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CHAPTER XV. 



THE SMALL RED VIPER. 



PLEA FOR ITS RECOGNITION AS A SPECIES —DISTRIBUTION — 

 DESCRIPTION — SIZE — VENOMOUS — SUGGESTED NAME. 



The small red viper is a reptile far better known to 

 those whose occupations take them to the haunts of 

 snakes than to scientific naturalists. Indeed by the 

 latter its existence is generally ignored. Many works 

 on natural history make no allusion to it, and where 

 it is mentioned it is referred to as a variety of the 

 common adder, or as merely the young of that species. 

 Any departure from those views, if noticed at all, is 

 sure to be severely criticised, if not resented as pre- 

 sumptuous. If, however, an observer is to be true to 

 himself, he must record his observations, and is 

 entitled to deduce conclusions therefrom irrespective 

 of results. Careful study of British adders has driven 

 me to regard the small red viper as a valid species, 

 quite as distinct from the ordinary adder as a swallow 

 is from a martin or a stoat from a weasel. It is a 



