wives, thus, _viz._\nWhen a Child was born, and its Legitimacy questionable, they laid it in\na _great Vessel_ full of these _cerastick Serpents_, that immediately\nbreathed Destruction; but when they came near the Child, their Rage\nsoften\u2019d, and they immediately fled from it; which proved the Legitimacy\nof the Child, that he was a true _Psyllian_, born in lawful Wedlock,\nbecause Serpents could not poison it, nor endure its Presence[108].\nFootnote 108:\n  _In dolium cerastarum plenum infantem conjicere_, \u00c6lian. lib. i. cap.\n  57. Gyllii Accessio, cap. 37. _N. B._ If the Child was begotten by a\n  Stranger, \u2019twas killed by Poison; if lawfully begotten, the Privilege\n  of his Father\u2019s Blood protected him against the Venom.\nHowever this romantic Account may appear, it may doubtless be\nphilosophically accounted for by Effluviums emitted from their Bodies,\nthat proved fatal to Serpents.\nThe _English_ Annotator upon _Lucan_, who was Nephew to _Seneca_,\nobserves much to the same purpose, when he says, These _Psylli_ (a\nPeople inhabiting those parts of _Africa_ called _Marmarica_, bordering\non the _Nile_) are fortify\u2019d by Nature with an incredible Privilege\nagainst the Strength of Poison, and sustain no Harm by the biting of\nSerpents.\nThe Serpents, says _Pliny_, are afraid of them, and when others are\nbitten by them, these _Psyllians_ by sucking the Wounds, cure them.\nThe _Marsians_ in _Italy_, \u2019tis said, are still in possession of this\nnatural Power against Serpents, and are supposed to descend from the Son\nof _Circe_, the famous Enchantress.\nThe Trial of Childrens Legitimacy by Serpents, puts me in mind of\nHereditary Right; whose Title was try\u2019d by the _Fatal-Stone_, on which\nthe _Irish Monarchs_ used to be inaugurated on the Hill of _Tarah_; and\nwhich being inclosed in a _Wooden-Chair_, was made to emit a Sound under\nthe rightful Candidate, when he sat in it; but was quite silent under\none who had no Title, or not a good one; that is, one who was not for\nthe Druidick Priest\u2019s Turn.\n    \u201cThis Stone was sent to confirm the _Irish_ Colony in\n    _Scotland_, where it continued to be the Coronation-Chair till\n    in the Year 1300, _Edward_ I. of _England_ brought it from\n    _Scoon_, and placed it under the Coronation-Chair at\n    _Westminster_[109]; and there it still remains, is used in the\n    Coronation, the antientest respected Monument in the World[110].\n    The Vulgar call it _Jacob_\u2019s Stone, as if this had been his\n    Pillow at _Bethel_.\u201d\n_Note_, Antique Appearances often give birth to popular Superstitions.\nFootnote 109:\n                Ni fallat fatum Scoti quocunque locatum\n                Invenient lapidem, regnare tenentur ibidem.\nFootnote 110:\n  _Island_\u2019s _Colect._ A. D. 1726.\nSuch natural Power against _Diseases_ did in our Days appear in the\ncelebrated Mr. _Greatrix_, before _whose Hand they fled_. In the\nPhilosophical Transactions we have the following Account of it, received\nfrom Eye-Witnesses,\u2014_e. g._\n    \u201c... My own Brother, _John D\u2014\u2014n_, was seized with a violent Pain\n    in his Head and Back: Mr. _Greatrix_ (coming by accident to our\n    House) gave present Ease to his Head, by only stroaking it with\n    his Hands. He then rubb\u2019d his Back, which he most complain\u2019d of,\n    and the Pain immediately fled from his Hand to his right Thigh;\n    then he pursued it with his Hand to his Knee, from thence to his\n    Leg, Ancle and Foot; and at last to his great Toe. As it fell\n    lower, it grew more violent; and when in his Toe, it made him\n    roar out, but upon rubbing it there, it vanish\u2019d.\n    \u201cA young Woman being seiz\u2019d with a great Pain and Weakness in\n    her Knees when a Girl, used divers Means to no effect: After six\n    or seven years time, Mr. _Greatrix_ coming to _Dublin_, he\n    stroak\u2019d both her Knees, and gave her present Ease, the _Pain_\n    flying downward from his _Hand_, till he drove it out of her\n    Toes; the Swelling that always attended it, did in a short time\n    wear away, and never troubled her after.\n    \u201c... A certain Gentlewoman being much troubled with a Pain in\n    her _Ears_, and very _deaf_, Mr. _Greatrix_ put some of his\n    Spittle into her Ears; which, after chafing them, soon cured\n    her, both of the Pain and Deafness.... Her Uncle was cured by\n    him of the same Malady, and in the same manner.\n    \u201c... A Child, being extremely troubled with the King\u2019s-Evil, was\n    touch\u2019d by King _Charles_ II. and was nothing better; but was\n    soon and perfectly cured by Mr. _Greatrix_.[111]\u201d\nFootnote 111:\n      _Lowthorp_\u2019s _Philosoph. Transactions abridged_, vol. iii. p.\n      10, 12. Edit. 2. Communicated by Mr. _Thoresby_, N. 256. p.\n      332. 1699. In Page 10. an account is given of the wonderful\n      Effects of Touch and Friction.\nIV. The _Hemorrhous_ Serpent is an _Egyptian_ of the viperine kind; of\nsandy and bright Colour, enamel\u2019d with black and white Rays on the Back;\nflaming Eyes, corniculated Brows, and is defended by an Armature of\nrough and sharp Scales; which by one is given as the Reason of making\nsome Noise as it goes, which another denies, because it wants the\n_Sonalia_[112].\nFootnote 112:\n  _Caret Sonalibus._ _Nierembergius_, p. 269.\nThis Creature is little in Body, but great and terrible in its\nExecutions; for when it wounds any Persons, all the Blood in the Body\nflows out, at all the Apertures of it, which is immediately follow\u2019d\nwith Convulsions and Death[113].\nFootnote 113:\n  _Gyllius_, p. 261. _Raii Synopsis Meth._ 8vo. A. D. 1693. _Invenitur\n  in \u00c6gypto & aliis locis quibus Thonis imperavit._ _ibid. & in agris\n  Jucatensibus_.\n                 At non stare suum miseris passura cruore\n                 Squamiferos ingens H\u00e6morhois.\nThe _Atlas_ from _Ribeyro_ mentions an _Indian Serpent_ of the same\nmalignant Nature, whose Poison operates with such Violence, that the\nPerson wounded by it bleeds at the Eyes, Nostrils, Ears, and all the\nPores of the Body, and the miserable Patient is irrecoverable.\nThe Poet laments the Death of the _brave and noble Tullus_[114], by this\nbloody Serpent; which is also found in _India_ (according to _Diodorus\nSiculus_) in that part where _Alexander_ the _Great_ conquer\u2019d _Porus_,\nthe _Great_ King of the _Indies_. The Conqueror bid _Porus_ ask of him\nwhatever he desired; who answered, _That he only desired to be treated\nas a Prince_: with which _Alexander_ was so charm\u2019d, that he not only\ngave him his Kingdom again, but some of the Provinces he had conquered\nin that Vicinity.\n_N. B._ On the Bank of the River _Hydaspis_, _Alexander_ built a Town,\nwhich he call\u2019d _Bucephala_, in remembrance of _Bucephalus_ his great\nHorse, which died and was buried there.\nFootnote 114:\n  _Lucan_, lib. ix. p. 269. _Impressit dentes Hemorhois aspera Tullo\n  magnanimo Juveni._\nV. The Serpent _Seps_, which by some is said to be the same with\n_Sepedon_, is about two Cubits long, the Head broad, and of divers\nColours. Both these are of the smaller Species, but most venemous, and\ntherefore are rank\u2019d in the second Class of Serpents. The Virulency of\nthe Poison is not in proportion to their diminutive Stature.\nWhen any are wounded by these venemous Animals, the Hair of the Head\nimmediately falls off, the whole Body turns scurfy, leprous and putrid;\nyea, the very Bones, as well as the Flesh, putrify and corrupt;\ntherefore some call it the _putrid Serpent_[115]. The Poet accounts for\nthe Symptoms of its Poison[116].\nFootnote 115:\n  _Nonnulli ex Scoligero, non male putriam vocare._ _Jonstonus_, p. 14.\nFootnote 116:\n  _Mors est ante oculos Seps stetit exiguus\u2014Parva modo Serpens, sed qua\n  nonnulla cruent\u00e6. Fugit rupta cutis._ Lucan Pharsal. lib. ix. p. 271.\nThese Serpents are _Asiaticks_, Inhabitants of the Rocks in _Syria_;\n_Syria_, the supposed western _Porch_ of _Paradise_. These resemble the\n_Hemorrhous_ in Colour and external Figure: According to _\u00c6lian_, they\nchange into the Similitude of the Things they light upon. He might, I\nthink, as well have said, they chang\u2019d their _Notes_ on different Trees,\nsince there is a kind of relation between _Musick_ and _Colour_, as the\nLearned _Newton_ observes.\nVI. _KOKOB_ Serpent, is between three and four Foot long, of a dusky\nColour, and made beautiful by Spots of red and light Blue. Its Wounds\nare terrible, and the Effects not very dissimilar to those of the\n_Hemorrhous_. _Nierembergius_ observes, that it resides among Stones;\nand when it rambles out, and hears any Noise, makes towards it like a\nmighty Hero. Thus the _Gallic_ Monarch, upon Debates among Princes,\nmarches out as sovereign Umpire of _Europe_, and never returns home but\nby way of _Lorrain_, _Corsica_, _Palatine_, or _Spanish Flanders_.\nVII. The _Asp_, so called from the _Asperity_ of its Skin, as\n_Arnoldus_, or from _aspiciendo_, because of the Acuteness of its Eyes.\nA Serpent well known, but not accurately describ\u2019d, says the Learned Mr.\n_Ray_: Some make it a small Serpent, others say \u2019tis several Feet long;\nand both may judge right, for according to _\u00c6lian_, there are various\nSpecies of Asps; some a Foot and half long, and others six.\nAmong these different Proportions, the least of them is said to be most\nhurtful, and kills the soonest. Its Poison is so dangerous and quick in\nits Operation, that it kills almost in the very Instant that it bites,\nwithout a Possibility of applying any Remedy: They die within three\nHours, says my learned Author[117]; and the manner of their dying by\nSleep and Lethargy, without Pain, made _Cleopatra_ chuse it as the\neasiest way of dispatching herself. (More of this further on.)\nFootnote 117:\n  _Calmet in Verbum_, p. 213.\nThese Aspick Serpents, are the Growth of several Climates: _Olaus_\nobserved some of them in the northern Parts, of rugged and rough Skins,\nash Colour, sparkling Eyes, three or four Cubits long[118]; tho\u2019 Lovers\nof warm Situations, yet delight in shady Retirements[119]. Many of them\nare found in the _Spanish_ Islands[TN]; but _Egypt_, _Libya_, and other\nPlaces in _Africa_ claim the greatest Right to them, for there they are\nmost numerous and venemous.\nFootnote 118:\n  _Jonstonus Hist. de Serp._ p. 15.\nFootnote 119:\n  Ideo _Seneca_, ad umbram exsurgere dixit.\nWhen provok\u2019d, the Neck of this Creature swells, and the Wound then\ngiven, is most dangerous. Its Teeth are of considerable length, growing\nout of the Mouth like the Tusks of a Boar. The Historian says, that two\nof the longest Teeth have little Cavities in them, covered with a thin\nSkin, that slides up when it bites, by which means the poisonous Liquid\nruns out, and drops into the Puncture; after which, it recovers its\nStation.\nIn _America_, says a celebrated Historian, are found _Asps_ with Stings\nin the Tail, wherewith they strike and kill[120].\nFootnote 120:\n  _Jonstonus Hist. Nat. de Serpentibus._ p. 15.\nThe Banks of _Nilus_ abound with _Asps_, who have Sagacity enough to\nremove their Habitations to a place of Safety, several days before that\nRiver overflows the Rising-Grounds about it: \u2019Tis also said the\n_Crocodile_ and _Tortoise_ recede with their Eggs, to a Situation not\naccessible by that mighty Flood; a Flood that makes the Land of _Egypt_,\na Region of Fertility, a Flood dreaded by these Animals, and ador\u2019d by\nthe _Egyptians_, those Sons of Contradiction, who consecrated their\nAnimals to the Gods, and then worshipped them, and upon Occasions kill\u2019d\nthem. (Can we behold such Instincts in the _Crocodile_, _&c._ without\nacknowledging the Divine Wisdom that ordain\u2019d \u2019em!) No Nation more\nknowing, and more sottish, _e. g._ Upon the Statue of _Minerva_, or the\nGoddess _Isis_, was this Inscription, _viz._ _I was she that was, that\nam, and shall be, and that am every thing_. Which being an exact\nInterpretation of the Word _Jehovah_, and the same Definition the\nAlmighty appropriates to himself, I can\u2019t, says the Learned _Jurieu_,\nconceive, how a Nation that was arrived to such a high Degree of\nKnowledge, should have worship\u2019d _Bullocks\u2014as Gods_.\n_PLUTARCH_ gives a strange relation of them, _viz._ that in case of any\nextraordinary Calamity, as War, Plague, Famine, the _Egyptian_ Priests\nused to threaten the _sacred Beasts_ most horribly: If they failed to\nhelp them, they whipt them till the Blood follow\u2019d; and if the Calamity\ndid still continue, they kill\u2019d those sacred Beasts by way of\nPunishment[121]. The Reverse of this is given us in a _Clan_ of\n_Tartars_, who, when exposed to any imminent Calamity, sacrifice their\nPriests, in order to intercede for them with the Gods in the other\nWorld.\nFootnote 121:\n  _Jurieu_ from _Plut. de Is. & Osir._\nIt has been said, that the _Asp_, when exasperated, did, with an erected\nHead, cast out of its Mouth liquid Poison; but it now appears, it darts\nit only by its Bite, or by Poison taken from it by Force, and poured\ninto a Wound made by another; and both the Wounds so made, soon\nterminate in an _easy pleasant Exit_; which is supposed to be the reason\nwhy Queen _Cleopatra_ chose this kind of Death, that is, to poison\nherself by an Aspick Dose. This reminds me of a certain Herb I have read\nof, in _Arabia_, which (according to the Tradition) _if a Man slept\nupon_, he died in his Sleep without any Pain.\nA certain learned Pen, makes this Remark upon _Cleopatra_\u2019s Case, _viz._\nthat she was not bit by an _Asp_, as some have asserted, but did that\nwhich was more secret and sure; that is, after she had bit her own Arm,\ninfused Poison into the Wound, expressed before-hand from an _Asp_ by\nIrritation, and preserved in a Phial for that purpose: Or, as _Dio_\nsays, she wounded her Arm with a Needle, or Dressing-pin, and then\npoured the Poison into the bleeding Wound. This seems probable, because\nno Serpent was found in her Chamber or near it.\nThe _Queen_, in order to find the most easy Passage out of this Life,\nmade an Experiment upon Criminals by various kinds of Poison, and\nApplication of diverse sorts of Serpents, and found nothing came up to\n_Aspick Poison_, which throws Persons into a pleasant Sleep, in which\nthey die[122].\nFootnote 122:\n  _Plutarch_\u2019s _Lives of Marc Anton._ and _Cleopatra_, and _Fr. Redi\n  Nobilis Aretini Experiment_. p. 170, -1, -2, -3.\n_Obj._ If it be said, that in the Triumphs of _Augustus_, Queen\n_Cleopatra_ is _drawn with an Asp in her Hand_:\nI answer, That I apprehend that Device might only be\n_Pictorial-Licence_, or a Flourish of the Painter to affect the People,\nby _displaying the Heroism_ of a Woman, who to prevent the Disgrace of\nCaptivity, _embraced Death at the hands of a Serpent_, a terrible\nCreature, to which none has so great an Aversion as the female Sex.\nExcuse a poetick Digression.\n                       On the ASP and its POISON.\n            \u2014\u2014_Welcome thou kind Deceiver,\n            Thou best of Thieves! who with an easy Key\n            Dost open Life, and unperceiv\u2019d by us,\n            Even steal us from our selves; discharging so,\n            Death\u2019s dreadful Office, better than himself.\n            Touching our Limbs so gently into Slumber,\n            That Death stands by, deceiv\u2019d by its own Image,\n            And thinks himself asleep[123]._\u2014\u2014\nFootnote 123:\n  _Dryden_, _All for Love_.\nSome are of Opinion, that the _Asp_ is _David_\u2019s _deaf Adder_, Psal.\nlviii. 45. _They are like the deaf Adder that stops her Ear, which will\nnot hearken to the Voice of Charmers, charming never so wisely._ They\nare like the _deaf Asp_, says the _Hebrew_ and the _Septuagint_. The\nword in the Original is [124] _Pethen_, q. d. _Unpersuadedness_; hence,\nwicked Men are called \u0391\u03c0\u03b5\u03b9\u03b8\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2 in the _New Test._ unpersuadable, which\nthe _English_ Translation renders _Disobedient_, Tit. i. 16.\nFootnote 124:\n  \u05e4\u05ea\u05df . \u03c9\u03c3\u03bf\u03c5\u03b9 \u03b1\u03c3\u03c0\u03b9\u03b4\u03bf\u03c2 \u03ba\u03c9\u03c6\u03b7\u03c2.\nThe common Tradition is, that when Men by Inchantments and Charms have\nattempted to take these Serpents, they stopt one Ear with the Tail, and\nthe other was either deaf, or made so by laying it close to the Ground.\nSome are of Opinion, that there is a sort of _Asp_ that really is deaf,\nwhich of all others is the most dangerous, and is meant by the _Royal\nProphet_ here.\nThat there was a Practice of charming Serpents by some Art or other, so\nthat they could neither _bite_ nor _sting_, seems evident from the\nsacred Writings, _e. g._ Eccl. x. 11. _Surely the Serpent will bite\nwithout Inchantment._ Jer. viii. 17. _I\u2019ll send Serpents, Cockatrices,\namong you, that will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, says the\nLord._\nAmong other Things the word _Charmer_, some say, signifies _one_ that\nconjoins and consociates; that is, that by Sorcery gather\u2019d Serpents\ntogether, and made them tame and familiar; or the _Person_ may be so\ncall\u2019d, because by _Magick Art_, he associated with _Demons_, the Lords\nof Serpents.\nWe are inform\u2019d by History, of some, who have summoned together a\nhundred Serpents at once; but by what method, I leave the Reader to\njudge. _Montanus_, a famous Physician, and Professor at _Padua_ in\n_Italy_, says he saw this Coadunation of Serpents.\nThe learned Doctor _Casaubon_ tells us, he had seen a Man, who from the\nCountry around him, wou\u2019d draw Serpents into the Fire, which was\ninclos\u2019d in a magical Circle: When one of them, bigger than the rest,\nwould not be brought in, upon repeating the aforesaid Charms, it\nsubmitted to the Flames.\nWe read of a famous Charmer at _Saltsburgh_ in the Circle of _Bavaria_;\nthat, when (in sight of the People) he had charm\u2019d a great Number of\nSerpents into a Ditch, where he kill\u2019d them; there came a Serpent of\ngreat Bulk, supposed to be the Devil, that leapt upon the Charmer, and\nimmediately slew him[125].\nFootnote 125:\n  Doctor _More_\u2019s Antidote.\nAnswer me, says _Paracelsus_, (the celebrated _Swiss_ Physician, who did\nwonderful Cures by Liquids extracted from Vegetables) from whence is it,\nthat a Serpent of _Helvetia_, _Algovia_, or _Suevia_, does understand\nthe _Greek_ Idiom, _Osy, Osya, Osy_; that they should, at the first\nSound of these Words, _stop their Ears_, remain immoveable, and do us no\nhurt with their Poison? From whence he infers, there was a Power in\nWords to operate upon the Ear, without Superstition. The Antients seem\nto have entertain\u2019d some favourable Thoughts of the _Power of Spells_\nupon Serpents: Their Poets speak often of these Charms and Incantations.\n         _Frigidus in pratis cantando rumpitur anguis._ Virgil.\n         _Vipereas rumpo verbis, & carmine fauces._ Ovid.\n         _Ingue pruinoso coluber distenditur arvo\n         Viperes co\u00ebunt abrupto corpore nodi\n         Humanoque cadit serpens afflata veneno._ Lucan.\n_PHILOSTRATUS_ describes particularly how the _Indians_ charm\nSerpents\u2014they take a Scarlet-Coat embroider\u2019d with golden Letters, and\nspread it before the Serpent\u2019s Hole; and these golden Letters have a\nfascinating Power over it, and therewith its Eyes are overcome and laid\nasleep[126].\nFootnote 126:\n  His Life of _Apollonius Tyan\u00e6us_, writ at the Desire of the Empress\n  _Julia_, lib. 3. cap 2.\nIf we consider the strange Things done by _Force of Words_, so much\nextoll\u2019d in Antiquity, it will be no wonder to see _Letters_, out of\nwhich _Words are form\u2019d, made the Rudiment and first Study of human\nLife_: But as to the _Mode of Operation_ by _Words_, the Learned are not\nagreed.\nSome say, there is a natural Virtue and Efficacy in Words, and appeal to\nthe _notable Feats_ done by _Force of Eloquence_. This was the favourite\nStudy and View of _Orators_; in this they triumph\u2019d, and never wanted\nAcclamations and loud Applauses.\nIn _Plutarch_, we have, among others, one remarkable Instance, _viz._\n_C\u00e6sar_, upon the Accusations brought in by _Tubero_ against _Quintus\nLigarius_ (_Pompey_\u2019s Friend) he was resolved to sacrifice that Rebel,\ntill he was charm\u2019d by the _Words_ of the _Orator_ that pleaded in his\nfavour\u2014No sooner did _Cicero_ begin his Oration in his defence, but\n_C\u00e6sar_\u2019s Countenance chang\u2019d, and his Indignation begun to soften ...\nbut when the Orator touch\u2019d upon the Battle of _Pharsalia_ (where\n_C\u00e6sar_ was Conqueror) _C\u00e6sar_\u2019s Heart tender\u2019d, his Body trembled with\nJoy, and certain Papers in his Hands dropt to the ground.\u2014And when\n_Cicero_ had finish\u2019d his Oration, _C\u00e6sar_\u2019s Wrath against his Enemy was\nintirely extinguish\u2019d; and _Ligarius_ was set at liberty[127]. The same\nOrator, by the Dint of Eloquence, overthrew the Constitution of the\n_Decemviri_.\nFootnote 127:\n  _Plutarch_\u2019s Life of _Cicero_.\nOthers say, there is a mighty Force in Words in such a _Tone_, and\n_Talismanical Characters_, rightly-adapted Figures, and Images _under\ncertain Constellations_[128].\nFootnote 128:\n  _Paracelsus_, _C. Agrippa_, Life of Mr. _Duncan Campbell_, _A. D.\n  1720_, page 256. _Gaffarel._\nSome affirm that _Magick_ consists in the _Spirit of Faith_, for _Faith_\nis the _Magnet of Magicians_, by which they draw Spirits to them, and by\nwhich Spirits they do wonderful Things, that to vulgar Eyes appear like\nMiracles. No doubt but several extraordinary Effects have been ascrib\u2019d\nto the Devil, that in reality were natural, and artfully disguised: The\nStory of Sieur _Brioche_, a famous Puppet-player, is well known, who in\na Town in _Switzerland_, where that _Show_ had never been seen before,\nhe was apprehended as a Warlock or Magician, and ran the hazard of being\npunish\u2019d as such[129].\nFootnote 129:\n  _De Saint Andre_\u2019s Letters.\nOthers affirm, that _Charms by Words_ are but means to heighten the\nImagination; and the strange Effects produced by \u2019em, flow\u2019d only from\nthe Activity of an exalted Thought, or Fancy of heated Brains. In proof\nof this \u2019tis said, that if a Woman at a certain Season, strongly fix her\nImagination upon any particular Object, the Child will bear the Image\nthereof.\nI think \u2019tis pretty obvious, that those extraordinary Impressions made\nby _Pagan Sophists_ upon the Minds of their Audience by the Charms of\nRhetorick, past for a _divine Afflatus_ or _Inspiration_; and therefore\nin such Cases, we shall find this _Formula_ (_Aliquis nescio quis Deus_)\nfrequently used by Enthusiastical _Orators_, as well as their _Poets_:\nThus _Cicero_, speaks of himself, that he was mov\u2019d by a certain\n_Impetus_ or Ardour[130]: _Apollonius Tyan\u00e6us_, who was looked upon by\nthe Christians as a notorious Magician, being ask\u2019d by the Governor of\n_Rome_ under _Nero_, what was his Profession? he answer\u2019d, \u03b8\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2, an\nEnthusiast, _q. d._ Fanatic, Conjurer.\nFootnote 130:\n  _Nulla ingenti, sed magna vis animi inflamantis ut me ipse non\n  teneam._\n\u2019Tis true, that wonderful Things have been done by Words, but how\n_verbal Charms_ operated upon _Serpents_, wants Explication: Of some\nInchanters \u2019tis said, that by vocal and instrumental Sounds, they have\ncharm\u2019d Rats, Mice and Serpents, some into a stupid State, and others\ninto a flexible submissive State.\nA remarkable Instance in _Rats_ we have in the publick Records of\n_Hamelen_, (an antient City on the River _Weser_ in _Germany_, about 28\nMiles S. E. of _Hanover_) where the following strange Account is\nregister\u2019d, _viz._\nThat in _June 26. 1284_, a certain Stranger undertook to destroy an Army\nof Rats with which the Town had been long pester\u2019d, on promise of such a\nReward; and immediately playing on his _Pipe_ and _Tabret_, the _Rats_\nmarch\u2019d out, and follow\u2019d the Musick to the River, where they were all\ndrown\u2019d: But being denied the Reward, he threaten\u2019d Revenge; and next\nday he went about with the same Musick, and most Children in the Town\nfollow\u2019d the Piper to the Mouth of a great Cave on a neighbouring Hill\ncall\u2019d _Koppelberg_, where he and they entered, and were never heard of\nafter.\nIn remembrance of this _sad Catastrophe_, the Citizens for many Years\nafter, dated all their publick Writings _from the Day they lost their\nChildren_, as appears by their old Deeds and Records: They still call\nthe _Street_ thro\u2019 which the Children went out, _Tabret-street_; and at\nthe Mouth of the Cave there is a Monument of Stone, with a _Latin_\nInscription, giving the Particulars of this tragical Story.\nAs to the other Instance, _viz._ Serpents charm\u2019d into a ductile\nmanageable State, \u2019tis thus accounted for; _viz._ Serpents, they say,\nare strangely influenced by the Smell of those Emanations, proceeding\nfrom the _Cornus_, or Dog-tree (why not the _Cornelian-Cherry_,\nantiently dedicated to _Apollo_?) and that by a Wand or Rod taken from\nit, they are thrown into an obsequious Temper\u2014\n    \u201cWhen touch\u2019d by a Rod from that Tree, they are immediately\n    intoxicated, but so as to be able to follow the Motion of the\n    Rod; but whether by reason of some great Disproportion or\n    Incompossibility, between these subtile Effluvia and the\n    Temperament of the vital, spiritual Substance of the Serpent, or\n    by what other way, we are not told[131]. The Sassafras-tree, a\n    Native of _America_, is call\u2019d _Cornus_ also, whose Wood is very\n    odorous and fragrant.\u201d\nNow, say these Gentlemen why should it seem impossible, that he who\nunderstands this invincible Enmity, and how to manage a Rod of the\n_Cornus_ with Cunning and Dexterity (having first intoxicated a Serpent\nby the Touch thereof) should during that Fit make it observe, and\nreadily conform to all the various Motions of the Wand, so as that the\nunlearned Spectators, perceiving the _Serpent_ to approach the\n_Inchanter_, as he moves the Wand near to himself, or to retreat from\nhim, as he put the Wand from him, or turn round and dance as the Rod is\nmov\u2019d to and fro, or lie still as in a Trance, as the Rod is held still\nover it; and all this Time, the People knowing nothing of the Virtue in\nthe Rod, are easily deluded into a Belief, that the whole Scene is\nsupernatural, and the main Energy radiated in those Words or Charms,\nwhich the Impostor with great Ceremony and Gravity of Aspect mutters\nforth, the better to disguise his Legerdemain, and dissemble Nature in\nthe colour of a Miracle.\nFootnote 131:\n  _Charlton._\nThe Rattle-snakes in _America_ are said to secure their Prey by\nIncantation; for they have the Power or Art, (I know not which to call\nit, says my Author) to charm Squirrels, Hares, Partridges, or any such\nThing, in such a manner, that they run directly into their Mouths: This\nI have seen, adds he, by a Squirrel and one of the Rattle-snakes; and\nother Snakes have in some measure the same Power[132].\nFootnote 132:\n  Natural History of _Carolina, A. D. 1711_. page 129.\nIt is allowed indeed, that there are _dumb Creatures_ that do exceed Man\nin some _sensible Perceptions_, particularly in that of _Smelling_, as\nthe _Harriers_, and other Dogs. How strange, that Odours from the Hare\u2019s\nBody, Should so affect the Nose of a Hound, as to raise in him that\nSensation or Scent, by which he follows her all the Day (tho\u2019 he never\nhad a Sight of her) thro\u2019 a Cloud of Opposition, from perplexing\nintricate Places, and Effluviums proceeding from other Animals!\nThese Emanations are exceeding fine Effluvia, or Particles flying off\nodorous Bodies in all Directions; and as they float in the Air on the\nSurface of the Earth (within their Atmosphere) strike against the Dog\u2019s\nNose, and produce that Sensation of Smell.\u2014_N. B._ The Intensity of\nSmell in all Creatures, is in proportion to the Density or Thickness\nwhere we are: This Density is always diminish\u2019d in proportion to the\nSquares of the Distances from the odorous Body.\nYea, a little Cur, by the Power of Smelling, can find out his Master\namong Thousands, will trace his Steps thro\u2019 Crouds in Fairs and Markets;\nyea, throughout a whole Country. Our Histories inform us of Dogs in some\nparts of this Island, that being put upon the Scent, would pursue a\nThief and a Murderer; and if he cross\u2019d a River, would smell where he\nentered, and swim after him; and when arrived at t\u2019other side, would\nhunt about till they found where he landed, and then run on, till they\novertook the Criminal.\nIn Animals is a sulphurous or oily Matter, so attenuated and subtiliz\u2019d\nas to become volatile, which is denominated a Spirit: Now that there is\nsuch a Spirit in Man, and a peculiar one too in every Man, is evident\nfrom these Dogs, which will pursue the Game by their Nose, and follow\ntheir Master\u2019s Track, and distinguish it precisely; yea, tho\u2019 a thousand\nother Persons had past the same way.\nIt must be by meer Force of Smelling, that the Dog is able to do this,\nthat is, to distinguish his Master from all Men by the Instrumentality\nof his Nose.\nTherefore there must be some specifick Matter exhaled from the Master\u2019s\nBody, which the Dog can perfectly distinguish from the various Effluvia\nflowing from all other Persons.\nThe Dog must exceed us, in that he can thus exactly discern his Master,\nby these subtile, oily, or sulphurous Effluvia, which no human Nose was\never able to do.\nWe find the like Spirit in the Hound, who when put in the Track which a\nDeer has lately been in, will follow the Steps of that Deer thro\u2019 all\ncross Paths of a thousand others, and at last single out that individual\nDeer among a whole Herd of those Animals.\nIn _Scotland_ are a sort of Dogs (in Colour generally red and spotted\nwith black, or black with red) of extraordinary Sagacity, being, as \u2019tis\nsaid, put upon the Scent, will pursue Thieves with Success; and the Use\nof them has been authorised by the Magistrate\u2014\u2014_Nullus perturbet aut\nimpediat canem trasantem, aut homines transentes cum ipso ad sequendum\nlatrones aut ad capiendum malefactores_.\n    _N. B._ _Trasantem_ is a Word latiniz\u2019d from the old _French_\n    _Tracer_ or _Trasser_, signifying to follow by the Track.\nIf any shou\u2019d suggest, That this derogates from the Wisdom and Goodness\nof the Creator, who has given to some Beasts stronger Perceptions,\nNerves more exquisitely fine and delicate than he has bestow\u2019d upon Man:\nI answer, this is so far from derogating from divine Wisdom and\nGoodness, that it is an admirable Instance and Illustration of both; for\nwere our olfactory Nerves susceptible of such quick Sensations as Dogs\nand some other Animals, we shou\u2019d be continually annoy\u2019d with\npestiferous Fumes and Exhalations, so as not only to render most\nSituations troublesome, but even Life it self miserable and wretched.\nSuch quick Sensations may be very useful to carnivorous Animals, so as\nto direct them to their Prey, but to human Beings it wou\u2019d be very\nvexatious, if not pestiferous and deadly. I shall only add to this\nDigression, a short Hint about the _Magic Art_, the most surprising of\nall Arts, and in its first Appearance most innocent and useful.\nAmong the antient _Chaldeans_, _Babylonians_, and _Persians_, where the\nArt-magic was first and principally cultivated, it signified no more\nthan _Wisdom_ and hence the _Sophi_, or Wisemen of the _Greeks_ were by\nthem call\u2019d \u03bc\u03b1\u03b3\u03bf\u03b9 that is, _Magicians_; who being acquainted with many\nof the hidden Powers of Nature, directed them in such manner, as to\nproduce Effects, whose Causes being unknown to the _Vulgar_, were\nattributed to _D\u00e6mons_.\nHence the Art in process of Time came into Disrepute, and Magicians have\nbeen censur\u2019d, as working by Compact with the Devil: But this is\ninvidious; for in the Gospel we find, the _Magi_ or _Magicians_, are\nsaid to come _from the East to_ Jerusalem, _saying, where is he that is\nborn King of the_ Jews? _for we\u2014are come to worship him_. No body can\nimagine this to be understood of those that have been called\n_Sorcerers_, _Wizards_, _Conjurers_, _Witches_ or _Magicians_, in the\nmodern Sense of that Word[133]; for those who were familiar with the\nDevil, would scarce come to enquire after him, who came to destroy his\nWorks.\nFootnote 133:\nThe Notion of Witches in the Days of Ignorance and Superstition, was\nvery prevailing in this Island, but of late Years has undergone a\nparliamentary Excommunication; though the _Lancashire_ Witches, who are\nconstituted of the fairer Part of the fairer Sex, triumph even over our\nSenators, and will maintain their fascinating Charms, while their rival\nBeauties, the Sun and Stars endure.\nWe read of a certain King of _Egypt_, who having assembled his _Magical\nPriests_ without the City _Memphis_, caus\u2019d them to enter where the\nPeople were gather\u2019d, by Beat of Drum: All of them made some miraculous\nDiscovery of their Magic and Wisdom. _One_ had his Face surrounded with\na Light, like that of the Sun, so bright that none could look earnestly\nupon him.\nAnother seem\u2019d as if enrob\u2019d with precious Stones of diverse Colours,\nred, green, yellow, or wrought with Gold.\nA third came mounted on a _Lion_, compass\u2019d with _Serpents_, like\nGirdles.\nThe next came in with a Pavilion, or Canopy of Light, distended over his\nHead.\nAnother entered surrounded with Flames of Fire, turning about him; so\nthat none durst come near him.\nAfter _him_ appeared one with dreadful Birds, perching about his Head,\nand shaking their Wings like Vulturs and black Eagles.\nThe _last_ made his Appearance with an Army in the Air, marching before\nhim, of winged Serpents and terrible Personages.\u2014\u2014In fine, every one did\nwhat was taught him by the Star he served; and, after all, the whole\nScene was but an Apparition and Illusion, according to their own\nConfession to the King, when the Farce was over[134].\u2014\u2014Something\nanalogous to this are the Magick Lanthorns in our days.\nFootnote 134:\n  This Passage is taken out of the _Egyptian_ History of the Pyramids\u2014by\n  _Murtadi_ the _Arabian_, printed at _Tibe_, a City in _Arabia_, 14th\n  of _Regebe_, 992; which corresponds to _July_ 22d, 1584; about 156\n  Years ago; translated into _French_, and into _English_, 1672.\nIn antient times, the Word _Magician_ generally signified _Men of Wisdom\nand Learning_, i. e. of superior Knowledge in Things natural and divine,\nand more especially in that sort of Learning relative to the Sun, Moon,\nand Stars, as we learn from _Porphyry_, _Apuleius_, and others. And\nseeing the inspired Apostle gives them that Name (_Magicians_) not as a\nMark of Infamy, but a Title of Honour, therefore does the _English_\nTranslation stile them _Wisemen_, such as the old _Greeks_ called \u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03bf\u03b9,\n_Sages of their Time_[135]. How, and how far this Art is degenerated, I\nrefer to the Judgment of the Learned: We see there are Revolutions in\nWords, as well as in Families and Kingdoms; a _Magician_ being formerly\na _Wise-man_, as well as a Knave an honest one. _Sed tempora mutantur._\nFootnote 135:\n  _Boerhaave_\u2019s New Theory, p. 211.\nI shall only add to the _Aspick Subject_, the Tribute of Veneration paid\nto this poisonous Animal in the Land of _Egypt_. The Historian speaks of\na certain Person, who, in digging, happened unawares to cut an Asp with\nhis Spade, and went mad upon it,\u2014was taken into the House of _Serapis_,\nan _Egyptian_ Idol,\u2014the Relatives of the Patient praying the _Spectrum_\nof that Serpent might be destroyed,\u2014\u2014which being accordingly done by\nMagick Art, the Man was cured.\u2014\u2014By this we see, how highly _Asps_ were\nvenerated among the _Egyptians_, who not only suffer\u2019d them to live, but\nto live in their Houses, where they were carefully fed, as Favourites of\nthe Family[136]. And Queen _Cleopatra_\u2019s Case was not singular, for the\n_Persian_ Kings kept an exquisite Poison by them, made of the Dung of an\n_Indian_ Bird, which would kill without putting them to pain, that they\nmight use it themselves in case of any Disaster[137].\nFootnote 136:\n  _Circurantur cibo, cum infantibus vivunt, & crepitum digitorum vocata\n  ex cavi prodeunt._ Jonstonus, p. 16.\nFootnote 137:\n  _Atlas, Asia._\n_DEMOSTHENES_, who slew his Soldier, when he was asleep, was a merciful\nExecutioner; a kind of Punishment the Mildness of no Law has yet\ninvented. It is strange that _Lucan_ and _Seneca_ made no discovery of\nit.\nSleep is a kind of _Death_, by which we may literally be said to _die\ndaily_; and in this Sense, _Adam_ may be said to die before his final\nExit.\nVIII. I now proceed to the Serpent _Scytale_; the Name is borrowed from\nthe _Greek_ Word \u03c3\u03ba\u03c5\u03c4\u03b1\u03bb\u03b7, a Staff, or any thing like a Cylinder, of a\nlong smooth round Form; the Body of this Serpent being in shape equally\nround, like a Rolling-Stone, with very little Variation in the\nExtremities of it.\n[Illustration:\n  _Plate 2^d._\nIt forms a beautiful Prospect, being an Aggregate of most charming\nColours, (therefore call\u2019d the Painted Serpent by _Mantuanus_.) It may\nbe view\u2019d without danger, because slow in its Motion. \u2019Tis an Error in\n_Lucan_ to attribute its Slowness to a Design of enticing Spectators, if\nit be not _Poetica Licentia_.\nWhen released from its Winter-Confinement, the first thing she does,\nsays the Historian, is to refresh her languid Body with Fennel-Leaves;\nbut does not tell us what is done, in case that Herb can\u2019t be readily\nfound. It must indeed be allowed, that wild Fennel is a common Herb of\nthe Field, and well known and of Use in Physick[138]. The Poet observes,\nthat no Snake casts her Coat in Winter, but the _Scytale_[139].\nFootnote 138:\n  _\u00c6lian_, _Gyllii Accessio_.\nFootnote 139:\n  _Et Scytale sparsis etiam nunc sola pruinis Exuvias positura\n  suas._\u2014Lucan\u2019s Phars.\nThis Serpent being adorned with beautiful Colours, excuse a short\nDigression upon the Doctrine of Colours in Natural Bodies. Know then,\nColours are the Children of Fire and Light.\nI. _Where there is Light, there is Fire_; and Fire shews itself to be\npresent by Light. The Sensation of Light is produced when the Particles\nof Fire, directed by the Action of the Sun, reach the Eye in right\nLines. Now, Fire thus entering the Eye, gives a Motion to the optic\nFibres at the bottom of the Eye, and thus excites the Idea of Light.\nII. _FIRE discovers itself by Colour_; for all Colours depend upon\nLight, and Light depends upon Fire; and different Colours appear in\nNatural Bodies, as their Surfaces are disposed to reflect this or that\nsort of coloured Rays more than others. Colour is a Property inherent in\nLight.\nColours therefore are not connate with Natural Bodies, which are all of\nthe same Hue in the dark. To this the Poet alludes, when he makes\n_Darkness the Destruction of Colours_[140].\u2014Colours are only in the Rays\nof the Sun: In Natural Bodies is a Quality or Power to reflect the Light\nfalling upon them, which striking the Eye, produces in the Spectator the\nSensation of Colour.\nFootnote 140:\n  _Rebus nox abstulit atra colores._\u2014Virgil.\nClouds often appear very beautifully coloured; they consist of aqueous\nParticles, between which Air is interspersed; therefore, according to\nthe various Thickness of those aqueous Particles, the Cloud will be of a\ndifferent Colour[141].\nFootnote 141:\n  _Boerhaave_, _Gravesand_.\nIX. _AMPHISB\u00c6NA_ Serpent, so called from \u03b1\u03bc\u03c6\u03b9 _&_ \u03b2\u03b1\u03b9\u03bd\u03c9 _Biceps_, a\nMonster with two Heads. This is a small and weak Creature, equal in Bulk\nto a little Finger, and about a Foot long, of a whitish or terraceous\nColour; of the oviparous Family, of small Eyes, no otherways visible\nthan the Prick of a little Needle; lives much under ground, and is often\nfound by digging; feeds upon Ants. Under this Head, the Historian\nmentions three Serpents, _viz._\nThe _Brasilian_, that has two Heads, and moves as a Crab[142].\nFootnote 142:\n  _Acosta._\nThe _Taprobanensian_, with four Heads; and he who believes it must have\na four-headed Faith.\nThe _Hungarian_; of which elsewhere.\nThe same Historian adds, that the marine _Amphisb\u00e6na_, taken in the\n_English_ Sea, has two Heads. _Ibid._ _Pliny_, _\u00c6lian_, _Lucan_,\n_Mantuan_,\u2014affirm it has two Heads; _Matthiolus_ denies it, _Hesychius_\nis doubtful. Mention is made of a Serpent found near _Chipping-Norton_,\nnot far from _Oxford_, having two Heads, and Faces like Women; one being\nshaped after the new Tyre of that Time; the other was habited after the\nold Fashion, and had great Wings resembling those of the Flinder-Mouse\nor Bat[143]. This happened in the Reign of _Edward_ III.\nFootnote 143:\n  _Stow_\u2019s Annals, _London_, printed, 1631.\nA _Spanish_ Author says, that in _Chiapa_ he found a two-headed Serpent,\n18 Inches long, in the Form of a _Roman_ T, and very venemous; it does\nnot only kill, adds he, by its Bite, but if any tread upon that part of\nthe Ground over which \u2019twas just gone, it proves fatal[144]. The Poet\nalso subscribes to two Heads[145].\u2014\u2014If this two-headed Serpent has slain\nits Thousands, there is a certain metaphorical three-headed Serpent on\nthe Banks of _Tyber_, that has slain its Ten Thousands.\nFootnote 144:\n  _Antonio de Herrera_\u2019s History of _America_.\nFootnote 145:\n  _Et gravis ingenium surgens caput Amphisb\u00e6na._\u2014Lucan, p. 270.\nPerhaps the Reason of ascribing two Heads to this Serpent, might be,\nbecause it is said to poison by the Tail and Teeth. Others say, both\nEnds are so like in Figure and Bulk, that they are not easily\ndistinguished.\nIt seems probable to me, that this Serpent, like some Insects or Worms,\nhas a double Motion, _antrorsum & retrorsum_, which made some of the\nAntients conclude it had two Heads; one in the usual Situation, the\nother in the Extremity of the _Cauda_. Its Body is of equal Thickness,\nand recommended to the View by various and delightful Spots[146].\nFootnote 146:\n  _Conrad. Gesner._ _\u00c6lian._ _Columella_, lib. vi.\nWe read of this Serpent in _Gothland_, where it comes forth in the\nSpring before all other Serpents, being more able to encounter the cold\nAir[147]. Some Authors tell us, that its Skin wrapt about a Stick,\ndrives away all Serpents; which I place among the Tales of Antiquity.\nFootnote 147:\n  _Olaus Magnus Hist._ B. xxi.\nThis Serpent is found in the _Lybian Deserts_, and also in the Island of\n_Lemnos_, in the _\u00c6gean_ Sea. The Puncture made by its Wounds is so\nsmall, that it can scarcely be discerned, yet terminates in a dreadful\nInflammation and a lingering Death.\n_ERASMUS_ was puzzled about the Sense of that _Greek_ Proverb \u1f51\u03b4\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2 \u03b5\u03bd\n\u03c6\u03b9\u03b8\u03c9, _hydrus in dolio_, a Serpent in the Hogshead: The Meaning of it,\nsaid an Interpreter of Dreams, is this: A certain Person had a Vessel of\nWine, that was constantly diminishing, tho\u2019 carefully lock\u2019d up; the\nReason of which he could not account for, till he empty\u2019d the Vessel, at\nthe bottom of which he found a Serpent rioting in Wine[148].\nFootnote 148:\n  _Conradus Gesner._\nPerhaps as good an Interpretation may be this, that there was Venom in\nthe Cask (of which the Serpent was an Emblem) to all those who rioted in\nthe Bowls of Excess. Not so, says a Son of _Bacchus_; for\n                 _The thirsty Earth soaks up the Rain,\n                 And drinks, and gapes for Drink again.\n                 The Sea itself, which one would think,\n                 Should have but little need of Drink,\n                 Drinks Ten thousand Rivers up._\u2014\u2014\n                 _The busy Sun, and one would guess\n                 By\u2019s drunken fiery Face no less,\n                 Fill up the Bowl then, fill it high,\n                 Fill all the Glasses there, for why,\n                 Should every Creature drink, but I?\n                 Why, Man of Morals, tell me why?_[149]\nFootnote 149:\n  _Cowley_\u2019s Anacreon.\nSome of the Poets have thought this _Amphisb\u00e6na_ to be the _Hydra\nLern\u00e6a_, the many-headed Serpent, that was very terrible to the adjacent\nCountry, and slain by _Hercules_: When one Head was cut off, many others\nsprung up; so that there was no way to destroy the Monster, but by\ncutting off all the Heads with one Stroke.\nTho\u2019 there be no _Amphisb\u00e6nick_ Animals, there is some Resemblance of it\nin Plants, whose _Cotyledon_ is always double, and in the common Centre\nof the two, is a Point or Speck, which is the Plantule, or the Tree in\nEmbryo; which Plantule being acted on by the Earth, warmed by the Sun,\nbegins to expand, and shoots its Root both upward and downward. Thus, in\na Bean committed to the Ground, we soon see it to cleave into two Parts,\nand in the Fissure appears a little Speck, which sends out a Root\ndownwards, and a Bud upwards.\u2014A remarkable Ph\u00e6nomenon, says the Note on\n_Boerhaave_\u2019s Theory.\nX. Among Serpents, Authors place _Dragons_; Creatures terrible and\nfierce in Aspect and Nature. They are divided into _Apodes_ and\n_Pedates_, some with Feet, and some without them; some are privileged\nwith Wings, and others are destitute of Wings and Feet: Some are covered\nwith sharp Scales, which make a bright Appearance in some Position. Some\nhave observed, that about the _Ganges_, are Dragons whose Eyes sparkle\nlike precious Stones.\nThey differ in external Form: The _Draconopades_ are represented by a\nhuman Face, and sightly Countenance; the rest of the Body in a tortuous\nwinding Shape. In one of Dr. _Johnson_\u2019s Figures, a Dragon is made to\nappear like a Man\u2019s Face, with a Grenadier\u2019s Cap on the Head. Some\ndiffer in Colour, some are black in the upper Part of the Body,\naccording to _Philostratus_; red, according to _Homer_; yellow,\naccording to _Pausanias_; and _Lucan_ makes it a golden Colour[150].\nFootnote 150:\n  _Philostratus de Vita Apol._ lib. iii. cap. 2. _Homer._ _Iliad_, lib.\n  12. _Lucan._ _Pharsal. in Jonstoni Historia Serpentum_, p. 33, 34.\nThe same Historian observes, that in the _Atlantick_ Mountains, they\nkill where they touch, and those that are in the Kingdom of _Narsinga_,\nand dwell in the Woods, kill all they meet. _Ibid._[151]\nFootnote 151:\n  _Unde quidam in arbores & chamo dracones distinxere._\nI presume, the Author means _Narsinga_, a potent Kingdom, bounded on the\nEast with the Bay of _Bengal_, that noble Part of _India_, says\n_Herbert_[152]; where the Monarch is always attended with 1000 for his\nGuards, has 5 or 6000 Jesters, and reckons it one of his chief Titles to\nbe the Husband of a Thousand Wives.\nFootnote 152:\n  His Travels into _Africa_ and _Asia_, the famous Empires of _Persia_\n  and _Indostan_,\u2014Oriental Islands.\nDragons are Inhabitants of _Africa_ and _Asia_; those of _India_ exceed\nmost in Largeness and Longitude: In the Tower of _London_, is the Skin\nof one, which is of vast Bulk. In _\u00c6thiopia_, they have no Name for\n_Dragons_, but _Killers of Elephants_, which is supposed to be the\nlargest of Land-Animals.\nOver the Water-gate in the City of _Rhodes_, there is set up the Head of\na _Dragon_, which was 33 Foot long, that wasted all the Country, till it\nwas slain by _Deodate de Gozon_, one of the _Knights of St. John\nBaptist_[153]. The _Knights of that Order_ had frequently attack\u2019d it,\nbut in vain; for its Scales being proof against all their Arms, it\ndestroyed so many of them, that the Grand-Master forbad them to engage\nthe Monster any more.\nFootnote 153:\n  _Atlas Geog. Anatolia_, p. 43, -4. From _Tavernier_ and _Du Mont._\n_GOZON_, who, after several dangerous Onsets escaped with his Life,\nresolved to make another Trial by Stratagem; perceiving it was no where\nvulnerable but in the Eyes and Belly, contrived the Resemblance of a\nDragon by a Machine of Pastboard, of equal Bulk with the Dragon, and by\ncertain Springs made it leap like a true Dragon: Having trained up a\nCouple of fierce Dogs to attack it at the _Belly_, he went out privately\none Morning, well-armed on a managed Horse with his Dogs, and rode up to\nthe Den, from whence the Dragon leaped furiously at him: In the\nEncounter, the Dogs laid hold on his Belly, and forced him to lie down;\nupon which the valiant Knight alighted, thrust his great Sword several\ntimes into his Throat, and soon killed him: Upon which the Spectators\ndrew near, and with great difficulty sever\u2019d the Head from the Body, and\nlugged it into the Town in Triumph.\nThe Conqueror was degraded for the sake of Form, because he had violated\nthe Grand-Master\u2019s Order; but was immediately restored, and soon after\nwas elected Grand-Master himself; he died in the Year 1335, and on his\nTomb were engraven these Words, _Draconis Extinctor_; _The Destroyer of\nthe Dragon_.\nIn the Life of _Attilius Regulus_ (the _Roman_ General in the War\nagainst the _Carthaginians_) is described a Dragon of prodigious Bulk\nnear the River _Bagrada_, that annoyed all the Country round, without\nRemedy. Several Devices were formed to destroy it, but without effect,\ntill the Military _Poss\u00e9_ was called in, who discharged the _Engines of\nWar_ against it with Success: And so great was this Deliverance, that an\n_Ovation_, or a small Triumph, was publickly made at _Rome_ for the\nVictory.\nXI. The _Pythian_ Dragon, so called from its being the Guardian of the\n_Delphick_ Oracle: Its Eyes are large and sharp, and the Body painted\nwith Variety of Colours, as red, yellow, green and blue, and furnished\nwith Scales that are resplendent, well compacted and hard. It has been\ncalled _Deucalion\u00e6us_, because in the Language of Ignorance, it was\nproduced from the Mud left by the _Deucalionian_ Deluge: a Serpent of\nprodigious Bulk.[154]\nFootnote 154:\n  _Jonstonus._\n_PYTHON_ is also taken for a prophetick Demon, by St. _Luke_[155].\u2014_As\nwe went to Prayer, a certain Damsel possest with a Spirit of\nDivination_, (having the Spirit of _Pytho_, according to the _Greek_)\n_which brought her Masters much Gain by Sooth-saying_, that is, by\nPredictions, telling of Fortunes. _Python_ of the _Greeks_ is supposed\nthe _Typhon_ of the _Phenicians_, and the _Ph\u0153nician Typhon_ to be _Ogg_\nKing of _Bashan_, and _Apollo_ that slew it, to be _Joshua_. _Apollo_ is\ncalled _Pythius_ from this Serpent, or from some notorious Tyrant of\nthat Name, slain by him, as the antient Geographer observes. So _Gesner_\nfrom _Pausanias_. The Priestess of _Apollo_, that delivered the Sacred\nOracles, was called _Pythia_ and _Pythonissa_. This _Pythonick_ Spirit\namong the Gentiles, was esteemed as a God, and by _Juvenal_ is styled\n_Vates_, a Prophet.\nFootnote 155:\n  _Act._ xvi. 16.\u2014\u03a0\u03bd\u03b5\u03c5\u03bc\u03b1 \u03a0\u03c5\u03b8\u03c9\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2.\nThe Priestess that delivered the Sacred Oracles, was called _Pythia_,\nfrom _Apollo Pythius_, and must be a pure Virgin. Most of the Fathers of\nthe Church were of opinion, that it was the Devil gave the Answers,\nwhich were generally dubious, a Sign of his Ignorance about Futurity.\nOne _\u0152nomaus_, a certain Pagan Philosopher, highly resenting it, that he\nhad been so often befooled by the Oracles, speaks to _Apollo_ thus\u2014\n    \u201cWhen we come to consult thee, either thou knowest Things to\n    come or not. If thou knowest them, why dost not thou speak so as\n    to be understood? If thou knowest not, why dost thou pretend to\n    it? If Things necessarily come to pass, why dost thou amuse us\n    with Ambiguities?[156]\u201d\nFootnote 156:\n      _Eusebius._\n_F. BALTHUS_, a learned Jesuit, and _F. Bouchet_, say there were real\nOracles, and such that can never be attributed to Priests and\nPriestesses; and that the Devil still gives Oracles in the _Indies_, and\nthat not by Idols, which would be liable to Imposture, but by the Mouths\nof Priests, and By-Standers; and that the Devil becomes mute, in\nproportion as the Gospel prevails.\u2014\u2014\n    \u201cIt is generally believed among the more Learned, that the Pagan\n    Oracles were mere Frauds and Impostures, and calculated to serve\n    the political Views of Princes, and covetous Ends of Pagan\n    Priests.\u201d\nAccording to the learned _Bayle_, they were meer human Artifices; and he\nis seconded by _Vandale_ and _Fontenelle_. But to return to the Oracle\nat _Delphos_, which was very antient and much in vogue before the\n_Trojan_ War: The Situation of the Place, where People were made to\nbelieve God spoke, was at the Mouth of a certain Cavern, whence they\nreceived their Intelligence. The Prophetess sat upon a _Tripodium_, a\nthree-footed Stool, assisted in her Function by divers Priests.\nUnder her Seat, \u2019tis said, that some time there appeared a Dragon,\nthrough whose Throat Responses were audibly deliver\u2019d, with a loud and\nstrong Voice: According to _Eusebius_, a Serpent rolled itself about the\nTripod, on which the Priest sat.\nOf all Oracles, that of _Apollo Pythius_ at _Delphos_, in the _\u00c6gean_\nSea, was the most celebrated, and consulted as the _dernier Resort_ by\nthe Princes of those Times; yea, all the _Greeks_ resorted thither for\nCounsel in Matters of Importance. At the first opening of that _Oracular\nOffice_, Answers were given to the Querist in Verse; but upon People\u2019s\nridiculing the Poorness of the Verification, the Oracle fell to Prose.\n\u2019Tis strange, that what they made a _God_, could not make a _good\nVerse_, but not strange to see the old Serpent adhering to its first\nScheme of Politicks, by making the weaker Vessel the Vehicle to convey\nhis strong Delusions to the World.\nSome of these Draconick Serpents excel in the Sensations of Hearing and\nSeeing, as well as in the Art of Killing; and therefore a _Dragon_ was\nmade the _Conservator_ of their _Treasures_ and _Curiosities_; e. g.\n_Mauritania_ in _Africa_, was famous for the Gardens of the _Hesperides_\n(so called from three Sisters and Daughters of King _Hesperius_) that\nproduced _Golden Apples_, and were guarded by a _Dragon_, which\n_Hercules_ having killed or charm\u2019d into a profound Sleep, he robbed the\nGolden Orchard.\nThe Rod of _Moses_, \u2019tis said, _was turned into a Serpent_. The\n_Syriack_, _Arabick_, and _Septuagint_ Translations, say, twas turned\ninto a _Dragon_; and so the Rods of the Magicians became _Dragons_.\nXII. The _Basilisk_ or _Cockatrice_, is a Serpent of the Draconick Line,\nthe Property of _Africa_, says _\u00c6lian_, and denied by others: In shape,\nresembles a Cock, the Tail excepted. Authors differ about its\nExtraction; the _Egyptians_ say, it springs from the Egg of the Bird\n_Ibis_; and others, from the Eggs of a Cock: Other Conjectures about its\nDescent, being as ridiculous, I forbear to mention them. Nor are they\nagreed whether it more inclines to the black or yellow Colour; nor are\ntheir Sentiments less various about its Stature.\nIt is gross in Body, of fiery Eyes, and sharp Head, on which it wears a\nCrest, like a Cock\u2019s Comb; and has the Honour to be stiled _Regulus_ by\nthe _Latins_, the _Little King of Serpents_; and \u2019tis generally supposed\nto be terrible to them. The Sight of this Animal, and Sound of his\nVoice, puts them to flight, and even to over-run their Prey[157]: Yea,\nTradition adds, that his Eyes and Breath are killing; that is, I\npresume, when he grasps the Spoil. Several dreadful things are\nattributed to his venemous Qualities, so sing the Poets[158].\nFootnote 157:\n  _Sibilo ejus reliquos terreri & pr\u00e6dam derelinquere._\n[Illustration:\n  _Plate 3^d._\nFootnote 158:\n             Tam teter vacuas odor hinc exhalat in auras,\n             Atque propinquantes penetrant non segniter artus.\n             Ante venena nocens, late sibi submovet omne\n             Vulgus, & in vacua regnat Basiliscus arena.\nAccording to _Pliny_ and other antient Historians, this Serpent in its\nMotion, inclines to the Erect; it goes half upright, the middle and\nposterior parts of the Body only touching the Ground. The Venom of the\nBasilisk is said to be so exalted, that if it bites a Staff, \u2019twill kill\nthe Person that makes use of it; but this is Tradition without a\nVoucher[159].\nFootnote 159:\n  _\u00c6lian. Gyllii Accessio_, cap. xviii. p. 247. _Jonstoni Historia\n  Natural. Serp._ p. 34, 35.\nThe reason why this Serpent is dubb\u2019d _King_, is not because \u2019tis larger\nin bulk than others of the Fraternity, or because it wears a Crown, or\nbecause that Title seems to be recognized by a divine Prophet, who\nspeaking of _Ahaz_ and his Son _Hezekiah_, says, _Out of the Serpent\u2019s\nRoot shall come forth a Cockatrice, and his Fruit shall be a fiery\nflying Serpent_. The _Hebrew_ expresses it by a word, that Signifies a\n_Prince_ or _King_, but not with a View to Empire over the serpentine\nRace.\nBut \u2019tis most probable, that the royal Stile is given to this Serpent,\nbecause of its _majestic Pace_, which seems to be attended with an Air\nof Grandeur and Authority. It does not, like other Serpents, creep on\nthe Earth; which if it did, the sight of it would not be frightful, but\nmoving about, in a sort of an erect Posture, it looks like a Creature of\nanother Species, therefore they conclude \u2019tis an Enemy. Serpents are for\nUniformity, therefore can\u2019t endure those that differ from them in the\nMode of Motion.\n\u2019Tis said of this Creature, that its Poison infects the Air to that\nDegree, that no other Animal can live near it, according to the\nTradition of the Elders famous for magnificent Tales. These little\nFurioso\u2019s are bred in the Solitudes of _Africa_, and are also found in\nsome other Places, and every where are terrible Neighbours.\nThe crown\u2019d Basilisk leads me to _Ovid_, who, speaking of Man\u2019s erect\nPosture, says \u2019tis a Mark of Distinction due to the Excellencies of the\nhuman Mind:\n           _A Creature of a more exalted kind\n           Was wanting yet; and then was Man design\u2019d,\n           Conscious of Thought, of more capacious Breast._\u2014\u2014\n2. And partly as an Ensign of Royalty, some Characters whereof\nNaturalists have observed in some other petty Principalities; such as\nthe Crown on the Dolphin, Diadem on the Basilisk, the Lion\u2019s stately\nMane, which serves as a Collar of Honour.\u2014\u2014\nBut Man, being vested with an universal Monarchy, walks upon the Earth,\nlike a Master in his own House.\nXIII. The _C\u00e6cilia_ or _Typhlinus_, the blind Worm, as the _Greek_ word\nimports; not that it wants Eyes, but because they are so little, that he\nmust be furnish\u2019d with good Optics that can discern them: And the Ear\nalso is as remarkably dull, therefore call\u2019d by the _Greeks_\n\u03ba\u03c9\u03c6\u03b9\u03b1\u03c2[160]; of a brown Colour, full of Spots, variegated: The Belly is\nblackish, the Neck sky-colour\u2019d, garnish\u2019d with certain black Spots:\nHead like a Lamprey, and is as free from Poison: Little Teeth, a forked\nTongue, and may be handled without hurt[161].\nFootnote 160:\n  _Quasi surdaster, quod hebetis sit auditus._\nFootnote 161:\n  _Nicander_ calls it \u03b1\u03c0\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03bd, quod nullam noxam inferat. _Jonstonus_,\nThis Serpent seems to resemble those People which we call _Myops_, _i.\ne._ Mouse-eyed, or purblind, which happens when the Eye is so _convex_,\nthat the Rays of Light unite, before they come to the _Retina_, which\nmakes the Eye also look small, whence the Name[162].\nFootnote 162:\n  From \u03c4\u03c5\u03c6\u03bb\u03bf\u03c9 exc\u00e6co, \u03ba\u03c9\u03c6\u03bf\u03c9, exsurdo.\nThe _C\u00e6cilian Serpent_ is about a Foot long, and distinguishable from\nour common Serpents by the Form of its Body, which is almost of the same\nCrassitude, excepting two or three Inches at the extremity of the Tail.\n_Conradus Gesner_ tells us, his Wife struck one of these Serpents on the\nHead, when \u2019twas pregnant, and it immediately cast forth its young[163].\nFootnote 163:\n  _Gesner_, p. 36. _\u00c6lian._\nXIV. The _Cencris_, or _Cencrina_ is a spotted Serpent, and very\nvenemous; denominated from _Milium_, a small Grain call\u2019d Millet-feed;\nto which Historians compare the Spots wherewith this Serpent is adorn\u2019d:\nFor the same reason, a certain Species of the _Herpes_, that is, a\ncutaneous Distemper, which is a kind of spreading Inflammation, (and is\nlike Millet-feed on the Skin) is called _Miliary_: And by some, this is\ncalled the _Miliary Serpent_[164].\nFootnote 164:\n  _Ab aliquibus Miliaris appellatur._ Jonstonus, p. 20.\nThis Serpent is compared by _Nicander_ to a _Lion_; either for _Cruelty_\nin thirsting after Blood, or for its _Courage_, which appears in all its\nAttacks. How furious in all its Wars, offensive and defensive! always\nfighting, Lion-like, with an _erected Tail_: Which leads me to a\nDigression about the _Turkish Standard_, which is a _Horse-Tail\nerected_: The Original of that Custom was this, _viz._ One of the\n_Turkish Generals_ having his Standard taken in a Battle with the\n_Christians_, and perceiving his Men discouraged by the loss of it, he\ncut off a _Horse-Tail_, and fastening it to the top of a _Half-pike_,\nadvanced it on high, crying out, _This is the great Standard, let those\nthat love me follow it_: Upon which his Men rallied, fought like\n_Lions_, and obtained the Victory[165].\nFootnote 165:\n  _Tavernier._\nBut to return to the Serpent, which moving in a direct Line, goes fast,\nbut being of great Bulk, can\u2019t suddenly wind about[166]: Circumvolution\nis the way to avoid its Menaces. \u2019Tis commonly found in the Island of\n_Lemnos_ (the old _Dipolis_, and now the _Stalimene_ of the _Turks_) and\nalso in _Samothracia_, an Island in the _Archipelago_, a Province\nanciently famous for the _Dii Cabiri_, that is, _certain Gods_\nworshipped by the _Samothracians_ and _Phenicians_, and had in such high\nVeneration, that it was a Crime to mention Names so sacred among the\nPeople[167]. Some say they were God\u2019s Ministers, others think they were\nDevils.\nFootnote 166:\n  _Et semper recto lapsurus limite cencris._ Lucan. Pharsal. p. 269.\nFootnote 167:\n  _Bochart Geogr. Sacra_, lib. i. cap. 12.\nXV. The _Acontia_[168], called by the _Latins_, _Serpens Jacularis_, and\nby some, the Flying Serpent, because of the Celerity of its Motion. In\n_Lemnos_ \u2019tis call\u2019d _Sagittarius_, the Bowman or Archer. By the modern\n_Greeks_, _Saeta_, a Dart; for it flies like an Arrow at its Prey[169].\nA certain Person in _Cato_\u2019s Army call\u2019d _Paulus_, was slain, not by the\nPoison, but the Violence of its Blow[170]: Probably on the lateral part\nof the Scull.\nFootnote 168:\n  \u0391\u03c0\u03bf \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 \u03b1\u03ba\u03bf\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2, quod, jaculi instar, se vibret.