A word may be said, however, in defence of Vipers: they do a great deal of good to agriculture by the destruction of small rodents, on which they feed chiefly, and whose multiplication they serve to keep in check. It must be pointed out that, with the exception of the species of _Coluber_ and _Zamenis_, other European snakes are to be regarded as indirectly injurious to agriculture, feeding as they do mainly on lizards or frogs and toads, which, as insectivores, deserve to be protected. Snakes are not of much economic value to man. Tanned skins of Boas and Pythons are utilized for making shoes and fancy articles, such as purses, pocket-books, blotters, etc., and the Siamese make the drum-heads of native drums out of the skins of Pythons and _Acrochordus_. To say nothing of savages, who seem to be partial to the flesh of large snakes, the peasantry in some parts of France do not disdain snakes as an article of food, the Grass-snake being occasionally served in village inns under the name of _Anguilles de haies_, or hedge-eels. Viper fat has for a long time been in request as an ointment in the case of various affections, and much used by quack doctors in the preparation of their remedies. Some forty years ago a chemist in Challans (Vendée) collected Vipers (_V. aspis_) for medicinal purposes, and was able to send several thousands to Paris in the course of a few years, thus realizing a considerable sum of money, but the demand has gradually fallen off since. Very frequent in the past, snake-worship is still prevalent in many parts of India, where the Cobra is held in great veneration, and is never willingly killed by the Hindoo. In pre-Buddhist days the gods were represented with a canopy of five or seven Cobras over them. The North African Cobra was sacred to the ancient Egyptians, and is profusely represented on the monuments and tombs; it was also an emblem of the physical sun, and, as a sign of royal power, along with the sun's disc, formed part of the headdress of all solar deities. The Greeks and Romans also worshipped snakes, and the god of medicine is represented holding a snake, which is supposed to be _Coluber longissimus_, the so-called "Æsculapian snake"; the occurrence at the present day of certain common Italian species (_Zamenis gemonensis_, _Coluber longissimus_, _Tropidonotus tessellatus_) in isolated localities of Central Europe, formerly Roman settlements, has been attributed to their importation for use in the temples.