

COMMON SNAKE. 147 



" There is another viper ! " he exclaimed. 



" No, it is only a snake," said Frank, coolly stooping down 

 and taking the snake in his hand, while it coiled about his 

 arm. Dick looked horrified. 



" Won't it bite ?" he said. 



" No, Dick. Don't you know the difference between a snake 

 and a viper ? Then I'll tell you. The viper is ash-brown in 

 colour. Its neck is narrower and its head broader in propor- 

 tion. The viper has a couple of fangs, or long hollow teeth, 

 which lie flat along the back of its mouth, but when it is angry 

 it opens its mouth, erects its teeth and strikes with them. They 

 are hollow, and down through the tubes the poison comes from 

 a bag at their roots. The snake has no such teeth, and it is 

 harmless, for it cannot sting, as many country people think it 

 can, with its long forked tongue which it is now shooting out. 

 Then the snake lays eggs. I dare say if we were to dig in the 

 manure-heaps in the farm-yard, we should find a lot of white 

 eggs covered with a tough, soft skin and joined together with a 

 sort of glue. The viper's eggs are hatched inside it, and the 

 young ones are born alive." 



" I have read that the young ones of the viper will run down 

 their parent's throat when alarmed for safety. Is that true ? " 



" It seems so strange that I can scarcely think it to be 

 true, but so many respectable people say they have seen it that 

 one does not like to say that it is not so ; and it is, of course, 

 difficult to prove a negative. I suppose the question will be 

 settled some day." 



The snake Frank held in his hand was a large and handsome 

 one. It was olive-grey in colour, with rows of black spots on its 

 back and sides, and greenish-yellow beneath, tinged with black. 

 The snake changes its skin just like a caterpillar, but the skin 

 preserves the shape of the snake, and is a very pretty object. 

 Often have I seen a sunny corner in a quiet wood covered with 

 many of these cast-off skins all glittering in the sunlight ; and 

 they are so very like real snakes as easily to deceive the casual 

 observer. 



During the winter both vipers and snakes hybernate in holes, 

 or under tree-roots, and require no food. 



The slow-worm or blind-worm is often mistaken for the snake. 

 It is about twelve inches long, with a smooth skin, and is dull 

 brown in colour. It possesses a curious faculty of parting with 



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