BRITISH REPTILES 
stony ground well sprinkled with thorn scrubs and 
trailing brambles. Such places are a paradise to them, 
and they reach a large size there. In birds' nests in 
the trees, where they coil themselves after eating the 
young ones, in the water, and at times on the door- 
flags of the cottages, they are seen ; and yet not one 
person in a thousand ever gets bitten. Their food is 
composed chiefly of mice ; the vipers hunt for the 
little thieves in the most persistent manner. Small 
birds, both old and young, frogs, and at times lizards, 
they devour ; but young mice are delicious morsels for 
them. 
Humble-bees, the large and the small species, make 
their nests in the mossy ground, and mice have their 
homes in the same localities. The mice not only rob the 
bees of their honey, but they kill and eat the bees 
themselves. The vipers eat the mice, and so all things 
work well. 
Should anyone be so unfortunate as to be bitten, 
if possible, let him go at once or send to a medical 
man. If none be near, tie something tightly above 
the part bitten, and press the punctures with the hollow 
of a fair sized key, then rub the part bitten with olive 
oil, until the doctor comes. 
The poison is virulent enough to cause death in 
small animals, in any creature the size of a small dog, 