\nFootnote 169:\n                     Rumpat & Serpens iter institutum\n                     Si per obliquum similis sagitt\u00e6\nFootnote 170:\n               \u2014\u2014immisit (jaculum vocat Africa,) serpens\n               Perque caput Pauli transacta tempora fugit\n               Nil ibi virus egit: rapuit cum vulnere fatum.\n               _Lucani Pharsalia_, lib. ix. p. 273.\nAuthors are not agreed about its Dimensions. _Ambrosinus_ speaking of\none he had seen in the _Bononian Mus\u00e6um_, says, \u2019tis about the thickness\nof a Staff, and about three Foot long: It is found in _Egypt_, its\nWounds are dreadful, being attended with Putrefaction and Defluxion of\nthe Flesh.\nThat which _Bellonius_ saw, was three Palms long, or sixteen Inches and\na Finger\u2019s Breadth. _N. B._ _Palmus_ stands for two different Measures;\n_Palmus major_ contains twelve Fingers; _Palmus minor_, four Inches.\nIt lies in wait under Bushes, from whence it rushes out unawares, and\nflies like an Arrow at Passengers: Before it leaps at the Prey, it lies\non the Ground, and turns itself round, to give the greater spring to the\nMotion, by which she\u2019ll do execution at twenty Cubits distance[171].\nFootnote 171:\n  _Jonstonus_, p. 20, 21.\nThese nimble Leapers are found among the _West-Indians_, especially in\n_Hispaniola_, where there are little Serpents in green Apparel, that\nhang by the Tail on the Branches, from whence they suddenly leap upon\ntheir Prey. Among the _Sab\u00e6ans_ are some cloathed in red, four Inches\nlong, that thus leap upon Men unawares; and hurt, not only by striking,\nbut touching.\nThis Serpent resembles the Ash in Colour, inclining to the white. It\ntraverses the _Lybian_ Provinces, where it makes travelling dangerous:\nIt is also found in the Island of _Rhodes_; an Island on which, the\nPoets tell us, _Golden Showers are rain\u2019d_, and where the Air is never\nso clouded, as to hinder the Light of the Sun. It appears also in\n_Norway_, according to _Olaus Magnus_.\nOne tells us, that he was inform\u2019d by one _John Vitus_, a learned\n_Hungarian_, that there were in that Country _little Serpents_ about six\nInches long, and without a Tail, therefore called by the Vulgar, the\n_curtail\u2019d Serpent_, the whole Body is much of an equal Thickness; and\nthese, upon View of their Prey, leap upon it with the Swiftness of an\nArrow[172].\nFootnote 172:\n  _Conrad. Gesner. in Verbum._\nXVI. The _Druina Serpent_ from \u03b4\u03c1\u03c5\u03c2, an Oak, by _Scaliger_ called\n_Querculus_; it takes its Name from the Oak, in whose hollow places it\nseems to reside; and to which, it retires for Refuge, when assaulted by\nHornets.\u2014\u2014Some credulous Authors have said, that these Serpents take up\ntheir hybernal Lodgings about the Roots of the _Beach-trees_, and by\nVirtue of the Warmth, which those Roots derive from them, that Tree, so\nenhappy\u2019d, flourishes all Winter.\nThis Serpent is of the amphibious kind, and a most venemous Creature,\ntherefore rang\u2019d with the first Order of the serpentine Race. \u2019Tis of\nmonstrous bulk[173], guarded by a rough squammatick Armour, in the\nCavities of which, \u2019tis said, little Flies build their Nests. Whether it\nappears in white or blue Habit, is not material, nor do I see what\nHonour it gets by wearing a Coronet on its Head.\nFootnote 173:\n  It is a Load for a Porter.\nIn the Language of Tradition, to tread upon it, will cause an\nExcoriation in the Foot, (tho\u2019 no Wound be given) and a Tumor in the\nLeg; yea, adds the Traditionist, the Hands that attend the Patient, will\nbe in danger of losing their Skin: But he who believes all the Fables of\nAntiquity, is in more danger of losing his Reason.\nThe Druinical Serpent goes under various Denominations. \u2019Tis said to\nfollow the _Acontia_ in Authors, because its Figure exactly quadrates\nwith _Bellonius_\u2019s dart Serpent; and _Scaliger_ was in the same\nSentiment[174].\nFootnote 174:\n  _Jonstonus_, Articul. xiii. p. 21.\nBut I shall only mention that of _Chersydrus_, from _Nicander_ in\n_Jonstonus_, p. 28. or _Chelydrus_, called by some a _Sea-Snail_; which\nthe learned Sir _Hans Sloane_ describes thus\u2014\u2014\n    \u201cThat it is more flat than most of the cochlean Marines,\n    consisting only of Circumvolutions, round the Axis of the Shell;\n    of a fine purple Colour.\u201d\nHe calls it _Cochlea Marina_[175], and not without reason, because of\ntheir difference in Magnitude.\nFootnote 175:\n  His Voyage to _Jamaica_, vol. i. p. 34.\nThe terrestrial _Druina_ lives upon Frogs, and other Insects; many of\nthem are found in _Africa-Interior_, and the _Hellespont_ by\n_Constantinople_. It is a fetid Animal, and sends forth an ill Scent,\nespecially when its Body is wounded[176].\nFootnote 176:\n  _\u00c6lian._ _Gyllius._ _Gesner._\nThis Serpent exceeds most in bulk, and loudness in hissing, which\nresembles the Cry of _Sheep_ and _Goats_, ibid. _Gyllius_ makes the\n_Druina_ to be the _Chelydrus_, described by the Poet, who makes it a\n_Calabrian_[177]: Of which, more in another place.\nFootnote 177:\n                 \u2014\u2014_Nidore chelydros\n   Est etiam ille malus colubris in saltibus anguis\n   Postquam exhausta palus._\u2014Virg. Georg. l. iii. This is applied also\n      to the _Hydrus_.\nXVII. The _Elops_ or _Elaphis_ of the Antients, which some confound with\nthe _C\u00e6cilia_, as _Jonstonus_ observes: It is of the amphibious Sort,\nand known at _Lemnos_, where \u2019tis call\u2019d _Laphiati_ by the Natives. In\n_Aldrovandus_\u2019s Study, _Ambrosinus_ saw the Picture of this Serpent,\nwhich was about three Foot long; the Belly is of a yellow Colour, the\nBack is brown, and distinguishable by three black Lines[178].\nFootnote 178:\nThere is a _marine Elope_, an Animal counted sacred by the Poets, a Set\nof merry Mortals, famous for turning every thing into a _God_, or\n_Ridicule_. The Historian mentions a certain Fish so called, that upon\nany loud Noise made on Land near the Shore, would immediately hasten\ntowards the Place, as if it would see who durst rival _Triton_ in Sound;\n_Triton_, Herald of _Neptune_, Sovereign of the Sea.\nXVIII. The _Pareas_ or _Parvas_, is a Serpent of a fiery Colour, sharp\nEyes, wide Mouth, two Feet situated near the Tail, by which its Motion\nis guided[179]: It is called the Serpent of _Esculapius_, being of a\ngentle, innocent, friendly Nature. In _Italy_ they frequent Houses, and\nare no more dangerous than common Eels; and if provoked to exercise\ntheir Teeth, there is nothing venemous in the Bite. This is supposed by\nsome to be the _Italian Baron_: One of its commendable Properties is,\nthat it devours poisonous Serpents; and therefore is sacred to the\nMysteries, and highly esteem\u2019d in the Temple of _Dionysius_.\nFootnote 179:\n  _Et contentus, iter cauda sulcare Pareas._ Lucan. Phars. 270.\n_Gesner_[180], from _Albertus_ says, it goes as it were upright, on its\nTail, not perpendicularly upon the sharp End, but on that Part of the\nBody joined to the Tail: It is bred in _Syria_, _Alexandria_, and in the\nEast, _&c._ These Serpents are known also in _Spain_ and other temperate\nRegions, and every where esteemed Enemies to hurtful Serpents, and\nFriends to Mankind; therefore were consecrated to the divine\n_Esculapius_, that great and glorious Exemplar of Humanity.\nFootnote 180:\n  _Quasi totus erectus graditur super caudam._ l. v. p. 65.\nXIX. The _Dipsas_ or _Dipsacus_ is a little venemous Reptile of the\nAspick kind[181], less than a Viper, but kills sooner; and is most\nremarkable in this, that when it bites, the Poison brings an\nunquenchable Thirst on the Person affected, who finding no Relief, runs\nto the Water, and drinks till he bursts asunder[182].\nFootnote 181:\n  Some make it of the viperine Sort. One calls it, _Vipera siticulosa.\n  Vipera sitem facientes._ Avicenna. Conrad. Gesner, p. 42. _Inter\n  aspidem & viperam_, says another. _Ibid._\nFootnote 182:\n  _Accessio Gyllii_, cap. 47.\nThe Poetick Historian observes, how _Aulus_, an Ensign-bearer in the\n_Roman_ Army in _Africa_, was slain by this Serpent; at first he felt\nlittle or no Pain from the Bite, but as soon as it began to operate, he\nwas immediately scorch\u2019d to death[183]. _Galen_ calls this Serpent\n_Diabetes_, and _\u00c6gineta Dipsacus_, from the incurable Thirst that\naccompanies its Bite: By others \u2019tis called _Situla_, because of the\nburning Heat caused by the Wound.\nFootnote 183:\n                Torta caput retro Dipsas calcata momordit.\nIt is about a Cubit in Length, lives in salt Marshes and shallow Waters;\nit dwells in _Arabia_, _Rhodes_, _Africa_, especially in _Lybia_, where\nsome Branches of the venemous Family live on Camel\u2019s Flesh, and Locusts\ndried in the Sun. The more hot the Climate, the more terrible the Wound,\nas it is in that hot Country, where they have no Springs, but a few salt\nWells, which increase the animal Appetite of Thirst. The learned\n_Venetian_ makes the Serpent _Dipsas_ an _Hieroglyphick of illicit\nLove_, the Poison of which will, without timely Repentance, excite the\nThirst of _Dives_, who wanted a Drop of Water to cool his scorched\nTongue[184].\nFootnote 184:\n  _Joannis Pierii Valeriani Bellunensis Hieroglyphica, inter\n  Collectanea_, p. 34. _Titulus_, _Amoris ignes_.\nXX. _Common Snake._ These Serpents in their Summer-rambles haunt among\nBushes, mossy Grounds, uliginous and unfrequented Situations. In a\nsultry Day they may be seen basking themselves in the Sun, near their\nApartments: The Sight of a Person puts them to flight; and upon a close\nPursuit of them, they make a Stand, raise up their Heads to a\nconsiderable Height, and oppose the Enemy with a loud and angry Hiss. No\nDanger is apprehended from their Bite, and they are handled with\nImpunity.\nThis Species of Serpents resembles the _Esculapian_, that has been fed\nin some Families; and when provoked to use the Teeth, the Danger is no\nmore than that from a Bee, whose Weapons are defensive, and not employed\nwithout Provocation: In Winter they retire into subterraneous Spaces,\nwhere they lie dormant, till the vernal Sun invites them out.\nThough they propagate as Vipers, it does not appear that they sit on\ntheir Eggs, as most oviparous Animals do; for we often find a Brood of\nyoung Serpents in old Hedges and Dunghills, and no visible Sign of a\ncommon Passage to and from the Nest.\nXXI. The _Elephantia Serpents_ are those whose Wounds cast People into a\nLeprosy or Roughness of Skin, like that of an Elephant: Hence Leprosy\nproceeding from inward Disorders, is call\u2019d _Elephantia_ or\n_Elephantiasis_, which is a cutaneous Disease, makes the Skin scurfy and\nrough, in Colour resembling that of an Animal, that in Bulk and\nIntelligence is superior to all four-footed Beasts.\n_Elephants_ in _India_ are said to be about 12 Foot high, and of a\nMouse-colour, the Skin not only rough, but hard, so hard, that it is not\npenetrable by a Sword; their Eyes like those of Swine; two Teeth hang\nout beyond the rest, which are Ivory.\nA memorable Instance of this gigantick Creature\u2019s Understanding, we had\na few Years ago at _Newcastle_ in _Staffordshire_, where a Man\ntravelling with an _Elephant_ for a Show, one Morning conducting that\nCreature to water, happened to pass by a Taylor\u2019s Shop, that was working\nat an open Window, and so near it, that the _Taylor_ had the _Courage_\nto prick him with his Needle: The Beast did not then seem to resent the\nAffront, but when he returned from the Water, which he having artfully\nmuddled, took into his Trunk; as he came back by the Taylor\u2019s Window,\nspouted it in his Face, which very much disobliged a Piece of\nScarlet-cloth on his Table.\n[Illustration:\n  _Plate 4^{th}._\nThat Elephants are subject to Wrath and Revenge, is evident from other\nInstances: _e. g._ We read of an Elephant, that when he was brought into\na certain Theatre, saw, as he pass\u2019d along, a Keeper of wild Beasts,\nsitting in the Market-place, whom he suddenly killed: And that the\noccasion of this Revenge was, because the said Keeper about ten Years\nbefore had struck him with a Sword in that same Place[185].\nFootnote 185:\n  _Michael Glycas_\u2019s Annal. par. 1. in the Memoirs of the Royal Society,\nAnd _Acosta_ writes, that a Soldier in the Town of _Cochine_, had thrown\nthe Kernel of a Nut at an Elephant, which the Animal took up and\ncarefully hid: Some Days after, the Elephant seeing the said Soldier\npass by, threw it in his Face, and went away leaping and dancing.\n_Ibid._\nIn that same Town, another Soldier, meeting an Elephant and his Keeper,\nwould not give way to them: Whereupon the Keeper complained to the\nElephant of the Affront, who some days after, standing on the River\n_Mangata_, which runs through the Town, and seeing that sturdy Soldier\nstand idle, ran hastily towards him, lifted him upon his Trunk, and\nplunged him several Times in the River; after which, he drew him out,\nand left him where he found him. _Ibid._\nXXII. The _Scorpion_ is one of the Inhabitants of the World in\nMiniature; though a little Insect, yet is reckoned to be one of the\nchiefest among stinging Animals, whose Poison in different Regions is\nless or more dangerous, as it is exalted by various Degrees of Heat. It\nhas eight Legs, and two large Claws, resembling those of a Lobster, and\na Body like a Crab or Craw-fish: They are of various Colours, as red,\nwhite, yellow, black: They differ also in their Size and Kinds, as the\nmarine, terrestrial, reptile, winged, hurtful and innocent.\nSome are of the Bigness and Length of a Man\u2019s Finger, not much longer\nthan a _Beetle_ or a black Fly: Those known to us are of a brown Colour,\nthe Back composed of Joints resembling those of a Crab, but more\ncrustaceous.\nAuthors differ about the Tail, whether it be knotty or not; but all\nagree, that it is furnished with a terrible Sting, worse than the\nknotted Whip. Many Places produce _Scorpions_ of the minute Sort, not\nmuch exceeding the Length of a large Bean.\nOthers are more bulky, as those at _Jerusalem_, and all about _Syria_,\nnot unlike our little fluvial Crabs for Bigness, which they call\n_Gambari_.\nIn the _East-Indies_ are large Scorpions of the winged Kind; so in\n_Egypt_, where it is reported they are armed with two Stings[186].\nFootnote 186:\n  _Conradus Gesner in Verbum_, p. 4.\nIt is observable, these large Scorpions taking their Flight against the\nWind, sometimes drop down, and so are taken by the Country People, and\nperhaps sent to scorpionize other Kingdoms.\nThe _Sea-scorpion_ is a flying Animal, and of a red Colour, whose Flesh\nis good, and much better than what they call _Scorp\u0153na_, that affects\nmuddy Water and moorish Habitations.\nThere is a vast Spread of these venemous Animals over the World, both of\nthe winged and creeping Kind, in the Eastern and Southern Climates. Some\nof them move with Tails somewhat erected, others trailing on the ground;\nand are thought to be more dangerous than the former: The Coal-black\nScorpion is accounted the most hurtful; \u2019tis said, that in many Places\nin _Persia_, the Inhabitants dare not sleep in Ground-rooms, for fear of\nthese little plaguy Creatures, the most terrible of all Night-walkers:\nOf which more elsewhere.\nA certain Historian informs us of stimulating Scorpions that infest\n_Cashan_ in _Parthia_: They are of small Size, not strong in Body, but\nvery terrible in their Wounds, there being the greatest Malignity in\ntheir Stings; upon which is grafted this proverbial Curse in that\nNation, _May a Scorpion of_ Cashan _sting thee_[187]: But _Chardin_,\n_Tavernier_, and others, place _Cashan_ in _Persia_,\n    \u201cwhere they are very much infested with Scorpions at all\n    Seasons, but especially when the Sun is in that Sign, which is\n    one of the twelve Signs in the _Zodiack_; so that \u2019tis become,\n    says another Historian, a Curse, _May the Scorpions of_ Cashan\n    _sting thy Gulls_.\u201d\nThis occasions every one to be provided with _sovereign Remedies_\nagainst them, which is a Piece of _Copper-money_ they put upon the\nWound, take it off 24 Hours after, and apply a Plaister of Honey and\nVinegar. The _Holstein_ Ambassadors say they are very black, of the\nLength and Thickness of a Man\u2019s Finger, and run faster than Crab-fishes,\nwith their Tails always erected[188].\nFootnote 187:\n  _Herbert_\u2019s Travels, Book ii. p. 13.\nFootnote 188:\n  Duke of _Holstein_\u2019s Ambassadors Travels into _Persia_, _sparsim_.\nWe read of a certain Emperor of _Persia_, who designing to make a Tour\ninto _Media_, durst not undertake the Journey, for the vast Quantity of\n_Scorpions_ lying in the Road: So that he was obliged to detach a great\nNumber of stout Fellows to destroy those pestiferous Animals, promising\na superior Reward to them that kill\u2019d most: Till this Execution was\nover, he durst not venture his dignified Carcass abroad. The _Scythian\nScorpions_ are of the large Size, and terrible when they shoot their\nStings.\nIn _Madagascar_, a large _African_ Island, are several Sorts of\nScorpions, particularly _Water-Scorpions_, that lie in the Marshes and\nstanding Waters, which are very mischievous, killing Dogs and Beasts,\nand then sucking their Blood. There is another Sort of Scorpions with a\ngreat round black Belly, that are very dangerous; for those whom they\nstrike immediately swoon, and some for two Days are weak, and cold as\nIce. The only Remedy they have, is that used against Serpent\u2019s Wounds,\n_viz._ to set the Patient by a great Fire, and giving him Antidotes to\nexpel the Poison, which proves a Cure[189].\nFootnote 189:\n  _Atlas Geograph. Asia_, from _La Croix_.\nIn _Italy_, _Land-Scorpions_ are call\u2019d _Scurtificio_, because they have\ntheir Poison _nel-pizzo_, in the Extremity of their Tail. Among the\n_Germans_, _pizzo_ is _sharp_, as _spits als een naalde_, pointed as a\nNeedle: The Country people bring them in Sack-fuls to _Florence_, and\ntake them out with naked Hands, as if they were so many Eels, which\nsupposes them to be of the innocent Kind, like those _white Scorpions_\nin _Pharos_, a little Island in the Mouth of _Nilus_, where there is\nplenty of these pacifick Animals, who offer no Violence to their\nNeighbours. Mention is made of other Provinces where they live and hurt\nno body[190].\nFootnote 190:\n  _Fran. Redi opusculorum, pars prior._\nBy the _Spaniards_ the _Scorpion_ is call\u2019d _Alaicran_, from an Island\nin _America_, called the _Island of Scorpions_, for the numerous\nMultitude that ravage the Place. In _Brasil_ is a vast Number of\n_Scorpions_, and some four or five Foot long, in Shape like those of\n_Europe_; but not so venemous: Some of them chuse to kill themselves\nrather than die by the Hands of an Enemy. A certain Gentleman who made\nthe Trial observes, that a Scorpion being surrounded with a Circle of\nburning Coals, chose to sting itself to Death rather than be burnt.\nIn _Ceylon_ in the _East-Indies_, they have many Species of Serpents;\nas,\nXXIII. The _Pimbera Serpent_, whose Body is said to be as big as a Man\u2019s\nMiddle, and in Length proportionable. The Creatures of this Kind secure\ntheir Prey, even horned Beasts (which sometimes are pretty large) by a\nsort of a Peg, or _pointed Hook_, that grows upon the Extremity of the\nTail: They are slow in Motion, and therefore skulk in hollow Places; and\nwhen they have taken the Spoil, tho\u2019 horned, they swallow it alive, and\nwhole; which often proves fatal, because the Horns may gore the Belly.\nMore, further on.\nXXIV. The _Noya Serpent_ is another ill-natur\u2019d _Indian_, about four\nFoot long, will stand with its Body half upright two or three Hours\ntogether, thereby displaying an Air of Majesty: The Inhabitants call it\nthe _King\u2019s Snake_.\nTheir Poison in that Part of the Country operates variously: Some after\nthey are bitten, fall into a profound Sleep, and without speedy Help die\nin about six Hours time: Others grow distracted, and if neglected die in\ntwenty-four Hours, and bleed at all the Pores of the Body, and are\nirrecoverable: Of which before[191].\nFootnote 191:\n  _Atlas Geogr. Asia._\nXXV. The _Polonga Serpent_ is five or six Foot long, and a most venemous\nCreature, destroying all manner of Animals that fall within its Circuit,\nas well as Men, Women and Children. When the _Noya_ and _Polonga_\nSerpents happen to meet, a bloody Battle ensues; they fight till one be\nkill\u2019d, and then the Conqueror eats up the slain.\nXXV. The _Cobres Capellos_, Sea-serpents from eight to ten Yards long,\nare most dangerous Beasts and frequently kill People in that\nCountry[192].\nFootnote 192:\n  _Ibid._ from _Baldeus_.\nWhen _Alexander_ was in the _East-Indies_, he and his _Macedonians_ were\nstrangely alarm\u2019d by an Army of Serpents that sallied upon \u2019em from the\nWoods, which would soon have destroy\u2019d them, but for the Humanity of a\n_Native_, who directed them to a certain Herb that cured their Wounds,\nand saved them from Ruin[193]. The same Historian adds, that in those\ngreat Deserts, frequent and terrible Scuffles happened between Elephants\nand Serpents about Water, when they met at a Spring, and it so fell out\nsome time, that both perish\u2019d; for the Serpent roll\u2019d it self about the\nElephant\u2019s Leg by several Folds, who finding himself wounded, falls\ndown, and in falling often crushes his Enemy to death. _Ibid._\nFootnote 193:\n  _Diodor. Siculus._\nIn _America_ is a vast variety of Serpents, and some of prodigious\nDimensions; in particular, they are very numerous and large in\n_Cordillera_, i. e. _Andes_, or high Mountains of _Chile_, which\nMountains, _Antonio de Herrera_ calls a Prodigy of Nature, not to be\nmatch\u2019d in the kind: They are two Chains of high Mountains, about 1500\nLeagues in length: In that spacious Region are Adders red as blood,\nseven or eight Foot long, which in the Night appear like burning Coals,\nbut not so dangerous as other Serpents, that are Imps of Darkness.\n_Acosta_ and other Writers tell us, that the Devil appear\u2019d among the\n_Americans_ in the shape of a Serpent.\nThere are so many Sorts, says _Nieuhoff_, that the _Brasilians_ reckon\nup no less than thirty-two, most of which are here accounted for.\nXXVII. The _Caudisonant_, or _Rattle-snake_, is a large Species of the\nViper, and in its exterior Form every way similar, the rustling Tail\nexcepted; it moves with as much Agility as if supply\u2019d with Wings,\ncalled therefore the _Flying-snake_: It has small Eyes, and four Teeth\nlonger than the rest, of white Colour, and sharp, like Thorns; the Head\nis guarded with small Scales, the Back with larger and thicker Armour;\nthe Tail is composed of several loose bony Articulaments that make a\nroaring Sound, loud enough to be heard at a distance; and therefore\ncalled the _Bell-Snake_.\nIt is common in _Virginia_, where it appears to be from three to four\nFoot long, and reckoned to be very poisonous; but scarcely hurts any,\nunless provoked; and when offended, like the God of War, makes directly\nat the Enemy, without dread of Consequences.\nIn the History of _Peru_, an Account is given of a young Woman who was\nwounded by a Rattle-snake, and died on the Spot, before any Relief could\nbe had; and when they came to take up the Corpse, the Flesh came off her\nBones; so speedily did the violence of the Poison dissolve the structure\nof the Body.\nThe method of killing this Snake, is thus given by Captain _Silas\nTaylor_, _viz._ Of the Leaves of _Dittany_ of _Virginia_ (_i. e._ wild\nPenny-royal) bruis\u2019d, we took, says he, and having fasten\u2019d them at the\nend of a cloven Stick, we held it to the Nose of the _Rattle-snake_, who\nby turning and wriggling, labour\u2019d hard to avoid it; but was kill\u2019d with\nit in less than half an Hour\u2019s time, and as is supposed by the meer\nScent of that Vegetable[194]. This was done _A. D._ 1657, in _July_, at\nwhich Season those Creatures are reputed to be in the greatest Vigour\nfor their Poison: It is also remarkable, that in those Places where this\nwild Penny-royal grows, none of these Snakes are observed to come[195].\nFootnote 194:\n  _Regnault_, vol. ii. from _Journ. des Scav._ 1666. p. 113.\n  _Lowthorp_\u2019s Abridg. of Philos. Transact. vol. ii. p. 811.\nFootnote 195:\n  _Ibid._\nThe bruised Leaves of the _Virginian_ Dittany are very hot, and biting\nupon the Tongue: Probably the strong Smell of it might stop the Passages\nof Respiration in those Animals, or ferment with the Blood, so as to\nsuffocate them. In _Gresham_ College at _London_ may be seen fifteen\nSkins of Rattle-snakes checker\u2019d\u2014\u2014Some appear in ash colour: Several\nRattles of those Snakes, most of them composed of above ten Joints.\nXXVIII. The _Salamander_ is an amphibious Serpent, very much spotted;\nsuperior in Bulk to common Lizards. The _Land-Salamander_ is a little\npoisonous Reptile, that resembles the green Lizard, but more gross in\nBody; and is found in _Germany_ and other Places.\n_CONRADUS Gesner_, says he saw one of \u2019em on the _Alps_ perfectly black,\nwith a short Tail: When wounded, a kind of milky Liquid runs out. In\n_Germany_, are several great Woods, where _black Salamanders_ have been\nseen; _Teste Matthiolo_[196].\nFootnote 196:\n  _Jonstonus de Quadrupedibus_, p. 137.\nThis little strange Animal affects moist, cold and solitary Habitations.\nIn some parts of _Germany_ great numbers of them have been found in a\nBody piled up, one upon another: They are of the oviparous kind, and\npropagate their Species by Eggs, the common Semen of Fowls and Insects.\nThey are Enemies to Frogs and the Tortoise, and feed on little small\nInsects; and when they have Access to Honey and Milk, they never want a\nFeast.\nIt is of a poisonous Nature, and many have suffer\u2019d by its Biting; so\nsays _Pliny_, with whom agree _Nicander_, _A\u00ebtius_, and _Abensin\u00e6_.\n_GESNER_ is in a contrary Sentiment, and says he had domestick\n_Salamanders_, that offered no violence with their Teeth without\nProvocation. _Jonstonus_ adds, that in _Germany_ there appeared no ill\nEffects of its Bite; but in _France_ its Wounds were of a most deadly\nNature, as appears by a Saying in that Kingdom. _viz._ _That a Man bit\nby a Salamander, should have as many Physicians to cure him, as the\nSalamander has Spots, which are numerous_[197].\nFootnote 197:\n  \u2014\u2014_tot medicis indigere quot maculas bestia habet, proverbio jactant_.\n  Jonstonus de Quadrupedibus, p. 137.\nThe _Aquatic Salamander_ is not very unlike the former, unless it be in\nColour and Figure; some with a Tail turn\u2019d up, others with a flat Tail,\nprominent in the middle: There are various sorts of them; one of which\nappears in the form of a Turbot, whose Eggs are as large as\nGarden-pears.\nWhen upon Land their Mouth will not open, unless it be by Force, or they\nbe cast into a Vessel of Water: When put upon Salt, they move the Tail\nand die; their Skin is close compacted, and not penetrable by a Sword;\nand \u2019tis said that Swine\u2019s Flesh is Poison to them[198].\nFootnote 198:\n  _Jonstonus de Quadruped._ p. 138.\nThe common Report is, that the _Salamander_ is able to live in the Fire,\nwhich is a vulgar Error: The Hieroglyphick Historian observes, that upon\nTrial made, it was so far from quenching it, that it consum\u2019d\nimmediately[199]. It is true, that _Newts_ (or Water-lizards) Frogs,\nSnails, and such icy Animals, will endure the Fire for a longer time\nthan others will, by reason of an extraordinary degree of Coldness,\nwhich dissipates and scatters the Flame for a little time.\nFootnote 199:\n  _Joannis Pierii Hierogl._ cap. 21-26. p. 195-6, 7.\nI have read an Experiment made upon a _Salamander_, that was thrown into\nthe Fire, and there came from it a sort of gelid, moist, viscous Humour,\nwhich resisted the Power of Fire for a little time; but those\nExhalations being dried up, was soon consum\u2019d. In the _Philosophical\nTransactions_, we have another Instance, which seems to carry the matter\nfurther.\nM. _STENO_ writes from _Rome_, that a Knight called _Corvini_, had\nassured him, that having cast a _Salamander_ (brought to him out of the\n_Indies_) into the Fire, the Animal thereupon swelled presently, and\nthen vomited store of thick slimy Matter, which did put out the\nneighbouring Coals, to which the _Salamander_ retired immediately,\nputting them out also in the same manner as they rekindled; and by this\nmeans saved his Life about two Hours, and afterwards lived nine Months;\nthat he had kept it eleven Months, without any other Food but what it\ntook by licking the Earth, on which it moved, and on which it had been\nbrought out of the _Indies_, which at first was cover\u2019d with a thick\nMoisture, but being dried afterwards, the Urine of the Animal served to\nmoisten the same: Being put upon _Italian Earth_, it died within three\ndays after[200].\nFootnote 200:\n  _Lowthorp_\u2019s _Abridgement_, v. ii. p. 816.\nAs to the Possibility of the thing; I make no doubt but he, who made\n_Water_ the Habitation of Fish, can make _Fire_ to be the Residence of\nanother sort of Beings. The Sun, which is the Centre of our planetary\nSystem, for aught we know, may be the Seat of glorious Inhabitants; or,\nas others conjecture, the Place of future Misery.\nUpon the whole, the _Salamander_ being of a mucous, slimy, and cold\nBody, will, like Ice, soon extinguish a little Fire, but will be as soon\nconsum\u2019d by a great Fire; therefore it was no Absurdity in _Galen_,\nwhen, as a _sceptical Medicine_, he recommended the _Ashes of a\nSalamander_.\nThe like Humidity is observable in Water-Lizards, especially if their\nSkins be prick\u2019d: Yea, Frogs, Snails, White of Eggs, will soon quench a\nlesser Coal. We read of _incombustible Cloth_, (_Linnen Paper_,) made\nfrom a Flaxen-Mineral, call\u2019d \u0391\u03c3\u03b2\u03b5\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 by the _Greeks_, and _Linum\nvivum_ by the _Latins_.\n[Illustration:\n  _Plate 5^{th}_\nThis _Asbestos_, or Matter out of which this wonderful Cloth ... is\nmade, is a Fossil, a mineral stony Substance, of a whitish Colour, and\nwoolly Texture (call\u2019d _Salamander\u2019s-Wool_) the downy Fibres, separable\ninto short Filaments of Threads, capable of being spun, and made into a\nsort of Cloth, which will endure the Fire without consuming. When foul,\ninstead of washing, they throw it into the Fire, which cleanses without\nburning it. Whole Webs and Coats, Napkins, Handkerchiefs, Towels, have\nbeen made of it; which were so far from being consumed by Fire, that\nthey were only cleansed from their Dross, and came out purified into a\ngreater Lustre than if wash\u2019d with Water.\nIts principal use, according to _Pliny_[201], was for making of Shrouds,\nin which the Corps of their Kings were usually burnt, lest their royal\nAshes should be blended with common Dust. The Princes of _Tartary_ use\nit to this day in burning the Dead[202]. _Nero_ had a Napkin or Towel\nmade of it. The _Brachmans_ among the _Indians_, are said to make\nClothes of it. The Wicks for their perpetual Candles were made of\nit[203]; and some to this day use it for Lamp-Wicks.\nFootnote 201:\n  Book xix. cap 1.\nFootnote 202:\n  _Philos. Transact._\nFootnote 203:\n  Dr. _Lister_.\nThe Emperor _Constantine_ ordered an incombustible sort of Linnen to be\nmade of _Lapis Amianthus_, the growth of _Cyprus_, that might burn in\nhis Lamps, which were in his _Baths_ at _Rome_. The Commentator on St.\n_Augustin_ says, that he saw several Lamps at _Paris_, which would never\nbe consumed: and at a Feast at _Louvain_, there was a Napkin thrown into\nthe Fire, which was restored to the Owner clearer and brighter than if\nit had been rinsed in Water[204].\nFootnote 204:\n  _Ludovicus Vives, in his Scholia\u2014de Civitate Dei. Pancirol. Historia\n  rerum deperdit._\nThe _incombustible Paper_ is made of this lanuginous Mineral, viz.\n_Asbestine-Stone_, which will bear burning without being injured.\nWhoever would be further informed about this wonderful incombustible\nStone, may peruse Dr. _Bruckman_, Professor at _Brunswick_, who has\npublish\u2019d _a natural History of the Asbestos,_ or _incombustible Paper_;\nand what is most remarkable, has printed four Copies of his Book on\n_this_ Paper, which are deposited in the _Library_ of _Wolfembuttle_.\nThe manner of making this extraordinary Paper is described by Mr.\n_Lloyd_, in _Philosoph. Transactions_, N^o. 166.\n_N. B._ The _Salamander_ is said to live in the Fire, and has power to\nextinguish it: \u201cFrom which Conjuncture was taken the _Device_ of Great\nKing _Francis_, the first of the Name, (Father of Arts and Sciences)\n_Nutrisco & Extinguo_, I Feed and Extinguish[205].\u201d\nFootnote 205:\n  _Pedro Mexia_ and M. _Francesco Sansovinio_, the famous _Italian_.\nXXIX. The _Cameleon_ belongs to the Class of Quadrupedes, and is a\nlittle Animal resembling a Lizard, but of a larger and longer Head: Its\nEyes stand out of its Head above one half of their Globe, which he turns\nso obliquely, that he sees every thing behind him: Nature perhaps has\ngiven it this Advantage, because its Legs (by the slowness of its\nmotion) are of no use to avoid his Enemy, by running away. There is yet\nsomething more extraordinary, in the motion of his Eyes, for when one of\nthem moves, the other has no motion at all; one looks upward, the other\ndownwards[206].\nFootnote 206:\n  A Journal of the Philosoph. Mathematical and Botanic Observ. by _Lewis\n  Feuill\u00e9e_, A. D. 1725.\nThe length of these Creatures does not exceed twelve Inches, and they\nhave a proportionable bigness. The Skin is plaited and very fine,\ntransparent, jagged like a Saw, and thin; and must be very compact and\nhard, since, according to the Historian[207], \u2019tis not penetrable by the\nTeeth of Serpents. It has four Feet, and on each Foot three Claws; its\nTail is long and flat, with which, as well as with its Feet, it fastens\nitself to the Branches of Trees: its Nose long, and ends in an obtuse\npoint: In other respects it is made like a Fish; that is to say, it has\nno Neck[208]: Reckoned by _Moses_, _among the unclean_\u2014Numb. xi. 30.\nFootnote 207:\nFootnote 208:\nThe _Cameleon_ is said to transform itself into variety of Colours;\nperhaps this change may arise from the different reflections of the Rays\nof Light: Thus they may put on a brown or whitish Habit, from Trees of\nthat Colour, on which they sit. Others observe, that its Colour is\nchangeable, according to the various Passions that agitate the Creature;\n_e. g._ When affected with Joy, \u2019tis of an emerald Green, mixt with\nOrange, etch\u2019d with little grey and black Strokes: Anger gives it a\nlivid and dusky Colour: Fear makes it pale, and like faded yellow[209].\nAll these Colours compose such a pretty Medley of Shadow and Light, that\nNature does not afford a finer Variety of Shadowing, nor our finest\nPictures more lively, sweet, and proportionable Drawing.\nFootnote 209:\n  _Le Compte\u2019s Memoirs_, p. 502.\nFor the further Illustration of this Subject, I shall add something from\nthe Philosophical Transactions about a female Cameleon, the Skin of\nwhich appear\u2019d mixt of several Colours, like a Medley-cloth. The Colours\ndiscernable are green, a sandy yellow: And indeed one may discern, or at\nleast fancy, some mixture of all, or most Colours in the Skin, whereof\nsome are more predominant, at different times: There are some permanent\nblack Spots on the Head, and Ridge of the Back. But our modern\nNaturalists assure us, that its common Colour, when it is at rest, and\nin the Shade, is a bluish grey; when \u2019tis exposed to the Sun, this grey\nchanges into a darker grey, inclining to a dun Colour: If \u2019tis put on a\nblack Hat, it appears to be of a violet Colour.\n... Upon Excitation or warming, she becomes suddenly full of little\nblack Spots, equally dispersed on the sides, with small black Streaks on\nthe Eyelids; all which afterward do vanish. The Skin is grain\u2019d with\nglobular Inequalities, like the Leather call\u2019d Shagreen. The grossest\nGrain is about the Back and Head, then on the Legs; on the Sides and\nBelly, finest; which, perhaps, in several Postures, may shew several\nColours; and when this Animal is in full Vigour, may also have in some\nsort, _Rationem Speculi_, and reflect the Colours of Bodies adjacent;\nwhich, together with the mixture of Colours in the Skin, may have given\noccasion to the old Tradition, _of changing into all Colours_[210].\nFootnote 210:\n  _Lowthorp_\u2019s _Abridg._ vol. ii, p. 816.\nA certain curious Gentleman, made the following Experiment, when he\nlived at _Smyrna_, in _Asia-minor_: He bought some _Cameleons_, to try\nhow long they could be preserved alive under Confinement; he kept them\nin a large Cage, and allowed them the Liberty to take the fresh Air,\nwhich they suck\u2019d in with Pleasure, and made them brisker than ordinary.\nHe never saw them either eat or drink, but seem\u2019d to live on the Fluid\nin which we breathe.\nThe Antients were persuaded that _Cameleons_ fed upon the Air, for which\nreason one of the Fathers calls it a _living Skin_[211]; but now it\nappears by Experience, that they feed upon different Insects, as\nPalmer-worms, Locusts, Beetles, Flies, and also Leaves of Vegetables.\nFather _Feuill\u00e9e_[212], in a Journey into _Asia-minor_, opened one of\nthese Animals, and found in its Belly Peach-Leaves, which were not then\ndigested.\u2014\u2014_N. B._ Digestion is very slow in _Cameleons_, which is the\nreason why they take so little Nourishment.\nFootnote 211:\n  _Pellicula vivit. Tertull. de Pallio_, cap. 3.\nFootnote 212:\n  _Feuill\u00e9e_\u2019s _Journal. Franckf._ 1597. p. 3.\nThe same Father mentions a small Lizard, which he saw in _Peru_, that\nwas not above an Inch thick, which he calls _Chameleontides_, because he\nchanged his Colour, like the _Cameleons_; being in a certain Situation,\nhe saw it of a dun Colour; in another, \u2019twas green.... This little\nCreature, he says, had the same Figure and Proportion as the _Great\nLizard_; nam\u2019d by the _Spaniards_, _Iquanna_; and _Senembi_, by\n_Marcgravius_; and he makes that _Lizard_ a fourth kind of _Cameleon_,\nand to be added to the two kinds of _Bellonius_, one of which is to be\nfound in _Arabia_, and the other in _Egypt_, and to that mention\u2019d by\n_Faber_, _Lynceus_, which may be seen in _Mexico_.\nTheir Tongue is somewhat peculiar, it being as long as their Body, with\nwhich they catch Flies, and other Insects, which settle on their\nTongues, to suck the viscous slimy Matter, adherent to them. The\n_Cameleon_ puts out his Tongue to draw them upon it, and when \u2019tis full\nof these Insects, he pulls it in with wonderful Agility. Others think,\nit encloses its Prey with the tip of its Tongue, which is made in a form\nproper for that purpose.\nThe _Cameleon_ is an oviparous Animal. _J. Jonstonus_ says, it has above\na hundred Eggs, from _Piereskius_, who nursed a Female on purpose to\nmake Observations upon the Subject[213]. After all the Gentleman\u2019s Care\nabout \u2019em at _Smyrna_, all of them died within five Months; and having\nopened the Female, found thirty Eggs in her, fasten\u2019d one to another in\nthe form of a Chain. _Ibid. supra._\nFootnote 213:\n  _Jonstonus de Animalib. inter Quadrupedes_, p. 141.\nThe _Atlas_[214] calls the _Cameleon_, the _Indian Salamander_[215];\nthat goes there by the Name of _Gekho_, from the Noise it makes after\nhissing, and is thus describ\u2019d, _viz._ \u2019tis about a Foot long and\nspotted, has large Eyes starting out, the Tail has several white Rings\nround it, and its Teeth sharp, and strong enough to penetrate an Armour\nof Steel: it has a slow Motion, but where it fastens, \u2019tis not easily\ndisengaged. This Creature is found in _Arabia_, _Egypt_, _Madagascar_,\n_Java_, and other parts of _India_. _Bellonius_ saw several of them\namong the Shrubs of _Attica_[216]: He says it frequents _Cairo_, and\nother Places, is found among Hedges and Bushes; mutes like a Hawk;\nswallows every thing whole. It moves the Feet of each side alternately,\nbut runs up Trees very fast, and lays hold on the Boughs with its Tail.\n_Leo_ and _Sandys_ say, the Neck is inflexible, and it can\u2019t turn\nwithout moving its whole Body: the Back is crooked, the Skin is spotted\nwith little Tumours: the Tail long and slender, like that of a Rat, when\nit sucks in the Air, its Belly swells, whence some think that the Air is\npart of its Food. One Author says, it subsists only upon Air; another\nsays, \u2019tis a vulgar Error.\u2014\u2014\nFootnote 214:\n  _Africa._\nFootnote 215:\n  For _America_.\nFootnote 216:\n  _Jonstonus de Quadrupedibus._\n\u2019Tis said, that if a Serpent lurks near the Tree, where it sits, it\nthrows a Thread out of its Mouth, with a little shining Drop at the end,\nwhich falls upon the Serpent\u2019s Head, and kills it[217].\nFootnote 217:\nIn _America_ are Serpents, some of whom are so poisonous, that if\ntouch\u2019d but with a little Stick, the Venom runs up the Hand; and such as\nare touch\u2019d with the Blood of dead Serpents, die a lingering Death: This\nis Tradition: I shall begin with the first of them, _viz._\nXXX. _KUKURUKI_, a Serpent of _Brasil_ in _South-America_, which is\nunder the torrid Zone, where their Winter begins in _March_ and ends in\n_August_; and is like our Summer. This Serpent is of an ash Colour, and\nin its Scales resembles the _Bocinga_, or Rattle-Snake, but is more\ngross; on the Back, variegated with yellow, and large black Spots. \u2019Tis\nrepresented as a very venemous Animal, eight or nine Foot long[218]; and\nwhen prepared, the Inhabitants feed upon it.\nFootnote 218:\n  _9 & interdum 12 pedes longus est._ Ray.\nXXXI. The _Ibiara_ is a _Brasilian_ Adder, about a Foot and half long;\nan Inch and half in thickness. Serpents of this kind are very numerous\nin that Country, and nothing more poisonous than their Wounds, tho\u2019 not\nincurable, if proper Remedies be applied in time.\nIn Seasons of Danger, they shelter themselves in Cavities under Ground,\nand feed upon Pismires, which are very large in that Country, and in\nsuch prodigious Quantities, that the _Portuguese_ call them, _Kings of\nBrasil_.\nXXXII. In _Chiapa_, in _Old-Mexico_, now call\u2019d _New-Spain_, is a\nnoxious Animal call\u2019d _Teuthlacokauqui_, or _Fortress of the Serpents_,\nwhose Head is like an Adder, thick Belly, glittering Scales, the Ridge\nof the Body black, with an Interspersion of white Crosses; the Teeth\npoisonous, and the biting kills in twenty-four hours, unless the wounded\npart be held in the Earth so long, till the Pain be over.\nIt has a frightful Aspect; when it moves it makes a Noise with its Tail,\nthat sounds an Alarm of Danger. The _Americans_, who have the Art of\ntaking it by the Tail, carry it home, and by degrees make it tame: \u2019tis\nmaintain\u2019d at a cheap rate, for it can subsist a whole Year without any\nvisible Food.\n_JOHNSTONUS_ calls this Serpent the _Bocininga_, and describes it from\n_Marcgravius_ and _Piso_. The former says, \u2019tis four Foot and three\nFingers long, Belly smooth, small Eyes, forked Tongue, rattling Tail.\nThe other observes, the _Spaniards_ call it _Cascavel_, and _Tangedor_,\nbecause its Tail emits the sound of a Ball; in thickness, as a Man\u2019s\nArm; in length, about five Foot; a cloven Tongue, long and sharp Teeth;\nof a dark Colour, inclining to the yellow[219].\nFootnote 219:\n  _Jonstonus_, Articulus xvii. p. 23.\nAccording to _Nierembergius_, this Serpent is called the _Queen of\nSerpents_, which they suppose to be like the Viper, in its Poison, and\nShape of the Head[220]. By the Definitions of several Authors, this\nSerpent seems to be the _Caudisonant_; and the _Dutch_ in _America_ call\nit, the _Ratel-Stange_, _i. e._ Rattle-Snake.\nFootnote 220:\n  _Historia Natur\u00e6 Maxim\u00e8 Peregrin\u00e6_, p. 268-9.\nNow we are in _Mexico_, excuse me in giving you two Instances of\nmonstrous Cruelty; one in the Natives, the other in the _Spaniards_.\nWhen the _Mexicans_ were disposed to do signal Honour to their Idols,\nthey sent out Armies to bring in Prisoners for a Sacrifice, whose Flesh\nthey did afterwards eat; and _Montezuma_ the Emperor, commonly\nsacrificed 20000 Men, one year with another, and no less than 50000 some\nyears. The Priests thought it dishonourable to sacrifice less than 40 or\n50 Captives at a time to one _Idol_. At a certain Festival, they ript up\nthe Breast of a manumitted Slave, pull\u2019d out his Heart, which they\noffer\u2019d to the Sun, and then eat up his Body.\nTheir Priests were bloody Men, a Brood of Vipers, and had such an\nAscendant over their Princes, that they made them believe _their Gods\nwere angry_, and not to be appeased without 4000 or 5000 Men to\nsacrifice in a day; so that, right or wrong, they must make War on their\nNeighbours, to procure those Victims to keep their Priests in Humour.\nThe next, is an Instance of _Spanish Cruelty_, in this Country, that\ncould have no Original but Hell, the Seat of the old Serpent. It runs\nthus, _viz._ _Barthol. de las Casas_ Bishop of _Chiapa_, in a Letter to\nthe _Emperor Charles V._ gives this account of the Barbarity of the\n_Spaniards_ towards the poor Inhabitants, Natives of the Land.\n    ... \u201cTheir Kings and Princes, says the Bishop, the _Spaniards_\n    scorch\u2019d to death, or tore in pieces with Dogs: The poor People\n    they burnt in their Houses, and dash\u2019d out the Brains of their\n    Children: Those that were spared, they forced to carry greater\n    Burdens than they were able to bear, by which thousands of them\n    were destroy\u2019d: Others who escap\u2019d, died of Famine in the Woods,\n    after they had kill\u2019d their own Wives and Children, and eat them\n    for hunger. In this one Province they murder\u2019d above two\n    Millions of Men, not sparing those of Quality, who had civilly\n    entertain\u2019d them. They tortured the Natives with the most\n    hellish Inventions, to make them discover their Gold. _Diego de\n    Valesco_, in particular, spared none that fell into his hands,\n    so that in a Month\u2019s time he murder\u2019d ten thousand: He hang\u2019d\n    thirteen Noblemen.\n    \u201cSome they starved to death, by thrusting their Heads betwixt\n    Pieces of cloven Timber: Others they buried alive, leaving their\n    Heads above Ground, at which they bowl\u2019d with large\n    Iron-Bullets: They also forced them to eat one another.\u2014\u2014\nBesides other hellish Cruelties too dreadful to be related[221].\u201d _N.\nB._ This _Barth. de las Casas_ had been a _Friar_, and afterwards made\nBishop of _Chiapa_, was a Man of more Piety and Justice than is commonly\nfound among _Friars_. It was he, who procur\u2019d the _Indians_ their\nLiberty from being Slaves to the _Spaniards_, which they enjoy to this\nday, so that they are paid for what they do, about half a Crown a Week.\nFootnote 221:\n  _Acosta_, _Gage_\u2014The Civil and Moral History of the _Spanish\n  West-Indies_, in _Atlas Geogr. America_.\nXXXIII. The _Ibitobaca_ is a Serpent of _Chiapa_, near four Foot long,\nand of a crimson Colour, adorn\u2019d with a pleasing Diversity of black and\nwhite Specks; wearing its Bones as a Necklace, or the Ruff in Queen\n_Elizabeth_\u2019s Reign, who destroy\u2019d the Invincible Armada, and made good\nold _England_ a Terror to _Spaniards_.\nXXXIV. The _Iquanna_ is the Birth of _Mexico_, a Serpent like the Pope\u2019s\nAnathema, of a terrible Front, but harmless; a glittering Comb on the\nHead, with a Bag under the Chin; a long Tail, and sharp Bones on its\nBack, standing up in the form of a Saw.\nThis Iquannatick Serpent is of the amphibious kind, equally fitted to\nlive by Land or Water; a Privilege which no Son of _Adam_ can boast of.\nIt is of the oviparous Tribe, and a great Breeder, laying about fifty\nEggs at the Season as big as Acorns, which are of a very good Taste, and\ngood Food when boiled, and so is the Serpent itself; but the\nLand-_Iquanna_ is a more pleasant Food, and preferable to _Spanish_\nRagous[222].\nFootnote 222:\n  _Nierembergii Historia Naturalis_, p. 271.\nXXXV. The _Ibiboboca_ is a Serpent beautiful to the Eye, but of a\nvenemous Nature; \u2019tis about three Foot long. The _Icon_ of it in\n_Gresham-College_ is above three Yards[223], white as Snow, decorated\nwith Particles of various Colours, especially black and red. The Wound\nit gives operates gradually, and if neglected, proves fatal.\nFootnote 223:\n  _Curzon_\u2019s _Catalogue of Rarities_, p. 445.\nXXXVI. The _Guaku_ or _Lyboya_ Serpent, is one of the largest of all the\nserpentine Brood, some of which being from eighteen to thirty Foot long,\ncall\u2019d by the _Portuguese_, _Hobre de Hado_, or the _Roebuck Serpent_,\nbecause it can swallow a whole Buck at once. After swallowing it down,\nit generally falls asleep, and in that Posture is frequently taken,\nwhile digesting its Supper. My Author says, he saw one of this kind,\nwhich was 30 Foot long, of a greyish Colour, but others incline more to\nthe brown[224]. A ravenous Animal, and so voracious, that it leaps out\nof the Woods to seize its Prey; and, if disturb\u2019d, will fight, or\nwrestle, with Man or Beast, standing upright upon the Butt-end of his\nTail.\nFootnote 224:\n  _Nieuhoff in Atl. America,_ p. 263.\nXXXVII. The _Jararaka Serpent_, is another _Brasilian_, no longer than a\nMan\u2019s Arm to the Elbow; it has swelling Veins on its Head; the Skin is\ncovered with red and black Spots; the rest is of an Earth Colour: Its\nWounds are dangerous, and attended with the usual Symptoms. There are\nthree Sorts of these venemous Snakes besides this, _viz_. _One_ sort is\nabout ten Spans long, with two terrible Tusks, or great Teeth, which\nthey stretch out to a great length, and strike them into their Prey. The\nvenemous Liquid, which is very yellow, works with a Violence, that kills\nin a few Hours. The _second_ sort resembles the _Spanish Viper_ in\nColour and Form, and is equally dangerous. The _third_ and worst sort\nvery much resembles the _first_.\nXXXVIII. The _Biobi_, called _Gabro Verde_ by the _Portuguese_ in\n_Brasil_, i. e. the _Green Serpent_, because its Colour is porraceous, a\nshining Green like the Leek; it is between three and four Foot long, and\nabout the Thickness of a Man\u2019s Thumb; a large Mouth, and black Tongue,\nand has this good Property, that it hurts nobody unless irritated; but\nwhen provoked, no Poison more dangerous. We read of a _Soldier_, who\naccidentally treading on this Serpent, was wounded by it in the Thigh,\nand died a few Hours after, tho\u2019 the Remedies that proved successful on\nthe like occasions, had been diligently applied[225].\nFootnote 225:\n  _Raii Synopsis_, p. 328.\nXXXIX. The _Caninana Serpent_, is another Inhabitant of _Brasil_, green\non the back, and yellow on the Belly, about two Foot long, and reckoned\nnot to be so venemous, as the rest of that mischievous Tribe. It feeds\nupon Eggs and Birds, at last becomes the common Entertainment of the\n_American_ and _African_ Tables[226]. We read of other _green Serpents_\nin the _Indies_, that are indulged with little Cottages made of Straw,\nwhere they spend their solitary Hours, till the time of eating invites\nthem out, then they repair to the House, where they fawn upon their\nMasters, and eat what is set before them, and then retire to the Huts of\nIndulgence.\nFootnote 226:\n  _Raii Synopsis_, p. 328.\nXL. The _Tetzawhcoatl_, is another Production of _Brasil_, a Serpent of\nabout three Foot long, and slender Body, whose Strokes are pestilent:\nThe Head is black, nether Part of the Tail reddish, and the Belly dash\u2019d\nwith black Spots. The Cure is by Suction.\nNow we are travelling among the Inhabitants of _Brasil_, we may be\nallowed to take notice of Prince _Maurice_\u2019s _Rational Parrot_,\nmentioned by Sir _William Temple_ and Mr. _Locke_, which the _former_\nhad from the Prince\u2019s own Mouth. His Words were,\n    ... \u201cThat he had heard of such an _old Parrot_, when he came to\n    _Brasil_, and tho\u2019 he believed nothing of it, and it was a good\n    way off; yet he had so much Curiosity as to send for it: that it\n    was a very great and a very old one; and when it came first into\n    the Room, where the Prince was with a great many Dutchmen about\n    him, it said presently, _What a Company of White-men are here!_\n    They ask\u2019d it, what he thought that Man was, pointing at the\n    Prince? it answered, _Some General or other_. The Prince asked\n    it, Whence come ye[227]? The Parrot answered, _From Marinnan_.\n    To whom do you belong, said the Prince? it answered, _To a\n    Portuguese Prince_. The Prince ask\u2019d, What do you there? Parrot\n    answered, _I look after the Chickens_. The Prince laugh\u2019d, and\n    said, You look after the Chickens! The Parrot answered, _Yes, I;\n    and I know well enough how to do it_, and made the _Chuck_ four\n    or five times, that People use to make to Chickens, when they\n    call them....\u201d\nFootnote 227:\n  D\u2019o\u00f9 venes vous? De Marinnan. A qui estes vous? A un Portugais. Que\n  fais tu-la? Je garde les poulles. Vous gardez les poulles? Ouy moy, &\n  je s\u00e7ai bien faire.\u2014_Sir_ William Temple\u2019s _Memoirs_, and _Mr._\n  Locke\u2019s _Essay_, Book II. _chap._ 27.\n    ... \u201cI could not but tell this odd Story, because it is so much\n    out of the way, and from the first hand, and what may pass for a\n    good one; for I dare say, this Prince at least believed himself\n    in all he told me, having ever past for a very honest and pious\n    Man. I leave it to Naturalists to reason, and to other Men to\n    believe as they please upon it; however, it is not perhaps amiss\n    to relieve or enliven a busy Scene sometimes with such\n    Digressions, whether to the purpose or no.\u201d So far Sir _William\n    Temple_.\nWonder not then, if you meet in this History with some romantick\nSentiments entertained by learned Men concerning Serpents, when two such\nillustrious Pillars of the Commonwealth of Letters, give way to a\nRelation that has so much of the Marvellous in it.\nXLI. These Historians inform us of many more Serpents, and some of great\nbulk, that infest those _American_ Regions; whose Looks are ruddy, of\nblood-red Colour, that shine in the Night, like so many glittering\nStars.\nA modern Author writes, that in _America_ are some Snakes that were\neight Foot long, and as red as Blood, which in the Night look\u2019d like\nFire[228].\nFootnote 228:\n  _Anton. Herrera_\u2019s History of _America_, Vol. II. in his Account of\nThe former black, and these shining Serpents, remind me of the\n_Obsidian_ Stones, that are very black and transparent; they have their\nNames from one _Obsidius_, who first found them in _\u00c6thiopia_.\nThere is a sort of natural _Obsidian_ Glass, which is rather to be\nranked among Stones than Metals; \u2019tis as passive as the former, enduring\nthe Graving-Tool, is diaphanous and pellucid, receiving Images, and,\nlike artificial Glass, transmitting all Forms and Shapes.\nThis is found in _\u00c6thiopia_, where the Sepulchres of the Nobles are\nusually made of it, and after this manner; _viz._ They take a large\nStone, and make it hollow, and in the Cavity include the Corps, where it\nis not only preserved, but, as if entomb\u2019d in Glass, is apparently\nvisible to Spectators, and sends forth no ungrateful Scent.\nOut of these _Obsidian_ Stones, Looking-Glasses are wont to be made, and\nare also found on the Coasts of _Arabia_. These shining Stones were\ninserted into Rings, and in one of them was cut the entire Image of\n_Augustus_, who being much taken with these Stones of Glass, caused four\nElephants to be made of them,\u2014See the _Commentary_ upon _Pancirollus_,\nB. i. of _Jet_; and _Pliny_, B. xxxvi. c. 26.\nXLII. _Boiguacu_, another venemous Production of _Brazil_, thick in the\nmiddle, and declining towards the Extremities of the Body; \u2019tis covered\nwith large Scales on the Back, and lesser ones on the Belly, which is\ncommon in all Serpents.\nThe whole is adorned with elegant Variegations.... The Back and Sides\nset off with black Spots, inclining to the round; about three Inches\ndistant from each other, and in the Centre a round white Spot. These\nbeautiful Appearances, says _Jonstonus_, have a Grandeur in them more\nthan rivals Imperial Majesty.\nHe saw several Serpents of this kind: On _August_ 7th, 1638, one that\nwas eight Foot long. Another, _August_ 13th, 1638, above five Foot long,\nits Flesh fat, and very white; the Heart being taken out, lived about 15\nMinutes. _October_ 16th, 1638, he saw another, that was near nine Foot\nlong, and he was a Witness to its swallowing a She-Goat whole[229]. By\nthe Description, this Serpent must be the _Lyboia_, so famous for the\nKnack of Deglutition of Animals.\nFootnote 229:\n  _Jonstoni Historia Naturalis_, p. 25, 26.\nXLIII. The _Brasilian Serpent_, called the _Ibiracoan_, makes its\nAppearance in a Habit of various Colours, trimmed with red, black and\nwhite Spots. Under this fine Dress, is a poisonous Spring; the Wound it\ngives, infallibly kills without immediate Assistance.\nBefore the Poison reaches the Heart, the common Practice is, to secure\nthat Serpent, and boil the Flesh of it with certain Roots, and give it\nthe Patient in Wine, or any other proper Liquid, and it will answer the\nIntention.\nXLIV. The _Tarciboya_, and _Kakaboya_, are two Serpents much of the same\nNature, and therefore I put them together: They are occasional\nInhabitants of the Water and Land; in Colour black, and about six Hands\nin Length. If they hurt any Creature, it is only in Defence of\nthemselves, and the Wound is easily cured by Remedies well known in\nthose Countries. They are great Devourers of Birds.\nHere the Learned _Ray_, from _Piso_, mentions ten other Serpents, whose\nparticular Characters he considers in his Description of Fishes; then\nrefers his Reader to those described by _Joan. de Laet_.[230]\nFootnote 230:\n  _Raii Synopsis Animal._ p. 329. _Londini_ 1693.\nXLV. The _Bibera_ is a venemous Lizard of _Brazil_. If you ask, What are\nthese _Brasilian Lizards_? I answer, They are creeping Serpents, of\nvarious Colours, and different Sizes: Some are the length of a Finger,\nothers many Feet; have sparkling Eyes. There is only one sort of them\nthat is venemous, among which is this _Bibera_: they are like the\nothers, but lesser, and are most mischievous. They are of an ash Colour,\ninclining to the white; the Body and Limbs seem thick, but the Tail is\nshort and broad.\nThe Wounds given by these Serpents, are full of a thin stinking Matter,\nattended with blue Swellings, and Pain in the Heart and Bowels. _N. B._\nGreat Things have been frequently done by little Things.\nXLVI. The _Ambua_, so the Natives of _Brazil_ call the _Millepedes_ and\nthe _Centipedes_ Serpents. Those Reptiles of thousand Legs bend as they\ncraul along, and are reckoned very poisonous. Those Lizards of hundred\nLegs are commonly found in the Woods, where they destroy the Fruit, and\nalso do mischief both to Men and Cattle.\nIn these _Multipedes_, the Mechanism of the Body is very curious; in\ntheir going, it is observable, that on each side of their Bodies, every\nLeg has its Motion, one regularly after another; so that their Legs,\nbeing numerous, form a kind of Undulation, and thereby communicate to\nthe Body a swifter Progression than one could imagine, where so many\nshort Feet are to take so many short Steps, that follow one another,\nrolling on, like the Waves of the Sea.\nThe _Palmer-Worm_ is also called _Millepes_, because of its many Feet,\nwhich are as Bristles under its Body: It is about six Inches long, and\nmoves with incredible Swiftness. The upper part of the Body is cover\u2019d\nwith hard swarthy Scales, and it has a sort of Claws both in its Head\nand Tail, of rank Poison, as the Historian says.\nXLVII. The _Jebeya_ is another _Brazilian_, and a Serpent very ravenous\nand destructive: It has four Legs, and a long Tail like a _Crocodile_;\nit lies flat and close on the Ground, artfully concealing itself, \u2019till\nthe Prey comes within reach, and then darts out a couple of sharp Fins\nfrom its Fore-quarters, and kills whatever it strikes.\nXLVIII. The _Giraupiagara_ is an _American_ Serpent, so call\u2019d, because\nof its being a great Devourer of Eggs. \u2019Tis of a Negro-Colour, but a\nyellow Breast, and of great Length and Agility. It glides (as if\nswimming) on the tops of Trees, faster than any Man can run on the\nGround.[231]\nFootnote 231:\n  _Nieuhoff in Atlas, America._\nIt lives upon Birds, whose Nests it constantly plunders. \u2019Tis\nobservable, that the _Cuckow_ feeds very much upon _Eggs_, which\naccounts for the vulgar Notion, that it always has one or more little\nBirds, as Menials to attend it, these being some of those, whose Houses\nit plundered. There is another Charge preferred against the Cuckow,\n_viz._ The Contempt it puts upon our Vegetables, by spitting upon them;\nwhereas in those Dobs of frothy Dew, we find little Green Insects, that\nare Grashoppers in the Embryo.\nXLIX. The _Caminana_ is another _Brazilian Serpent_, of a great length.\nThe Body is all over green, and very beautiful in prospect. This also\nruns up the Trees, not so much because of the green Leaves, as in\npursuit of Birds of all Colours; and having devoured the Contents of the\nNest, seizes the Dam, and drinks her Blood.\nThe pleasing Appearance made by this Serpent in _Green_, puts me in mind\nof the _Turks_, who have so great a _Superstition for the green Colour_\n(because it was consecrated to _Mahomet_) that they forbid Christians to\nwear it on pain of Death; but the _Persians_ (who are _Mahometans_ as\nwell as the _Turks_) allow it to every body, and laugh at this\nSuperstition; so that when _Sultan Amurath_ sent an Ambassador to\n_Sha-Abbas_ of _Persia_, to complain that he suffer\u2019d that _venerable\nColour_ to be prophaned by Christians, he scoffingly said, that he would\nforbid the _green Colour_ to be prophaned by Christians, as soon as\n_Amurath_ would hinder the _green Meadows_ to be prophaned by his\n_Turkish Cattle_[232]. The Eastern _Turks_ abhor the _blue Colour_,\nbecause the _Jews_, they say, threw _Indigo_ into _Jordan_ to hinder the\nBaptism of _Christ_, but the Angels brought Water from _Jordan_ to\nbaptize him, before it was polluted. _Atlas._\nFootnote 232:\n  _Holstein Ambassadors._\u2014_Herbert._\u2014_Atl. Asia._\nL. _BOYTIAPUA_, is a Serpent so called by the _Brazilians_ for its long\nSnout, though I don\u2019t find it exceeds others in smelling, by the\nextension of its Nose; it is of a long slender Body, and feeds upon\nFrogs, amphibious Animals and Insects.\nThis Serpent is in high Esteem among the Natives of _Brazil_, who\npractise the Art of Conjuration by it; and if any of them have a barren\nWife, and are desirous of Children, they lash this Serpent over her\nHips, pretending that such Exercise will make her fruitful: And if this\nDevice should take effect, must not we conclude the Offspring to be a\n_Generation of Vipers_?\nLI. The _Gaytiepua_ is a large Snake, smells rank like a Fox, and,\naccording to a learned Author, the Smell is intolerable[233], as is that\nof the Serpent _Boyana_, which is very long and slender, and of black\nColour; of which one of the _Latin_ Poets takes notice[234].