BRITISH REPTILES 
to put a cord round it, in order to lever it out of the 
ground, he saw something move that he at first 
thought was a dark ball of earth falling. 
A second glance showed the ball to be a knot of 
half-grown vipers, just beginning to uncoil and show 
their heads. 
' Hand me that hammer, will ye ? ' Thud. ' That's 
done 'em ! ' 
It is still a vexed question, that of their power to 
protect their young in time of danger by taking them 
into their gullets. I have never seen the action ; others 
have positively stated it to be a fact. They are not 
so large as lobworms. The female has been seen 
coiled up with her young on and around her; on 
being disturbed, she threw herself straight out as a 
stick, her mouth wide open, hissing loudly, and then 
darted away. Although search as far as possible was 
made about the spot where she had been coiled, and 
where she straightened herself out, not one of the 
young ones could be found. They are probably like 
the young of some of the small waders, which conceal 
themselves so well that you may walk over them with- 
out seeing them. 
All the instances of vipers that have come under 
my notice have been unexpected ; and in the hurry 
and confusion caused by the hissing and struggling of 
