510 



THE VIPER 



England, tlie variously colored specimens being nothing more than 

 varieties of the same species. 



Like most reptiles, whether poisonous or not, the Viper is a very 

 timid creature, always preferring to glide away from a foe rather than 

 to attack, and only biting when driven to do so under great provoca- 

 tion. 



The head of the Viper affords a very good example of the venom- 

 ous apparatus of the poisonous serpents, and is well worthy of dissec- 

 tion, which is better accomplished under water than in air. The poison- 

 fangs lie on the sides of the upper jaw, folded back and almost indis- 

 tinguishable until lifted with a needle. They are singularly fine and 

 delicate, hardly larger than a lady's needle, and are covered almost to 

 their tips with a muscular envelope through which the points just peep. 



The Viper or Adder {Pdias Berns). 



The poison-secreting glands and the reservoir in which the venom is 

 stored are found at the back and sides of the head, and give to the 

 venomous serpents that peculiar width of head which is so unfailing a 

 diaracteristic. The color of the poison is a very pale yellow, and its 

 consistence is very like that of salad oil, which, indeed, it much resem- 

 bles, both in look and in taste. There is but little in each individual, 

 and it is possible that the superior power of the large venomous snakes 

 of other lands, especially those under the tropics, may be due as much 

 to its quantity as to its absolute intensity. In a full-grown rattlesnake, 

 for example, there are six or eight drops of this poison, whereas the 

 Viper has hardly a twentieth part of that amount. 



On examining carefully the poison-fangs of a Viper, the structure by 

 which the venom is injected into the wound will be easily understood. 



