THE VIPER. 



Description Viviparous. 



THE VIPER. 



THE common viper seldom grows to a greater 

 length than two feet, though sometimes they are 

 found above three. The ground color of their 

 bellies is of a dirty 3 r ellow ; that of the female is 

 deeper. The back is marked the whole length 

 with a series of rhomboid black spots, touching 

 each other at the points; the sides with triangu~ 

 ]ar ones, the belly entirely black. It is chiefly 

 distinguished from the common ringed snake 

 by the color, which in the latter is more beauti- 

 fully mottled, as well as by the head, which is 

 thicker than the body ; but particularly by the 

 tail, which, in the viper, though it end in a 

 point, does not run tapering to so great a length 

 as in the other : when, therefore, other distinc- 

 tions fail, the difference of the tail can be dis- 

 cerned at a single glance. These animals are 

 found in many parts of our own island, particu- 

 larly in the dry, stony, and chalky countries. 

 They are also much dispersed over the Old 

 Continent. 



Vipers differ from most other serpents in being 

 much slower in their pace, and in bringing forth 

 their young alive, which they produce towards 

 the close of summer. Their fertility, as well as 

 their speed, is happily for mankind diminished, 

 the eggs which are hatched in the womb being 

 usually tea or twelve ouly in number, a 



