_Of REPTILES, and the Inhabitants of the WATERS._
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CHAP. I.
_Of REPTILES._
Having dispatch’d the insect Tribe, there is but one _Genus_ of
the Land-Animals remaining to be survey’d; and that is, that of
_Reptiles_[a]. Which I shall dispatch in a little Compass, by Reason I
have somewhat amply treated of others, and many of the Things may be
apply’d here. But there are some Things in which this Tribe is somewhat
singular, which I shall therefore take Notice of briefly in this Place.
One is their Motion, which I have in another Place[b] taken Notice of to
be not less curious, than it is different from that of other Animals,
whether we consider the Manner of it, as vermicular, or sinuous[c], or
like that of the Snail[d], or the Caterpillar[e], or the Multipedous[f]
or any other Way, or the Parts ministring to it, particularly the
Spine[g], and the Muscles co-operating with the Spine, in such as have
Bone, and the annular and other Muscles, in such as have none, all
incomparably made for those curious, and I may say, geometrical Windings
and Turnings, Undulations, and all the various Motions to be met with in
the reptile Kind.
Another Thing that will deserve our Notice, is, the Poyson[h] that many
of this Tribe are stock’d with. Which I the rather mention, because some
make it an Objection against the divine Superintendence and Providence,
as being a Thing so far from useful, (they think,) that ’tis rather
mischievous and destructive of God’s Creatures. But the Answer is easy,
_viz._ That as to Man, those Creatures are not without their great Uses,
particularly in the Cure of[i] some of the most stubborn Diseases;
however, if they were not, there would be no Injustice for God to make
a Set of such noxious Creatures, as Rods and Scourges, to execute the
divine Chastisements upon ungrateful and sinful Men. And I am apt to
think that the Nations which know not God, are the most annoy’d with
those noxious Reptiles, and other pernicious Creatures. As to the Animals
themselves, their Poyson is no doubt of some great and especial Use to
themselves, serving to the more easy Conquest, and sure Capture of their
Prey, which might otherwise be too resty and strong, and if once escap’d,
would hardly be again recover’d, by Reason of their swifter Motion, and
the Help of their Legs; besides all which, this their Poyson may be
probably of very great Use to the Digestion of their Food.
And as to the innocuous Part of the Reptile-Kind, they as well deserve
our Notice for their Harmlesness, as the others did for their Poyson. For
as those are endow’d with Poyson, because they are predaceous; so these
need it not, because their Food is near at hand, and may be obtain’d
without Strife and Contest, the next Earth[k] affording Food to such as
can terebrate, and make Way into it by their Vermicular Faculty; and the
next Vegetable being Food to others that can climb and reach[l], or but
crawl to it.
FOOTNOTES:
[a] Notwithstanding I have before, in _Book IV. Chap. 12. Note (p)_,
taken Notice of the _Earth-Worm_; yet it being a good Example of the
Creator’s wise and curious Workmanship, in even this meanest Branch of
the Creation, I shall superadd a few farther Remarks from Drs. _Willis_
and _Tyson_. Saith _Willis_, _Lumbricus terrestris, licet vile &
contemptibile habetur, Organa vitalia, necnon & alia viscera, & membra
divino artificio admirabiliter fabrefacta sortitur: totius corporis
compages musculorum annularium catena est, quorum fibræ orbiculares
contractæ quemque annulum, prius amplum, & dilatum, angustiorem &
longiorem reddunt._ [This Muscle in Earth-Worms, I find is spiral, as
in a good Measure is their Motion likewise; _so that by this Means they
can, (like the Worm of an Augre,) the better bore their Passage into the
Earth. Their reptile Motion also, may be explain’d by a Wire wound on a
Cylinder, which when slipp’d off, and one End extended and held fast,
will bring the other nearer it. So the Earth-Worm, having shot out, or
extended its Body, (which is with a Wreathing,) it takes hold by those
small Feet it hath, and so contracts the hinder Part of its Body._ Thus
the curious and learned Dr. _Tyson_, Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 147.] _Nam proinde
cùm portio corporis superior elongata, & exporrecta, ad spatium alterius
extenditur, ibidemque plano affigitur, ad ipsum quasi ad centrum portio
corporis inferior relaxata, & abbreviata facile pertrabitur. Pedunculi
serie quadruplici, per totam longitudinem Lumbrici disponuntur; his
quasi totidem uncis, partem modò hanc, modò istam, plano affigit, dum
alteram exporrigit, aut post se ducit. Supra oris hiatum, Proboscide, quâ
terram perforat & elevat, donatur._ And then he goes on with the other
Parts that fall under View, the _Brain_, the _Gullet_, the _Heart_, the
_spermatick Vessels_, the _Stomachs_ and _Intestines_, the _Foramina_
on the Top of the Back, adjoyning to each Ring, supplying the Place of
Lungs, and other Parts. _Willis de Anim. Brut._ P. 1. c. 3.