\nFootnote 233:\n  _F\u00e6tor illius nullatenus\u2014possit tolerari._ Raii Synopsis.\nFootnote 234:\n                   Quod vulpis fuga, vipere cabile\n                   Mallem quam quod oles, olere, Bassa.\nIf the loathsome Smell of these Creatures offend the Nose, it serves as\na friendly Alarm of Danger, to those who have the use of a Nose, that\nthey may avoid a more terrible Stroke.\nNothing so constituted in Nature, but a superficial Observer may\nconstrue as a Blemish to the Creation; but to a more penetrating Eye,\nthose imaginary Blemishes have their Convenience and Use, and appear to\nbe the Product of perfect Intelligence and Wisdom.\nLII. The _Bom-Snake_, is another _Brazilian_ Reptile, call\u2019d _Bom_ from\nthe Noise it makes in its Motion. It is of a prodigious large Size, but\nis class\u2019d among the Innocent, that do no manner of hurt to Persons,\n_viz._ that can endure a little Sound, arising from a Propagation of the\nPulse of the Air.\nAn innocent Serpent, no Contradiction. There is good among the bad in\nthe moral World.\n              _Virtue\u2014\u2014needs no Defence;\n              The surest Guard is Innocence:\n              None knew, till Guilt created Fear,\n              What Darts and poison\u2019d Arrows were.\n              Integrity undaunted goes\n              Thro\u2019_ Lybian _Sands, and_ Scythian _Snows_.\nIn _Paraguay_, or _La Plata_ in _America_, is a famous _white Bird_,\nwhich, though it has a very small Body, has a Voice like a _Bell_, and\ntherefore the Natives call it _Guirapo_, that is, the _Sounding-Bird_.\nHow many Animals of the same kind in the moral Creation, that wear gaudy\nFeathers and Plumes, whose Sound, in the Assemblies of Saints and\nSinners, proves to be _vox & pr\u00e6terea nihil_.\nLIII. The _Boicupecanga_ is a Serpent, so called because its Back looks\nas if it were overgrown with Briers and Thorns, the Ridge being sharp\npointed, which makes the Beast look as if he were guarded by little\nSpears: This prickle-back\u2019d Serpent is of a monstrous Extension, very\nfrightful, and venemous, the very sight of which strikes Terror into Man\nand Beast.\nLIV. The _Cucurijuba_ is a Water-Snake of twenty-five or thirty Foot\nlong, and three Foot in Compass, will swallow a Hog or a Stag at once;\nhas Teeth like those of Dogs, but makes no use of them as Instruments of\nMastication. _HARRIS_ in the _Atlas America_, mentions one kill\u2019d when\nasleep, that was twelve Yards and a half long, and proportionably big,\nin whose Belly they found two wild Boars. This Creature I take to be the\n_Lyboya_, (or a near Relative) a gigantick Serpent, already described,\ntherefore I dismiss the Monster, and proceed to the\nLV. _MANIMA_, another Water-Snake, of the same Proportion with the\nformer, if not more bulky: The sight is terrible; the Monstrosity of\nDimensions is sufficient to render it so; but we are told, the Terror\nvanishes in some Degree upon a view of the Skin, which is exquisitely\npainted, and the _Brazilians_ not only love to see so spruce an Animal,\nbut reckon it an Omen of a long Life.\nIf you ask, What a long Life is? I answer, \u2019Tis nothing but a lingering,\nslow Consumption: Life itself, what is it, but a meer practical\nTautology, a Repetition of the same things over and over, and looks more\nlike a Penance imposed upon Mankind than Pleasure.\nLVI. The _Terpomongo_ is another Serpent, which in the _Brazilian_\nDialect, signifies to _stick close_, so close to whatever it touches,\nthat it is not to be parted. It is about the bigness of a Cable-Rope,\nwhich being fasten\u2019d to the Anchor, holds the Ship fast when it rides.\nThis Property in the Serpent, may be an Hieroglyphick; or Symbol of true\nFriendship, which is a sacred Mixture: My Friend and I are as two Rivers\njoined in one, not to be separated; we stick close and fast, traversing\nthe Wilderness hand-in-hand: He who strikes one, wounds the other\u2014No\nSchism in true Friendship.\nLVII. _JACORE Lizard_; some of these Serpents are as big as Dogs, and\nresemble them in the Nose; their Teeth large and long, and their Skin\nimpenetrable. They do no harm to their Neighbours, and therefore are\ngenerally allow\u2019d to live. They make a loud Noise, by which their Haunts\nare discovered, and their Liberty hazarded.\nThey lay Eggs as large as those of a Goose, of an elastick Nature, so\nhard, that when one is struck against another, they ring like Iron: they\nfrequent both Land and Water.\nIt\u2019s observable here, that this Animal is obstreporous, and by its Noise\ninvites Danger; whereas Silence would be his Security: yea, its Eggs are\nas so many roaring Bells. This may serve for a Document to the unruly\nMember: _Thersites_, in _Homer_, was counted a Fool for babbling. A\ntalkative Tongue is the Spring, Ringleader, and Head of Faction in all\nplaces.\nThe first Rudiments in _Pythagoras_\u2019s School, was _Quinquennian_,\n_Silence_. The Scholars were not allow\u2019d to talk for five Years, that\nis, till they had learned the _Art of Silence_. _Harpocrates_ was the\n_God of Silence_, therefore painted with his Finger on his Lip, and was\nworshipped in _Egypt_ with _Isis_ and _Serapis_.\n_ANGERONA_ was the Goddess of Silence at _Rome_, and painted with a\nCloth about her Mouth. Nor is it less venerable at _Venice_, where after\nthey come out of the Senate-house, they are as silent about what was\nsaid and done, as if they had power to forget all that was said and\ndone.\nTo the above-mention\u2019d Serpents, the learned Mr. _Ray_ adds, by way of\nSupplement, a Catalogue of fifteen _East-Indian Serpents_, which he had\nfrom the Learned Dr. _Tancred Robinson_, whose Descriptions he had from\nthe College at _Leyden_, which I shall annex to the foregoing[235].\nFootnote 235:\n  _Ray_\u2019s _Synopsis Animalium_, p. 330.\nLVIII. _SERPENS Indicus Coronatus_, an _Indian_ Serpent, that makes its\nAppearance with a crowned Head, which it holds up on high, as if proud\nof the Honour. This is an Emblem of Pride, that Dropsy of the Mind; to\nyield to its Thirst, is to swallow the Bait, that turned the _Seraph_\ninto a _Devil_.\nThe Remedy used by the _Indians_ for its Wounds, is what they call the\n_Serpent-Stone_, which, according to _Thevenot_ and others, is an\nartificial Composition, and not taken out of this Serpent\u2019s Head.\nLIX. _VIPERA Indica tricolor major_, a Serpent remarkable for a Body\ndecorated with three fine Colours, the Liveries of Summer\u2019s Pride, but\nliving much under ground, the Glories of its Attire are buried in the\nEarth, _the World\u2019s material Mould_.\nLX. _VIPERA Zelanica minor maculis eleganter variegata_, a Serpent\nelegantly garnished with a Variety of charming Colours: It is an\nInhabitant of _Ceylon_, an Island in the _East-Indies_, called by the\nInhabitants _Tenarisain_, that is the _Land of Delights_, and not\nwithout reason is this Island so called, since it is the most fruitful\nplace in _India_, producing Gold, Silver, Precious Stones, plenty of\nRice, Ananas, Cocoas, best Oranges, Lemons, Figs, Pomegranates, Ginger,\nGrapes, Pepper, Cardamum, Tobacco, Nutmegs, Sugar; Mulberry, which yield\nmuch Silk; Palm-trees, which afford a Liquor for their constant Drink,\n_&c._ But in midst of these pleasing Varieties, they are haunted with\nvarious sorts of venemous Serpents; an Emblem of our present State,\nwhich is a Compound of Pleasure and Pain.\n              _The Gods will frown, wherever they do smile;\n              The Crocodile infests the fertile_ Nile.\n_CEYLON_ is an Emblem of Man, to whom _Pleasure_ is as a delightful\nSituation; but in it dwells a Serpent, called _Pain_. Pleasure is the\nprincipal Intendment of Nature, and the great Object of our Inclination,\nwithout which Life would be no Blessing, but a Mortification: Yea, \u2019tis\nPleasure reconciles us to Pain; for who would submit to nauseous\nMedicines, and Tortures of the Surgeon\u2019s Knife, but for hope of the\nPleasure of Ease that succeeds it.\nNo Serpent so terrible as Pain, which is a strange domineering\nPerception, that keeps off Ease when wanted, and destroys Ease when we\nare in possession of it.\nLXI. The _Malcarabeta_ of _Ceylon_ is a Serpent painted by Nature in a\nGarb blue and white; the last of these two Colours shew best by\nCandle-light. This leads us to the Excommunication by Inch of Candle;\nthat is, while a little Candle continues burning, the Sinner is allow\u2019d\nto come to Repentance; but after it burns out, he remains excommunicated\nto all Intents and Purposes.\nLXII. The _Ethetulla_ is a _Ceylonick_ Serpent; of a little slender\nBody, and sharp-pointed Head. This is a kind of Ranger, delights in\nGroves and Forests, and may be known by a white and green Vesture, in\nwhich it rambles among the Trees.\nLXIII. _MALPOLON_ is another Serpent of that celebrated Island, and of a\nvermilion Hue, imbroider\u2019d with curious fine red Spots, which shine like\nso many Stars.\nLXIV. _SERPENS Putorius_, so denominated, probably because of its filthy\nSmell; by which it resembles the _Putorius_, a little Animal call\u2019d\n_Fitchet_, that smells ill, especially when enraged[236]. _Jonstonus_\nand _Gesner_ make it to be the _Druinus_, which has been already\ndescrib\u2019d.\nFootnote 236:\n  _A putorio, quia vald\u00e8 f\u0153tet._\nLXV. The _Anacandia_, a _Ceylonick_ Serpent, of monstrous Corpulence,\nbeing in longitude about 25 Foot. _D. Cleyerus_, who accounts for this\ngigantick Serpent, says, he saw one of them open\u2019d, in whose Belly was\nfound a whole Stag, with all his integral Parts: In another they found a\nwild Goat; and in a third, a Porcupine arm\u2019d with all its Darts and\nPrickles[237]. Serpents of this nature have often fallen in our way, by\nwhich we may imagine, that there is a vast spread of them over the\nEarth. Mr. _Ray_ from _Cleyerus_ gives this account of the Monster\u2014\u2014Tho\u2019\nthe Throat seems narrow, yet \u2019tis very extensible, and the Facts have\nbeen confirm\u2019d by Experience. When the Prey is catch\u2019d, he wraps himself\nabout it, takes it by the Nose, sucks the Blood, and soon reduces it to\na Hodge-podge; after he has broken the Bones in pieces, that emit a\nSound like a Gun, _ibid._ And in doing all this he spends two days.\nFootnote 237:\n  _De octavo genere merentur legi, qu\u00e6 D. Cleyerus in Ephemer. German._\n  Anno 12. Observ. 7. cui titulas, _De Serpente magno Indi\u00e6 Orientalis.\n  Urobubalum deglutiente Narrat. Raii Synopsis Animalium_,\u2014p. 333, 334.\nLXVI. The _Ghalghulawa_ is another _Ceylonite_, that goes by the Name of\n_Serpens Indicus Saxatilis_, describ\u2019d by whitish Lines, that run across\none another: Whether the Poet refers to this, as a Serpent affecting\nstony and gravelly Situations, or to a certain Fish, I determine\nFootnote 238:\n  Tum viridis squamis, parvo saxatilis ore. _Ovid._\nLXVII. The _Manballa_ is another _Indian_, and from its Name we may\nconclude it has something of the canine Nature, for it flies with great\nFury at Passengers, as some Dogs usually do. \u2019Tis of a light red (or\nbright bay, as we call it in Horses) spotted with white.\nLXVIII. The _Nintipolonga_, an _Indian_ Serpent, whose Skin is checker\u2019d\nwith white and black Spots. Its Bite is accompanied with mortiferous\nSleep, therefore call\u2019d _Serpens hypnoticus_, _soporiferous Serpent_,\nwhose Wounds are as an _Opiate_, or _Medicines_ that induce sleep, in\nwhich they die. _Q._ Why may not we suppose this narcotic Poison to be\nthe same with that, which _Cleopatra_ used in executing the Sentence\nthat _Heroine_ past upon herself?\nLXIX. The _Wepelon_ Serpent: Nothing is said of it, but that it\nresembles an _Indian_ Reed or Cane in form.\nLXX. _SERPENS Fluviatilis_, seems to be the _Water-Snake_.\nLXXI. _SERPENS Spadiceus_, a Serpent of light red Colour.\nLXXII. Then follows the _Ceylonic Hotamb\u0153ia_. Dr. _Robinson_\u2019s Account\nof this Serpent, he had from the learned _Hermannus_\u2019s Library.\n_N. B._ Some of these Eastern Serpents may coincide and agree in\nCharacter with those in _America_, and other Regions. Where there is\nsuch an infinite Variety of them, and delineated by so many different\nhands, \u2019tis difficult to give an exact Description of every individual\nSerpent.\nOther parts of the _East-Indies_ (Continent and Islands) are infested\nwith Serpents of various kinds and sizes, and he must be more than a\nConjurer in History, that can charm them to make their Appearance in one\nPlace, and all in their proper Habiliments.\nLXXIII. The _hooded_ or _Monk Serpent_, found in an Island near\n_Batavia_ (a _Dutch_ Settlement in the _East-Indies_) which differs from\nother Serpents in the _uncouth Shape of its Head_, that looks as if it\nwere cover\u2019d with a large long _Hood_, like a _Monk\u2019s Cowl_, or the\nWidow\u2019s Veil, therefore called the _hooded Serpent_, which is a very\ndangerous Animal. Upon a view of its Prey, it immediately advances\ntowards it, with terrible Rage and Hissing.\nWhen the _Sieur de la Case_ was hunting one day in the Woods adjacent to\n_Batavia_, he saw one of these Serpents descending from a Tree, making a\nfearful Noise: It was about the thickness of a Man\u2019s Arm, and in length\nabout eight Foot.\nThis venemous Creature was no sooner on the Ground, but it made towards\nhim with the greatest Fury; but having a Gun ready charg\u2019d, he very\nhappily shot it dead, and made off hastily for fear of a second\nAttack[239].\nFootnote 239:\n  _Fr. Leguat_\u2019s _Voyages_, in _Atl._ for _Asia_.\n_LEGUAT_, who gives this Account, and was in _Batavia_, _A.D._ 1697,\nsays, he saw a Serpent in that Country about fifty Foot long. _N. B._\nThe Skin of one that was 20 Foot long, is shewn in _Batavia_, that\nswallow\u2019d an Infant, _ibid._\nLXXIV. The _Musk Serpent_, so term\u2019d from its musky or sweet Scent.\nThese sweet-scented Animals are Inhabitants of the _East_, between\n_Calicut_, the second Kingdom of _Malabar_, and _Candahor_. In _Ceylon_\nare Musk-Rats, where the Inhabitants eat all Rats, but this kind.\nThese Musk-Rats are in all things shaped like our Water-Rats, only\nsomething larger; and in other respects differ only in that musky Scent.\nA Gentleman, who kept one of them in a wooden Chest, observed that two\ndays before it died, \u2019twas most odoriferous, and scented the Room above\nwhat was common[240]. In _Muscovy_ is a Water-Rat, which smells like\nMusk; and also a great number of _Musk-Cats_, which look like young\n_Bucks_ without Horns, and therefore call\u2019d _Musk-Harts_ by the\n_Chinese_, because they resemble those Creatures. The Musk is contain\u2019d\nin a little Excrescence near the Navel[241].\nFootnote 240:\n  _Lowthorp_\u2019s _Abridg._ vol. iii. p. 594.\nFootnote 241:\n  This Animal is described by _Philip Martinus_ in his _Chinese Atlas_.\nIn _America_ also, are found Woods abounding with Musk-Rats, that are as\nbig as Rabbits, and have Burrows in the Ground. Their Skins are black,\nBellies white, and smell exceeding strong of Musk[242]. The vegetable\nWorld also, entertains us with Musk-Pears, Musk-Roses, single and\ndouble, and the Ever-green, _&c._ _N. B._ Musk-Rats frequent fresh\nStreams, and no other.\nFootnote 242:\n  _History of the Antilles._\nThe word _Musk_ comes from the _Arabic_, _Moscha_, a Perfume of strong\nScent, only agreeable when moderated by the Mixture of some other\nPerfume, by which it becomes an agreeable artificial Odour.... Musk is\nfound in a little Swelling, like a pr\u00e6ternatural Tumor, or Bag growing\n(about the Bigness of a Hen\u2019s Egg) under the Belly of a wild Beast, of\nthe same Name; and appears to be nothing else, but a kind of bilious\nBlood there congeal\u2019d.\nThis _Musk-Animal_ is common in the _East-Indies_, as in the Kingdoms of\n_Boutan_, _Cochin China_, but the most esteem\u2019d are those of _Tibet_.\nWhen the Bladder under the Belly is taken out, they separate the\ncongeal\u2019d Blood, and dry it in the Sun.\nSir _John Chardin_[243] says, _Musk_ is also produced in _Persia_ from\nan Impostume in the Body of a Beast, that resembles a _Goat_, and grows\nnear the Navel, and is better than that of _China_. The Scent of it,\nadds he, is so strong, that it many times kills those who hunt the\nBeast, when they first open the Bag, except they stop their Mouths and\nNoses with Linnen: \u2019Tis easily counterfeited, and the best way to try\nit, is by drawing a _Thread_, dipt in the Juice of Garlick, thro\u2019 the\n_Bag_ with a Needle; and if the Garlick loses its Scent, the Musk is\ngood. _Atl._ 397.\nFootnote 243:\n  _His Travels._\nLXXV. The _Boitiapo_ (that should have been mention\u2019d before with its\n_Brazilian_ Relatives) is a large Serpent, about seven Foot long, not\nquite so thick as a Man\u2019s Arm, of an olive Colour, yellow Belly, in Body\nround, cloath\u2019d with Scales that make an elegant Appearance in a sort of\ntriangular form. \u2019Tis very venemous, and its Wounds not curable without\ntimely and proper Applications.\nThe _Lacertan Snakes_ or Lizards come next under Consideration, and in\nthe same order as laid down by the learned Mr. _Ray_[244]. Previous to\nthat, I beg leave to observe, that _Moses_ places two sorts of _Lizards_\namong unclean Creatures, the _Stellio_ and _Lacerta_. These Lizards\ndiffer vastly in Bulk; some a Finger\u2019s length; in _Arabia_, some of a\nCubit long; in the _Indies_, twenty-four Feet in length. Several sorts\nof _Lizards_ are mention\u2019d in Scripture, _Lev._ xi. 30. the two former\nare translated _Stellio_ and _Lacerta_; the third is translated a\n_Mole_, but _Bochart_ maintains, it is a _Cameleon_; the fourth is\ndescrib\u2019d _Prov._ xxx. 28. and there, _Spider_ is render\u2019d _Stellio_, a\nLizard. Mr. _Ray_ begins with\nFootnote 244:\n  _Synopsis Animal. de Lacertis._\nLXXVI. The _Crocodile_, the largest of the _Lacertan_ Race, a Name which\nis supposed to come from a word[245] that signifies _afraid of Saffron_,\nbecause this Creature abhors the Smell of _Saffron_, as a learned Author\nobserves[246]. It is an amphibious Beast, noisome and voracious, and one\nof the Wonders of Nature; for, from an Egg no bigger than that of a\nGoose, proceeds an Animal which increases to eight or ten Yards in\nlength.\nFootnote 245:\n  \u039a\u03c1\u03bf\u03ba\u03bf\u03b4\u03b5\u03b9\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2 \u03b4\u03b5\u03b9\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2. _Gr\u00e6cis timidus._\nFootnote 246:\n  _Calmet._\nHis Mouth is very wide, and is extended to the Ears; his Snout and Eyes\nlike those of Swine; the Teeth, which are ingrail\u2019d, are white, acute,\nstrong and numerous; the Feet arm\u2019d with sharp Claws; the Skin of the\nBelly is tender and may be easily penetrated, but the other parts of the\nBody are not penetrable by Swords and Arrows: It defies even the Wheels\nof a loaded Cart, as well as Darts and Spears: It is of a yellow Colour,\nsay some; but _Wormius_ in Mr. _Ray_\u2019s _Synopsis_ says, that those he\nhad seen, were inclin\u2019d to the grey or ash Colour.\nThe Tail is near as long as the Body, upon which are Fins of a Fish,\nwhereby he is capacitated to swim. When he strikes with his Claws, he\ntears with his Teeth, and grinds the very Bones of what he kills into\nPowder. In Winter he lives much without Food, but in Summer, his\nSustenance is of the animal kind, but is most fond of human Flesh; and\nas he is an amphibious Creature, plunders both Elements[247].\nFootnote 247:\n  _Jonstonus_, 141.\nThe Crocodile, when prest with Hunger, swallows Stones, which have been\nfound worn round about, and the wasted parts reduced to such minute\nParticles, as were fit to circulate with the Mass of Blood[248].\nFootnote 248:\n  _Nierembergius._\nIn _Egypt_ the _Crocodile_ is made the Object of religious Adoration,\nbut not by all the Nation; for the Inhabitants of _Tentyra_ (an Island\nform\u2019d by the River _Nilus_) were so far from worshipping that hateful\nMonster, that they despised it, and often brought them to the _Roman_\nShews for Diversion.\u2014\u2014This Aversion to _Crocodiles_ caused a War between\nthe _Tentyrians_ and the other _Egyptians_, who worship\u2019d those\nCreatures; of which People _Job_ seems to speak in the following Words:\n_Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their\nMourning_, Job iii. 8. Some read it, to raise up the _Leviathan_, or to\nawake the _Crocodile_; of which _Job_ gives an admirable Description,\nunder the Name of _Leviathan_, _Job_ xli. 1, 2, 3, 4.... So the\nPsalmist, _Thou breakest the Heads of Leviathan in pieces, and gavest\nhim to be Meat to the People inhabiting the Wilderness_.\nWhen I think of the superstitious _Egyptians_ warring against the People\nof _Tentyra_, I can\u2019t but observe how the same kind of Spirit (the more\nthe pity) too often reigns among Christians: Those who have ridicul\u2019d\nSuperstition, and endeavour\u2019d to propagate Truth, have always had\nVengeance and Wrath breath\u2019d out against them, and have been exposed to\nthe same Fate as the _Tentyrians_.\nThe Habitations of Crocodiles are generally in great Rivers, as the\n_Ganges_ in _Asia_, one of the greatest Rivers in the World, and which\nis accounted sacred: Its Water is clear and sweet, weighs an Ounce in a\nPint lighter than any other Water in the Country: The _Great Mogul_\u2019s\nCourt drink none else with their Wine. These monstrous Animals are also\nfound in the _Nile_ and _Niger_, two of the greatest Rivers in _Africa_;\nand also in the great Rivers of _America_, especially those of the\n_Amazons_, which abound with Crocodiles of vast Bigness, that very much\nannoy the Inhabitants.\n_GEMELLI_ in the _Atlas_, says the _Crocodile_ is hatch\u2019d of an Egg no\nbigger than that of a Turkey, but grows to thirty Foot long, the Back\narm\u2019d with impenetrable Scales, the Mouth wide enough to swallow an\nHeifer, and only moves the upper Jaw; it sees better by Water than Land,\nis cowardly, and generally flies from those that attack it, but daring\nenough otherwise; for which reason the _Egyptians_ made it the\nHieroglyphick of Impudence.\u2014They have no Tongue, and eat nothing in all\nthe autumnal Quarter[249].\nFootnote 249:\n  For _Africa_, p. 47.\nThis Animal has a great Dexterity in catching Wild-fowl, which always\nabound in those great Rivers, and along Sea-shores, as Ducks, Teals, and\nother Water-fowls: When in want of Food, he goes into the Sea, where he\nlies in such a manner, that the upper Part of his Back appears above the\nWater, and looks like a piece of Timber floating; the wild Fowls\nmistrusting nothing, come so near it, that he immediately devours them:\nThey lurk among Reeds and Bushes, on the Banks of Rivers and great\nPools, from whence they suddenly leap out, and eat up their Prey, which\nsometimes happens to be People that come to drink or fetch Water.\nThe Inhabitants of _Madagascar_, an _African_ Island, look upon\nCrocodiles as Devils, and swear by them: When Differences happen among\nthem, they go to a River, where he that is to swear throws himself into\nthe Water, and conjures the Crocodiles to be Arbitrators betwixt him and\nhis Adversary, and to let him live if he speaks Truth, but if otherwise,\nto destroy him[250]. Among the Rarities in _Gresham-College, London_, is\na Crocodile about two Yards and a half long. Crocodiles are little known\nin _Europe_, but common in the _Indies_.\nFootnote 250:\n  _Dellon on Madagascar, in Atl. Afr._\nThe _Land Crocodile_, call\u2019d _Seincus_, is variously described. In the\n_Molucca_ Islands they are accounted the fiercest of Monsters, contrary\nto those of the _Nile_, according to some Writers[251]. _Harris_[252]\nsays, that they are very harmless, and in some places so tame, that\nChildren play with them. _Le Comte_ says, what are called _small\nCrocodiles_, are _huge Lizards_, found all over the Woods in _Siam_, as\nalso in Houses and Fields[253].\nFootnote 251:\n  _Barth. Leonardo de Argensola_\u2019s Discovery of the _Molucca_ and\n  _Philippine_ Islands.\nFootnote 252:\n  _Atlas Amer._ 263.\nFootnote 253:\n  _Memoirs_, 2d Edit. p. 502.\nThis Land Crocodile is indeed an amphibious Animal, lives partly in the\nWater and partly upon dry Ground: It has four slender Legs like a\nLizard; its Snout is sharp, and its Tail short, cover\u2019d with small\nScales of a silver Colour. \u2019Tis hatch\u2019d in _Egypt_, near the Red-Sea, in\n_Libya_, and the _Indies_.\nIn _Leviticus_ there\u2019s mention made of a kind of _Crocodile_, in the\n_Hebrew_ called _Choled_, which the Septuagint translates \u03ba\u03c1\u03bf\u03ba\u03bf\u03b4\u03b5\u03b9\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2\n\u03c7\u03b5\u03c1\u03c3\u03b1\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2, a land Crocodile, which is a kind of Lizard, that feeds upon\nthe sweetest Flowers it can find; this makes its Intrails to be very\nmuch valued for their agreeable Smell. _Bellonius_ says, it has four\nFeet, and a round knotty Tail, and is as big as the _Salamander_.\nThere\u2019s scarce any way to manage him by Land, unless it be by a Wile, as\nthey do on the Bank of _Nilus_, where little Huts are erected, from\nwhence the Watchmen, upon the Approach of a Crocodile, spring out with\nlong Branches in their Hands, which they, with great Dexterity, thrust\ninto its Throat; and not being able to extricate itself, it falls down,\nupon which others of them discharge their Arrows at his Belly, which\nbeing a tender part, he is soon killed; but in Water he is quickly\nnoosed, because for want of a Tongue, he can\u2019t safely open his wide\nMouth, without being suffocated.\nThis terrestrial Crocodile comes to us by way of _Alexandria_ and\n_Venice_, and is very useful in physical Prescriptions.\nLXXVII. The _Cordylus_ is a little noxious Reptile, supposed by some to\nbe the _Land Crocodile_, because upon first sight it looks like the\n_Nilotic_; but upon a stricter view, the Fallacy appears. The Back is\ncover\u2019d with close compacted Scales, as a House with Tiles, by which\n\u2019tis distinguish\u2019d.\nIts Tail is rough, and like a Club, wherewith it strikes whatever it\nmeets, therefore is called _Caudiverbera_, that is, one that strikes\nwith the Tail; a Tail prominent with War[254].\nFootnote 254:\n  _Raii Synopsis Animalium Quadrupedum_, p. 263.\nLXXVIII. The _Tapayaxin_ is a Lizard of _New Spain_, and of a round\nform; and, _Spaniard_-like, is slow in Motion, and as loth to change its\nSeat, as the _Spaniards_ their old Fashions and Customs. This little\nCreeper is of the northern Tribe, being generally found in the Mountains\nof cold Regions. It is observable, that if its Head be comprest or\nsqueezed, it will throw out drops of Blood with a Force that will carry\nthem several Yards off[255].\nFootnote 255:\n  See _Dr. Plot\u2019s History of Staffordsh._ p. 252.\nLXXIX. The _Lacertus Viridis_, or green Lizard, is found in _Italy, &c._\nlives in Meadows, and being of the harmless kind, little is said of it.\nThere are many Lizards of other Colours, but none so beautiful as the\ngreen ones; tho\u2019 very small, they are pretty: Many make themselves very\nfamiliar with them, and put them in their Bosom[256].\nFootnote 256:\n  _Nat. History of Carolina_, 131, 2. _N. B._ These are found in\n  _Ireland_.\nLXXX. The _Tejuguacu_ is a _Brazilian Lizard_, of black Colour,\nbeautified with elegant white Spots, which renders it pleasing to the\nEye: Its Tongue is long and cloven, smooth and red. \u2019Tis a little\nCreature, and moves its little Body with great Celerity; is patient in\nWant, and will for six or seven Moons, live without any kind of\nSustenance, but Air, the Fluid in which we all breathe.\nLXXXI. The _Taraguira_ is another _Brazilian_, of about a Foot long,\nwhose Body is smooth, and naturally guarded by an Armour of a strong\nsquamatick Skin, and the Scales situated in a kind of triangular form:\nIt affects to reside in Underwoods, and Places inclosed, and near to\nHouses.\nLXXXII. The _Americina_ Serpent, which is not much different from the\nformer, except it be in its forked Tail, which terminates in two\ndifferent Points; and in this Article seems to differ from all other\nsanguineous Animals, among whom, says the learned _Ray_, I have never\nheard of any else furnish\u2019d with two Tails: This looks like something\nanomalous in Nature, and contrary to its common Rules, if the\nDescription be true.\nLXXXIII. The _Taraquico Aycuraba_ is another venemous Offspring of\n_Brazil_, a Species of the former, but differs from it in the Tail,\nwhich is single. This Animal is covered with little rough triangulated\nScales, the Extremity of which is decked with brown Spots, and the Back\nwith various dusky Specks, ranged in the form of Waves.\nLXXXIV. The _Americina_ is a little venemous Creeper, whose Body\ninclines to the square, about three Fingers long, in Crassitude as the\nQuill of a Swan; bright to the Eye, and smooth to the Hand: The Back is\nmade strong by whitish Scales; the Head, Shanks, and Sides with brown\nones: The Tail is of a fine azure Colour; its Claws are setigerous,\nresembling the Bristles of a Hog.\nLXXXV. _CARAPOBEBA_ is another minim Serpent of _America_, and\nveneniferous, four or five Fingers long: The Body, that in Colour\nresembles a Liver, is adorn\u2019d with white Marks, (and the Tail with white\nLines) and is illuminated with glaring Eyes, like Globes of Glass.\nLXXXVI. _TEJUNHANA_ is a little Serpent, whose Head is sharp-pointed:\nThe Tail is about six Fingers long, smooth and round, and ends like a\nNeedle; the Head is cover\u2019d with rough Scales, like _Milford_ Oysters;\nthe Back and Sides are cloath\u2019d with a Skin, that is finely painted with\ngreen and brown Colours, and when touched, feels soft like Velvet.\nLXXXVII. To these _Americans_ I add the _Stellio_, which Mr. _Ray_ calls\nthe _swift_, or _spotted Lizard_, whose Body makes a glorious\nAppearance, by glittering Spots, that when it makes its Parade, looks\nlike a little moveable Firmament of Stars: This Serpent is pretty common\nin _Thrace_, _Sicily_, and _Syria_[257].\nFootnote 257:\n\u2019Tis said of this Animal, that it casts its Skin and eats it again; and\nif so, \u2019tis a proper Emblem of desultory Creatures, who leave their\nVices for a time, and return to them afterwards[258].\nFootnote 258:\n  _Grew\u2019s Cosmologia Sacra._\nAmong Serpents is such Variety of charming Colours, and Figures, that if\nit were not for the natural Antipathy that we have for them, perhaps\nthere is not one thing that the Eye could take greater Delight in.\nBesides the above Lacertick Serpents of _Brazil_, _Rochefort_[259], a\n_French_ Author, mentions other Serpents different from these, which\ncome next under Consideration.\nFootnote 259:\n  _History of the Antilles-Islands._\nLXXXVIII. The _Les Anoles_, a Serpent in bigness like the _Gallick_\nLizards, but of a longer Head; of a yellow Skin, like a Sun-burnt\n_Roussilonite_, or the _Savage Man_ in the Isle of _Borneo_; Russet\nBack, channel\u2019d with green; of an ashy or cineraceous Colour; a\nboisterous noisy Animal. It\u2019s generally in motion by Day, and by Night,\nlodges in hollow places, where it joins with the Brotherhood, in\ndisturbing the Neighbours with hideous Croakings: by the loudness of its\nNoise, it should seem that it had but an empty Noddle.\nLXXXIX. _LES ROQUET_, a Serpent of a ruddy Colour, intermix\u2019d with black\nand yellow Points: of sparkling Eyes, and majestick Mien, walking in a\nstately manner with Head erect; and skipping about like a Bird, or a\n_French Beau_, who was said to make a _Solecism_ with his Hand, when he\nmade a false Gesture on the Stage.\nXC. The _Maboujas_, a word that signifies a Devil in the _Indian_\nLanguage, and given to this Serpent, because in its Nature it is most\nmalignant and mischievous: It lives in fenny Ground, and shaded Valleys,\ndreadful in Appearance, and more so in its Executions.\nThis cruel Serpent is an Emblem of the old Serpent, that great fiery\nDragon, that in a few Hours reduced _Job_, a wealthy Prince, into the\nlowest Ebb of Poverty, converted his Palace into a Dunghill, and his\nBody into an Hospital of Diseases; and if permitted, he would\nimmediately turn the Earth into a Scene of Blood and Destruction;\ntherefore he is called \u03b1\u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03bb\u03c5\u03c9\u03bd\u03bf\u03c1, the _Destroyer_, _Rev._ ix. 11. the\nMurderer, and Shedder of Blood. _N. B._ The tutelar Deity of the\n_C\u00e6sars_ was _Apollo_, that is, the\u2014_Destroyer_. The like kind of bloody\nDeity has presided in the Temples of Tyranny ever since.\nXCI. The _Gobe Moujes_, so denominated by the _French_, from its\n_gobbling_ all kinds of Flies, which it constantly hunts, and swallows\nin a voracious manner. It commonly frequents Houses where it suffers no\nlittle Insects to live, no not upon Garments: It is of the stellionick\nform, and the least of all the Quadrupeds in those _Antilles_, which our\n_English_ call, the _Leeward-Islands_.\nMay not this Animal serve to represent those gobbling Sots, who brush\noff the Flies of Melancholy, and drown them in the inchanted Cup? Thus\nlikewise the Sons of _Mammon_ hunt for _golden Flies_, as Entertainments\nmost delicious.\nXCII. _BROCHET DE TORRE_, or the _Land-Pike_, is a Serpent of about\nfifteen Inches long, so termed from its Likeness in Figure and Skin to\nthat Fish. Instead of Fins, it has four Feet, too weak to support the\nBody, therefore crawls on its Belly, after an odd unusual manner,\nwinding its Body about like a Pike newly taken out of the Water; which\nkind of Motion being strange, strikes Terror into Spectators. _Tetre_\ndenies it to have the perfect Shape, Head and Skin of the common Pike,\nand treats _Sieur Rochefort_ with some Roughness, according to Mr.\n_Ray_.\nIn the Night, these Serpents are found under the Rocks, where they make\na frightful Noise, more hideous than the croaking of Frogs and Toads. In\n_Antigua_ is a Fish called _Cane_, like our _Pike_ in figure, seven or\neight Foot long, and big in proportion: It preys like the _Shark_, and\nespecially on human Flesh; and the least Bite of its Teeth proves mortal\nPoison, without immediate Application of some sovereign Antidote[260].\nFootnote 260:\n  _History of the Antilles._\nXCIII. The last he mentions, is a _little Serpent_, about seven Fingers\nin length, and terrible to the Eye. The Skin is embroider\u2019d with black\nScales, that look smooth and sleek as if it were a Surface of Oil: It is\nfurnish\u2019d with very sharp Teeth, small Eyes, but so weak that they can\u2019t\nlong face the Light, no more than a _Frenchman_ can look Truth in the\nface, or a _Spaniard_ the Field of Battle.\nWhen this little venemous Animal apprehends any Danger, it immediately\ndigs into the Earth, with its five crooked and strong Claws, that soon\npenetrate the Ground: \u2019tis guilty not only of Evils among Beasts, but of\ngreat Devastations in Orchards and Gardens[261].\nFootnote 261:\nI have wondered, says a learned Author, to see with what great\nQuickness, Art, and Strength, many _Vesp\u00e6, Ichneumons, wild Bees and\nBeetles_,\u2014perforate the Earth, yea, even Wood itself; but the most\nremarkable in this way, is the _Mole-Cricket_[262]. Swine, who dig in\nthe Earth for their Food, have all parts of their Head adapted for that\nService, but rather more remarkable in the _Mole_, whose Neck, Eyes,\nNose and Ears are all fitted in the nicest manner, to its subterraneous\nway of Life.\nFootnote 262:\n  _Derham_ _Phys. Theol._\nXCIV. The _Ground Rattle-Snake_, so called, only because it resembles\nthe real Rattle-Snake in Colour, but is somewhat darker: It never grows\nabove twelve or sixteen Inches long; \u2019tis reckon\u2019d among the worst of\nSnakes, and of a hardy Nature, because it keeps out of its\nWinter-Quarters the longest of any. N. B. _This Serpent and some of the\nfollowing are taken out of the natural History of_ Carolina[263], a part\nof _America_ belonging to _England_. The Natives of that Country were of\na larger Size than _Europeans_, and accounted so faithful in their\nPromises, and so just in their Dealings, that they had no Words to\nexpress _Dishonesty_, _Fraud_, or _Cheating_,\u2014What contributed chiefly\nto their honest Simplicity, and plain Method of living, was their\nContempt of Riches; were content with plain Food and Raiment, without\nbeing anxiously sollicitous for to-morrow.\nFootnote 263:\n  In the new _Collection of Voyages_, 4to, printed 1713.\nXCV. The _Horn-Snake_, very venemous, hisses exactly like a Goose, upon\nany body\u2019s Approach. Serpents of this Class strike at the Enemy with\ntheir Tail, which is arm\u2019d at the end with a horny Substance, like a\nCock-Spur, that kills whatever is wounded with it. \u2019Tis said, that in\n_Virginia_, they only shoot their Tongues, and shake them at the\nEnemy[264].\nFootnote 264:\n  _Lowthorp._ vol. iii, p. 599.\nXCVI. The _Hydrus_, _Natrix_, or _Water-Snake_, of these are various\nsorts, and all in some degree amphibious. When the _Coluber Aquaticus_\nwounds any, \u2019tis attended with a most disagreeable Odour, and so strong,\nthat it forbids a near Approach to the unhappy Sufferer, who immediately\nfalls into a Tremor and Distraction, and soon expires (the third day,\nsays _\u00c6lian_) without timely Relief[265].\nFootnote 265:\n  _\u00c6lian._ lib. iv. cap. 57. _Accessio Gyllii._\u2014\nIts common Residence is in shallow Waters, and when they are dried up,\nit goes upon dry Ground, where its Wound is more dangerous than in\nWater: But more of this elsewhere.\nXCVII. In that Country they have what they call _Swamp-Snakes_; three\nsorts of which are near a-kin to the Water-Snakes, and may be rank\u2019d\namong them. The Belly of the first is of the carnation Colour, the Back\nis dark: the next, which is of a brown Colour, always abides in the\nMarshes: the third is of a motley Colour, and very poisonous.\nThey dwell on the sides of Swamps, _i. e._ Bogs, Marshes, and Ponds,\nhave a prodigious large Mouth, and they arrive to the thickness of the\nCalf of a Man\u2019s Leg. Among these I place the black _Truncheon-Snakes_,\nthat live on the Banks of Rivers, which, when disturbed, shoot into the\nWater, like an Arrow out of a Bow. I fancy the Name is borrow\u2019d from a\ncertain Weapon call\u2019d Truncheon, which we call _Battoon_, or Tipstaff,\nof a cylindrical form, used by principal Officers of State, Generals,\nand sometimes by Constables, when they go upon secret Expeditions.\nXCVIII. The _Red-belly-Snake_, this is so called from its ruddy Colour,\nwhich inclines to an Orange-red. Of these are two sorts; one, like\n_Abel_ the Innocent; the other, like _Cain_ the Cruel: An Emblem of the\nWorld, humane, angelic Animal, and Vegetable, in which is a Mixture of\nGood and Evil.\nXCIX. The _Red-back-Snake_, so named from that Colour; a long, slender\nSnake, but not very common. A certain Surveyor of Lands in _Carolina_\nhappen\u2019d to step over one of these, which he did not see till his\nServant spy\u2019d it: The Surveyor inquired of the _Indian_ that was along\nwith him, _Whether it was a very venemous Serpent?_ Who answer\u2019d, _That\nif he had been wounded by it, even the_ Indians _themselves, tho\u2019 expert\nin the Art of curing serpentine Wounds, could not have saved his\nFootnote 266:\n  _Natural History of Carolina._\nRed, which is one of the primary Colours, proceeding from the least\nrefrangible Rays of Light, is a lively Emblem of Fire, or the fiery\nVenom in this Serpent, whose principal Quality is to draw Blood.\nC. The _Scorpion-Lizard_; \u2019tis commonly called so, but is no more like\nit than a Hedge-Hog: It is indeed of the Lizard Colour, but much larger:\nIts Back of a dark copper Colour; the Belly, in Orange; quick in its\nMotion on the Ground, and very nimble in running up Trees; has several\nRows of Teeth, and is reckoned to be of a very poisonous Nature.\nCI. The _Long Black-Snake_, is a land Animal, and very common. _I have_,\nsays my Author, _kill\u2019d several of them, full six Foot in length_. Its\nBite, tho\u2019 painful in its Consequences, is not deem\u2019d commonly mortal:\nthe wounded Part swells, and turns to a running Ulcer. No living\nCreature more nimble in Motion, or a greater Enemy to Mice, for it\nleaves not one of that Vermin alive, wherever it comes. This Serpent\nkills the Rattle-Snake, by twisting its Head about the Neck of that\nSnake, and whipping her to death with its Tail.\nThis Serpent very much haunts Dairy-houses in those Countries, and makes\nvery free with unguarded Milk-Pans, and Cream-Pots: It delights to be\namong Hens, whose Eggs it does not suck, but swallows them whole, as all\nSnakes do their Sustenance. It will often swallow the Egg under a\nsitting Hen, and then lie in the Nest in the form of a Ring.\nAllow here a few Remarks upon the Nature of Milk and Eggs.\nIn all kinds of Vegetables is an oily Substance, which is a Fluid that\nAnimals take in with their Food, and no vegetable Food is nutrimental,\nwithout some Proportion of this Oil; even Grass, especially in its Seed,\nabounds therewith, which being thoroughly mixt with the _Saliva_, it\nturns _milky_ in the Stomach: Which differs from the _Chyle_, only as\nhaving been more concocted, and containing a large degree of Salt, which\nrenders it convertible into Curd.\n_MILK_ therefore is an _oily vegetable Matter_, circulated first in\nPlants, then in Animals, and capable of being reduced into a caseous and\nwatry Substance, (or Cheese and Whey, if you please.) If _Milk_ finds no\nopportunity of passing off in its own natural form, it turns to _Fat_,\nor goes away by Urine and Sweat, which commonly is the case in Men, for\nthey generate Milk as well as Women, _&c._\nAn Egg is from a certain animal Liquid, which by repeated Circulations\nin the Body, arrives at a perfect animal State; this Fluid comes from\nthe oviparous Class, which is the White wherein the Yolk appears to\nswim. The White and Yolk of Eggs are neither alkaline nor acid.\nThe White dissolves by _a gentle Heat_, till it totally liquifies, (thus\nthe Hen\u2019s Heat gradually dissolves the White of a prolific Egg into\nNourishment for the Chicken) but if you expose the White to the _Heat of\nboiling Water_, it will immediately harden, into a viscous, dry Mass.\nThe White of an Egg is a surprizing Menstruum, for if it be first boiled\nhard in the Shell, and afterwards suspended in the Air by a Thread, it\nwill resolve and drop down into an insipid Liquor; which is that\nheterogeneous Menstruum so much used by _Paracelsus_, and will make a\nthorough _Solution of Myrrh_, which is more than Water, Oils, or Fire\nitself can effect[267]. _N. B._ The White of an Egg, by a strong\nDistillation, will afford an alkaline Spirit, and will putrify by\nDigestion; and a single Grain of this putrify\u2019d Substance taken, will,\nlike Poison, presently cause a Nausea, Vomit, Diarrh\u0153a, Fever ... as\n_Bellini_ tells us he has tried. And the learned _Boerhaave_ himself,\nhad seen those terrible Effects of it, which however are immediately\nstopt by drinking any acid Liquor, as Vinegar, Juice of Lemons. From\nMilk I proceed to give an account of an odd Custom about Cheese in\nAntiquity, _viz._ Among the _Romans_, one of their _Tabern\u00e6_ was called\n_Casearia_, _a Caseo i. e._ from Cheese; not because Cheese was made or\nsold in it, but because it was wont to be smoaked there: It being a\nCustom among the old _Romans_ and other _Italians_, to make a great\nSmoke with Reeds and green Wood, on purpose to dry and colour their\nCheese; hence the Poet _Martial_.\n             _Non quemcunque focum, nec fumum caseus omnem,\n             Sed velabrensem, qui bibit ille sapit._\u2014\u2014\n_i. e._ That Cheese only is pleasant and grateful, which does not suck\nin every Fume, but which is smoak\u2019d only, _velabro_, in Tents or Booths.\nFootnote 267:\n  _Boerhaave\u2019s Process_, p.\nCII. The _King\u2019s Snake_, is the longest of all others; but not common.\nIt is said to be terrible to other Serpents, though not very venemous\nand gross: the _Indians_, Men and Women, in _Carolina_, make _Girdles_\nand _Sashes of their Skins_, as Signs of Conquest, and wear them as\nTrophies of Honour.\nThis puts me in mind of _Hippocrates_, the Prince of Physicians, who\ntells us that in the Eastern Parts of _Europe_, there is a _Scythian\nPeople_, called _Sauromat\u00e6_, bordering on the _Palus M\u00e6otis_, where the\nWomen ride on Horse-back, draw the Bow, throw the Javelin as they ride,\nand fight in their Battles, so long as they remain Virgins; and were not\nallow\u2019d to marry, _till they had killed three Enemies in the Wars_[268].\nOf my Author \u2019tis said, He neither knew how to _deceive_, nor be\n_deceived_[269].\nFootnote 268:\n  _Hippocrates upon Air, Water, and Situation; upon Epidemical\n  Diseases_, _&c._ translated into _English_, by the learned Dr.\n  _Clifton_.\nFootnote 269:\n  Of _Hippocrates_ \u2019tis said,\u2014\u2014_Qui tam fallere quam falli nescit_.\n  -Macrobii Opera, p. 27.\n_N. B._ These were the Women called _Amazons_, descended from the\n_Scythians_, whose Women were as warlike as the Men, and joined with\nthem in their Wars.\nCIII. The _Corn-Snake_, is most like the _Rattle-Snake_ of all others in\nColour, but the Chequers are not so regular; neither has it any Rattles.\nThey are frequently found in _Corn-fields_, from whence, I presume, they\nhave their Appellation. In their Qualities they resemble the\n_Green-Snakes_, that are innocent by Nature, and in form admirably\npretty, if I may be allow\u2019d by the Ladies, to call a Serpent so.\nCIV. The _Blowing-Serpent_, which is a Species of the Viper, but larger\nthan the _European_, is so called, because it seems to blow, to spread\nits Head, and swell very much, before it bites; which Bite is very\npoisonous, and seems to receive some additional Malignity from the\nEnlargement of its Head beyond the common Proportion.\nCV. The _Brimstone-Snake_, so denominated from the Similitude of Colour:\nThey might as well call it, the _Glass-Snake_, for if any Credit be\ngiven to the Historian, \u2019tis as brittle as a Glass-Tube, or a\nTobacco-Pipe, so that upon the touch of a Twig, it immediately breaks\ninto several Pieces, which some say, and nobody believes, are capable of\nRe-union.\nIts component Parts may be weak and frail, but it is questionable,\nwhether so brittle as represented: \u2019Tis true indeed there are hard\nBodies, that would not be affected with a Twig, yet are very brittle.\nThus _Iron_, which is one of the hardest Metals and yet _most brittle_,\nand by fusing, it becomes harder and more brittle. Now this great\nBrittleness of Iron, arises from the great quantity of Sulphur-Brimstone\nintermixed with it. The abundance of _Sulphur_ in _Iron_, is apparent\nfrom the _Sparks_ it emits from under the Smith\u2019s Hammer; those fiery\nSparks being only the Sulphur of the heated Iron, nothing of which is\nseen in any other Metal[270]. _N. B._ Roll-Brimstone sold in the Shops\ncomes from the native Sulphur, which _Helmont_ always preferred to that\npurified.\nFootnote 270:\n  _Boerhaave\u2019s Method of Chemistry._\nCVI. The _Yellow-Snake_ is in length about seven or eight Foot; the Neck\nis small, rather less than its Body, which grows bigger, till it be as\nbig as one\u2019s Wrist, and continues so large to the _Anus_; from whence it\ndiminishes by degrees to the Tail. Its Head (which is not very large) is\nof a dark Colour, and so are the Scales all over the Body, with some\nyellow Streaks here and there. The Belly is all yellow, like Marygold,\nwhose Flowers are cordial.\nThese Serpents are for the most part to be found in the woody Mountains\nof _America_, coil\u2019d up in the Paths, as Ropes in a Ship: they are not\nhurtful, unless irritated; they feed on Birds, Rats, _&c._ which they\nswallow whole, and therefore Nature has given them such a folded,\nrugous, inward Tunicle of the Stomach, that it may extend, and receive\nthings of large Dimensions. Many of them have been killed with thirteen\nor fourteen Rats in their Bellies[271].\nFootnote 271:\n  _Sir Hans Sloan\u2019s Voyages to Madeira, Barbad._ vol. ii. Lond. 1725.\nIt has been observed, that the Heart of this Serpent was beating an Hour\nafter the Head was cut off, and that it would turn and twist its Body\nstrangely in its Dissection, for a long time after the Bowels were out:\nThe Lungs were very membranaceous, being nothing but Blood-Vessels and\nAir-Bladders. So a very learned Author. _ibid._\nCVII. The _Chicken-Snake_, so called because of its Executions in the\nPoultry-yard, where it devours all Eggs, and lesser Birds that come in\nits way. These Serpents are of a sooty Colour, and will very readily\nroll themselves round a smooth-bark\u2019d Pine-tree, eighteen or twenty Foot\nhigh, where there is no manner of hold, and there sun themselves, and\nsleep all the pleasurable part of the Day, reserving the hours of\nDarkness for rambling[272]. There is no great matter of Poison in them.\nHere the Historian mentions the _Eel-Snake_, improperly so called, I\nthink, because it is nothing but a _Leach_, that only sucks, and can\u2019t\nsting nor bite, so as to do any Damage.\nFootnote 272:\n  _Natural History of Carolina_, p. 134.\nCVIII. The _Vectis_, whose Head, strictly speaking, is neither round,\nflat, nor pointed, but looks like a Swelling on both sides, one\nstretching transversly, like a Bar that guards a Door, or, if you\nplease, a _Bettee_, an Engine to break open Doors. Though this Sense be\nnot intended here, yet \u2019tis true, that _Serpents_ do make _forcible\nEntries_, but it is always with Teeth and Tail, by which they often\nthrow down the whole Fabrick, and drive out the Inhabitant.\nCIX. The _Agnasen_ Serpent, called the _Mother of Ants_, because it\nlodges in their Apartments, and other warm Situations. We read of _Ants_\nin the _East-Indies_ that build their Houses above Ground, and with the\n_finest Clay_, of which the People make their _Idols_; their little\nHouses are like strong _Butts_, hollow within, where they dwell, and\nbreed in Nests like Honey-combs.\nThe _Butts_ present to my view the _Bow and Arrows_ in the Hands of the\n_Parthians_, who were esteemed the best _Archers_ in the world, and very\ndeservedly, _having the Art of shooting backwards_, and making their\n_Retreat more terrible than their Charge_: Whence that of _Seneca_[273],\n_The_ Parthians _Flight does most affright_. The manner of their Fight\nis describ\u2019d by the Poet, who says, _They were better Soldiers when they\nrun away, and fought best when furthest off, trusting most to the\nFootnote 273:\n  Terga conversi metuenda Parthi.\nFootnote 274:\n              Pugna levis, bellumque fugax, turm\u00e6que fugaces,\n              Et melior cessisse loco quam pellere miles.\n_M. CRASSUS_, in his Expedition against them, being told by an\n_Astrologer_ it would be unprosperous, because of some ill Aspect in\n_Scorpio_: _Hush Man_, quoth he, _I fear not_ Scorpio, _but_\nSagittarius.\u2014But to return to the _Motherly Serpent_, which is about a\nFoot and a half long, the Body slender, adorn\u2019d with red and white\nStreaks. Another Author says, \u2019tis of a red Colour, distinguish\u2019d by\nblack Lines, intermix\u2019d with white Spots: The _Indians_ play with this\nSerpent (as _Ladies_ with their _Lap-dogs_) and for Diversion, wear this\nlittle innocent and pretty Animal (as a Necklace of Pearls) about their\nNecks[275].\nFootnote 275:\n  _Joan. Euseb. Nierembergii Historia Natur\u00e6_, p. 272,-3.\nCX. The _Macacoatl_, or _Anguis Cervinus_, so called from its horned\nHead, which resembles that of a Deer, as thick as a Man\u2019s Thigh, in\nlength about twenty Foot, sprinkled with dusky Spots inclining to the\nblack and yellow.\u2014This seems to be a Member of the gigantick Family,\nalready described. _Ibid._ 273. Therefore I dismiss it, and proceed to\nthe\nCXI. _AQUASEN_ Serpent, which seems to be the Birth of the\n_Philippines_, and very venemous: Its Wound proves fatal in a few\nMinutes, which is preceded by the Putrefaction of the Flesh, next to the\naffected part. It is about two Spans long, of a brown Colour, and a\nlarge Head[276].\nFootnote 276:\n  _Nascitur in Philippicis._ ibid. p. 273. Nierembergius.\nCXII. The Serpent _Otus_ is one of the Plagues of _America_, and very\npoisonous, there being but few hours distance between the Wound it gives\nand Death. It is about an Inch thick, and three Foot long, a little Head\nand whitish Belly, and may be farther distinguish\u2019d from others, by\nwhite and black Spots, and three red Lines running across; slow in\nMotion, and fond of Shade; found in _Cuba_, a famous Island, where the\nantient Inhabitants went naked, tho\u2019 they might have been cloath\u2019d in\nGold. The Historian speaking of _Spanish Cruelty_, observes, that a\ncertain _Indian Prince_ having fled to _Cuba_ for Shelter, was taken by\nthe _Spaniards_, and condemned by them to be burnt alive. When they were\ntying him to the Stake, a _Priest_ told him if he would embrace the\n_Spanish Religion_, he should go to Heaven; but if not, he must burn for\never in Hell. Upon this, the poor distressed Prince ask\u2019d him, if there\nwere any _Spaniards in Heaven_, and the Priest answering, Yes; _Hathuey_\nthe Prince replied, _viz._\n_THAT if it be so, I\u2019ll rather go to the Devils in Hell, than go with\nthe_ Spaniards _to Heaven; for their Cruelty is such, that none can be\nmore miserable than where they are_. _N. B._ This account is given by\none of their own Bishops[277].\nFootnote 277:\n  _Barthol. de las Casas_, Bishop of _Chiapa_. Hist. of _Antilles_.\nCXIII. The _Dopon_ is reckoned to be a most dangerous Serpent; \u2019tis\nabout an Inch round, and four or five Foot long. The vulgar Opinion is,\nthat the whole Body is all over tinged with Poison, the Tail excepted.\nIts Head is very large, and of an octangular form, so far as the Eyes,\nfrom which it grows less and less to the Mouth, which is oblong and\nflat, arm\u2019d with six Teeth in the upper Jaws, and six in the lower,\nbesides lesser ones: The Tongue is slender, and of a black Colour.\nIts Wounds are terrible, allowing the Patient only about twenty-four\nhours to live. No sooner is the Wound given, but all parts of the Body\nbegin to swell, and soon extend beyond their due Proportion; that they\nare soon disabled from performing their Operations[278].\nFootnote 278:\n  _Remedio est Alexiterium pangagausen._ Nierembergii Historia, cap.\nThus Pride, the malignant Tumour of the Mind, was the fatal Wound, by\nwhich the Angelic Serpent, the first in Dignity among created Beings,\nwas transformed into a Devil. Sin, a Poison so strong, that by the first\ntaste of it, the whole human Nature was infected. _Adam_ and _Eve_\ntasted the forbidden Fruit, and lo! we must all die for it, at the\ndistance of so many thousand Years.\nCXIV. The _Attaligatus_ is a small slender Serpent, not exceeding the\nQuill of a Goose in proportion; not poisonous in its Nature, yet very\nmischievous; for these little Creatures are an united Body, and live in\ncommunity, and never separate: they are a Society without Schism, which\nis more than can be affirmed of all human Societies, civil or\necclesiastick.\nWhen these small harmonious Reptiles go abroad, they travel in Company,\na hundred strong or more, and where they find any asleep, they\nimmediately seize the Body, and with a Force united and irresistable,\nthey devour it[279]. Behold! a Conquest by an Army of Worms!\nFootnote 279:\n  _Nierembergii Historia_, cap. xiii. p. 274.\nThus _Herod_ the _Great_, the Proud, the Cruel, when upon the _Throne_,\nwas attack\u2019d by an Army of Worms, that quickly devoured him. His Body\nbecame _worm-eaten_ like a piece of rotten Wood[280]. Of the Executions\ndone by Worms, we have divers Instances in the human World. No part of\nMan\u2019s Body, whether inward or outward, but is subject to Worms, and have\nbeen tormented with them.\nFootnote 280:\n  \u03b3\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c3\u03c7\u03c9\u03bb\u03b7\u03c7\u03bf\u03b2\u03c1\u03c9\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2, Act. xii.\nMan\u2019s Body, if rightly understood, would appear to be a Granary for\nWorms, of divers Colours and Sizes: In the inward Parts, as Stomach,\nGuts, Liver, Blood, Gall, Bladder, have been found swarms of Vermin,\nsapping the Foundation of the animal Structure. We have Instances of\nWorms bred in the human Brains, and were discovered in the Brain of the\n_Paris-Girl_ when opened\u2014probably laid, by some Insect, in the Lamin\u00e6 of\nthe Nostrils, from whence it gnawed its way into the Brain[281]. So in\nthe outer parts.\nFootnote 281:\n  _Derham_ from _Bartholinus_.\n_GALEN_ in _Jonstonus_ says, that in _Ethiopia_, _India_, and the\nmountainous part of _Egypt_, the Inhabitants were tormented with Worms,\nthat bred in their Legs and Arms, called _Dracunculi_, whose Motion in\nthe Flesh was conspicuous to the Eye.\n_LUCIUS CORNELIUS SYLLA_, _Consul_ and _Dictator_ of _Rome_, (the\nGlories of whose Valour were obscured by barbarous Cruelties) died of a\n\u03c6\u03b8\u03b9\u03c1\u03b9\u03b1\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2 a wormy or lousy Disease: Thus _Aliman_[282], a renowned\n_Greek_ Poet, and _Pherecydes_ the Philosopher, and Master to\n_Pythagoras_, died of the same loathsome Distemper.\nFootnote 282:\n  _Pliny._ Part. i.\n               Sed quis non paveat pherecydos fata trag\u0153di:\n               Qui nimio sudore fluens, animalia tetra,\n               Eduxit turpi miserum qua morte tulerunt.\n               Sylla quoque infelix tali languore peresus\n               Corruit, & s\u0153do se vidit ab agmine vinci.\n               _Sic testatur Serenus medicus._\nIn _Persia_ there are very long slender Worms bred in the Legs and other\nParts of Men\u2019s Bodies, six or seven Yards long. Those who live upon the\nRed-Sea, and feed upon Locusts, are, in the last Stage of Life, subject\nto a sort of Flying-Worms, like what is called a Tyke, spread over all\nthe Body, arising at first from a Scab, by scratching of which they tear\ntheir Flesh. _Nieremberg._ Some relate divers Examples of Worms taken\nout of the Tongue, Gums, Nose, and other Parts by a Woman at\n_Leicester_, which they were Eye-witnesses of. N. B. _Mr._ Dent _and\nMr._ Lewis, _in the_ Philosoph. Trans. _in_ Lowthorp_\u2019s_ Abridg. _where\nthese and divers others may be seen_. If it did not extend the\nDigression too far, I might add here, That there are no Animals, as\nSheep, Wolves, Goats, Deers, Cows, Horses, Swine; yea, no Vegetables, as\nTrees, Herbs, Plants, Flowers, but abound with Worms; and all these have\nWorms peculiar to themselves. By the help of microscopical Glasses, we\nmay discover Legions of Worms in Vinegar, human Blood, and other\nLiquids.\nCXV. The _Ecatotl_, _Anguis-Venti_, _Serpent-of-the-Wind_, and very\ninnocent, and perhaps the Name may be borrowed from a gentle salutary\nGale; it is about six Spans long, and two Inches in Crassitude; the Eyes\nare black, Teeth small, the Belly bright, like Silver. The Back and\nSides illustrated with white Streaks, alternately painted with Yellow\nand Azure: the Tongue is of a black Colour, small, long, and cloven, and\nmost nimble in its Vibrations[283].\nFootnote 283:\n  _Nierembergius_, cap. xv. p. 274.\nCXVI. _DE Angue-Laqueo_, the Ensnaring-Serpent. In the Province of\n_Vera-Pas_, west of the _Honduras_; they are much infected with several\nInsects, as _Muskettoes_, _Fire-Flies_, and _Serpents_. Among the last\nis one Serpent of great Bulk, and excels in Craftiness, being very\nsubtle and sharp in laying hold of its Prey. The Method is surprizing;\nfor it wraps up itself in the Form of a Ginn, and so decoys the Game\ninto the Snare: It bites like a Dog, and is very mischievous, tho\u2019 not\nof the venemous Order. _Ibid._\nCXVII. The _stupid_ Serpent, which they call _Canaucoatl_, in Character\nis contradictious; for, as represented in History, \u2019tis dull and in a\nmanner destitute of Sensation, and yet a Creature full of Vitality and\nSpirit; and indeed is only remarkable for its Mettle. It is of the Tribe\nof Innocents, and very strong, and fears no Assault. In Dimension,\nmonstrous; for Thickness, equal to a Man\u2019s Body, and twice the Length.\n\u2019Tis said, some have sat upon it, apprehending it to be only the Trunk\nof an old Tree. Some other fabulous Things are reported of it.\nIt lives in the Shadow of Woods, often concealing itself under Branches\nand Leaves of Trees, where it surprizes the Prey, which, to speak with\nthe Vulgar, it draws to him, by the Force of its Breath, as a Loadstone\ndoes Iron. The Authors of the _Atlas_ mention a Serpent of this\nattractive Power in the _Philippine Islands_; Birds and other Animals\nare drawn into the Trap by the Charms of the Breath; yea, Partridges,\nWeasels\u2014\u2014are made to run into its devouring Jaws. _Ibid._\nIf this Serpent be endued with this magnetic Property, it is a _living\nLoadstone_, and more extensive in its Attractions than the real one; for\nthis draws all animal Bodies to it, whereas the real Loadstone only\nattracts Iron. Attraction in the gross, is so complex a thing, that it\nmay solve a thousand different things alike. This Creature is called\n_Ibitin_ in _America_; and probably the same with the following, though\ndistinctly considered by the Historian.\nCXVIII. The Serpent _Bitin_, an Inhabitant of the Mountains and Woods in\nthe Island of _Cuba_, _&c._ of great Bulk, and Length about four Ells;\nand in Shape terrible to the Eye. The Head, which resembles that of a\nCalf, grows large to the Eyes, which sparkle with the bright and black,\nand are incircled with Rays of Green; it has wide Jaws, armed with many\nsharp Teeth, among which are four of the _canine_ sort.\n_CANINI Dentes_, that is _Dog\u2019s-Teeth_, are two Teeth in each Jaw, so\ncalled, because they end like those of a Dog in a sharp Point, whose\nparticular Office is to pierce the Aliments, therefore are buried in\ntheir Sockets, by which they are more able to resist all lateral\nPressures, than the _Molares_, or the common Grinders.\nThis _Bitinian_ Serpent hangs by the Tail on Trees, devouring Men and\nBeasts that pass by, and come within its Reach, by the dint of halituous\nAttraction, as the _stupid_, and some of the _Philippine_ Serpents are\nsaid to do; but if it be so, the Philosophy of it is not yet accounted\nfor.\nCXIX. The _Monoxillo_, or _Mucronated-Serpent_, so called because its\nTermination is sharp-pointed. It has something of the Fierce and\nTerrible in its Appearance, but is more dreadful in Aspect than Nature;\nfor its Wounds, though painful, are not mortal. \u2019Tis of the Lacertan\nKind and Colour; the Tail long, and Legs of small length; the Body about\ntwo Spans long, the Tongue large and forked and of red Colour. \u2019Tis\ntedious in Motion; the whole Compound is crustaceous, like Shell-Fishes,\nadorned with white and yellow Spots, resembling little Pearls, or Seed\nof Grummel or Gray-Mile.\n_N. B._ The Seed of Vegetables consists of an Embryo, in which is\ncontained the whole Plant in Miniature. A compleat Oak is visible in an\nAcorn by a Microscope.