Another very common sort, which they call Toads, because black, but I think differs nothing from our black Frog. They have Toads also like ours in England; and another small sort of Frog, which makes a noise like Pack-horse Bells all the Spring long. Another little green Frog, that will leap prodigiously, which they therefore call the Flying Frog. There is frequently heard in the Woods a shrill sort of noise, much like that which our Shrew-Mouse makes, but much sharper; I could never learn the certainty what it was that made this noise, it is generally in a Tree, and some have asserted to me, that it was made by the green Frog, yet I scarcely believe it. Mr. Banister assured me it was made by a sort of Scarabeus Beetle, that is I think full as big as the Humming-Bird; but neither do I believe that, and for this Reason, for I never saw that Beetle so low as the Salts, but always as high up in the Country as the Freshes, and that noise is frequent all over the Country.
Lizards, that are gray, and very common, the Snakes feed much on them, for I have taken several of them out of the Bellies of Snakes.
Snakes, about seven several sorts. The Rattle-Snake, so called from certain Rattles at the end of the Tail: These Rattles seem like so many perished Joints, being a dry Husk over certain Joints, and the common Opinion is, that there are as many Rattles or Joints, as the Snake is years old. I kill'd four or five, and they had each eleven, twelve, or thirteen Joints each; but the young Ones have no Rattles of a year or two, but they may be known notwithstanding, being very regularly diced or checker'd, black and gray on the backs. The Old shake and shiver these Rattles with wonderful nimbleness when they are any ways disturbed; their bite is very deadly, yet not always of the same force, but more or less Mortal, accordingly as the Snake is in force or vigour, and therefore in June or July much worse, and more Mortal, than in March and April. This Snake is a very Majestick sort of Creature, and will scarce meddle with any thing unless provok'd, but if any thing offend it, it makes directly at them. I was told a pleasant Story of an Old Gentlemen, Col. Cleyborn as I remember was his Name, the same that sent the Rattle-Snakes to the Royal Society some Years since. He had an odd Fancy of keeping some of these Snakes always in Barrels in the House, and one time an Indian pretending to Charm them so as to take them by the Neck in his Hand without biting of him; the Old Gentleman caused a Rattle-Snake to be brought forth, the Indian began his Charm with a little Wand, whisking it round and round the Rattle-Snake's Head, bringing it by degrees nigher and nigher, and at length flung the Switch away, and whisked his Hand about in like manner, bringing his Hand nigher still and nigher, by taking less Circles, when the old Gentleman immediately hit the Snake with his Crutch, and the Snake snap'd the Indian by the Hand, and bit him very sharply betwixt the Fingers, which put his Charm to an end, and he roared out; but stretch'd his Arm out as high as he could, calling for a string, wherewith he bound his Arm as hard as possibly he could, and clapt a hot burning Coal thereon, and singed it stoutly, whereby he was cured, but looked pale a long while after. And I believe this truly one of the best ways in the World of Curing the Bite either of Viper or Mad Dog. I was with the Honourable Esquire Boyle, when he made certain Experiments of Curing the Bite of Vipers with certain East-India Snake-stones, that were sent him by King James the Second, the Queen, and some of the Nobility, purposely to have him try their Vertue and Efficacy: For that end he got some brisk Vipers, and made them bite the Thighs of certain Pullets, and the Breasts of others: He applied nothing to one of the Pullets, and it died within three Minutes and a half, as I remember; but I think they all recovered to which he applied the Snake-stones, tho' they turned wonderful pale, their Combs, &c. immediately, and they became extream sick, and purged within half an hour, and the next morning all their Flesh was turned green to a wonder, nevertheless they recovered by degrees. The manner of the Application was only by laying on the Stone, and by two cross-bits of a very sticking Diaculum Plaister binding it on, which he let not lie on past an hour or two, but I think not so long, took the Stone off, and put it into Milk for some time; some Stones were of much stronger Vertue than others. I proposed a piece of unquench'd Lime-stone to be apply'd to see whether it might not prove as powerful, but know not whether ever it was tried. But here one telling Mr. Boyle the Story of this Indian, he approved the method of Cure, and said, an actual Cautery was the most certain Cure. The Poison, both of Viper and Mad-Dog (as I conceive) kill by thickning of the Blood, after the manner that Runnet congeals Milk when they make Cheese. Vipers, and all the Viperous Brood, as Rattle-Snakes, &c. that are deadly, have I believe their Poisonous Teeth