As Serpents differ in Kind, so in Size; the Length to which some of them
grow is most surprizing. A certain Number is sent out with little
Bodies; others are of monstrous Bulk, and capable of making the
strongest Efforts against all the Attempts made to destroy them; yea,
are strong enough to contend with _Elephants_, the greatest of Animals,
and conquer them. _e. gr._
_ATTILIUS REGULUS_, the _Roman_ General in _Africa_, is said to
encounter a Serpent in that Country, of vast Strength and Stature, near
the River _Bagrada_, 120 Feet long, which he and his Army could not
subdue, without discharging all their Engines of War against it; and,
when conquered and flea’d, its Skin was conveyed to _Rome_ in
Triumph[19]. This is the more credible, says _Pliny_, because, in
_Italy_, we see other Serpents, called _Boæ_, so large that in the Reign
of _Claudius_, there was one of them killed in the _Vatican_, within
whose Belly was found an Infant whole[20].
Footnote 19:
_Prœlium grands & acre eumque magna totius exercitus conflictatione,
balistis atque catapultis diu oppugnatum—Ejusque interfecti longum
corium pedes 120. Aul. Gellii Noct. Att._ _Liber_ VI. _Cap._ iii.
Footnote 20:
_Nat. Hist._ B. VIII. _Cap._ xiv.
Among the _Andes_ in _America_, are Serpents of prodigious Magnitude,
from 25 to 30 Foot long[21]. In the Province of _Caria_, are Serpents
ten Yards long, and Ten Hands broad, and their Eyes as large as two
small Loaves. In _Brasil_, are found Serpents 30 Foot long. In
_Gresham-College, London_, is a Snake preserved in Spirits, that is near
two Yards long.
Footnote 21:
_De Le Vega._
In _Norway_, we read of two Serpents of very large Proportion: One of
two hundred Foot long, and lives in Rocks and desolate Mountains, near
the Sea, about _Bergen_; which in Summer-Nights ranges about in quest of
Plunder, devouring Lambs, Calves, Swine, and other Animals, that fall in
its way. In a calm Sea, it ransacks the Superficies of the Water, and
devours the _Polypus_ (_i. e._ a little Fish of many Feet) and all sorts
of Sea-Crabs.——Upon the Approach of a Ship, this Serpent lifts up its
Head above Water, and snatches at the Mariners. My Author adds, that it
rolls itself round about the Ship, the more effectually to secure its
Prey[22]. The Representation of this you have in _C. Gesner._
Footnote 22:
_Olaus Magn._ B. xxi. c. 27. p. 23. _Gesner ex Scalig._
The other Serpent is in the Diocess of _Hammer_, about fifty Cubits
long, by Conjecture. In _Bothnia_, on the _Livonian_ Sea, we read of
monstrous Serpents, with which the Shepherds of that Country were in
constant War. Wonderful Things are reported of the large Serpents that
infest the _Helvetian Mountains_. From the Instances above, ’tis evident
that the Northern Climates breed Serpents as well as the South; but with
this Difference, that they are not so venomous as those in _Africa_,
tho’ _Olaus Magnus_, Archbishop of _Upsal_, seems to except the
Shrew-Serpent. _Ibid._
There are _Marine_, as well as _Land-Dragons_, of uncommon Bigness: Some
in _Ethiopia_ of 30 Paces long, and in _Phrygia_ ten Paces long.——_N.
B._ A geometrical Pace is five Foot; but if it be the lesser Pace only,
_viz._ the Measure of two Foot and a half, it must be a monstrous
Animal[23].——In the Reign of _Philadelphus_, two _Live-Dragons_ were
brought from _Ethiopia_ to _Alexandria_, one 13, the other 14 Cubits
long. In the Reign of King _Euergetes_, they took three Dragons, one
seven Cubits, the other nine Cubits long. The third was carefully nursed
in the Temple of _Esculapius_, and no Creature so highly reverenced[24].
Footnote 23:
_Gesner_, p. 44.
Footnote 24:
_Ælian_, l. 16. c. 39. p. 957.
On the _Pellonæon Hill_ in _Chius_, was a _Dragon_ whose hideous Noise
filled the Vicinity with Horror and Dread; so terrible, that none durst
approach so near as to take its Dimensions. It happened, the Wilderness
wherein it lived, took fire in a Storm; and being involved in the Smoke
and fire, it perished, and, upon viewing its Bones, ’twas concluded to
be of a monstrous Bulk. _Ibid._
The _Ethiopian Dragons_ just mentioned, have no proper Name, and are
only known by a Periphrasis, _viz._ _Killers of Elephants_. The Method
is, by winding themselves about the _Elephants_ Legs, and then thrusting
their Heads up their Nostrils, sting them, and suck their Blood till
they are dead.
_ALEXANDER_, in his Tour thro’ the _Red-Sea_, says, he saw Serpents of
incredible Magnitude, some about 30 Cubits long[25].
Footnote 25:
_Ælian_, lib. 17. cap. 1.
