According to _Pliny_ and other antient Historians, this Serpent in its Motion, inclines to the Erect; it goes half upright, the middle and posterior parts of the Body only touching the Ground. The Venom of the Basilisk is said to be so exalted, that if it bites a Staff, ’twill kill the Person that makes use of it; but this is Tradition without a Voucher[159]. Footnote 159: _Ælian. Gyllii Accessio_, cap. xviii. p. 247. _Jonstoni Historia Natural. Serp._ p. 34, 35. The reason why this Serpent is dubb’d _King_, is not because ’tis larger in bulk than others of the Fraternity, or because it wears a Crown, or because that Title seems to be recognized by a divine Prophet, who speaking of _Ahaz_ and his Son _Hezekiah_, says, _Out of the Serpent’s Root shall come forth a Cockatrice, and his Fruit shall be a fiery flying Serpent_. The _Hebrew_ expresses it by a word, that Signifies a _Prince_ or _King_, but not with a View to Empire over the serpentine Race. But ’tis most probable, that the royal Stile is given to this Serpent, because of its _majestic Pace_, which seems to be attended with an Air of Grandeur and Authority. It does not, like other Serpents, creep on the Earth; which if it did, the sight of it would not be frightful, but moving about, in a sort of an erect Posture, it looks like a Creature of another Species, therefore they conclude ’tis an Enemy. Serpents are for Uniformity, therefore can’t endure those that differ from them in the Mode of Motion. ’Tis said of this Creature, that its Poison infects the Air to that Degree, that no other Animal can live near it, according to the Tradition of the Elders famous for magnificent Tales. These little Furioso’s are bred in the Solitudes of _Africa_, and are also found in some other Places, and every where are terrible Neighbours. The crown’d Basilisk leads me to _Ovid_, who, speaking of Man’s erect Posture, says ’tis a Mark of Distinction due to the Excellencies of the human Mind: _A Creature of a more exalted kind Was wanting yet; and then was Man design’d, Conscious of Thought, of more capacious Breast._—— 2. And partly as an Ensign of Royalty, some Characters whereof Naturalists have observed in some other petty Principalities; such as the Crown on the Dolphin, Diadem on the Basilisk, the Lion’s stately Mane, which serves as a Collar of Honour.—— But Man, being vested with an universal Monarchy, walks upon the Earth, like a Master in his own House.