Fistulous, for so I have observed that Vipers Teeth are, and the Rattle-Snakes very remarkable, and therefore they kill so very speedily by injecting the Poison through those Fistulous Teeth into the very Mass of Blood; but the bite of Mad-Dogs is oft of long continuance before it get into and corrupt the Mass of Blood, being it sticks only to the out-sides of the Teeth, and therefore when they bite thro' any thickness of Cloaths, it rarely proves Mortal, the Cloaths wiping the Poison off before it come to the Flesh. A Girl that was bit about New-Years Day, continued well till Whitsontide, when coming to see certain Friends in our Parts, she fell very ill, and being a Poor Girl, they came to me; it pleased God I recovered her. Sometime after she returned to give me thanks for saving her Life, being two Persons that were bit with the same Dog, were dead, whilst she remained under Cure, and therefore she was the fullier convinc'd she owed her life to me; but of this I shall give a more particular Instance by and by. But the Poisons of Vipers seems to be like the injecting of Liquors into the Veins of Creatures; Dr. Moulin and I made many Experiments of this Nature together, and I have made many more by my self. We once, I remember, injected half a Dram of Allom into the Jugalar-Vein of a Dog before the Royal Society, (the Allom being only dissolved in a little Water) which within something less than one Minutes time was so absolutely dead, as not to have the least Convulsive Motion; and I have done the like with many other things besides Allom, but with some things it is more curdled and broken, than with others; and will differ much both as to colour and consistence. Salt-Petre kills much as quickly as Allom, but then the Blood in the Heart looks very florid, smooth, and even. I wish some Person of Observation and Leisure would prosecute these sort of Experiments, and make Injections of the several things most used in Physick into the Veins of Creatures, both in quantities, and into different Veins, as into the Thigh-veins of some Dogs, and Jugalars of some others, and in much lesser quantities of such things as kill suddenly; for in the little time I have spent in these sort of Experiments, I easily perceive notable discoveries might be made thereby: One Dog that lived became Lame and Gouty; another with Quick-Silver died in about Sixteen Weeks time, Consumptive, and I discovered Quick-Silver in the Impostumated parts of his Lungs. Query, Whether some Persons that have been Flux'd, or used Quick-silver Oyntments, and the like, and afterwards become consumptive, owe not their Distemper to the abusive use of a most excellent Remedy? Much after the same manner, the subtile Quick-Silver getting into the Mass of Blood by degrees, through its ponderosity settles in the Lobes of the Lungs, and causes Ulcers there. But to return: The Poison of Vipers and Mad Dogs I suppose kill by thickning of the Blood, as many Malignant Fevers, also do; in all which Cases, I look on Volatil Salts to be the properest Physick, as keeping the Blood from congealing. I had a singular Instance hereof in a Gentleman of Yorkshire, bit with a Grey-Hound on the Thursday, not three Minutes before the Dog died Mad; he bit him in several places of the Hands, as he was giving him a Remedy: The Monday following the Gentleman was very ill, and came to our Town to an Apothecary his Acquaintance, who knowing not what to do, desired my Assistance. When I came, the Gentleman could talk, but every two or three Minutes he had violent Fits, and would tell us when they were over, that his Brains worked like Birm in an Ale-Fat, and seemed to Froth up at every Fit. The Apothecary had no Volatile Salt of Vipers; so I took the Volatile Salt of Amber, and ordered him Ten Grains in Treacle-Water every half hour: He told me every Dose seemed to clear his Brain, and cool it as perfectly, as if a Bason of Cold Water were poured on his Head, but it returned by degrees again: Having then a Volatile Salt by me that Vomits very well, I gave him a Dose thereof, it worked very well, and he was very much better after it: I then ordered him to continue the Volatile Salt of Amber once every four hours, and at each two hours end, that is betwixt, Spec. Pleres Archonticon and Rue pouder'd ana gr. 15. whereby he was so well recovered, that within two days he would needs go home, to look after some urgent Affairs, and afterwards found himself so well, that he forgot to return, and perfect the course; and I heard no more of him for half a Year, when I was fetch'd one Morning to him in great hast. He had been abroad, play'd the Good-Fellow, and in his return home, having rode a great days Journey, being weary, and I suppose finding himself indisposed, he staid all Night in our Town, it being fortunately in his way. In the Morning when he should have got up, he could not stand, whereupon the Apothecary was sent for, and a Surgeon to Blood him, which was accordingly done, but he grew worse; for in this Case I look upon Bleeding to be very