\nCXX. The _Tapayaxin_, a little wonderful Serpent; some say of the\nLacertan Kind, others say of an orbicular Form, not above four Inches\nLong. The Body is cartilaginous, or gristly, smooth and solid. This kind\nof Coverture is harder than a Ligament, and softer than a Bone, but is\nnot covered over with any Membrane to make it capable of Sensation.\nIt moves slowly, and recommends itself by Diversity of Colours: when\ntouched, the Body appears to be cold. Now, Bodies are said to be cold or\nhot, as their Particles are in a greater or lesser Motion, than those of\nthe sensitory Organs. All Changes in the created Globe, are the Effects\nof Motion, without which all Bodies would become unactive Masses[284].\nFootnote 284:\n  _Newton_\u2019s _Opticks_, p. 375.\nThis little Animal, is said to be pleased, or rather unconcerned, when\ntaken up by human Hands; called on that account, the _Friend of Man_;\nthat is, _he who is not against us, is for us_; therefore merits our\nSmiles. His Situation corresponds with his natural Disposition, for it\nis an Inhabitant of cold Regions. When its Head is comprest, Drops of\nBlood gush out of his Eyes, which he casts to a great distance from him;\nwhich agrees with a former Description, _&c._\nCXXI. _DE Haro coloti genere._ The Serpent _Harus_, according to the\nHistorian[285], is a Native of the _Philippines_, and of the Lacertan\nTribe: a very long Head (like the _Philippine_ Queen) on a bulky Body,\nterminating in a sharp Point. It resembles the _Quaquetzall_, is in\n_Mexico_, and agrees therewith in most things, and of which it seems to\nbe a Species.\nFootnote 285:\n  _Nierembergius_, cap. xxiv. p. 276. _Nascitur in Philippicis._\nIt chuses its Habitation among Shrubs adjacent to clear Streams, and\nnever defiles a Body, so prettily coloured, with muddy Water, till\nconstrained to make the Bulrush its Shelter against the excessive Heat\nof the Sun[286].\nFootnote 286:\nCXXII. The _Tamacolin_, or a Serpent called _Rubeta_, of the Lineage of\nthe red Toad: This kind is made up of Variety, differing only one from\nanother in Magnitude, Colour, and Poison. The lesser kind not so\nvenemous as the larger. Some are green, some are brown, and others\nblack. In showery Weather they make an open Appearance, and in such\nNumbers, that none walk abroad without running the risk of a poisonous\nTouch.\n_NEW-SPAIN_ abounds with them, where they affect watry Habitations. In\n_Peru_ are _Toads_ as large almost as _Cats_ or _Dogs_, but not so\npoisonous as those of _Brazil_, where they have a Fish called _Amyacu_,\ni. e. _Toad-Fish_; \u2019tis about a Span long, and oddly painted; its Eyes\nare fine and fair: It swells and snorts when taken out of the Water,\nwhich was the reason of giving it that Name: When flayed it may be\neaten, but is otherwise poisonous; the Poison is drawn out by\nApplication of Fire to the Part affected[287].\nFootnote 287:\n  _Harris in Atlas for Brazil in General._\nCXXIII. _TETZAUCOATL_, or the _rare_ Serpent; so called, because the\n_least_ of Serpents; and though very little, scarce four Inches long, or\nin Bulk so big as a Goose-quill, yet its Wounds are most deadly. The\nBelly is red, and distinguishable by black Stains; the Back yellow,\ninterlaid with divers Spots. It is an Inhabitant of the North, and\ndelights in cold Apartments. This (though distinctly described by the\nHistorian) seems to be the same with the _Tetzaucoatl_[288]. _N. B._\nLittle Things, greatly dangerous.\nFootnote 288:\n  _Nieremb._\nThe Poet weeps for a Person killed by the Fall of an Icicle, which is a\nlittle Drop of Water congealed[289]. _Anacreon_, the celebrated Lyrick\nPoet among the _Greeks_, was choaked with a _little Kernel_ of a\n_Grape_. Little Things do great Executions. Little Worms destroy\nfloating Castles. _Tarantula_, a little Spider, poisons a Giant. In\n_Barbadoes_ is what they call the _Poison-Tree_, a little Drop of its\nSap flying into a Workman\u2019s Eyes, makes him blind; therefore Workmen\ncover them with Cypress.\nFootnote 289:\n                    Oh! ubi non est si jugulatis aqua.\n_PLINY_, from _M. Varro_ says, there was a Town in _Spain_ undermined by\n_Conies_, and another in _Thessaly_ by _Mold-Warps_, and another in\n_France_, from which they were driven out by Frogs.... In some parts of\n_Africa_, People were constrained by _Locusts_ to leave their\nHabitations. Out of _Gyaros_ (one of the _Islands_ of the _Cyclades_ in\nthe _\u00c6gean Sea_, most of which are now under the _Turks_) the\nInhabitants were forced away by _Rats_ and _Mice_, little Things: And if\nit be true, that _Theophrastus_ the Philosopher reports, the _Treriens_\nwere chased away by an Army of little Worms, called _Scolopendra_[290].\nAll these mighty Conquests were made by little contemptible Insects.\nFootnote 290:\n  _Pliny\u2019s Natural History_, Part I. B. viii. Cap. 29.\nWhat says the _Laconian_, when wounded with a Dart? I am not, quoth he,\nconcerned at my Death, but at my Fall by a Wound from a little feeble\nArcher. For \u2019tis Satisfaction to the Vanquish\u2019d to die by the Hand of\nheroic Valour; hence that of _Virgil_;\n                _\u00c6ne\u00e6 Magni dextra cadis....\n                \u2019Tis by the Great \u00c6neas\u2019 Hand you fall._\nThe reason was, because the _Lacedemonians_ were wont to fight with\nSwords, therefore it was not counted Bravery to kill Men with a Dart, a\nthing that may be done by any Woman.\nSo in the vegetable World, there are _Cedars_ and _Shrubs_. In Natural\nPhilosophy, we read of _Atoms_, that are _Minima Natur\u00e6_, the ultimate\nParticles into which Matter is divisible, and are conceived as the first\nRudiments, or component Parts of all physical Magnitude, or the\npre-existent and incomprehensible Matter, whereof particular Bodies were\nformed; there are Mountains and Mole-Hills,\nSo ... there was _Alexander_ the _Great_, and there is _Alexander_ the\n_Little_, the ingenious and learned Mr. _Pope_; the one conquered by the\nSword, the other by his Pen, and has made all the Regions of Fame\ntributary to him.\nCXXIV. The _tame_ and _tractable Serpent_, is of the _Indian_ Race,\nabout an Inch long, when brought first from the Field for domestick\nEducation; and when at its full Growth, is not much short of a Man\u2019s\nThigh. Its Habitation is in some little Hutch erected on purpose,\n(_indulgenti\u00e6 gratia_) where it idles away its time, till Hunger brings\nit out. Upon its Approach to the Master of the House, it creeps up to\nhis Shoulders, where the Embraces of that terrible Creature (being made\ntame) are received with Delight[291].\nFootnote 291:\n  _Nierembergius_, cap. xl. p. 283.\u2014Humeros heri amic\u00e8 conscendunt,\n  benevol\u00e8 terrifici animalis amplexus tolerantis.\nCXXV. The _Tleoa_, or _Tetloa_, that is, a little fiery Serpent, and\nvery common in the new World, and described by the Historian thus[292],\n_viz._ \u2019Tis about a Finger broad, and five or six Foot long, and\ndifferenced from others by a Medley of Spots, compounded of white,\nblack, yellow, and dun Colours. The Head is like that of our Vipers, and\nthe Tail, which seems to have a touch of the Rattle, ends acutely.\nFootnote 292:\n  _Nierembergius_; from _Franciscus Hernandus_.\nIts Wounds are deadly, and burn like Fire; hence the Name it bears:\nThough fiery in Nature, is slow and winding in Motion, and may be\navoided by the Traveller, if he has Eyes and Ears. Its usual Residence\nis in Mountains, and the higher Mountains are, the greater the Cold,\n(because they only receive direct, and but little of the reflected Rays\nof the Sun) yet are the Habitations of fiery Animals.\nThe Learned observe, there are Mountains a Mile and an half high, to the\ntops of which, no Vapour, and consequently no Clouds, can ever reach:\nAnd hence it is that in very high Mountains, as the _Pico de Theide_ in\n_Bohemia_, though the middle part be always inverted with Snow, and the\nbottom scorched with intolerable Heat; yet on the top you will find\nyourself in a pure, thin, serene Air, and view the Clouds hovering at a\nconsiderable distance below you[293].\nFootnote 293:\n  _Montibus Tepeztlanicis._\nHence it is that all Thunder is confined within less than a Mile\u2019s\nHeight. The Air is coldest in the highest places, and hottest in the\nlowest; but in the intermediate Atmosphere, where we live, very unequal:\nbut no Climates, however situated, are privileged with Exemption from\nvenemous Creatures, and where they are less pestered with them, \u2019tis\nowing to the Cultivation of the Land.\nThe Wounds given by this Serpent are dangerous, and cured by an Herb\ncalled _Ancola_, by _Jonstonus_, p. 26, 27. but _Anola_, by\n_Nierembergius_, p. 277, 283.\nCXXVI. The _Hydrus_, or _Natrix_, an acquatic Serpent: The former word\nfrom \u1f51\u03b4\u03bf\u03c1 _Water_, of which \u2019tis an Inhabitant; the other word denotes\nits Skill in the Art of Natation; it goes under various Denominations,\nas appears in _Jonstonus_; who, from _Pliny_ observes, that this Serpent\nis _superior to most in Beauty, and inferior to none in Poison_[294].\nFootnote 294:\n  _Jonstoni Historia Nat._ p. 28.\n_NICANDER_, who calls the terrestrial _Hydrus_, a foul coloured Beast,\nvindicates the beautiful Character of the Marine; who yet is not very\nnice in its Choice of Water, for muddy and clear is equally the same to\nthis beautiful Slut[295]. In its Nature \u2019tis very poisonous, says one;\n_Cardan_ is in the Negative. The truth is, there are several sorts of\nthem, some of which are harmless, and others hurtful, and their Wounds\nattended with very terrible Effects, described by the poetick\nPhysician[296].\nFootnote 295:\n  \u2019Tis sometimes called _Lutra, ex Luto_; because it delights most in\n  foul Water; or the Word may signify, to wash and make clean.\nFootnote 296:\n              Pessima quas fecit plagas h\u00e6c signa sequantur;\n              Arida tota cutis circum putret horribilemque\n              Elevat aspectum, magni ignitique dolores\n              Tandem hominem interimunt.\u2014\u2014\nIn some parts of _Persia_ they are very numerous, described by white\nHeads and black Body, four Cubits long, and dangerous to those who\ndabble in the Water by Night, as they often do in that hot Country where\nthese Animals feed upon Fish and Frogs[297]; and breed upon Land,\naccording to _Aristotle_[298].\nFootnote 297:\n            Stagna colit, ripisque habitans his piscibus atram\n            Improbus Ingluviem ranisque loquacibus explet,\n            Exhausta palus\u2014Exilit in siccum\u2014\n            _Virg. Georg._ lib. iii.\nFootnote 298:\n  _Jonstoni Hist. Nat._ p. 28, 29.\nIts common Habitation is in the _Myclean Lake_, in _Corcina_ or\n_Corcyra_, now _Corfou_, (a little rich Island in the _Venetian_\nDominion) and also about _Taracina_ (a City of the _Volscians_ in\n_Campania_, in _Italy_, not far from _Amycl\u00e6_) where the People, not\ndaring to kill Serpents, were overthrown by them; to mention no more.\n_Ibid._\nCXXVII. The _Natrix-Torquata_, _Jonston_ makes different from the\nformer, and describes it thus\u2014\u2014Called _Torquata_ from its beautiful\nNeck, which looks as if incircled with a strong Collar of Pearls.... On\nthe hinder part of the Head is a little narrow Space in the form of two\nScales, where the Spots on both sides end acutely in a triangular form.\nThe _Scholiast_ upon _Nicander_, compliments those _pretty Spots_ with\nthe Title of _little Crowns_[299].\nFootnote 299:\nIt goes under various Appellations. The _Greeks_ called it Guardian of\ntheir Houses[300], it being of the innocent sort. Some of the _Italians_\ncall it _Carbonarium_, a Collier, because its Colour inclined to\nCoal-black, or Iron. Mr. _Ray_ calls it, the _common Snake_. It is\nlarger than a Viper, and more gross in Body; brings forth its Young by\nEggs, hatch\u2019d by foreign Heat; feeds on Mice; sucks Cows, upon which\nfollows Blood. The Reader is referred to a former.\nFootnote 300:\n  \u039f\u03c6\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2 \u03bf\u03b9\u03ba\u03bf\u03c5\u03c1\u03bf\u03b9.\n[Illustration:\n  _Plate 6^{th}._\nCXXVIII. The _Marine-Dragon_, as _Pliny_ calls it, or the _true\nMarine-Serpent_, in the Dialect of _Jonstonus_, who, in his Description\nof Fishes, gives a particular account of it. We have already accounted\nfor monstrous Serpents in the _Indies_, where some have Teeth in the\nform of a Saw, with which they do more hurt than with their Poison, says\nthe _Greek_ Historian[301].\nFootnote 301:\n  _\u00c6liani Hist._ lib. xvi. cap. 3.\nIn _Africa_, are some large and strong enough to contend with Oxen by\nLand, and to overturn a three-oar\u2019d Galley by Water; which agrees in\nCharacter with those of _Norway_ already described: There we found some\nof 200 Foot long, winding themselves about Ships, according to _Olaus\nMagnus_, Archbishop of _Upsal_.\nIn several of the _Persian Islands_ are some of twenty Cubits long, and\nvery terrifying to Sailors. Such also are seen in the Promontory of\n_Carmania_, the Residence of the _Ichthyophagi_, a People that feed\nwholly upon Fish; a fine Country for such who are inclin\u2019d to keep a\n_perpetual Lent_. Tho\u2019 these Monsters are born in the Deep, yet are they\nfound in fresh Waters, and sometime sporting upon Land, where they\nsleep[302].\nFootnote 302:\n  _Jonston. de Piscib._ p. 9. Articulus v.\nThe same Author tells us, of a _terrible Battle_ that happen\u2019d in\n_Turkey_, in the time of _Bajazet_, between the _land_ and _marine\nSerpents_, that continued from Morning to Night, when after a great\nDestruction on both sides, the _Marines_ fled. _Ibid._\nCXXIX. The _Rubetarian-Serpent_ is a very noisy Animal, who for its\ncroaking Noise is resembled to a land Toad. It also engages the\nAttention of the Eye, for it excels in Beauty: It\u2019s known among Country\nPeople by these two Characteristicks, _viz._ _Loud_ and _Pretty_. Here\nwe see, what is an Offence to the Ear may be a pleasing Entertainment to\nthe Eye; thus the Five Senses agree to differ in their several\nPerceptions, and to meet in several distinct Apartments of the capital\nTemple, in the pacifick Empire. But to return to the _beautiful\nPadalica_ of the _Polonians_:\nIt is said of this Serpent, that when it wounds any in the Foot, the\nRemedy is to put the wounded part into the next Earth, that is inclined\nto the moist, for twenty-four hours. This seems to differ from the\n_American Rubeta_.\nCXXX. The _Serpent de Boa_ is another of the monstrous kind; called\n_Boa_ from _Bos_, the _Latin_ word for an Ox, which it devours at once:\nThe young ones, which grow to a great Bulk, are nourished by sucking the\nCow.\nIn the Emperor _Claudius_\u2019s time, in one of them that was killed, they\nfound a Child that was whole. In _Calabria_ are some monstrous Animals,\nnot unlike these, says the Historian; who adds, that not many Years ago\na certain Bishop speaks of a large mischievous Serpent, that was shot\nnear _St. Archangel_, whose Jaws were almost two Palms long, the\nPortraiture of which is yet seen in a certain Temple there[303].\nFootnote 303:\n  M. Antonius Cuccinus Episcopus Anglonensis ad Thomasium\u2014in Agro S.\n  Archangeli. _In Jonstonus; in Verb._\nCXXXI. I Am informed by some Persons, who had it by Tradition from\nancient People, that formerly there was in this Country a monstrous\nSerpent of four or five Yards long, and thicker than a common Axle-tree\nof a Cart, and very mischievous, preying upon Lambs, _&c._ Its chief\nResidence was in a Wood, near _Pickopbank_, a few Miles from\n_Blackburn_, in _Lancashire_, called _Ouse-Castle_, wherein there is yet\na little Spot of Ground, called _Griom\u2019s-Ark_, which is a deep Cavern,\nsituated among Rocks, in a Wood, from whence it was seen to come out,\nand bask itself on a sunny Bank.\nThe Picture of this Serpent is drawn with Wings, two Legs, and Talons\nlike an Eagle, which is seen in some ancient Houses, (and particularly\nat _Clayton-hall_, near _Dunkin-hall_) by which it appears to be very\nlarge and furious.\nIt\u2019s said, one \u2014\u2014 _Grimshaw_ Esq; Proprietor of that Hall, shot the\nMonster with Arrows, and had an Estate offer\u2019d him for that good Service\ndone to his Country, which he generously refused, and only desired he\nmight have a Passage thro\u2019 that Wood to a Township he had on t\u2019other\nside of it, which was granted, the Title of which is to be found in old\nWritings. By another hand I am informed, that it was supposed to be a\n_Griffin_, which is a Bird of Prey, and of the Eagle kind, which, I take\nto be the _Ossifrage_ of _Moses_, and mentioned _Levit._ xi.\nThere is also a fabulous _Griffin_, represented with four Legs, Wings,\nand a Beak; the upper part like an Eagle, and the lower a Lion. They\nconjecture it to watch over golden Mines and hidden Treasures. This Bird\nwas consecrated to the Sun, therefore the Chariot of the Sun was\nrepresented as drawn by a Set of _Griffins_.\nThis _poetick Griffin_ is frequently seen in antient Medals, and is\nstill bore in Coat-Armor. The antient and honourable Family of the\n_Guillims_ blazons it rampant, alledging any very fierce Animal may be\nso blazon\u2019d as well as a Lion. It is observable, says my Author, that in\nthe Front of _Clayton-hall_ are two Figures drawn in Plaister in the\nform of a Coat of Arms; on the right side of the Escutcheon is a Figure\nwith Wings, four Feet, and a Tail twisted in the Form of a Serpent. The\nlike Figure is drawn in Plaister in several antient Houses in that\nNeighbourhood, which go under the Name of the _Griffin\u2019s Picture_, and\nthe Sign is used at Publick-houses: There is a Place in that Wood called\nthe _Griffin\u2019s-Ark_.\n_N. B._ This seems to carry some Probability with it, since Eagles are\nvoracious Creatures, and very destructive to Fawns and Lambs, especially\nthe black Eagle, which is of a lesser Size than the other.\nIn some of the _Scots Islands_, the Natives observe, that this Eagle\nfixes its Talons between the Deer\u2019s Horns, and beats its Wings\nconstantly about its Eyes; several other Eagles flying at the same time\non both sides, which puts the Deer upon a continual Run, till it fall\ninto a Pit, or down a Precipice, where it dies, and so becomes a Prey to\nthe Enemy[304].\nFootnote 304:\n  _Martin\u2019s Description of the Western Islands of Scotland_, Edit. ii.\nCXXXII. In some of the Western Islands of _Scotland_ are several\nSerpents: There is one that is _yellow_ with brown Spots, and another\nwith _brown_ Spots; but that which is the most poisonous, is the _black\nand white spotted_, three or four Foot long.\nThe Remedies are such as these: The Natives cut off the Head of the\nSerpent that gives the Wound, and apply it to the Place as the best\nRemedy: Others, by the Application of new Cheese, extract the Poison;\nand some make use of the Rump of a Cock stript of its Feathers, which\nthey apply to the Wound with Success, according to the Historian[305].\nFootnote 305:\n  _Martin_\u2019s _Description of the Isle of Skie_, _&c._ p. 236.\nIn the Library at _Manchester_, is the Skin of a Serpent which was five\nYards long, as thick as the Calf of a Man\u2019s Leg; has a forked Tongue,\nscaly Skin, yellow Colour.\nCXXXIII. _MARTINIUS_ in his _Atlas_ relates, that in the Province of\n_Quangsi_ in _China_, there are Serpents thirty Foot long. The _Flora\nSinensis_ reports of the Serpent call\u2019d _Geuto_, that it devours whole\nStags, but is not very venemous. \u2019Tis of an ash Colour, from eighteen to\ntwenty-four Foot long; will often seize on a Man, by leaping from a\nTree, and kill him, by its violent windings about him.\u2014The _Chinese_\npreserve his _Gall_ to cure the Diseases of the Eyes.\u2014_Marcus Paulus\nVenetus_ testifies the same of the Serpents of _Carrajam_.\u2014Some are in\nlength ten Paces, in thickness ten Palms, and able to swallow a Man. Are\ntaken thus: The Serpent in the Day lies in Caves of Mountains; in the\nNight hunts for Prey, and then returns to its Cave, with the weight of\nits Body, plowing deep the Earth, being sandy in the Track it goes\nalong: Here the Huntsmen fix strong Stakes pointed with Iron, covered\nwith Sand; and as the Serpent travels along, the Spikes gore its\nEntrails, and are fasten\u2019d therein, by which \u2019tis kill\u2019d; and the\nHuntsmen sell the _Gall_ at a great Price for Medicine, and the _Flesh_\nfor Meat. These, continues he, may be reckon\u2019d among _Dragons_, but are\nwithout Poison: Instead of Feet, they have Claws like those of a _Lion_\nor _Falcon_.\u2014There are other Serpents in _China_ full of rank Poison,\nespecially the _hairy-headed Serpent_. So far _Martin_.\n_N. B._ This Province of _Quamsi_ or _Quangsi_ is able to raise a\nMillion of fighting Men. It is not so much frequented as the Province of\n_Quantung_ or _Canton_, where they have two Harvests a year. One says,\nthere is a Mountain here with a Pool in it, which makes a Noise like\nThunder, if a Stone be cast into it, and causes Showers from the\nSky[306]. Their Winter is warm, and their Fields always verdant,\nproducing great Quantities of Gold, Pearl, Silk, Copper, Steel, Iron,\nSalt,\u2014and odoriferous Woods.\u2014They hatch their Ducks Eggs and those of\nother Fowls in Ovens, or Dunghills.\nFootnote 306:\n  _Pancirollus._\nCXXXIV. There is a kind of _Reptiles and Insects_ (I don\u2019t mean the\ncommon Tortoise) which is a certain sort of Snake, small in Body and of\nwhite Colour, found in _Lydia_, _Arabia_,\u2014cased over with a white\ncolour\u2019d Shell, which shines like a sparkling Margarite[307].\nFootnote 307:\n  _Pancirollus._\nI shall close this Part with an Experiment made by the noble _Roman_\nbefore-mentioned, who (being sollicitous to take a compleat View of a\nSerpent) after he had dissected one, preserved the Flesh and Bones, and\nhaving, _secundum artem_, reduced them to Ashes,\u2014extracted _Aqua\nFontana_,\u2014whose Virtues were equal to those drawn from the Ashes of\nother Animals, and of Plants.\nTo this venemous Tribe, I shall annex a few Reptiles, in whose Veins I\nfind something of the Serpent\u2019s Blood; and close the variegated List\nwith a large Account of the _Tarantula_, its Wound, and Cure by Musick;\nthen inquire into the Reasons of that strange Operation; the Nature and\nForce of Sounds, not only on the Animal Passions, but Inanimate Matter.\nI shall begin with,\nI. The _Bee_, called the Honey-Fly, a little Animal that has four Feet,\nwhich it carries close to the Belly, and not easily separated: It has\nfour Wings, small Teeth, and a long Tongue, which usually it carries out\nof the Mouth. Its Sting cleaves to the Belly, which, when it strikes, it\nparts with, and becomes uncapable of wounding a second time; which, I\nthink can\u2019t be said of any other Member of the stinging Race, unless it\nbe the Wasp and Hornet.\nThe Sting, in the Design of it, seems to be only a Weapon of Defence; it\nlooks like a Tube or Pipe, hollow, with a little Bag of sharp\npenetrating Liquid (which is its Poison) joined to the Extremity of it\nwithin the Body, which, in stinging, is injected into the Wound thro\u2019\nthe Tube; and tho\u2019 venemous and painful, is not strong enough to corrupt\nthe Mass of Blood.\nOne may, with the naked Eye, sometimes see this little Insect discharge\nits Venom, in which, says the ingenious Dr. _Mead_, by the help of a\nGlass, I can easily discover _a great Number of minute Salts floating_.\nIn _Brazil_, _Bees_ are distinguish\u2019d into twelve kinds, among which are\nsome that sting in a most furious and fatal manner, called _Mateecas_ by\nthe _Indians_.\nIn _Ceylon_ in the _East-Indies_, are several Bees, the largest are of a\nbrighter Colour than ours; they make their Combs on the Boughs of Trees:\nAt proper Seasons, the Inhabitants hold Torches under them, till they\ndrop down, which they carefully gather, boil and eat, and are accounted\nexcellent Food. In _Quatemala_ are Bees and Honey of a white Colour, and\nsome without a Sting, says the Historian[308].\nFootnote 308:\n  _Nierembergius_, p. 286.\nII. To the _Bee_, I add the _Wasp_, which, as it is something larger,\nmakes a deeper Wound; it differs also from it in its Food, which is\nFlesh and Carrion, when it can be got; whereas the Bee regales itself\nwith delicious Entertainments, and enriches its Family with all the\nGlories of the vegetable Kingdom. From whence is the Honey? I answer,\nThat in Flowers is found a viscid sweet Juice, and accordingly we see\nChildren gather Cowslips, Honeysuckles, and suck the Honey from them.\nThe Bees visit all Flowers within their Reach, and putting it in their\nTrunks, suck out the Honey, with which they load their Stomachs, to be\ndischarg\u2019d, and laid up in their Combs. Among the Antients, Honey was\ntaken for a Dew that fell on Flowers; but this is a mistake, because the\nBees only gather it after the Sun is up, when there is no Dew left, or\nvery little.\nIII. The _Hornet_ is yet more dangerous, and has been known to pursue a\nSparrow, and kill it, and then suck its Blood. The Hornet and Wasp have\nstrong Jaws tooth\u2019d, by which they can dig into Fruits, for Sustenance;\nyea, and into harder Substances, for Quarters.\nIf you take a Bee, a Wasp, or Hornet, and gently squeeze the Tail, so\nthat you can see the Sting, you may perceive a Drop of transparent\nLiquor at the very end of it; which if wiped off, you shall soon see it\nrenew\u2019d, that Liquid passing down the Cavity into the end thereof: \u2019Tis\nsaid the Decoction of Hornets dropt on the Skin, makes it swell.\nIV. I proceed to the _Spider_, another little venemous Insect, whose\nforked Tongue or Sting, is very fine and sharp; by this he pierces\nFlies\u2014and at the same time, instils a poisonous Juice into the Wound, by\nwhich the Prey being kill\u2019d, it sucks out the Moisture, and leaves\nnothing but a husky dry Carcass: Tradition says, it poisons by spitting,\nor breathing, because it dare not approach so near to a large Fly as to\na little one; but keeps at some distance, and uses a kind of shoving\nMotion, upon which the Fly has done struggling.\nThere are various sorts of these little strange Creatures, whose Stings\nare hurtful, as the _Astorius_, (so called from its resemblance to a\nStar) whose Wound produces Heaviness, and Relaxation of the Nerves. The\n_C\u00e6ruleus_, or blue Spider, whose Sting is attended with Vomiting and\nPain at the Heart. The _Lycos_, the least of the kind, that causes an\n_Asthma_, and Swelling about the wounded Part. In the _Philosophical\nTransactions_, we have a Table of thirty-three kinds of Spiders found in\n_England_, by Dr. _Lister_[309].\nFootnote 309:\n  _Lowthorp_, vol. ii. p. 793.\nThere is something very curious and admirable in those long Threads they\nmake in the Air, during some part of Summer, especially towards\n_September_, so much wonder\u2019d at, in such Quantities every where. The\nMethod of Operation, I take to be as follows, _viz._\nAll Spiders that spin in a Thread, are the Makers of those Threads, most\nvisible in the Autumn. In all the ways of weaving, they still let down\nthe Thread they make use of, and draw it after them. Attending on one\nthat wrought a Net, I saw it, says a very nice Observer, suddenly in the\nMid-work desist, and turning his Tail into the Wind, to dart out a\nThread, with the Violence we see Water spout out of a Spring: This\nThread taken up by the Wind, was in a Moment emitted some Fathoms long,\nstill issuing out of his Belly; by and by the Spider leapt into the Air,\nand the Thread mounted her up swiftly.\u2014And I found the Air fill\u2019d with\nyoung and old, sailing on their Threads, and undoubtedly, says the\nRelator, seizing Gnats and other Insects in their Passage; there being\noften manifest Signs of Slaughter, as Legs, and Wings of Flies ... on\nthese Lines, as in their Webs below[310].\nFootnote 310:\n  _Lowthorp_, vol. ii. p. 794.\nSpiders have been observed to get to the Top of a Branch or such like\nthing, where they exercise this darting of Threads into the Air. After\nthe first Flight, all the time of their sailing on those Threads, they\nmake Locks, still darting forth fresh Supplies of Thread to sport and\nsail by. _N. B._ Those called Shepherds, or long-legg\u2019d Spiders, are no\nSpinners.\nI have seen Spiders, says the Learned Dr. _Hulse_[311], shoot their Webs\nthree Yards long before they begin to sail upon them. So the Learned\n_Derham_ observes, that with pleasure he had often seen Spiders dart out\ntheir Webs, and sail away by the Help thereof.\nFootnote 311:\n_AMERICA_ turns out diverse kinds of these araneous Insects: In _Peru_\nare Spiders as large as a Man\u2019s Hand, and have Eyes as big as those of\nSparrows. In _Brasil_ there is one kind of Spider, whose Skin is rough\nand black, and whose Sting proves incurable, without immediate Relief.\nOn the other hand, we read of monstrous Spiders in the _Antilles_, whose\nEyes are so small and deep in the Head, that they are scarcely visible:\nThey feed on flying Insects, and their Webs are strong enough to catch\nsmall Birds[312].\nFootnote 312:\n_CEYLON_ in the _East-Indies_ produces a long, glittering, and hairy\nSpider, called _Democulo_, whose Wound is not mortal, but sometimes\ndeprives People of their Senses. There is an Experiment made by Mr.\n_Leeuwenhoek_, who put a Frog and Spider together into a Glass, and\nhaving made the Spider sting the Frog diverse times, the Frog died in\nabout an hour\u2019s time[313].\nFootnote 313:\n  _Scaliger Exercit._ in _Boyle_\u2019s _Subtil. Efflu. Philos.\n  Transactions_. Where there is a curious Account how Spiders lay and\n  guard their Eggs. _Derham._\nThere is another Instance of the Poison of some of them (for all are not\npoisonous) given by the Learned _Scaliger_, who relates, that in\n_Gascony_ in _France_, there are Spiders of that Virulency, that if a\nMan treads upon them to crush them, their Poison will pass thro\u2019 the\nvery Soles of his Shoe[314].\nFootnote 314:\n  _Scaliger Exercit._ in _Boyle_\u2019s _Subtil. Efflu. Philos.\n  Transactions_. Where there is a curious Account how Spiders lay and\n  guard their Eggs. _Derham._\nV. The _Scolopendra_ is a little venemous Worm, and amphibious. When it\nwounds any, there follows a Blueness about the affected Part, and an\nItch over all the Body, like that caused by Nettles. Its Weapons of\nMischief are much the same with those of the Spider, only larger; its\nBite is very tormenting, and produces not only pruriginous Pain in the\nFlesh, but very often Distraction of Mind. These little Creatures make\nbut a mean Figure in the Rank of Animals, yet have been terrible in\ntheir Exploits, particularly in driving People out of their Country:\nThus the Inhabitants of _Rhytium_, a City of _Crete_, were constrained\nto leave their Quarters for them[315]. There is a minute _Scolopendra_,\naccounted for by Dr. _Molyneux_.\nFootnote 315:\n  _\u00c6lian_, lib. xv. cap. 26.\nVI. The _Shrew-Serpent_ in _Norway_, is a Creature of admirable Beauty;\nsmall in Body, and slow in Motion, but of fiery Venom, and its Wounds\nmost dangerous.\nVII. The _Lacertus Facetanus_, or _Tarantula_, whose Bite gives Name to\na new Disease. Those who are wounded by it are denominated _Tarantati_:\nIt is a kind of an overgrown Spider, about the Size of a common Acorn.\nIt borrows its Name from _Tarentum_ in _Apulia_, a City in the Kingdom\nof _Naples_, built by a Band of _Lacedemonian Bastards_, who having no\nInheritance at home, were sent thither to seek their Fortunes, where\nthey built that Town, and made it the Capital of _Magna Gr\u00e6cia_.\nThis little Animal is furnish\u2019d with eight Eyes, and eight Legs: Its\nSkin is tender and soft, of various Colours, and always hairy: \u2019Tis of\nthe oviparous kind, and propagates its Species by Eggs, and sometimes a\nhundred Eggs have been found in one Female.\nIn the Opinion of some, \u2019tis not only an Inhabitant of _Apulia_, but\npeculiar to that Province, a Situation that may be called, _A Garden of\nRarities_; Plenty of generous Wine, delicate Honey and Oil, an early\nSpring, a soft Winter\u2014render it a most delightful Habitation, especially\nto old Persons, according to the Poet[316]; and yet in that most\nagreeable Region, this little Tyrant reigns and spreads Terror.\nFootnote 316:\n  \u2014Ille terrarum mihi pr\u00e6ter omnes\u2014(_Horat._ lib. ii. ode 6.) Angulus.\u2014\nIt\u2019s found in other Parts of _Italy_, and even in the Isle of _Corsica_;\nbut those of _Apulia_, \u2019tis said, are only dangerous; though I think to\nhave read something like it in _Persia_, where there is an Insect like a\nSpider, about two Inches round, which the _Holstein_ Ambassadors suppose\nto be the _Latin Stellio_, and the _Italian Tarantula_: It lets its\nPoison fall like a Drop of Water, which causes an insupportable Pain in\nthat Part ... immediately causes a profound Sleep, from which the\nPatient is not to be recovered, but by crushing one of the same\nCreatures upon the Wound; or, if this can\u2019t be had, by pouring as much\nMilk down his Throat as they can, and then put him on an Engine, which\nthey turn round with great Violence, till by that violent Agitation, his\nStomach discharges the Milk, which appears greenish, because of the\nPoison. Those who are cured thus, have some Remnant of the Pain once a\nYear, about the same Season[317].\nFootnote 317:\n  _Voyages and Travels_ of the Ambass. of _Freder._ Duke of _Holstein_.\nBut to return to _Italy_; \u2019tis observable, that it hurts no where but in\n_Apulia_, and that only in Summer, especially in the _Canicular-Days_,\nso called from _Canicula_, that signifies a Dog; hence _Dog-Star_, which\nrises cosmically with the Sun the 19th of _July_, and is supposed to be\nthe brightest, as well as the largest Star in the Firmament.\n[Illustration:\n  _Plate 7^{th}_\nThe _Dog-Days_ denote certain Days before and after the Rising of this\nStar, to whose Appearance the Antients ascrib\u2019d terrible Effects: the\nvery first Day it appears, they say (but without Reason) the Sea becomes\nboisterous and boils like a Cauldron, produces Variety of Distempers,\nsours Wine, and Dogs grow mad.... The _Romans_, dreading the Indignation\nof this Star, sacrificed a Dog every Year to it, (_viz._ at its first\nAppearance in our Hemisphere) to appease its Rage against Mortals.\nIn Winter, this _Italian_ Spider lurks in Caverns, and solitary Places;\nand if it happens to bite, hurts not: There it lives in a drowsy\nPosture, and keeps _Lent_ till Summer; when the whole Tribe creeps out,\nand disperse themselves over that pleasant Land; and Wo to the Body\nasleep, and bare Legs, in Corn-Fields.\nThose on the Plains are much to be feared, the Air being hotter there\nthan on the Mountains, where their Bite is not dangerous, the Solar Rays\nnot being so strong in those Heights: and what is yet more surprizing,\nis, that if they wound any out of _Apulia_, though in places not remote\nfrom it, the Wounded receive no deadly Hurt[318].\nFootnote 318:\n  _Baglivii de Anatome, Morsu & Effect. Tarantul\u00e6 Dissertatio_ i. p. 27.\nWhen it bites, the Pain resembles that given by the Sting of a _Bee_,\nand is attended with various Symptoms, according to their different\nNatures: The _Northern Tarantula_ is the most terrible; those that are\ninclin\u2019d to the _white Colour_ are not so dangerous; the spotted differs\nfrom both.\nThe Wound given by any of them is dangerous, and has different\nIndications. In some that are bitten, an universal Stupor follows;\nothers weep: Some tremble and vomit; others laugh, fancying themselves\nto be Kings. This perhaps made Dr. _Cornelio_ represent this as an\nimaginary Disease; that those who imagine themselves hurt, are most of\nour young wanton Girls, who, falling from some particular Indisposition\ninto Melancholy and Madness, persuade themselves that they have been\nstung by a _Tarantula_[319].\nFootnote 319:\n  _Philos. Transact._\nSome grow pale, sick and faint, and die in a short time, unless relieved\nby Musick, which alone, without the Help of Medicine, performs the Cure.\nThe Wounded are as Men half dead, but at the first Sound of a musical\nInstrument, though they are very weak, and seemingly unable to stir,\nthey begin by degrees to move their Hands and Feet, till at last they\nget up, and then fall to dancing with wonderful Vigour, for two or three\nHours, their Strength and Activity still encreasing. Some will continue\nthe Dance, without Intermission for six Hours; and when tired they are\nput to Bed, and after they are sufficiently recruited by Rest, they are\ncalled up again by the same Tune, and renew the Dance with great\nViolence, the Musick still playing; and when the Patients grow weary,\nthey are put into Bed again, and kept warm to encourage Perspiration.\nThese Exercises being continued six or seven Days, the Patient finds\nhimself fatigued and unable to dance any longer, which is the\nCharacteristic of a Cure.\nThey usually spend ten or twelve Hours a-day in this violent Exercise,\nand continue it for three or four, or six Days; by which time they are\ngenerally freed from all their Symptoms, tho\u2019 not always, says the\nlearned _Baglivi_, who observes, that about the same time next Year, the\nDistemper returns, and will prove fatal, if not prevented by the same\nmusical Application.\nIn _Apulia_ is a _Scorpion_, whose Wounds are accompanied with the same\nEffects as those produced by the _Tarantula_, and are only curable by\n_Musick_ and _Motion_. These _Apulian Scorpions_, are less violent than\nthose of _Africa_, but more virulent than those in other Parts of\n_Italy_. I shall only offer two Remarks here.\n1. _THAT different Patients must be entertain\u2019d with different Tunes,\naccording to the different Symptoms of the Disease_; in which the great\nArt of curing them seems to consist. _e. g._ Some are roused by a Pipe,\nothers by a Timbrel: Some are roused by a Violin, others by the Harp;\nand all must be entertain\u2019d with different Airs. The Musicians therefore\nmake Trial before they can accommodate the _Sound to the Venom_; which\nrequires the most brisk and lively Tunes, to produce a powerful\nVibration in the Body; and till this be done, the miserable Patients\nstand still, sighing and sobbing. The Vibrations must be quick and\nfrequent.\n2. _DURING the Time of Cure, the wounded People throw themselves into a\nVariety of strange Forms_, and behave like Drunkards and Madmen ...\ntalking foolishly ... diverting themselves with naked Swords, red Cloth,\n_&c._ but the Sight of any Object that appears black is terrible to\nthem. _Ibid._\nTo this Account of the _Tarantula_, I have (by way of Illustration)\nadded the Remarks of another learned Foreigner, who says.... The\nvenemous Bite of the _Tarantula_ is quickly follow\u2019d with a very acute\nPain, and soon after, with Numbness, profound Sadness, difficult\nRespiration: The Pulse grows weak, the Sight disturbed; Persons lose\ntheir Knowledge, Sense, and Motion; and if destitute of Help, they\ndie.... The most effectual and certain _Remedy_ is _Musick_: When the\nPerson becomes destitute of Knowledge and Motion, a _Musician_ tries a\nVariety of Airs: Shou\u2019d he hit on that whose Harmony is suited to the\nPatient, he begins to move by successive Degrees, and keeps Time with\nhis Fingers, Arms, Legs, _&c._ he raises himself, and dances about six\nHours without Intermission....\nWhen the Musick ceases, the sick Person gives over dancing, and is put\nto Bed: The same Air brings him out of Bed for a new Dance, an Exercise\nthat lasts six or seven Days.\u2014\u2014_N. B._ Every sick Person must have his\nparticular and specific Tune, and always one that is very sprightly and\nmoving.\nThe Poison of the _Tarantula_, adds he, thickens the Blood, and stops\nseveral of its Passages; thence the Numbness: The Blood being thick,\nfurnishes but a small Quantity of animal Spirits, their Canals are\nshrunk up in the Brain: The Nerves being destitute of Spirits, relax;\nthence proceed the Inactivity, and Defect of Knowledge and Motion: But\nthe Vibrations of the quick Airs which are play\u2019d, agitate the Blood and\nthe rest of the animal Spirits, which are soon increased by the\nAgitation of the Blood: Being agitated and multiply\u2019d, they run into the\nFibres and Nerves, which being put into _Unison_ with the sonorous\nStrings, receive their Vibrations, and are shorten\u2019d or extended\nsuccessively; whence proceeds the successive Motion of the Fingers,\nArms, Legs, _&c._[320]\nFootnote 320:\n  _Father Regnault. Phil. Conv. or New System of Physic_, vol. ii.\n  _Conversation_ xiv. p. 268, -9.\nThe action of Dancing augments the Agitation of the Blood, and makes the\nPatient sweat. The Poison being agitated and attenuated, is exhaled by\nTranspiration; in proportion as the Poison is exhaled, the sick Person\nperceives himself eased; this Ease continually inclines him to dance:\nWhen all the Poison is dissipated by Agitation and Sweat, the Blood\nrecovers its Fluidity and usual Course.\nI Shall conclude this historical Account, with a Passage taken out of a\n_formed History of the Tarantula_[321], writ by a learned Author, who\nhaving described the Disease, proceeds to the manner of Cure, _viz._ The\nsalivous Poison of that Spider seizes principally on the Nerves and\nMuscles\u2013\u2013the manner of Cure thus\u2013\u2013\nFootnote 321:\n  Printed at _Leyden_, in 12_mo._ _A. D._ 1668.\nThe Air moved by the musical Motion of Instruments, moves the next, and\nso onwards (as we see in the circular increasing Motion of the Water,\nwhen a Stone is cast into it) till the like be produced in the Spirits\nof the Body, to which the Air is impelled.\u2013\u2013Now, adds he, the Commotion\nof the Passions depends upon the Spirits, and the viscous Humour of the\n_Tarantula_ is a very capable Subject of Sound: Hence the next Air being\nmoved by a musical Tone suitable to the Patient, the lurking Poison, and\nSpirits of a Man are put into a Commotion; by which Agitation, the\nNerves being vellicated, the Spirits vehemently stirred, and Muscles\nmoved, the Dancing, or something like it, must of necessity ensue, by\nwhich the Cure is performed: For, by vehement Motion the Blood is\nheated, the Pores are opened, and the Poison rarified; which can\u2019t be\ndone by common Sudorificks, because the Medicines can\u2019t reach, or at\nleast can\u2019t stir those little Particles where the Poison lies, as Motion\nby Dancing does.\nI shall add here some _Reflections on the Power of Musick, and give\nInstances of it in the human Mind, in animal, and inanimate Bodies_.\n_MUSICK_ appears to be one of the most antient of Arts, and of all\nother, vocal Musick must have been the first kind, and borrowed from the\nvarious natural Strains of Birds[322]; as stringed Instruments were from\nWinds whistling in hollow Reeds, and pulsatile Instruments (as Drums and\nCymbals) from the hollow Noise of concave Bodies. This is the\nConjecture.\nFootnote 322:\n              At liquidas avium voces imitarier ore,\n              Ante fuit multo quam carmina cantu\n              Concelebrare homines possent aureisque juvare.\nMusick has ever been in the highest Esteem in all Ages, and among all\nPeople. Nor could Authors express their Opinions of it strongly enough,\nbut by inculcating, that it was in Heaven, and was one of the principal\nEntertainments of the Blessed. The Effects ascribed to Musick by the\nAntients, almost amount to Miracles; by means thereof Diseases are said\nto have been cured, Unchastity corrected, Seditions quelled, Passions\nraised and calmed, and even Madness occasioned.\u2014\u2014\nMusick has been used as a Sermon of Morality.... _Athen\u00e6us_ tells us,\nthat the Lives and Actions of illustrious Men were written in Verse, and\npublickly sung by a _Chorus_, to the Sound of Instruments, which was\nfound to be the most effectual means to impress Morality, and a right\nSense of Duty on the human Mind[323].\nFootnote 323:\n  _Chambers_\u2019s _Cyclop\u00e6dia_, vol. ii.\nThus the _Pythagoreans_ made use of Musick to cultivate the Mind, and\nsettle in it a passionate Love of Virtue. _Pythagoras_ instituted a most\nprofitable Correction of Manners by Musick, which, he says, conduces\nvery much to Health; and he made use of it, not only against Diseases of\nthe Mind, but those of the Body. It was the common Custom of the\n_Pythagoreans_ to soften their Minds with Musick before they went to\nsleep; and also in the Morning, to excite themselves to the Business of\nthe Day[324].\nFootnote 324:\n  _Plutarch de Osir. & Is._\nThis Cure of Distempers by Musick sounds odd, but was a celebrated\nMedicine among the Antients. We have already considered, how those\nwounded by the _Tarantula_ were healed by Musick; the Evidence of which\nis too strong to be overturned: That which now lies before me, is, to\nprove this to be the Practice of Antiquity, which will appear by the\nfollowing Instances.\nI shall begin with _Democritus_ (a Philosopher of the first Rank, and a\nmost diligent Inquirer into the Mysteries of Nature) who taught in his\nWorks, that _Musick of Pipes_ was a Medicine for most Distempers....\n_Thales_ of _Crete_, being sent for by the _Lacedemonians_ to remove the\nPlague, came, and by the Help of Musick he did so; and he is said to do\nit by the Command of _Apollo_, as appears from the Great _Ch\u00e6ronean\nMoralist_[325]. If any Credit be given to _Terpander_, it appears he\nsupprest an Insurrection in their Town by the Use of Musick. _Ibid._\nFootnote 325:\n  _Plutarch_\u2019s _Morals on Musick_.\nWe read of a young Man among others of _Tautomenium_, whose Passions\nbeing inflamed by Musick in the _Phrygian Mood_, was going to force open\na Matron\u2019s House, but his Rage was soon calmed, when the Piper (by\n_Pythagoras_\u2019s Advice) changed his Air into the _Spondaic Mood_; and he\nwent home quietly, which the Philosopher could not make him do by\nPersuasives. This historical Passage is confirmed by _Ammonius_, and\n_Cicero_, and is thus related, _viz._\nWhen as some young Men, being drunk, and irritated by the _Musick of\nFlutes_, would have broke into an honest Woman\u2019s House, but upon hearing\none playing a _Spondaic Air_, their outragious Heat was allay\u2019d by the\nSlowness of the Mood, and Solemness of the Tune....\nSt. _Basil_ gives another Instance to the same purpose, _viz._ That\n_Pythagoras_ meeting with some that came with Musick from a Feast,\ndrunk, requested the Musician to change his Tune; which he did, and\nplaying a _Doric Air_, they were so brought to themselves, that they\nthrew away their Garlands, and walked home, ashamed of their Folly.\n_THEOPHRASTUS_ is said to cure Persons that had been wounded by\nSerpents, with various kinds of Musick\u2014_Probatum est_[326]. Another\nObservation of his was, that Diseases were made and mitigated by Musick.\n_Plato_ forbids Musick and Wine to young Persons, lest one Fire should\nkindle another[327].\nFootnote 326:\n  Quibusdam viperarum morsibus cantus tibiarum aut fidicinum atque alia\n  organa artis music\u00e6 modulare adhibita aptissim\u00e8 mederi. _Alexander ab\n  Alexand. ... Genialium_, lib. ii. cap. xvii. p. 81. The Title is,\n  _Quod Theophrastus sensit quibusdam Viperarum morsibus tibicines\n  mederi, probatum experimentum_. _Baglivi_ Dissert. i. _de Tarent._\n  cap. xiii.\nFootnote 327:\n  _De Legibus._\nThe _Pythagoreans_, to appease the Troubles of the Mind, lulled\nthemselves asleep by Tunes upon the Harp: Thus _Homer_ brings in\n_Achilles_ relieving his Melancholy by playing on his _Lute_, and\nmitigating his Anger against _Agamemnon_ by Musick, which he had learned\nof _Chiron_. _Asclepiades_, a _Roman_ Physician of great Reputation, is\nsaid to heal frantic Melancholy, and mad People, by vocal and\ninstrumental Musick[328]. The learned _Neapolitan_ adds, _Tanta hominis\nnatur\u00e6 cum harmonia consensio est_.\nFootnote 328:\n  Qui Phreneticos mente imminuta, & valetudine animi affectos, nulla re\n  magis quam symphonia, & vocum concentu, & modulis resipiscere, &\n  sanitati restitui censuit. _Alex. ab Alex._ lib. ii. cap. xvii. p. 81.\nWhatever be the Cause of it, there is nothing more powerful than Musick\nfor moving the human Passions, making some pensive and melancholy,\nothers brisk and lively. The truth is, says the Learned _Wallis_, we can\nmatch most of the antient Stories of this kind in the modern Histories.\nIf _Timotheus_ could excite _Alexander_\u2019s Fury with the _Phrygian Mood_,\nand sooth him into Indolence with the _Lydian_, a more modern Musician\nis said to have driven _Eric_ King of _Denmark_, into such a Rage, as to\nkill his best Servants. The Occasion was thus\u2014The King willing to make\nTrial in his own Person, _whether a Musician spoke true, who boasted,\nthat by virtue of his Musick, he could make People mad_: The Artist\nplay\u2019d, and the King became outragious, and experienced the Truth of it\nso thoroughly, that in the Excess of his Rage, he kill\u2019d some of his\nbest Friends[329].\nFootnote 329:\n  _Father Regnault_\u2019s _Convers._ from _Repub. des Let._ p. 264.\nThis may be owing to the Impression made by the Vibrations of the Air,\nbeing carried as far as the Origin of the Nerves, passes into the Soul,\nand puts the animal Spirits into a rapid Motion, determines them to run\ninto different Nerves, diffused thro\u2019 different Parts of the Body, and\nis communicated to those Nerves, according as it finds them more or less\nin _Unison_.... Hence the Passions and Madness itself. _Ibid._\nIn Musick are different Tastes, which seems to proceed from the\ndifferent Constitutions of the Fibres or the animal Spirits: The Fibres\nof the auditory Nerves are differently disposed in different Persons,\nand in the same Person at diverse Times; but generally speaking, Musick\ninspires more pleasing Sentiments, _e. g._\nA certain famous _French Physician_ being ill, fell into a violent\n_Delirium_, after some Days Illness of a continued Fever: the third Day\nof his _Delirium_, I know not by what Instinct, (says the Learned Father\n_Regnault_) made him desire a _Concert of Musick_; upon which, they\nplay\u2019d, and sung to him the Songs of _M. Bernier_[330]: Scarcely had he\nheard the first Notes, but his Eyes were calm; a Serenity was spread all\nover his Countenance, the Convulsions ceased, and he wept thro\u2019 Excess\nof Pleasure; he was free from his Fever all the time of the Concert, but\nwhenever they ceased singing, he relapsed into his former Condition:\nThey fail\u2019d not to continue so marvellous a Remedy, which always\nsuspended his Indisposition. In short, after ten Days musical\nEntertainment, he was restored to his former Health. _Ibid._\nFootnote 330:\n  _Father Regn._ from _Hist. of the Royal Academy in France_.\nAnother Instance, is a Dancing-Master of _Alais_ in _France_, who had\nthe same Fate in the Year 1708; after a Fever of about four Days, and a\nlong Lethargy, he fell into a _Delirium_, both mad and dumb. One of his\nFriends took his Violin, and plaid to him those Airs he was most\naccustom\u2019d to: People thought at first, _that the Player was as mad as\nthe Patient_; but, in a short time, the sick Man raised himself upright\nin his Bed, with the Air of a Man agreeably surpriz\u2019d.... All his\nMotions discover\u2019d the Pleasure he felt: Soon after he fell into a deep\nSleep, and the Crisis he had during his Sleep, perfected his Cure.\n_Ibid._\nOne Reason of this strange Operation might be this, _viz._ The Sound of\nthe Instrument agitates the Fibres, especially those that are in Unison,\nby that means brings to his Remembrance agreeable Perceptions ... sets\nthe animal Spirits going, and restores them to their natural Course:\nThese Spirits being moved, run into the Nerves and Muscles, where they\nhave been used to run, in order to form the Motion of certain Airs; the\nPassages of the Blood thereby become more free: Hence that serene Air\ndiffused all of a sudden over the Face of the sick Musician, who was\ncured by the Charms of his own Art.\nThese two Instances are quoted by the Learned Dr. _Nieuwentyt_, who\nsays, both of them (the Musician and Dancing-Master) were perfectly\nrestored to their Senses by Musick. He also observes, that the Wound\ngiven by the _Tarantula_ can only be cured by the Sound of Musick, of\nwhich different Airs and Tunes must be play\u2019d, according to the\ndifferent Nature and Colour of those _Tarantula\u2019s_ that have given the\nWound[331]. Then adds;\nFootnote 331:\n  _Religious Philosopher_, vol. I. Contempl. xiii. Sect. 270.\nThat the famous _Italian_ Musician, _Angelo Vitali_ had related to him\nthe following Story, and assured him of the Truth of it, _viz._\nThat a certain Player on the Flute at _Venice_ had boasted, that by his\nplaying, he could deprive the Hearers of the Use of their Understanding:\nWhereupon he was sent for by the _Doge_, who was a Lover of Musick, and\ncommanded to put his Art in practice before him; where, after having\nplay\u2019d some time very finely, (and to the Amazement of the Hearers) he\nat last begun a mournful Tune, with a Design, as far as he was able, to\nput the _Doge_ into a melancholy Humour; and presently, he struck up a\njovial one, to dispose him to Mirth and Dancing; and after having\nrepeated these two kind of Tunes several times by turns, the _Doge_\nbeing no longer able to endure those different Emotions, which he felt\nin his Soul, he was ordered to forbear playing any longer. _Ibid._ p.\n_FROM the Account given of Concords and Discords in Musick, a Reason may\nbe form\u2019d why two Strings of a Viol, that are Unisons or Octaves one to\nanother, if one be struck the other will tremble, so as to be visibly\nperceived._\n_What is this Unison?_ In Musick, _Unison_ is a Consonance of two\nSounds, produced by two Strings, or other Bodies of the same Matter,\nLength, Thickness, and Tension, equally struck, and at the same Time, so\nthat they yield the same Tone or Note. Others define it, _the Union of\ntwo Sounds_, so like each other, that the Ear perceiving no Difference,\nreceives them as one and the same Sound.\nWhat constitutes Unisonance, is the Equality of the Number of\nVibrations: Unison is the first and greatest of Concords. Others say, it\nis only that in Sounds which Unity is in Numbers.\nBeing once in a Room where there was a _Bass-Viol_, and striking one of\nthe Strings, a loose Quarry of Glass in the Window, jarr\u2019d every time\nthat String was struck, which it wou\u2019d not do upon striking any of the\nother discordant Strings. The Reason may be, _viz._ That the times of\nthe Vibration of the loose Quarry, were equal or near Concordance to\nthose of the String. A Gentleman of my Acquaintance, when he sounded a\nparticular Tone on the Bass-Viol, very plainly heard the Noise of the\nGlass of the Clock in his Chamber, which Glass never moved, upon his\nsounding any other Tone.... It is a general Remark, that an\n_Unison-String_ will receive the Motion, and so tremble, when another\nUnison is made to sound; and yet all other Strings of the same\nInstrument, that are not Unisons, shall remain silent and unmoved.\nMusick does not only exert its Force on the Passions and Affections, and\nmusical Instruments, but on the Parts of the human Body also. Witness\nthe _Gascoigne-Knight_, (mention\u2019d by Mr. _Boyle_) who could not contain\nhis Water, at the playing of a Bag-pipe: The Woman, mention\u2019d by the\nsame Author, who would burst out in Tears, at the hearing of a certain\nTune, with which other People were but little affected: And in this\nCounty, near _Rochdale_, there is a certain Man, who can\u2019t forbear\ndancing, if in a House, or Market, upon hearing a certain Tune sung.\nWonder not at the strange Effects of musical Sounds, when other Sounds\nstrangely affect the Mind. How are the Passions excited by the Sound of\na Drum and the Discharge of Canons.... Not only human Minds and Bodies\nare affected by the Impression of Sounds, but even Things without Life.\n_KIRCHER_ tells us of a large Stone that would tremble at the Sound of\none particular Organ-Pipe. _Mersenne_ also tells us, of a particular\npart of a Pavement that would shake and tremble, as if the Earth would\nopen, when the Organs play\u2019d. Mr. _Boyle_ adds, that Seats will tremble\nat the Sound of Organs, that he has felt his Hat do so under his Hand,\nat certain Notes, both of Organs and Discourse; and that he was well\ninform\u2019d, every well-built Vault, would answer some determinate Note.\nWe may observe the like mechanic Perception in several empty\nDrinking-Glasses, of fine white Metal. Thus if we cause the Strings of a\nmusical Instrument to be stretched to a certain Tone or Note, it would\nmake one of the Glasses ring, and not the other; nor would the Sound of\nthe same String, tuned to another, sensibly affect the same Glass.\n_Morhoff_ mentions one _Petter_, a _Dutchman_, who could break\nRummer-Glasses with the Tone of his Voice. The same, I think, is said of\n_Purcel_.\nWhen two Viols are tuned in Unison, one of them being touch\u2019d, the other\nwill answer, tho\u2019 at some distance. This is a noble Proof of an\nharmonious Creation: This Unison looks like a more pure sort of\nsympathising that is found in all the Creatures, when those of the same\nSpecies flock together.\nHere give me leave to observe, that all Nature is as it were a System of\ndivine Musick, and delightful Harmony; or, in the sacred Language, a\n_Poem_ which is a Work of Skill, curious and polite, lofty and sublime;\nin which Numbers and Measures are exactly observed. Under this Idea of a\n_Poem_ the old and new Creation are represented.\n_THE invisible things of him from the Creation of the World are clearly\nseen, being understood by the things that are made_, \u03c4\u03bf\u03b9\u03c2 \u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1\u03c3\u03b9[332],\nPoems that are made. The Creation is, as it were, a _Poem_ in the\nSublime: Every Species of created Beings is a _Stanza_, and every\nindividual Creature, a Verse in it, as a certain learned Divine\nexpresses it. Creation here is not stiled \u03b5\u03c1\u03b3\u03bf\u03bd, which is a Work of\nmanual Labor, but \u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1[333], a Work of Skill; not so much the\nOperation of the Hand, as of the Head and Heart: No Creature so small\nand mean, but glitters with a Beam of divine Skill.\nFootnote 332:\n  \u03c4\u03bf\u03b9\u03c2 \u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1\u03c3\u03b9. Rom. i. 20.\nFootnote 333:\n  \u0391\u03c5\u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 \u03b3\u03b1\u03c1 \u03b5\u03c3\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd \u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9. Eph. ii. 10.\nSo the new Creation is stil\u2019d a _Poem_.... _We are his Workmanship in\nChrist Jesus_, Eph. ii. 10. In the _Greek_, _we are his Poem in Christ\nJesus_.\nAs for the several Moods, which, in musical Composition, were observed\nby the Antients, for moving particular Passions, there is a remarkable\nFragment of _Damon_ the Musician, mentioned by _Aristides_ in\n_Plutarch_. This is supposed to be that kind of Musick used by _David_\nand _Elisha_, as a Prescription to remove mental Disorders; and may\nsuppose to point at the Original of the Pagans curing Diseases of the\nBody and Mind by instrumental Musick.\nIt\u2019s said, when an _evil Spirit_ from God was upon _Saul_, _David took a\nHarp and play\u2019d with his Hand, so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and\nthe evil Spirit departed from him_. 1 Sam. xvi. 23.\n... _AND Elisha said to Jehoram, King of Israel.... Were it not that I\nregard the Presence of the King of Judah, I would not look towards thee,\nbut now bring me a Minstrel. And it came to pass when the Minstrel\nplay\u2019d, that the Hand of the Lord came upon him._ 2 Kings iii. 13,-15.\nIt is observable here, that the Mind of _Elisha_ the Prophet was very\nmuch ruffled; now, under this Discomposure, he calls for a Minstrel, not\nout of Levity, but for a religious End; and that was, to compose his\nMind, and to bring it into a serene and sedate Frame, and thereby to\nprepare himself for divine Exercises; or perhaps, a _devout Levite_,\nwell skill\u2019d in musical Performances, might play before him, and\nintermix with it, Psalms and spiritual Songs, according to the\nConstitutions of those Times.\nAs the Prophets might indispose themselves for the Spirit of Prophecy,\nso they were to use Means to dispose themselves for the Impulses of the\nHoly Spirit; and for this End the School of the Prophets was appointed,\nin which the Students were trained up _in the Science of Musick_, _in\nstrict Virtue_, _Self-denial_, _Contempt of worldly Grandeur_,\n_Knowledge of the Law_, _&c._ These Schools were Seminaries of Religion,\nin which the intended Guardians of the Spirituality were instructed, and\nprepared to receive the extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit.\nWe read how the Indians performed their Worship by dancing to Songs, the\nPriests of _Cybele_ with _Cymbals_, the _Curetes_ with Drums and\nTrumpets, the _Romans_ sung _Spondaic Verses_, while they offer\u2019d their\nSacrifices; the musical Sound that calm\u2019d the Passions (consisting of\n_Spondees_ principally) _Aristotle_ calls moral; (to distinguish it from\nthe _Diatonic_ and _Phrygian_) from whence the Custom might be derived.\nWhen the _Spartans_ went to War, they march\u2019d to the Sound of _Flutes_,\nto animate the Soldiers; as is now done by Drum and Trumpet, to lessen\nthe Terror of Death.\n_THE Antients having related wonderful Things done by Musick in their\ndays, by which Diseases were suspended, the Sick restored ... I shall\nmake a short Inquiry into the Reasons of it. Tho\u2019 the Report be strange,\nand in some degree hyperbolical, yet some Account may be given of the\nsurprizing Effects of Musick_, and is attempted by the learned Dr.\n_Willis_, (among others;) a Hint of which I shall add here, to what was\nobserved before upon the Subject.\n         _REASONS_ (or rather CONJECTURES) _for Medicinal Cures\nI. That Musick, if not new, was in those Days a rare thing, which the\nVulgar, on whom \u2019tis reported to have mighty Effects, had scarce heard\nany before, and on whom a little Musick will do great Feats, as we now\nfind a _Bag-pipe_ at a _Morris-Dance_.\nII. Antient Musick was much more simple and plain than ours now, having\nonly one single Voice or Instrument apart, which to a rude Ear is much\nmore taking, than compound Musick; the former not exceeding their\nCapacity, whereas a Concert of Musick confounds them quite, and \u2019tis by\nno means distinguishable by them, so as to affect them with the Harmony\nof its Parts.\nIII. Musick, with the Antients, was of a much larger Extent than what we\nnow call by that Name; for Poetry, and Dancing or graceful Motion, were\nthen counted part of Musick, when it had arrived to some degree of\nPerfection: And we see that _Verse_ alone, if in good Measure and\n_moving Words_, sung by an agreeable Voice, with soft instrumental\nMusick, will work strangely on the Ear, and move all Affections suitable\nto the Tune and Ditty ... especially if attended with _proper Gestures\nand Actions_.... Thus suitable Acting on the Stage, gives great Life to\nthe Words[334].\nFootnote 334:\n  _Lowthorp\u2019s Abridg._ vol. i. p. 618.