32 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS. 



gums are sound ; of course freeing the mouth frequently of the 

 saliva. With good courage and prompt remedies the bite of 

 Felias berus generally causes only some temporary inconvenience. 

 It is as well to be cautious, however, in handling it, and it is 

 important to be prepared to recognise a viper, and not mistake 

 it for a harmless snake. And this is not difficult. Both the other 

 English snakes are smoother and more shiny, particularly the 

 coronella, which is nearest to it in size and colour. The head is 

 flatter and broader than either of the others, wider behind, and 

 excepting the few plates near and above the eyes it is covered 

 with fine scales. It is more slender than vipers generally, and 

 about two and a half feet long, seldom much longer when grown. 

 It has a short blunt tail. By its colours it is most easily recognised, 

 being generally of a dark brownish tint, with a very distinct zig- 

 zag black mark all down its back. On its head a dark mark 

 diverges like a V, and is generally bordered by a much lighter 

 colour, which renders this V pattern very distinct. The dull coat 

 of carinated scales and the short tail also assist recognition. Vipers 

 vary much in colour, from very dark brown and nearly black to 

 reddish tints, and almost " white ; " that is, of a very pale and 

 faded tint. The "red" viper is of a pale brick-dust, or dirty 

 pink tint, with grey or nearly white beneath ; but in them all the 

 black line down the back is discernible. 



Vipers are not found in Ireland, and all experiments to establish 

 them there have failed : but in Scotland they are frequently seen, 

 also in Wales. Pelias berus is also found nearly all over Europe, 

 excepting in the extreme north. It is as common in England to 

 call it " adder " as viper, the former word, like " snake," having been 

 introduced by the Anglo-Saxons, and implying a crawling, creeping, 

 low-lying creature, and formerly applied to other reptiles as well. 

 Nedre, needre, a ?iedre gradually becoming an eddre, and then, 

 dropping the article and the //, was corrupted into adder. The 

 word viper, from the Latin vipera, a contraction of virus, alive, 

 andparw, to bring forth, signifies that it produces its young alive ; 

 so here again, as in snake and serpent, the one name was intro- 

 duced by the Romans, and the other by the Saxons. 



Vipers have the reputation of giving refuge to their young brood 

 by receiving them into their throat and their capacious oesophagus 

 in sudden danger, and presently releasing them again. Many 

 well-authenticated instances of this have been recorded, and by 

 observers of undoubted intelligence and integrity. On the con- 

 trary, some scientific men are slow to credit the fact, and think 

 that the snake was probably making a meal of her progeny when 

 they were seen to enter her mouth. But the prey of snakes do 



