222 OPHIDIA. VIPERADiE. 



such a situation for some time : it is well known 

 that frogs will live and cry in the stomach of 

 a Serpent."* 



The food of the Viper consists of mice, shrews, 

 moles ; of lizards and frogs ; and occasionally, 

 of birds. It does not appear to strike the prey 

 with its fangs, so as to poison it, but to take 

 it exactly in the manner of the harmless Snakes. 

 It is capable of long abstinence ; individuals 

 ha\dng been kept in a box for six months 

 without food, yet retaining their health and 

 vivacity unabated. 



Although the poison of the Viper is rarely 

 followed by fatal results to man in this country, 

 it frequently produces severe symptoms of a 

 highly threatening character. The remedies con- 

 sidered most efficacious are ammonia, adminis- 

 tered internally, and olive oil applied externally ; 

 especially the latter. For the successful applica- 

 tion of salad or olive oil to the part bitten by a 

 Viper, we are indebted to William Oliver, a vi- 

 per-catcher at Bath, who discovered the remedy 

 more than a century ago. The public experiments 

 on this subject are thus recorded: — "On the 

 1st of June, 1735, in the presence of a number 

 of persons, Oliver suffered himself to be bit 

 by an old black Viper (brought by one of the 

 company) upon the wrist and joint of the thumb 

 of the right hand, so that drops of blood came 

 out of the wounds : he immediately felt a violent 

 pain both at the top of his thumb and up his 

 arm, even before the Viper was loosened from 

 his hand : soon after he felt a pain, resembling 

 that of burning, trickle up his arm ; in a few 

 * " Penny Cyclopedia," xxvi. 348. 



