Note d — BOOK II.
Reading edition
Nec minùs clara exitii documenta sunt etiam ex contemnendis animalibus. M. Varro author est, à cuniculis suffossum in Hispaniâ opidum, à talpis in Thessaliâ: ab ranis civitatem in Galliâ pulsam, ab locustis in Africâ: ex Gyaro, Cycladum insulâ, incolas à muribus fugatos; In Italiâ Amyclas à serpentibus delatas. Citra Cynamolgos Æthiopas latè deserta regio est, à scorpionibus & solpugis gente sublatâ: & à scolopendris abactos Trerienses, author est Theophrastus. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 29.
To these Instances may be added, the Plague they sometimes suffer from a kind of Mice (they call Leming, Leminger, Lemmus, &c.) in Norway, which eat up every green Thing. They come in such prodigious Numbers, that they fancy them to fall from the Clouds; but Ol. Magnus, rather thinks they come from some of the Islands. Hist. l. 8. c. 2. If the Reader hath a mind to see a large Account of them, with a Dispute about their Generation, a handsome Cut of them, with the Prayers, and an Exorcism against them used in the Church of Rome, I shall refer him, (it being too tedious to recite in these Notes) to Musæum Wormian. l. 3. c. 23.
Quare patimur multa mala à creaturâ quam fecit Deus, nisi quia offendimus Deum?——De pœnâ tuâ peccatum tuum accusa, non judicem. Nam propter Superbiam instituit Deus creaturam istam minimam & abjectissimam, ut ipsa nos torqueret, ut cùm superbus fuerit homo, & se jactaverit adversus Deum,——cùm se erexerit, Pulicibus subdatur. Quid est, quòd te inflas humanâ superbiâ?——Pulicibus resiste, ut dormias. Cognosce qui sis. Nam propter superbiam nostram domandam——creata illa quæ molesta sunt: populum Pharaonis superbum potuit Deus domare de Ursis, de &c. Muscas & Ranas illis immisit, ut rebus vilissimis superbia domaretur. Omnia ergo per ipsum——facta sunt; & fine ipso factum est nihil. August. Tract. 1. in S. Johan.
But although the infinitely wise Creator hath put it in the Power of such vile Animals to chastise us, yet hath he shewed no less Wisdom and Kindness in ordering many, if not most of them so, as that it shall be in the Power of Man, and other Creatures to obviate or escape their Evils. For, besides the noble Antidotes afforded by Minerals, Vegetables, &c. many, if not most of our European venemous Animals carry their Cure, as well as Poison, in their own Bodies. The Oil, and I doubt not, the Body of Scorpions too, is a certain Remedy against its Stroke. A Bee, Wasp, or Hornet crushed and rubbed, and bound upon the Place, I have always found to be a certain Cure for the Sting of those Creatures. And I question not, but the Flesh, especially the Head of Vipers, would be found a Remedy for their Bites.
Our Viper-Catchers have a Remedy in which they place so great Confidence, as to be no more afraid of the Bite [of a Viper], than of a common Puncture, immediately curing themselves by the Application of their Specifick. This though they keep a great Secret, I have upon strict Enquiry found to be no other than Axungia Viperina, presently rubbed into the Wound. This Remedy the learned Doctor tried himself with good Success in a young Dog that was bitten in the Nose. Vid. Mead of Poisons, p. 29.
And as to the means to escape the Mischief of such noxious Animals, besides what may be effected by the Care, Industry and Sagacity of Man; some of them are so contrived and made, as to give Warning or Time to Creatures in danger from them. Thus, for Instance, the Rattle-Snake, the most poisonous of any Serpent, who darts its poisonous Vapours to some distance, and in all Probability was the Basilisk of the Ancients, said to kill with its Eyes, this involuntarily gives warning by the Rattle in its Tail. So the Shark, the most rapacious Animal of the Waters, is forced to turn himself on his Back, (and thereby gives an Opportunity of Escape) before he can catch his Prey.