The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

poison. Whatever spring it was in, it would mix its poison
into it. Concerning it Lucan says (Civil War 9.720):
The natrix, polluterofwater.
26.Thecenchris (i.e. a kind of spotted snake) is a snake
that cannot bend so that it always makes a straight path.
Whence Lucan (Civil War 9.712):
The cenchris, always bound to crawl in a straight path.
27. Theparias is a snake that always travels onitstail,
and appears to make a furrow. Again, Lucan said this
concerning it (Civil War 9.721):
Whence the parias is pleased to plow a path with its tail.
28. Theboa(boas), a snake in Italy of immense size,
attacks herds of cattle and buffaloes, and attaches itself
to the udders of the ones flowing with plenty of milk,
and kills them by suckling on them, and from this takes
the name ‘boa,’ from the destruction of cows (bos). 29.
The iaculus is a flying snake. Concerning it Lucan says
(Civil War 9.720):
And the flying iaculi.
For they spring upintotrees,andwheneversomeanimal
happens by they throw (iactare) themselves on it
and kill it, whence they are called iaculus (cf. iaculum,
“javelin”). Also in Arabia there are snakes with wings,
called sirens (sirena); they move faster than horses, but
they are also said to fly. Their venom is so powerful that
when someone is bitten by them death ensues before the
pain is felt. 30.Theophites is so named because it has the
color of sand. Concerning it the poet says (Lucan, Civil
War 9.714):
How the Theban ophites is painted with small spots, and
the ammodytes, ofthe same color as parched sand and
indistinguishable from it. 11
31. Theseps is a small snake that consumes not only
the body but also the bones with its venom. The poet
refers to it thus (Lucan, Civil War 9.723):
The corrosive seps, dissolving bones along with the body.
11 As Isidore observes in XVI.v.3, ophites is a marble mottled like
aserpent; the text of Lucan is here misconstrued.
12 The sense seems to be that the saura recovers its sight when the
sun rises, as in the Physiologus.
The Etymologies XII.iv.26–iv.39 257
32. Thedipsas is said to be a snake so tiny that when it
is stepped on it is not observed. Its venom kills before
it is felt, so that the face of one about to die displays no
horror of his impending death. Of this one the poet says
(cf. Lucan, Civil War 9.737):
With its head twisted back the dipsas, whenitwas
stepped on, bit the young standard-bearer Aulus, of
Tyrrhenian blood; there was barely any pain or sensation
of fangs.
33. Thesalpuga is a snake that is invisible. The caecula
is so named because it is small (i.e. has the diminutive
ending –ula) andhas no eyes (cf. caecus, “blind”). The
centipede (centupeda)issonamedforthegreat number
of its feet (pes, gen.pedis). 34. The lizard (lacertus) isa
type of reptile, so named because it has arms (cf. lacertus,
“upper arm”). There are many kinds of lizards, such
as the botrax, the salamander, the saura, andthe newt.
35. Thebotrax is so named because it has the face of
afrog,fortheGreeks call the frog . 36. The
salamander (salamandra)issonamed because it prevails
against fire. Of all the venomous creatures its force is
the greatest; the others kill people one at a time, but
the salamander can slay many people at once – for if
it should creep in among the trees, it injects its venom
into all the fruit, and so it kills whoever eats the fruit.
Again, if it falls into a well, the force of its venom kills
whoever drinks from it. This animal fights back against
fire; it alone of all the animals will extinguish fire, for it
can live in the midst of flames without feeling pain or
being consumed – not only because it is not burned but
also because it extinguishes the fire.
37. Thesaura is a lizard whose eyes go blind as it
grows old. It goes into a chink in an east-facing wall,
and stretches out and receives light when the sun rises. 12
38.Thenewt (stellio) has its name given according to its
color, for on its back it is marked with glittering spots
in the manner of stars (stella). Ovid says concerning it
(Met. 5.460):
It has a name appropriate for its color, star-strewn
(stellatus) with variegated spots on its body.
This animal is considered to be the antagonist of scorpions,
so that when it is seen by them it induces fear
and stupefaction. 39. Thereare other kinds of snakes,
such as the ammodyta, the elephantia, the chamaedraco.
Finally, there are as many deaths caused by snakes as