VAGARIES OF THE VIPER.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—" The old and simple remedy " for the bite of a. viper mentioned by the writer of the interesting article that appeared in the Spectator of November 18th goes back at least to the time of Pliny. In his account of the Ash (Nat. Hist., xvi., 13), he says that its juice may be swallowed as a medicine or applied externally to the swellings, and it was regarded as a sovereign remedy, for snakes avoided the very shadow of an ash-tree. He vouches for the truth of this statement by an experiment he had himself made (Experti proclimus)1 he continues, a circle of ash leaves is placed :round a fire and a snake, it will flee into the fire rather than face the leaves. Boon Nature had wisely and wonderfully ordained that the ash should flower (florere) before the viper stirred abroad, and not shed its leaves before the viper hid itself in its winter quarters.
It would be interesting if we could trace the survival of this ancient tradition through the Dark Ages. There is no need to doubt the facts of the experiment, but they hardly justify the deduction drawn from them, for the viper would naturally seek cover under the burning brushwood rather than face the naturalist and his companions standing, as they probably did, round the circle of ash leaves. However, there may be some Frank Bucklands amongst your readers willing to make their own observations and record the result.— I am, Sir, &c.,
Previous page
