VIII. vers. 496—497.

An impostor caused himself to be bitten in public by Asps : Aelian thinks that he used a beverage prepared to preserve himself from the consequences of the bite. But this could only be an artifice destined to hide the true secret.
X The Psylli never divulged to their wives the secret. " Mulier enim, Psylla esse non potest." (Xiphilin. in August. — ^Aelian. De Nat. Anim. lib. i. cap. lvii.) Their modem disciples have not imitated their reserve. Hasselquist (vol. i. p. 96 — 97) mentions a woman who, under his eyes, rendered serpents completely powerleM.
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rather, in accordance with their suspicions, to destroy the presumed fruits of the adulterer. Bruce assured us that the secret of the Egyptians and Arabs, in bearing the bites of serpents with impunity, consists in bathing them- selves in a decoction of herbs and roots, the nature of which they carefully conceal. Forskhal informs us, that the Egyptians charm serpents with a Bitter-wort, an Aristolochia, with the species of which he was not ac- quainted. According to Jacquin, the aristolochia an- guidda is the plant which is employed by the indige- nous tribes of America* for the same purpose.
At this day, when the traces of the emigrations, which had conducted people from the plains of Tartary into equinoctial America have been discovered, it is not surprising to find this secret propagated in the New World. After being convinced of its great antiquity, comparing the narrations of modem travellers with those of ancient historians, it is much more astonishing that we never re-discovered it in Hindostan. It existed there, in fact, from time immemorial.
By the side of every secret of this kind, we are almost
* Hasselquist. Voyage dans h Levant, vol. i. p. 100. — This species of Aristolachia is a twining plant, with oUong, sharp - pmnted, cordate leaves, with solitary heart-shaped stipules sur- rounding the stem, and an erect dilated corolla, with a lanceolate, somewhat truncated lip. It is a native of Mexico, where the juice of the root of the plant, mixed with saliva, and called Gti-Gtii, is poured into the wound made by the bite of a serpent ; and, after being left undisturbed for some time, ensures the safety of the bit- ten person. Such is the description of its use and its eflRects by Jacquin. — Ed.
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certain to find some custom which has so far rendered the discovery of it necessary, and to which, on the contrary, it owfes, in part, its hirth. In Hindostan, in orddr to ascertain the truth of an accusation, *' they throw a hooded serpent, called Naga,* into a deep pot of earth, into which they let fall a ring, a seal, or a piece of money, which the accused is obliged to take up with his hand. If the serpent bite him, he is declared guilty ; and, on the contrary, if not bitten,
* The Naia tripudians, the Cobra de Capello, or Hooded Ser- pent of the Asiatic Portuguese. It is characterized by the expan- sive neck which covers the head like a hood; and, when thus dilated, displays upon its upper part two oval disks, united by an arch, whidi4)rodiiee> the resemblance of a pair of old /ashioned spectacles laid upon a beautifully ribbed and dotted ground. Its length is from six to fifteen feet, and its general colour brown. It is the most venomous of the Indian serpents, and its bite is mor- tal ; but, nevertheless, it is rendered docile by music, by being pampered with milk and sugar, and by kind treatment. It is an object of worship in some of the Hindoo temples, and is stated by the priests to be the form which the Deity occasionally assumes. When enraged, and about to strike, it raises its head and part of its body, and dilates the hood, whilst the rest of the body is coiled up on the ground to give force to the spring. Dr. John Davy, in his Account of Ceylon, mentions having seen a hen bitten by one of them : it kept its hold for two or three minutes, and was then shaken off by Dr. Davy. " The hen. which at first seemed to be little affected, died eight hours after she was bitten ;" but so long a time seldom elapses between the bite and the death of the aQimal which is struck. The poison, when recent, is colourless, limpid, and in consistence resembles a solution of gum-arabic in water; it is acrid, and loses much of its virulence after being kept.— Ed.
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innocent.*'* It was thus in Egypt, that the sacred Asps, the intelligent ministers of the vengeance of Isis, gave death to evil, and respected good nien.f
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* Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 473. We find that the greatest part of the Hindoo ordeals are equally used in Pegu, among the Burmese.
t Aelian. De Nat. Animal, lib. x. cap. xxxi.
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