ESSAY. I.OF THE VIPER.
TheViper has always been so Notorious for its Venom, that the most remote Antiquity made it an Emblem of what is Hurtful and Destructive. Nay, so terrible was the Nature of these Creatures, that they were very commonly thought to be sent as Executioners of Divine Vengeance upon Mankind for Enormous Crimes, which had escaped the Course of Common Justice. ThusHerodotus(1)andÆlian(2)do both take notice that Adders were sacred among theÆgyptians; that they affirmed of one sort of ’em particularly, that they were made to be Ministers of the Will of the Gods, by averting Evil from Good Men, and punishing the Bad. AndPausanias(3)observes of theArabians, that they forbore to offer any Violence to the Vipers which were found near to the Balsam-Tree, as reputing ’em Holy. The Footsteps of which Superstition do still remain among these People to this very Day, forVeslingius(4)saw many of ’em take these Creatures into their Houses, feed ’em, and worship them as theGeniiof the Place. The same odd Fancy obtains in theEast-Indies, for the King ofCalicutcauses Cottages to be set up for Serpents to keep them from the Rain, and makes it Death to any that shall hurt one of ’em; thinking them to be Heavenly Spirits, because they can so suddenly Kill Men(5). A Remarkable Instance of such an Opinion as this we have in the History of St.Paul(6), whom the People ofMaltawhen they saw the Viper leap upon his Hand, presently concluded to be a Murderer, and as readily made a God of him, when instead of having his Hand Inflamed, or falling down Dead, (one or other of which is usually the Effect of those Bites) he without any harm shook the Beast into the Fire. It being Obvious enough to imagine, that He must stand in a near Relation at least to the Gods themselves, who could thus Command the Messengers of their Vengeance, and Counterwork the Effects of such powerful Agents.
And this, after the many Conjectures upon the Matter, seems to be the true Reason why Antiquity not only Represented the First Masters of Physick,Hermes,Æsculapius,Hippocrates, &c. in their Statues and Medals, with a Viper added to their Figure, but also Worshipped them under this Form, for Diseases in those Days, especially the most Violent, Plagues, Fevers,&c.were in like manner, as these Creatures, reputed the Commission’d Messengers of Divine Anger and Displeasure(7). They therefore who by their Art could Cure and Stop the Course of these, as they were supposed to do this by the particular Leave and Assistance of Heaven, so had Honours paid to Them accordingly, and this Representation was in the Nature of an Hieroglyphick Character; for as the LearnedSpanhemobserves,(8)the Viper was a Symbol or Emblem of Divine Power.
Macrobiusindeed gives us another account of this Custom, and that is from the Property which all Serpents have of casting theirExuviæ, or Upper-Skin, every Year, which makes ’em fit Emblems or Representations of Health; the Recovery of which from Sickness and Diseases may justly be looked upon as the beginning of a fresh Period of Life, and (as the throwing off theSenectusof these Creatures seems to be) the Renewing of Age(9).
Whether one or the other of these Reasons be allow’d of, or both thought good, certain it is that such fond and superstitious Fancies concerning the Viper, together with the mistaken Opinion that few of its Parts were exempt from Poison, did not suffer the Ancients to make any Curious Enquiries into its Nature by Anatomy and Experiments, and this is the Cause of the many Errors they have delivered down to us in these Points, which by gradual Advances have since been rectified, and the inward Make, Properties, and Generation of this Animal, largely treated of; more especially M.Redi(10),Charas(11), and Dr.Tysonin his Dissection of theRattle-Snake(12), which is a larger Species of a Viper, have taken Pains on this Subject, to whose Discoveries, what is yet wanting, we shall add at the End of this Essay.
The Symptoms which follow upon the Bite of a Viper, when it fastens either one or both its greater Teeth in any Part of the Body, are an acute Pain in the Place Wounded, with a Swelling at first Red, but afterwards Livid, which by degrees spreads farther to the Neighbouring Parts with great Faintness, and a Quick, tho’ Low, and sometimes Interrupted Pulse, great Sickness at the Stomach, with Bilious, Convulsive Vomitings, Cold Sweats, and sometimes Pains about the Navel; and if the Cure be not speedy, Death it self, unless the Strength of Nature prove sufficient to overcome these Disorders; and tho’ it does, the Swelling still continues inflamed for some time; nay, in some Cases more considerably upon the abating of the other Symptoms, than at the beginning; and often from the small Wound runs a sanious Liquor, and little Pustules are raised about it; the colour of the whole Skin is changed Yellow, as if the Patient had theJaundice.