prejudicial, as well as in most Malignant Fevers, for thereby the Spirits are diminished, and the Blood congeal'd the sooner. When they had done all they could, and the Symptoms still increased, they at length sent for me. I never saw Man or Creature in that Agony in all my life, that I found him in, Senseless, and Mad, when at best, but every Minute the fiercest shiverings ran through him, his Eyes would first roll and then set, as if ready to start out of his Head, but above all, the Swelling and Luctation at his Breast, was as if he would burst, which went off with a prodigious sigh: All this I judge the Effects of the Heart labouring to discharge it self of the stagnating Blood, and the Nervous Convulsions as consequences thereof. And I am the more confirm'd in this, from what I saw in a Woman that was bit also with a Mad-Dog in the Leg, and fell ill the very day that she had paid the Chirurgeon for her Cure; and notwithstanding all that could be done, growing worse, they sent for me; I went, and found her with what is called a Hydrophobia: She would look earnestly after Drink or Water, and seem to desire it, but as soon as she began to drink, away it went, be it what it would, with the greatest Violence she could possibly fling it. I gave her the Vomit hereafter and also before mentioned, but she got but little of it down, and I had no more with me; nevertheless it so brought her to her self, that she could answer Questions, and I asked her, whether she was afraid of the Drink and Water, when she flung the Cups in that violent manner from her? She said No; but when she offered to drink, her Breast and Heart would not let her. I asked, whether through any Aversion or Fear? She said, No, she was very Thirsty; but when she offered to drink, it struck to her Heart, and stopped her Breath. That is, as I apprehend, the cold Drink passing down the Throat struck a chillness in the Blood, and made it readier to stagnate: Besides the very act of Drinking, hindering the free breathing, conduced also much thereto; and therefore the Heart was so suddenly oppress'd, that she could not forbear flinging away whatever she had in her Hand. She complained also of a great rigour and stiffness or straitness of the Muscles of her Breast, so that possibly the Spiritous Liquor that flows in the Genus Nervosum may be congeal'd as well as the Blood; or the same Effects may be supposed notwithstanding to be the result of the condensed Blood clogging both the Heart and Lungs, so that the Breast may seem to be straitened therewith. The same I judge to be the cause of all the violent Luxations in this Gentleman, whose Fingers I looked on, and found the places where he had formerly been bit, turned blackish, and much inflamed about them, which confirmed me in my sentiment, that it was a relapse of his former Distemper, that is, of the Bite of the Mad-Dog. I told them, if any thing in the World would save his Life, I judged it must be the former Vomit of Volatile Salts; they could not tell what to do, nevertheless such is the Malignancy of the World, that as soon as it was given, they ran away and left me, saying, he was now certainly a dead Man, to have a Vomit given in that condition. Nevertheless it pleased God that he shortly after cried, This Fellow in the Black has done me good, and after the first Vomit, came so to himself, as to know us all. I vomited him every other day with this Vomit for three times, and made him in the Interim to take Volatile Salt of Amber, and the aforesaid Powders, and to wash his Hands, and Sores in a strong Salt Brine: to drink Posset-drink with Sage and Rue, and by this course, and the Blessing of God, his Life was saved, and he perfectly cured, for it is now four Years since, and he had had no Relapse. I have cured several others by the same Method. Coll. Spencer, the Secretary of State in Virginia, a very Serious and Ingenious Gentleman, told me, that his Servant brought him word once that a Sow having farrow'd, a Rattle-Snake was got into the Den, and had kill'd the Piggs. The Colonel went to see the Snake, which they said was still coyl'd in the Den; there followed them two or three Mungrel Curs, and they sat one of the Dogs at the Snake, which was too quick for the Dog, and snapt him by the Nose, whereupon he set a howling, and run immediately into the adjacent River, and died very shortly after. Another of the Dogs upon the like attempt was bit by the Snake also, and fell a howling, and frothing, and tumbling; but being he died not so soon as the other Dog did, they fetched some of the Herb which they call Dittany, as having a great Traditionary Vertue for the Cure of Poisons; they pounded it, and adding a little Water, express'd the Juice, and gave the Dog frequently thereof, nevertheless he died within a day or two. The howling of the Dogs he supposed gave notice to the Sow, and made her come furiously bristling, and run immediately into her Den; but being likewise bit by the Snake, she set up a terrible Squeak, and ran also into the River, and there died.