\nIf a deliberate pathetick Reading of a well-penn\u2019d Romance, will strike\nthe Passions, and produce Mirth, Tears, Joy, Grief, Pity, Wrath,\nIndignation, suitable to the respective Intents of it; much more would\nit so do, if accompanied with all those Attendants.\u2014\u2014\nIf it be ask\u2019d, _Why may not all this be done now?_ I answer, No doubt\nbut it may, if the Address be made in proper Words, emphatically spoken,\nwith agreeable Voice, attended with a decent Gesture; and all these\nadjusted to the Passion and Temper of the Mind, particularly design\u2019d to\nbe produced, (be it Joy, Grief, Pity, Courage, Indignation) will\ncertainly now, as well as then, produce great Effects upon the Mind,\nespecially upon a Surprize, and where Persons are not otherwise\npre-engaged. _Ibid._\nThe Antients had the Art of exciting this or that particular Passion of\nthe Mind, the Tunes being suitably adapted to such Designs; whereas\nthose now are almost quite neglected in our modern Musick.\nThe _Chromatick Genus_[335], with its greater and lesser _Semi-Tones_,\neither ascending or descending, is very proper for the Pathetick in\nMusick; as is also an artful Management of Discords, with a Variety of\nMotions; now brisk, now languishing; now swift, now slow. The _Venetian_\nMusician before-mentioned, excell\u2019d in the _Pathetick_ to that degree,\nthat he was able to play any of his Auditors into _Distraction_.... The\ngreat Means he made use of, was the _Variety of Motions_.\u2014\u2014\nFootnote 335:\n  _Chroma_ in Musick, is the graceful way of Singing.\nEven little Children, when crying, are charm\u2019d and quieted by a jingling\nSound, a Shadow of Musick. In short, Musick attends the Man to his\nGrave, where Elegies were formerly sung in Honour of the Deceased: Thus\nthe _Phenicians_ added _Flutes_ to their _Mournings_, and the _Romans_\nhad their _Siticines_, that is, those who sung to a Pipe, or blow\u2019d the\nTrumpet at their Funerals, a Custom not yet entirely abolish\u2019d among the\nantient _Britons_ and some Parts of _England_, who, when they take up\nthe Corps, sing Psalms before it all the way to Church; a common\nPractice about seventy Years ago: So far I can charge my Memory.\nWe are not without modern Instances of Persons extraordinarily affected\nby the Powers of Musick, as appears from our Opera\u2019s, and the very\nparticular Devotion paid to the _Farinello\u2019s_ of the Age, and to\n_Italian_ Musick, display\u2019d in Temples as well as on the Stage, the\nfirst Erection of which was intended for the Honour and Defence of\nVirtue.\nThe _Laconians_ were wont at the Death of their King to tinkle a\nCaldron, instead of a Bell: Yea, the _Jews_ had their Minstrels at\nFunerals; for, at the raising to Life the Daughter of _Jairus_, \u2019tis\nsaid, the _Musicians_ were commanded to troop off, _Matth._ ix. Before\nthe _Roman_ Funerals, a Trumpeter went, follow\u2019d by the _Pr\u00e6fic\u00e6_, _i.\ne._ old Women, singing Songs in Praise of the Deceased.\nThus we have had a general View of Serpents, their Poison and Cure; and\na particular Account of Persons wounded by the _Tarantula_, and cured by\nMusick; the Effects of which musical Operation, have past for Miracles;\nfor, by means of it, dangerous Distempers have been cured, Insurrections\nquelled, Passions calm\u2019d and raised, even to Distraction and Madness.\nAntiently all Laws, Exhortations to Knowledge and Virtue, and Lives of\nillustrious Men, were written in Verse, and publickly sung by a _Chorus_\nto the Sound of musical Instruments, which was found a most effectual\nway to impress Morality. So much for Serpents in particular.\n_N. B._ In the Description of some Serpents by different Authors, \u2019tis\ndifficult to know whether they mean the same, or another; some having\nthe same Description with different Names, and some different\nDescription with the same Name. Another Mistake may arise from some\nDifference in the same Serpent, in different Climates, as in Situation\n(_N._ or _S._) and Size.\n[Illustration]\n[Illustration]\n                     Containing Six DISSERTATIONS.\n                     I. _Upon the Prim\u00e6val Serpent._\n                   III. _The Brazen Serpent._\n                    IV. _Adoration of Serpents._\n                     V. _Reasons of that monstrous\n                    VI. _And for the Adoration of\nCONTENTS. _Various Sentiments about the Prim\u00e6val Serpent: Some say,\n    \u2019twas a real Serpent; others say, the Passage is allegorical. Some\n    make the Serpent to be Pleasure; others the Devil in the Natural\n    Serpent. Reasons why_ Adam _was not made beyond a Capacity of\n    Sinning. Our first Parents arm\u2019d with sufficient Power to stand:\n    They knew no Enemy. Satan a compleat Orator. The Fatal Surrender.\n    Satan\u2019s triumphant Return from_ Eden. _Serpent\u2019s Head and Subtility.\n    Intercourse between the Angelick and Human World. A Plea for our\n    first Mother. Why_ Moses _introduces a speaking Serpent. Method of\n    Divine Government. Satan\u2019s View. Reasons why_ Adam _was created in a\n    State of Trial. A strong Negative, sufficient to put the Tempter to\n    flight. The_ Paradisaical _Law guarded by the most powerful\n    Sanction. The Opinion of_ Pagans _and_ Mahometans _about the Fall\n    of_ Adam, _&c. Why Satan punish\u2019d under a visible Figure_, viz.\n    _Serpent_. Christ\u2019s _Death publish\u2019d, before Sentence of Death past\n    upon_ Adam. _The Earth, a secondary_ Paradise. _Moral Reflection._\nThe Manner of Sin\u2019s first Entrance into our World, is inscrutable: The\nSubject is an Article of Lamentation, an Article that conducts us to\nParadise indeed, but \u2019tis to _Paradise lost_; whence date the _fatal\n\u00c6ra_ of all human Calamities. There, there in a blissful Field; Sin, the\nPlague of Hell, made its first Appearance on Earth: but as to the Mode\nof its Introduction, there is a Spread of impenetrable Darkness over the\nFace of that great Deep; after the most critical Disquisitions about it,\nthe Difficulty remains unsolvable.\nMen of Letters may give their Conjectures, but it seems to be one of\nthose secret Things which belongs to him who is unsearchable, and _whose\nways are past finding out_; therefore we should rather think, _how to\nget Sin out of the World, than how it came in at first_: The one would\nonly prove what our Understandings could do, but the other would declare\nour Hearts, what they ought to be.\nWhat this Serpent was, that triumph\u2019d in Paradise, has been a Subject of\nlong Debate, and the Learned are not yet agreed in their Verdict about\nit. I shall first lay down their various Opinions, and then give my own\nConjectures.\nAmong the _Jews_, some took it for a real, natural Serpent, and did\nbelieve, it was endued with the Gift of Speaking; but because it\ndeceived the Woman, was condemn\u2019d to lose its vocal Tongue, _to go upon\nits Belly_, and _feed upon Dust_[336].\nFootnote 336:\n  _Joseph. Antiq._ cap. i.\nOthers, who, not allowing the Privilege of Speech to a Brute, have\nturn\u2019d the _Mosaic History_ of Paradise into an _Allegory_, an\nAssemblage of Metaphors, or figurative Documents. Thus a certain learned\n_Jew_ says, the _Serpent_, that seduced the Woman, _was Pleasure_; and\nforbidden Pleasure, when tasted, brought forth Death[337].\nFootnote 337:\n  _Philo Jud. de Mundi Opif._\nBut if this was the Case, could she be so properly said to be tempted by\nanother, as to tempt herself? He adds, the Curse of the Serpent is not\nonly to go upon its Breast, but, _and thou shalt go upon thy Belly_. _q.\nd._ \u201cSince Pleasure was thy Desire, let the Pleasure of the Earth enter\ninto it. The _Belly_, says the _Allegorizer_, is the Receptacle of most\nPleasures of the Animal Kind.\u201d Creatures that go upon four Feet, or\nmore, are deem\u2019d impure; and such is he, who is a Lover of terrene\nPleasures; such a Person may be said, always to go upon his Belly,\nbecause he studies nothing more than its Gratification. Pleasure indeed,\nis attended with a Train of Allurements and Charms. _Tarquin_\u2019s violent\nPursuit of forbidden Pleasure, terminated, not only in the Ruin of his\nHouse, but Extirpation of Monarchy: _Cr\u0153sus_ King of _Lydia_ being\nconquer\u2019d by _Cyrus_ King of _Persia_, gave the Conqueror this Advice,\nIf you would have the _Lydians_ be your obedient Slaves, make them\n_Slaves to Pleasure_.\nNor is _Philo_ alone in making the Serpent a Symbol of Pleasure, for\n_Maimonides_ and others expound those historical Passages in the same\nmanner; asking, Why should that Serpent be call\u2019d a subtle Beast, if it\nwere not in a figurative Sense? In favour of this Exposition, he quotes\nseveral Passages out of the Prophets, that are allow\u2019d to be intirely\nallegorical[338]; and then adds, that in _Moses\u2019s Journal of the\nCreation_, all things therein are not to be understood literally[339].\nOne of the most learned Fathers seems inclined to this _Philonick\nInterpretation of Moses_[340]. It is observable, that in reality, \u2019twas\nnot the _Pleasure of Eating_ which tempted the Woman, but an anxious\n_Desire of greater Wisdom_; which shews a more refined Taste in _Eve_,\nand overthrows the Hypothesis of _Philo_ and _Clemens_.\nFootnote 338:\n  _More Nevochim_, cap. xxix.\nFootnote 339:\nFootnote 340:\n  _Clem. Alexandrinus_, who flourish\u2019d in the second Age. \u039f\u03c6\u03b9\u03c2\n  \u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u03b7\u03b3\u03bf\u03c1\u03b5\u03b9\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9\u2014\u03b7\u03b4\u03bf\u03bd\u03b7. Edit. col. p. 69. A. B. _A. D._ 1688.\nSome Rabbinical Writers say, the Devil that deluded the Woman, came\nmounted upon a Serpent, in Bulk equal to a Camel, and known by the Name\n_Sammael_, an Evil Angel; called also by them, the _Angel of the Dead_,\nPrince of the aerial Region, and Chief of the Demons. Other Rabbies look\nupon him as the Prince of Angels; and believe, he is to preside at the\nlast Judgment; for which Reason, they make him Offerings on the Day of\nsolemn Expiation, to appease his Indignation[341]. \u2019Tis said, this\nSerpent eat the forbidden Fruit and did not die for it; the Woman\ninferred she might also eat, and not die.\nFootnote 341:\n  _Calmet in Verbum._ _Rab. Benach in Genes._ iii.\nOthers there are, who will not allow the seducing Serpent to be an\n_Animal_, but the _Devil_ himself in that Shape, who therefore in the\nsacred Writings is called the _great Dragon, old Serpent, and Murderer\nfrom the Beginning_. And some are of Opinion, he borrowed the Body of a\nreal Serpent, which he made use of, as a Vehicle, thro\u2019 which he\ninstilled Poison into the Woman\u2019s Mind: And if so, what occasion to say\nthe Serpent was more subtle than any Beast?\u2014\u2014Since the grand Enemy in\ntempting _Eve_, did not use the Craft of the Serpent, but his own\nCunning, in the Management of that cruel Stratagem.\nThose who are not pleased with such Ratiocinations, satisfy themselves\nwith this, _viz._ That our first Parents, in whose Loins we were,\ntransgrest, and made a Forfeiture of Paradise for themselves and\nDescendants; but the manner how they fell is not obvious, nor to be\naccounted for, in a State of Imperfection.\nIf it be ask\u2019d, Why did not the divine Goodness put our first Parents\nbeyond a Capacity of sinning? \u2019tis answer\u2019d,\nThat _Mutability is essential to all Creatures_, as such, in all their\nKinds: In this mutable State our first Parents were created, holy and\nhappy: Life and Death were set before them; they had freedom of Choice,\na free-will to use the Powers of Nature as they pleased; that is, they\nwere made in a State of Liberty, with a Power to determine for\nthemselves, whether to abide or not in that glorious Situation. So that\nif there be a Difficulty in accounting for the Fall, there is as great a\none in supposing a reasonable moral Creature uncapable of Choice: for\nwhere there is no Choice, there can be no Virtue; and where there is no\nVirtue, there can be no Happiness.\nAgain, _Adam_ and _Eve were arm\u2019d with a sufficient Power to stand_,\nbeing created after the divine Image pure and upright, without Error in\ntheir intellectual Powers; therefore if they mistook the Object, or were\nimposed upon, \u2019twas not for want of Light in the Mind, but want of\nApplication of that Light, which was in their power.... Which Light told\nthem, the Tree of Life planted in Paradise, was to perpetuate their\nLives; and that the Tree that had the Marks of Death upon it, would do\nthem no harm, but by doing their own Will, or the Will of any other in\nopposition to his sovereign Will who had said, _Eat not_.\nThey were created pure, and capable of Perseverance; and when they fell,\nGod did not withdraw any Gift he had conferred upon them: He did all\nthat was necessary on his Part for their Preservation, and they had\nremain\u2019d safe, if their Liberty had but conducted itself aright: Their\nLiberty was not tied to any particular Object, as their other Faculties\nwere, but respected every thing that could be done, or left undone, and\nit might have imploy\u2019d them after another manner.\nIt\u2019s said, _Out of the Ground made the Lord God to grow every Tree that\nis pleasant to the Sight, and good for Food; and the Tree of Knowledge\nof Good and Evil, of which thou shalt not eat_. Gen. ii. 9, 17. Now,\nwhere lay the Difficulty of _not eating_, when they were in no want of\nFood? And if in want, were not all the Fruits of Paradise prepared for\nthem? Why would none serve but what was prohibited? And nothing\nprohibited but what was deadly Poison, and what _Adam_ knew to be so, by\nimmediate Revelation from Heaven.\nThus furnish\u2019d with divine Armour, and all the agreeable Entertainments\nof Life, \u2019tis most surprizing how they should indulge an irregular Turn\nin the animal Passions, and give way to such Inadvertency. One thing\nthat might lead them to this Oversight, probably was, that they knew of\n_no Enemy_, therefore dreaded _no Danger_. But this Plea is of no force;\nfor their Business was strictly to regard the Voice of their Creator\n(who said, _Eat not_) and not to give heed to any contrary Insinuations,\ntho\u2019 proposed by a known Friend, much less by a Stranger, one of another\nKingdom, and of another Species, without sufficient Attestation.\nHere _Lucifer_ play\u2019d the Orator: He gave his Argument all the Rhetorick\nit would bear, by removing their _fear of Death_, and gratifying in them\na certain Hope of _being Gods_. The Woman had the Threatning of Death in\nher Thoughts, and therefore durst not eat till she was made to believe,\n_she should not die_; (by which it appears, she had dreadful Ideas of\ndying.) And thus she was tempted to _Unbelief_. Then Satan proposes the\nglorious Advantages of _Eating_, viz. _Ye shall be as Gods_ ... be\nindependent Beings, not subject to the Controul of a superior Power; and\nthus they were tempted to _Pride_. _Unbelief_ and _Pride_ were the two\nfatal Rocks, on which their Innocence was wreck\u2019d. Thus our first\nParents fell, not for want of _Light_, but for extinguishing it; not for\nwant of _Power_, but for not using it in the Hour of Danger.\nThe Enemy having made his Conquest, might probably continue for some\ntime in _Eden_, to assist the Woman in seducing her Husband, and then\nconfirm them in their Apostacy, directing them, upon the Approach of an\nEnemy, to hide themselves among the Trees of the Garden, where he left\nthem; upon which he return\u2019d to his Kingdom in the Air, to publish his\nsuccessful Atchievements in Paradise, and was no more heard of, till he\nwas summon\u2019d to the Bar.\nThe Devil\u2019s principal Residence is in the Air, where he keeps his Court,\nfrom whence he sends out his Angels to secure and enlarge his Conquests.\nPerhaps, he may think it not consistent with the Dignity of so great a\nPrince to traverse the Earth in Person, unless it be upon some\nextraordinary Occasions, as that of tempting the first and second\nThe next Thing that offers itself, is an Attempt to illustrate the Case\nbetween the Woman and Serpent: It seems most apparent to me, that under\nthe Name of the Serpent, we are to understand the Devil, who made use of\na real Serpent in his Descent upon Paradise, where he decoy\u2019d the first\nWoman into the fatal Snare.\nIn the Curse upon the Serpent, \u2019tis said, the _Seed of the Woman should\nbreak the Serpent\u2019s Head_; intimating, the Serpent having its _Heart_\nunder the _Throat_, and very near the _Head_, the readiest way to kill\nit, is to squeeze the Head. Some of the Fathers bring four Proofs of the\nSerpent\u2019s Wisdom; trite and common.\n1. When \u2019tis old, it has the Secret of growing young again, by stripping\noff its old Skin, which is succeeded by a new Coat; but if it parts with\nits outward Garments, it retains its Poison. Herein it is resembled by\nthose, who leave the outward Acts of Sin, but not their secret Regards\nfor it.\n2. The Serpent assaults a Man if he sees him naked, but flies if it\nfinds him cloathed. But there is a Fault in this Passage of\n_Epiphanius_, who intends to say the contrary; for \u2019tis generally\naffirm\u2019d, that the Serpent is afraid of a naked Man, but attacks him if\nhe has Clothes on.\n3. When the Serpent is assaulted, its chief Care is to secure its Head:\n\u2019Tis attested by many Writers, that to save the Head, it will expose the\nwhole Body to Danger[342].\nFootnote 342:\n  \u1f49 \u03bf\u03c6\u03b9\u03c2 \u03c6\u03c5\u03bb\u03b1\u03c4\u03c4\u03b5\u03b9 \u03ba\u03b5\u03c6\u03b1\u03bb\u03b7\u03bd. Isiodor. Pelusiot. lib. i. p. 126.\n4. When it goes to drink, it vomits up all its Poison, for fear of\npoisoning itself. Some have defended this, but without any Colour of\nReason[343].\nFootnote 343:\n  _Calmet\u2019s Diction. of the H. Bible_, vol. iii. out of _Epiphanius_.\nThey relate other Instances of the Serpent\u2019s Wisdom, as stopping its\nEars, that it may not hear the Voice of the Charmer or Inchanter; of\nwhich the _Psalmist_ takes notice. \u2019Tis said, it applies one of its Ears\nhard to the Ground, and stops up the other with the end of its Tail,\n_Psal._ lviii. 4. Others say, its Wisdom consists in Acuteness of Sight;\ntherefore among the _Greeks_, a Serpent\u2019s Eye was a proverbial Speech\nfor one of a quick Understanding[344]. These are some of the common\nReasons assigned for the Wisdom of the Serpent.\nFootnote 344:\n  \u039f\u03c6\u03b5\u03c9\u03c2 \u03bf\u03bc\u03bc\u03b1.\nI Now proceed to an Illustration of the Debate between the Woman and\nSerpent in Paradise, under three Heads.\nI. _WHY may not we suppose, that in the Infancy of Mankind there was an\nopen Intercourse between the angelick and human World, and that Angels\nmight appear to our first Parents in some visible Form, as afterwards\nthey did to the Patriarchs?_ If this be not granted, I would ask how a\nfallen Angel came to know there was a Paradise, and a certain Tree whose\nFruit was forbidden, and where that Tree was situated in the Garden?\nWhen a certain Province of Angels rebelled, they were doom\u2019d to the wide\nSpace contiguous to our Globe, and by their daily Rovings from Place to\nPlace, they might indeed discover that little Spot of Earth, called\n_Paradise_; but how came they to be acquainted with the Laws of that\nCountry, and that there was a forbidden Tree, and where it grew? How, I\nsay, could they know all this without Revelation, or previous\nConversation with the Inhabitants of the Place?\nII. _IF there had been no former Acquaintance between Angels and our\nfirst Parents, how came the Woman to converse so freely with a Stranger\nshe had never seen before, one of another Country, and of a different\nSpecies?_ \u2019Tis therefore probable, that when the Devil addrest the\nWoman, and that in her own Language, he might assume the Form of a good\nAngel, that Form in which Angels had discoursed with our first Parents\nbefore the Fall.\nAnd perhaps when Angels, the Messengers of Heaven, conversed with _Adam_\nand _Eve_, it might be in the Shape of flying speaking Serpents. Without\nallowing this mutual Intercourse, and former Familiarity, we can\u2019t well\nsuppose that our first Parents, tho\u2019 not furnish\u2019d with so much\nKnowledge as is usually ascribed to them, would be conquer\u2019d by a\n_Demon_ in the Shape of a _Serpent_, which naturally is a Beast of the\nField, and known to be so by _Adam_, who, but a little before, had\nenrolled it among his Subjects, and given it a significant Name.\nCan we imagine our first Parents so stupid, as to hold a Conversation\nwith a Beast, without Surprize, Jealousy, and Suspicion? _Adam_, who\nknew the Properties of inferior Animals, (to whom he had given proper\nNames a little before) could not but know, that the _Serpent_ was a\n_Beast_, and had no Organs fitted for the Formation of articulate\nSounds, much less a Power to fix proper Ideas to them, and support an\nArgument by arguing the Case in a rational manner. Could _Adam_, who was\nthe Image of God upon Earth, hear a Brute speak and dispute in the\nLanguage of Paradise, without a Suspicion of Imposture or something\nominous?\nDuring the Woman\u2019s Parley with the Serpent, _Adam_ is supposed to be\nabsent, perhaps thro\u2019 Satan\u2019s Management, and upon her representing to\nhim at their next meeting, the Conversation she had with the Serpent, he\nmust conclude that Serpent to be a _grand Cheat_, or a _good Angel_,\nthat spoke to his Wife: and that he took it in the latter Sense, is\nplain from the Event; that is, his taking the forbidden Fruit, and\neating thereof upon the Serpent\u2019s Recommendation of it to his Wife, who\nfound no ill Effect from her Compliance. Now, the Tempter having assur\u2019d\nthe Woman that her eating that Fruit would not bring Death, and _Adam_\nfinding it to be true in Fact, that is, that she did eat and live after\nit, concluded he might eat with equal Safety.\nUpon this Supposition, we may charitably infer, that since our first\nMother might converse with Angels in that serpentine, or some other\nbright Form, she now converses with the Serpent without Scruple or Dread\nof Imposture. And as she apprehended the Serpent to be a good and kind\nSpirit, so _Adam_ did, upon her Representation of the Matter, and took\nthe forbidden Fruit, and eat it: And perhaps the Serpent was present,\ngiving Attestation to the Report made by the Woman to her Husband.\nThis being granted, \u2019tis conceivable how the Woman might freely converse\nwith a Creature that assum\u2019d an Image so glorious, especially if we\nconsider she was in her infantile State, and without any experimental\nKnowledge, or any Apprehension of Danger, from an Enemy, of which she\nhad no Idea; being no Sinner, she was without Fear.\nIn the Sentence past upon _Adam_, there is one Clause that seems to\ncorroborate this Hypothesis; for, upon the Expulsion of our first\nParents ... the Gates of _Eden_ were guarded by a _Cherub_ (to prevent\ntheir re-entrance) which, by the _Jews_, was esteem\u2019d a _second Angel_,\nand may be aptly imagin\u2019d to be a _Seraph_, or an Angel in the Form of a\nflying Serpent, whose Body vibrated in the Air, with a peculiar\nResplendency, and may be fitly describ\u2019d by the Image of such a Sword.\n\u2019Tis said, _God drove out the Man, and placed at the East-end of the\nGarden of Eden, Cherubims and a flaming Sword, which turned every way,\nto keep the Way of the Tree of Life_, Gen. iii. _ult._ God made Angels\nGuardians of Paradise, and a sparkling Fire, like a flaming Sword; says\nthe _Arabick_ Version.\nBut why may not this Text bear an Interpretation pregnant with good\nTidings, as an Explication of the Promise made to the Woman, that is, an\nInstruction to our first Parents how to worship God after the Fall,\nnamely by Sacrifice, which was to be offer\u2019d by them before the\n_Cherubims_ (erected over the Gates of Paradise) as Sacrifices\nafterwards were before the _Cherubims_ in the _Tabernacle_ and _Temple_,\nor, as the _Hebrew_, before the _Faces of Jehovah_?\nThe _flaming Sword and the Cherubims_, might be Emblems or Figures of\nsome things to be observed in the Form of Worship design\u2019d for that new\nDispensation. The _fiery Sword_ being a killing Weapon, might represent\nirritated Justice; and _Cherubims_ being the Inhabitation of the Deity\nin the Tabernacle and Temple, might be an Emblem of Mercy, to which the\nSacrifices were offer\u2019d: and may not Cherubims be so construed here? _N.\nB._ May we not date the first Institution of Sacrifice here, which soon\nappear\u2019d in the History of _Cain_ and _Abel_?\nGod might address our first Parents after this manner; View these\nwonderful Sights over the Gate, behold in them the Scheme of Salvation!\nThe Text thus interpreted, gives the Tempter a fresh Mortification, to\nsee his bloody Design defeated, and our first Parents restored to Favour\nat the Gate of _Eden_, in which he had triumph\u2019d over them; and that\nwhich encreased his Vexation was, to see this done by _Christ_, the\npromised Seed, one of the human Race.\nIn the Tabernacle and Temple there were no Representations of God, but\nonly emblematical Figures erected over the Mercy-Seat, called the\nCherubims; in, or between them, the _Deity_ is said _to dwell_; and the\nLaw obliged the _Jews_ to bring the Blood of the Sacrifice _before the\nFace of God_ in the Cherubims, that is, within the Vail, on the Day of\nExpiation: and here God might direct our first Parents to bring their\nSacrifices to him, who was in a special manner present in the Cherubims\nover the Gate.\nBut supposing _Adam_ and _Eve_ had, after their Expulsion, enter\u2019d\nParadise; I don\u2019t see what valuable End it would have answered, for the\nspecial Promises made to the first Inhabitants of Paradise were now null\nand void. All the Blessings peculiar to that glorious Situation, were\nirrecoverably lost. It was not in the power of that once sacred Seat to\nreinstate them in their pristine Happiness.\n_Obj._ Could not the Tree of Life restore their forfeited Comforts? I\npresume not; because the Tree of Life, in the Design of it, was to\nperpetuate the happy Life of innocent Man, and not to restore the Life\nand Comforts of Criminals under a Sentence of Death; a Sentence\nirrepealable, which even the Death of our Blessed Redeemer does not\nexempt us from.\nUpon the whole, I can scarcely think that these strange and awful Sights\nor Figures, over the East Gate of _Eden_, were only to frighten our\nfirst Parents, whose distressed State stood in need of Divine Supports.\nTo be cast out of Paradise was a Mortification that needed not a\nsuper-added Terror; therefore to make those Figures Spectacles of\nHorror, seems not so well suited to Persons under Circumstances so\ninexpressibly dolorous, tho\u2019 restored to Favour; but might rather be\ndesign\u2019d to conduct them to God by _Christ_, the _Tree of Life_.\nIII. _IT\u2019s very probable a Conversation had past between the Woman and\nSerpent before the Narrative publish\u2019d by Moses._ She might upon the\nfirst Approach of the Serpent ask, How a Beast acquired the Gift of\nSpeaking, which is the Prerogative of Rationals? The Serpent might\nanswer, That it was by Eating the Fruit of that Tree. _Eve_ might urge,\nThat God had forbid her to eat that Fruit upon pain of Death. The\nSerpent might make this Return, _viz._ What you say is true; \u2019tis\nallow\u2019d to be the Law under the first Form of Government, but I am now\ncome from the supreme Court, to give you Assurance of God\u2019s kind\nIntentions to advance you to a higher and more noble Station: The\nProhibition of this Fruit was only a probationary Restraint, and\ntemporary.\nNow the End of the first Institution being answered, \u2019tis the Will of\nour Great Sovereign to take off those Restraints, and make you a free\nPeople. Upon the Formation of your Being, he brighten\u2019d your Mind with\nRays of great Wisdom; but now the happy Moment is come, in which he\npurposes to inspire you with higher Degrees of Wisdom.... By eating this\nFruit, your intellectual Powers will be infinitely enlarged; for, _ye\nshall be as Gods_, and then all the Endowments and Accomplishments of\nNature will arrive at their full Perfection, which as yet are only in\ntheir Embryo. This being only a Supposition, I dismiss it.\nThe Serpent having ascrib\u2019d its Reason, and Speech to the eating of that\nFruit, the Woman might infer, If this Fruit did turn a Serpent into a\nrational Creature, why may it not transform a rational Creature into a\nGod, and a _Woman_ into a _Goddess_? The Serpent had no occasion to say\nmore; fir\u2019d with the Prospect of such Preferment, she _took the Fruit\nand did eat_. Gen. iii. 6. _And when the Woman saw that the Tree was\ngood for Food, pleasant to the Eye, and a Tree to be desired to make one\nwise, she did eat._\n_N. B._ How divine and delightful a Thing is Knowledge, of which\nInnocency itself is ambitious! _Eve_ thirsted after the highest Degrees\nof Knowledge, and made no doubt of obtaining it by the Serpent\u2019s\nInstructions; not knowing of any Impostor, she believed what the Tempter\nsaid. Satan, by the Serpent, as a Bait proposed Improvement in\nKnowledge.\nThus the first Woman, Head of the human Race, fell a Sacrifice to her\nown Ambition, fell a Virgin, and in her Infant-State. _Icarus_, by\nflying too near the Sun, his waxen Wings melted, and he fell into the\nSea, and was drowned. Justly was he punish\u2019d, for not observing his\nFather\u2019s Will. May I add, in favour of our Mother, that the Law\nforbidding that Fruit, was not immediately publish\u2019d to _Eve_, but\nreceiv\u2019d at second-hand from _Adam_; and that it can\u2019t be well supposed,\nthat she knew the various Capacities and Qualities of Brutes, as her\nHusband did.\nBut, why does _Moses_ introduce a Serpent speaking, when naturally it\nwas a speechless Creature?\nIn answer to this, may we not observe, that the Almighty, who has no\n_material Tongue_, yet is often introduced, speaking with _human Voice_\nin the Scripture. The _Egyptians_ made the _Crocodile_ a Symbol of the\nDeity, giving this as a Reason why they worshipped God symbolically in\nthat Creature, because it resembled God, in that it was the only Animal\nwithout a Tongue; for the Divine \u03bb\u03bf\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2 stands in no need of Speech; he\ngoverns human Affairs without Words, and without Noise.\nAgain, this Dialogue with the Serpent, a known Beast, is very agreeable\nto a Custom among the Oriental Writers, who enchase their Histories with\nOrnaments taken from familiar Discourses between Beasts; by which they\nconvey moral Instructions to their Readers: Thus, on a Subject of Craft,\nthey made the Fox to speak.\nWith what View did the Devil tempt our first Parents to sin? I answer,\n\u2019twas out of despite to God; _i. e._ with a design to rob the Creator of\nthe Glory he proposed to himself from the Erection of this new World: He\ncould not attack the Almighty on his Throne, therefore he strikes at the\nFootstool. Since he could not reach the Person of the Almighty, he\nwreaks his Malice upon his _Image_, Man; Man, whose Happiness, and that\nof his Descendants, he envy\u2019d; and whom, in particular he hated, as his\nintended Successors to the vacant Seats in the blissful Regions above.\nIn his Plot against _Adam_, the Deceiver was deceived; for he made no\ndoubt but the Sentence of Death would be immediately executed upon\n_Adam_ and _Eve_, and upon the Extinction of the human Species, God\nwould lose all his Honour upon Earth. Why did not he appear to our first\nParents in a human Form? probably because he might apprehend, that there\nwas no other Man or Woman, but themselves.\nHaving considered _Adam_ in his probationary Capacity, I shall in the\nnext place observe these three Things, by way of Illustration.\n  I. _It was most congruous that Man\u2019s first State should be a State of\n    Trial._ II. _That his Trial should be by the Laws of his Creator._\n    III. _That those Laws should be inforced by a proper Sanction._\nI. _IT was congruous and fit, our first Parents should begin their Life\nin a way of Trial, as they were moral Agents_: In which Situation I\napprehend all the Angels to be at first, to see how they would behave\ntowards the Great Author of their Being and Blessedness, before they\nwere establish\u2019d. No Creature, as such, is capable of Immutability, any\nmore than of Omnipotence. To be naturally, and necessarily immutable, is\nthe sole Prerogative of the Almighty: The perpetual Duration of created\nBeings, is not from their Nature, but from the Divine Will.\nOur first Parents were under a strong Guard, and not to be disarm\u2019d\nwithout their own Consent; tho\u2019 the Devil, as he was a Spirit, excelled\nin Power, yet he could not by Force subdue the weaker Vessel, therefore\nconducted the bloody Design by Stratagems. When the Woman was sollicited\nby the Tempter, one strong _Negative_ would have put him to _flight_. A\nresolute Denial, without any other Means, would have made her\nvictorious, tho\u2019 assaulted by all the Legions of Hell; therefore, no\nroom to complain of Deficiency in Divine Goodness.\n\u2019Tis beyond all doubt, that the Revelation given to _Adam_ (as that to\nChristian Churches in After-ages) made it a fundamental part of his\nDuty, not to attend to any Insinuations contrary to those delivered to\nhim by his Creator, tho\u2019 recommended even by an Angel from Heaven:\nTemptations to forbidden Fruit, however pleasant, should not be parley\u2019d\nwith, but peremptorily rejected.\nII. _IT was equally proper, that a Creature should be govern\u2019d by the\nLaws of his Creator_; as it implies a Contradiction for a Creature to be\nindependent, which it must suppose itself to be, when govern\u2019d by its\nown Laws. The Will of the Creator was surely the fittest, for the\nObedience of Creatures; one part of which was, that they must not have\nan Indulgence of all the Trees in _Eden_.\nIt follows hence, that _Self-denial was a Duty in Paradise_. _Adam_ was\nnot an absolute Sovereign to do what he pleased, but what his Almighty\nCreator and Patron prescribed; tho\u2019 endowed with Reason, yet was he to\ngovern himself by the Will of another, that is, of him who was the\nDonor. His Reason was a bright, but borrowed Light, borrowed from the\nuncreated Sun, therefore ought to move by its Direction.\nThus we see that Restraints on the human Nature, were necessary even in\nMan\u2019s Paradisaical State: To deny Self, was one of the Precepts of\nReligion in the Garden of Innocence; nor is this strange, if we\nconsider, that for any rational Creature to live according to his own\nWill, is to make a _God_ of his _Will_.\nWhy did God forbid the Fruit of one Tree? This might be to signify\n_Adam_\u2019s Dependance upon his Maker, and that he had no Claim to any\nthing without his Leave: The sovereign Lord of the Creation made over to\n_Adam_ large Dominions, and the Mannour of Paradise for the Seat of his\nEmpire, reserving nothing to himself but a small Rent of Acknowledgment,\nwhich was only the Fruit of one Tree. The Exemption of this Tree from\nhuman Use, notify\u2019d Man\u2019s Subjection, and God\u2019s supreme Dominion. By\nthis Reservation he tried their Obedience, whether they would be content\nwith all the Earth, and Appurtenances thereunto belonging, one Tree only\nexcepted. _N. B._ This forbidden Tree might have something of a natural\nTendency to corrupt the animal Juices, and introduce Diseases and Death\ninto the human Nature. If the Tree of Life could immortalize our\nExistence in Happiness, is it not equally rational to suppose the Tree\nof Knowledge ... would destroy it?\nIII. _THE Laws of Paradise were inforced by a very awful Sanction_, viz.\n_Life and Death_: The one expressing something most terrible, the other\nimplying somewhat vastly delightful. Threatnings were necessary Cautions\nin Paradise: How surprizing this! The first day of Man\u2019s Life, Man was\nput in mind of Death, of which the Tree of Life was a Memento. If you\neat the Fruit of it, you forfeit your Life, _die you must_ without\nRemedy. This Menace of Death, in the Design of it, was to guard against\nSin, as that which only could be the Cause of Death.\n_IN the day thou eatest thereof_, dying thou shalt die; or, die the\nDeath. Behold here! as in a Cloud, the first Alarm of Mortality, the\nfirst Institution of Funerals, and the melancholy Office of\nGrave-diggers. Bells from the Pinnacle of the Temple, proclaim it aloud\nto Man, _Dust thou art, and unto Dust thou shalt return_. In this\nparadisaical Scheme of Government, we find Death to be a near Neighbour\nto Life: Both the Trees grew near to one another.\nSome have made this _Tree of Life_ a Representation of _Christ_, and if\nso, here, as in a Glass, darkly Man saw his Saviour before he stood in\nneed of him: The Tree of Life planted in the midst of Paradise, was to\npreserve _Adam_\u2019s Life, and without doubt had done so, if he had not\nrebelled. According to a Learned _Jew_, the Tree of Life represents\nPiety; and that of Knowledge, Prudence[345]. Some of his Countrymen tell\nus ridiculous Stories about the Tree of Life, _viz._ That it was of\nprodigious Size, and all the Water of the Earth gush\u2019d out at its Foot,\nFootnote 345:\n  _Philo Jud\u00e6us._\nIt is from the History of Paradise that pagan Poets took their _Nectar_\nand _Ambrosia_, which were said to be the Meat and Drink of the Gods;\nupon which some put this Construction, _viz._ _Nectar_ signifies\n_young_; _Ambrosia_, _Immortality_; intimating, that in a State of\nInnocency, the Vigor of Youth would have been immortal.\nThe Heathen were not without some Idea of the Mosaic Creation, and Fall\nof Man, and of a Woman that brought Sorrow into the World; envying, that\na Fire, which is the Light of Knowledge, was hid from them ... and also\nof Old-Age, brought in by the Counsel of a Serpent.\u2014\u2014\nParadise, in _Plato_\u2019s _Symposium_, is _Jupiter_\u2019s _Garden_, and also is\nthe Pattern of _Alcinous_\u2019s _Orchards_, and the _Hesperides_: The\nGolden-Apples kept by a _Dragon_, were the forbidden Fruit in Paradise:\nThe Fable of _Hercules_\u2019s killing the Serpent of the _Hesperides_, is\nborrowed from the Seed of the Woman, breaking the Serpent\u2019s Head.\nWhat is _Ovid_\u2019s _In nova fert animus_? but an imperfect Transcript of\n_Moses_\u2019s Journal of the Creation, _&c._ \u2019Tis said by _Moses_, _The\nSpirit of God moved on the Face of the Waters_; hence _Thales_, makes\nWater to be the first Principle of all natural Bodies: His Reasons are\ndeliver\u2019d by _Plutarch_. _Homer_ says, All things are made of the Ocean.\nThe _Chaos_, whereof all things were made, according to _Hesiod_, was\nWater. _Orpheus_ says, all things were generated of the Ocean[346].\n_Plato_\u2019s _Atlanticus_, what is it but a Fable? built upon _Moses_\u2019s\nHistory of _Noah_, and the Flood, and the Causes that brought it upon\nthe World.\nFootnote 346:\n  \u03c9\u03ba\u03b5\u03b1\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2\u2014\u03b3\u03b5\u03bd\u03b5\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2 \u03c0\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03b5\u03c5\u03c2 \u03c4\u03b5\u03c4\u03c5\u03ba\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9.\nWhat is the _Bacchus_ of the Heathen, but the _Noah_ of _Moses_?\nformerly called _Boachus_, for _Noachus_, as might easily be, mistaking\nthe _Hebrew_ Letters B and N, which are not very much unlike. By _Janus_\nand _Saturn_, _Noah_ is meant; and some take _Jupiter_ to be _Japhet_,\nfor tho\u2019 _Jovis_, and the other oblique Cases are derived from\n_Jehovah_, yet _Jupiter_ is another. The Fable of Heaven being stormed\nby the _Giants_, arose from what the Builders of the _Tower of Babel_\nsaid, _viz._ _Let us build a City and a Tower, whose Top may reach unto\nHeaven_.... But no Man imitates the Scriptures more than _Homer_, who\nwas an inquisitive Traveller into all Countries. But to proceed to the\nPagan Account of Paradise, and the Fall of Man:\nA certain Author relates a Discourse between _Midas_ the _Phrygian_, and\n_Silenus_ who was the Son of a _Nymph_, inferior by Nature to the Gods,\nsuperior to Men and Death, thus:\n_SILENUS_ told _Midas_, that _Europe_, _Asia_, and _Africa_ were\nIslands, surrounded by Water: that there was but one Continent only,\nwhich was beyond this World, in which, among other Rarities, were two\ngreat _Rivers_, whose Banks were cover\u2019d with _Trees_, one of them was\ncalled the _River of Pleasure_, and the other the _River of Grief_....\nHe who eat the Fruit of the Trees along the River of Pleasure, was eased\nfrom all his former Desires, and in a short time became younger, and\nlived over again his former Years, cast off Old-Age, and became first a\nYoung Man, then a Child, and lastly an Infant, and so died.\nOn the other hand, he who eat the Fruit from the Trees by the River of\nGrief, spent all his Days in Tears and Troubles, and after many Years of\nVexation, dies.\nHow romantick soever this Relation may be, it seems to allude to the\n_Trees_ and _Rivers_ of Paradise, and to give some Hints about the\nIntroduction of Death.\nThe _Indians_ account for the Fall of Man after this manner:\u2014_Brama_,\none of their subaltern Deities, form\u2019d Man out of the Slime of the Earth\nthat was then just created, and placed him in a certain Situation, which\nthey call _Chorcham_, which was a Garden of Delights, abounding with all\nmanner of pleasant Fruit, in which was a certain Tree, whose Fruit would\nconfer Immortality upon any Persons that were allow\u2019d to eat it.\nThe _Gods_, say the _Indians_, tried all sorts of Means to obtain the\nPrivilege of this Immortality; and after great Difficulties, did at last\nsucceed according to their Wish, and found out the Way to the Tree of\nLife, which was in the _Chorcham_, and by feeding on its Fruit for some\ntime, they commenced immortal.\nA famous Serpent called _Cheieu_, (probably Guardian of that Tree)\nperceiving the Secret was discover\u2019d by the Gods of the second Rank, was\nso enraged, that it scatter\u2019d a Flood of Poison over the Plain. All the\nEarth felt the fatal Effects, and no Man escaped the Infection: But the\nGod _Chiven_, took pity on the human Nature, appear\u2019d in the Shape of\nMan, and swallow\u2019d all the mortal Poison, wherewith the malicious\nSerpent had infected the Universe.... This Fable, as ridiculous as it\nis, must have some regard to the terrestrial Paradise, and can have no\nother Original but the Doctrine of _Moses_[347].\nFootnote 347:\n  _\u00c6liani Sophist\u00e6 varia Historia, cum Notis, Curante Gronovio._ A. D.\n  1731. _Theopompus_ is quoted for it, whom my Author calls \u03bc\u03c5\u03b8\u03bf\u03bb\u03bf\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2.\n  _Et h\u00e6c si cui fide dignus videtur, ea narrans Chius, ille credatur,\n  mihi vero egregius esse fabulator._ vol. I. cap. xviii. p. 252.\nNor were the more western Pagans more happy in their Conjectures about\nthe first Entrance of moral Evil. _Prometheus_, say they, having form\u2019d\nMen out of the Earth and Water, animated them with Fire, which he stole\nfrom Heaven. _Jupiter_, the Chief of the Pagan Gods, enraged at this,\ncommands _Vulcan_ to make a Woman out of Clay, upon whom all the Gods,\nout of their high Regard[348] to the Fair Sex, bestow\u2019d some of their\nPerfections. _Venus_ gave her Beauty; _Pallas_, Wisdom; _Mercury_,\nEloquence; _Apollo_, Musick; and _Juno_ gave her Riches; therefore\ncalled _Pandora_, who was sent by the Gods in revenge to _Prometheus_,\nwith a Box full of Evils as a Present from them, but he was too cautious\nto receive it; upon which she was to present it to his Brother\n_Epimetheus_, (supposed by some to be her Husband) which he had no\nsooner open\u2019d, but immediately there flew out _all kinds of Evil_, that\nsoon scatter\u2019d themselves over all the Earth; and at the bottom of the\nBox, nothing was left but poor _Hope_.\nFootnote 348:\n  _Travels of several Missionaries into_ India, p. 7.\n             _Hope, of all Ills that Men endure,\n             The only cheap and universal Cure.\n             Thou pleasant, honest Flatterer; for none\n             Flatter unhappy Men, but thou alone._...  Cowl.\nThe _Mahometan Account of Man\u2019s Fall_, is equally absurd, as appears\nfrom _Mahomet Rabadan, &c._ thus:\u2014God made the Creation ... the earthly\nMass became an animate Body ... and was called _Adam_; God placed him in\nheavenly Paradise, and lest he should believe that he had no Superior,\nGod gave him only one Command, the Observation of which was very easy.\nHe forbid him, upon pain of Death, to eat of the Fruit of a certain\nTree. _Adam_ wanted a Mate; therefore God made him fall into a profound\nSleep, and took out of his left Side a Rib, of which he formed a very\nbeautiful Woman, whom he called _Eve_, ... and order\u2019d _Gabriel_ to go\ninto Paradise, and to celebrate the Wedding of _Adam_ and _Eve_, being\nattended with a great many other Angels.\n_LUCIFER_ envying the Happiness of Man, used his utmost Endeavours to\ndeprive him of it. Going one day by the door of Paradise, he said to the\nAngel who kept it, _Give me leave to go in, for I have a Matter of\nMoment to impart to the Servants of thy Lord_. The Angel having denied\nhis Request, he desired him to call the Serpent, who was then a very\nfine Creature. The Serpent came, and _Lucifer_ earnestly desired Leave\nto get into his Body; the Serpent did so, and placed _Lucifer_ in the\nRoof of its Mouth, and carried him into Paradise. When he came near the\nForbidden Tree, it endeavoured in vain to make _Lucifer_ come out.\n_Lucifer_ stuck fast, and forced the Serpent to get upon that Tree,\nunder which _Adam_ and _Eve_ used to sit down. _Eve_ was then alone,\nnear the Tree: She saw the Serpent, who spoke to the Woman in these\nWords, _viz._\nCharming Creature, if you would taste this Fruit, you would be _like God\nhimself_ in Wisdom and Knowledge: All the Secrets and all the Mysteries\nyou are now ignorant of, will be manifested to you. _Adam_ came during\nthe Discourse, and having told him what the Serpent had said, proposed\nto him to eat of the forbidden Fruit, which after a Short Pause he\ncomply\u2019d with. The Tree was a large Vine; _Eve_ took twelve Grains of a\nBunch of Grapes, gave eight to her Husband, and kept four to herself.\nAt that very moment, _Adam heard a very terrible Voice, Wo to thee! hast\nthou so soon forgot the only Commandment thou hadst promised to observe?\nhow comes it that thou hast (by thy Greediness) polluted the Purity of\nmy Habitation?_ _Adam_ being confounded, excused himself by laying the\nFault upon _Eve_, who endeavour\u2019d to justify herself by accusing the\nSerpent. Upon which God ordered the Angels immediately to drive _Adam_\nand _Eve_ from Paradise, to Strip them of their Clothes, and take away\nthe Crowns they had on their Heads[349].\u2014\u2014But it is high time to return.\nFootnote 349:\n  _Mahometism fully explained, by_ Mahomet Rabadan, _a_ Moor _of_\n  Arragon _in_ Spain, _for the Instruction of the_ Moors _in that\n  Kingdom, who were then violently persecuted there_. Translated out of\n  _Spanish_ by Mr. _Morgan_, with a design to give us a better Notion of\n  the _Mahometans_, and to place it in the rich Library of the late Earl\n  of _Oxford_. Printed _A. D._ 1724.\nSatan, who imploy\u2019d the Serpent in his Service, is supposed to be\npunish\u2019d here under the Figure of a Serpent: But why in the Presence of\nour first Parents? Perhaps for such Reasons as these, _viz._ 1. To\nreproach their Inadvertency for suffering themselves to be imposed upon\nby a lying Spirit, who, if but resisted by a meer Negation, would have\nfled. 2. To let them see that no Creature, tho\u2019 never so great, can\nrebel with Impunity; from whence they might conclude, what to expect\nfrom new Provocations. 3. They had no other way to see a Spirit\npunish\u2019d, but under some visible Form. It could not but give them some\nsecret Satisfaction to see their cruel Enemy tremble at the Bar.\nIt is observable here, that the _Promise of the Messiah_ was made to\n_Adam_, before the Almighty past upon him the Sentence of Death. How\nsurprizing this! to find the Death of Christ _published_, before the\nDeath of _Adam_ was _pronounced_. The Death of _Christ_, the _Innocent_;\nbefore the Death of _Adam_, the _Criminal_.\nThe last Remark I shall make here is, that the Earth, tho\u2019 cursed for\nMan\u2019s Sin, still puts on the Face of a Paradise, abounding with an\ninnumerable Variety of good Things; yea, and those so delicious and\npleasant to Mankind, that many wish to live in it for ever. Thus they\nconfine their Hopes and Fears to the present State, and are so far from\nbelieving a Life to come, that they can hardly persuade themselves to\nbelieve, that they shall leave this present Life.\nAs the Bounties of Providence gives us no room to murmur at our present\nProvince or Portion, so on the other hand, the Toils and Troubles of\nthis State should cause us to aspire after the heavenly Paradise, where\nno Curse ever found Access, where none of the Thorns of Affliction, or\nthe Briers of Sorrow grow.\nCONTENTS. _Of the_ fiery Serpents _that annoy\u2019d the Camp of_ Israel:\n    _The Reason of that judicial Stroke_, i.e. _Murmuring under a\n    Dispensation of Miracles. Why punish\u2019d by Serpents? Why called_\n    Fiery? _The last Plague in the Desart. Flying Serpents._\nIt might be said with great Propriety of the _People of Israel_, that\nthey were _a Generation of Vipers_. Ingratitude, Unbelief, Discontent\nand Murmuring, were the dominant Passions in the Wilderness; they were\nalways quarrelling with _God_ and _Moses_: never easy, no not under a\nTheocracy, a divine Government. No wonder that Rage and Faction haunt\nthe Dwellings of good Princes, when we find perverse Spirits have\nmurmur\u2019d at a divine Administration.\nA Magnificent Table was Spread for them in the Wilderness, their daily\nEntertainments were miraculous; they were fed by _Manna_, a delicious\nFood distilled from Heaven, admirably suited to every one\u2019s Palate. _He\ncommanded the Clouds from above, and opened the Doors of Heaven, and\nrained down Manna upon them to eat, and gave them the Corn of\nHeaven[350]. Wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the\nWilderness, for there is no Bread, neither is there any Water, and our\nSoul loatheth this light Bread[351]: This vain and empty Bread, say the_\nLXX.\nFootnote 350:\n  _Psal._ lxxviii. 23-25.\nFootnote 351:\n  _Numb._ xxi. 5, 6.\u2014\u03c4\u03c9 \u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03c9 \u03c4\u03c9 \u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03ba\u03b5\u03bd\u03c9\u2014\nThey were also furnish\u2019d with _miraculous Drink_, i. e. _Water out of a\nRock_; Water that swell\u2019d into a River, and follow\u2019d \u2019em in all their\nMotions, till they arrived in the Land _flowing with Milk and Honey_;\nTerms, that include a Scene of Plenty and Pleasantness.\nIn all their Traverses through the Wilderness, they were always under\nthe Guidance and Protection of the _Shekina_; by which Word the _Jews_\nunderstood the _Presence of the Holy Spirit_; of _Christ_, say the\nChristians. The _Shekina_ was the most sensible Mark of the Presence of\nGod among them, which rested over the Propitiatory, or the golden\nCherubims, which adher\u2019d to the Propitiatory or Covering of the Ark;\nthere the _Shekina_ abode in the Shape of a Cloud. The _Rabbins_ tell\nus, that it first resided in the Tabernacle, and descended into it in\nthe Figure of a Cloud, on the Day of Consecration. It past from thence\ninto the Sanctuary of _Solomon\u2019s Temple_, on the Day of its Dedication\nby that Prince[352]; where it continued to the Destruction of\n_Jerusalem_ by the _Chaldeans_, and was not afterwards to be seen there.\nFootnote 352:\n  _Calmet from Basnage_, _History of the Jews_.\nThus were they conducted and entertain\u2019d by an unintermitted Train of\nMiracles. Now to fret and repine in such a Situation, was a Crime of a\nhigh and heinous Nature, no less than impeaching infinite Wisdom, and\ntaxing it with erroneous Conduct: If Difficulties occurred in the way,\ntheir Duty was _Resignation_, a Temper obvious in _Pagans_, whose\nReligion forbid all indecorous Sallies of the Passions.\n_SOCRATES_, a Philosopher of _Athens_, was a Philosopher in _Prison_, as\nwell as in the _Museum_: When bound in Fetters, and he had nothing but\nDeath before his Face, he then conversed with his Friends with perfect\nEquanimity, and without the least _Reflexion_ upon _Fate_, upon _God_,\nand his _Judges_, notwithstanding his base Treatment, and the notorious\nInjustice of his Sentence. The Scripture represents _Job_ as a\n_Champion_ in Affliction, who by his passive Fortitude under it, became\nthe proper Hero of an Heroic-Poem.\n                 _WHY were they punish\u2019d by Serpents?_\nPerhaps it might be to put them in remembrance of the first Sin, that\nwas introduced into Paradise by the old Serpent: This kind of Punishment\ncould not but bring to their Mind that gloomy Moment in which the human\nNature was morally and mortally wounded by that evil Spirit, in the Form\nof a Serpent. This being allow\u2019d, we may infer, that Man\u2019s Memory stands\nin need of a Remembrancer, even of Paradise lost. And oh! who can think\nof that inexpressible Loss, without dropping a silent and solemn Tear?\nSome Learned _Jews_ themselves, speaking upon this Subject, say, the\nReason why they were chastised by Serpents, was _because they had done\nthe Actions of the old Serpent, in using an ill Tongue against God,\nagainst_ Moses, _and Manna, the Bread of Heaven_.\n                      _WHY called Fiery Serpents?_\nA natural and a moral Reason may be assigned for it.\n1. The sacred Volume seems to account for the _natural Reason_, when it\nsays, _God sent fiery Serpents_. The _Hebrew_ word is _Seraphim_, that\nis _Burners_, because they appeared in the form of a _Flame_. The LXX\ncalls them _Serpents of Death_[353], because their _Wounds_ proved\n_mortal_.\nFootnote 353:\n  \u039f\u03c6\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2 \u03b8\u03b1\u03bd\u03b1\u03bf\u03c5\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9.\nAs soon as the People were wounded, their Blood was inflamed, and\naccording to some _Jewish_ Authors, they were _scorch\u2019d with insatiable\nThirst_. Of the _Hebrew_ word _Saraph_, the _Greeks_, by changing the\nPosition and Order of Letters, have borrowed the Name _Prester_, which\nis a kind of fiery venemous Serpent, called also _Dipsas_ and _Causon_,\nwhose Wound is accompanied with a most vehement Heat and Thirst, and\ngenerally incurable, as some have formerly said. They may be properly\ncalled _Fiery_, as their Colour was glowing, a proper Representative of\nFire. In the _West-Indies_ are _Adders, red as Blood_, about seven or\neight Foot long, and appear by Night as a _burning Coal_[354].\nFootnote 354:\n  _Atl. America_, 179.\n2. They might be called _Fiery_ also, from a _moral Consideration_; for,\nthat raging Heat in the Body might represent the outragious Disorders of\nthe Mind, flowing from conscious Guilt, neither of which were the\nAttendants of an original State. Hence, perhaps, it is that Satan\u2019s\n_Temptations_ are styled _fiery Darts_, because when complied with, they\nkindle a Fire in the Conscience, a Prognostick, and Taste of the\nUnquenchable[355].\nFootnote 355:\n  _Eph._ vi 16. \u03b2\u03b5\u03bb\u03b7\u2014\u03c0\u03b5\u03c0\u03c5\u03c1\u03c9\u03bc\u03b7\u03bd\u03b1.\nAnd indeed, what are all uneasy Sensations, but the Venom of the old\nSerpent? thence, that long Train of Complaints and Groans. _Remember\nfrom whence thou art fallen_, is the Language of every Calamity, but no\ncalamitous Impression so terrible, as that which alarms the Mind about\nthe awful Futurity. Of Sin it is said, that at last, _it will bite like\na Serpent, and sting like an Adder_[356].\nFootnote 356:\n  _Prov._ xxiii. 32.\nWhat fill\u2019d _Adam_\u2019s Mind with Horror and Consternation? What made him\nrun with wild Confusion among the Trees to hide himself? What was he\nafraid of? He, who was Lord of the Earth, and Image of the Almighty? Was\nnot he in Paradise, the Garden of God; whence then this sudden and\nmighty Panick? What produced this great and astonishing Change in one\nwho had a friendly Intercourse with God a little before? Oh! \u2019twas\nGuilt, Guilt, Guilt. A Consciousness of his iniquitous Compliance with\nthe Serpent. What were those anxious disquieting Thoughts that kindled\nthe Fire in his Breast, but the venemous, fiery Darts of Satan?\n_JUDAS_ is another Example; a Person highly honour\u2019d by Christ, who made\nhim his Ambassador Extraordinary to the House of _Israel_, and Treasurer\nof his House and Privy Counsellor, on a sudden falls into Extremity of\nAnguish; and why? Guilt, Guilt ... struck with Horror of Mind for the\nEffusion of innocent Blood; was arraign\u2019d, and sentenced by his own\nConscience, and became his own Executioner: His Guilt was the Wound that\nbled within, and what Words can describe the Agony that made that\nwretched Man throw himself into Hell for Ease.\nThis gloomy Occurrence fell out in the last Year of their Pilgrimage.\nThe Wilderness thro\u2019 which they had travelled abounded with these\nvenemous Creatures, but were under the Restraint of a kind Providence,\nand not suffer\u2019d to distress the Camp of _Israel_ till now. _Deut._\nviii. 15. _Who led thee through the great Wilderness, wherein were fiery\nSerpents and Scorpions._\nThus, for their repeated Provocations, they were pursued by divine\nVengeance to the very Borders of _Canaan_.\nJust as they were congratulating one another upon the glorious Prospect\nbefore them, an Army of venemous Serpents invade their Camp, and made a\nterrible Slaughter among them. Little did our first Parents suspect a\nSerpent in Paradise, nor _Israel_ such a Visit from fiery Serpents upon\nthe Confines of the holy Land, the western Border of Paradise.\nThis Plague in the Camp, was the last Punishment inflicted upon the\n_House of Israel_ in the Wilderness. When they came out of _Egypt_, it\nappeared they were about _six hundred thousand Men, besides Women and\nChildren, and a mixt Multitude_: Of that mighty Number, none but two,\n_viz._ _Josua_ and _Caleb_ enter\u2019d into the promised Land; the rest, for\ntheir Unbelief and reiterated Offences, perish\u2019d by the way[357].\nFootnote 357:\n_The flying and fiery Serpents. Ungrateful Israel wounded by them, and\n    healed by the Figure of a Serpent. God hears the Intercession of_\n    Moses, _when deaf to the Cries of that rebellious People.\n    Conjectures why healed by a Machine in the Form of a Serpent. Sin in\n    all its Appearances, the Venom of the old Serpent. The brazen\n    Serpent a Representation of the_ Messiah. _The Cures wrought by both\n    were by very unlikely Means. The Wonders of Salvation. Why_ Israel\n    _was healed by a Serpent made of Brass; Opinions about it. The\n    brazen Serpent was no Talisman, or a magical Image. The fatal\n    Catastrophe of the brazen Serpent. Destroyed, when abused to\n    Idolatry. The Serpent shewed in St._ Ambrose\u2019_s Church at_ Milan,\n    _for that of_ Moses, _a Cheat. Martyrs from the Catacombs of St._\n    Sebastian. _Divine Institution necessary to acceptable Worship. May\n    the Destruction of the brazen Serpent, when abused to Idolatry,\n    warrant us to guess at the Fate of a Cross abused to Idolatry!_\nAmong Serpents, we find some that are furnished with Wings. _Herodotus_\nwho saw those Serpents, says they had great Resemblance to those which\nthe _Greeks_ and _Latins_ call\u2019d _Hydr\u00e6_; their Wings are not compos\u2019d\nof Feathers like the Wings of Birds, but rather like to those of\n_Batts_; they love sweet smells, and frequent such Trees as bear Spices.\nThese were the fiery Serpents that made so great a Destruction in the\nCamp of _Israel_.\nIn their Extremity, the People addrest their Mediator, Prophet, and\nGeneral, _Moses_, saying, _O pray to the Lord that he take away the\nSerpents from us!_ The meek Prophet did so; the mediatorial Voice\nreach\u2019d Heaven, and mov\u2019d the Almighty who directs _Moses_ to make a\nSerpent of Brass, (which was a Figure of the Serpents that plagued the\nPeople) and fix it upon the Top of a Pole, conspicuous to all the\nAssembly, promising that all those who were bit by Serpents, and should\nlook upon this brazen Image, should be presently healed. Astonishing\nClemency! The Event was answerable to this Promise.\nThis Method of Cure was new and strange; but he who at first called the\nWorld out of nothing, can with equal Facility command Health out of a\nPiece of Brass. Another Observable here, is that when the Almighty\nrefused to hear the Cries of the Wounded in their Distress, he readily\nhearkened to _Moses_\u2019s Intercession in their favour. Thus God accepted\nthe Prayers of _Job_ for his three Friends, when he would not regard the\nSupplications they put up for themselves. _Job_ lxii. 7, 8.\nThe brazen Serpent was a Figure of the flying Serpent, _Saraph_, which\n_Moses_ fixed upon an erected Pole: That there were such, is most\nevident. _Herodotus_ who had seen of those Serpents, says they very much\nresembled those which the _Greeks_ and _Latins_ called _Hydr\u00e6_: He went\non purpose to the City of _Brutus_ to see those flying Animals, that had\nbeen devour\u2019d by the _Ibidian_ Birds.\nIn _Asiatic-Georgia_, between the _Caspian_ and _Euxine_ Sea, are found\nwinged Dragons, with anserine Feet and venemous Claws; and some of them\nare fortified with more terrible Pedestals than others: their Wings are\ngenerally composed of strong nervous Membranes, which when they walk,\nare scarcely visible, because of their close Adherence to their lateral\nParts[358].\nFootnote 358:\n  Paulus Jovius de Piscibus, cap 23. p. 140.\nIn the _Atlantic_ Caves, and Mountains of _Africa_, is an infinite\nNumber of these winged Dragons, whose Poison is so strong, that the\nFlesh of such as are wounded by them, immediately grows soft, languid,\nand incurable[359]. We read of flying Serpents transported from some\nParts of _Arabia_ into _Egypt_[360][361].\nFootnote 359:\n  P. Belon in Johnstonus.\nFootnote 360:\n  Teste Brod\u00e6o.\nFootnote 361:\n  J. Leo\u2019s Hist. of Africa, lib. 6, & 9.\nThese also have been seen in _Florida_ in _America_, where their Wings\nare more flaccid, and so weak, that they cannot soar on high. _Scaliger_\ndescribes a certain flying Serpent that was four Foot long, and as thick\nas a Man\u2019s Arm, whose Wings were cartilaginous, or gristly, _ibid._\nHistory accounts for one of these flying Dragons that was killed in old\n_Aquitania_ in _France_, a Present of which was made to King _Francis_,\nas a great Rarity of the Kind.\n_JEROM CARDAN_ informs us of some winged Dragons he had seen at _Paris_,\nso nicely preserved, that they very much resembled the Living; they were\ndescribed with two Feet, weak Wings, a serpentine Head, and of the\nBigness of a Rabbit.