﻿Smithsonian 
  Report, 
  1943. 
  Cochran 
  

  

  1. 
  Common 
  viper 
  ( 
  1 
  'ipera 
  bents), 
  also 
  called 
  adder 
  or 
  kreuzotter 
  (in 
  Germany). 
  Color: 
  gray, 
  olive, 
  brown, 
  

   or 
  reddish, 
  uniform 
  or 
  with 
  small 
  dark 
  lateral 
  spots; 
  a 
  dark 
  zigzag 
  pattern 
  along 
  the 
  back. 
  Length: 
  over 
  

   2 
  feet. 
  Range: 
  Great 
  Britain; 
  northern 
  Europe, 
  and 
  Asia 
  to 
  the 
  Amur 
  River 
  and 
  Sakhalin 
  Island; 
  south- 
  

   ward 
  in 
  Europe 
  to 
  the 
  Pyrenees, 
  the 
  Apennines, 
  and 
  the 
  Balkans. 
  Dangerously 
  poisonous, 
  savage, 
  and 
  

   quick. 
  (Courtesy 
  New 
  York 
  Zoological 
  Society.) 
  

  

  2. 
  Orsini's 
  viper 
  {Vipera 
  ursinii), 
  also 
  called 
  marasso 
  alpino 
  in 
  Italy. 
  Color: 
  yellowish 
  or 
  pale 
  brown 
  

   with 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  dark 
  brown 
  spots 
  which 
  may 
  run 
  together 
  in 
  a 
  wavy 
  or 
  zigzag 
  band; 
  sides 
  dark 
  gray 
  or 
  brown. 
  

   Length: 
  2 
  feet. 
  Range: 
  southern 
  France, 
  northern 
  Italy, 
  Hungary, 
  and 
  parts 
  of 
  Jugoslavia. 
  Slightly 
  poi- 
  

   sonous: 
  not 
  aggressive. 
  (Courtesy 
  Bulletin 
  of 
  the 
  Antivenin 
  Institute.) 
  

  

  