BOOK IX.

_Of REPTILES, and the Inhabitants of the WATERS._

[Illustration]

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.

[Illustration]

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.

[Illustration]