Serpents.
be formed into a itroug and ufeful filk; the one is the Pbalrena
Atlas, Gm. Lin. v. 2400. Merian Inf. Sur. 52. which inhabits
the orange tree; it is a gigantic kind, finely exhibited in Sh a w ' s
Nat. jMifc. tab. ii. The other is found in. Bengal, and is thus
defcrihed hy the late Sir W i l l i a m J o n e s , in a letter to Doctor
A n d e r s o n , dated May 17, 1791; “ We have,” faid the lamented
genius, “ a beautiful filk worm in the north eaft o f Bengal,
“ which feeds (wholly, I believe) 011 the Ricinus, whence I call
“ it PhaUna Ricini. It is fea-green, with foft fpines, very large
“ and voracious, and fpins a coarfe, but ftrong and ufeful filk ;
“ the moth of a great fize, and with elegant and dark plu-
“ mage. Is it known to. European naturajifts,?” I will anfwer
the pofthumous queftion : who fo proper as the late Mr. Pen-
nant * f It is the fynonymous Pbalrena of Fabricius,,Gm. Lin. v.
P- *44a-
T h e f e r p e n t s o f Hindoojlan a r e v e r y n u m e r o u s , t h e k n o w n
fp e c ie s am o u n t to f o r t y - f i x . I h a v e b e fo r e m e n t io n e d fu c h
w h i c h h a v e b e e n p r o v e d b y e x p e r ie n c e t o b e f a t a l to. m a n k in d .
M . de la tepede g i v e s a d r e a d fu l c a t a lo g u e , am o n g w h i c h a r e
n u m b e r s o f t h e Indian, to b e n o t e d w i t h t h e m o r ta l m a r k •
b u t h e d o e s n o t e n t e r in to t h e i r n a t u r e , , t h e f ym p t om s o f t h e i r
b i t e s , n o r t h e m e a n s o f c u r e . 1 f in d o n ly f o u r f r o g s , a n d
e ig h t e e n l iz a r d s .
B u t the world is indebted to my friend Doaor Patrick
R u jel for a molt fptendid hiftory of the Serpents of the Coromandel
coaft, in the fame form, and under the fame patronages
* See my Literary Life, T it l e -page, and A dvertisement.
as
as the Flora. He delineates in natural colors xliii fpecies.
Their marks are varied in the moil: exquifite and aftoniihing
manner, which demonftrate invention paft the human. But
none emulate in teints and grace the ferpent, the caufe of the
primaeval fall of man. None come up to that created by the
fublime fancy of our M i l t o n , when he defcribes its eventful
approach towards our common mother.
Not with indented wave
Ptone on the ground, as iince, but on his rear,
Circular bafe of riling folds, that tower’d
Fold above fold a furging maze, his head
Crelied aloft, and carbuncle his eye.
With burnilh’d neck of verdant gold ereit
Amidft his circling fpires, that on the graft
Floated!' redundant:; plealing was his fhape
And lovely, never fince o f Serpent kind
Lovelier.
The mortal fnakes o f Hindoojlan fhew dim in refpedt to
colors, in comparifon of the felon which fWe into Eden. Some
are held by the Hindoos in the higheft veneration. The Adye-
cban, perhaps the Boa, is made the couch of Vtehenou, coiled
in an oblong form, with the heads, for it has five, reared over
that o f the deity, who lies extended afleep on this ftrange bed
floating on the fea. This and the Calingan, the Cobra de Capello,
another moll venomous fnake, are the frequent attendants of
the brain-fick deities o f the country.