These Mischiefs, altho’ different Climates, Season of the Year more or less Hot, the greater or lesser Rage of the Viper, the Beast it self of a larger or smaller Size, and consequently able to communicate more or less Venom, and the like Circumstances, may variously heighten or abate ’em, yet do usually discover themselves much after the same manner in all; unless the Bite happen not to be accompanied with the Effusion of thatLiquor, which is the main Instrument and Cause of this violent and shocking Disturbance.
But before I proceed to enquire into the Nature and Manner of Acting of thisJuice, it may be worth the while to take Notice, that this is not made on purpose to be deadly and destructive toMankind; but that the true Design of it is (tho’ Authors have not regarded it) to perform an Office and Service of so great Moment, to the Preservation of the Individual, that without it this Creature could not subsist.
For Vipers live chiefly upon Lizzards, Frogs, Toads, Mice, Moles, and the like Animals, which they do not chew, but swallow down whole, and they lie in the Stomach; or if that be not big enough to receive them, partly in that, and partly in the Œsophagus, which is membranous and capable of great Distension, till by the Salival Juices of those Parts, together with the Help of the Fibres of the Stomach, and the Contraction of the Muscles of the Abdomen, they are gradually dissolved into a Fluid Substance, fit for the Nourishment of their Bodies, which is the Work of many Days; this isoneReason why these Creatures can live so long without taking any fresh Food, which I have known them to do Three or Four Months; asanotheris, that their Blood is a grosser and more viscid Fluid than that of most other Animals; so that there is but a very little expence of it by Transpiration, and consequently less need of Recruit; this not onlyMicroscopesdiscover, but Reason teaches; because there is but very little Muscular Force in the Stomach to comminute the Food, and make a Chyle of fine Parts, and therefore the Blood must accordingly be of a Tough and Clammy Consistence. Besides, the Heart of a Viper has properly but one Ventricle, and the Circulation of the Blood is performed after the same Manner as it is in a Frog and Tortoise, in which not above one Third of it passes thro’ the Lungs; upon which Account its Comminution in them by the Air is proportionably lesser than in other Animals. Now such a manner of Feeding asthisdoes necessarily require, that the Prey should upon the first Catching be immediately kill’d, otherwise it were by no means fit to be let into the Stomach; for we are not to think that the Force of this Part would be alone sufficient to destroy it, the Subtilty of a living Creature (besides the Consideration of the Weakness of the Fibres) being in a great Measure able to eludethat, as indeed we do every Day find live Animals in the Ventricles of others; and therefore to dothisis the proper Use both of the Teeth and their Poison; for which being designed and adapted, it is no wonder if the Viper, this same Way by which it destroys its Prey, proves sometimes mischievous to any other Creatures besides, when it happens to be enraged, or by any Provocation stirr’d up to bite.
The Description of the PoisonousFangs, their Make, Articulation and Motion, as also of the Glands that separate the Yellowish Liquor, and the Bags that contain it; I shall give, together with some Anatomical Observations, at the End of this Discourse.
This Venomous Juice it self is of so inconsiderable a quantity, that it is no more than one goodDropthat does the Execution; and for this reason Authors have contented themselves with Trials of the Bite upon several Animals, never Essaying to examine the Texture and Make of the Liquor it self; for which purpose I have oftentimes by holding a Viper advantageously, and inraging it till it struck out its Teeth, made it to bite upon somewhat solid, so as to void its Poison; which carefully putting upon a Glass Plate, I have with a Microscope, as nicely as I could, viewed its Parts and Composition.
