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ground; giving the fnake a piece of leather to bite and this they pull back feveral times with great force, until they obferve their two poifonous fangs torn out. Then they cut off the head, fkin the body, and cook it as we do. cels; and their flesh is extremely fweet and white. I once faw a tamed one, as gentle as you can conceive a reptile to be: it took to the water and fwam whenever it pleafed; and when the boys to whom it belonged called it back, their fummons was readily obeyed. It had been deprived of its fangs by the preceding method; they often ftroked it with a foft brush; and this friction feemed to caufe the most pleafing fenfations, for it would turn on its back to enjoy it, as a cat does before the fire. One of this fpecies was the caufe, fome years ago, of a moit deplorable accident which I fhall relate to you, as I had it from the widow, and mother of the victims. A Dutch farmer in the Minifink went to mowing with his negroes, in his boots, a precaution used to prevent being Rung. Inadvertently he trod on a fake, which immediately dew at his legs and as it drew back, in order to renew its blow, one of his negroes cut it in two with his feythe. They profecuted their work, and returned home at night the farmer pulled off his boots and went to bed; and was foon after attacked with a ftrange fickness at his ftomach; he fwelled, and before a phyfician could be fent for, died. The fudden death of this man did not caufe much enquiry; the neigh bourhood wondered, as is ufual in fech cafes; and, without any

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further examination the corpfe was buried. A few days after, the fon put on his father's boots, and went to the meadow; at night he pulled them off, went to bed, and was attacked with the fame fymp. toms about the fame time, and died in the morning. A little before he expired the doctor came, but was not able to affign what could be the cause of so fingular a diforder; however, rather than appear wholly at a loss before the country people, he pronounced both father and fon to have been bewitched. Some weeks after, the widow fold all the moveables for the benefit of the younger children; and the farm was leafed. One of the neighbours, who bought the boots, prefently put them on, and was attacked in the fame manner as the other two had been; but this man's wife being alarmed by what had happened in the former family, difpatched one of her negroes for an eminent phyfician, who fortunately having heard fomething of the dreadful affair, gueffed at the caufe, applied oil, &c. and recovered the man. The boots which had been fo fatal, were then carefully mined; and he found that the two fangs of the fnake had. been left in the leather, after being wre ched out of their fockets by the ftrength with, which the fnake had drawn back its head. The bladders which contained the poison, and several of the fmall nerves were ftill fresh, and adhered to the boot, The unfortunate father and fon had been poifoned by pulling off thefe boots, in which action they imperceptibly, fcratched their legs with the points of the fangs,

through

through the hollow of which fome of this aftonishing poifon was conveyed. You have no doubt heard of their rattles, if you have not feen them; the only obfervation I wish to make is, that the rattling is loud and diftinct when they are angry; and, on the contrary, when pleafed, it founds like a diftant trepidation, in which nothing diftinct is heard. In the back fettlements they are now become very fcarce; for where ever they are met with, open war is declared against them; fo that in a few years there will be none left but on our mountains. The black snake, on the contrary, always diverts me, because it excites no idea of danger. Their fwift nefs is aftonishing; they will fome times equal that of an horfe; at other times they will climb up trees in queft of our tree-toads; or glide on the ground at full length. On fome occafions they prefent themselves half in the rep tile ftate, half erect; their eyes and their heads in the erect pofture, appear to great advantage; the former difplay a fire which I have admired, and it is by thefe they are enabled to fafcinate birds and fquirrels. When they have fixed their eyes on an animal, they become immoveable; only turning their head fometimes to the right and fometimes to the left, but ftill with their fight invariably directed to the object. The distracted victim, instead of fying its enemy, teems to be ar refted by fome invincible power; it fcreams; now approaches, and then recedes; and after skipping about with unaccountable agita tion, Finally rushes into the jaws of the fnake, and is fwallowed,

as foon as it is covered with a nime or glue, to make it flide easily down the throat of the devourer.

One anecdote I must relate, the circumstances of which are as true as they are fingular. One of my conftant walks, when I am at leifure, is in my lowlands, where have the pleafure of feeing my cattle, horfes, and colts. Exu berant grafs replenishes all my fields, the best reprefentative of our wealth; in the middle of that track: I have cut a ditch eight feet wide, the banks of which na ture adorns every fpring with the wild falendine, and other flower ing weeds, which on these luxuriant grounds fhoot up to a great height. Over this ditch I have erected a bridge, capable of bearing a loaded waggon; on each fide I carefully fow every year lome grains of hemp, which rife to the height of fifteen feet, fo ftrong, and fo full of limbs as to refemble young trees: I once af cended one of them four feet above the ground. Thefe produce natural arbours, rendered often ftill more compact by the affiftance of an annual creeping plant which we call a vine, that never fails to entwine itself among the branches, and always produces a very defirable fhade. From this fimple grove I have amufed myself an hundred times in obferving the great number of humming birds with which our country abounds: the wild bloffoms everywhere attract the attention of these birds, which like bees fubfift by fuction. From this retreat I diftinctly watch them in ah their various at titudes; but their flight is fo rapid, that you cannot diftinguish the motion of their wings.

