6-2 



VENOMOUS SERPENTS. 



sugar-canes, where it feeds on rats, and causes the death of many 

 slaves. Its length is from six to seven feet, and it is extremely 

 active; it climbs the highest trees in pursuit of its prey, and 

 springs like lightning, not only on birds and other small animals 

 upon which it ordinarily feeds, but also on large animals, and 

 even on man. 



67. The VIPERS, Vipera, differ from the venomous serpents 

 just mentioned, by the absence of the pits behind the nostrils. 



Fig. 22. 



Many of them have been frequently 

 confounded with the Colubers, on 

 account of their double, sub-caudal 

 plates, and some of them having the 

 head furnished with large plates like 

 the latter ; but most all Vipers have 

 the head covered by small imbricated 

 . HEAD OF A VIPER. or granular scales, ( Fig. 22 ) The 



Common Viper, Vipera herns, possesses this latter character. 



It rarely exceeds two feet in length, (/%. 23.) and is generally 



brown with a double row of transverse, black spots alone M I <; 



back, and another row upon the flank ; but 



these spots are often united, forming zig-zag 



bands. One of these Vipers is sometimes 



named the Asp, in some parts of France, but 



it should not be confounded with the true Asp 



of the ancients. It inhabits the mountainous, 



stony and woody districts of temperate and 



Southern Europe. It feeds, on mice, moles, 



young birds, reptiles, and even insects and 



worms. During the cold season, these reptiles 



remain benumbed in holes, where several are 



often found twined together. They are most 



frequently seen on the first fine days of spring, 



warming themselves in the sunshine ; but when 



the weather becomes very hot, they are rarely 



met. They produce from twelve to twenty-five young ones a* 



each birth, which do not acquire their full size until they are six 



or seven years old. Of all the venomous reptiles of Europe, the 



common Viper is the most dangerous ; even in the climate of 



France, its bite may cause the death of a man in a few hours, 



and kill small animals in a few minutes. The quantity of poison 



it generally pours into a wound is not sufficient to be fatal to 



man. 



67 How are Vipers distinguished from the venomous Serpents just spoken 

 of? What are the characters of the common Viper? What are its habits' 