Upon the first Sight I could discover nothing but a Parcel of small Salts nimbly floating in the Liquor, but in a very short time the Appearance was changed, and these saline Particles were now shot out as it were intoCrystalsof an incredible Tenuity and Sharpness, with something like Knots here and there, from which they seemed to proceed, so that the whole Texture did in a manner represent aSpider’s Webb, tho’ infinitely Finer, and more Minute; and yet withal so rigid were these pellucidSpicula, orDarts, that they remained unaltered upon my Glass for several Months(13).
I have made several Trials with thisJuicein order to find out under what Tribe of Salts these Crystals are to be ranged; and not without some difficulty, by reason of the Minute Quantity of the Liquor, and the Hazard of Experiments of this Nature, have plainly seen that it does, as anAcid, turn the blue Tincture ofHeliotropiumto a Red Colour.
I did not succeed so well in mixing it with Syrup of Violets, and yet it did really seem to induce in this aReddish Hue; but I am very certain it did not at all change it to aGreenishColour, as it would have done if any waysAlcalious.
This may suffice in their own way of arguing, to convince those Gentlemen, who without the Assistance of any Experiments, meerly to serve anHypothesiswhich they have too fondly taken up, have with great Assurance told the World, that the Viperine Venom is anAlcali, and consequently to be cured byAcidRemedies. But it is by far more easie to Spin out a false Notion into precarious Reasonings, than to make faithful Experiments, and fairly improve ’em by just and necessary Consequences.
To proceed, this Discovery agrees very well with a Relation communicated by an Ingenious Person to Dr.Tyson, which does so much illustrate this Matter, that I shall transcribe it in his own Words, out of the before citedPhilosophical Transactions; he says then, That being in theIndies, there came to him anIndianwith several Sorts ofSerpents, offering to shew him some Experiments about the Force of their Poison; having therefore first pulled out a large One, theIndiantold him this would do no Harm; and making a Ligature on his Arm as in letting Blood, he exposed it naked to the Serpent, being first irritated to make him bite it; the Blood that came out of the Wound made by his Teeth, he gathered with his Finger, and laid it on his Thigh, till he had got near a Spoonful, after this he takes out another calledCobra de Capelo, which was lesser, and inlarges much upon the Greatness of his Poison; to shew an Instance of it, grasping it out about the Neck, he expresses some of the Liquor in the Bags of the Gums, about the Quantity of half a Grain, and this he puts to the coagulated Bleed on his Thigh, which immediately put it into a greatFermentation, and working likeBarme, changed it into aYellowishLiquor.
This I say does well enough accord with what we have been advancing concerning the Nature of thisJuice, for Mr.Boylehas long since proved by Experiments, that there is nothing of Acid in human Blood; and Dr.Pitcarn(14)has demonstrated, that theAcid Substancesof Vegetables taken into the Stomach, are by the Action of this Part, the Lungs and Heart, when they come into the Blood-Vessels, turn’d toAlcalious; so that the Arterial Fluid must necessarily be considered as anAlcali; and therefore according to the known Principles of Chymistry, its mixture with such a Liquor as we have discovered the ViperineSaniesto be, will always exhibit some such appearance as this now related.
But not to engage any farther in these sort of Controversies, we may perhaps from the foregoing Observations receive some Light in order to understand the Nature and Reason of all those Symptoms which attend the Bite of this Creature. For the pungent Salts of this Venom, when with Force thrown into the Wound, will not only as so manyStimuli, irritate and fret the sensile Membranes, whereupon there necessarily follows a greater Afflux than ordinary of the Animal Juices that way, (as is manifest from theBellinianDoctrine,De Stimulis) so that the wounded Part must be Swelled, Inflamed, Livid,&c.but also theseSpiculabeing mixt with the Blood, will so disjoin and disunite the Parts of it, that its Mixture must be quite alter’d; and from the variousCohæsionof itsGlobuleswill arise such different Degrees ofFluidityandImpulsetowards the Parts,&c.from what this Liquor had before, that its very Nature will be changed, or in the common way of speaking, it will be truly and reallyFermented.
To understand aright how all this is done, it is necessary to hint somewhat concerning the Nature ofFluidsin General, and those Alterations in them which we callFermentations; for I shall retain this known Word, tho’ in the proper Sense in which ’tis commonly used, there can be noFermentingof the Liquors in the Animal Body.