We read of monstrous Dragons, particularly two Draconic Monsters
mentioned by _Alexander_’s Ambassadors, seen by them in their Return
from the Kingdom of _Abisaris_, one of 80 Cubits long, the other
140[26].
Footnote 26:
_Strabo_, de situ orbis, lib. 15. βιασαρου χωρα _Bisari_, alias
_Abisari Regio_.
In places adjacent to _Batavia_, a _Dutch_ Settlement in the
_East-Indies_, we read of Serpents 50 Feet long; and the Skin of one,
which was 20 Feet long, that swallowed an _Infant_, is shewn in
_Batavia_, the _Metropolis_ of the _Dutch_ Empire in the _East-Indies_.
In _America_ also are Serpents of prodigious Bulk, from 25, to 30 Feet
long[27]; but this Subject will be further considered in the _Second
Part_ of this Book.
Footnote 27:
Atlas American.
On the other hand, there are Serpents, as remarkably little as the
_Amphisbæna_, _Gallic_ Viper, and some of the Lizards, that are not
above four or six Inches long. Most of these Minutillos vary in outward
Form.
And here, I can’t but observe that as the Magnitude of some other
Animals is very wonderful, so, on the contrary, the Minuteness of some
is equally astonishing, if not more so: There are some very _little
Insects_ that are conspicuous to the Eye, but more that are _invisible_
without the Help of a _Microscope_, which is an optical Instrument, that
magnifies Objects, and makes them bigger than really they are; it helps
to discover minute Particles, of which Bodies are composed, and the
curious Contexture of them.
To those who are not used to a rigid mathematic Proof, this may be
illustrated by the Smallness of many organized Bodies. There is a Plant
called _Harts-Tongue_, ten thousand Seeds of which hardly make the Bulk
of a Pepper-Corn. Now the Cover of the true Body of each Seed, the
parenchymous and ligneous Parts of both; the Fibres of those Parts, the
Principles of those Fibres, and the homogeneous Particles or Atoms of
each Principle, being moderately multiplied one by another, afford a
hundred thousand Millions of formed Atoms in the space of a Pepper-Corn,
says the learned Dr. _Grew_[28].
Footnote 28:
_Cosmologia Sacra_, B. i. chap. 3.
The same is yet more evident from the Stupendous Smallness of some
Animals, especially in the Sperm of smaller Insects; which have been
observed by Mr. _Leeuwenhoek_, to be some Millions of times smaller than
a grain Sand. This learned Gentleman has observed more of them in the
Spawn of a Cod-fish, than there are People living on the Face of all the
Earth at once[29].
Footnote 29:
_Numerum animalculorum ex unius asselli majoris lactibus
provenientium, plus decies superare homines in universo terrarum orbe
viventes._—_Epistola ad Dom. N. Grew_, p. 1.
_N. B._ It is the infinite Number of these little invisible
Animals that makes stagnating Waters or Pools appear of so many
different Colours, as green, reddish, brown,—according to the
several Natures of these little Animals that live therein.
Thus, among Men, we find big and little; _Giants_ and _Pygmies_: Whether
that Disproportion be from meer natural Causes, or by Designation of
Providence, I determine not. It is very questionable whether there be a
particular Nation of _Pygmies_; but no doubt is made about the Existence
of _Dwarfs_ in many Places as well as Giants. _Julia_, the Niece of
_Augustus_, had a Dwarf called _Canopas_, that was about two feet in
height. _Philippa French_, born at _Milcomb_ in _Staffordshire_, aged
about 36, being then married, wanted something of three Feet in
height[30].
Footnote 30:
Dr. _Plot_’s Natural History.—_Oxford_ 16.
On the other hand, we are not without Instances of Men, that were of a
_gigantick Stature_, after, as well as before the Deluge, as _Goliah_
and the Sons of _Anak_.
In the Days of _Claudius_ the Emperor, _Pliny_ tells us, that one called
_Gabara_, brought out of _Arabia_, was nine Feet and nine Inches high:
He tells us also, of two others in the days of _Augustus Cæsar_,
_Iducio_ and _Secundilla_, that were half a Foot taller than
_Gabara_[31]. _Maximinus_ the Emperor, was eight Foot and a half in
height. But to come near home:
Footnote 31:
_Nat. Hist._ B. vii. cap. 16.
_WILLIAM EVANS_ born in _Monmouthshire_, and Porter to King _Charles_ I.
was two Yards and a half high. _Walter Parsons_, Porter to King _James_
I. was about the same height. “Some say, _William Evans_ exceeded
_Walter Parsons_ two Inches in height, but was far beneath him in
proportion of Body. Tho’ he halted a little, and going out squalling
with his Feet, yet made a shift to dance in an _Antimasque_ at Court,
where he drew _Little Jeffrey_, the _Dwarf_, out of his _Pocket_, first
to the Wonder, then to the Laughter of the Spectators[32].”
Footnote 32:
Fuller’_s Worthies of_ Engl. Monmouthshire, _p._ 54.
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