A Gentlewoman, that was a notable Female Doctress, told me, that a Neighbour being bit by a Rattle-Snake, swelled excessively; some days afterwards she was sent for, who found him swell'd beyond what she thought it had been possible for the Skin to contain, and very Thirsty. She gave him Oriental Bezoar shaved, with a strong Decoction of the aforesaid Dittany, whereby she recovered the Person: To the best of my Remembrance, it was he that told me, asking him afterwards, what he felt when the Snake first bit him? He said, it seemed as if a flash of Fire had ran through his Veins.
Besides the Rattle-Snake, there is the Blowing-Snake, an absolute Species of a Viper, but larger than any that I have seen in Europe; it is so called, because it seems to blow, and spread its Head, and swell very much before it bite, which is very deadly. It is Remarkable there is none of their Snakes there, make any of that hissing noise that ours in England make, but only shoot out their Tongues, shaking them as ours do, without any noise at all; this is a short thick sort of Snake. There is another sort of deadly Snake, called the Red-Snake; I once narrowly escaped treading on the back of one of them: They are of an ugly dark brown colour, inclining to red; their Bellies are of a more dusky white, with a large streak of Vermillion Red on either side; this too is of the Viper kind, but is not so short, but its Tail is more taper and small. The Horn-Snake is, as they say, another sort of deadly Snake; I never saw any of them, unless once, shortly after my Arrival in that Country, which I cannot attest to be the Horn-Snake, for I could not distinctly view it, being in a Thicket of Sumach, it was perch'd up about two Foot high in a Sumach Branch, its Tail twisted about the Shrub, and about a quarter of a Yard stood bolt forward, leaning over the forked branch thereof: I could not see the Horn, which they say it has in its front, wherewith it strikes, and if it wounds, is as deadly as the Rattle-Snake's bite. The Gentleman that was with me, told me it was a Horn-Snake, but being in hast, and on Horse-back, and the Snake in a Thicket, I could not see the Horn; but had I thought I should never have seen more of them, I should have took a little pains to have been better satisfied. This I think may not improperly be referr'd to the Dart-Snakes.
The Black-Snake, is the largest I think of all others, but I am sure the most common; I have kill'd several of them full six Foot long, their Bite is not deemed Mortal, but it swells, and turns to a Running Sore; they feed upon Lizards, Mice, Rats, Frogs, and Toads, which I have taken out of their Bellies. I was once a Simpling in the woods, on a fair Sun-shine day, when I saw a Snake crawling on a Tree that was fallen, and licking with its forked Tongue as it moved; I stood still to observe it, and saw it lick up small Insects and Flies with wonderful nimbleness, catching them betwixt the Forks of its Tongue.
The Corn-Snake, most like the Rattle-Snake of all others in colour, but the Checkers are not so regular, neither has it any Rattles: They are most frequent in the Corn-Fields, and thence I suppose so called; the Bite is not so venomous as the Black-Snakes.
The Water-Snake, a small Snake, I never saw any of them above a Yard long, though I have sometimes seen Forty or Fifty at once; they are of an ugly dark blackish colour: They say, they are the least Venomous of any.