COCKATRICE, a fabulous monster, the existence of which was firmly believed in throughout ancient and mediaeval times. Produced from a cock's egg hatched by a serpent, it was believed to possess the most deadly powers, plants withering at its touch, and men and animals dying, poisoned, by its look. It stood in awe, however, of the cock, the sound of whose crowing killed it. The weasel alone among mammals was unaffected by the glance of its evil eye, and attacked it at all times successfully; for when wounded by the monster's teeth it found a ready remedy in rue— the only plant which the cockatrice could not wither. The term "cockatrice" seems also to be synonymous with "basilisk."