_General Histories of these Kinds we have been furnished with in the Writings of the Learned: Here I apply myself to the Discussion of one_ particular Species, _viz._ the Serpent: _in which I don’t pretend to new Discoveries, but only to collect, and bring into one View, what has been said by different Persons, which is not to be found by any without_ many Books, _and_ much Time; _and which, without the present_ English _Dress, would not be understood by others at all_. _In accounting for some things relative to the Subject, I have always chosen the Words of the Learned in the Physical Profession._ _The Subject being like_ Dust, _the_ Food of the Serpent, very dry, _I have endeavoured to give it some Agreeableness, by a Variety of Passages from History, and Reflections of many kinds; which, though they may not always naturally arise from the Subject, yet being intended for the Reader’s Entertainment and Instruction (as he goes along in the principal Design of the Book) I hope they will find a favourable Judgment_. _Give me leave, upon this occasion, to adopt Sir_ William Temple’_s Words_, viz. “It is not perhaps amiss, _says he_, to relieve or enliven a busy Scene sometimes with such _Digressions_, whether to the Purpose or no.”[1] Footnote 1: _Temple_’s Memoirs from 1672 to 1679. _Second Edit^n. p._ 57, 58, 59. _I shall only add, that in cultivating this Subject, I have attempted to give a short Display of the Divine Perfections, which, as they appear eminent in the System of the Creation in general, so in the Serpent they may be seen in particular; and if it produces in the Reader a more exquisite Perception of God in all his Works, I have my End; who am_ Your Humble Servant. [Illustration] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Directions for the Binder, where to put the Plates, Plate I. after p. 54. Plate II. after p. 70. Plate III. after p. 78. Plate IV. after p. 86. Plate V. after p. 94. Plate VI. after p. 142. Plate VII. after p. 152. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pag. ERRATA[TN]. 25 Read _Bocca_, instead of _Baca_. 25 Four Lines from bottom, after _honor_, r. _other_. 34 Line 2. r. _tho’ the Venom may_. 53 After _Dauphiny_, r. _and instead of or_.