[b] In _Book IV. Chap. 8._
[c] There is a great Deal of geometrical Neatness and Nicety, in the
sinuous Motion of Snakes, and other Serpents. For the assisting in which
Action, the annular Scales under their Body are very remarkable, lying
cross the Belly, contrary to what those in the Back, and rest of the
Body do; also as the Edges of the foremost Scales lye over the Edges
of their following Scales, from Head to Tail; so those Edges run out
a little beyond, or over their following Scales; so as that when each
Scale is drawn back, or set a little upright by its Muscle, the outer
Edge thereof, (or Foot it may be call’d,) is rais’d also a little from
the Body, to lay hold on the Earth, and so promote and facilitate the
Serpent’s Motion. This is what may be easily seen in the Slough, or Belly
of the Serpent-kind. But there is another admirable Piece of Mechanism,
that my Antipathy to those Animals hath prevented my prying into; and
that is, that every Scale hath a distinct Muscle, one End of which is
tack’d to the Middle of its Scale; the other, to the upper Edge of its
following Scale. This Dr. _Tyson_ found in the _Rattle-Snake_, and I
doubt not is in the whole Tribe.
[d] The wise Author of Nature, having deny’d Feet and Claws to enable
Snails to creep and climb, hath made them amends in a Way more commodious
for their State of Life, by the broad Skin along each Side of the
Belly, and the undulating Motion observable there. By this latter ’tis
they creep; by the former, afflicted with the glutinous Slime emitted
from the Snail’s Body, they adhere firmly and securely to all Kinds of
Superficies, partly by the Tenacity of their Slime, and partly by the
Pressure of the Atmosphere. Concerning this Part, (which he calls the
_Snail’s Feet_,) and their Undulation, See Dr. _Lister_’s _Exercit.
Anat._ 1. §. 1. and 37.
[e] The motive Parts, and Motion of Caterpillars, are useful, not only
to their Progression and Conveyance from Place to Place; but also their
more certain, easy and commodious gathering of Food. For having Feet
before and behind, they are not only enabled to go by a kind of Steps
made by their fore and hind Parts; but also to climb up Vegetables, and
to reach from their Boughs and Stalks for Food at a Distance; for which
Services, their Feet are very nicely made both before and behind. Behind,
they have broad Palms for sticking too, and these beset almost round
with small sharp Nails, to hold and grasp what they are upon: Before,
their Feet are sharp and hook’d, to draw Leaves, _&c._ to them, and to
hold the fore-part of the Body, whilst the hinder-parts are brought up
thereto. But nothing is more remarkable in these Reptiles, than that
these Parts and Morton are only temporary, and incomparably adapted only
to their present _Nympha-State_; whereas in their _Aurelia-State_, they
have neither Feet nor Motion, only a little in their hinder parts: And in
their _Mature-State_, they have the Parts and Motion of a flying Insect,
made for Flight.
[f] It is a wonderful pretty Mechanism, observable in the going of
_Multipedes_, as the _Juli_, _Scolopendræ_, &c. that on each Side the
Body, every Leg hath its Motion, one very regularly following the other
from one End of the Body to the other in a Way not easy to be describ’d
in Words; so that their Legs in going, make a kind of Undulation, and
give the Body a swifter Progression than one would imagine it should
have, where so many Feet are to take so many short Steps.
[g] _Vertebrarum Apophysos breviores sunt, præcipuè juxta caput, cujus
propterea flexus in aversum, & latera, facilis Viperis est: secus
Leonibus, ~&c.~——Incumbit his Ossibus ingens Musculorum minutorum
præsidium, tum spinas tendinum exilium magno apparatu diducentium, tum
vertebras potissimum in diversa flectentium, atque erigentium. Adeoque
illam corporis miram agilitatem, non tantùm (ut Aristot.) ὅτι ἐπικαμπεῖς
καὶ χονδρώδεις ὁι σπόνδυλοι quoniam faciles ad flexum, & cartilagineas
produxit vertebras, sed quia etiam multiplicia motûs localis instrumenta
musculos fabrefecit provida rerum Parens Natura, consecuta fuit._ Blas.
