That _Dust_ was not the original Food of the Serpent, seems evident from
the Sentence passed upon the Paradisaic Serpent, but the necessary
Consequence of the Change made in the manner of its Motion, _i. e._ the
prone Posture of its Body, by which it’s doomed to live upon Food
intermix’d with Earth, dried to a Powder; _Dust shalt thou eat_, is one
part of the Curse. It’s true, Serpents eat Flesh, Birds, Frogs, Fish,
Fruits, Grass, but as they continually creep on the Earth, ’tis
impossible but their Food must be often defiled with Dirt; some of them
may eat Earth out of Necessity, or at least Earth-Worms, which they
cannot swallow without some Dirt with them. No Animal but has its proper
Food; even the most minute Insects; those that seemingly feed upon Dust,
in reality feed only upon some nutritive Particles therein. Insects have
been seen through a Microscope to eat some Particles of Dust, and reject
many others, having accurate Organs of Sight, Smelling, and Feeling, as
well accommodated to Dust, as the Organs of Ducks and Hogs are to find
their Food in Dirt.
And here it may be observed, that what the Serpent does through a
Necessity from the Divine Sentence, the earthly Man does from his own
Will; the Serpent only by the Will of another, Man eats it from his own
Inclination to it; the Serpent would have better Food if it could, Man
might have better and will not: This shews that Man has a mind to be
Companion with the Serpent, and to carry on the Acquaintance, that was
begun in Paradise; the Serpent licks the Dust materially, the earthly
Person licks it morally; the one has its Tongue upon it, the other has
his Heart. The earthly Man is only a Man in shape, but a Serpent in
Practice: What is the Punishment of the Serpent, is made the Happiness
of the earthly Mind.
Some Serpents are _carnivorous_, and feed on Flesh; others are
_verminivorous_, and feed on Reptiles: Their Sustenance is various,
suited to their several Constitutions, and Nature of the Climates, where
they inhabit. Vipers and Adders feed on Herbs, Weeds, Dews, as well as
upon Lizards, Mice, Frogs.—When they take Food into their Mouths, they
raise up their Bodies a little, that they may swallow their Prey with
less difficulty. They swallow those little Animals whole without
chewing. In a Viper dissected by a certain Gentleman, he found three
large Mice, intire, without any Change of their Form by hard
Compressure. _Scorpions_ live chiefly upon Locusts, and other winged
Insects. In _Arabia_, ’tis said, they feed upon _Balsam-Juices_, and
seem to delight much in the Shadow of that Tree[17].
Footnote 17:
_Conrad, Gesner._ 85.
It is remarkable, that Nature has provided young Vipers with poisonous
Teeth grown to Perfection, commensurate to their Bulk, that so they may
immediately feed themselves, by being able, in some measure, to kill
their Prey as soon as they are born. Some of these Animals have
temporary Parts, as the _Lacerta Aquatica_, a little Water-Serpent,
which, when young, has four ramified Fins, to poise and keep its Body
upright, (which gives it the Resemblance of a young Fish) and these fall
off when the Legs are grown: So Frogs and Toads, in their _Tadpole
State_, have Tails, which fall off when their Legs are grown out[18].
These pass through various Transmigrations, before they arrive at their
perfect State.
Footnote 18:
_Derham’s Phys. Theol._ B. IV.
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