been notorious for their amorous propensities. Muratori informs us that these unfortunate persons did not always submit quietly to these severe regulations, but several times joined the Jews in a revolt against the authorities.

This affliction has been observed in various countries. In Iceland it is called Likraa; in Norway, Radesyge or Spedalskhed. It is to be apprehended that many of these cases of leprosy belong more particularly to the elephantiasis: such is the red disease of Cayenne, and the Boasi of Surinam.

It is especially in the East, its probable original seat, that leprosy is observed. In Damascus there are two hospitals for its treatment. The waters of the Jordan are still considered efficacious in its cure, and the waters of Abraham's well are looked upon as a specific. In Candia the disease was common, and lepers were noted for their obscene profligacy. From Crimea it has also been carried to Astracan, whence it infected the Cossacks of Jaïck. Pallas and Gmelin have given an accurate account of its invasion.

THE ASPIC.

VARIOUS opinions are entertained respecting the reptile that inflicted the fatal sting on Cleopatra. According to Pliny, it had hollow fangs, which distilled the venom in the same manner as the tail of the scorpion. Elian states it to have been a snake that moves slowly, covered with scales of a reddish colour, his head crowned by callous protuberances, his neck becoming swollen and inflated when he sheds his poisonous secretion. Other naturalists affirm that the scales are shining, and the eyes of a dazzling brightness; while some authorities maintain that the reptile's hue is of a dark brown colour, and that, like the chameleon, it can assume the colour of the ground on which it drags its writhing form. However, later observers have now clearly ascertained that the aspic of the ancients is the coluber haje, called by the Arabs nascher, and classed by Lacepède as the Egyptian viper. Lucan seems to have described this serpent in the following lines:

Hic, quæ prima caput movit de pulvere tabes
Aspida somniferum tumida cervice levârit.

According to Hasselquist, the aspic's head is raised in a protuberance on both sides behind the eyes; the scales which cover the back are small, of a dirty white colour, and speckled with reddish spots. The lower surface of the reptile is striated with one hundred and eighteen small parallel zones, and forty-four smaller ones are under the tail. The teeth resemble in their structure those of other vipers; and, when the animal is irritated, its neck and throat are swelled up to the size of the body. Authors vary in regard to its length. Hasselquist, from whom we have derived the above description, says that it is a short reptile; while Savary assures us that it sometimes measures six feet.

The ancients stated that the poison of the aspic did not occasion any pain, but that the person it had stung gradually sunk into a calm and languid state, which was followed by a sound sleep, the forerunner of dissolution. Modern travellers assure us, on the contrary, that this venom is most active; and Hasselquist has observed an aspic in Cyprus, the bite of which brought on a rapid mortification, which generally proved fatal in a very few hours.

In Egypt the viper is still made use of in medicinal preparations; and a great number of them are sent to Venice for the confection of the celebrated Theriaca. Under Nero, we are told, that these reptiles were imported into Rome for pharmaceutical purposes.

In the above description, and endeavour to ascertain the nature of the aspic of the ancients, there must be some error. The coluber aspis of Linnæus is not venomous, and we may therefore conclude that the aspic was of the same species as our viper. The venom of this animal is of a yellow tinge, and small in quantity, seldom exceeding two grains in weight. In hot weather it becomes more active in its effects. Time does not seem to deprive it of its fatal properties; for instances have been known of persons having pricked their fingers with the pointed fangs of a viper preserved in spirits, when the most serious accidents have followed. The dried teeth lose this noxious power. The venom of the viper may be swallowed without any risk, provided there is not an ulcer in the mouth. Fontana has made upwards of six thousand experiments to prove the activity of this substance. A sparrow died under its influence in five minutes, a pigeon in eight or ten; a cat sometimes did not experience any inconvenience, a sheep seldom or never; and the horse appears to be proof against its action.

Some naturalists have affirmed that the female viper, in cases of sudden alarm, possesses the faculty of securing the safety of her young by swallowing them and keeping them concealed in her stomach, as the kangaroo secures her offspring in her pouch. This assertion, although fabulous, was credited by Sir Thomas Brown, and since by Dr. Shaw. Stories equally absurd have been circulated of this reptile. The Egyptians considered the viper as a typification of a bad wife, since they believed that during their union the female was in the habit of biting off her partner's head. They also looked upon it as the emblem of undutiful children, from the idle belief that the viper came into the world by piercing an opening in its mother's side.

