XCVIII. The _Red-belly-Snake_, this is so called from its ruddy Colour, which inclines to an Orange-red. Of these are two sorts; one, like _Abel_ the Innocent; the other, like _Cain_ the Cruel: An Emblem of the World, humane, angelic Animal, and Vegetable, in which is a Mixture of Good and Evil. XCIX. The _Red-back-Snake_, so named from that Colour; a long, slender Snake, but not very common. A certain Surveyor of Lands in _Carolina_ happen’d to step over one of these, which he did not see till his Servant spy’d it: The Surveyor inquired of the _Indian_ that was along with him, _Whether it was a very venemous Serpent?_ Who answer’d, _That if he had been wounded by it, even the_ Indians _themselves, tho’ expert in the Art of curing serpentine Wounds, could not have saved his Life_[266]. Footnote 266: _Natural History of Carolina._ Red, which is one of the primary Colours, proceeding from the least refrangible Rays of Light, is a lively Emblem of Fire, or the fiery Venom in this Serpent, whose principal Quality is to draw Blood. C. The _Scorpion-Lizard_; ’tis commonly called so, but is no more like it than a Hedge-Hog: It is indeed of the Lizard Colour, but much larger: Its Back of a dark copper Colour; the Belly, in Orange; quick in its Motion on the Ground, and very nimble in running up Trees; has several Rows of Teeth, and is reckoned to be of a very poisonous Nature. CI. The _Long Black-Snake_, is a land Animal, and very common. _I have_, says my Author, _kill’d several of them, full six Foot in length_. Its Bite, tho’ painful in its Consequences, is not deem’d commonly mortal: the wounded Part swells, and turns to a running Ulcer. No living Creature more nimble in Motion, or a greater Enemy to Mice, for it leaves not one of that Vermin alive, wherever it comes. This Serpent kills the Rattle-Snake, by twisting its Head about the Neck of that Snake, and whipping her to death with its Tail. This Serpent very much haunts Dairy-houses in those Countries, and makes very free with unguarded Milk-Pans, and Cream-Pots: It delights to be among Hens, whose Eggs it does not suck, but swallows them whole, as all Snakes do their Sustenance. It will often swallow the Egg under a sitting Hen, and then lie in the Nest in the form of a Ring. Allow here a few Remarks upon the Nature of Milk and Eggs. In all kinds of Vegetables is an oily Substance, which is a Fluid that Animals take in with their Food, and no vegetable Food is nutrimental, without some Proportion of this Oil; even Grass, especially in its Seed, abounds therewith, which being thoroughly mixt with the _Saliva_, it turns _milky_ in the Stomach: Which differs from the _Chyle_, only as having been more concocted, and containing a large degree of Salt, which renders it convertible into Curd.