Vipcps 



Providence has been so indulgent to us as to 

 allow of but one venomous reptile of the serpent 

 kind in these kingdoms, and that is the viper [or adder]. 



A neighbouring yeoman killed and opened a female viper about 

 the 27th of May : he found her filled with a chain of eleven eggs, 

 about the size of those of a blackbird. 



Though they are oviparous [egg-producing] yet they are vivi- 

 parous [bringing forth their young alive] also, hatching their young 

 within their bodies, then bringing them forth. 



Whereas snakes [grass-snakes] lay chains of eggs every summer 

 in my melon beds, in spite of all that my people can do to prevent 

 them ; which eggs do not hatch till the spring following, as I have 

 often experienced. 



Several intelligent folks assure me that they have seen the viper 

 open her mouth arid admit her helpless young down her throat on 

 sudden surprises, just as the female opossum does her brood into the 

 pouch upon the like emergencies ; and yet the London viper-catchers 

 insist on it that no such thing ever happens. 



As to the blind-worm, I have found on examination that it is 

 perfectly innocuous. G. W. 



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