When a basilisk sees a man first, the man dies. but if the man sees the basilisk first, the basilisk dies. The reason being through the sight and imagination the air is changed into a poisonous substance and through this material first its own eyes are tainted up to the air adjacent to the person and when the person breathes this air, he is poisoned and dies. on the other hand, when the basilisk is seen first, the person wishes to kill the basilisk and arms himself with mirrors from which the air is infected by reflection when the basilisk looks into it, and when this reaches the basilisk, it is killed. yet it is uncertain why the person who kills the beast does not die, and on this point it is necessary to hypothesize some hidden reason