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An Account of the Horned Viper of Egypt. 281£» account qf the Coluber Ceraftes, qr Honied Viper of Erypt, by John Ellis, Efq\ F. R. S.T HE Coluber Ccrafles, or Homed A Viper of Egypt, is very rare, and ,fcarce to be fuund in any of the cabinets of Europe; and- the authors *wbo have treated on it, have given onfatif-faSory defcripiions of it, and inaccurate figures.The ancient Egyptians moft certainly *filmed it a hieroglyphic of fojne importance; for when we examine their monuments of the greateft antiquity, fuch as their obclifks, tenjpjes, Aatues, palaces, and even their mummips, we are almoft fore to find many reprefentations uf it on. them. Thofe tw° immenfejy large ftones, lately btpught from Alexandria in Egypt, now in the court-yard 'qf the/Bnti3i Mufeum, which appear to be part of the grand comice of fbme magnificent palace, have many figures of the Qerafles curiotrffy engraved uponthem.Dr. Haffelquifl, a -pupil of the celebrated Linn*us, who was in Egjpt in *7 S° has given us a particular defcrip-tien of this curious animal; but neither he, nor the former writers on Egypt, that mention the Ceraftes, fay any thing about the venom of it* bite. This we axe informed of only by Dr. Turnbull, who lived many years in Egypt, both At Alexandria and Cairo, and who was fo kind as to prcfent w withtwolpeci-mens of it.Dr. Liniweus, in biSyftemof Nature, p. xi7, calls it Coluber Ceraftes,Dr. Haffdquift, in his Iter. p. 3^5, Coluber Comutus 5 the following is an extrad from his description.The head, between die boms,is much .dcprfffed; the cheeks ve fwelled out, So that the hinder part pf the head is confidprably thicker than die neck; the * fnout is ihort and blui; the outward jfrontqf the upper and under jaws have A lt;mail cavity, or dqueiBon, in both; the noriU projeft like thofe of a pug dpg. Jig. 1. i.The eyes have a uexpendicular nar-ttw and black pupil; the iris is of a yellowifh grey colour; the orbits of the eyes are neatly fetxound with final 1 hemifphcrical fcales. .The tongue it divided at the extre-i mity into two parts#In . the upper jaw there are.no -teeth, but two .hones placed lengthways in the rpabte] in them are fixed fevral finall teeth,- generally about \ten: they are flurp, of an equal length, and bend a (Gsnt. Mag. June, 17$*.)little towards the throat. On the fide pf the under jaw, near the fnput, are placed three or four teeth; but none quite in the fore or hinder part.Jufi above the eyes, near the upper part of their orbit, are two tentacula, which we call horns, about a quarter of an inch long; they ?re npt ftraigbt, but bend a little outwards; they are channeled lengthways, fhaip pointed, but not very hard; theirtabs is furrounded with a circle pf fmall erett icaies.The body is narrow towards the neck; the diameter of the thickeft part of the middle about an inch; the tail grows fuddenly taper, and ends in a fharp point.The top of the head, the back, and upper part of the tail, are variegated with large irregular (pots, of a bright ochry colour, or reddifh brown 5 the throat, belly, and under part of the t£ii, are whxri/h. The length of this ipecinjen is as follows; from the aofelt;to the anus %%\ inchci, the tail 3* inches; fo that the whole ferpent is z6 inches long.The belly is covered with 14.5 broad fcales, or fcuta; the tail.With 4.3 putof finall leaks, or fquamuwe.The number of fijuaranue and fcuta have been thought W late authors to be the beft method of determining the Ipecies of ferpehts; but they are not ignorant that they differ now and then 5 Haffdqnift reckoning j 50 fcuta, and 50 pair ot fquamm* to hut Coluber Cbr-niitua.
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Gentlemans Magazine and Historical Chronicle
London, Middlesex, GB
Wed, Jun 01, 1768
Page 46
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