From wwh's post of July 1, 2003:
Dear Bingley: In searching for etymology of "scytala" I found a French site that gives as third definition "a serpent".Perhaps from some snake that wraps itself about brances in climbing trees, or a constrictor?
"scytala, ae (scytale, es), f. : - 1 - bâton, rouleau. - 2 - scytale (rouleau entouré d'une bande de parchemin sur laquelle les Macédoniens écrivaient) - 3 - scytale (un serpent). "

And on this basis I offered as my daffynition a caduceus, which is a snake wrapped around a stick.

I'm not convinced that it isn't actually another correct definition after all...