340 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE.

poses. These are the Viper, the Rattlesnake, the Cobra, the
Boa Constrictor.

The Viper. | The Viper is found throughout Europe and is
the only venomous reptile known in England. It feeds on
frogs, lizards, mice and other small animals, but like many of
the snake kind often gorges itself and falls a victim to its
own rapacity. A Viper mentioned in the ‘‘ Magazine of
Natural History’’ swallowed a lizard almost as large as itself,
with the result that one of the lizard’s legs protruded through
its side. Another Viper came into the possession of Professor
Bell, which had lost its life through attempting to swallow a
mouse which was too big for it, the skin of its neck being so
distended as to burst in several places. The sting of the
Viper, though venomous, is not nearly so fatal as is com-
monly supposed. The simplest remedy is suction, a fomen-
‘tation, and the application of oil. Vipers are sometimes
caught by the sudden seizure of the hand, at the neck, where-
upon the creature opens its mouth to bite its captor who cuts
off its fangs with a pair of scissors.

The Viper “*On August 4th, 1776,’’ says Gilbert White,
andits  ‘‘ we surprised a large viper, which seemed very
Young. heavy and bloated, as it lay in the grass basking in

the sun. When we came to cut it up, we found that the
abdomen was crowded with young, fifteen in number; the
shortest of which measured full seven inches, and were about
the size of full-grown earth-worms. This little fry issued into
the world with the true viper-spirit about them, showing
great alertness as soon as disengaged from the belly of the
dam : they twisted and wriggled about, and set themselves up,
and gaped very wide when touched with a stick, showing
manifest tokens of menace and defiance, though as yet they
had no manner of fangs that we could find, even with the
help of our glasses. To a thinking mind nothing is more
wonderful than that early instinct which impresses young ani-
mals with a notion of the situation of their natural weapons,