SELDEN'S COMPARISON

BETWEEN A DIVINE, A STATESMAN, AND A
PHYSICIAN.

If a physician sees you eat any thing that is not good for the body, to keep you from it he cries out " It is poison!" If the divine sees you do any thing that is hurtful to your soul, to keep you from it he cries out " You are damned!” To preach long, loud, and damnation, is the way to be cried up. We love a man who damns us, and we run after him again to save us. If a man has a sore leg, and he should go to an honest and judicious surgeon, and he should only bid him keep it warm, or anoint it with some well-known oil that would do the cure, haply he would not much regard him, because he knows the medicine beforehand to be an ordinary medicine. But if he should go to a surgeon that should tell him, "Your leg will be gangrene within three days, and it must be cut off; and you will die, unless you do something that I could tell you," what listening there would be to this man! "Oh! for the Lord's sake, tell me what this is I will give you any contents for your pains."

This ingenious antiquary has also made some quaint comparisons between doctors of the body and doctors of the public interests. "All might go on well," he says, “in the commonwealth, if every one in the parliament would lay

down his own interest and aim at the general good. If a man was rich, and the whole college of physicians were sent to him to administer to him severally; haply, so long as they observed the rules of art, he might recover. But if one of them had a great deal of scammony by him, he must put off that; therefore will he prescribe scammony; another had a great deal of rhubarb, and he must put off that; therefore he prescribes rhubarb and they would certainly kill the man. We destroy the commonwealth, while we preserve our own private interests and neglect the public."

Grotius called John Selden "the honour of the English nation;" and Bacon had such an implicit faith in his judgment, that he desired in his will that his advice should be taken respecting the publication or suppression of his posthumous works.

THE LETTUCE.

VARIOUS species of this plant were known to the ancients. Its type is supposed to be the Lactuca quercina, or the Lactuca scariola; both of Asiatic origin. Many powerful effects were formerly attributed to its use. It was considered as producing sleep, and recovery from intoxication; it was in consequence of this belief that this salad was served up after meals. Thus Martial tells us,

Claudere quæ cœnas Lactuca solebat avorum,
Dic mihi cur nostras inchoat illa dapes.

Columella thus describes its properties:

Jamque salutari properet Lactuca sapore
Tristia quæ relevet longi fastidia mori.

This belief in its narcotic qualities induced the ancients to esteem it as an aphrodisiac: the Pythagoreans had therefore named it Evvouxiov; and Eubulus calls it the food of the dead, mortuorum cibum. Venus covered the body of her beloved Adonis with lettuce-leaves to calm her amorous grief; and vases, in which they were planted, were introduced in the Adonian festivals. Galen, who had faith in its powers, called it the herb of sages, and in his sleepless nights

sought its influence by eating it at supper. It was also frequently put under the pillow of the rich to lull them to repose. Its cooling qualities were so much dreaded by the Roman gallants, that its use was abandoned; but Augustus's physician, Antonius Musa, having calmed by its prescription his master's uneasiness in a hypochondriac attack, lettuce recovered its popularity: a statue was erected to the doctor, and salad once more became the fashion, although the prejudices against it could not be removed. Lobel informs us that an English nobleman, who had long wished for an heir, but in vain, was blessed with a numerous family by leaving off this Malthusian vegetable.

MEDICAL FEES.

SUCH is the perversity of our nature, that the remuneration given with the greatest reluctance is the reward of those who restore us, or who conscientiously endeavour to restore us to health. The daily fees, it is true, are not handed with regret, for the patient is still suffering; but if they were to be allowed to accumulate to a considerable amount, they would be parted with, with a lingering look. The lawyer's charges for a ruinous litigation, the architect's demands for an uncomfortable house, are freely disbursed, though if exorbitant they may be taxed; but the doctor's-a guinea a visit!-is sheer extortion. Send for the apothecary: the physician merely gives me advice; the apothecary will send me plenty of physic: at any rate I shall have something for my money.'

To what can this unjust, this illiberal feeling be attributed? Simply to vanity and pride. Illness and death level all mankind. The haughty nobleman, who conceives himself contaminated by vulgar touch, can scarcely bring himself to believe that he is placed upon the same footing as a shoeblack. All prestiges of grandeur and worldly pomp vanish round the bed of sickness; and the suffering peer would kneel before the humblest peasant for relief. Then it is that money would be cheerfully lavished to mitigate his sufferings. But how soon the scene is changed! The patient is well, thrown once more in the busy vortex of business or of plea