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ASP ( Vipera aspis)

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 764 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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See also:

ASP ( Vipera aspis) , a See also:species of venomous snake, closely allied to the See also:common See also:adder of See also:Great See also:Britain, which it represents throughout the See also:southern parts of See also:Europe, being specially abundant in the region of the See also:Alps. It differs from the adder in having the See also:head entirely covered with scales, See also:shields being absent, and in having the snout somewhat turned up. The See also:term " Asp " (avais) seems to have been employed by See also:Greek and See also:Roman writers, and by writers generally down to comparatively See also:recent times, to designate more than one species of See also:serpent; thus the asp, by means of which See also:Cleopatra is said to have ended her See also:life, and so avoided the disgrace of entering See also:Rome a See also:captive, is now generally supposed to have been the cerastes, or horned See also:viper (Cerastes See also:cornutus), of See also:northern See also:Africa and See also:Arabia, a snake about 15 in. See also:long, exceedingly venomous, and provided with curious See also:horn-like protuberances over each See also:eye, which give it a decidedly sinister See also:appearance. The snake, however, to which the word " asp " has been most commonly applied is undoubtedly the haje of See also:Egypt, the See also:spy-slange or spitting snake of the Boers (Naja haje), one of the very poisonous Elarinae, from 3 to 4 ft. long, with the skin of its See also:neck loose, so as to render it dilatable at the will of the See also:animal, as in the See also:cobra of See also:India, a species from which it differs only in the See also:absence of the spectacle-like See also:mark on the back of the neck. Like the cobra, also, the haje has its fangs extracted by the jugglers of the See also:country, who afterwards See also:train it to perform various tricks. The asp (Pethen, ins) is mentioned in various parts of the Old Testament. This name is twice translated " adder," but as nothing is told of it beyond its poisonous See also:character and the intractability of its disposition, it is impossible accurately to determine the species.

End of Article: ASP ( Vipera aspis)

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