Note 612 — VII. OUTGROWTHS AND PERVERSIONS OF THIS RITE.

There seems, indeed, to be a connection between the Hebrew words, miphtan, “threshold,” and pethen, “asp,” “adder,” or “serpent,” as first pointed out to me by Mr. Montague Cockle. Although the verbal root is not preserved in the Hebrew, there is no valid reason for doubting that they go back to the same root. In Arabic, the verb is preserved as pathana, “to tempt.” Its derivatives indicate the same meaning. This would seem to confirm the connection of the primitive threshold, the serpent, and temptation. In Leland’s Etruscan Roman Remains (p. 131 f.) are citations from several ancient works, and references to current Italian traditions, showing the supposed connection of the serpent with the threshold, the phallus, and married life, that are in obvious confirmation of the views here expressed.