Of the whole class of serpents, which according to _Linnæus_ contains
132 species, _Plenck_ assures us that only 24 are venomous. Of these,
Europe has only 5, and England but 2; all of which are vipers, viz.
_Coluber Aspis_; _C. Chersea_; _C. Prester_ (_black viper_, peculiar to
England); _C. Illyricus_ (inhabits the mountains of Sclavonia); _C.
Berus_, (the common viper of Germany, Spain, Italy, and England.)
The venom of the viper is contained in a bag situated on both sides of
the head, beneath the muscle of the superior jaw; it is secreted from
the blood by a gland which lies just behind the orbit of the eye; from
which a duct proceeds to the above-mentioned bag; in the upper jaw are
situated two moveable teeth, very sharp towards the point, and hollowed
nearly throughout their length. When the animal intends to bite, he
presses the bag by means of the muscle, the venom comes out, arrives at
the base of the tooth, passes through the sheath which envelopes it, and
enters into its cavity by a hole which is found at this base; then it
flows along the hollow of the tooth, and issues into the wound by the
opening which is near its end, for the point itself is solid and sharp,
in order that it may better penetrate the flesh of its victim. If these
fangs be removed, or their structure destroyed, the viper is necessarily
rendered harmless; whence _Galen_ has observed that the mountebanks used
to stop these perforations of the teeth with some kind of paste,
whenever they suffered the vipers to bite them before spectators.
_Symptoms occasioned by the Bite of a Viper._
Acute pain in the wounded part, attended with almost immediate
tumefaction; the part appears first red, and then livid; the local
affection extends itself, and the surrounding skin becomes similarly
affected. The pulse is small, frequent, and irregular; the respiration
is disturbed; the patient complains of great debility, and faintness
which often amounts to syncope; vomiting takes place; pain is felt in
the umbilical region, and he becomes jaundiced; and, in fatal cases, the
wound assumes a malignant character, and gangrene takes place.
In this country the affection is rarely mortal,[477] although the
circumstances of constitutional debility, unusual heat of season, and
injudicious treatment, have in several instances led to a fatal issue.
_Physiological action of the Poison of Vipers._
The result of numerous experiments justify us in referring this poison
to the second division of our classification. The symptoms which it
produces evidently depend on its absorption, and its passage into the
circulation, when it exerts its peculiar action on the blood. It is
somewhat singular that this poison should be perfectly inert when taken
into the stomach; a fact, however, which appears to have been well known
from the earliest periods; whence such wounds were commonly sucked[478]
with impunity; and we learn that when _Cato_ marched the remains of
_Pompey’s_ army through Africa, he very wisely informed the soldiers,
who, although dying from thirst, feared to drink the waters which
contained serpents, that no evil could arise from such indulgence.[479]
“Noxia Serpentum est admisto sanguine Pestis,
Morsu Virus habent, et Fatum Dente minantur,
Pocula Morte carent”----
Among the insects of Britain some will be found to possess fluids highly
stimulant, and sometimes, although rarely, occasioning death. These
British insects, however, cannot be compared in virulence with the
_Furia Infernalis_, _Pulex Penetrans_, the _Scorpion_, and the
_Tarantula_; but their natural history is nevertheless interesting, and
the instances of mischief arising from an application of their venom are
not unimportant. Of the genus _Vespa_ we have three species, each of
which possesses the property of producing violent and painful
inflammation, sometimes followed by considerable danger, where the
injury has been inflicted on parts of great sensibility, and in
irritable habits, viz. Vespa _Crabro_, the _hornet_; V. _Vulgaris_,
_common wasp_; C. _Coarctata_, _small wasp_. Instances are recorded of
the wasp, having been introduced into the mouth with fruit, and produced
by its sting on the _velum palati_ a sudden swelling which has so
intercepted the respiration as to occasion suffocation.[480] Of the
_Apis_ there are seven British species; the most remarkable of which are
the Apis _Rufa_, or _small field bee_; A. _Mellifica_, _the common hive
bee_; A. _Terrestris_, _humble bee_; and A. _Subterranea_, or _great
humble bee_.
The sting of a single bee cannot be regarded as attended with danger,
except in certain constitutions; but there are many instances of men and
animals having suffered most terribly, and even fatally, by an attack of
a swarm of these insects.
The supposed poison of the toad is a subject which we have already
disposed of, under the literary history of poisons, _page_ 139.