\nWhy was the Deliverance of _Israel_ by a Machine made in the Form of a\n_Serpent_? Perhaps, these serpentine Strokes might be intended as\nEmblems, or Memento\u2019s of the fatal Wound in Paradise, where Man\u2019s Nature\nwas first poisoned by the Devil, who made use of a real Serpent to\nseduce our first Parents.\nWhat is moral Evil but the Venom of the old Serpent? A Venom as pleasant\nto the Taste, as the forbidden Fruit to the Eye, but the End is\nBitterness. And what are Incentives to Sin, but delusive Insinuations of\nthe subtle Serpent? And what is Enjoyment, but a pleasing Illusion,\nwhich is no sooner grasp\u2019d, but glides away as a Shadow, leaving behind\nit a wounded Conscience, direful Apprehensions and Prospects.\nAnd what are all sensual Entertainments but so many hot Gleams that\nportend the Approach of warring Winds and Storms? The Powers of Darkness\nthat excel in Science, know how to regale the human Mind with pleasant\nScenes, and how to divert the Senses with delightful Charms; Charms that\nhave no Existence but in a deluded Imagination.\nThe Cure by a brazen Serpent, might also be to shew, that the Almighty\nin relieving distressed Supplicants, is not tied to any particular\nMedium. When the _Israelites_ were poison\u2019d by real Serpents, he heals\nthem by the Image of a Serpent. When he would destroy _Goliath_ the\nTyrant, he does it by a Sling in the Hands of _David_ a Youth, a very\nunlikely Person to encounter a Champion.\nThus God by the Figure of a Serpent mortifies the Pride of _Lucifer_,\nthe old Serpent, by which he acquir\u2019d greater Honour, than if he had\nsacrificed to the Fire all the Serpents in the Wilderness.\nThis may further intimate, that Providence may employ the same Kind of\nInstruments, either for the Display of Mercy or Justice upon Mankind. He\nwho heals and wounds by the Mediation of Serpents, can turn Blessings\ninto a Curse, or enable us to extract Sweetness out of the bitter Cup.\nThis artificial Serpent might (as some have thought) prefigure the\n_Messiah_, the Healer of spiritual Maladies. Many take it for a\nRepresentation of his Passion and Crucifixion: The Analogy may be thus\nillustrated, _viz._ The Cures wrought by the Serpent and the Saviour,\nderiv\u2019d their Efficacy from Divine Appointment.\nIf the _brazen_ Serpent had been the mere Contrivance of _Moses_, it\nwould not have answer\u2019d the Intention: so all human Institutions adopted\ninto Divine Worship will be as little available to true Happiness, (_Who\nhas required this at your Hand?_) of that Sovereign, who accepts no\nWorship but what has the Sanction of his Wisdom and Will.\nBoth Cures were performed by the most unlikely Means. The Serpent that\nhealed their Wounds, was made of Brass; a Prescription in which there\nwas no Probability of producing that happy Effect: And where was the\npromising Aspect arising from the Manner of our Saviour\u2019s Appearance on\nEarth? What great Things could be expected from a Root of a dry Ground?\nHow improbable was it that a Person so mean in external Form should\noverthrow the Kingdom of Darkness, a Kingdom that had been strengthening\nits Barriers for about four thousand Years? Who could think that he had\nsuch powerful Interest in Heaven, who was of no Reputation on the Earth?\nBehold here a Scene of Paradoxes! Patients recovered by the Death of the\nPhysician. Upon Mount _Golgotha_ we see Paradise, lost by the first\n_Adam_, regained by the Death of the second _Adam_; Principalities and\nPowers led captives by a dying Man; there we see Life restored by Death,\na Crown of Glory purchased by an ignominious Cross. Were the\n_Israelites_ healed by a Creature made in the Likeness of the Serpent\nthat hurt? So Men are restor\u2019d by one made like themselves.\nHow was this miraculous Cure in the Wilderness obtained? It was by an\nocular View, that is, by looking at the artificial Serpent. None else\nwere entitled to a Relief. Thus Salvation comes by Faith, which in the\nprophetick Dialect is represented by _looking_. _Es._ xlv. 22. _Look\nunto me and be ye saved all the Ends of the Earth._ The first Sin\nenter\u2019d at the Eye; _the Woman saw the Fruit was good_. Thus our\nRestoration to the Divine Favour is by an Eye to Christ, the _Tree of\nLife_, but I must not strain the Metaphor too far.\n_Why was the Cure by a Serpent of Brass?_ I answer, not for any healing\nVirtue inherent in that Mineral, more than others, but to demonstrate\nhis Almighty Power, who can save by improbable Means, or without the\nApplication of any Means. Thus the blind Man was cured by a Piece of\nClay temper\u2019d with Spittle; _John_ ix. 6.\nPerhaps, this also may refer to our Lord, as he is compar\u2019d to _Brass_,\nwhich, when polish\u2019d, is of a most beautiful Colour, exceeding that of\nGold. _Revel._ i. 15. _His Feet like unto fine Brass._ An Emblem of the\nhigh Qualities that glitter in him, whose Nature is divinely fair and\nglorious.\nThose fiery Serpents, as they flew in the Air, might in Colour resemble\nthat of _burnish\u2019d Brass_, because the Serpent of _Moses_ was form\u2019d of\n_Brass_, a Metal that in itself is no Friend to Health; and some have\nsaid, that the Sight of the brazen Serpent ought naturally to increase\nthe Distemper of the Wounded, instead of healing it; and that the\nAlmighty, shew\u2019d a double Efficacy of his Power, by healing with those\nMeans, which ought to have a quite contrary Effect[362].\nFootnote 362:\n  _Buxtorf_, Hist. de Serpente \u00e6neo.\nTho\u2019 Brass in its natural State, may not be propitious to Health, yet\nwhen duly prepar\u2019d it is beneficial: The Preparation of _Copper_ has\nbeen accounted an universal Remedy, and an excellent _Emetick_, having\nthis singular Virtue, _that it exerts its Force, as soon as ever it is\ntaken_: Whereas other Emeticks lie a long time dormant in the Stomach,\ncreating nauseous Anxieties, _&c._ but a single Grain of _Verdegrease_\nimmediately vomits[363].\nFootnote 363:\n  _Boerhaave_\u2019s Method.\nA Certain learned Gentleman of this Island, imagines that the _brazen\nSerpent_ was a kind of _Talisman_; that is to say, one of those Pieces\nof Metal, which are cast and engraven under certain Constellations, from\nwhence they derive an extraordinary Virtue to cure Distempers, _&c._\nSome impute their Effects to the old Serpent, others to the Nature of\nthe Metal, and to the Influence of the Constellation. This Author\ntherefore would make us believe, that the brazen Serpent cured just as\nthe _Talismans_ cure certain Distempers, by the Sympathy there is\nbetween the Metals of which they are made, or the Influence of the Stars\nunder which they are formed, and the Disease they are to cure. Every one\nmay believe as he pleases[364].\nFootnote 364:\n  _Marsham Canon. Chronic._ quoted by _Calmet_.\nThe Serpent that is always represented with _Esculapius_\u2019s _Image_, and\nwith _Salus_, the Goddess of Health, and often with the _Egyptian_\nDeities, is a Symbol of Health, or of Healing, very probably derives\nthose Ensigns of Honour from the brazen Serpent of _Moses_.\n              _WHAT became of the brazen Serpent at last?_\nI answer, it was brought into the _Land of Canaan_ as a sacred Relick,\nand religiously preserved among the _Israelites_ down to the Time of\n_Hezekiah_ the King, as a standing Memorial of divine Goodness to their\nForefathers in the Wilderness; but being abused by them to Superstition\nand Idolatry, as appears by their burning Incense thereto, it was broke\nin pieces by the special Command of King _Hezekiah_, who, in Derision\nand Contempt, called it _Mehushtan_, a Piece of Brass, a Trifle, a\nBauble, Shadow of a Snake. 2 _Kings_ xviii. 4. May all the\nEcclesiastical _Nehushtans_ of _Babylon_, foisted into Divine Worship,\nfrom the Rising of the Sun, to the Going-down of the same, meet with the\nsame honest and righteous Fate. In the Church of St. _Ambrose_ at\n_Milan_, they pretend to keep a _brazen Serpent_, which they shew for\nthat of _Moses_, tho\u2019 there be no such thing now in being. In the Church\nof St. _Ambrose_ there is a Dragon of Brass on a Column of Marble: Some\nthink it to be that of _Esculapius_, others an Emblem of that in the\nWilderness, upon which account many of the Pilgrims and common People\nworship it. The Inhabitants are very superstitious, and fond of holy\nFragments, and pretend to have at the Church of St. _Alexander_, no less\nthan 144,000 _Martyrs_ from the _Catacombs_ of St. _Sebastian_. The\nCures effected by the artificial Serpent, derived that Efficacy from the\ndivine Institution of that Medium: Had their Prescription been the meer\nDevice of Rabbi _Moses_, that great and valuable End would not have been\nanswered; therefore, since the Reason of that Institution ceased, \u2019twas\nhighly criminal in them, to make any religious Use of it. It is the\ndivine Impress upon Institutions that ushers in the Blessings intended\nby them; therefore to hope for Acceptance with God on account of meer\nhuman Ordinances, (as bowing to Images, to the Altar, to the East, and\nto make use of Crucifixes, Crosses, holy Water) is to _hope for what God\nhas never promised to give_. No wonder to see the brazen Serpent ground\nto Powder, and the Dust scatter\u2019d in the Air, that so no Fragments of it\nmight remain, when Altars of divine Establishment, and sacred to\nDevotion, were intirely destroy\u2019d, when they made Idols of them: And how\na holy and jealous God may resent the _Adoration of the Cross in the\nPopish Church_, I pretend not to predict, much less to determine. This\nDestruction of the brazen Serpent, is reckon\u2019d among the good Deeds of\nKing _Hezekiah_, because it was made a Medium, and Part of Worship not\nprescrib\u2019d by divine Authority.\n_This Chapter begins with the Original of Idolatry, as a Preliminary to\n    the Adoration of_ SERPENTS, _under three Sections_.\nAs introductory to the Divinity of Serpents, I shall make a brief\nInquiry into the Original of sacred Images, and Idol-Worship; the first\nPeriod of which is hard to trace. Some make _Cain_ the first Founder of\nit, because of his early Apostacy from the true Religion; which is not\nvery improbable, since \u2019tis said, _He went out from the Presence of the\nLord...._ He grew more wicked, and gave himself up to all sorts of\nViolence[365].\nFootnote 365:\n  See _Cluverius_, and Dr. _Cumberland_.\nThat the old World was guilty of Idolatry, some gather from _Gen._ iv.\n26. which they say will bear this Reading\u2014\u2014_Then Men prophaned, calling\non the Name of the Lord, that is, by setting up Idols_: Upon which some\nof the Rabbins paraphrase thus, viz. _Then they began to call Idols by\nthe Name of the Lord_: With which agrees the _Jerusalem Targum_, that\nsays, _That was the Age, in the days of which they began to err, and\nmade themselves Idols, and called their Idols by the Name of the Word of\nthe Lord_[366].\nFootnote 366:\n  _Schindl._\nSo they understand _Gen._ vi. 11. _The Earth was corrupt_, that is\n_idolatrous_. In defence of this Gloss, they quote the _Idolatry_ of the\n_golden Calf_, which is expressed by this very Form of Speech, viz. _The\nPeople had corrupted themselves_. We read _Gen._ iv. 26. _Then Men began\nto call upon the Name of the Lord_. There is no room to doubt, but they\ncalled upon God before; the Particle _then_ seems to refer to _Enos_,\nwhich is the next Antecedent: therefore \u2019tis said, They now applied\nthemselves to the Knowledge of the Stars, which they apprehended were\nerected for the Government of the World, and consequently might be their\nDuty to adore them as God\u2019s Representatives.\nBut the general Opinion is, that Idolatry did not begin till after the\nDeluge, and that perhaps the Deluge might be one Occasion of it; for the\nold World, as some suppose, was drown\u2019d for _Atheism_\u2014\u2014which coming to\nthe Knowledge of _Noah_\u2019s mediate Successors, they run into the other\nExtreme, _chusing rather to have many Gods than no God_.\n_IDOLATRY_ is of a more antient Date than _Image-Worship_: To see Men\nkneeling before a piece of Wood or Stone, has something so low and mean\nin it, that Men were not immediately brought to that abject and\nscandalous piece of Worship. The Sun, Moon, and Stars, were their\n_natural Gods_, and ador\u2019d before deify\u2019d Men, who were their _animated\nGods_.\nThis Deification of Creatures, seems to begin about the time of the\n_Confusion at Babel_, or the Dispersion immediately consequent\nthereupon, particularly in the Family of _Nimrod_, the Son of _Cush_,\nGrandson of _Noah_. May not we date the _Original of Paganism_ from that\nremarkable Person? \u2019Tis the Conjecture of some, that _Nimrod_ was the\nfirst Man that was deify\u2019d, and probably for the important Service he\ndid to his Country, as a _mighty Hunter_, in destroying wild Beasts that\notherwise would soon have devour\u2019d the Inhabitants, which were not very\nnumerous in those days. \u2019Tis certain, that such Benefactors to Mankind\nwere rank\u2019d among the Gods. If so, who will pretend to say, _our modern\nFox-Hunters don\u2019t carry one Characteristic of Divinity about them_?\nSome think that the true Religion was universal for about four hundred\nYears after the Deluge, because it does not appear from _Abram_\u2019s\nTraverse thro\u2019 _Mesopotamia_, _Canaan_, _Philistia_, _Egypt_, _&c._ that\nthose Countries were Idolaters. Others apprehend _Abram_ himself was\noriginally an Idolater, at least that Idolatry had overspread the\nNations in his time, for which they quote _Joshua_ xxiv. 2. _Your\nFathers ... even Terah the Father of Abraham ... served other Gods_.\nIt\u2019s evident from hence, that _Terah_ had fallen into Idolatry, and some\nare of Opinion, that _Abram_ himself was an Idolater, till God made him\nsensible of the Vanity of Idol-worship, and that it was thro\u2019 him that\nhis Father _Terah_ was brought under the same Conviction, by this\nDevice, _viz._\nThe _Jews_ say that _Terah_ was not only an Idolater, but also a Carver,\nand Dealer in Images and Idols; that one day when he went a Journey, he\nleft _Abram_ to take care of the Shop; but _Abram_ being already\nconvinced of the Sinfulness of Idols, ask\u2019d all that came to buy\n_Idol-Gods_ of him, _How old are you?_ They told him their Age; and he\nreplied to them, _This God that you would buy and worship, is younger\nthan you are; it was made but the other day, and of contemptible Matter,\ntherefore believe what I say, and renounce this vain Worship_. The\n_Buyers_ struck with Confusion at these Reproaches, went away without\nbuying, asham\u2019d of their Stupidity[367].\nFootnote 367:\n  Fa _Calmet_ under _Terah_, vol. xiii.\nQ. _What might move Men to the first Idolatry?_\nPerhaps it might be a _strong Attachment to the Senses_, which they made\ntheir sovereign Judges in Spirituals: It was hard for vulgar Heads in\nthose Days of Darkness to elevate their Thoughts above sensible Objects.\nAnother Reason, may be the _Pride of the human Mind_; that is not\nsatisfied with rational plain Truths, but will adulterate them with\nfoolish Imaginations: Hence it was that they would have such Objects of\nWorship, as might immediately strike their sensible Powers; nothing\nwould serve their Turn but a Divinity visible to the Eye, therefore they\nbrought down the Gods to the Earth, and represented them under certain\nImages, which by degrees commenced inferior Deities.\nThe _Egyptian Priests_ not being able to persuade the _People_, that\nthere were any _Gods_ or _Spirits_ superior to Men, were constrained to\ncall down Demons, or Spirits, and lodge them in Statues, and then bring\nforth those Statues to be visible Objects of Adoration, and from hence\nsprung Idolatry.\nAmong the Pagans were various Opinions about religious Images. _Some_\nlooked upon them as only Representatives of the true God, as _Seneca_, a\nStoick Philosopher, and _Plato_ a Native of _Athens_, and a noted\nAcademick.\n_OTHERS_ said, they did not adore material Images, but the Gods in them,\ninto which they were drawn by virtue of their Consecration, or, in a\nmore modern Language, their Canonization[368].\nFootnote 368:\n  _Arnobius_, lib. vi.\n_SOME_ were of Opinion, that after the Consecration of Images, the Gods\nactually incorporated with them, or were animated by them, as Man\u2019s Body\nis by the Soul[369]. The vulgar Heathen paid their Adoration to Images\nas if they were real Gods; which monstrous Practice was ridiculed by the\nmost sensible Pagans, as appears farther on[370].\nFootnote 369:\n  _Trismegistus_, a learned _Egyptian_, a great Philosopher, a great\n  Priest, and a great King.\nFootnote 370:\n  See _Lactantius_, lib. ii.\nThe Use and Worship of Images has been long, and still is controverted.\nThe _Lutherans_ condemn the _Calvinists_ for breaking the Images in the\nChurches of the Catholicks; and at the same time they condemn the\nRomanists (who are professed Image-Worshippers) as Idolaters. The modern\n_Jews_ condemn all Images, and suffer no Pictures or Figures in their\nHouses, much less in their Synagogues, or Places of Worship.\nThe _Mahometans_ have a perfect Aversion to all Images. This is it that\nmade them destroy most of the beautiful Monuments of Antiquity, both\nsacred and profane, at _Constantinople_.\nThe old noble _Romans_ preserved the Images of their Ancestors with no\nlittle Care, and had them carried in Procession in their Funerals and\nTriumphs.\nThis Part entertains us with various Instances of Pagan Deifications,\n_viz._ of Men, Beasts, and Things without Life.\n                    I. _MEN transformed into Gods._\nI Begin with their _deified Men_, that is, _dead Men_, who being\ncanonized, past for _reputed Gods_. Note here, some are of opinion, that\nthe word _God_, among the Heathen, did not mean the uncreated eternal\nBeing, but some _most excellent superior Nature_; and accordingly, they\ngave the Appellation of _Gods_ to _all Beings_ of a Rank higher, and\nmore perfect than Man.\nThe _principal Gods_ among the antient Heathens were _Jupiter_, _Mars_,\n_Mercury_, _Neptune_, _Apollo_, _Juno_, _Vesta_, _Minerva_, _&c._ The\n_next sort of Gods_ were called _Demy-Gods_, or _Gods adopted_; and\nthese were Men canonized and deify\u2019d. Now, as the _greater Gods_ had\npossession of Heaven in their _own Right_, so these _lesser Gods_ had it\nby _Donation_, being translated into Heaven, because they were Men\nrenowned for their Virtues, and had lived as Gods upon Earth; and these\nat first were called _Teraphim_.\nThe first certain Account of these we have in _Genesis_, where \u2019tis\nsaid, _Rachel_ had _stoln her Father\u2019s Images_. Chap. xxxi. 19. the\n_Teraphim_ of her Father in the _Hebrew_, which _Laban_, (ii. 30.) calls\nhis _Gods_, Hebr. _Eloha_.\nThe word _Teraphim_ is _Hebrew_, others say _Egyptian_: Be that as it\nwill, we find it about thirteen times in our Bible, and is commonly\ninterpreted _Idols_, _Images_, _sacred_, _superstitious Figures_.\n_Spencer_ maintains the word to be _Chaldee_, and that those Images were\nborrowed from the _Amorites_, _Chaldeans_, or _Syrians_, and that the\n_Egyptian Serapis_ is the same thing with _Teraphim_ of the _Chaldeans_.\nA Learned _Jew_ says the _Teraphim_ were in human Shape, and that when\nraised upright, they spoke at certain Hours, and under certain\nConstellations, by the Influence of the celestial Bodies. _R. David de\nPomis ... Cyclop\u00e6dia._\nThis _Rabbinical Fable_ seems to be grounded on _Zech._ x. 2. _The\nIdols_ (Hebr. _Teraphim_) _have spoken Vanity...._ Some of the learned\n_Jews_ will have it to denote the Knowledge of Futurity, and for this\nSignification they quote _Ezek._ xxi. 21. _The King of Babylon stood ...\nat the Head of the two Ways ... he consulted with Images_; with\n_Teraphim_, says the _Hebrew_.\nThe same _Rabbi_ adds, that to make the _Teraphim_ they kill\u2019d a\nfirst-born Child, clove his Head, season\u2019d it with Salt and Oil; that\nthey wrote on a Plate of Gold the Name of some impure Spirit, laid it\nunder the Tongue of the Dead, placed the Head against the Wall, lighted\nLamps before it, prayed to it, and it talk\u2019d with them.\nOthers hold, that the _Teraphim_ were brazen Instruments which pointed\nout the Hours of future Events, as directed by the Stars.\u2014Some think\nthat the _Teraphim_ were Figures or Images of a Star engraven on a\nsympathetic Stone, or Metal corresponding to the Star, in order to\nreceive its Influences: To these Figures, under certain Aspects of the\nStars, they ascribe extraordinary Effects.\nThis Talismanical Opinion, says a Learned Pen[371], appears the most\nprobable.... All the Eastern People are still much addicted to this\nSuperstition of _Talismans_. The _Persians_ call them _Telesin_, a Word\napproaching to _Teraphim_. In those Countries no Man is seen without\nthem, and some are even loaded with them. They hang them to the Necks of\nAnimals, and Cages of Birds, as Preservatives against Evils. Such were\nthe _Samothracian Talismans_, which were pieces of Iron, formed into\ncertain Images and set in Rings....\nFootnote 371:\n  Father _Dom. Calmet_.\nThe _Labanic Images_ are supposed to be the most antient, if not the\nfirst religious Images, made of some precious Metal, and had their Birth\nin _Laban_\u2019s Country, that is, _Chaldea_, or _Mesopotamia_.\nFrom _Laban_\u2019s History, it seems as if these _Teraphim_ were Pictures or\nImages of certain Persons deceased; that is, they were a sort of Idols,\nor superstitious Figures venerated by them as _Demy-Gods_. That they\nwere such artificial Portraitures of Men, is evident from that Instance\nin _Michal_, who, to deliver _David_ her Husband from bloody Assassins\nthat threaten\u2019d his Life, laid an _Image in his Bed_, a _Teraphim_, says\nthe _Hebrew_, that is, a material Image, probably a Figure of Wood, or\nSticks hastily made up, drest in Man\u2019s Clothes, to make those sent by\nKing _Saul_ to apprehend him, believe he was sick.\nWhy does _Laban_ call them his Gods? Very probably because he believed\nthey retain\u2019d their Affection for Mankind in the invisible World, and\nbeing rank\u2019d among the Gods, might be serviceable to his Family,\ntherefore adopted them to be Guardians of his House. They were only his\n_domestick Gods_, and not the established Gods of the Country; and \u2019tis\nvery likely they might be the Images of _Noah_ and his _Sons_; or some\nother illustrious Ancestors, whom he had chosen for his _Tutelary Gods_.\nThe Scripture mentions another sort of _Teraphim_, sometimes consulted\nby the _Jews_ as an Oracle, not imagining that thereby they abandon\u2019d\nthe Worship of the true God. Such was the _Teraphim_ that _Micha_ made\nand set up in his House, and to which he appointed a _Priest_ of the\n_Levitical Race_, with an _Ephod_ or Sacramental Garment, by the\nInfluence of which he flatter\u2019d himself that God would bless his House.\nThis probably might be some _Hieroglyphical Figure_, to which the\nsuperstitious _Jews_ attributed the Virtue of an Oracle, and the Power\nof foretelling Things to come: Hence speaking Teraphims.\nFrom these _Teraphim_ came the _Lares_, or the Household Gods of the old\n_Romans_, who before the Laws of the Twelve Tables, used to bury the\nDead in their Houses; from whence arose that great Veneration they had\nfor their _Lares_ and _Penates_, a kind of domestick Divinities,\nworship\u2019d in Houses, and esteem\u2019d Protectors of Families, which were\nnothing else but the supposed Ghosts of those who formerly had belonged\nto the Family, whom they represented by Images, which they placed in the\nChimney-Corner, or near their Doors.\nThese were also look\u2019d upon as Guardians of the Highways, near to which\ntheir Images were fix\u2019d for the Benefit of Travellers, therefore call\u2019d\n_Dii Viales_, Gods of the Roads. \u2019Tis said by the Prophet, _The King of\nBabylon stood at the parting of the Way_, and consulted _with the\nImages_; with the _Teraphim_, says the _Hebrew_, _Ezek._ xxi. 21. which\nthe _Jewish_ Interpreters say were prophetick Images, endued with the\nGift of Prediction; so far from being mere Idols, that they gave out\nOracles, and foretold Things to come.\nSome think _Laban_\u2019s _Teraphim_ to be such, and that _Rachel_, having\nobserved how her Father did divine by them, and fearing, by consulting\nwith them, he might know which way _Jacob_ went, and follow after and\nmurder him; to prevent so fatal a Catastrophe, she took away his\n_Oracles_.\nThose sacred Images might, at first, be made in honour of departed\nRelatives, or illustrious Persons; but by degrees degenerated into\nreligious Adoration. Thus the _Manes_ of the Dead were worship\u2019d by them\nunder the Figure of their _Teraphim_, in some place of the House, and\nprobably where they had deposited the Remains of their Ancestors, as\nsome think.\nThe _Lares_ were also called _Penates_: To these they paid religious\nHomage with Sacrifices; so the _Roman Satirist_ says, and calls these\nimages his _dear little House-Gods_; and then observes, that they were\ncrown\u2019d with Garlands of Flowers in Summer, and in Winter with Shaving\nof Horns colour\u2019d. To these _Waxen-Gods_ the _Romans_ addrest themselves\nwith Offerings of Frankincense and Cakes[372]....\nFootnote 372:\n           Oh parvi nostrique Lares quos thure minuto\n           Hic nostrum placabo, Jovem Laribusque paternis\n           Thura dabo, atque omnes viol\u00e6 jactabo colores\n           Cuncta nitent\u2014\u2014\nThey were supposed to be the Spirits of such, who had lived well on the\nEarth, and in consequence of it, were happy; so on the other hand, those\nwho lived ill here, did after Death wander up and down in Horror, and\nwere supposed, by the Vulgar, to be Hobgoblins, call\u2019d _Lemures_, _i.\ne._ restless Ghosts of departed Spirits, who return to the Earth to\nterrify the Living.\nThese are the same with _Larv\u00e6_, which the Antients imagined to wander\nround the World, to frighten good People, and plague the bad. All these\nwere imagin\u2019d to be the Ghosts of the Dead: They pray\u2019d to the Good for\nProtection, and sacrificed to the Evil to pacify their Rage: For this\nreason they had their _Lemuria_ or _Lemuralia_ at _Rome_, where on the\n9th of _May_, a Feast was solemnized in honour of the _Lemures_, and to\npacify the _Manes_ of the Dead, especially those who died without\nBurial, to prevent their giving disturbance to the Living.\nThe first _Men_ that were _deified_, or made Gods, are supposed to be\nthe Heads of Families, Founders of Empires, and Benefactors of\nProvinces\u2014\u2014who, after their decease, were highly reverenced. _Noah_ and\nhis Sons seem to be the first and chief animated Deities of the Pagans,\nunder the Names of _Saturn_, _Jupiter_, _Neptune_ and _Pluto_; hence\n_Demons_, another Name given to Spirits, which were supposed to appear\nto Mortals, with intention to do them Good or Hurt.\nThe first Notion of Demons, \u2019tis said, sprung from _Chaldea_, thence it\nspread among the _Persians_, _Egyptians_.... _Pythagoras_ and _Thales_\nwere the first that introduced _Demons_ into _Greece_, where _Plato_\nfell in with the Notion, which he explains thus, _viz._\n... By _Demons_, he understood Spirits inferior to Gods, and yet\nsuperior to Men, which inhabiting the middle Region of the Air, kept up\nthe Communication between the Gods and Men, carrying up the _Prayers_\nand Offerings of Men to the Gods, and bringing down the _Will_ of the\nGods to Men. He allow\u2019d of none but good ones, tho\u2019 his Disciples\n(finding themselves unable to account for the Origin of Evil) adopted\nanother kind of Demons, who were Enemies to Man[373].\nFootnote 373:\n  _Gale_\u2019s _Court of the Gentiles_, part I. chap. viii.\nThe Apocryphal Book of _Enoch_ abounds with the Names of Angels and\nDevils; but that Book is not of any great Antiquity, tho\u2019 the Prophecy\nbe: it does not appear to have been known by the antient _Jews_. St.\n_Jude_ is the first that cited it. The Authority which this spurious\nBook of _Enoch_ has received from some of the Antients, is the reason of\nour meeting with several of its Opinions, scatter\u2019d in their Writings.\n_Ibid._\n_LACTANTIUS_, one of the most eloquent Authors of his time, (and\ntherefore called the _Christian Cicero_) was of Opinion there were two\nsorts of Demons, celestial and terrestrial[374]: The _celestial_ are the\nfallen Angels, who having been seduced by the Prince of Devils, engaged\nthemselves in impure Amours; the _terrestrial_ are they who issued from\nthe former, as Children from their Parents: These last, who are neither\nMen nor Angels, but a Medium between the two Natures; were not plunged\ninto Hell, neither were their Fathers admitted into Heaven: The\nterrestrial Angels are impure Spirits, and Authors of all the Evils\ncommitted on Earth[375].\nFootnote 374:\n  _Chambers_\u2019s _Cyclop\u00e6d._ _Calmet_\u2019s _Hist. Dict._ vol. i. p. 434.\nFootnote 375:\n  _Lactantius_, lib. ii. cap. 14. _Lugd._ _Bat._ 1652.\nMany of the Antients have allotted to every Man an Evil Angel, who is\ncontinually laying Snares for him, and inclining him to Evil, as his\nGood Angel does to what is Good. The _Jews_ have still the same\nSentiments at this day. Another _Father_ thinks, that every Vice has its\nEvil Angel, presiding over it; as the Demon of Avarice, the Demon of\nPride, of Uncleanness[376]....\nFootnote 376:\n  _Origen._ Homil. xv. in Josh. _Calmet._ ibid.\nIn _Pagan Theology_, nothing more common than those good and evil Genii,\nand the same superstitious Notion got among the _Israelites_, by\nCommerce with the _Chaldeans_; but I don\u2019t apprehend that by Demon, they\nmeant the Devil, or a wicked Spirit, tho\u2019 it be taken under that Idea by\nthe Evangelists, and also some modern _Jews_[377].\nFootnote 377:\n  _Cyclop\u00e6dia._\nWe are not without some Remains of those antient Representations: Among\nthe various Rarities in the _Mus\u00e6um_ at _Leyden_ in _Holland_, is the\nEffigies in Sculpture of _Osiris_, the _Egyptian God_; \u2019tis made of\nWood, and now almost consum\u2019d with Age: There are three other _Egyptian_\nIdols of Stone; an Image of _Isis_ (who married _Osiris_, King of the\nCountry) giving suck to her Orr. Another Effigies of _Isis_, the\n_Egyptian Goddess_, upon a little _Egyptian_ Coffer, containing the\nHeart of an _Egyptian_ Prince embalm\u2019d therein.\nThe antient Pagans, had almost as many _Goddesses_ as _Gods_; such were\n_Juno_, the _Goddess of Air_, _&c._ Queen of Heaven, and of the Gods;\nwas represented sitting on a Throne with a Crown of Gold on her Head:\nThis was the Patroness of the female Sex. Every Woman had her _Juno_, or\nGuardian; as every Man had his _Genius_. She was the Goddess of\nMarriages, which were not deem\u2019d lawful without the Parties first\naddrest her. One Branch of her Office was to attend them in Labor, when\nthey pray\u2019d, _Help, Juno Lucina_[378].\nFootnote 378:\n  _Juno Lucina fer opem._\nShe was ador\u2019d by all Nations; her Temple was open on the Top and had no\nDoors, it being impious to think of confining the Gods to a narrow\nInclosure. Yea, many of the Antients would erect no devotional Temples,\nfrom a Persuasion that the whole World is the Temple of God. The\n_Sicyonians_ would build no Temple to their Goddess _Coronis_: Nor would\nthe _Athenians_ erect a Statue to the Goddess _Clemency_, who they said\nwas to live in the _Hearts of Men_, not _within Stone-Walls_. The\nGoddesses were numerous, but I shall add no more.\nThey did not only enroll _Men_ and _Women_ among their Gods, but they\nhad also _Hermaphrodite-Gods_. Thus _Minerva_, according to several of\nthe Learned, was both Man and Woman, and worshipped as such under the\nAppellation of _Lunus & Luna_. _Mithras_, the _Persian Deity_, was both\nGod and Goddess; there were Gods of Virtue, Vice, Time, Place, Death ...\nInfancy. Not Men only, but every thing that relates to Mankind, has also\nbeen deified, as Infancy, Age, Death, Labor, Rest, Sleep, Virtues,\nVices, Time, Place.... Infancy alone had a numerous Train of Deities.\nThey also ador\u2019d the Gods of Health, Love, Fear, Pain, Indignation,\nShame, Renown, Prudence, Art, Science, Fidelity, Liberty, Money, War,\nPeace, Victory....\nThus we have seen, that nothing more common among Pagans, than to place\nMen among the Number of Deities; yea, some of them would not wait for\ntheir Deification till Death. Thus _Nebuchadnezzar_, King of _Babylon_,\nprocured his _Image to be worshipped_ while he was living. Thus\n_Augustus_ had Altars erected and Sacrifices offered to him while alive.\nHe had Priests called _Augustales_, and Temples at _Lyons_, and several\nother Places. He was the first _Roman_ who carried Idolatry to such a\npitch: Having in a most respectful manner view\u2019d the embalm\u2019d Body of\n_Alexander the Great_, was ask\u2019d, if he would see _Ptolemy_\u2019s also? he\nanswer\u2019d, _His Curiosity was to see a King, not a Man_. His Favourite\nPoet complements him with the Title of God[379]. Yea, the _Ethiopians_\ndeem\u2019d all their Kings _Gods_.\nFootnote 379:\n                       \u2014\u2014Deus nobis h\u00e6c otia fecit.\nII. _Inanimate Things turn\u2019d into Gods._ Things without Life were made\ninto Gods by the Heathens: The Sun, Moon, and Stars seem to be the first\nIdols, or false Gods, to whom they paid a divine Regard. _Possidonius_\ndefines a _Star_, a _divine Body_. The _Zabii_ erected Images to the\nStars, which they fancied to be so many Gods, and that they influenced\nthe Images consecrated to them; yea, and communicated the prophetick\nSpirit to Men.\nThe _Sun_ and _Moon_ were by the idolatrous _Israelites_ called the\n_King_ and _Queen_ of Heaven, and the Stars were supposed (as it were)\nto be their Militia, form\u2019d for their Guards, with which they were\nalways surrounded.\n_PHILO_ of _Alexandria_, (called _Philo_ the _Jew_, a _Platonick_\nPhilosopher) imputes to the Stars a great part of whatever happens on\nthe Earth; and says, they are not only Animals, but even most pure\nSpirits; that our Air is replete with Animals and Spirits, which are\ncontinually descending to animate Bodies. He had borrow\u2019d these odd\nNotions from his Master _Plato_, Chief of the Academicks. _Origen_ one\nof the Fathers, who flourish\u2019d in the third Century, was guilty of the\nsame Mistake[380].\nFootnote 380:\n  _Philo Leg. Alleg. Origen._ t i. _Maimon. in Calmet._ under the word\n  _Star_.\nThe sacred Books, in some places, seem to ascribe Knowledge to the\n_Stars_, when they praised God at the beginning of the World, _Job_\nxxxviii. 7. but the Stars were not then created, therefore it\u2019s\ngenerally supposed they were _Angels_. Since then the Sun, Moon and\nStars are excited to praise the Lord; the Moon withdrew its Light, and\nthe Sun stopt its Course at the Command of _Joshua_ ... and perhaps one\nreason of their strange Opinions about the heavenly Bodies, might be\nowing to these and the like Expressions; not knowing that these Words\nwere meerly popular, and not to be understood literally, for then we\nmust say that the Earth, the Trees, the Waters, are animated, since we\nfind in Scripture some Expressions that would insinuate as much.\nThe _Arabians_ who sprung from _Ishmael_, worshipped the Sun, Moon and\nStars, in which they were conducted by their Priests who were cloathed\nin white Vestments, wearing Mitres and Sandals, which at first were only\nSoles tied to the Feet with Strings. In Authors that speak of\necclesiastical Rites, and Ornaments, we find the word _Sandals_ to\nsignify a valuable kind of Shoes, worn by the _Prelates at\nSolemnities_[381].\nFootnote 381:\n  _Benedictus Baudovinus de Calceo Antiquo._\nWe find _Sandals_ also used by the Ladies, very different in form: When\n_Judith_ went to the Camp of _Holofernes_, she put _Sandals_ on her\nFeet, at the sight of which he was captivated; for \u2019tis said, _Her\nSandals ravish\u2019d his Eyes_. These were a magnificent sort of Stockens,\nlike Buskins, of an extraordinary Beauty[382], and were proper only to\nthe Ladies of Condition, who generally had Slaves to carry them.\nFootnote 382:\n  _Judith_ x. 4.\n_N. B._ The real _Buskin_ was the _Cothurnus_, a very high Shoe rais\u2019d\non Soals of Cork, wore by the ancient Actors in Tragedy, to make them\nappear taller, and more like the Heroes they represented, most of whom\nwere supposed to be Giants.\nThe _Persians_ had no Temples, Altars, nor Images, holding such little\nThings improper for the high Gods. Therefore they worshipp\u2019d upon the\nTop of Hills, where they offer\u2019d Sacrifices to the Sun, Moon, and Stars.\nThe _Babylonians_ adored the Sun, to which the King offer\u2019d every Day a\nwhite Horse richly furnish\u2019d: The Sun was in high Esteem among the\n_Phenicians_, whose Priests were crown\u2019d with Gold. The _Tartars_ and\n_Cathaians_ worship the Sun, and Stars, to which they offer the first\nFruits of their Meat every Morning before they eat and drink themselves.\nThey have divers Monasteries of Idols, to whom they dedicate their\nChildren.\nIn _Nova Zembla_ there is no Religion prescrib\u2019d by Law, but they\nworship the _Sun_, so long as \u2019tis with them, and the Moon and\nNorth-Star in its absence. In _China_ are great Numbers of sacred\nTemples, where the Priests have so much Power over their Gods, that they\nmay beat them when they don\u2019t answer their Expectation: Their _chief_\nGods are the _Sun_, _Moon_, and _Stars_, where they are not\nchristianis\u2019d.\nIn the _Philippine Islands_, the Natives worship the _Stars_, which they\nhold to be the _Children_ of the _Sun_ and _Moon_: Their Priests, for\nthe most part, are Women. The _Japonians_ worship an Image, with three\nFaces, by which they mean, Sun, Moon, and the elementary World[383].\nFootnote 383:\n  _Acosta_, and _Jesuits_ Ep. in _R. Oliver_. _Noort_\u2019s Navigation.\nIn _America_ their chief Deities are the Sun and Moon; which they honour\nwith Dances and Songs. In _Virginia_ and _Florida_, when they eat,\ndrink, and sacrifice, they use to throw up towards the Sun, some part of\ntheir Food: The _Spaniards_ taking Advantage of this Superstition, made\nthe poor ignorant People believe they were Messengers sent to them from\nthe Sun; whereupon they submitted to the _Spanish_ Yoke. _Hacluyt_,\n_ibid._ At _Mexico_, when they sacrificed a Man, they pull\u2019d out his\n_Heart_, and offer\u2019d it to the _Sun_.\nIn _South-America_, they worship evil Spirits in various Forms, and Sun\nand Moon. When it thunders, and lightens, they say the _Sun_ is angry\nwith them: When the Moon is eclipsed, they say the _Sun_ is angry with\nher.\nIn _Peru_, next to their chief God, they worship\u2019d the Sun, and after\nit, the Thunder. They took Sun and Moon for Husband and Wife. In the\nseventh Month they sacrificed to the Sun, and in the tenth to the Honour\nof the Moon.\nThe same Paganism was profest among the _Europeans_; yea the _Greeks_\nand _Romans_ that were the most knowing and polite Nations, their chief\nGods were Sun, Moon, and Stars.\nThe Air, and Meteors in it, were made into Gods: Thus the _Persians_\nador\u2019d the Wind; Thunder and Lightning were honour\u2019d under the Name\n_Geryon_. Comets and the Rainbow also have been prefer\u2019d from _Meteors_,\nto be _Gods_. _Socrates_ deify\u2019d the Clouds, if Credit may be given to\n_Aristophanes_.\nTheir high Veneration for _Water_ was such, that to spit, to urine, or\nwash in a River was made a high Crime; perhaps, the _Water of Jealousy_\nthat determin\u2019d the Case about the _Jewish_ Women, suspected of\nAdultery, might heighten their Veneration for this Element.\nIn _Sicily_, Rivers were worshipped by the _Agrigentes_ (in the shape of\na beautiful Boy) to which they sacrificed.... The _Cathaians_ worship\nEarth and Water.\nThe _Indians_ count the River _Ganges_ sacred, and to have a Power of\nexpiating their Sins. When the Idolaters wash in it, they cry, _Oh\nGanges, purify me!_ And when any are sick, they dip them in it, in order\nto recover their Health. The Water of this River is convey\u2019d to such as\nlive at a distance, and are not in a Capacity to travel; so that they\nascribe as much Virtue to this River, as the Papists do to their holy\nWater, and chief Relicks.\nThe People of _Bengal_ don\u2019t only worship the River _Ganges_, but give\nDivine Honours to its Image. _Bernier_ says, that Kingdom is well\nwater\u2019d by Channels cut out of the _Ganges_, which is visited by many\nPilgrims, who think themselves happy if they can wash in it. There is\nalso a Well in that Country, which they adore, and think, by washing\ntherein, they are purify\u2019d from their Sins. Their _Priests_ travel about\nwith the _Water_ of the _Ganges_, which they sell at vast Prices;\nbecause the poor ignorant People are made to believe, that by drinking\nthis Water, they obtain Pardon of their Sins.\nThe Inhabitants of _Peru_ in _America_, fling the Ashes of their\nSacrifices into the River, follow the same six Leagues, and pray the\nRiver to bring that Present to _Virachoca_, a superior Deity. _Acosta._\nThe _Persians_ and _Chaldeans_ express their God by _Fire_, to which\nthey perform Adoration, and bring it Food, crying to it, _Eat, Oh my\nLord Fire!_ To throw dead and dirty Things into the Fire, yea to blow it\nwith their Breath, was High Treason.\nThe _Magicians_ say, that this _Fire_ was convey\u2019d to them from Heaven;\nand that it was for this Reason that they kept it so religiously. That\nthey preserve a constant Fire on their Altars, is evident from History.\nThey are said to have Fires still subsisting, which have burnt above a\nthousand Years. We read of such Fire kept up with superstitious Care in\nthe Temple of _Jupiter Ammon_, and in that of _Hercules_ at _Gades_. So\nit is in _Egypt_, and in most of all the eastern Countries, and _Virgil_\ntells that _Iarbas_ the _Getulian_ could boast of a hundred Temples he\nhad erected with Altars, blazing with perpetual Fire, the eternal Guard\nof the Gods[384].\nFootnote 384:\n             Centum aras posuit, vigilemque sacraverat ignem,\n             Excubias div\u00fbm \u00e6ternas.\nThat which gave occasion to perpetuate the Fire in Pagan Temples, might\nbe from the perpetual Fire kept in the Temple at _Jerusalem_, which\ndescended from Heaven upon the first Victims sacrificed by _Aaron_ and\nhis Son. Hence the _Vestals_ were appointed express, to keep up the\nsacred Fire of the _Romans_.\nThe Kings of _Persia_ never went abroad without having some Portion of\nthe sacred Fire carried before them: The Historian giving an Account of\nthe March of _Darius_\u2019s Army,\u2014says, that they carried Fire upon Altars\nof Silver, in great Ceremony,\u2014that they had it in great Veneration,\ncalling it the _sacred and eternal Fire_, and that the _Magi_ came\nafter, singing Hymns according to the _Persian Mode_[385].\nFootnote 385:\n  Quint. Curtius, lib. 1. Hyde de Pers. Relig. c. iii. p. 69.\nGod appear\u2019d to _Moses_ under the Form of a Fire burning in a Bush. The\nCamp of _Israel_ in the Wilderness was conducted in the Night by a\nPillar of Fire. Now God having made several Revelations of himself,\nunder the Appearance of Fire, might give occasion to the _Chaldeans_ and\n_Persians_ to entertain such enormous Veneration for Fire, which is a\nSymbol of the Deity: _The Lord thy God_, says _Moses, is a consuming\nFire_. At their high Solemnities they set several Trees (hung with\ndiverse Sorts of Beasts for Sacrifice) on fire; this they did after they\nhad carried about these Fires in Procession.\nI Shall add here, a remarkable Contest that happen\u2019d between the\n_Chaldean_ and _Egyptian_ Priests about the _Superiority of their\nGods_.... In the time of _Constantine_ the _Chaldean Priests_, to prove\nthat _Fire_, which was their God, excell\u2019d all other Gods in Power,\ntravell\u2019d over the Earth, carrying _Fire_ with them, which soon consum\u2019d\nall the Statues and Images of other Gods; whether of Brass, Silver,\nStone or Wood, says _Suidas_[386], who gives a large Account of it,\nunder the Word \u03ba\u03b1\u03bd\u03c9\u03c0\u03bf\u03c2. At length coming into _Egypt_, and making this\nChallenge; the _Egyptian Priests_ agreed upon a _Battle of the Gods_,\nand immediately brought into the Field one of their Idols, which was a\nlarge Statue of _Nilus, full of Water_, and full of little Holes, which\nthey stopt with Wax not discernable, and so artificially, that the Water\nwas kept in.\nFootnote 386:\nThe _Chaldeans_ (not aware of this Device) begun the Action, with much\nAssurance, and with Eagerness put Fire around the _Egyptian Statue_,\nwhich soon melted the invisible Wax, and the Water gushing forth from\nall Parts, immediately put out the Fire, and drown\u2019d the hitherto\n_invincible Deity_ of the _Persians_; the Tragedy ended in a triumphant\nShout of Laughter among the Spectators: And I might add[387] how the\n_Arabians_ and _Indians_, _Peruvians_, _Lithuanians_, and _Vandals_\nworship\u2019d Vegetables,\u2014the _Scythians_ Iron. Trees and Plants have been\nmade Gods. Leeks and Onions were Deities in _Egypt_. The ancient _Gauls_\nand _Britons_ bore a particular Devotion to the _Oak_; from which their\nPriests took their Names. _Ceres_ and _Proserpina_, worship\u2019d by the\nAncients, were no other than Wheat, Corn, Seed.\u2014The _Syrians_ and\n_Egyptians_ ador\u2019d Fishes. What were _Tritons_, _Nereids_, _Syrens_, but\nSea-Gods? Insects, as Flies, and Ants, had their Priests and Votaries:\nYea, _Minerals_ were erected into _Deities_. The _Finlanders_ ador\u2019d\n_Stones_. I don\u2019t see what can be said for such an Instance of\nStupidity. To say the Practice took its rise from _Abram_\u2019s anointing\nthe _Stone_ that he made use of for a Pillow, when he went to\n_Mesopotamia_, does not lessen the Reproach. The _Mahometans_ think that\n_Jacob_\u2019s Stone was convey\u2019d to the _Temple at Jerusalem_; and is still\nthere in a _Mosque_ or _Turkish_ Temple, where the Temple at _Jerusalem_\nstood before the final Desolation. The monstrous Stupidity of Pagans in\ntheir Devotions will further appear in the Close of this Performance.\nFootnote 387:\n  _Ruffin._ Hist. Ecclesiastica, lib. 2. _Stanley_\u2019s Lives of the\n  Philosophers, part 16. chap. 8. page 28.\nNow among all these Instances of Idolatry, the Adoration of the _Sun_\nwas the most excusable; for, who can behold that stupendous Globe of\nFire and Light in perpetual Motion, Splendor, and universal Usefulness\nto Mankind, without awful Admiration, and warm Emotions of Mind? No\nwonder then to find that it has been the Object of Adoration so long,\nand in so many Places. It was the Sun very probably that was worship\u2019d\nby the _Phenicians_ under the Name of _Baal_, by the _Moabites_ under\nthe Name of _Chemosh_, by the _Ammonites_ under the Name of _Moloch_; by\nthe degenerated _Israelites_ by the Name of _Baal_, the King of the Host\nof Heaven, to whom they join\u2019d the Moon, whom they called _Astarta_ or\nQueen of Heaven.\nThis Worship was perform\u2019d upon high Places, in Groves, and upon the\nRoofs of their Houses, which in those Countries, were flat. It was\nagainst this kind of Worship that _Moses_ warn\u2019d the _Israelites_, and\nthreatens the Transgressors with Death. _Deut._ iv. 19, \u2019tis said\n_Josiah_ King of _Judah took away the Horses_, that his Royal\nPredecessors had given to the Sun, and were fix\u2019d at the Entrance into\nthe House of the Lord, and _burnt the Chariots of the Sun with Fire_.\nIII. _Animal Gods._ In the next place, I shall briefly touch upon some\nBrutes and Birds, _&c._ that received Divine Honours from the Pagan\nPeople, and even from those who were supposed to excel their Neighbours\nin Understanding and Wisdom.\nThus _Crocodiles_, _Serpents_, _Eagles_, _Dogs_, _Cats_, _Wolves_,\n_Oxen_, were worship\u2019d by the People of _Egypt_, those celebrated Sons\nof Wisdom; but their greatest Solemnities were consecrated to the God\n_Apis_, or _Serapis_, under the Image of an Ox or Bull.\nThey had an Ox consecrated to the Sun, which they fed at _Heliopolis_ in\n_Egypt_: They had another called _Apis_, dedicated to the Moon, and fed\nat _Memphis_, (for some time, the royal City) where he had his Temple,\nand the Devils gave out their Oracles. In the time of St. _Jerom_, who\nflourish\u2019d in the fourth Century, they worshipped here a brass Bull as a\nGod.\nThe famous God _Osiris_ was adored under the Figure of this Beast, and\nwhen dead, it was buried with great Solemnity and Mourning: And \u2019tis\nobservable, that his Birth-day was celebrated thro\u2019 the whole Kingdom.\n_N. B._ \u2019Tis very probable, that the _Israelites_ worshipped the golden\nCalf in the same manner as the _Egyptians_ did their Bulls, their Cows\nand Calves.\nBefore I proceed, give me leave to speak something of this golden Idol,\nwhich was the Figure of a Calf, which the _Israelites_ cast, and set up\nto worship in _Moses_\u2019s Absence; who, upon his return from the Mount,\nburnt the Figure, ground it to Powder, and made the People drink it mixt\nwith Water, _Exod._ xxxii. The Learned are divided in their Sentiments\non this Article; that is, the golden Calf, that was burnt and\npulverized.\nTo pulverize Gold and render it potable, is an Operation in Chymistry of\nthe last Difficulty; and \u2019tis hard to conceive how it should be done at\nthat time, before Chymistry was heard of, and in a Wilderness too, where\nthey had no proper Instruments. Many therefore suppose it to be done by\na Miracle. But the chymical Art seems to be of greater Antiquity, and\nwas very probably practised in the antediluvian World by _Tubal Cain_.\n_Moses_ is the next Chymist mention\u2019d in the Bible, whose Skill in\nchymical Operations, in pulverizing the golden Calf, seems to be\nincontestable, and artificial.\nThe Art is now much improved. Bid a Chymist convert Gold into Glass; and\nby means of a burning Concave, or otherwise, he presently does it: Ask\nhim to Shew you Gold in Powder, and by mixing a little _Antimony_ with\nthat Metal, he will soon render it pulverable[388].\nFootnote 388:\n  _Boerhaave_\u2019s _new Method. Proces._ 268, 317.\nBut to return: Among other living Creatures, the _Egyptians_ also paid a\ngreat Devotion to _Dogs_ and _Cats_. We read of a certain _Roman_\nSoldier, that was like to be torn to pieces by the People, for having\n_kill\u2019d a Cat by Accident_; and that when a Dog happen\u2019d to die, the\nwhole House went into Mourning[389]: Yea, in case of a great Famine,\nthey would eat Man\u2019s Flesh, before they would touch their sacred\nAnimals; _ibid._ The Stork, Raven, Eagle, Hawk, Ibis, and other Birds,\nhave had divine Honours paid them in _Egypt_ and other Places....\nFootnote 389:\n  _Diodor. Siculus, Herodot._\nThe City of _Mendez_ in _Egypt_ worshipped a _Goat_; the City of _Mira_,\nthe _Crocodile_. In other Provinces they erected Altars to Lions,\nBaboons, Wolves.... The _Hog_ was ador\u2019d in the Island of _Crete_ (now\n_Candy_) in the Mediterranean. Bats and Mice had Altars consecrated to\nthem in _Troas_ and at _Tenedos_.\nNothing can be supposed more ridiculous than the Adoration given by the\n_Egyptians_ to their brutal Deities, which were either within or near\ntheir Temples; had Tables with delicious Meats and Beds prepared for\nthem, and when any of them died, they went into Mourning, prepared\nsumptuous Funerals and magnificent Tombs for them, as may be seen at\nlarge in _Diodorus Siculus_, _Herodotus_, and others[390].\nFootnote 390:\n  _Plut. Herodot. Jurieu\u2019s Critical History._\nSome indeed ridiculed their senseless and stupid Neighbours, tho\u2019 they\nthemselves were not Masters of superior Sense in their Devotions.\n_Anaxandrides_ reproaches the _Egyptians_ for their wretched and foolish\nIdolatry; but after all, this was only one Idolater deriding another.\n_Dionysius_ was the most notorious this way: And most knavish in this\nkind was the _Painter_, who, when he should have drawn the Picture of\n_such a Goddess_ for a _Grecian_ City, drew the _Picture of his own\nMistress_, and so made her to be adored by the Citizens.\nWhat Man could have forbore laughing, said the _Greek_ Poet above, to\nsee an _Egyptian on his Marrowbones, praying to an Ox as to a God, or\nhowling over a sick Cat, fearing lest his scratching God should die_?\nUpon the whole, \u2019tis no easy matter to discover the real Sentiments of\nthe Heathens about their Gods: they admitted so many superior and\ninferior Deities, who shared the Empire, that all was full of Gods.\nSome of the Antients say, that a certain _subtile Matter_ that made\nStars _intelligent_, did reside in their sacred Animals, Plants and Men,\nand escaped Death: And this made them fit to partake of such Worship, as\nthey gave to the Stars.\u2014\u2014_Sanchoniatho_ meant only, that the celestial\nBodies are intelligent, and see what is done here below, and therefore\nwere to be adored as Gods[391].\nFootnote 391:\n  _Sanchoniatho\u2019s Ph\u0153nician Hist._ by the Learned Bp. _Cumberland_, vol.\nThe next thing that comes under Consideration is, the _Worship of\nSerpents, which is observed thro\u2019 all the Pagan Antiquity_. The Devil,\nwho, under the Shape of a Serpent, tempted our first Parents, has, with\nunwearied Application, labour\u2019d to deify that Animal, as a Trophy of his\nfirst Victory over Mankind. The Conquest made by the _old Serpent in\nParadise_, and the wonderful Cures made by the _Shadow of a Serpent in\nthe Wilderness_, contributed very much towards making that hateful\nCreature so venerable in the Eyes of so many Nations.\nGod having past Sentence upon the Serpent, Satan _consecrates that Form_\nin which he deceived the Woman, and introduces it into the World as an\nObject of religious Veneration: This he did with a view to enervate the\nForce of the divine Oracle, the Seed of the Woman. Scarcely a Nation\nupon Earth, but he has tempted to the grossest Idolatry, and in\nparticular got himself to be worshipped in the hideous _Form of a\nSerpent_.\nThe Almighty foreseeing this general Delusion, guarded the World against\nit, by inspiring Men with the greatest Aversion to that venemous\nCreature, and yet was the Tempter ador\u2019d in most places under the\nAppearance of a Serpent. If you say, that Men worship other Creatures; I\nanswer, Those are beneficial to Mankind, and not so odious and hurtful\nas those who carry Poison in their Tails and Teeth.\nHow surprizing this! that a Serpent, a Beast to which Mankind has a\nstrong natural Aversion, should be _ador\u2019d by Creatures of Reason_, and\nyet _nothing more common_, as will appear by the following Instances\nfrom Antiquity.\n_EGYPT_ was a Country that abounded with Variety of Serpents, and where\nthey were generally held in the greatest Veneration. The supreme God was\nrepresented by them in the _Form_ of a _Serpent_ with a Hawk\u2019s Head,\nbecause of the wonderful Agility of that Bird. We see no Table of\n_Osiris_ and _Isis_, two _Egyptian Idols_, without a Serpent joined to\nthem[392]. This _Isis_ married _Osiris_, King of that Country, and\ngovern\u2019d with so much Wisdom and Gentleness, that the _Egyptians_ paid\ndivine Honours to them, who had been such Blessings to the Land.\nFootnote 392:\n  _Macrobii Oper. Sat._ cap. xx.\nIn _Egypt_ is a Serpent of the Aspick Kind, called _Thermutis_, to which\nthey gave divine Worship; therefore crown\u2019d with it the Statue of their\nGoddess _Isis_. In the Corners of the Temples, they built little Chapels\nunder ground, where they carefully fed this _Thermutic Serpent_, as a\n_sacred Genius_[393].\nFootnote 393:\n  _\u00c6lian de Animalibus_, lib. x. _Conrad. Gesner. de Serp._ p. 32.\nThe _Egyptians_ also paid divine Honours to the _Crocodile_, that\nmonstrous kind of Serpent, particularly the Inhabitants of _Arsino\u00eb_,\nand they who dwelt in the Neighbourhood of _Thebes_, and the Lake\n_M\u00e6ris_; among whom \u2019twas fed by their Priests with Bread, Wine, Flesh,\nand diverse Rarities[394].\nFootnote 394:\n  _In Jonstonus de Quadruped_, cap. viii. p. 142.\n_TH\u00c6AUTUS_, so often mentioned by _Sanchoniatho_, attributed some Deity\nto the Nature of the Serpent; an Opinion approved by the _Phenicians_,\ntherefore look\u2019d upon as holy and immortal, and comes into the sacred\nMysteries[395].\nFootnote 395:\n  _Euseb. Pr\u00e6p. Evangel._ l. i. c. 10. from _Philo Biblius_, the\n  Translator of _Sanchon_.\nThey represented the World by a Circle, in the middle of which was a\nSerpent, representing the good Demon, or Genius of the World, by which\n\u2019tis animated, and is a _Symbol_ of the Almighty Creator. Behold here\nthe Blasphemy of Satan, in giving to God the Form of a Serpent, which he\nhad borrow\u2019d himself to make war against God in Paradise. They sometimes\nrepresented their Gods with the Bodies of Serpents, and honour\u2019d those\nodious Animals with divine Worship, as Symbols of _Apollo_, of the\n_Sun_, and of _Medicine_, and were put into the Charge of _Ceres_ and\n_Proserpine_.\n_HERODOTUS_ observes, that in his time, near _Thebes_, there were to be\nseen tame Serpents, adorn\u2019d with Jewels, and consecrated to _Jupiter_,\nwhich did no harm to any body: When they died, they were buried in\n_Jupiter_\u2019s Temple[396]. _\u00c6lian_ speaks of domestick Serpents, that were\nin the Houses of the _Egyptians_, and look\u2019d upon as _household Gods_;\nand of another Serpent worshipped in a Tower at _Melitus_ in _Egypt_,\nthat had a Priest and other Officers attending it, and served every day\nupon an Altar with Meal kneaded up with Honey, which the next day was\nfound to be eaten. _In Melite Eg. Draco divinis honoribus afficitur in\nturri quadam_ ... _adsunt ei sacerdotes & ministri; mensa_ ... _ex\nfarina subacta_.... Herod. lib. ii. cap. 17.\nFootnote 396:\n  _\u2014\u2014Ex Crocodilis alunt. appendentes auribus vel gemmas\u2014sacris in arnis\n  sepeliant._ _Euterpe_, lib. ii. p. 186.\nThe _Phenicians_ also sacrificed to _Dragons_, calling them their _good\nAngels_, their propitious and kind Spirits. Nothing more common in the\nHeathen Religion, than the Appearance of a Serpent in some Form or\nother.\nThe _Babylonians_ worshipped a _Dragon_, which the Prophet _Daniel_, by\na Commission from the King, killed; which, one would think, was\nsufficient to convince the Royal Idolater of his egregious Stupidity in\nworshipping a Creature as Conservator of Mankind, that could not\npreserve its own Life. They represented the World by a Circle in the\nForm of a _Greek Theta_ \u0398, and the _good Demon_, by a _Serpent_ in the\nmidst of it; under which Figure, the Protectors of Countries and Cities,\ncalled tutelary Gods, were worshipped.\nThe _Arabians_ reputed Serpents _sacred Beings_, and therefore would\nallow no Violence to be offered to them; and this Superstition yet\nremains among those People, according to _Veslingius_, says my Author.\nThey take them into their Houses, feed and worship them as the _Genii_,\nor Guardians of the Place: Not only Men, but every kind of Things, had\nits peculiar _Genius_. Two were assigned to each Person, a good and evil\nGenius, and those were thought to attend them from the Cradle to the\nGrave. We read of a sacred Dragon that was kept in _Phrygia_ in _Asia\nMinor_, whose Residence was in a Wood, dedicated to _Diana_, Goddess of\nthe Woods.\nAmong other strange Animals in the _East-Indies_, _Alexander_ found in a\nCave, a _monstrous Dragon_, which the Inhabitants counted sacred, and\nwas adored by them, and daily supplied with Food: The poor, ignorant,\nsuperstitious People, humbly addrest the _Conqueror_, not to attack that\n_holy Place_, and disturb the Repose of their God. The victorious Army\nhearing its hideous and dreadful Roarings, were not a little terrify\u2019d;\nthey only saw its monstrous Head, when stretch\u2019d out of its Mansion, and\nits Eyes appeared to them to be as big as a large _Macedonian Buckler_,\na Species of defensive Armour[397].\nFootnote 397:\n  _Conrad. Gesner._ p. 44, 45. _Gyllius._\nThe King of _Calicut_ (in the _East-Indies_, the most powerful of all\nthe _Malabar_ Princes) causes little Cottages to be erected for sacred\nSerpents, to guard them against the Inclemency of the Weather, and \u2019tis\nmade Death to hurt them, being they are look\u2019d upon as heavenly Spirits;\nand they believe them to be such for this Reason, because _they kill Men\nso suddenly by the Wound they give, which is only a little Puncture, and\nwould not prove fatal if given by other Creatures_.\nIt is observed by some, that Serpents at this day are highly honour\u2019d in\nthe Kingdom of _Calicut_, on this side the _Ganges_, where the\nInhabitants call their King _Samori_, or _Zamorin_, that is, Sovereign\nEmperor, and God upon Earth. The Dragon being a Serpent of the vigilant\nTribe, was constituted and made Guardian of their Houses, of their\noracular Temples, and of all their Treasures.\nThese Protectors of Places and Possessions, they call\u2019d Tutelary Gods,\nand were worshipp\u2019d by them under the Symbol of _Serpents_, without\nwhose Sanction no Methods of Protection were available.\nIt is remarkable, that where the Figure of two Serpents was erected in\nany place, it was look\u2019d upon as a Sign of consecrated Ground; that is,\nthat the Place was holy, being dedicated to some God; for which\nSuperstition they are ridiculed by one of their own Writers, _viz._\n_Persius_ the Satirist, that lived under _Nero_, who tells us, that\nChildren were forbid to empty themselves in those Places, and not so\nmuch as make-water, for the Place is holy, as appears by the _Picture of\nthe two Serpents_; the Language of which is, Profane not holy Ground.\nWould you, Sir, have your Poem pass for a sacred Composure, then paint\ntwo Serpents in the Front of it.\nBehold here the Original of that Popish Superstition, which forbids Men\nto make-water in the Church-Yard[398].\nFootnote 398:\n             Pinge duos angues, pueri, sacer est locus, extra\nAt _Alba_, in a Wood not far from _Juno_\u2019s Temple, is a Dragon\nworshipp\u2019d by the Inhabitants, and for their greater Honour, fed by\nVirgins, thereby intimating, that Innocence was a proper Attendant on\nthe Gods.\nIn _Epirus_, south of _Macedonia_, is a certain place sacred to\n_Apollo_, and wall\u2019d about, within which are kept _sacred Dragons_, fed\nlikewise by a Virgin Priestess, uncloathed, which they believe to be\nmost acceptable to their idol Gods[399]; called by _Juvenal_, one of\ntheir own Poets, _wenching Gods_.\nFootnote 399:\n  \u00c6lian. lib. ii. cap. 2. \u1f31\u03b5\u03c1\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1 \u03b3\u03c5\u03bc\u03bd\u03b7 \u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03b8\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2.\nThe _Epiroticks_, who highly venerated _Apollo_, honour\u2019d his Temple\nwith a _consecrated Dragon_, which they worshipp\u2019d in solemn remembrance\nof his killing the _Pythonic Serpent_. It were well if the same Spirit\nof Gratitude reign\u2019d amongst _Britons_, towards the Heroes that\ndeliver\u2019d their Country from the great Ecclesiastical Dragon, by the\nglorious Revolution.\nNear _Lavinium_ was a Grove of serpentine Gods, dedicated to _Juno_ of\n_Argos_, which was a City in _Peloponnesus_ (famous for the Shrine of\n_\u00c6sculapius_) now the _Morea_, one of whose Rivers is called _Styx_; or\nrather a Well, whose Water is so cold and venemous, that it often kills\nsuch that drink thereof; and therefore design\u2019d by the Poets, to be a\nRiver of Hell: \u2019Tis said by some, that _Alexander_ was poison\u2019d with it.