And here I must refer to the Treatise ofBellini de Fermentis, who has with great Clearness shewn, that there is in allFluidsnot only a simpleContactof their Parts, but also anisus in Contactum, orCohæsion, and this of a certainDegreeorForce, and besides, of a particularDirection; which is indeed, tho’ express’d in other words, the very same thing with theAttractionof the Particles one to another; This Mr.Newtonhas demonstrated to be the great Principle of Action in the Universe, has taught us the Laws of it in the greater Quantities and Collections ofMatter; and he who rightly Studies his Philosophy will understand that the same obtains in the most Minute and Finest Corpuscles, which do unite into Bodies of differentSolidityandMake, according to the Degree with which they do mutuallyattracteach other, and to theSuperficies, by which, when drawn, they dotouchandadhere. To this if we add aPressionof the several Parts of the Fluid every way, and consider withal, that thisUniformAttraction of the Parts to one another must be variously changed by the different Attraction of Heterogeneous Bodies mixt with them, we have the great Principles of all Fluids, upon which their severalPhænomenado depend.
And hence it follows, that whatsoeverPoweris sufficient to make a Change in this Attraction, or Cohæsion of the Parts, makes an Alteration of the Nature of the Fluid; that is, as the Chymists express it, puts it into aFermentation. And if any one shall think it necessary to enquire into the particular Manner of producing such an Effect, we may perhaps in so abstruse a Matter not improbably Conjecturethus, That our Blood consisting chiefly of Two Parts, a simpleLymph, and an infinite Number of smallGlobules, containing a very subtle and elastic Fluid, these acute Salts, when mingled with it, do prick those Globules, orVesiculæ, and so let out their imprisoned active Substance, which expanding it self every way, must necessarily be the Instrument of this speedy Alteration and Change(15). From such anHypothesisas this (and, it may be, not very easily from any other) we may account for many of the surprizing Phænomena in the Fermentations of Liquors; and as precarious as it seems, its Simplicity, and Plainness, and Agreement with the forementioned Doctrine, will, I believe, recommend it before any other to those who are not unacquainted withGeometricalReasonings. But I wave these Considerations at present, and shall only add One Remark or Two with Relation to the purpose in Hand, and so proceed.
In the first place then, we may from thisTheory, learn, how it comes to pass that so small a Portion of Juice should infect so great a quantity of Liquor; for in order to do this, it is not necessary that the Venom should be at the very first mixt with all its Parts; but it is sufficient that it prick some of theBladders, and the elastic Matter of these being let out, will be a nimbleVehicleto the acute Salts, and not only by its activity disperse them thro’ the Fluid, but restore to them their decreasingForce, and thus continue their Effects, till a great part of the Liquor undergoes at least, in some Degree, the like Alteration.
And this will the more easily happen in the present Case, because theForcewith which this Poison is thrown into the Blood, as appears from the Mechanism of the discharging Organs, is very great, and consequently its Effects will be proportionably violent, or the Mischief more large and diffused.
The want of this may be one Reason why the Experiment of first making a Wound in the Flesh with any sharp Instrument, and then dropping in theSanies, may not always succeed so well in killing Animals, as one would from the preceeding Doctrine be ready to expect. Tho’ if some amends be made for this Defect, by taking a greater quantity of the Juice, and carefully instilling it, It proves equally Fatal this way, as when immediately discharg’d from the Viper it self. Thus it might happen that those Trials of this kind, which were happily made by SrRedi, might not however convince MrCharas, in as much as there is oftentimes a great deal of difference in the Event of Experiments, when made with Purpose, and a Design that they should succeed, and when Timorously and Cautiously managed, lest they should unluckily overthrow a darlingHypothesis.
The other Observation I shall draw from the foregoing Theory, is this, That it appears from hence what a vastvarietythere may be in the Fermentations even of one and the same Fluid; for these being no other thanChangesmade in theCohæsionof the compounding Particles, are capable of as many Alterations asMotionin itsDegreesandDirectionscan admit of, which are really Infinite.