Anat. Anim. P. 1. c. 39. de Viperâ è Veslingio.
_That which is most remarkable in the ~Vertebræ~ ~[of the _Rattle-Snake_,
besides the other curious Articulations,]~ is, that the round Ball in
the lower Part of the upper ~Vertebra~, enters a Socket of the upper
Part of the lower ~Vertebra~, like as the Head of the ~Os Femoris~ doth
the ~Acetabulum~ of the ~Os Ischii~; by which Contrivance, as also the
Articulation with one another, they have that free Motion of winding
their Bodies any Way._ Dr. _Tyson_’s Anat. of the _Rattle-Snake_ in
_Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 144. What is here observ’d of the _Vertebræ_ of this
_Snake_, is common to this whole _Genus_ of Reptiles.
[h] My ingenious and learned Friend, Dr. _Mead_, examined with his
Microscope, the Texture of a _Viper_’s _Poyson_, and found therein at
first only _a Parcel of small Salts nimbly floating in the Liquor; but
in a short Time the Appearance was chang’d, and these saline Particles
were shot out into Crystals, of an incredible Tenuity and Sharpness, with
something like Knots here and there, from which they seem’d to proceed;
so that the whole Texture did in a Manner represent a Spider’s Web,
though infinitely finer._ Mead of Poysons, p. 9.
As to the Nature and Operation of this _Poyson_, see the same ingenious
Author’s Hypothesis, in his following Pages.
This _Poyson_ of the _Viper_, lieth in a Bag in the Gums, at
the Upper-end of the Teeth. It is separated from the Blood by a
_conglomerated Gland_, lying in the anterior lateral Part of the _Os
Sincipitis_; just behind the Orbit of the Eye: From which Gland lieth a
Duct, that conveys the Poyson to the Bags at the Teeth.
The Teeth are tubulated, for the Conveyance, or Emission of the Poyson
into the Wound, the Teeth make; but their Hollowness doth not reach to
the _Apex_, or Top of the Tooth, (that being solid and sharp, the better
to pierce;) but it ends in a long slit below the Point, out of which the
Poyson is emitted. These Perforations of the Teeth, _Galen_ saith, the
Mountebanks us’d to stop with some kind of Paste, before they suffer’d
the Vipers to bite them before their Spectators. Cuts of these Parts,
_&c._ may be seen in the last cited Book of Dr. _Mead_. Also Dr. _Tyson’s
Anat. of the Rattle-Snake_, in _Philos. Transact._ Nᵒ. 144.
[i] That Vipers have their great Uses in Physick, is manifest from their
bearing a great Share in some of our best Antidotes, such as _Theriaca
Andromachi_, and others; also in the Cure of the _Elephantiasis_, and
others the like stubborn Maladies, for which I shall refer to the medical
Writers. But there is so singular a Case in the curious Collection of Dr.
_Ol. Worm._ related from _Kircher_, that I shall entertain the Reader
with it. Near the Village of _Sassa_, about eight Miles from the City
_Bracciano_ in _Italy_, saith he, _Specus feu caverna (vulgò La Grotta
delli Serpi) duorum hominum capax, fistulosis quibusdam foraminibus in
formam cribri perforata cernitur, ex quibus ingens quædam, principio
veris, diversicolorum Serpentum, nullâ tamen, ut dicitur, singulari
veneni qualitate imbutorum progenies quotannis pullulare solet. In hæc
speluncâ Elephantiacos, Leprosos, Paralyticos, Arabriticos, Podagricos,
~&c.~ nudos exponere solent, qui mox halituum subterraneorum calore
in sudorem resoluti, Serpentum propullulantium, totum corpus infirmi
implicantium, suctu linctuque ita omni vitioso virulentoque humore
privare dicuntur, ut repetito hoc per aliquod tempus medicamento, tandem
perfecta sanitati restituantur._ This Cave _Kircher_ visited himself,
found it warm, and every Way agreeable to the Description he had of it;
he saw their Holes, heard a murmuring hissing Noise in them; but although
he missed seeing the Serpents (it being not the Season of their creeping
out) yet he saw great Numbers of their _Exuviæ_, or _Sloughs_, and an Elm
growing hard by laden with them.
The Discovery of this Cave, was by the Cure of a _Leper_ going from
_Rome_ to some Baths near this Place; who losing his Way, and being
benighted, happened upon this Cave; and finding it very warm, pull’d off
his Cloaths, and being weary and sleepy, had the good Fortune not to feel
the Serpents about him, till they had wrought his Cure. _Vid._ _Museum
Worm._ L. 3. c. 9.
