This species may be regarded as extending to India and Ceylon, and probably the naja tri pudians is likewise an inhabitant of Arabia. if not of Egypt. although the assertion of the fact (common in authors) does not exclude a suppo sition that they take the two species to be only one.
(4) Flying Serpents. We arc disposed to refer the 'winged' or 'flying' serpent to the naja tripudians, in one of its varieties, because —with its hood dilated into a kind of shining wings on each side of the neck, standing. in undu lating motion, one-half or more erect, rigid, and fierce in attack, and deadly poisonous, yet still denominated 'good spirit,' and in Egypt ever fig ured in combination with the winged globe—it well may have received the name of saraph, and may thus meet all the valid objections, and con ciliate seemingly opposite comments (sec Num. xxi :6, 8; Deut. :is; Is. xiv:29; xxx :6, and Paxton's Illustrations).
In Isaiah xiv:29 and xxx :6, the epithet /rico pheph, 'vibrating' (rendered 'flying' in A. V.), is another form for 'winged,' and oec•.:rs in passages unconnected with the events in Exodus. Both bear metaphorical interpretations.
(5) Fiery Serpents. A further confirmation of the 'fiery serpents,' or 'serpents of the burning bite.' being najas occurs in the name Ras om Haye (Cape of the Haje serpents), situated in the locality where geographers and commentators agree that the children of Israel were afflicted by these reptiles. Should it be objected that these are the haje, and not the spectacle snake, it may be answered that both Arabs and Hindoos confound the species.—C. II. S.
(0) Puff Adder. Mel). ak-.choob, from root to coil, an adder.) This is another name of a serpent found only in Ps. ex1:3: "They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent, adder's 1,oison is under their lips." St. Paul quotes the latter half of this verse from the LXX in Rom. ini : t3. The root of the name implies bend ing back, recurving. but not coiling up, for all snakes have that facelty. The syllable och, however, shows a connection with the former de and both are perfectly reconcilable with a serpent very common at the Cape of Good Hope. not un frequent in Western Africa. and probably extending over that whole continent, ex cepting, perhaps, Morocco. It is the 'puff adder' of the Dutch colonists, about three feet in length and about six inches in circumference at the middle of the body: the head is larger than is usual in serpents: the eves are large and were brilliant; the back beautifully marked in half circles, and the cobirs black, bright yellow and dark brown, the belly yellow ; the appearance at all times, hut chiefly when excited, extremely brilliant ; the upper jaw greatly protruding, some what like what occurs in the shark, places the mouth back towards the throat, and this structure is said to be connected with the practice of the animal when intending to bite, to swell its skin till it suddenly rises up, and strikes backwards as if it fell over. It is this faculty which appears to be indicated by the Hebrew name acksub, and therefore we believe it to refer to that species, or to one nearly allied to it. (See SERPENT.)