This I mention with regard to some of the followingEssays, in which, if we ascribe many Symptoms seemingly very different, to a Ferment rais’d in the Blood, it may be consider’d, that the Nature of this Cause is such, as according to the several Properties of thePrimum Agens, orFermenting Power, to bear by far more Varieties than any one can be aware of.
To return to the Viper; the Effects of such an Agitation of the Blood, as we have been describing, must not only be whatever are the Consequences of a disturbedCirculation, and irregular and interruptedSecretionof the Spirits, as low Pulse, Faintings, Sickness, Palpitation of the Heart, Convulsive Vomitings,Tremblingsof the Body,&c.but also theTextureof this Fluid being thus broken, those Parts of it which are of the slowest Motion, and greatest Viscidity, will be easily separated from the others; such they are, which when united together do compound theBile, and therefore these will tinge the Capillary Vessels, and fineDuctsin the Skin, with a Yellowish Colour; that is, will induce anIcterus, or Jaundice.
For it is not only (if at allPrimarily) from an Obstruction of theBiliary Canalsthat this Symptom does proceed, but also from any Cause whatsoever, which either destroys the Saline Part of the Bile, by the means of which its Oil is kept mixt with the Water of the Blood, or else increases the Oily and Sulphureous Part to that Degree, that tho’ it be duly impregnated with Salt, yet the Watery Part of the Blood, which can only take up a certain Proportion of it, being alreadySaturated, can receive no more; or lastly, does, bydisunitingthe compounding Particles of the Blood, alter thatIntestineMotion and Agitation which is necessary to carry along thro’ the Vessels, together with the more volatile Parts, those which are more Clammy and Glutinous. Forinall these Cases ’tis plain that the Bilious Corpuscles must bepræcipitatedupon those Parts of the Body where there is least Motion, that is, upon the extreme Superficies.
And tho’ this Theory may perhaps appear extravagant, because new and uncommon, yet it will not, I believe, seem ill grounded or irrational to those who understand the Doctrine of theMixtureof Heterogene Fluids, and theirSeparation; and who withal know, that the Vessels are rarely obstructed, unless it be from the fault of the Liquid they carry, and consequently that a Defect in the Bile it self must be (excepting some extraordinary Cases) antecedent to the Obstruction of the Biliary Ducts.
In short, the different Cure of this Disease confirms these Notions; for anIcterusfrom the first Cause assign’d, which is generally owing to a sedentary Life, want of Exercise,&c.and attended with an extreme Costiveness and whiteFæces, is cured by Volatile, Acrimonious, and Bitter Salts. From the Second produced oftentimes by drinking strong Liquors, Spirits,&c.and accompanied with aDiarrhœa, partly by Diluting and Temperating, partly by Stomachic and Strenghning Medicines. As the last Species of it (for the sake of which we have mention’d the other) is removed by suchAntidotesas overcome and destroy the Venomous Ferment, corrupting the Blood, and breaking itsCompages. But to have hinted these things may abundantly suffice for the present.
We must however take Notice, Thattho’themainAlterations made by this Poison be in the Fluid of the Arteries,yetthatThatof the Nerves may hereby be considerablychangedtoo; forThisconsisting, as well as the Blood of differing Parts, and being dispersed in smallTubesall over the Body, is not only very capable ofvariousDegrees ofForce,Impulse,&c.butUndulatingcontinually towards the Brain, and being the chief Instrument of Motion and Action, may perhaps sometimes more immediately convey the Mischief to the sensile Membranes, and thus be the Cause of those violent Pains, Convulsions, Sickness,&cwith which Those who are Bitten are presently seiz’d.
Many are the Experiments I could relate to evince the Truth of this Reasoning concerning the Viperine Venom, which do entirely agree with those made by SrRedi, whose Judgment and Sincerity in Observations of this Nature no Body ever called in Question, till MonsieurCharashaving espous’d a Notion, that this Poison does not lie in the Yellow Liquor of the Gums, but in the enraged Spirits of the Viper, rais’d new Difficulties about the Success of some Trials made inFrance, endeavouring thereby to invalidate the Force and Authority of those made inItaly.
