THE SERPENT KIND. 



735 



than the cobra di capello; arid having tied 

 up its neck, he procured about half a drop 

 of its venom, which he sprinkled on the clot 

 of blood on his thigh, which instantly began 

 to ferment and bubble, and soon changed co- 

 lour from a red into a yellow." 



This, he pretended, was caused by the ex- 

 treme malignity of that animal's venom ; how- 

 ever, I have no doubt that the whole is either 

 a fable, or a trick of the Indian's ; who, while 

 he seemed to mix the serpent's venom, ac- 

 tually infused some stronger ingredient, some 

 mineral acid, into the mass of blood, which 

 was capable of working such a change. It 

 cannot be supposed that any animal poison 

 could act so powerfully upon the blood al- 

 ready drawn and coagulated; for a poison 

 that could operate thus instantaneously upon 

 cold blood, could not fail of soon destroying 

 the animal itself. 



Be this as it will, the effects of serpent-poi- 

 son are too well known, though the manner 

 of operation be not so clear. As none of 

 this malignant tribe grow to a great size, the 

 longest of them not exceeding nine feet, they 

 seldom seek the combat with larger animals, 

 or offend others till they are first offended. 

 Did they exert their malignity in proportion 

 to their power, they could easily drive the 

 ranks of nature before them ; but they seem 

 unconscious of their own superiority, and ra- 

 ther fly than offer to meet the meanest opposer. 

 Their food chiefly consists of small prey, such 

 as birds, moles, toads, and lizards ; so that 

 they never attack the more formidable ani- 

 mals that would seldom die unrevenged. 

 They lurk therefore in the clefts of rocks, or 

 among stony places ; they twine round the 

 branches of trees, or sun themselves in the 

 long grass at the bottom. There they only 

 seek repose and safety. If some unwary tra- 

 veller invades their retreats, their first effort 

 is to fly ; but when either pursued or acciden* 

 tally trod upon, they then make a fierce and 

 fatal resistance. For this purpose, they raise 

 themselves according to their strength upon 

 their tail, erect their head, seize the limb that 

 presses them, the wound is given, and the 

 head withdrawn in a moment. It is not there- 

 fore without reason, that the Asiatics, who 

 live in regions where serpents greatly abound, 

 wear boots and long clothes, which very well 



protect their lower parts from the accidental 

 resentment of their reptile annoyers. 



In the eastern and western Indies, the num 

 her of noxious serpents is various ; in this conn 

 try we are acquainted only with one. The 

 viper is the only animal in Great Britain from 

 whose bite we have any thing to fear. In the 

 tropical climates, the rattlesnake, the whip- 

 snake, and the cobra di capello, are the most 

 formidable, though by no means the most com- 

 mon. From the general notoriety of the par- 

 ticular serpents, and the universal terror which 

 they occasion, it would seem that few others 

 arc possessed of such powerful malignity. 



Vipers are found in many parts of this is- 

 land ; but the dry, stony, and particularly the 

 chalky countries, abound with them. This 

 animal seldom grows to a greater length than 

 two feet; though sometimes they are found 

 above three. The ground colour of their bo- 

 dies is a dirty yellow ; that of the female is 

 deeper. The back is marked the whole length 

 with a series of rhomboid black spots; touch- 

 ing eaeh other at the points ; the sides with 

 triangular ones, the belly entirely black. It 

 is chiefly distinguished from the common black 

 snake by the colour, which in the latter is 

 more beautifully mottled, as well as by the 

 head, which is thicker than the body ; but 

 particularly by the tail, which in the viper, 

 though it ends in a point, does not run taper- 

 ing to so great a length as in the other. When, 

 therefore, other distinctions fail, the difference 

 of the tail can be discerned at a single glance. 



The viper differs from most other serpents 

 in being much slower, as also in excluding its 

 young completely formed, and bringing them 

 forth alive. The kindness of Providence seems 

 exerted, not only in diminishing the speed, but 

 also the fertility, of this dangerous creature. 

 They copulate in May, and are supposed to 

 be about three months before they bring forth-, 

 and have seldom above eleven eggs at a time. 

 These are of the size of a blackbird's egg, and 

 chained together in the womb like a string of 

 beads. Each egg contains from one to four 

 young ones ; so that the whole of a brood 

 may amount to about twenty or thirty. They 

 continue in the womb till they come to such 

 perfection as to be able to burst from the 

 shell; and they are said by their own efforts 

 to creep from the confinement into the open 

 air, where they continue for several days with- 