The before-commended Dr. _Mead_, thinks our Physicians deal too
cautiously and sparingly, in their prescribing only small Quantities
of the Viper’s Flesh, _&c._ in the _Elephantiasis_, and stubborn
_Leprosies_: But he recommendeth rather the Gelly or Broth of Vipers; or,
as the ancient Manner was, to boil Vipers, and eat them like Fish; or at
least to drink Wine, in which they have been long infused. _Vid._ _Mead.
ubi supr._ p. 34.
[k] That _Earth-worms_ live upon Earth, is manifest from the little
curled Heaps of their Dung ejected out of their Holes. But in _Philos.
Transact._ Nᵒ. 291, I have said, it is in all Probability Earth made of
rotted Roots and Plants, and such like nutritive Things, not pure Earth.
And there is farther Reason for it, because Worms will drag the Leaves of
Trees into their Holes.
[l] _Snails_ might be in Danger of wanting Food, if they were to live
only upon such tender Plants as are near the Ground, within their Reach
only; to impower them therefore to extend their Pursuits farther, they
are enabled by the Means mentioned in _Note (d)_, to stick unto, and
creep up Walls and Vegetables at their Pleasure.
CHAP. II.
_Of the Inhabitants of the WATERS._
I have now gone through that Part of the Animal World, which I proposed
to survey, the Animals inhabiting the Land.
As to the other Part of the Terraqueous Globe, the Waters, and the
Inhabitants thereof, not having Time to finish what I have begun, on
that large Subject, I shall be forced to quit it for the present, altho’
we have there as ample and glorious a Scene of the Infinite Creator’s
Power and Art, as hath been already set forth on the dry Land. For the
Waters themselves are an admirable Work of God[a], and of infinite
Use[b] to that Part of the Globe already surveyed; and the prodigious
Variety[c], and Multitudes of curious and wonderful Things observable in
its Inhabitants of all Sorts, are an inexhaustible Scene of the Creator’s
Wisdom and Power. The vast Bulk of some[d], and prodigious Minuteness of
others[e], together with the incomparable Contrivance and Structure of
the Bodies[f] of all; the Provisions and Supplies of Food afforded to
such an innumerable Company of Eaters, and that in an Element, unlikely
one would think, to afford any great Store of Supplies[g]; the Business
of Respiration perform’d in a Way so different from, but equivalent to
what is in Land Animals[h]; the Adjustment of the Organs of Vision[i] to
that Element in which the Animal liveth; the Poise[k], the Support[l],
the Motion of the Body[m], forwards with great Swiftness, and upwards
and downwards with great Readiness and Agility, and all without Feet and
Hands, and ten thousand Things besides; all these Things, I say, do lay
before us so various, so glorious, and withal so inexhaustible a Scene of
the divine Power, Wisdom and Goodness, that it would be in vain to engage
my self in so large a Province, without allotting as much Time and Pains
to it, as the preceding Survey hath cost me. Passing by therefore that
Part of our Globe, I shall only say somewhat very briefly concerning the
_insensitive_ Creatures, particularly those of the _vegetable Kingdom_,
and so conclude this Survey.
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FOOTNOTES:
[a] Besides their absolute Necessity, and great Use to the World, there
are several Topics, from whence the Waters may be demonstrated to be
God’s Work; as, the creating so vast a Part of our Globe; the placing it
commodiously therein, and giving it Bounds; the Methods keeping it sweet
and clean, by its Saltness, by the Tides, and Agitations by the Winds;
the making the Waters useful to the Vegetation of Plants, and for Food to
Animals, by the noble Methods of sweetning them; and many other Things
besides, which are insisted on in that Part of my Survey.
[b] _Pliny_ having named divers _Mirabilia Aquarum_, to shew their Power;
then proceeds to their Uses, viz. _Eædem cadentes omnium terrâ nascentium
causa fiunt, prorsus mirabili naturâ, siquis velit reputare, ut fruges
gignantur, arbores fruticesque vivant, in cœlum migrare aquas, animamque
etiam herbis vitalem inde deferre: justâ confessione, omnes terra quoque
vires aquarum esse beneficii. Quapropter ante omnia ipsarum potentia
exempla ponemus: Cunctas enim quis mortalium enamerare queat?_ And then
he goes on with an Enumeration of some Waters famed for being medicinal,
or some other unusual Quality. _Plin._ L. 31. c. 1. & 2.
