where, among the rocks and pebbles on the shore, a great quantity of these curious fishes are to be found. They live upon small vegetables, and smaller insects, which they find in the puddles which the tide leaves behind.

THE first is a well known small crustaceous fish of the lobster kind. It has long slender feelers, between which are two projecting laminæ. It has three pair of legs and five fins, but no claws. All the sandy shores of Great Britain breed this insect; it is frequently found in harbours, and even in the ditches and ponds of salt marshes. Its flavour is very deli

cate.

THE PRAWN is not unlike the shrimp, but exceeds it considerably in size. Its colour, when boiled, is a most beautiful pink. The flesh is more esteemed than that of the shrimp.

Prawns are chiefly found among sea-weed, and in the vicinity of rocks, at a little distance from the shore. They seldom enter the mouths of rivers. Their usual mode of swimming is on their backs; but when threatened with danger, they throw themselves on one side,

and spring backward to very considerable distances. They feed on all the smaller kinds of marine animals, which they seize and devour with great voracity. In their turn, they are the prey of numerous species of fish; although the sharp and serrated horn in front of their head constitutes a powerful weapon of defence against the attacks of all the smaller kinds. At the

side of its head there is frequently to be observed a large and apparently unnatural lump. This, if examined, will be found to contain, under the thoracic plate, a species of crustaceous animal, which occupies the whole cavity, and there feeds and perfects its growth. The same tumour or lump may be also observed on the shrimp.

Their flaming crests above the waves they show;
Their bellies seem to burn the seas below;
Their speckled tails advance to steer their course,
And on the sounding shore the flying billows force.
And now the strand, and now the plain they held;
Their ardent eyes with bloody streaks were fill'd,
Their nimble tongues they brandish'd as they came,
And lick'd their hissing jaws that sputter'd flame.
DRYDEN'S VIRGIL.

THESE creatures constitute by themselves a distinct class of amphibia. The general character is that they breathe, like quadrupeds, through the mouth by means of lungs; and are, like fishes, destitute of feet. They have neither fins like eels, nor feet like the lizards, yet they resemble the former by the pliancy of their annulous bodies, and the latter by the texture of their skins, which are often covered with scales, and by their pointed tails. In their motions they are like

A DESCRIPTION OF SERPENTS.

357

worms; but they have lungs, which worms have not. All Serpents are formidable to man, and it is the form of this animal which the arch-fiend borrowed to seduce the woman. It is since an emblem of flattery and insinuation. Milton describes it most beautifully, when he says:

-on his rear,

Circular base of rising folds, that tower'd
Fold above fold, surprising maze, his head
Crested aloft, and carbuncle his eyes.
With burnish'd neck of verdant gold, erect
Amidst his circling spires, that on the grass
Floated redundant; pleasing was his shape
And lovely
Oft he bow'd
His turret crest, and sleek enamell'd neck,
Fawning, and lick'd the ground whereon she trod.
PARADISE LOST.

The mouth of the Serpent is generally very wide, but the eyes are comparatively small; they have no exterior nostrils or ears; and yet some species are endowed with a very sagacious scent, and with conspicuous auditory ducts. A peculiarity, which unites the Serpent tribe with some kinds of insects, is, that they undergo a sort of metamorphosis in changing their skins, which circumstance happens twice a year. The operation is performed in this way: the old skin parts near the head, and the creature creeps from it by an undulatory kind of motion, arrayed in a new skin of a more vivid beauty. The anatomical structure of the body is admirable, and it seems as if Nature had taken a special delight not only in framing, but also in colouring, this animal: yet what a lesson to man, if he consider, that all these exterior charms cover and disguise the mortal poison which this most dangerous creature contains in its teeth! This contrast we may observe nearly all through the whole creation. The bee produces the sweetest food by collecting honey, and yet possesses a venomous sting. The rose exhales the finest perfume, and its colour and beauty

proclaim it the queen of the flowers; and yet it is surrounded with thorns.

The ancients paid great honours to Serpents, and sometimes called them good genii; they abided by the sepulchres and burying places, and were addressed like the tutelary divinities of these places. We read in the fifth book of the Æneis, that, when the Trojan hero sacrificed to his father's ghost, a Serpent of this kind made his appearance.

-and from the tomb began to glide

His hugy bulk on seven high volumes roll'd:

Blue was his breadth of back, and streak'd with scaly gold.
Thus riding on his curls he seem'd to pass
A rolling fire along, and singe the grass;
More various colours through his body run,
Than Iris when her bow imbibes the sun.
Between the rising altars and around,
The sacred monster shot along the ground;
With harmless play among the bowls he pass'd,
And with his lolling tongue assay'd the taste:
Thus fed with holy food, the wondrous guest
Within the hollow tomb retired to rest.

DRYDEN.

It is impossible to guess at the origin of this curious, and, most likely, emblematic, superstition.

This animal was exalted to the honour of being an emblem of prudence, and even of eternity; and is often represented for the latter purpose, in Egyptian hieroglyphics, biting his tail, so as to form a circle. They are very numerous in Africa; and Lucan, in his Pharsalia, gives us a very extraordinary account of the different species, which he seems to have drawn partly from ancient Greek authors, partly from actual traditions. He says,

Why plagues like these infect the Libyan air;
Why deaths unknown in various shapes appear;
Why, fruitful to destroy, the cursed land
Is temper'd thus by Nature's secret hand;
Dark and obscure the hidden cause remains,
And still deludes the vain inquirer's pains.

ROWE'S LUCAN.