jQQ REPTILES. 



The eyes of the vip^r are lively j have eyc-laflies : when irritated it 

 opens its jaws, projeds its tongue (which is fplit two thirds of its length), 

 apd fhakes it with great vivacity ; this member is enveloped in a kind 

 of fheath. The jaws of this creature may not only be widely feparated 

 fjrpm each other, but alfo the two fides of each jaw are capable of motion 

 independent of each other : this contributes to the eafier fwallowing of 

 his prey, which^ while tightly held by the teeth on one fide, is drawn by 

 thofe of the other fide. Feeds on infects, fcorpions, lizards, frogs, toads, 

 rats, moles, &:c. Suftains hunger long; when captive, will kill, but 

 not eat, even mice, its favourite prey. In cold weather many affemble 

 for mutual warmth. Are often taken clothed with a double Ikin, the old 

 4nd the new one; change in fpring : come to full growth in fix orfevcn 

 years, but in two or three are capable of reprodudion : couple in May; fe- 

 male goes three or four months ; fometimes produces twice a year. The eggs 

 ;n the viper are the fize of blackbirds eggs ; in two parcels ; in number, 

 from one dozen to two : the young ones are rolled round in the egg be- 

 fore their birth. The fpecies is greatly fpread, from India to Siberia, and 

 throughout Europe ; is always flow of motion ; does not bite l^rge ani- 

 mals fcjnlefs provoked. When held up by the tail, he cannot bite the 

 hand that holds him. The heart of a viper beats long after taken from 

 the body ; the mouth 9pens after the head has been cut off fome time, 

 and its wounds are equally dangerous as before. The venom retains its 

 Quality after feveral y^ars keeping. Tobacco, and its eilential oil, is fatal 

 to them, as is the oil of cherry laurel. 



The Iflack viper differs principally in colour, but is much fmaller : is 

 the kind beft known in England. ' Vipers are found in many parts of this 

 ifland ; but the dry, ftony, and in particular the chalky counties, abound 

 with them. Is chiefly diftinguifhed from the common black fnake by 

 the colour, which in the latter is more beautifully mottled ; 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 tapering to fo great a 

 length as in the other. The viper is flower than moft other ferpents. 



The young continue in the womb till in fuch perfe6tion as to be able 

 to burll from the fliell; and are faid by their own efforts to creep from 

 their confinement into the open air, where they continue for feveral days 

 without taking any food whatever. " We have been often affured,'* 

 fays Mr. Pennant, " by intelligent people, of the truth of a fad:, that the 

 young of the viper, when terrified, will run down the throatof the parent, 

 and feek llieltcr in its belly, in the fame manner as the young of the op* 



7 poflfuiTV 