I shall therefore, in order to put this Matter out of all doubt, mention Two or Three Experiments made by Dr.Areskine, when atParis, that it may appear how defective those of Mr.Charasare, and that the Difference of the Climate does not (as some began to imagine(16)) make any considerable Alteration in the Effects of this Venom, or its manner of Killing.
First then, having got a large Female Viper, he made it to Bite Six Pigeons, one after another; the First and Second that were bit, died within about half an Hour, one a little Time before the other; the third liv’d about two Hours; the Fourth seem’d to be very sick, butrecovered; the Fifth and Sixth were no more hurt than if they had been prick’d with a Pin or Needle.
Then he cut off the Head of a brisk Viper, and let it lie twenty four Hours, with the Fangs of which he wounded One Pigeon in the Breast, and another in the Thigh, which both expired as soon after, as if they had been biten by a living Viper. After this, having got a great many Vipers together, he made them bite upon a peice of Glass of a Cylindrical Figure, by this means preserving the Yellow Juice which they emitted, and slightly wounding two Pigeons, he first let the Bleeding be stopt, then put some of this Liquor into the Wounds, upon which both the Pigeons died about two Hours after.
The same Ingenious Person tells me, that Monsieurdu Verneymade not only These, but also several other Experiments of the same Nature, in theRoyal Acamy, with the like Success.
These Proofs are so convincing and full, that no one, I think, can desire more; but they will receive yet a farther Confirmation from theApparatusor Mechanism of the Organs, with admirable Nicety contrived for the Discharge of this Venom, of which more by and by.
Nor is it any Objection against allThis, that theLiquoris innocent and harmless in the Mouth or Stomach of any one, so as that it may be safely tasted or sucked out of the Wound, and swallowed; for,aswe observ’d before, that manyAcidSubstances taken into the Stomach are by the Action of that Part turned toAlcalious, so there is no Question but these SalineSpiculaare partly by the Muscular Force of the Fibres, partly by the Salival Juice, all broken and dissolved; or if any can pass into the Intestines, the Balsam of theBilewill be anAntidotefor Them; the Reason of which will appear when we come to the Cure.
In the mean time it may not be amiss to Remark, That even the Ancients seem to have known thus much concerning the Nature of this Poison; of thisGalengives us Testimony in severl Places; particularly in his Bookde Temperamentis(17), where he takes notice, thatnothing has the same Power upon the human Body outwardly as inwardly; Thus(says he)neither the Venom of the Viper, nor of the Asp nor frothy Spittle of the Mad Dog, are alike Mischievous when they fall upon the Skin, or enter into the Stomach, as when outwardly communicated by a Wound.
The chief of theLatinPhysicians(18),Celsushas elegantly express’d the Matter in few Words, when advising toSuckthe Wound made by the Bite; he adds,Neq; Hercules Scientiam præcipuam habent hi qui Psilli nominantur, sed audaciam usu ipso confirmatam, nam Venenum Serpentis, ut quædam etiam Venatoria Venena, quibus Galli præcipuè utuntur, non gustu sed in vulnere nocent.
And therefore braveCato, when marching the Remains ofPompey’s Army thro’Africa, very wisely told the Soldiers, almost choak’d with Thirst, yet afraid to drink of a Spring they came to, because full of Serpents(19),
Noxia Serpentum est admisto sanguine Pestis,Morsu Virus habent, & Fatum Dente minantur,Pocula Morte carent——
Noxia Serpentum est admisto sanguine Pestis,
Morsu Virus habent, & Fatum Dente minantur,
Pocula Morte carent——
In the like manner it was in those times also known, that the virulent Juice had the same bad Effects, when mixt with the Blood, by means of a commonWound, as when communicated by the Venomous Bite. This madeCelsus(20)advise in sucking out the Poison, to take care there be no Ulcer in the Mouth; tho’ this Caution be rather slighted and ridiculed bySeverinus(21), and others; who do hereby discover how little they understood of the Seat and Nature of this Poison. AndGalen(22)mentioning the Story ofCleopatra, relates from other Authors, that she killed her selfby pouring theVirusof an Asp into a Wound made in her Arm by her own Teeth.