\nIt\u2019s well known what Worship was paid to the Serpent at _Epidaurus_, a\n_Peleponnesian City_, and the Manner how \u2019twas pretended that Serpent\nwas brought to _Rome_, which is as follows, _viz._\nThe _Romans_ being sorely distrest by a Plague, they sent a _Galley_\nwith Ambassadors to _Epidaurus_, to bring the Serpent consecrated to\n_\u00c6sculapius_ to _Rome_, which of its own accord went aboard the Galley,\nand which was landed in the Isle of _Tyber_, where divine Honours were\npaid to it; upon which the Plague ceased.\u2014\u2014Take it as represented by the\nHistorian, who says, ... That the Plague raging terribly at _Rome_, and\nin the Vicinity, above three Years, did not abate, by any divine or\nhuman Remedy, tho\u2019 Men had tried both; therefore by the Counsel of the\n_Delphic Oracle_, ten Ambassadors were sent to fetch the Statue of\n_\u00c6sculapius_, that was ador\u2019d in the Body of the great Serpent;\nhereupon, a very strange thing ensued, and manifestly true, both from\nmany faithful Historians, and building the _Temple_ (dedicated to it) in\nthe _Isle of Tyber_.\nWhen the _Roman Ambassadors_ had delivered their Commands to the\n_Epidaurians_, who brought them into the Temple of _\u00c6sculapius_ ...\nwhile they were admiring a huge Shrine, a great Serpent sliding of a\nsudden from the _Adytum_ (which was a Place of Retirement in the Pagan\nTemples, where Oracles were given, into which none but Priests were\nadmitted) upon sight of it the Priests, in a devout Posture, said to the\nCompany, _that the Deity shrouded itself in that Form_, and when it\nappear\u2019d in this _Fashion_, \u2019twas look\u2019d upon as a _happy Omen_.\nThe Serpent was seen for two Days in the Temple, and afterwards\ndisappeared, but on the third Day it past thro\u2019 the Croud (which gazed\non and worship\u2019d) and went directly to the Port where the _Roman Galley_\nstood; and having enter\u2019d into it, laid itself down in the Cabin of _Q.\nOgulnius_, the chief Ambassador. They set sail from thence ... and soon\narrived at _Rome_. The whole City came out to see this wonderful\nThing\u2014\u2014Altars were built, Incense burnt, and Sacrifices offer\u2019d. The\nSerpent swam over to the _Isle of Tyber_, (which afterwards was called\n_\u00c6sculapius_\u2019s _Isle_) and since was never seen.\nThe Senate concluding this Island to be the Place chosen by the God,\ndecreed that a Temple should be built for _\u00c6sculapius_ there\u2014whereupon\nthe Plague ceased. The Temple grew famous for rich Offerings, in\nConsideration of their Deliverance from the Plague by that Deity[400].\nFootnote 400:\n  _Livy._ lib. xi. _Qu\u00e6re_, Whether the Historian\u2019s Faith kept pace with\n  his Pen?\n_VALERIUS MAXIMUS_ says, that the Priests looking into the _Sibyls\nBooks_, observed there was no other way to restore the City to its\nformer Health, but by bringing the Image of _\u00c6sculapius_ from\n_Epidaurus_ ... upon which Ambassadors were sent[401].\nFootnote 401:\n  _Val. Maxim._ lib. i. cap. 8. See _Ovid. Metamorph._ lib. 25.\nThe Poets and Mythologists, in order to shew there was no Distemper but\n_\u00c6sculapius_ could cure, said, he raised the Dead. Thus at the Request\nof _Diana_, he restor\u2019d _Hippolytus_ to Life, who had been torn to\npieces by his Horses. We can\u2019t doubt of the Credulity of the People in\nthinking him rank\u2019d among the Gods, after so many Temples, Inscriptions,\nand Medals dedicated to his Memory.\nThe most famous Temples consecrated to _\u00c6sculapius_, were that of\n_Epidaurus_[402], that in the Isle of _Co_, that of _Cyrene_, that of\n_Pergamos_, that in the Isle of _Tyber_[403].\nFootnote 402:\n  _Pliny Nat. Hist._ lib. 4. c. 5.\nFootnote 403:\n  For these, see _Strabo_, _Val. Maximus_, _Herodot., Livy_.\nAs to the Inscriptions in honour of _\u00c6sculapius_, _Gruterus_ has these\nfollowing, _viz._\n              _\u00c6sculapio, Hyge\u00e6, & ceteris Diis & Deabus._\n              _Deo \u00c6sculapio, & Hyge\u00e6, conservatoribus._\n              _Deo \u00c6sculapio, & De\u00e6 Hyge\u00e6._\n_N. B._ The Title of Conservator, or Saviour, was the ordinary Elogium\nof _\u00c6sculapius_.\nIn the Isle of _Co_, there was a Coin whereon _\u00c6sculapius_ was called\nthe _Saviour_; and so on a Coin of _Ancyra_. Games are also mentioned,\ninstituted in honour of him as Saviour. The Symbol of _\u00c6sculapius_ was a\n_Serpent_, or _Dragon_, about a _little Rod_, as may be seen in several\nMedals, and by the Testimony of the Poet[404]. Wherever he was worship\u2019d\nin Statues of a _human Figure_, a _Staff was put into his Left-hand,\nwith a Serpent about it_.\nFootnote 404:\n  _Ovid. Metam._ lib. 5. Qualis in \u00e6de.... Esse solet, baculumque tenens\n  agreste sinistra.\nThis seems to be the reason why Antiquity represents the first Masters\nof Physick (as _Hermes_, _\u00c6sculapius_, _Hippocrates_, in their Statues\nand Medals) with a _Viper_ added to their _Figure_; and also why they\nworship\u2019d those _Physicians under the Form of Serpents_[405].\nFootnote 405:\n  _Salomonis Cellarii\u2014Origines & Antiquitates Medic\u00e6._ Printed at _Hall_\n  in _Saxony_.\nThe Serpent of _\u00c6sculapius_, the reputed God of Physick, had its Rise\nfrom the miraculous Cures done by _Moses_\u2019s _Serpent_ in the Camp of\n_Israel_. Serpents of bright and golden Colour were all counted sacred\nto _\u00c6sculapius_, and were cicur\u2019d, or made tame by human Arts. A\n_Dragon_ was usually annex\u2019d to his _Image_, and to that of _Health_,\nnothing being thought _available_ without the _Presence of a Serpent_.\nAt _Pella_ in _Macedonia_, the Royal Seat, and _Alexander_\u2019s\nBirth-place, were _Dragons_ of a large Bulk, but of a gentle Nature,\nmaintain\u2019d at the Expence of the Government, as Creatures bearing a\n_sacred Character_, and worthy of the publick Regard. Because many tame\nSerpents were kept in that Place, the fabulous Poets said, _Alexander\nwas born of a Serpent_.\nThe People of _Argos_ in _Greece_, had Serpents in such great\nVeneration, that nobody was suffer\u2019d to kill them with impunity[406].\nThe _Pagan Temples_ were wont to be haunted with Serpents, in so much\nthat it grew into a Phrase of Speech, the _sacred Serpent_[407]. And\nthus Serpents are deified and solemnly enrolled among the Gods.\nFootnote 406:\n  _\u00c6lian._ lib. xii. cap. 34.\nFootnote 407:\n  Sacer anguis.\n_SANCHONIATHON_, a _Ph\u0153nician Historiographer_, and _Philo Biblius_, who\ntranslated his Antiquities, have left us a full Account of the Origin of\nthe _Apotheosis_, or _Canonization of Serpents_[408]; which leads me to\nsay something of what the Ancients called _Apotheosis of departed\nSouls_, and the Strange Ceremonies used in the _Apotheosis_ or\n_Deification_ of the deceased Emperor, who had deserved well of their\nCountry.\nFootnote 408:\n  _Sanchoniathon_ is supposed by some to be cotemporary with _Gideon_.\n_APOTHEOSIS_ among the Ancients was a Pagan Ceremony whereby Emperors\nand great Men were placed among the Gods, called also _Deification_, and\n_Consecration_: Temples and Altars were erected to the new Deities,\n_viz._ Serpents and Men, Sacrifices offered to them; and for that end,\nColleges of Priests were instituted for the Honour of these Demi-Gods.\nIt was one of the Doctrines of _Pythagoras_, which he borrowed from the\n_Chaldeans_, that useful and virtuous Persons, after their Death, were\nraised into the _Order of the Gods_. Hence the Ancients _deified_ all\nthe Inventors of Things that were beneficial to Mankind, and those who\nhad done Services of Importance to their Country.\nBy degrees these _new Gods_ grew very numerous. One of their own Poets\nrallying them for frequent Deifications, introduces poor _Atlas_, who is\nsaid to _bear the Heavens on his Shoulders_, complaining, that he was\nready to sink under the Number and Weight of so many _new Gods_, as were\nevery day coin\u2019d, and added to the Heavens, which made his Shoulders to\nwarch. _N. B._ _Atlas_ in Anatomy is the Name of the first _Vertebra_ of\nthe Neck, which supports the Head, and is the highest, so called in\nallusion to the famous Mountain _Atlas_ in _Africa_, suppos\u2019d to be the\nhighest in the World, so that it seems to hold up the Heavens; and also\nto the Fable that makes _Atlas_ King of _Mauritania_ in that Country, to\nbear up the visible Heavens. I now proceed to the Description which we\nhave in _Herodian_, a _Greek_ Historian in the third Century, who in\nspeaking of the _Apotheosis_ of the Emperor _Severus_, gives us a very\nfull Account of that strange Ceremony, _viz._\n... After the Body of the deceased Emperor had been burnt with the usual\nSolemnities, they placed an Image of Wax perfectly like him, but of a\nsickly Aspect, on a large Bed of Ivory, covered with Cloth of Gold,\nwhich they exposed to publick View at the Entrance of the Palace-Gate.\nThe greatest Part of the Day the Senate sat ranged on the left side of\nthe Bed, drest in Mourning Robes; the Ladies of the first Rank sitting\non the right side, in plain and white Robes, without any Ornaments....\nThis lasted for seven Days successively; during which, the Physicians\ncame from time to time to visit the Sick, always making their Report\nthat he grew worse, till at length they publish\u2019d it, that he was dead.\nThis done, the _young Senators_ and _Roman Knights_ took the Bed of\nState upon their Shoulders, carrying it thro\u2019 the _Via sacra_ to the old\n_Forum_, where the Magistrates used to divest themselves of their\nOffices: There they let it down between two kinds of Amphitheatres; in\nthe one, were the Youth, and in the other the Maidens of the first\nFamilies in _Rome_, singing Hymns set to solemn Airs in praise of the\nDeceased.\nThose Hymns ended, the Bed was carried out of the City into the _Campus\nMartius_, in the middle of which Place was erected a kind of square\nPavilion; the Inside thereof was full of combustible Matter, and the\nOutside hung with Cloth of Gold, and adorned with Figures of Ivory, and\nvarious Paintings.\nOver this Edifice were several others, like the first in Form and\nDecoration, but less; always diminishing, and growing slenderer towards\nthe Top, and a great many aromatick Perfumes, and odoriferous Fruits and\nHerbs were thrown all around: After which, the Knights made a Procession\nin solemn Measures about the Pile; several Chariots ran round it, those\nwho conducted them being clad in purple Robes, and bearing the Images of\nthe greatest _Roman_ Emperors and Generals.\nThis Ceremony ended, the new Emperor came to the _Catafalco_ or Pile\nwith a Torch in his hand, and at the same time Fire was put to it on all\nsides by the Company, the Spices and all Combustibles kindling all at\nonce. While this was doing, they let fly from the Top of the Building an\n_Eagle_, which mounting into the Air with a Firebrand, carried the Soul\nof the dead Emperor along with it into Heaven, as the _Romans_ believ\u2019d;\nand thenceforward _he was ranked among the Gods_. \u2019Tis for this Reason\nthat the Medals wherein the _Apotheoses_ are represented, have usually\nan Altar with Fire upon it, or however an Eagle taking its Flight into\nthe Air, and sometimes two Eagles[409].\nFootnote 409:\n  _Herodian_, who writ his History in 8 Books, from whom we have the\n  Ceremonies of the Apotheosis of the _Roman_ Emperors, lib. 4.\nA certain Emperor being asked, what he had done to merit an\n_Apotheosis_? He answered, _He had always studied to resemble the Gods_.\nAnd being asked again, In what did he endeavour to be like them? He\nanswered, _In having as few Wants as possible of my own, and doing good\nin the most extensive Way to others_.\nThere is no Place so remote in the World, but has been polluted with\nthis monstrous Idolatry, _of worshipping Serpents_. The northern\nHistorians tell us, the People of _Lithuania_ in _Poland_ worship\u2019d\nSerpents; and \u2019tis not long ago, since that gross Idolatry was\nabolish\u2019d, of which _Sigismund_ Baron of _Herberstein_, gives us this\nmemorable Story, _viz._\n\u2014\u2014Returning, says he, from _Massovia_ near _Wilna_, my Host\nacquainted me, he had bought a Hive of Bees, from one of these\n_Serpent-Worshippers_, whom with much ado he had persuaded to kill\nthe Serpent, and worship the true God: Within a while after coming\nthat Way, he found the poor Fellow miserably tortured and deformed,\nhis Face wrinkl\u2019d and turn\u2019d awry; and demanding the Cause of it, he\nanswer\u2019d, _viz._\n_THAT this Judgment was inflicted upon him for killing his God_, and\nthat he was like to endure heavier Torments if he did not return to his\nformer Worship. Which brings to my Mind a Passage in one of the Fathers,\nrelating to the _Carthaginians_, who having been compelled by\n_Agathocles_ King of _Sicily_ to leave off those horrid Sacrifices of\nhuman Victims to _Saturn_, forbore them a long time: But a great\nCalamity being brought upon them for disusing those human Sacrifices;\nand to atone for their Neglect, _they sacrificed at once two hundred\nChildren of the noblest Families in_ Carthage[410].\nFootnote 410:\n  Cum victi essent ab Agathocle rege Siculorum, iratum sibi Deum\n  putavisse, itaque ut diligentius piaculum solverent ducentos nobilium\n  filios immolasse. Lactantius. Lib. 1. Sect. 21. p. 67. _Lugd. Batav._\nBut to return to the _Baron_ of the North, who adds, That in his Time,\nthe People in _Samogitia_, East of the _Baltick_ Sea, did still pay\n_divine Honours to a Serpent as a Deity_.... Some of those that inhabit\nthe Deserts, adore a _four-footed Serpent_, under the Name of _Givosit_.\nFew Families there, are without _Serpents_, for their _Domestick Gods_,\nto whom they give more than ordinary Veneration, tho\u2019 at the same time\nthey profess the Christian Faith[411], which _Jagello_ their Prince\nreceived _Anno Domini_ 1386. _ibid._\nFootnote 411:\n  Atlas _Europe_, p. 261.\nThe _English_ Cosmographer accounts for them thus, _viz._ \u201cThe People\nanciently had _Fire_ and _Serpents_ for their Gods, nourishing the last\nin their Houses, and keeping the other continually burning; the Priests\nof the Temple always adding Fuel, that it might not fail. The Vestal\nFire was not kept more carefully at _Rome_, nor with greater\nCeremony.... To this God, (whom they call\u2019d, Lord of the _Smoke_,) they\nused to sacrifice young Pullets, to the other their Cocks[412].\u201d The\nSeed of this Idolatry is so implanted in them, that \u2019tis said, that in a\nVillage of the King\u2019s, called _Lovaniski_, their chief City, they do, to\nthis day _worship Serpents_. _ibid._\nFootnote 412:\n  _Heylin_\u2019s Cosmogr. lib. 2. _Poland_ p. 143.\nThe _Lithuanians_, \u2019tis said, ador\u2019d three Gods, _Fire_, _Wood_, and\n_Serpents_. These last were counted their _Guardian Gods_. And according\nto a certain Historian, this kind of superstitious and diabolical\nWorship continues yet in some Parts of the Kingdoms of _Norway_ and\n_Vermolandia_[413].\nFootnote 413:\n  _Olaus Magnus_, Archbishop of _Upsal._ History of the _Goths_.\nThe Inhabitants of _Prussia_ were barbarous and wild in the highest\ndegree, having of old no manner of Religion, or next to none, and first\nbegan _with the Worship of Serpents_[414]. There are Countries in the\n_Indies_, says _Jurieu_, where Serpents are worship\u2019d to this day.\nFootnote 414:\n  _Erasm. Stella_ in the Antiquities of _Prussia_. Lib. 1.\n_ARISTOPHANES_, in the Comedy entitled _Plutus_, observes that the Deity\ngave the Sign, _viz._ by _hissing_; upon which two monstrous Dragons\nskip\u2019d out of the Temple[415].\nFootnote 415:\n              \u0394\u03c5\u03c9 \u03b4\u03c1\u03b1\u03ba\u03bf\u03bd\u03c4\u2019 \u03b5\u03ba \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 \u03bd\u03b5\u03c9. Fragmenta p. 52.\n              Dixerat h\u00e6c adytis cum lubricus anguis ab imis.\nWhen _\u00c6neas_ sacrificed to the _Manes_, (the departed Soul) of his\nFather _Anchises_, he saw a _Serpent_ come out of his Grave, which he\nconcluded to be either the _Tutelar God_ of his Father, or of that\nPlace, which was counted a good Omen. We have an Account of some Priests\nin _Asia_ that expose to publick View a Serpent in a brazen Vessel,\nattended with a great Variety of Musick. The Serpent appears in an erect\nPosture, opens its Mouth, and instead of a forked Tongue, appears the\nHead of a beautiful Virgin[416].\nFootnote 416:\n  _Phil. Melanchton._\n_NICHOLAS de Lyra_ makes mention of such another idle Conceit, _viz._\nThat the Serpent assumed the Face of a beautiful Maid, when it tempted\n_Eve_. _N. B._ In the _German Bibles_ printed before _Luther_, among\nother Figures may be seen that of a Serpent with the Face of a very\nhandsome Maid.\nIn short, so great was the Devotion paid to Serpents, that Persons and\nThings were denominated from them: Yea, some would be thought to proceed\nfrom Serpents, as the highest Degree of Honour. _Cadmus_\u2019s Companion was\ncalled a _Serpent_, so the Giant in _Homer_, and a certain Prophet in\n_Pausanias_.\nIn the Primitive Church were an heretical Sect, called _Ophites_, that\nis Serpents. In _Cyprus_, and about the _Hellespont_, were a certain\nPeople that went by the Name _Serpent_. So a Soothsayer in _Messenia_,\n_&c._ But these came short of _Alexander the Great_, and _Scipio\nAfricanus_, who were said _to be born of Serpents_, which they look\u2019d\nupon to be the _brightest Insignia_ in their _Escutcheon_; but more of\nthis _Serpentine Pride_ in the next Chapter.\nIn such wonderful Esteem were _Serpents_ among them, that all manner of\nCreatures were called by their Name, as Stars, Animals, Plants, Trees,\nHerbs, Rivers, Stones, Islands, Proverbs.... Nothing was accounted\nDivine and Grand, unless graced by a Serpent[417]. From this _Divinity_\nascrib\u2019d to Serpents, _Pherecides_ took occasion to make a Dissertation\nconcerning the Deity called _Ophion_, from \u039f\u03c6\u03b9\u03c2, a Serpent[418].\nFootnote 417:\n  Conradus Gesner.\nFootnote 418:\n  Euseb. Pr\u00e6parat. Evang.\n_Reasons for worshipping Serpents, seem to rise from Misapplication of\n    some Scripture Passages: But especially, 1. From the Triumphs of the\n    Paradisaic Serpent. Pagan History from_ Moses. _In the primitive\n    Church, a Sect of Christians worship\u2019d Serpents, and said the\n    Serpent in Paradise was a good Creature. 2. From the miraculous\n    Cures done by the brazen Serpent._ Alexander _affected the Honour of\n    being begot by a Serpent, ador\u2019d as a God, by a Decree of the\n    Priests._\n_WHAT Reason can be assigned for giving religious Worship to Serpents?_\nI answer,\nIt is no easy Matter to find out the Original of Pagan Idolatry, having\nno authentick Records of those remote Times, therefore Conjectures, or\nnothing must content the honest Enquirer: Something may be offer\u2019d,\nwithout going beyond our Depth. Before I proceed, it may be proper to\nobserve, _viz._ That Knowledge sprung from the Sons of _Noah_, who\ndoubtless instructed their Successors in the History of the Creation,\nthe Conquest of Paradise by a Serpent, that introduced the Knowledge of\nGood and Evil upon Earth.\nThose whom we call _Heathens_, at first were Members of the true Church;\nthe further Men went from the Spring, the Streams grew more muddy, and\nstrange Constructions were put upon the History of _Adam_ and _Eve_,\n_Noah_, and his Progeny, which in process of Time was metamorphosed into\na Narrative of Fooleries and fabulous Gods.\nSo the _Mosaick_ History of their Travels thro\u2019 the Wilderness, and the\nPromulgation of the Law upon Mount _Sinai_, were strange and stupendous\nEvents, that soon spread over the Nations in some Shape or other.\nIn the _Ph\u0153nician Theology_, we find the Creation described, almost in\nthe Terms used by _Moses_. _Diodorus Siculus_ says, the Antients liv\u2019d\nupon Roots and Fruits. The _Ph\u0153nician_ Records mention _Ujoris_, _i. e._\n_Adam_, the first that wore Garments made of Animal Skins. The _Vulcan_\nof the Heathen was the _Tubal-cain_ of _Moses_, (_Gen._ iv. 22.) the\nfirst Artificer in Brass and Iron: _Plato_\u2019s _Atlanticus_ is a Fable\nfounded upon the History of _Noah_\u2019s Flood: The Fable of the Giants\nstorming Heaven, is taken from the Builders of the Tower of _Babel_, as\nbefore: Yea, says a Learned Father (after _Numenius_, the celebrated\n_Pythagorean_ and _Platonist_) what is _Plato_ but _Moses in an Athenian\nDress_[419]? But to be more particular,\nFootnote 419:\n  \u03a4\u03b9 \u03b3\u03b1\u03c1 \u03b5\u03c3\u03c4\u03b9 \u03a0\u03bb\u03b1\u03c4\u03c9\u03bd \u03b7 \u039c\u03c9\u03c3\u03b7\u03c2 \u03b1\u03c4\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03b9\u03b6\u03c9\u03bd. _Quid enim est Plato, nisi Moses\n  qui loquitur Attic\u00e8?_ Or, _Quid enim aliud est Plato, quam Moses\n  Atticissans_? Clementis Alexandrini Opera, Strom. lib 1. _Coloni\u00e6_ p.\n1. _SATAN_, who conducted the War in _Eden_, display\u2019d his Art under the\nForm of a Serpent, which _Moses_ represents as a Creature of superior\nWisdom, and Illuminator of Mankind. Now the Tradition, that the _first\nSerpent_ had not only the Gift of speaking, but of communicating\nScience, and had held a Conference with the first Woman, to the vast\nIncrease of her Knowledge, might at last swell to such a degree, that\nignorant People might attribute to that Serpent, and her Race, a kind of\nDivinity; and for this Reason also, because in the Perfections of the\nMind she exceeded our first Parents, who being constituted Governors of\nthe Earth, must be supposed to be furnish\u2019d with extraordinary\nAccomplishments: But, says Tradition, here is one who infused greater\nKnowledge into them, and made them more wise; and they, for contesting\nwith the _Wisdom of the Serpent_, were turned out of Paradise, and\nordain\u2019d their Dwelling to be among the Beasts of the Field.\nSurely, might the People say, so great a Being as this Serpent merits\nour awful Regards. Now, how far such Thoughts might operate in those\nearly days of Ignorance and Superstition, I determine not: The Serpent\nindeed, is said to be more subtle than the Beasts of the Field, but not\nmore wise than _Adam_ and _Eve_.\nIt is more strange, to think that in the primitive Church there were\ncertain Hereticks call\u2019d _Ophites_, took their Name from _Ophis_[420],\nwho worshipped the Serpent that betray\u2019d _Eve_, and ascribed all sorts\nof Knowledge to that Animal, maintain\u2019d \u2019twas a good Creature, and that\nour first Parents were instructed by it to know Good and Evil. Yea, they\nbelieved, \u201cthe Serpent that tempted _Eve_ was the _Christ_, who\nafterwards came down and was incarnate in the Person of _Jesus_: That it\nwas _Jesus_, but not the _Christ_, that suffer\u2019d; for which reason they\nmade all Proselytes to their Sect, to renounce Jesus[421].\u201d If a Sect of\nChristians speak after this manner, what Ideas must the Heathen form of\nthings?\nFootnote 420:\n  A _Greek_ word that signifies _a Serpent_.\nFootnote 421:\n  _Calmet._\nOne of the Fathers speaking of these Hereticks, observes how they\naffirm\u2019d,\u2014\u2014_That Wisdom made itself a Serpent_\u2014\u2014had given Knowledge to\nMan, and that the Position of Man\u2019s Bowels, winding about like Serpents,\nshews that there is in us a hidden Substance that engenders the Figure\nof Serpents[422]. Surely those Fathers of the Church were Children in\nUnderstanding, that gave way to such mystical Conundrums. Call them no\nmore Fathers, but Children of Antiquity.\nFootnote 422:\n  _Iren\u00e6us adv. H\u00e6res._ (lib. 1. cap. 34.\u2014_sophiam serpentem factam_\u2014)\n  who flourish\u2019d in the close of the 2d Century.\nThese Hereticks, in the Consecration of the Eucharist, always had a\nSerpent ready in a Box, which they produced on that Occasion, making it\ncome out by certain Charms, and lick the Bread, and having kissed the\nsame, they eat it[423]. Another Historian expresses it thus, _viz._\n\u201cWhen their Priests celebrated their Mysteries, they made one of these\nCreatures to come out of his Hole, and after he had roll\u2019d himself upon\nthe Things that were to be offer\u2019d in Sacrifice, they said _Jesus\nChrist_ had sanctified them, and then gave them to the People to worship\nthem[424].\u201d _N. B._ I don\u2019t apprehend how the _Learned Abbot_ makes them\nbring in the Name _Jesus_ here, a Name which in the same Page he says,\nthey obliged their Proselytes to renounce.\nFootnote 423:\nFootnote 424:\n  _Calmet_\u2019s _Histor. Dict._ vol. ii. p. 668.\nThis strange Superstition seems to be derived from the Heathen, who at\nthe Feasts of _Bacchus_, used to carry a _Serpent_, and to cry, _Evia,\nEvia_[425]: And _Evia_, says _Clemens Alexandrinus_, if it be asperated,\n_Hevia_, signifies in the _Hebrew_, a _female Serpent_. Dr. _Lightfoot_\nobserves, that there being no such Word in the _Hebrew_, _Clemens_ must\nmean the _Chaldee_, in which _Hivia_ signifies a Serpent.\nFootnote 425:\n  \u0395\u03c5\u03b9\u03b1, \u03b5\u03c5\u03b9\u03b1.\n2. The Reputation gain\u2019d by the Serpent in Paradise, was heighten\u2019d by\nthe wonderful Cures done by the brazen Serpent in the Wilderness. As\nthis strange Occurrence was capable of various Glosses, so it must\nundergo different Constructions. The _Brazen Serpent_ was brought to\n_Canaan_, where \u2019twas kept in remembrance of the miraculous Cures their\nForefathers had received from it in the Wilderness; and, \u2019tis probable,\nthe _Israelites_ themselves were the first that paid divine Honours to\nit, and the Idolatry might begin in the days of the Judges; others say,\nunder the Kings of _Judah_[426].\nFootnote 426:\n  _Jurieu_, vol. ii. from _Rabbi Kimchi_, who says they burnt Incense to\n  it, from the time the Kings of _Judah_ had corrupted themselves ...\n  _in locum_.\nIt lay quiet there, _until those Days, the Children of Israel burnt\nIncense to it_. That is, from the days _Israel_ began to commit\nIdolatry, to the days of _Hezekiah_; who, to prevent the Growth of that\nSerpentine Idolatry, _brake in pieces the brazen Serpent that Moses had\nmade_. 2 Kings xviii. 4.\nThe Sound of the strange Cures done by the _brazen Serpent_, soon spread\nover the forsaken Nations, who, observing how the Wounded were healed by\nlooking at it, conceived it to be a proper Instrument to be their\nMediator, and consequently a fit Object for their Adoration, when even\nthe Wounded in _Israel_, by addressing to its Shadow, were healed.\nIt is most probable, that the Adoration of Serpents by the Pagans,\nsprung from these two Fountains,\nThe _Wisdom of the Serpent_ in Paradise, and the _miraculous Cures_ done\nby the _Shadow of a Serpent_ in the Wilderness; which were improved by\nthe Devil to secure his Honour and Interest, who wanted not Priests to\ndisplay the Glories of their Character, to make the Serpent honourable\nin the sight of his Vassals. From hence, the _Egyptians_, _Phenicians_,\nyea most Nations, did imagine the Serpent to have some _Divinity in its\nNature_, and for that reason (as hinted before) honour\u2019d it with sacred\nHomage; this the Devil did, with a view to lessen Men\u2019s Esteem for the\nAlmighty Creator.\nHence also some Men of superior Dignity have affected to be esteem\u2019d\nmore than meer Men, making this as an Argument, that they were _begot by\nSerpents_, as we observed already, therefore I shall only add, _viz._\nThat _Alexander the Great_, after he had taken _Rhodes_, _Egypt_ and\n_Cilicia_, addrest _Jupiter Ammon_ to know his Original, for his Mother\n_Olympias_ had confest to his Father _Philip_, that _Alexander_ was not\nbegot by him, but by a _Serpent_ of _vast Bulk_; whereupon _Philip_ was\ndivorced from his Wife _Olympias_, and _Alexander_ was saluted Son of\n_Ammon_, and by Order of the Priests, his Companions were enjoin\u2019d to\nworship him as a _God_, and not as a _King_.\n_ALEXANDER_, when he had conquer\u2019d _Darius_ III. surnam\u2019d _Codomannus_,\nand was possest of the _Persian_ Empire, writ to the _Grecians_, that\nthey should _decree him to be a God_. Hereupon several Decrees were\nmade: The _Lacedemonians_ exprest their Compliance in this short Decree,\n_viz._ _Forasmuch as_ Alexander _would be a God, let him be a God_. Thus\nwith Laconick Brevity, fashionable among the _Lacedemonians_, they\nhumour\u2019d and reproved the Pride of their King at once[427].\nFootnote 427:\n  \u0395\u03c0\u03b5\u03b9\u03b4\u1f21 \u0391\u03bb\u03b5\u03be\u03b1\u03bd\u03b4\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2 \u03b2\u03bf\u03c5\u03bb\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 \u0398\u03b5\u03b4\u03c2 \u03b5\u03b9\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b5\u03c3\u03bf \u0398\u03b5\u03bf\u03c2. \u00c6liani vari\u00e6 Hist.\n  lib. ii. cap. xix.\n_VARRO_ was of Opinion, that all gallant and heroick Men should believe\nthemselves, tho\u2019 falsly, to issue from the Gods ... that upon this\nSupposition, they might attempt great things with more Courage, and\nprosecute them with more Ardency; and tho\u2019 the Motive was but imaginary,\nyet might produce glorious Effects[428]. When _Varro_ writ this, \u2019tis\nprobable he had _Alexander the Great_ in his view.\nFootnote 428:\n  Ex Diis genitos\u2014_Aug. de Civitate Dei._ cap. 4.\nSuch is their Opinion of their King in _China_, that they think he is\ndescended from the Race of some Demi-God, and so adore him accordingly.\nThey believe there is some Divinity in his Blood, in so much that he\nnever marries any but his next Relatives, for fear of staining the Royal\nBlood[429].\nFootnote 429:\n  _Howel_\u2019s _Londinopolis_. p. 384.\nAmong the Antients, Serpents were Emblems of Power; therefore\n_Epaminondas_, the brave _Theban_ General, to encourage his Army against\na powerful Enemy, _bruised the Head of a Serpent_ before them as a\nPrognostick of Victory.\nThus King _James_ I. tho\u2019 the _Dupe of all Christendom_, says a certain\nGentleman, yet was the grand Idol of the Court-Clergy. That Pedantry\nwhich would have brought a School-Boy under the just Discipline of the\nRod, in him was represented by his parasitical Preferment-hunting\nEcclesiasticks, as divine Eloquence, and the Inspiration of the\nAlmighty....\n_Reasons for worshipping hurtful as well as useful Creatures, founded on\n    a Notion of two eternal contrary Principles: They believe God was\n    good, and could not be the Author of moral Evil, therefore fram\u2019d\n    the Ditheistical Doctrine; an Error, espoused by some primitive\n    Christians, confuted by the Sentence past upon the Serpent. Reasons\n    for worshipping different Species of Animals by the_ Egyptians.\nWhence arises the Honour given by Heathens to different Species of\nBeings, to the noxious and hurtful, as well as to the salutary and\nbeneficent Tribe?\nProbably, it might be from their observing the _Mixtures of Good and\nEvil_ in the visible Creation, when as yet in their infantile State of\nKnowledge: The reason of this they could not otherwise account for, but\nby giving into the Notion of _two distinct independent governing\nPowers_; the one a good, the other an evil Genius: accordingly they\nworshipped Creatures that were useful, as being the Ministers of the\ngood Genius; and those that were hurtful they paid Homage to, out of\nservile Fear, and to ingratiate themselves into their Favour. In the\nMorning they worshipped the _celestial Gods_; in the Evening, the\n_infernal_: On the Plain they worshipped the terrestrial Gods, on Hills\nthe supernatural; in Grotos and Caves, the infernal.\nHence it is they asserted a Duplicity of Gods, _viz._ Two perceptive\nself-existent Beings, one the Principle of Good, and the other of Evil.\nThis Opinion originally sprung from a strong, firm Persuasion, _That God\nwas invariably Good, and therefore could not possibly be the Author of\nthe Evil upon Earth_. Nor could they otherwise solve the Difficulty\nabout the Entrance of moral Evil into our World, but by supposing\nanother eternal self-existent evil Cause.\nYea, some among the primitive Christians fell into the Error of\nasserting this _Ditheistical_ Doctrine; that is, two self-existent\nPrinciples in the Universe, to wit, a _good God_, and an _evil Demon_.\nThus the _Cerdonites_, an heretical Sect, that sprung up in the second\nCentury, held there were two Gods; one, the Author of all good, the\nother, of all evil Things. So the _Marcionites_ held two contrary Gods;\nand in the third Century, the _Manichees_ did the same.\nPerhaps, this might be one reason why God past Sentence upon the Devil\nin the Serpent, in the presence and hearing of our first Parents, _viz._\nto prevent the Error of imagining that there was any Principle of Evil,\nwhich was independent upon the Almighty. The Sentence past upon Satan in\nthe Curse upon the Serpent, was a Conviction to _Adam_ and _Eve_ of his\nDependency upon the Almighty Creator, before whose Tribunal he now was\nconstrained to appear, to receive the Sentence merited by those, who\nmake a Lye, and tempt their Fellow-creatures to rebel.\n_REASONS about the Adoration of different kind of Animals by the_\nEgyptians.\nIf you ask, that if they worshipped a Serpent, why did they pay\nreligious Honours to so many other Beasts? I answer, This monstrous\nIdolatry begun in _Egypt_, and the first occasion for it seems to be\nthis, _viz._\n_OSIRIS_, a certain King of _Egypt_, who reign\u2019d with great Equity and\nMildness, having divided his Kingdom into several distinct Provinces,\nappointed Presidents over them, and in their Banners he placed the\nFigures, or Pictures of certain Animals, that bore some Similitude to\nthe Peculiarities of those Countries, over which they were to preside:\nThus to the Governor, whose Land was proper for Tillage, he design\u2019d an\n_Ox_ in his Standard, to which the Inhabitants of that Place paid a\nparticular Veneration, which in process of time was worshipped by the\nwhole Nation, for its Usefulness, and as the Symbol of Agriculture:\nHence the Image of _Osiris_ is set off with Horns.\nThe _golden Calf_ which _Aaron_ made in the Wilderness, and the Calves\nset up by _Jeroboam_ to be worshipped in his Kingdom, were an Imitation\nof the idolatrous Adoration, which the _Egyptians_ paid to their _Bull\nApis_.\nThat part of the Country, in which was abundance of Water, the King set\na _Crocodile_ (an amphibious Animal) in his Banner, that was to govern\nthere, which was had in high Veneration, especially in the City of\n_Mira_; and at last the _Crocodile_ was worshipped all over _Egypt_.\nWhere the Country abounded with Wood, a _Dog_ was fixt in the Governor\u2019s\nStandard, to which the _Egyptians_ gave no little Veneration, especially\nSportsmen ... as the Poet observes[430].\nFootnote 430:\n               _Oppida tota canem venerantur, nemo Dianam._\n               The Dog whole Towns, _Diana_ none implore.\n               Juvenal. Satir. xv.\nThat which gives some colour to this Partition of _Osiris_\u2019s Kingdom,\nis, \u201cthat God ordained very near the same thing to be observed in the\nEncampments of the _Israelites_, when he divided the twelve Tribes into\nfour Bodies, and allotted to one of the three Tribes, belonging to each\nBody, _the Figure of an Animal to be placed in the Banner_: Thus, that\nof _Reuben_ carried the Figure of a _Man_; that of _Judah_, a _Lion_;\nthat of _Dan_, an _Eagle_; and that of _Ephraim_, an _Ox_[431]\u201d.\nFootnote 431:\n  _Jurieu\u2019s Crit. Hist._ vol. ii.\nAfter this manner the _Egyptian_ Monarch did place in their Banners the\nFigures of certain Animals, which by degrees were usher\u2019d into their\nReligion and Temples. _N. B._ These Banners thus painted with different\nAnimals, were fixt upon Poles, between their several Provinces, by which\ntheir Bounds were determined. _Semiramis_, being conquered by\n_Staurobates_, Antiquity feign\u2019d she was changed by the Gods into a\nDove, the Bird of _Venus_, which is the reason why the _Dove_ was\nworshipped by the _Babylonians_, and why they gave it in their Ensign.\nI Conclude this Part with some Instances, that are given of the\nSottishness of _Pagans_ in what they called religious Worship, which\nindeed is almost incredible, if they were not common, and well\nattested.\u2014\u2014 The _Egyptians_ did not only worship variety of Beasts, but\nalso the Figures of them, as the Representatives of their Gods: Each\nCity and District entertain\u2019d a peculiar Devotion for some particular\nBeast or other, in honour of which they built Temples; yea, every one of\nthe _Pagan Deities_ had his own Beast, Tree and Plant consecrated to\nhim. Thus the _Pigeon_ was consecrated to _Venus_; the _Dragon_ and\n_Owl_ to _Minerva_; the _Eagle_ to _Jupiter_; the _Cock_ to _\u00c6sculapius_\nand the _Sun_. This, says _Jurieu_, is the true Origin of the _Egyptian\nIdolatry_. _Ibid._ Who adds, The _Egyptians_ assign\u2019d to their Gods\ncertain Animals, as their Representatives, and being introduced into the\nTemples, as the Images were in some Christian Churches, they at last\nbegan to worship them. This points out the Impiety of admitting any\nsymbolical Representations of Divinity into Places of publick Worship.\nNothing more monstrous than the _Divinity_ of the _Pagans_; their Gods\nwere innumerable. Every thing on _Earth_, in the _Sea_, in the\n_Heavens_, yea, and in _Hell_, had their _peculiar Gods_. If\n_Egyptians_, who past for the wisest of Mortals, paid religious\nAdoration to _meer Animals_, not only to Serpents, but Apes, Wolves,\nyea, Dogs, Cats, ... and to Vegetables, as Onions, Garlick ... what\nshall we think of stupid Nations, who had no Claim to Wisdom?\nEven in _Athens_ (that celebrated Fountain of Light) were more Idols\nthan in all _Greece_; yea, so numerous were their Idols, that they had\nalmost as many Gods as Men[432].\nFootnote 432:\n  Facilius possis Deum, quam hominem invenire.\n_STRABO_, _Procopius_, and _Ben Jonas_ say, the antient _Persians_ kept\nand worshipped their _perpetual Fire_ on Mount _Albors_, a Branch of\n_Caucasus_. The _Japonese_ worship the Devil, and the Head of their\nReligion is called _Dair_, whom they worship as a God. _Atlas._\nI Should rather think the _Persians_ ador\u2019d the supreme God, under the\nImage of _Fire_, by reason \u2019tis Fire gives Motion to every thing in\nNature, and therefore they made it an Emblem of Divinity.\nThe _Hebrews_ kept up the _holy Fire_ in the _Temple_, and the _Vestals_\nwere appointed to keep the sacred Fire of the _Romans_.\n_VULCAN_ was worshipped among the Antients, and particularly the\n_Egyptians_, as the _Inventor of Fire_.\nThe People of _Egypt_ exceeded most Nations in depreciating Divinity by\ngross Superstitions and Idolatry; they did not err in worshipping\nMortals only, but they gave Reverence to Beasts, Birds, Insects, Winds,\nEarth, Water, Air, Fire, Plants, _&c._ whom _Rhodius Anaxandrides_, one\nof themselves, derides in this manner:\n         _I sacrifice to God the Beef, which you adore;\n         I broil th\u2019_ Egyptian _Eels, which you as God implore_.\n         _You fear to eat the Flesh of Swine, I find it sweet:\n         You worship Dogs, to beat them I think meet,\n         When they my Store devour.[433]_\u2014\u2014\nFootnote 433:\n                 Bovem colis, ego Deis macto Bovem;\n                 Tu maximum anguillam, Deum putas: ego,\n                 Obsoniorum credidi, suavissimum,\n                 Carnes suillas, tu caves, at gaudeo\n                 His maxim\u00e8. Canem colis, quem verbero.\n                 Edentem, ubi deprehendo, forte obsonium.\nThus _Juvenal_, another Heathen Poet, ridicules their religious\nFooleries:\n           _Oh happy Nations! which, of their own sowing,\n           Have store of Gods, in ev\u2019ry Garden growing.[434]_\nFootnote 434:\n             Porrum & c\u00e6pe nefas violare & frangere morsu,\n             Oh sanctas gentes quibus h\u00e6c nascuntur in hortis\nThe Images of the Gods, says _Seneca_, are worshipped; these they pray\nunto and adore, and while they greatly admire them, at the same time\ndespise the Workmen that made them[435]. Which also _Sedulius_ their\nPoet scoffs at, saying,\u2014\u2014Who worship Vanities ... despise their own\nMaker ... fear the Works of their own Hands.... What Madness! that Man\nshould ugly Shapes adore, of Bulls, Birds, Dragons, the vile Half-Dog,\nor Half-Man, on Knees for Aid implore[436].\u2014\u2014\nFootnote 435:\n  Simulachra Deorum venerantur\u2014\u2014fabros qui ilia fec\u00eare, contemnunt.\nFootnote 436:\n  Heu miseri vana colunt\u2014\u2014ut volucrem, turpemque Bovem, torvumque\n  Draconem, sem-hominemque canem supplex homo pronus adoret.\nYet among the Nations were some who thought it Impiety to represent\ntheir Gods by Images, as the _Persians_, _Indian Brachmans_, _&c._[437]\nYea, the _Romans_, for 170 Years, would not allow Images in their\nTemples, observing the Law of _Numa_. It was _Tarquinius Priscus_ that\nfollowed the Vanity of the _Grecians_ (a Nation of all others, excepting\n_Egypt_, most deluded by the old Serpent) set up the Images of their\nGods, which even the Learned _Varro_ bewailed and condemned. The\n_Mahometans_ have a perfect Aversion to Images. The _Jews_ hate all\nImages, will not allow any in their Houses, much less in Places of\nWorship. But to proceed:\nFootnote 437:\n  _Hospinian. de Origine Imaginum._\nThe apostate _Indians_ worship both Gods and Devils, over which they\nacknowledge a Supreme, who sends forth other Deities as his Deputies;\nwhich they think to be the Souls of good Men; and Devils, the Souls of\nthe Wicked.... They imagine the Sun and Moon to be Gods; their Idols are\nrepresented as Monsters of the kind[438].\nFootnote 438:\n  _Atlas Asia._ page 662.\n\u201cIn the Kingdom of _Pegu_ in the East, the People are exceeding\nsuperstitious, and scruple not to worship the Devil, whom they reckon\nthe Author of Evil; as they do God, of Good: And in all Calamities,\ntheir first Addresses are to the evil Spirit, for Deliverance; and they\nmake Vows to him, which they perform upon their Recovery, with the\nAssistance of their Priests, whom they call the Devil\u2019s Father, and he\ndirects them to make sacred Feasts with Musick.\u201d Many of them run about\nin the Morning with a Torch in one Hand, and Rice in the other;\npretending to give the Devil his Breakfast, that he may not hurt them\nthat Day. Others at their Meals, throw part of what they have over their\nShoulders, to feed him, before they eat any themselves. _Ibid._ p. 662.\nAt _Tavay_ in that Country, they replenish their Houses with Victuals,\nand leave them for three Months, that the Devils may dwell and feed\nthere, and be favourable all the rest of the Year. _ibid._ They have a\nsort of Monks called _Talapoins_, who endeavour to root out this Devil\nWorship, but without effect.\nThe _Aruspices_, were an _Order_ of _Priests_ among the antient\n_Romans_, who pretended to foretell Events, chiefly by inspecting the\nEntrails of Beasts killed in Sacrifice ... Birds, and celestial\nAppearances. _Cato_, who was one of the _Augurs_, conscious of their\nimpious Politicks, used to say, _He wondered how one Priest could look\nat another without laughing in his Face_. These Augural Priests made a\nCollege, or Community; they bore an Augural Staff or Wand, called\n_Lituus_, made in form of a _Crozier_, or a Bishop\u2019s Staff, or\nShepherd\u2019s Crook, as the Ensign of their Office and Authority\u2014\u2014 And what\nis most ridiculous is, that no Affair of Moment could be resolved upon,\nwithout first consulting these holy Cheats; and their Advice, be what it\nwould, was by a Decree of the Senate appointed to be exactly and\nreligiously observed. _Ornithomancy_, or Divination by Birds, was, among\nthe _Greeks_, the same with _Augury_ among the _Romans_.\nAt _Angola_ and _Congo_ in the _East-Indies_, wooden Idols, resembling\nNegroes, are erected in the midst of their Towns, which they daily\nworship. \u2019Tis their Belief they are never sick, but when their Idols are\nangry with them; therefore to appease them, they pour at their Feet the\n_Wine of Palms_. They wash, paint, and new cloath their Dead, and bury\nwith them Meat, Drink, and some of their Goods, and sprinkle the Grave\nwith the Blood of Goats. Their Priests are in such high Esteem, that\nthey think Plenty and Famine, Life and Death, are in their power[439].\nFootnote 439:\n  See _Purchas_.\nThe old Inhabitants of _Virginia_ believed many Gods, but one\nprincipally, who made the rest ... and that the Woman was made before\nthe Man, and propagated by the Help of one of the inferior Gods. The\nNatives are _Anthropomorphites_, giving to their Gods the Forms of\nMen.... When they go abroad, they carry their Gods about with them, and\nin Matters of Doubt ask Counsel of them. Much of their Devotion consists\nin howling and dancing about Fires, with Rattles in their Hands.\n_Qu\u00e6re_, Whether this Custom be not the Original of Castanets or\nSnappers in Dancing[440]?\nFootnote 440:\n  _Hackluit in Purchas._\nAnother Instance of monstrous Degeneracy, we have among the\n_Phenicians_, who offer\u2019d yearly Sacrifices to _Saturn_ of young\n_Infants_; and in the Temple of _Venus_, practised not only Whoredom,\nbut the most unnatural Sin of Sodomy also; yea, by the Laws of their\nReligion, were bound to prostitute their Daughters to _Venus_, before\nthey married them: In their Temple the Women who refused to be shaved,\nwere obliged to yield up their Honour to Strangers for one day.\nIn the Country, now called _New Spain_, the old Inhabitants would\nneither eat nor drink, till they had cast towards the Sun, some part of\ntheir Food; nor would they smell a Flower, without throwing up in the\nAir some Leaves of it, thereby acknowledging the Gods to be their great\nBenefactors: Tho\u2019 this be ridiculous, yet having an Air of religious\nGratitude, it is commendable. Among other Idols ador\u2019d at _Mexico_, they\nhad one called _Vitziliputzli_, placed in an azure colour\u2019d Chair, with\n_Serpent\u2019s Heads_ at each Corner.\nYea the Pagans, to authorize their own Crimes, and justify their vicious\nLives, have constituted licentious, drunken, vicious Gods, _&c._\nInstances of this kind we have in their religious Institutions, as the\n_Saturnalia_ of the _Romans_, which were Feasts sacred to the God\n_Saturn_: This Feast was observed in _December_, at first kept for one\nday, then for three days, and afterwards for seven days. So sacred was\nthis Festival, that while it lasted, no Criminals were to be executed,\nno War to begin.... And yet at the same time, a Sanction was given to\nuniversal Debauchery; all Rules of Virtue and common Decency were\nintirely banished, and all things run into a wild Scene of Distraction\nand Lewdness, and all this under the Umbrage of doing Honour to their\nGods[441].\nFootnote 441:\n  Uno die ... trium dierum ... septem dierum ... Bellum fumere nefas\n  habitum\u2014\u2014_Macrobii opera_, _Londini_, A. D. 1694. p. 155, 160, 168.\nThe same Game was acted in the _Lupercalian_ Feasts, instituted in\nhonour of the God _Pan_ (under the shape of a _Goat_) whose Priests, on\nthe Morning of the Feast, ran naked thro\u2019 the Streets, striking the\nmarried Women they met, on the Hands and Belly with _Straps_ cut out of\n_Goats Skins_, which was held an Omen, promising Fruitfulness, and happy\nDeliveries.\nI shall only add the _Bacchanalian_ Feasts, celebrated in honour of\n_Bacchus_, the God of Wine, and Master of the Revels; sometimes called\n_Orgia_[442], from a _Greek_ Word that signifies Anger and Rage, because\nin the Celebration of it, People acted in so raging and furious a\nmanner, as if they had been absolutely distracted. These religious\nFeasts were not only encumber\u2019d with a great number of Ceremonies, but\nattended with most notorious Dissoluteness; for Men and Women met at\nthem, all naked, except their Heads and Hips, that were shaded with Vine\nLeaves.\nFootnote 442:\n  \u039f\u03c1\u03b3\u03b7\nThe Women, who were installed Priestesses, during this Feast, ran thro\u2019\nthe Streets, and other Places, cover\u2019d with Tyger\u2019s Skins, Scepters in\none Hand, and Torches in the other, howling and roaring out the Praise\nof _Bacchus_, with Hair dishevell\u2019d, dangling about their Shoulders.\nThey were call\u2019d _M\u0153nades_ from their Madness, _Thyades_ from their\nRage, _Bacch\u00e6_ from their Intemperance.\nThe Poets tell us, that in the _Bacchanalian Train_, were a Croud of\n_Nymphs_ and _Naiades_, a sort of Heathen Divinities; some crown\u2019d with\nIvy, their Hair loose, and intermix\u2019d with Snakes, clothed with the\nSkins of Beasts, and girt about with large Serpents, and running\nfrantick in the Woods and Mountains.\nIn short, their sacred Games, Festivals, and Sacrifices, were little\nmore than drunken Banquets, nocturnal Revels, tumultuous Dancings, all\nwild, ridiculous and extravagant.\n[Illustration]\n _ACONTIA_ Serpent, (the Figure, Plate 4;) why call\u2019d a flying Serpent,\n _Adam_, why not made impeccable, 171\n \u2014\u2014 Converse betwixt him and Angels, 173\n \u2014\u2014 in Innocency put in mind of Death, 181\n \u2014\u2014 his Fall described by _Pagans_, 182, 3\n _Adder_; see _Viper_. (the Figure, Plate 1)\n _Agnasen_ Serpent, 132\n _Air_, ador\u2019d by _Pagans_, 210\n _Alexander the Great_, and _Alexander the Little_, 140\n _Amodytes_ Serpent, describ\u2019d, 53, 4\n _Amphisb\u00e6na_, a two-headed Serpent, describ\u2019d, 72\n \u2014\u2014 Instances of one in _Oxfordshire_, and in _Chiapa_ in _America_,\n _Ambua_ Serpent, 107\n _Ameiva_ Serpent, 122\n _Americina_, 122\n _Anacandia_ Serpent, [TN]\n _Ants_, their Penetration, 8\n \u2014\u2014 in _America_ great Master-Builders, 8, 132\n \u2014\u2014 Remarkable Sorts in the _East-Indies_, 8\n _Anguis laqueus_, or the Ensnaring-Serpent, 136\n _Animals_, turn\u2019d into Gods by _Pagans_, 213\n \u2014\u2014 Their Adoration ridicul\u2019d by some of themselves, 215, 236, 237\n _Apollo_, catechis\u2019d for his dubious Answers, 77\n \u2014\u2014 His She-Priest, _ibid._\n _Apotheosis_, or Deification describ\u2019d, 223\n _Asp_, (the Figure, Plate 2,) described, 59\n \u2014\u2014 Its Foresight, 60\n \u2014\u2014 A Poem on the Asp and its Poison, 61\n \u2014\u2014 Highly venerated among the _Egyptians_, 70\n _Attaligatus_ Serpent, 134\n _Basilisk_ Serpent, (the Figure, Plate 3) describ\u2019d, 78\n \u2014\u2014 why call\u2019d King of Serpents, 79\n \u2014\u2014 (_African_, Plate 3)\n _Battle_ of the Gods, 212\n _Bees_, (the Figure, Plate 5) their Sagacity, great Geometricians, 8\n \u2014\u2014 Their Sting describ\u2019d, 148\n _Birds_, why some here only in Winter, and others only in Summer, 7\n _Biobi_, or green Serpent describ\u2019d, 103\n _Bibera_ Serpent, 107\n _Bitin_ Serpent, 137\n _Blowing_ Serpent, 130\n _Boignacu_ Serpent, very beautiful, 106\n _Boytiapua_ Serpent, 108\n \u2014\u2014 An Instrument of Conjuration, 109\n _Bomsnake_ Serpent, 109\n _Boicupecanga_ Serpent, prickle-back\u2019d, 110\n _Boitiapo_ Serpent, 117\n _Brochet de Torre_, or Land-pike, 124\n _Brimstone_ Snake, 130\n _Cabiri_, characteriz\u2019d, 81\n _Caudisonant_, or Rattle-Snake, (the Figure, Plate 7) describ\u2019d, 91\n \u2014\u2014 Its Wounds and Cures, 92\n _Cameleon_, (the Figure, Plate 5) describ\u2019d; the reason why it appears\n    in a change of Colours, 96\n \u2014\u2014 Why call\u2019d a living Skin, 97\n _Canina_ Serpent, describ\u2019d, 103\n \u2014\u2014 A Domestick Animal, 104\n _Camruana_ Serpent, 108\n _Carapobeba_, 122\n _C\u00e6cilia_ Serpent describ\u2019d, why call\u2019d blind, 80\n _Cencris_ Serpent describ\u2019d, why call\u2019d miliary, 80, 1\n _Cerastes_, (the Figure, Plate 1) describ\u2019d, the Executioner of\n _Ceylon_, a Land of Delights, 113\n _Ceylonic Hotamb\u00e6ia_ Serpent, 115\n _Chickens_, produc\u2019d by artificial Heat, 6, 147\n _Chastity_ conjugal, how try\u2019d, 55\n _Charming_ of Serpents, various Instances, 62, 3\n \u2014\u2014 of Rats, a remarkable Instance in _Germany_, 65\n \u2014\u2014 of Serpents, by a Wand, 65\n _Cheese_, an odd Custom in Antiquity about it, 129\n _Chicken_ Snake, 131\n _Cherubims_, Emblems of Mercy and Justice, 175, 6\n _Christ_\u2019s Death, publish\u2019d before that of _Adam_, 180\n _Cleopatra_, her own Executioner by a Serpent, 34, 60, 61\n _Cloth_, wash\u2019d in Fire, 95\n _Cobres Capellos_ Serpent, describ\u2019d, 90\n _Colour_ Green, why hated by the _Turks_, 108\n \u2014\u2014 Blue, why hated by the _Persians_, 109\n _Cordylus_, a noxious Reptile, 121\n _Corn_ Snake, 129\n _Crocodile_, (the Figure, Plate 5) describ\u2019d at large, 118\n \u2014\u2014 eats Stones, _ibid._\n \u2014\u2014 venerated in _Egypt_, _ibid._\n \u2014\u2014 the occasion of a War, _ibid._\n \u2014\u2014 a Judge of Controversies, 119\n \u2014\u2014 the manner of destroying it, 120\n \u2014\u2014 Symbol of the Deity, 178\n _Creation_, a Poem, 162\n _Cuckold_, its Origin, 54\n _Cuckow_ Spittle, Grashoppers hatch\u2019d in it, 108\n _Cucurijuba_, a Serpent monstrous, 110\n _Darkness_, the Destruction of Colours, 71\n _D\u00e6mons_ explain\u2019d, 205\n _Devil_ ador\u2019d, 236, 238\n _Distempers_ cur\u2019d by manual Touch, 56, 7\n _Dipsas_ Serpent, describ\u2019d; its Wounds bring incurable Thirst, 85\n _Dogs_, superiour to Men in the Sense of Smelling, 66\n \u2014\u2014 the manner of Sensation philosophically explain\u2019d, 67\n \u2014\u2014 Providence vindicated in that matter, 68\n _Dopon_ Serpent, 133\n _Dragons_ describ\u2019d, various Sorts and Forms, 74\n \u2014\u2014 monstrous one slain by _Gozon_, Knight, by a strange contrivance, 75\n \u2014\u2014 another slain by the _Roman_ Army, 76\n _Dragon_, _Pythian_, Guardian of the _Delphick_ Oracle, _ibid._\n _Dragons_, Guardians of Treasures, 78\n \u2014\u2014 winged, describ\u2019d, (the Figure, Plate 2), 192\n \u2014\u2014 _\u00c6thiopian_, (the Figure, Plate 2)\n _Druina_ Serpent, describ\u2019d, 83\n _Eagles_, how they take their Prey, 145\n _Ecatoth_, or Serpent-of-the-Wind, 135\n _Eggs_, the reason of Propagation by them, 5\n \u2014\u2014 the Method wonderful, _ibid._\n _Egg_, Symbol of the World, 6\n _Eggs_ hatch\u2019d in Ovens, the Young ones generally imperfect, _ibid._\n \u2014\u2014 mysterious Egg.\n _Egg_, a surprizing Compound, 128\n \u2014\u2014 the White of it a most singular Menstruum, _ibid._\n \u2014\u2014 how reduc\u2019d to the likeness of Poison, _ibid._\n _Egyptians_, a People of Contradiction, 60\n \u2014\u2014 whipp\u2019d their inattentive Gods, 60\n _Elephantia_ Serpents, why so call\u2019d, 86\n _Elops_ Serpent, (the Figure, Plate 3) describ\u2019d, 84\n _Elephants_, Creatures of great Bulk, 86\n \u2014\u2014 subject to Resentment, Instances of it, 87\n \u2014\u2014 a Battle betwixt them and Serpents, 91\n _Ethetulla_ Serpent, 113\n _Eve_, how she came to converse with the Serpent, 174\n \u2014\u2014 her Converse with it before the Account of _Moses_ very probable,\n \u2014\u2014 a Negative would have preserv\u2019d her Innocence, 179\n _Faith_, the Magnet of Magicians, 64\n _Fascinating_ Eyes, 41\n _Fish_, how they breathe in Water, 1\n _Funerals_, their first Institution, 181\n _Generation_ equivocal exploded, 4\n _Ghalghulawa_ Serpent, 114\n _Giraupiagara_ Serpent, 108\n _Gobe Moujes_, 124\n _Gods_, Men transformed into them, 201\n \u2014\u2014 inanimate Things turn\u2019d into them, 207\n _Goddesses_, Women transform\u2019d into them, 206\n _Golden_ Calf, 214\n _Grotto di Cani_, a particular Account of it, 25, 6\n \u2014\u2014 \u2014\u2014 Experiments made in it by Mr. _Addison_, 26\n _Grotto de i Serpi_, a remarkable subterraneous Cavern, and Hospital\n    for particular Diseases, 38\n _Ground_ Rattle-Snake, 125\n _Griffin_ describ\u2019d, 145\n _Guaku_, or _Lyboya_ Serpent describ\u2019d, one of the most monstrous, 102\n _Harus_ Serpent, 138\n _Heathens_, their Fictions about Punishments in Hell, 49\n \u2014\u2014 their Opinion about Heaven, 50\n _Hereditary_ Right, the Title, how try\u2019d, 56\n _Hemorrhous_, (the Figure, Plate 1) describ\u2019d; its Wounds force the\n    Blood out thro\u2019 every Pore of the Body, 57\n _Horse_-Tail, a _Turkish_ Standard, the Original of it, 81\n _Hooded_, or Monk Serpent, 115\n _Horn_ Snake, 126\n _Hornet_, (the Figure, Plate 7) describ\u2019d, 148\n _Hydrus_, or Water-Snake, 126, 141, 2\n _Japonians_, their way of punishing Christians, 47\n _Jararaka_ Serpent, describ\u2019d, 103\n _Jacore_ Lizard, [TN]\n _Ibiara_ Serpent, describ\u2019d, 99\n _Ibitobaca_ Serpent, (the Figure, Plate 4) describ\u2019d, 102\n _Ibiboboca_ Serpent, describ\u2019d.\n _Ibizacoan_ Serpent, Cure of its Wound very singular, 106\n _Idolatry_, the Original of it, 197\n \u2014\u2014 more ancient than Image-Worship, 198\n \u2014\u2014 the Incentives to it, 199\n _Jeboya_ Serpent, 108\n _Images_, why _Laban_ call\u2019d them Gods, 203\n _Inchantment_ by noxious Herbs, _&c._ 47\n _Indian_ Prince, a very remarkable Saying of his about _Spanish_\n    Cruelty, 133\n _Insects_, little, great Executioners, 139\n \u2014\u2014 various Instances, _ibid._\n _Iquanna_ Serpent, describ\u2019d, 102\n _Iron_, one of the hardest Metals, yet the most brittle, 130\n _Israel_, why punish\u2019d by Serpents, 188\n \u2014\u2014 why punish\u2019d by fiery Serpents, _ibid._\n _Kakaboya_ Serpent, 106\n _Kingdom_ won by an Heroick Answer, 58\n _King_ Snake, 129\n \u2014\u2014 Sashes made of its Skin, _ibid._\n _Koko_ Serpent, a Representation of the _French_ Monarch, 58, 9\n _Kukuruki_ Serpent, describ\u2019d, 99\n _Lancashire_ Beauties, 69\n _Lacertus viridis_, or green Lizard, 121\n _Les Anoles_ Serpent, 123\n _Les Roquet_ Serpent, _ibid._\n _Light_, how the Sensation of it is produc\u2019d, 71\n \u2014\u2014 all Colours depend upon it, 71\n _Long_ black-Snake, 127\n _Magical_ Balls, 46, 7\n _Magick_ Art, the Original of it, 68\n \u2014\u2014 its Degeneracy, 68, 9\n \u2014\u2014 surprizing Instances of magick Wit, 69\n _Magick_ Egg, _ibid._\n _Magicians_, St. _Matthew_\u2019s wise Men in their time, 70\n _Manima_ Serpent, monstrous, 111\n _Malcarabeta_ Serpent, 113\n _Malpolon_ Serpent, _ibid._\n _Manballa_ Serpent, 114\n _Maboujas_, 123\n \u2014\u2014 , an Emblem of the old Serpent, 124\n _Macacoatl_, an horned Serpent, 132\n _Marine_ Dragon, or Serpent, 143\n _Men_, Giants and Pygmies among \u2019em, 16\n _Mexico_, two unparallel\u2019d Instances of Cruelty, one by the _Mexican_,\n    the other by _Spanish_ Priests, 100, 1\n _Milk_, its wonderful Nature describ\u2019d, 128\n _Mithridate_, the Original of its Name, 40, 5\n _Monoxillo_, or Mucronated-Serpent, 137\n _Musk_ Serpent, 116\n _Musk_ Rats, and Musk Cats, _ibid._\n _Musk_, a short Account of it, 116, 17\n _Musick_, its wonderful Effects on the Mind and the Body in several\n    remarkable Instances, 156 to 160\n \u2014\u2014 Conjectures about medicinal Cures by it, 164\n _Natrix-Torquata_ Snake, (the Figure, Plate 5), 142\n _Nintipolonga_ Serpent, 114\n _Noya_ Serpent, 90\n _Obsidian_ Stones, Looking-Glasses made of them, 105\n _Opium_, the Darling of the _Turks_, 21\n _Orators_, as well as Poets enthusiastical, 64\n _Oracular_ Answers, various Opinions about them, 77\n _Otus_ Serpent, 133\n _Pareas_ Serpent describ\u2019d, 84\n _Paper_, that is incombustible, 95\n _Parrot_, a rational Dialogue betwixt it and Prince _Maurice_, 144, 5\n _Parthians_, the best Fighters when retreating, 132\n _Paradise_, Self-denial a Duty there, 180\n \u2014\u2014 Threatnings necessary there, 181\n _Pagan_ Fables founded on the Writings of _Moses_, 182\n _Persian_ Kings, their _Recipe_ for an easy Death, 70\n _People_, without Fraud, 125\n \u2014\u2014 have no Name for it, _ibid._\n _Pimbera_ Serpent, describ\u2019d, 90\n _Pluto_, his Attendants and Executioners cover\u2019d with Snakes, as the\n    _Harpies_, _Furies_, _Cerberus_, _Chim\u00e6ra_, 47, 48, 49\n _Poison_, vegetable Instances of it, 19, 20\n \u2014\u2014 Mineral, various Instances in Damps from Copper, Mercury, Tin, Lead,\n \u2014\u2014 Animal, Debates about the Seat of it in Serpents, 26, 7\n \u2014\u2014 various Remedies for it, as Oil, experimented on one _William\n    Oliver_, bit by a Serpent; _Lichen Cinereus Terrestris_, _Venice_\n    Treacle, and several Vegetables, _&c._, 29, 30, 31, 145\n \u2014\u2014 one Drop of it a Match for a Sea of Blood, 32\n \u2014\u2014 when not dangerous, 33\n \u2014\u2014 exhaustible in Serpents by quick repeated Acts, but soon recruited,\n _Poetical_ Apology for a Sot, 73, 4\n _Polonga_ Serpent, describ\u2019d, 90\n _Priests_, their Genius for Cruelty. See _Mexico_.\n _Prussians_ and _Lithuanians_, Serpent-Worshippers, 226\n _Rattle_-Snake. _Vid._ Caudisonant.\n _Red_-belly Snake, 126\n _Red_-back Snake, 127\n _Rivers_ ador\u2019d, 210\n _Rubetarian_ Serpent, 143\n \u2014\u2014 \u2014\u2014 loud and pretty, _ibid._\n _Sandals_, used by the Ladies, 208\n _Salamander_, (the Figure, Plate 5,) described, 92\n \u2014\u2014 how said to live in the Fire, 93\n \u2014\u2014 _Corvini_\u2019s Experiment upon one, 94\n _Salamander\u2019s-Wool_, 95\n \u2014\u2014 \u2014\u2014 Shrouds made of it for Kings, 95\n _Satan_, why punish\u2019d under the Figure of a Serpent, 185\n _Scorpions_, (the Figure, Plate 7,) Countries destroy\u2019d by them, as in\n    _\u00c6thiopia_, _Amycl\u00e6_ a Town in _Italy_, _Pescara_ an ancient City in\n \u2014\u2014 their various Kinds, Sizes, and malignant Nature, 87, 8\n \u2014\u2014 the _Persians_ curse by them, 88\n _Scytale_ Serpent, (the Figure, Plate 2,) described, 70\n \u2014\u2014 \u2014\u2014 an Aggregate of charming Colours, 71\n _Scolopendra_, (the Figure, Plate 5,), 151\n _Serpents_, general Description of them, 2\n \u2014\u2014 their Mode of Propagation viviparous and oviparous, 4, 5\n \u2014\u2014 their Sagacity, with regard to their different Lodgments, 6, 7, 172\n \u2014\u2014 during Winter, sleep with open Eyes, 7\n \u2014\u2014 their Enemies, _viz._ Eagle, Hawk, Stork, Ibis, Ichneumon, Magaure,\n    and some Vegetables, 10, 11\n \u2014\u2014 Dust, not their original Food. A moral Reflection upon it, 12\n \u2014\u2014 their Food, which they swallow whole, 12, 13\n \u2014\u2014 their Size, some monstrous, others remarkably small, 13, 14, 15, 16,\n \u2014\u2014 their Apparatus for Motion curious, 17\n \u2014\u2014 their Skin an elegant Composition, 18\n \u2014\u2014 of special Service to Mankind, of great Use in Physick, various at\n    home and abroad, 36, 7\n \u2014\u2014 the common Food of many Nations in _Europe_, _Asia_, _Africa_,\n \u2014\u2014 Instruments of divine and human Vengeance, 44\n \u2014\u2014 _Jewish_ Camp infested with them, 44\n \u2014\u2014 Victory gain\u2019d by them on Sea and Land, 46\n _Serpent_, its Contest with St. _Paul_, 44\n _Seps_, (the Figure, Plate 1,) why call\u2019d the putrid Serpent, 58\n _Serpens Indicus Coronatus_, 112\n _Serpens Putorius_, 113\n   The Sea _Serpent_, (the Figure, Plate 6)\n _Serpent_ de Boa, 144\n   Mistress of _Serpents_, (the Figure, Plate 6)\n _Serpent_, an Account of a remarkable one in _Lancashire_, 144\n _Serpent_ in Paradise, various Opinions about it, 168\n   _American_ Serpent, (the Figure, Plate 3)\n _Serpent_ brazen, 191, 2\n \u2014\u2014 prefigur\u2019d Christ, 194\n \u2014\u2014 _Israel_, why cured by it, 195\n _Serpents_, the Adoration of them, 216 to 227\n \u2014\u2014 Reasons for that Worship, 228\n \u2014\u2014 Worshippers of \u2019em among Christians, 229\n _Shrew_-Serpent, 151\n _Shekina_ describ\u2019d, 187\n _Silence_, a Pythagorick Rudiment, 112\n \u2014\u2014 the Safety of _Venice_, 112\n _Sin_, its first Entrance, 168\n _Sleep_, a living Death, 70\n _Snake_ common, (the Figure, Plate 4) describ\u2019d, 85\n _Spiders_, (the Figure, Plate 5)\n \u2014\u2014 Black, (the Figure, Plate 4,) their various Kinds, 149\n \u2014\u2014 their Autumn Webs, 150\n \u2014\u2014 _American_, 150\n _Stellio_, 123\n _Stupid_ Serpent, 136\n \u2014\u2014 \u2014\u2014 a living Loadstone, as describ\u2019d by some, 136\n _Sun_ and Moon, chief Deities of the _Pagans_, 209\n _Swamp_ Snakes, 126\n _Tarciboya_ Serpent, 106\n _Tapayaxin_ Serpent, 121\n _Taraguira_, 121\n _Taraquico Aycuraba_ Serpent, 122\n _Tapayaxin_ Serpent, 137\n _Tapayaxin_ Serpent, the Friend of Man, 137\n _Tamacolin_ Serpent, of the Toad kind, 138\n _Tame_ and tractable Serpent, 140\n _Tarantula_, (the Figure, Plate 7,) its Poison and Cure by Musick; the\n    Manner how, 151 to 155\n _Teuthlacokauqui_ in _Mexico_, call\u2019d the Fortress of the Serpents,\n    describ\u2019d, 100\n _Tetzawhcoatl_ Serpent, 104\n _Terpomongo_ Serpent, 111\n \u2014\u2014 \u2014\u2014 a Symbol of Friendship, _ibid._\n _Tejuguacu_, 121\n _Tejunhana_ Serpent, 122\n _Tetzaucoatl_, or the rare Serpent, 139\n _Teraphim_, explain\u2019d, 202\n _Tleoa_, or _Tetloa_ Serpent, 140\n \u2014\u2014 an Inhabitant of the Mountains, 141\n _Toads_, as large as Cats and Dogs, 138\n _Tzicatlinan_ Serpent, 132\n \u2014\u2014 \u2014\u2014 the Darling of the Ladies, _ibid._\n _Vegetation_, none without Air, 3\n _Vegetables_, sleep in Winter, 7, 8\n \u2014\u2014 worshipped, 212\n _Vectis_, 131\n _Vipers_, different from the Snake, 52\n \u2014\u2014 a Battle betwixt one and a Magpye, 52\n \u2014\u2014 Battle betwixt one and a Dog, 53\n \u2014\u2014 don\u2019t eat after they are taken, 53\n _Vipera Indica Tricolor Major_, 112\n _Vipera Zelanica Minor, Maculis eleganter Variegata_, 112\n _Unison_, its Wonders, 160, 1\n _Wasps_, (the Figure, Plate 7,) describ\u2019d, 148\n _Wepelon_ Serpent, 115\n _Woman_ with two Horns, 54\n _Women_ warlike, 129\n \u2014\u2014 the hard Condition of their Marriage, _ibid._\n _Words_, their Efficacy, Instance of it in _C\u00e6sar_, 63, 4\n _Worms_, Instances of Execution by them, 134, 5\n _Worship_ of hurtful Creatures, why, 233\n \u2014\u2014 of different Animals in _Egypt_, the Reasons, 234\n _Yellow_ Snake, 130\n[Illustration]\n \u25cf Transcriber\u2019s Notes:\n    \u25cb There are several index entries that have no page reference\n      attached to them.\n    \u25cb There is a missing footnote here.\n    \u25cb These corrections have been made to this text when the target\n      could be unambiguously identified.\n    \u25cb The heirarchy of the different divisions (Part, Section, Chapter)\n      is not clear. They have been marked up to (more or less) match\n      their text attributes in the book.\n    \u25cb Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.\n    \u25cb Typographical errors were silently corrected.\n    \u25cb Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only\n      when a predominant form was found in this book.\n    \u25cb Text that:\n      was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).\n    \u25cb The use of a caret (^) before a letter, or letters, shows that the\n      following letter or letters was intended to be a superscript, as\n      in S^t Bartholomew or 10^{th} Century.", "source_dataset": "gutenberg", "source_dataset_detailed": "gutenberg -  An essay towards a natural history of serpents\n"},
