WHITE OF SELBORNE ON THE VIPER. 



could they say that they had been 

 so hatched, and not taken in at the 

 mouth, in common with all the 

 American snakes, so far as known ? 

 Thereafter they could examine the 

 anatomy of both, and if they found 

 both alike, what reason could they 

 have for saying that the viper did 

 not, and could not, swallow her 

 young, like the American serpents, 

 whether the bursting of the egg 

 took place at the time of birth, or 

 before it, or after it had been laid ? 

 Being both snakes, and conceiving 

 eggs in the same way, with the 

 young more or less developed in 

 them when laid (as laid they must 

 be), it must be held, as I have just 

 said, that vipers are not on)y ovi- 

 parous, but " swallowers," unless it 

 can be proved that they are neither, 

 which would be an exceedingly dif- 

 ficult if not impossible matter to do, 

 for the most that could be said 

 would be that it was not known, 

 which would only prove ignorance 

 in regard to the subject. 



So far from its being even plaus- 

 ible to say of White's vipers that 

 there was " little room to suppose 

 that the brood had ever been in the 

 open air before," there is every rea- 

 son for saying that they had been in 

 the world for such time as enabled 

 them to add perhaps two inches to 

 their length, and gain considerable 

 experience, which would account 

 for their being so exceedingly ac- 

 tive, like their American relations. 

 They had simply been swallowed, 

 but not from fear, at least immedi- 

 ate fear, for the mother was enjoy- 

 ing herself by lying in the grass and 

 basking in the sun when killed (like 

 the American snake on the top of a 

 dry stone wall), having no fear for 

 her young inside of her while she 

 herself was safe. That is done in 

 America for no apparent reason ; 

 perhaps merely to gratify the natu- 

 ral instinct of the mother, however 

 she might feel in the event of her 

 family quarrelling, when, I presume, 

 she would be only too glad to drive 



them forth by the same power that 

 enabled her to swallow them. 



I have given a form of experi- 

 ment for testing whether or not 

 vipers swallow their young, by ex- 

 amining a dead one. I will now 

 explain how it might be tried in the 

 person of a living one. Let some 

 one procure a pregnant viper (but 

 distinguishing the appearance from 

 that of having swallowed an animal 

 much thicker than herself), and 

 confine her in an open space suit- 

 able to her natural disposition, but* 

 from which she could not escape, 

 and watch results. If she is preg- 

 nant with eggs she will either de- 

 posit them like American snakes, 

 or retain them, according to White's 

 theory, to be hatched inside of her. 

 If she lays the eggs she will return 

 to her natural size, and continue so 

 till the eggs are hatched and the 

 young ones require her care, when 

 they will either be seen with her or 

 found inside of her, which will 

 manifest itself in her second preg- 

 nancy, causing her to become more 

 " heavy and bloated " as they in- 

 crease in size. If she is caught 

 when pregnant with young, there 

 will be times that they will be seen, 

 causing a corresponding diminution 

 in her size, and times when they 

 will not be seen, causing her again 

 to appear pregnant from having 

 swallowed them. If she was preg- 

 nant with eggs, and brings forth ac- 

 cording to White, it would not be 

 possible, in her comparative free- 

 dom, to have a midwife present to 

 ascertain whether the eggs were 

 hatched inside or outside of the 

 animal, or what became of the 

 shells, that is, whether young and 

 shells were voided at the same time, 

 or which first. If, however, she 

 came in pregnant, and suddenly 

 produced young after remaining in 

 her original state night and day for 

 a considerable time (which fact 

 never could be ascertained), then 

 White's theory, to a certain extent, 

 would appear correct as to the hatch- 