H 3

On

this

this little bird Nature has profufe-
ly lavished her moft fplendid co-
lours; the most perfect azure, the
most beautiful gold, the most daz-
zling red, are for ever in contraft,
and help to embellish the plumes
of his majestic head. The richest
pallet of the most luxuriant pain-
ter could never invent any thing
to be compared to the variegated
tints with which this infect bird
is arrayed. Its bill is as long and
as fharp as a coarfe fewing needle;
like the bee, Nature has taught it
to find out, in the calix of flowers
and bloffoms, thofe mellifluous
particles that ferve it for fufficient
food; and yet it feems to leave
them untouched, undeprived of
any thing that our eyes can poffi-
bly diftinguish. When it feeds,
it appears as if immoveable, though
continually on the wing; and
fometimes, from what motives I
know not, it will tear and lace-
rate flowers into a hundred pieces:
for, ftrange to tell, they are the
moft irafcible of the feathered
tribe. Where do paffions find
room in fo diminutive a body?
They often fight with the fury of
lions, until one of the combatants
falls a facrifice and dies. When
fatigued, it has often perched
within a few feet of me, and on
fuch favourable opportunities I
have furveyed it with the moft
minute attention. Its little eyes
appear like diamonds, reflecting
light on every fide: moft elegant-
ly finished in all parts, it is a mi-
niature work of our Great Parent;
who seems to have formed it the
imalleft, and at the fame time the
moft beautiful of the winged fpe-

cies.

As I was one day fitting folitary and penfive in my primitive ar

bour, my attention was engaged
by a strange fort of ruftling uoife
at fome paces distance. I looked
all around, without distinguishing
any thing, until I climbed one of
my great hemp stalks; when, to
my aftonishment, I beheld two
fnakes of confiderable length, the
one purfuing the other with great
celerity through a hemp ftubble-
field. The aggreffor was of the
black kind, fix feet long; the fu-
gitive was a water-fnake, nearly
of equal dimenfions. They foon
met, and in the fury of their first
encounter, they appeared in an
inftant firmly twisted together;
and whilft their united tails beat
the ground, they mutually tried
with open jaws to lacerate each
other. What a fell afpect did
they prefent! their heads were
compreffed to a very small fize,
their eyes flashed fire; and after
this conflict had lafted about five
minutes, the fecond found means
to difengage itself from the first,
and hurried toward the ditch. Its
antagonist inftantly affumed a new
pofture, and half creeping and
half erect, with a majestic mien,
overtook and attacked the other
again, which placed itself in the
fame attitude, and prepared to
refift. The fcene was uncommon
and beautiful; for, thus oppofed,
they fought with their jaws, bit
ing each other with the utmost
rage; but notwithstanding this ap
pearance of mutual courage and
fury, the water-fnake still feemed
defirous of retreating toward the
ditch, its natural element. This
was no fooner perceived by the
keen-eyed black one, than twift-
ing its tail twice round a stalk of
hemp, and feizing its adverfary
by the throat, not by means of

its jaws, but by twifting its own neck twice round that of the water-fnake, pulled it back from the ditch. To prevent a defeat, the latter took hold likewife of a ftalk on the bank, and by the acquifition of that point of refiftance became a match for its fierce, antagonist. Strange was this to behold; two great fnakes ftrongly adhering to the ground, mutually faftened together by means of the writhings which lafhed them to each other, and stretched at their full length, they pulled, but pulled in vain; and in the moments of greatest exertion, that part of their bodies which was entwined feemed extremely small, while the reft appeared inflated, and now and then convulfed with ftrong undulations, rapidly following each other. Their eyes feemed on fire, and ready to start out of their heads. At one time the conflict feemed decided; the water-fnake bent itself into two great folds, and by that operation rendered the other more than commonly out-ftretched; the next minute the new ftruggles of the black one

gained an unexpected fuperiority; it acquired two great folds likewife, which neceffarily extended the body of its adverfary in proportion as it had contracted its own. Thefe efforts were alternate; victory feemed doubtful, inclining fometimes to the one fide and fometimes to the other, until at laft the stalk to which the black fnake faftened, fuddenly gave way, and in confequence of this accident they both plunged into the ditch. The water did not extinguish their vindictive rage; for by their agitations I could trace, though not diftinguish their mutual attacks. They foon re-appeared on the furface twisted together, as in their first onfet; but the black fnake seemed to retain its wonted fuperiority, for its head was exactly fixed above that of the other, which it inceffantly pressed down under the water until it was ftifled, and funk. The victor no fooner perceived its enemy incapable of farther refiftance, than abandoning it to the current, it returned on fhore and disappeared,

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USEFUL PROJECTS.

Some Account of the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Hiftory of the Red Peruvian Bark, in order to fhew its Efficacy as a Part of the Materia Medica to be fuperior to that of the common Bark Extracted from Obfervations on the Superior Efficacy of the Red Peruvian Bark, &c. by William Saunders, M. D. &c. &c.

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O an ounce of red bark, reduced to a fine powder, were added fixteen ounces of diftilled water; and after remaining together twenty-four hours in a Florence flafk, the liquid was carefully filtered. The fame experiment was made with the Peruvian bark commonly in use.

The colour of the two infufions was very different; that made with the red bark being much deeper. The taste and flavour of the infufion of the red bark were confiderably more powerful than of the other. In the opinion of many gentlemen who tafted the infufions, the cold infufion of the red bark was more fenfibly impregnated than even the strongest decoction of the common bark.

Experiment II.

To two ounces of the cold infufion of the red bark, were added

twenty drops of the Tindura Flo rum Martialium. It immediately became of a darker colour, foon loft its tranfparency, and after a fhort time precipitated black powder.

Experiment III.

To two ounces of the cold infufion of the common bark were added twenty drops of the Tin&ura Florum Martialium in the fame manner as to the other. It retained its tranfparency fome time, and afterwards became of a dark colour; but there was no precipi tation from it as from the last.

Experiment IV.

To an ounce of red bark, reduced to coarfe powder, were added fixteen ounces of diftilled water, and after boiling until one half was evaporated, the liquid while hot was ftrained through a piece of linen. The fame experiment, under fimilar circumftances, was made with the common bark. The fuperior tafte and flavour of the decoction of the red bark was equally obfervable with that of the infufion. The decoction of the red bark, in cooling, precipitated a larger quan. tity of refinous matter than the decoction of the common bark.

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