CHAPTER XXVII. 



DO SNAKES AFFORD A REFUGE TO THEIR YOUNG? 



THE question, * Do vipers swallow their young in times 

 of danger?' is one less easy to solve to the satis- 

 faction of the unbelievers than some of the preceding 

 inquiries, because the proof demanded is an almost un- 

 attainable one. ' Bring me a viper with its mouth tied up, 

 and all her young ones in her throat, and then I will believe 

 you,' say the sceptics. Now, in the first place, a man does 

 not go hedging and ditching, or to reap corn, nor does a 

 gentleman go to his field sports, or for a country stroll, 

 ready provided with a cord and a bag and an assistant for 

 the express purpose of capturing maternal vipers, who at 

 sight of him receive all their little ones into their mouths ; 

 and, in the second place, if he did so, making it the one 

 business of his walk to seek for and entrap such vipers, he 

 might spend a great many summers in the search before 

 his trouble was rewarded. Even were he so fortunate, it is 

 doubtful whether he would be believed by all persons ; for 



viper-s\vallowing, like 'the Great Sea Serpent,' has been a 



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