300 



along the back from the nape to the tail, with a parallel row of 

 small black spots on each side. The abdomen and sub-caudal 

 region are steel blue, sometimes marbled by a yellowish tint, 

 sometimes uniform, or nearly black. The abdominal plates are 

 about one himdred and forty-five, the sub-caudal about thirty-five. 



The aspic, vipera aspis, is a species nearly allied to the preceding, 

 of which it is by some regarded as a variety, and of which it seems 

 to assume the place in the south-western countries of Europe, 

 extending as far as the island of Sicily. Its form is more slender, 

 its head larger, its top covered by irregularly-formed scales, and 

 the muzzle is slightly turned up. The aspic is the species which 

 served the experiments of Redi, Charas, and Fontana. This 

 species was reported to have been found in some parts of Devon- 

 shire, on the borders of Dartmoor. Last year more than two 

 dozen vipers were obtained, but not one of that species was found 

 among them. 



The male viper differs greatly from the female in form and 

 colour. It gradually tapers from the horny scale on the point of 

 the tail to the vent, and from that part to the head ; the spots and 

 ziffzaf markings on the body, and 1he V mark on the head, are 

 nearly black ; the body is generally of an ash-colour, varying 

 to olive green, and in young ones there are red or copper-coloured 

 tinges on the neck and sides. Vipers vary much from very 

 dark yellow, almost black, to olive green and light ash colour. 

 All young vipers are copper-coloured with brown marks, and 

 have lead-coloured bellies. The teeth in the male are larger and 

 stronger than in the female, and there are two or three, and 

 even four fangs on each side of the mouth. The caudal glands 

 are double the length of those organs in the female, and the male 

 organ is protuberant, and armed with two curved bony hooks. It 

 has a long melt like a fish, lobulated kidneys, and a swallow of 

 from seven to nine inches long, expanded in the throat, and also 

 where it joins the stomach. The lower trachea, or windpipe, and 

 all the organs are of an elongated character. The male viper is 

 much more active than the female. It is called in Devonshire the 

 black viper, and its bite, though seldom fatal to animals of a 

 moderate size, is considered more venomous than that of the female. 