[c] _Pliny_ reckons 176 Kinds in the Waters, whose Names may be met with
in his L. 32. c. 11. but he is short in his Account.
[d] _Pliny_, L. 9. c. 3. saith, that in the _Indian_ Sea there are
_Balenæ quaternûm jugerum_ (i.e. 960 Feet) _Pristes 200 cubitorum_ (i.e.
300 Feet.) And L. 32. c. 1. he mentions _Whales_ 600 Foot long, and 360
broad, that came into a River of _Arabia_. If the Reader hath a mind, he
may see his Reason why the largest Animals are bred in the Sea, L. 9. c.
2.
[e] As the largest, so the most minute Animals are bred in the Waters, as
those in Pepper-water; and such as make the green Scum on the Waters, or
make them seem as if green, and many others. See _Book IV. Chap. 11. Note
(n), (v)._
[f] It might be here shewn, that the Bodies of all the several
Inhabitants of the Waters are the best contrived and suited to that Place
and Business in the Waters, which is proper for them; that particularly
their Bodies are cloathed and guarded, in the best Manner, with Scales,
or Shells, _&c._ suitable to the Place they are to reside in, the Dangers
they may there be exposed unto, and the Motion and Business they are
there to perform: That the Center of Gravity (of great Consideration in
that fluid Element,) is always plac’d in the fittest Part of the Body:
That the Shape of their Bodies, (especially the more swift,) is the
most commodious for making Way through the Water, and most agreeable to
geometrical Rules; and many other Matters besides would deserve a Place
here, were they not too long for Notes, and that I shall anticipate what
will be more proper for another Place, and more accurately treated of
there.
[g] See before _Book IV. Chap. 11._
[h] _Galen_ was aware of the Respiration of Fishes by their _Branchiæ_.
For having said, that Fishes have no Occasion of a Voice, neither
respire through the Mouth as Land Animals do, he saith, _Sed earum, quas
Branchias nuncupamus, constructio, ipsis vice Pulmonis est. Cùm enim
crebris ac tenuibus foraminibus sint Branchiæ hæ interceptæ, aëri quidem
& vapori perviis, subtilioribus tamen quàm pro mole aquæ; hanc quidem
extra repellunt, illa autem promptè intromittunt._ Galen de Us. Part.
L. 6. c. 9. So also _Pliny_ held, that Fishes respired by their Gills;
but he saith _Aristotle_ was of a different Opinion. _Plin._ L. 9. c. 7.
And so _Aristotle_ seems to be in his _Hist. Animal._ L. 8. c. 2. and in
other Places. And I may add our famous Dr. _Needham_. See his _De form.
Fœtu_, Chap. 6. and _Answer to ~Severinus~_.
[i] A protuberant Eye would have been inconvenient for Fishes, by
hindring their Motion in so dense a Medium as Water is; or else their
brushing through so thick a Medium would have been apt to wear, and
prejudice their Eyes; therefore their _Cornea_ is flat. To make amends
for which, as also for the Refraction of Water, different from that of
the Air, the wise Contriver of the Eye, hath made the _Crystalline_
spherical in Fishes, which in Animals, living in the Air, is
_lenticular_, and more flat.
[k] As I have shew’d before, that the Bodies of Birds are nicely pois’d
to swim in the Air; so are those of Fishes for the Water, every Part
of the Body being duly balanc’d, and the Center of Gravity, (as I said
in _Note (f)_), accurately fix’d. And to prevent Vacillation, some of
the Fins serve, particularly those of the Belly; as _Borelli_ prov’d by
cutting off the Belly-fins, which caus’d the Fish to reel to the right
and left Hand, and render’d it unable to stand steadily in an upright
Posture.
[l] To enable the Fish to abide at the Top, or Bottom, or any other Part
of the Waters, the Air-Bladder is given to most Fishes, which as ’tis
more full or empty, makes the Body more or less buoyant.
[m] The _Tail_ is the grand Instrument of the Motion of the Body; not the
Fins, as some imagine. For which Reason, Fishes are more musculous and
strong in that Part, than in all the rest of their Body, according as it
is in the motive Parts of all Animals, in the pectoral Muscles of Birds,
the Thighs of Man, _&c._
If the Reader hath a Mind to see the admirable Method, how Fishes row
themselves by their Tail, and other Curiosities relating to their
Swimming; I shall refer him to _Borelli_ _de mot. Anim._ Part. 1. Chap.
23. particularly to Prop. 213.
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