In short, it is upon this Foundation, thatPliny(23)assures us, theScythiansPoison’d their Arrows with theSaniesof Vipers mixt with human Blood; the way of doing itAristotle(24)has at large related; and theTartarsare said to use the like Trick to this Day. After the same manner theIndiansmake use of the Venom of the Lizard, calledGecco; this Creature they hang up by the Tail, and by Whipping exasperate till it discharge itsVirus, in which they tinge their Darts; and a very slight Wound with these Weapons is speedy Death(25).
It is worth the while in the next Place to consider the Cure of this Mischief, which without all doubt ought to be by such External Mannagement of the Wound as may immediately destroy the infused Venom.
Mr.Boyle(26)experienced a hot Iron held as near the Place as the Patient could possibly endure it very effectual to this Purpose. But the same Method did not answer Expectation in the famous Case related by MonsieurCharas(27).
An extraordinary Virtue against this and other venomous Bites is ascribed to theSnake-stonesbrought from theEast-Indies, one of which is to be presently apply’d to the Part, and let stick till it drop off; these are said to be taken out of the Head of the Serpent called by thePortugueze,Cobra de Capelo; and to suck the Poison out of the Wound. SrRedi(28)made Trials with several of them, but found no Service from any. YetBaglivi(29)tells us of a terrible Bite of a Scorpion cured this way. MonsieurCharas(30)his Pigeons all died, tho’thesewere immediately clapped on, and stuck close to the Wound: But Dr.Haverssaw a good Effect ofoneupon a Dog, who tho’ severely bitten, suffered no Harm, nor any farther Mark of the Poison than a livid Circle round the Place.
In plain Truth,asthese celebratedStonesdo not seem to be what it is pretended they are, but rather Factitious Bodies compounded, it may be, of Calcined Bones, and some Testaceous Matters mixt together;soby Reason of their spongy and porous Texture, they do very readily adhere to any moistened Part of the Flesh, and imbibe whatsoever humidity they meet with. This their Quality any one may experience by holding one of them to the Roof of his Mouth; and it is upon this Score, that when put into Water, Bubbles are raised by the Air in their Interstices, which some have too fondly thought to be the Effects of their throwing out the Venom they had sucked in.
Theirmakebeing thus, some Part at least of the Poisonous Juice may easily be drawn out of the Wound by such an Application, and yet so much ofitmay sometimes happen to remain in the Flesh, as may make the Bite however to prove Mortal. And thus it fared with a Pigeon, to the Thigh of which, first bitten by a Viper, I applied one of the Stones; for tho’ it stuck fast to the Wound, and thus saved the Life for about four Hours; (whereas others usually died in about half an Hour) yet after this the Mortification of the Part prevailed to that Degree as to become fatal to the tender Creature.
But ourViper-Catchershave a Remedy far beyond all these, in which They do place so great Confidence, as to be no more afraid of a Bite than of a common Puncture, immediately curing themselves by the Application of theirSpecifick.
This, tho’ they keep as a great Secret, I have however upon strict Enquiry found out to be no other than theAxungia Viperinapresently rubbed into the Wound. And to convince my self of its good Effects, I inraged a Viper to bite a young Dog in the Nose; both the Teeth were struck deep in; he howled bitterly, and the Part began to swell; I diligently applied some of theAxungiaI had ready at Hand, and he was very well the next Day.
But because some Gentlemen who saw this Experiment were apt to impute the Cure rather to the Dog’s Spittle, (he licking the Wound) than to the Virtue of theFat, we made him to be bit again in the Tongue, forbearing the Use of our Remedy, and he died within four or five Hours.
At another time I made the like Trial with the same Success.
AsthisAxungiaconsists of Clammy and Viscid Parts, which are withal more Penetrating and Active than most other Oily Substances,sothese, without all doubt, do involve, and as it were sheath the Volatile Salts of the Venemous Liquor, and thus prevent their Shooting out into those CrystallineSpicula, which we have observ’d to be the main Instruments of that deadly Mischief which attends the Bite.
By this means it comes to pass, that this Cure, if rightly manag’d, is so easie and certain, as not to need the help of anyInternalMedicines to forward it; butThesehowever must take place, where, thro’ Want of the other, the Poison is spread farther, and has tainted the whole Mass of Blood.
