The Taprobanensian, with four Heads; and he who believes it must have a four-headed Faith.
The Hungarian; of which elsewhere.
The same Historian adds, that the marine Amphisbæna, taken in the English Sea, has two Heads. Ibid. Pliny, Ælian, Lucan, Mantuan,—affirm it has two Heads; Matthiolus denies it, Hesychius is doubtful. Mention is made of a Serpent found near Chipping-Norton, not far from Oxford, having two Heads, and Faces like Women; one being shaped after the new Tyre of that Time; the other was habited after the old Fashion, and had great Wings resembling those of the Flinder-Mouse or Bat[[143]]. This happened in the Reign of Edward III.
[143]. Stow’s Annals, London, printed, 1631.
A Spanish Author says, that in Chiapa he found a two-headed Serpent, 18 Inches long, in the Form of a Roman T, and very venemous; it does not only kill, adds he, by its Bite, but if any tread upon that part of the Ground over which ’twas just gone, it proves fatal[[144]]. The Poet also subscribes to two Heads[[145]].——If this two-headed Serpent has slain its Thousands, there is a certain metaphorical three-headed Serpent on the Banks of Tyber, that has slain its Ten Thousands.
[144]. Antonio de Herrera’s History of America.
[145]. Et gravis ingenium surgens caput Amphisbæna.—Lucan, p. 270.
Perhaps the Reason of ascribing two Heads to this Serpent, might be, because it is said to poison by the Tail and Teeth. Others say, both Ends are so like in Figure and Bulk, that they are not easily distinguished.
It seems probable to me, that this Serpent, like some Insects or Worms, has a double Motion, antrorsum & retrorsum, which made some of the Antients conclude it had two Heads; one in the usual Situation, the other in the Extremity of the Cauda. Its Body is of equal Thickness, and recommended to the View by various and delightful Spots[[146]].
[146]. Conrad. Gesner. Ælian. Columella, lib. vi.