{"created_timestamp": "07-22-1726", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Franklin/01-01-02-0029", "content": "Title: Journal of a Voyage, 1726\nFrom: Franklin, Benjamin\nTo: \nThe transcript of this Journal was made from Franklin\u2019s manuscript, and from it William Temple Franklin printed the text. Thus the transcript is one step closer to the lost original. The printed text is followed here, however, because of the mutilated state and uncertain punctuation of the longhand transcript. On the other hand, Temple Franklin\u2019s version is at variance with both the transcript and Franklin\u2019s presumed original in its too-lavish use of hyphens, as in \u201ca-head\u201d and \u201cto-morrow.\u201d One difference is that the printed version speaks of \u201cthe Snow,\u201d which the Berkshire met at sea on September 23; this was almost certainly \u201ca snow\u201d (a type of vessel), as it appears in the transcript. In two or three instances Temple Franklin has \u201cimproved\u201d on the transcript, which may reproduce his grandfather\u2019s language. These differences and changes are noted.\nJournal of occurrences in my voyage to Philadelphia on board the Berkshire, Henry Clark Master, from London.\nFriday, July 22, 1726\nYesterday in the afternoon we left London, and came to an anchor off Gravesend about eleven at night. I lay ashore all night, and this morning took a walk up to the Windmill Hill, whence I had an agreeable prospect of the country for above twenty miles round, and two or three reaches of the river with ships and boats sailing both up and down, and Tilbury Fort on the other side, which commands the river and passage to London. This Gravesend is a cursed biting place; the chief dependence of the people being the advantage they make of imposing upon strangers. If you buy any thing of them, and give half what they ask, you pay twice as much as the thing is worth. Thank God, we shall leave it to-morrow.\nSaturday, July 23\nThis day we weighed anchor and fell down with the tide, there being little or no wind. In the afternoon we had a fresh gale, that brought us down to Margate, where we shall lie at anchor this night. Most of the passengers are very sick. Saw several Porpoises, &c.\nSunday, July 24\nThis morning we weighed anchor, and, coming to the Downs, we set our pilot ashore at Deal and passed through. And now whilst I write this, sitting upon the quarter-deck, I have methinks one of the pleasantest scenes in the world before me. \u2019Tis a fine clear day, and we are going away before the wind with an easy pleasant gale. We have near fifteen sail of ships in sight, and I may say in company. On the left hand appears the coast of France at a distance, and on the right is the town and castle of Dover, with the green hills and chalky cliffs of England, to which we must now bid farewell. Albion, farewell!\nMonday, July 25\nAll the morning calm. Afternoon sprung up a gale at East: blew very hard all night. Saw the Isle of Wight at a distance.\nTuesday, July 26\nContrary winds all day, blowing pretty hard. Saw the Isle of Wight again in the evening.\nWednesday, July 27\nThis morning the wind blowing very hard at West, we stood in for the land, in order to make some harbour. About noon we took on board a pilot out of a fishing shallop, who brought the ship into Spithead off Portsmouth. The captain, Mr. Denham and myself went on shore, and during the little time we staid I made some observations on the place.\nPortsmouth has a fine harbour. The entrance is so narrow that you may throw a stone from fort to fort; yet it is near ten fathom deep and bold close to: but within there is room enough for five hundred, or for aught I know a thousand sail of ships. The town is strongly fortified, being encompassed with a high wall and a deep and broad ditch, and two gates that are entered over drawbridges; besides several forts, batteries of large cannon and other outworks, the names of which I know not, nor had I time to take so strict a view as to be able to describe them. In war time the town has a garrison of 10,000 men; but at present \u2019tis only manned by about 100 Invalids. Notwithstanding the English have so many fleets of men of war at sea at this time,\n   *One gone to the Baltic; one to the Mediterranean; and one to the West Indies.\n I counted in this harbour above thirty sail of 2nd, 3d, and 4th rates that lay by unrigged, but easily fitted out upon occasion, all their masts and rigging, lying marked and numbered in storehouses at hand. The King\u2019s yards and docks employ abundance of men, who even in peace time are constantly building and refitting men of war for the King\u2019s service. Gosport lies opposite to Portsmouth, and is near as big if not bigger; but except the fort at the mouth of the harbour, and a small outwork before the main street of the town, it is only defended by a mud wall which surrounds it, and a trench or dry ditch of about ten feet depth and breadth. Portsmouth is a place of very little trade in peace time; it depending chiefly on fitting out men of war. Spithead is the place where the fleet commonly anchor, and is a very good riding place. The people of Portsmouth tell strange stories of the severity of one Gibson, who was governor of this place in the Queen\u2019s time, to his soldiers, and show you a miserable dungeon by the town gate, which they call Johnny Gibson\u2019s Hole, where for trifling misdemeanors he used to confine his soldiers till they were almost starved to death. \u2019Tis a common maxim, that without severe discipline it is impossible to govern the licentious rabble of soldiery. I own indeed that if a commander finds he has not those qualities in him that will make him beloved by his people, he ought by all means to make use of such methods as will make them fear him, since one or the other (or both) is absolutely necessary; but Alexander and Caesar, those renowned generals, received more faithful service, and performed greater actions by means of the love their soldiers bore them, than they could possibly have done, if instead of being beloved and respected they had been hated and feared by those they commanded.\nThursday, July 28\nThis morning we came on board, having lain on shore all night. We weighed anchor and with a moderate gale stood in for Cowes in the Isle of Wight, and came to an anchor before the town about eleven o\u2019clock. Six of the passengers went on shore and diverted themselves till about 12 at night; and then got a boat, and came on board again, expecting to sail early in the morning.\nFriday, July 29\nBut the wind continuing adverse still, we went ashore again this morning, and took a walk to Newport, which is about four miles distant from Cowes, and is the metropolis of the island. Thence we walked to Carisbrooke, about a mile farther, out of curiosity to see that castle, which King Charles the First was confined in; and so returned to Cowes in the afternoon, and went on board in expectation of sailing.\nCowes is but a small town, and lies close to the sea-side, pretty near opposite to Southampton on the main shore of England. It is divided into two parts by a small river that runs up within a quarter of a mile of Newport, and is distinguished by East and West Cowes. There is a fort built in an oval form, on which there are eight or ten guns mounted for the defence of the road. They have a post-office, a custom-house, and a chapel of ease; and a good harbour for ships to ride in, in easterly and westerly winds.\nAll this day I spent agreeably enough at the draft-board. It is a game I much delight in; but it requires a clear head, and undisturbed; and the persons playing, if they would play well, ought not much to regard the consequence of the game, for that diverts and withdraws the attention of the mind from the game itself, and makes the player liable to make many false open moves; and I will venture to lay it down for an infallible rule, that if two persons equal in judgment play for a considerable sum, he that loves money most shall lose; his anxiety for the success of the game confounds him. Courage is almost as requisite for the good conduct of this game as in a real battle; for if the player imagines himself opposed by one that is much his superior in skill, his mind is so intent on the defensive part that an advantage passes unobserved.\nNewport makes a pretty prospect enough from the hills that surround it; (for it lies down in a bottom). The houses are beautifully intermixed with trees, and a tall old-fashioned steeple rises in the midst of the town, which is very ornamental to it. The name of the church I could not learn: but there is a very neat market-house, paved with square stone, and consisting of eleven arches. There are several pretty handsome streets, and many well-built houses and shops well stored with goods. But I think Newport is chiefly remarkable for oysters, which they send to London and other places, where they are very much esteemed, being thought the best in England. The oyster-merchants fetch them, as I am informed, from other places, and lay them upon certain beds in the river, (the water of which is it seems excellently adapted for that purpose) a-fattening, and when they have laid a suitable time they are taken up again, and made fit for sale.\nWhen we came to Carisbrooke, which, as I said before, is a little village about a mile beyond Newport, we took a view of an ancient Church that had formerly been a priory in Romish times, and is the first church, or the mother church of the island. It is an elegant building, after the old Gothic manner, with a very high tower, and looks very venerable in its ruins. There are several ancient monuments about it; but the stone of which they are composed is of such a soft crumbling nature, that the inscriptions are none of them legible. Of the same stone are almost all the tombstones, &c. that I observed in the island. From this church, (having crossed over the brook that gives name to the village, and got a little boy for a guide) we went up a very steep hill, through several narrow lanes and avenues, till we came to the castle gate. We entered over the ditch (which is now almost filled up, partly by the ruins of the mouldering walls that have tumbled into it, and partly by the washing down of the earth from the hill by the rains) upon a couple of brick arches, where I suppose formerly there was a drawbridge. An old woman who lives in the castle, seeing us as strangers walk about, sent and offered to show us the rooms if we pleased, which we accepted. This castle, as she informed us, has for many years been the seat of the Governors of the island: and the rooms and hall, which are very large and handsome with high arched roofs, have all along been kept handsomely furnished, every succeeding governor buying the furniture of his predecessor; but Cadogan the last governor, who succeeded General Webb, refusing to purchase it, Webb stripped it clear of all, even the hangings, and left nothing but bare walls. The floors are several of them of plaster of Paris, the art of making which, the woman told us, was now lost. The castle stands upon a very high and steep hill, and there are the remains of a deep ditch round it; the walls are thick, and seemingly well contrived: and certainly it has been a very strong hold in its time, at least before the invention of great guns. There are several breaches in the ruinous walls, which are never repaired, (I suppose they are purposely neglected) and the ruins are almost every where overspread with ivy. It is divided into the lower and the upper castle, the lower enclosing the upper which is of a round form, and stands upon a promontory to which you must ascend by near an hundred stone steps: this upper castle was designed for a retreat in case the lower castle should be won, and is the least ruinous of any part except the stairs before mentioned, which are so broken and decayed that I was almost afraid to come down again when I was up, they being but narrow and no rails to hold by. From the battlements of this upper castle (which they call the coop) you have a fine prospect of the greatest part of the island, of the sea on one side, of Cowes road at a distance, and of Newport as it were just below you. There is a well in the middle of the coop, which they called the bottomless well, because of its great depth; but it is now half filled up with stones and rubbish, and is covered with two or three loose planks; yet a stone, as we tried, is near a quarter of a minute in falling before you hear it strike. But the well that supplies the inhabitants at present with water is in the lower castle, and is thirty fathoms deep. They draw their water with a great wheel, and with a bucket that holds near a barrel. It makes a great sound if you speak in it, and echoed the flute we played over it very sweetly. There are but seven pieces of ordnance mounted upon the walls, and those in no very good order; and the old man who is the gunner and keeper of the castle, and who sells ale in a little house at the gate, has in his possession but six muskets, (which hang up at his wall) and one of them wants a lock. He told us that the castle, which had now been built 1203 years, was first founded by one Whitgert a Saxon who conquered the island, and that it was called Whitgertsburg for many ages. That particular piece of building which King Charles lodged in during his confinement here is suffered to go entirely to ruin, there being nothing standing but the walls. The island is about sixty miles in circumference, and produces plenty of corn and other provisions, and wool as fine as Cotswold; its militia having the credit of equalling the soldiery, and being the best disciplined in England. [Joseph Dudley?] was once in King William\u2019s time entrusted with the government of this island. At his death it appeared he was a great villain, and a great politician; there was no crime so damnable which he would stick at in the execution of his designs, and yet he had the art of covering all so thick, that with almost all men in general, while he lived, he passed for a saint. What surprised me was, that the silly old fellow, the keeper of the castle, who remembered him governor, should have so true a notion of his character as I perceived he had. In short I believe it is impossible for a man, though he has all the cunning of a devil, to live and die a villain, and yet conceal it so well as to carry the name of an honest fellow to the grave with him, but some one by some accident or other shall discover him. Truth and sincerity have a certain distinguishing native lustre about them which cannot be perfectly counterfeited, they are like fire and flame that cannot be painted.\nThe whole castle was repaired and beautified by Queen Elizabeth and strengthened by a breast-work all round without the walls, as appears by this inscription in one or two places upon it.\nSaturday, July 30\nThis morning about eight o\u2019clock we weighed anchor, and turned to windward till we came to Yarmouth, another little town upon this island, and there cast anchor again, the wind blowing hard and still westerly. Yarmouth is a smaller town than Cowes; yet the buildings being better, it makes a handsomer prospect at a distance, and the streets are clean and neat. There is one monument in the church which the inhabitants are very proud of, and which we went to see. It was erected to the memory of Sir Robert Holmes, who had formerly been governor of the island. It is his statue in armour, somewhat bigger than the life, standing on his tomb with a truncheon in his hand, between two pillars of porphyry. Indeed all the marble about it is very fine and good; and they say it was designed by the French King for his palace at Versailles, but was cast away upon this island, and by Sir Robert himself in his life-time applied to this use, and that the whole monument was finished long before he died, (though not fixed up in that place); the inscription likewise (which is very much to his honour) being written by himself. One would think either that he had no defect at all, or had a very ill opinion of the world, seeing he was so careful to make sure of a monument to record his good actions and transmit them to posterity.\nHaving taken a view of the church, town, and fort, (on which there is seven large guns mounted) three of us took a walk up further into the island, and having gone about two miles, we headed a creek that runs up one end of the town, and then went to Freshwater church, about a mile nearer the town, but on the other side of the creek. Having stayed here some time it grew dark, and my companions were desirous to be gone, lest those whom we had left drinking where we dined in the town, should go on board and leave us. We were told that it was our best way to go straight down to the mouth of the creek, and that there was a ferry boy that would carry us over to the town. But when we came to the house the lazy whelp was in bed, and refused to rise and put us over; upon which we went down to the water-side, with a design to take his boat, and go over by ourselves. We found it very difficult to get the boat, it being fastened to a stake and the tide risen near fifty yards beyond it: I stripped all to my shirt to wade up to it; but missing the causeway, which was under water, I got up to my middle in mud. At last I came to the stake; but to my great disappointment found she was locked and chained. I endeavoured to draw the staple with one of the thole-pins, but in vain; I tried to pull up the stake, but to no purpose: so that after an hour\u2019s fatigue and trouble in the wet and mud, I was forced to return without the boat. We had no money in our pockets, and therefore began to conclude to pass the night in some hay-stack, though the wind blew very cold and very hard. In the midst of these troubles one of us recollected that he had a horseshoe in his pocket which he found in his walk, and asked me if I could not wrench the staple out with that. I took it, went, tried and succeeded, and brought the boat ashore to them. Now we rejoiced and all got in, and when I had dressed myself we put off. But the worst of all our troubles was to come yet; for, it being high water and the tide over all the banks, though it was moonlight we could not discern the channel of the creek, but rowing heedlessly straight forward, when we were got about half way over, we found ourselves aground on a mud bank, and striving to row her off by putting our oars in the mud, we broke one and there stuck fast, not having four inches water. We were now in the utmost perplexity, not knowing what in the world to do; we could not tell whether the tide was rising or falling; but at length we plainly perceived it was ebb, and we could feel no deeper water within the reach of our oar. It was hard to lie in an open boat all night exposed to the wind and weather; but it was worse to think how foolish we should look in the morning, when the owner of the boat should catch us in that condition, where we must be exposed to the view of all the town.\nAfter we had strove and struggled for half an hour and more, we gave all over, and sat down with our hands before us, despairing to get off; for if the tide had left us we had been never the nearer, we must have sat in the boat, as the mud was too deep for us to walk ashore through it, being up to our necks. At last we bethought ourselves of some means of escaping, and two of us stripped and got out, and thereby lightening the boat, we drew her upon our knees near fifty yards into deeper water, and then with much ado, having but one oar, we got safe ashore under the fort; and having dressed ourselves and tied the man\u2019s boat, we went with great joy to the Queen\u2019s Head, where we left our companions, whom we found waiting for us, though it was very late. Our boat being gone on board, we were obliged to lie ashore all night; and thus ended our walk.\nSunday, July 31\nThis morning the wind being moderated, our pilot designed to weigh, and, taking advantage of the tide, get a little further to windward. Upon which the boat came ashore, to hasten us on board. We had no sooner returned and hoisted in our boat but the wind began again to blow very hard at West, insomuch that instead of going any further, we were obliged to weigh and run down again to Cowes for the sake of more secure riding, where we came to an anchor again in a very little time; and the pudding which our mess made and put into the pot at Yarmouth we dined upon at Cowes.\nMonday, August 1\nThis morning all the vessels in the harbour put out their colours in honour of the day, and it made a very pretty appearance. The wind continuing to blow hard westerly, our mess resolved to go on shore, though all our loose corks were gone already. We took with us some goods to dispose of, and walked to Newport to make our market, where we sold for three shillings in the pound less than the prime cost in London; and having dined at Newport, we returned in the evening to Cowes, and concluded to lodge on shore.\nTuesday, August 2\nThis day we passed on shore, diverting ourselves as well as we could; and the wind continuing still westerly, we stayed on shore this night also.\nWednesday, August 3\nThis morning we were hurried on board, having scarce time to dine, weighed anchor, and stood away for Yarmouth again, though the wind is still westerly; but meeting with a hoy when we were near half way there that had some goods on board for us to take in, we tacked about for Cowes, and came to anchor there a third time, about four in the afternoon.\nThursday, August 4\nStayed on board till about five in the afternoon, and then went on shore and stopped all night.\nFriday, August 5\nCalled up this morning and hurried aboard, the wind being North-West. About noon we weighed and left Cowes a third time, and sailing by Yarmouth we came into the channel through the Needles; which passage is guarded by Hurst Castle, standing on a spit of land which runs out from the main land of England within a mile of the Isle of Wight. Towards night the wind veered to the Westward, which put us under apprehensions of being forced into port again: but presently after it fell a flat calm, and then we had a small breeze that was fair for half an hour, when it was succeeded by a calm again.\nSaturday, August 6\nThis morning we had a fair breeze for some hours, and then a calm that lasted all day. In the afternoon I leaped overboard and swam round the ship to wash myself. Saw several Porpoises this day. About eight o\u2019clock we came to an anchor in forty fathom water against the tide of flood, somewhere below Portland, and weighed again about eleven, having a small breeze.\nSunday, August 7\nGentle breezes all this day. Spoke with a ship, the Ruby, bound for London from Nevis, off the Start of Plymouth. This afternoon spoke with Captain Homans in a ship bound for Boston, who came out of the River when we did, and had been beating about in the Channel all the time we lay at Cowes in the Wight.\nMonday, August 8\nFine weather, but no wind worth mentioning, all this day; in the afternoon saw the Lizard.\nTuesday, August 9\nTook our leave of the land this morning. Calms the fore part of the day. In the afternoon a small gale, fair. Saw a grampus.\nWednesday, August 10\nWind N.W. Course S.W. about four knots. By observation in latitude 48\u00b050\u2032. Nothing remarkable happened.\nThursday, August 11\nNothing remarkable. Fresh gale all day.\nCalms and fair breezes alternately.\nFriday, August\nSaturday, \u2014\u2014\nSunday, \u2014\u2014\n  No contrary winds, but calms and fair breezes alternately.\nMonday, \u2014\u2014\nTuesday, \u2014\u2014\nWednesday, \u2014\nThursday, August 18\nFour dolphins followed the ship for some hours: we struck at them with the fizgig, but took none.\nFriday, August 19\nThis day we have had a pleasant breeze at East. In the morning we spied a sail upon our larboard bow, about two leagues distance. About noon she put out English colours, and we answered with our ensign, and in the afternoon we spoke with her. She was a ship of New York, Walter Kippen Master, bound from Rochelle in France to Boston with salt. Our captain and Mr. D. went on board and stayed till evening, it being fine weather. Yesterday complaints being made that a Mr. G\u2014\u2014n one of the passengers had with a fraudulent design marked the cards, a Court of Justice was called immediately, and he was brought to his trial in form. A Dutchman who could speak no English deposed by his interpreter, that when our mess was on shore at Cowes, the prisoner at the bar marked all the court cards on the back with a pen.\nI have sometimes observed that we are apt to fancy the person that cannot speak intelligibly to us, proportionably stupid in understanding, and when we speak two or three words of English to a foreigner, it is louder than ordinary, as if we thought him deaf, and that he had lost the use of his ears as well as his tongue. Something like this I imagine might be the case of Mr. G\u2014n; he fancied the Dutchman could not see what he was about because he could not understand English, and therefore boldly did it before his face.\nThe evidence was plain and positive, the prisoner could not deny the fact, but replied in his defence, that the cards he marked were not those we commonly played with, but an imperfect pack, which he afterwards gave to the cabin-boy. The Attorney-General observed to the court that it was not likely he should take the pains to mark the cards without some ill design, or some further intention than just to give them to the boy when he had done, who understood nothing at all of cards. But another evidence being called, deposed that he saw the prisoner in the main top one day when he thought himself unobserved, marking a pack of cards on the backs, some with the print of a dirty thumb, others with the top of his finger, &c. Now there being but two packs on board, and the prisoner having just confessed the marking of one, the court perceived the case was plain. In fine the jury brought him in guilty, and he was condemned to be carried up to the round top, and made fast there in view of all the ship\u2019s company during the space of three hours, that being the place where the act was committed, and to pay a fine of two bottles of brandy. But the prisoner resisting authority, and refusing to submit to punishment, one of the sailors stepped up aloft and let down a rope to us, which we with much struggling made fast about his middle and hoisted him up into the air, sprawling, by main force. We let him hang, cursing and swearing, for near a quarter of an hour; but at length he crying out murder! and looking black in the face, the rope being overtort about his middle, we thought proper to let him down again; and our mess have excommunicated him till he pays his fine, refusing either to play, eat, drink, or converse with him.\nSaturday, August 20\nWe shortened sail all last night and all this day, to keep company with the other ship. About noon Captain Kippen and one of his passengers came on board and dined with us; they stayed till evening. When they were gone we made sail and left them.\nSunday, August 21\nThis morning we lost sight of the Yorker, having a brisk gale of wind at East. Towards night a poor little bird came on board us, being almost tired to death, and suffered itself to be taken by the hand. We reckon ourselves near two hundred leagues from land, so that no doubt a little rest was very acceptable to the unfortunate wanderer, who \u2019tis like was blown off the coast in thick weather, and could not find its way back again. We receive it hospitably and tender it victuals and drink; but he refuses both, and I suppose will not live long. There was one came on board some days ago in the same circumstances with this, which I think the cat destroyed.\nMonday, August 22\nThis morning I saw several flying-fish, but they were small. A favourable wind all day.\nFair winds, nothing remarkable.\nTuesday, August\nWednesday, \u2014\u2014\nThursday, August 25\nOur excommunicated ship-mate thinking proper to comply with the sentence the court passed upon him, and expressing himself willing to pay the fine, we have this morning received him into unity again. Man is a sociable being, and it is for aught I know one of the worst of punishments to be excluded from society. I have read abundance of fine things on the subject of solitude, and I know \u2019tis a common boast in the mouths of those that affect to be thought wise, that they are never less alone than when alone. I acknowledge solitude an agreeable refreshment to a busy mind; but were these thinking people obliged to be always alone, I am apt to think they would quickly find their very being insupportable to them. I have heard of a gentleman who underwent seven years close confinement, in the Bastile at Paris. He was a man of sense, he was a thinking man; but being deprived of all conversation, to what purpose should he think? for he was denied even the instruments of expressing his thoughts in writing. There is no burden so grievous to man as time that he knows not how to dispose of. He was forced at last to have recourse to this invention: he daily scattered pieces of paper about the floor of his little room, and then employed himself in picking them up and sticking them in rows and figures on the arm of his elbow-chair; and he used to tell his friends, after his release, that he verily believed if he had not taken this method he should have lost his senses. One of the philosophers, I think it was Plato, used to say, that he had rather be the veriest stupid block in nature, than the possessor of all knowledge without some intelligent being to communicate it to.\nWhat I have said may in a measure account for some particulars in my present way of living here on board. Our company is in general very unsuitably mixed, to keep up the pleasure and spirit of conversation: and if there are one or two pair of us that can sometimes entertain one another for half an hour agreeably, yet perhaps we are seldom in the humour for it together. I rise in the morning and read for an hour or two perhaps, and then reading grows tiresome. Want of exercise occasions want of appetite, so that eating and drinking affords but little pleasure. I tire myself with playing at draughts, then I go to cards; nay there is no play so trifling or childish, but we fly to it for entertainment. A contrary wind, I know not how, puts us all out of good humour; we grow sullen, silent and reserved, and fret at each other upon every little occasion. \u2019Tis a common opinion among the ladies, that if a man is ill-natured he infallibly discovers it when he is in liquor. But I, who have known many instances to the contrary, will teach them a more effectual method to discover the natural temper and disposition of their humble servants. Let the ladies make one long sea voyage with them, and if they have the least spark of ill nature in them and conceal it to the end of the voyage, I will forfeit all my pretensions to their favour. The wind continues fair.\nFriday, August 26\nThe wind and weather fair till night came on; and then the wind came about, and we had hard squalls with rain and lightning till morning.\nSaturday, August 27\nCleared up this morning, and the wind settled westerly. Two dolphins followed us this afternoon: we hooked one and struck the other with the fizgig; but they both escaped us, and we saw them no more.\nSunday, August 28\nThe wind still continues westerly, and blows hard. We are under a reefed mainsail and foresail.\nMonday, August 29\nWind still hard West. Two dolphins followed us this day; we struck at them, but they both escaped.\nTuesday, August 30\nContrary wind still. This evening the moon being near full, as she rose after eight o\u2019clock, there appeared a rainbow in a western cloud to windward of us. The first time I ever saw a rainbow in the night caused by the moon.\nWednesday, August 31\nWind still West, nothing remarkable.\nThursday, September 1\nBad weather, and contrary winds.\nFriday, September 2\nThis morning the wind changed, a little fair. We caught a couple of dolphins, and fried them for dinner. They tasted tolerably well. These fish make a glorious appearance in the water: their bodies are of a bright green, mixed with a silver colour, and their tails of a shining golden yellow; but all this vanishes presently after they are taken out of their element, and they change all over to a light grey. I observed that cutting off pieces of a just-caught living dolphin for baits, those pieces did not lose their lustre and fine colours when the dolphin died, but retained them perfectly. Every one takes notice of that vulgar error of the painters, who always represent this fish monstrously crooked and deformed, when it is in reality as beautiful and well shaped a fish as any that swims. I cannot think what should be the original of this chimera of theirs, (since there is not a creature in nature that in the least resembles their dolphin) unless it proceeded at first from a false imitation of a fish in the posture of leaping, which they have since improved into a crooked monster with a head and eyes like a bull, a hog\u2019s snout, and a tail like a blown tulip. But the sailors give me another reason, though a whimsical one, viz. that as this most beautiful fish is only to be caught at sea, and that very far to the Southward, they say the painters wilfully deform it in their representations, lest pregnant women should long for what it is impossible to procure for them.\nWind still westerly; nothing remarkable\n  Saturday,\n  September\n  Sunday,\nMonday\nTuesday, September 6\nThis afternoon the wind continuing still in the same quarter, increased till it blew a storm, and raised the sea to a greater height than I had ever seen it before.\nWednesday, September 7\nThe wind is somewhat abated, but the sea is very high still. A dolphin kept us company all this afternoon: we struck at him several times, but could not take him.\nThursday, September 8\nThis day nothing remarkable has happened. Contrary wind.\nFriday, September 9\nThis afternoon we took four large dolphins, three with a hook and line, and the fourth we struck with a fizgig. The bait was a candle with two feathers stuck in it, one on each side, in imitation of a flying-fish, which are the common prey of the dolphins. They appeared extremely eager and hungry, and snapped up the hook as soon as ever it touched the water. When we came to open them, we found in the belly of one, a small dolphin half digested. Certainly they were half famished, or are naturally very savage to devour those of their own species.\nSaturday, September 10\nThis day we dined upon the dolphins we caught yesterday, three of them sufficing the whole ship, being twenty-one persons.\nSunday, September 11\nWe have had a hard gale of wind all this day, accompanied with showers of rain. \u2019Tis uncomfortable being upon deck; and though we have been all together all day below, yet the long continuance of these contrary winds has made us so dull, that scarce three words have passed between us.\nNothing remarkable; wind contrary.\n  Monday,\n  September\nTuesday,\nWednesday, September 14\nThis afternoon about two o\u2019clock, it being fair weather and almost calm, as we sat playing Draughts upon deck, we were surprised with a sudden and unusual darkness of the sun, which as we could perceive was only covered with a small thin cloud: when that was passed by, we discovered that that glorious luminary laboured under a very great eclipse. At least ten parts out of twelve of him were hid from our eyes, and we were apprehensive he would have been totally darkened.\nThursday, September 15\nFor a week past we have fed ourselves with the hopes that the change of the moon (which was yesterday) would bring us a fair wind; but to our great mortification and disappointment, the wind seems now settled in the westward, and shews as little signs of an alteration as it did a fortnight ago.\nFriday, September 16\nCalm all this day. This morning we saw a Tropic bird, which flew round our vessel several times. It is a white fowl with short wings; but one feather appears in his tail, and he does not fly very fast. We reckon ourselves about half our voyage; latitude 38 and odd minutes. These birds are said never to be seen further North than the latitude of 40.\nSaturday, September 17\nAll the forenoon the calm continued, the rest of the day some light breezes easterly; and we are in great hopes the wind will settle in that quarter.\nSunday, September 18\nWe have had the finest weather imaginable all this day, accompanied with what is still more agreeable, a fair wind. Every one puts on a clean shirt and a cheerful countenance, and we begin to be very good company. Heaven grant that this favourable gale may continue! for we have had so much of turning to windward, that the word helm-a-lee is become almost as disagreeable to our ears as the sentence of a judge to a convicted malefactor.\nMonday, September 19\nThe weather looks a little uncertain, and we begin to fear the loss of our fair wind. We see Tropic birds every day, sometimes five or six together; they are about as big as pigeons.\nTuesday, September 20\nThe wind is now westerly again, to our great mortification; and we are come to an allowance of bread, two biscuits and a half a day.\nWednesday, September 21\nThis morning our Steward was brought to the geers and whipped, for making an extravagant use of flour in the puddings, and for several other misdemeanors. It has been perfectly calm all this day, and very hot. I was determined to wash myself in the sea to-day, and should have done so had not the appearance of a shark, that mortal enemy to swimmers, deterred me: he seemed to be about five feet long, moves round the ship at some distance in a slow majestic manner, attended by near a dozen of those they call pilot-fish, of different sizes; the largest of them is not so big as a small mackerel, and the smallest not bigger than my little finger. Two of these diminutive pilots keep just before his nose, and he seems to govern himself in his motions by their direction; while the rest surround him on every side indifferently. A shark is never seen without a retinue of these, who are his purveyors, discovering and distinguishing his prey for him; while he in return gratefully protects them from the ravenous hungry dolphin. They are commonly counted a very greedy fish; yet this refuses to meddle with the bait we have thrown out for him. \u2019Tis likely he has lately made a full meal.\nThursday, September 22\nA fresh gale at West all this day. The shark has left us.\nFriday, September 23\nThis morning we spied a sail to windward of us about two leagues. We shewed our jack upon the ensign-staff, and shortened sail for them till about noon, when she came up with us. She was a snow from Dublin, bound to New York, having upwards of fifty servants on board, of both sexes; they all appeared upon deck, and seemed very much pleased at the sight of us. There is really something strangely cheering to the spirits in the meeting of a ship at sea, containing a society of creatures of the same species and in the same circumstances with ourselves, after we had been long separated and excommunicated as it were from the rest of mankind. My heart fluttered in my breast with joy when I saw so many human countenances, and I could scarce refrain from that kind of laughter which proceeds from some degree of inward pleasure. When we have been for a considerable time tossing on the vast waters, far from the sight of any land or ships, or any mortal creature but ourselves (except a few fish and sea birds) the whole world, for aught we know, may be under a second deluge, and we (like Noah and his company in the Ark) the only surviving remnant of the human race. The two Captains have mutually promised to keep each other company; but this I look upon to be only matter of course, for if ships are unequal in their sailing they seldom stay for one another, especially strangers. This afternoon the wind that has been so long contrary to us, came about to the eastward (and looks as if it would hold), to our no small satisfaction. I find our messmates in a better humour, and more pleased with their present condition than they have been since we came out; which I take to proceed from the contemplation of the miserable circumstances of the passengers on board our neighbour, and making the comparison. We reckon ourselves in a kind of paradise, when we consider how they live, confined and stifled up with such a lousy stinking rabble in this sultry latitude.\nSaturday, September 24\nLast night we had a very high wind, and very thick weather; in which we lost our consort. This morning early we spied a sail a-head of us, which we took to be her; but presently after we spied another, and then we plainly perceived that neither of them could be the snow, for one of them stemmed with us, and the other bore down directly upon us, having the weather gage of us. As the latter drew near we were a little surprised, not knowing what to make of her; for by the course she steered she did not seem designed for any port, but looked as if she intended to clap us aboard immediately. I could perceive concern in every face on board; but she presently eased us of our apprehensions by bearing away a-stern of us. When we hoisted our jack she answered with French colours, and presently took them down again; and we soon lost sight of her. The other ran by us in less than half an hour, and answered our jack with an English ensign; she stood to the eastward, but the wind was too high to speak with either of them. About nine o\u2019clock we spied our consort, who had got a great way a-head of us. She, it seems, had made sail in the night, while we lay-by with our main yard down during the hard gale. She very civilly shortened sail for us, and this afternoon we came up with her; and now we are running along very amicably together side by side, having a most glorious fair wind.\nOn either side the parted billows flow,\nWhile the black ocean foams and roars below.\nSunday, September 25\nLast night we shot a-head of our consort pretty far. About midnight having lost sight of each other, we shortened sail for them: but this morning they were got as far a-head of us as we could see, having run by us in the dark unperceived. We made sail and came up with them about noon; and if we chance to be a-head of them again in the night, we are to show them a light, that we may not lose company by any such accident for the future. The wind still continues fair, and we have made a greater run these last four-and-twenty hours than we have done since we came out. All our discourse now is of Philadelphia, and we begin to fancy ourselves on shore already. Yet a small change of weather, attended by a westerly wind, is sufficient to blast all our blooming hopes, and quite spoil our present good humour.\nMonday, September 26\nThe wind continued fair all night. In the twelve o\u2019clock watch our consort, who was about a league a-head of us, showed us a light, and we answered with another. About six o\u2019clock this morning we had a sudden hurry of wind at all points of the compass, accompanied with the most violent shower of rain I ever saw, insomuch that the sea looked like a cream dish. It surprised us with all our sails up, and was so various, uncertain, and contrary, that the mizen topsail was full, while the head sails were all aback; and before the men could run from one end of the ship to the other, \u2019twas about again. But this did not last long ere the wind settled to the North-East again, to our great satisfaction. Our consort fell astern of us in the storm, but made sail and came up with us again after it was over. We hailed one another on the morrow, congratulating upon the continuance of the fair wind, and both ran on very lovingly together.\nTuesday, September 27\nThe fair wind continues still. I have laid a bowl of punch that we are in Philadelphia next Saturday sen\u2019night, for we reckon ourselves not above 150 leagues from land. The snow keeps us company still.\nWednesday, September 28\nWe had very variable winds and weather last night, accompanied with abundance of rain; and now the wind is come about westerly again, but we must bear it with patience. This afternoon we took up several branches of gulf weed (with which the sea is spread all over from the Western Isles to the coast of America); but one of these branches had something peculiar in it. In common with the rest it had a leaf about three quarters of an inch long, indented like a saw, and a small yellow berry filled with nothing but wind; besides which it bore a fruit of the animal kind, very surprising to see. It was a small shell-fish like a heart, the stalk by which it proceeded from the branch being partly of a gristly kind. Upon this one branch of the weed there were near forty of these vegetable animals; the smallest of them near the end contained a substance somewhat like an oyster, but the larger were visibly animated, opening their shells every moment, and thrusting out a set of unformed claws, not unlike those of a crab; but the inner part was still a kind of soft jelly. Observing the weed more narrowly, I spied a very small crab crawling among it, about as big as the head of a ten-penny nail, and of a yellowish colour, like the weed itself. This gave me some reason to think that he was a native of the branch, that he had not long since been in the same condition with the rest of those little embrios that appeared in the shells, this being the method of their generation; and that consequently all the rest of this odd kind of fruit might be crabs in due time. To strengthen my conjecture, I have resolved to keep the weed in salt water, renewing it every day till we come on shore, by this experiment to see whether any more crabs will be produced or not in this manner. I remember that the last calm we had, we took notice of a large crab upon the surface of the sea, swimming from one branch of weed to another, which he seemed to prey upon; and I likewise recollect that at Boston, in New England, I have often seen small crabs with a shell like a snail\u2019s upon their backs, crawling about in the salt water; and likewise at Portsmouth in England. It is likely nature has provided this hard shell to secure them till their own proper shell has acquired a sufficient hardness, which once perfected, they quit their old habitation and venture abroad safe in their own strength. The various changes that silk-worms, butterflies, and several other insects go through, make such alterations and metamorphoses not improbable. This day the captain of the snow with one of his passengers came on board us; but the wind beginning to blow, they did not stay dinner, but returned to their own vessel.\nThursday, September 29\nUpon shifting the water in which I had put the weed yesterday, I found another crab, much smaller than the former, who seemed to have newly left his habitation. But the weed begins to wither, and the rest of the embrios are dead. This new comer fully convinces me, that at least this sort of crabs are generated in this manner. The snow\u2019s Captain dined on board us this day. Little or no wind.\nFriday, September 30\nI sat up last night to observe an eclipse of the moon, which the calendar calculated for London informed us would happen at five o\u2019clock in the morning, September 30. It began with us about eleven last night, and continued till near two this morning, darkening her body about six digits, or one half; the middle of it being about half an hour after twelve, by which we may discover that we are in a meridian of about four hours and half from London, or 67\u00bd degrees of longitude, and consequently have not much above one hundred leagues to run. This is the second eclipse we have had within these fifteen days. We lost our consort in the night, but saw him again this morning near two leagues to windward. This afternoon we spoke with him again. We have had abundance of dolphins about us these three or four days; but we have not taken any more than one, they being shy of the bait. I took in some more gulf-weed to-day with the boat-hook, with shells upon it like that before mentioned, and three living perfect crabs, each less than the nail of my little finger. One of them had something particularly observable, to wit, a thin piece of the white shell which I before noticed as their covering while they remained in the condition of embrios, sticking close to his natural shell upon his back. This sufficiently confirms me in my opinion of the manner of their generation. I have put this remarkable crab with a piece of the gulf-weed, shells, &c. into a glass phial filled with salt water, (for want of spirits of wine) in hopes to preserve the curiosity till I come on shore. The wind is South-West.\nSaturday, October 1\nLast night our consort, who goes incomparably better upon a wind than our vessel, got so far to windward and a-head of us, that this morning we could see nothing of him, and \u2019tis like shall see him no more. These South-Wests are hot damp winds, and bring abundance of rain and dirty weather with them.\nSunday, October 2\nLast night we prepared our line with a design to sound this morning at four o\u2019clock; but the wind coming about again to the North West, we let it alone. I cannot help fancying the water is changed a little, as is usual when a ship comes within soundings, but \u2019tis probable I am mistaken; for there is but one besides myself of my opinion, and we are very apt to believe what we wish to be true.\nMonday, October 3\nThe water is now very visibly changed to the eyes of all except the Captain and Mate, and they will by no means allow it; I suppose because they did not see it first. Abundance of dolphins are about us, but they are very shy, and keep at a distance. Wind North West.\nTuesday, October 4\nLast night we struck a dolphin, and this morning we found a flying-fish dead under the windlass. He is about the bigness of a small mackarel, a sharp head, a small mouth, and a tail forked somewhat like a dolphin, but the lowest branch much larger and longer than the other, and tinged with yellow. His back and sides of a darkish blue, his belly white, and his skin very thick. His wings are of a finny substance, about a span long, reaching, when close to his body, from an inch below his gills to an inch above his tail. When they fly it is straight forward, for (they cannot readily turn) a yard or two above the water, and perhaps fifty yards is the farthest before they dip into the water again, for they cannot support themselves in the air any longer than while their wings continue wet. These flying-fish are the common prey of the dolphin, who is their mortal enemy. When he pursues them they rise and fly, and he keeps close under them till they drop, and then snaps them up immediately. They generally fly in flocks, four or five, or perhaps a dozen together, and a dolphin is seldom caught without one or more in his belly. We put this flying-fish upon the hook, in hopes of catching one, but in a few minutes they got it off without hooking themselves; and they will not meddle with any other bait.\nTuesday Night\nSince eleven o\u2019clock we have struck three fine dolphins, which are a great refreshment to us. This afternoon we have seen abundance of grampuses, which are seldom far from land; but towards evening we had a more evident token, to wit, a little tired bird, something like a lark, came on board us, who certainly is an American, and \u2019tis likely was ashore this day. It is now calm. We hope for a fair wind next.\nWednesday, October 5\nThis morning we saw a heron, who had lodged aboard last night. \u2019Tis a long-legged, long-necked bird, having as they say but one gut. They live upon fish, and will swallow a living eel thrice sometimes before it will remain in their body. The wind is West again. The ship\u2019s crew was brought to a short allowance of water.\nThursday, October 6\nThis morning abundance of grass, rock-weed, &c. passed by us; evident tokens that land is not far off. We hooked a dolphin this morning that made us a good breakfast. A sail passed by us about twelve o\u2019clock, and nobody saw her till she was too far astern to be spoken with. \u2019Tis very near calm: we saw another sail a-head this afternoon; but night coming on, we could not speak with her, though we very much desired it: she stood to the Northward, and it is possible might have informed us how far we are from land. Our artists on board are much at a loss. We hoisted our jack to her, but she took no notice of it.\nFriday, October 7\nLast night, about nine o\u2019clock, sprung up a fine gale at North East, which run us in our course at the rate of seven miles an hour all night. We were in hopes of seeing land this morning, but cannot. The water, which we thought was changed, is now as blue as the sky; so that unless at that time we were running over some unknown shoal our eyes strangely deceived us. All the reckonings have been out these several days; though the captain says \u2019tis his opinion we are yet an hundred leagues from land: for my part I know not what to think of it, we have run all this day at a great rate; and now night is come on we have no soundings. Sure the American continent is not all sunk under water since we left it.\nSaturday, October 8\nThe fair wind continues still; we ran all night in our course, sounding every four hours, but can find no ground yet, nor is the water changed by all this day\u2019s run. This afternoon we saw an Irish Lord, and a bird which flying looked like a yellow duck. These they say are not seen far from the coast. Other signs of land have we none. Abundance of large porpoises ran by us this afternoon, and we were followed by a shoal of small ones, leaping out of the water, as they approached. Towards evening we spied a sail a-head and spoke with her just before dark. She was bound from New York for Jamaica, and left Sandy Hook yesterday about noon, from which they reckon themselves forty-five leagues distant. By this we compute that we are not above thirty leagues from our capes, and hope to see land to-morrow.\nSunday, October 9\nWe have had the wind fair all the morning: at twelve o\u2019clock we sounded, perceiving the water visibly changed, and struck ground at twenty-five fathoms, to our universal joy. After dinner one of our mess went up aloft to look out, and presently pronounced the long-wished for sound, Land! Land! In less than an hour we could descry it from the deck, appearing like tufts of trees. I could not discern it so soon as the rest; my eyes were dimmed with the suffusion of two small drops of joy. By three o\u2019clock we were run in within two leagues of the land, and spied a small sail standing along shore. We would gladly have spoken with her, for our captain was unacquainted with the coast, and knew not what land it was that we saw. We made all the sail we could to speak with her. We made a signal of distress; but all would not do, the ill-natured dog would not come near us. Then we stood off again till morning, not caring to venture too near.\nMonday, October 10\nThis morning we stood in again for land; and we, that had been here before, all agreed that it was Cape Henlopen: about noon we were come very near, and to our great joy saw the pilot-boat come off to us, which was exceeding welcome. He brought on board about a peck of apples with him; they seemed the most delicious I ever tasted in my life: the salt provisions we had been used to, gave them a relish. We had an extraordinary fair wind all the afternoon and ran above an hundred miles up the Delaware before ten at night. The country appears very pleasant to the eye, being covered with woods, except here and there a house and plantation. We cast anchor when the tide turned, about two miles below Newcastle, and there lay till the morning tide.\nTuesday, October 11\nThis morning we weighed anchor with a gentle breeze, and passed by Newcastle, whence they hailed us and bade us welcome. \u2019Tis extreme fine weather. The sun enlivens our stiff limbs with his glorious rays of warmth and brightness. The sky looks gay, with here and there a silver cloud. The fresh breezes from the woods refresh us, the immediate prospect of liberty after so long and irksome confinement ravishes us. In short all things conspire to make this the most joyful day I ever knew. As we passed by Chester some of the company went on shore, impatient once more to tread on terra firma, and designing for Philadelphia by land. Four of us remained on board, not caring for the fatigue of travel when we knew the voyage had much weakened us. About eight at night, the wind failing us, we cast anchor at Redbank, six miles from Philadelphia, and thought we must be obliged to lie on board that night: but some young Philadelphians happening to be out upon their pleasure in a boat, they came on board, and offered to take us up with them: we accepted of their kind proposal, and about ten o\u2019clock landed at Philadelphia, heartily congratulating each other upon our having happily completed so tedious and dangerous a voyage. Thank God!", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1726},
{"created_timestamp": "01-01-1726", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Franklin/01-01-02-0030", "content": "Title: Plan of Conduct, 1726\nFrom: Franklin, Benjamin\nTo: \n\u201cPerhaps the most important Part\u201d of the foregoing Journal, Franklin wrote in his autobiography, was \u201cthe Plan to be found in it which I formed at Sea, for regulating my future Conduct in Life.\u201d The plan does not appear in the surviving transcript of the Journal, and is probably lost. About 1785, however, Franklin allowed William Rawle, a fellow member of the Society for Political Inquiries, to make a copy of \u201cthe preamble and heads of it\u201d; and Rawle, in 1815, gave this material to his friend Robert Walsh of Philadelphia for a sketch of Franklin. Walsh seems to have printed only a part of what Rawle sent him\u2014the part that appears here. Franklin considered his plan \u201cthe more remarkable, as being form\u2019d when I was so young, and yet being pretty faithfully adhered to quite thro\u2019 to old Age.\u201d\nThose who write of the art of poetry teach us that if we would write what may be worth the reading, we ought always, before we begin, to form a regular plan and design of our piece: otherwise, we shall be in danger of incongruity. I am apt to think it is the same as to life. I have never fixed a regular design in life; by which means it has been a confused variety of different scenes. I am now entering upon a new one: let me, therefore, make some resolutions, and form some scheme of action, that, henceforth, I may live in all respects like a rational creature.\n1. It is necessary for me to be extremely frugal for some time, till I have paid what I owe.\n2. To endeavour to speak truth in every instance; to give nobody expectations that are not likely to be answered, but aim at sincerity in every word and action\u2014the most amiable excellence in a rational being.\n3. To apply myself industriously to whatever business I take in hand, and not divert my mind from my business by any foolish project of growing suddenly rich; for industry and patience are the surest means of plenty.\n4. I resolve to speak ill of no man whatever, not even in a matter of truth; but rather by some means excuse the faults I hear charged upon others, and upon proper occasions speak all the good I know of every body.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1726}
]