THE VIPER. 70 



Consequences of its bite. 



jn a box without food, during which time its 

 vivacity was not lessened. When at liberty they 

 remain torpid throughout the winter, yet, when 

 confined, they have never been observed to take 

 their annual repose. 



Vipers are usually caught with wooden tongs 

 by the end of the tail. This is done without 

 jdanger, for, while they are held in that position, 

 they cannot wind themselves up to injure their 

 enemy. 



The apparatus of poison in the viper is very 

 similar to that of all the other poisonous serpents. 

 The symptoms that follow the bite are an acute 

 pain in the wounded part, with a swelling, at 

 first red, but afterwards livid, which, by degrees, 

 spreads to the adjoining parts, with a great faint- 

 ness, and a quick, though low, and sometimes 

 interrupted pulse ; great sickness at the stomach, 

 with bilious, convulsive vomitings, cold sweats, 

 ami sometimes pain about the navel. The bite 

 pf the viper in this country, although it produces 

 a painful and troublesome swelling, is rarely at- 

 tended with any other bad consequence. 



We are told by Dr. Mead, that the poison, 

 when diluted with a little warm water, and ap- 

 plied to the tip of the tongue, is very sharp and 

 fiery, a sensation taking place as if the tongue 

 had been struck through with something scald- 

 ing or burning. This, he says,. goes off in two 

 or three hours. One person, (mentioned by the 

 Doctor) trred a large drop of it undiluted, ia 



