Folio 65v - De serpentibus; Of snakes. De draconibus; Of the dragon.
Folio 66r - the dragon, continued. De basilisco; Of the basilisk
COMMENTARY
Text
Serpents. Many are poisonous. The dragon is bigger than all snakes.
Illustration
The dragon strangles an elephant. The text says the dragon has a crest, small mouth and does not kill with its teeth but with its tail. The illustrator has added massive teeth and wings. The description applies to an African python which can kill deer if not actually elephants by strangulation. Initials type 2.
COMMENTARY
Text
The dragon kills by wrapping its tail around a victim and it can even kill elephants. The basilisk is the king of crawling things and can kill with a glance.
Illustration
This basilisk has a raptor's beak, a cockscomb, wings, a tail and claws. He is being attacked by a weasel.
Comment
Early accounts of the basilisk (Dioscorides, in the first century) describe it as an ordinary snake with a head excrescence, probably a king cobra. Killing at a glance may refer to the spitting cobra who has no need to bite. The mongoose, rather like a weasel, can kill cobras. Correction In margin, 'diabol' supplies omission. The word 'devil' is omitted from several 2nd-family manuscripts, but it is found in Isidore, the source (Clark, 1992, 195, n.341, 342). Prick marks on the page relate to the serpent on f.66v. Initial type 2.