Asp
or ASPIC, the kind of serpent peculiar to Egypt and Libya, which has obtained great celebrity from having been chosen by Cleopatra to give her an easy death. Its poison is so quick and deadly in its operation that it kills without a possibility of applying any remedy. It is believed to have been the naia haje.
It is the same genus as the cobra capello, but differs in having the neck less wide, and having the color greenish, bordered with brown. It is probably the asp (aspis) of the New Testament (Rom iii: 13). The common asp or chersæa (vipera aspis) is olive above, with four rows of black spots. Its poison is severe.
It is common in southern Europe, the Alpine region, and is found as far north as Sweden.