Nor yet is it necessary even in this Case to fatigue the Patient with aFarragoofTheriacas,Antidotes, &c. for theVolatile Saltof Vipers is alone sufficient to do the Work, if given in just Quantities, and duly repeated; provided moderate Sweats be incouraged in Bed; thus it succeeded with MonsieurCharasin the before cited Case, and in some others I could relate; in one of which the Mischief had gone so far as to induce an universalIcterus.
This leads me last of all to hint something concerning the Use of the Viper inPhysick; because Authors are very large in enumerating its Virtues against many, and those too some of ’em very obstinate, Distempers.
One of the first whom we find in Antiquity to have made use of the Flesh of this Creature to Medicinal Purposes, was, I think,Antonius Musa, the Famons Physician toOctavius Cæsar; of whomPliny(31)tells us, Thatwhen he met with incurable Ulcers, he ordered the eating of Vipers, and by this means they were quickly Healed.
It is not improbable that he might have learned this from the GreatGreekPhysicianCraterus, mention’d often byCiceroin his Epistles toAtticus, who, asPorphyrius(32)relates,very happily cured a miserable Slave, whose Skin in a strange manner fell off from his Bones, by advising him to feed upon Vipers dressed after the manner of fish.
Be this as it will, inGalen’s time the profitable Qualities of the Viper were very commonly known; himself relating(33)very remarkable Stories of the Cures of theElephantiasis, orLepra, done by the Viper Wine.
Aretæus, who most probably liv’d about the same time withGalen, and of all the Ancients has most accurately described theElephantiasis, commends, asCraterusdid, the eating of Vipers instead of Fish in the same Diseases(34). And to this purpose I remember, thatas Lopes(35)in his Relations of the Kingdom ofCongoinAfrica, takes notice how greedily theNegroeseatAdders, roasting them, and esteeming them as the most delicious Food;so Dampier(36)also informs us, that the Natives ofTonquinin theEast Indiesdo treat their Friends withArack, in whichSnakesandScorpionshave been infus’d, accounting this not only a great Cordial, but also an Antidote against theLeprosie, and all other sorts of Poison.
The Physicians inItalyandFrancedo very commonly prescribe the Broth and Gelly of Vipers Flesh for much the same Uses, that is, to invigorate and purifie the Mass of Blood exhausted with Diseases, or tainted with some Vicious and ObstinateFerment.
From all this it appears, That the main Efficacy of the Viperine Flesh is to quicken the Circle of the Blood, promote its due Mixture, and by this means cleanse and scoure theGlandsof those stagnating Juices, which, turning to Acidity, are the Origine of many, at least, of those troublesome Distempers in the Surface of the Body, which go under the Names ofScrophulous,Leprous, &c.
These good Effects are owing to that penetrating, strongSalt, with which the Substance of these Creatures does, in a very great Proportion, abound; and the Reason ofthisis from the Food they live on, which we have observ’d before to be Lizzards, Moles,&c.whose Nature every one knows to be such as must necessarily, when they are dissolv’d in the Stomach, supply the Blood with a great Quantity of Active and Volatile Parts. And herein lies the Difference between the Flesh of Vipers, andthatof other Innocent Serpents, which feeding upon Grass, Herbs,&c.do not recommend themselves to us by any of those Properties which are in so Eminent a Degree found in the former.
Whosoever reflects on what has been said on this Head, will very readily Acknowledge, That our Physicians deal too Cautiously or Sparingly with a Remedy which may be apply’d to very good Purposes, when they prescribe a few Grains of thePouderof dried Vipers, or make up a small Quantity of their Flesh intoTroches; whereas, if Service be really to be done this Way, the Patient ought to eat frequently of Viper-Gelly, or Broth; or rather, as the ancient manner was, to boil Vipers, and eat them like Fish; if this Food will not go down, (tho’ really very Good and Delicious Fare) to make use at least of Wine, in which Vipers have for a long time been infused, by which I know a very obstinateLeprahas been removed; or lastly, in some Cases, especially where Wine is not Convenient, to take good Quantities of theirVolatile Salt, in which alone the Virtue of the before-named Medicines does principally reside.