196 ■ I p ‘K A R RIA. T I Y/E 10. W §M®L-I
c h a p , fcales lik|;mod other ferpents. Whea fhis' anomal is4 a -
XXIV- tent on rrtifchief, it lies.coiled like a *rdpe, iwiriiithe tail a
little in motkjtij vdiicii'' having rattled^iw lawi^fes fortb
upon its p re y ,'m ak in gn o . farther. re&eh thah &ts owri
length; this done, it coils’ a fecond time; an d*|gainj projects
itfdf. The b iie r ö fV th ^ ^ t je ^ » ^ '^ 4^^&ate<i
-fatal, at leaft-is'thought ver y daageijpus' over all5 America;:
but with regard to the f aid n at in g qffiili tie^.of ft srey fuch
as the dory of its^ah^g^iee^fjc|intrdi^ and^birdfegto:rurfc
into it^tpouth, L reje<ä thejan as*|able&; ih«., fuppofect
charm confiding in nothing more than' this; that the-
poor anirpals, finding themfdvex>fur prized;'by .the^^m-
pendihg danger, are feized with fheh a trepidatioh->and
fear, that even the ufe of theirTimbs' for fakes them, and
they are riveited to the. place till they%fi% or in the'adt of
leaping thef are feiz®%by their enemy
i In; this cabinet I alfd: faw the: t|^^iHof :Siirinam',,
which had almoft the colour o f ultramarine ^
its fides were.lighter, and the belly nearly^hife. I did
not learn‘that.;the bite of this reptile was fatal, but that
it occafions immoderate thirlt in the patient,*from which
it took its name; the word dipfa- fignifying third in-the
Greek language. Another fnake I alfo obferved here, about
three feet long,, being;an-nulated' with differertt^eoloursy
and .calle& amphißcejij&,. from, the. fuppofition obits. havr
ing two heads; but the truth is, that from its cylindrical
* See a letter to the editors o f the New Univerfal Magazine for October-1787*
formt
M e