420 



HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPENTS. 



forth alive. The kindness of Providence 

 seems exerted, not only in diminishing the 

 speed, but also the fertility, of this dangerous 

 creature. They copulate in May, and are 

 supposed to be about three months before they 

 bring forth, and have seldom above eleven eggs 

 at a time. These are of the si/e of a black- 

 bird's egg, and chained together in the womb 

 like a string of beads. Each egg contains from 

 one to four young ones ; so that the whole of a 

 brood may amount to about twenty or thirty. 

 They continue in the womb till they come to 

 such perfection as to be able to burst from their 

 shell ; and they are said by their own efforts 

 to creep from their confinement into the open 

 air, where they continue for several days with- 

 out taking any food whatsoever. " We have 

 been assured," says Mr Pennant, " by intelli- 

 gent people, of the truth of a fact, that the 

 young of the viper, when terrified, will run 

 down the throat of the parent and seek shelter 

 in its belly, in the same manner as the young of 

 the opossum retire into the ventral pouch of the 

 old ones. From this," continues he, " some have 

 imagined, that the viper is so unnatural as to 

 devour its own young ; but this deserves no 

 credit, as these animals live upon frogs, toads, 

 lizards, and young birds, which they often 

 swallow whole, though the morsel is often 

 three times as thick as their own body." 



The viper is capable of supporting very long 

 abstinence, it being known that some have 

 been kept in a box six months without food ; 

 yet during the whole time they did not abate 

 of their vivacity. They feed only a small part 

 of the year, but never during their confine- 

 ment; for if mice, their favourite diet, should 

 at that time be thrown into their box, though 

 they will kill, yet they will never eat them. 

 When at liberty, they remain torpid through, 

 out the winter ; yet, when confined, have never 

 been observed to take their annual repose. 

 Their poison, however, decreases in proportion 

 to the length of their confinement; and it is 

 thought that the virtues of the animal's flesh, 

 are, by the same restraints, considerably les- 

 sened. 



They are usually taken with wooden tongs, 

 by the end of the tail, which may be done 

 without danger; for, while held in that posi- 

 tion, they are unable to wind themselves up 

 to hurt their enemy : yet, notwithstanding this 

 precaution, the viper-catchers are frequently 

 bit by them ; but, by the application of salad 

 oil, the bite is effectually cured. 



One William Oliver, a viper-catcher at 

 Bath, was the first who discovered this admir- 

 able remedy. On the first of June, 1735, in 

 the presence of a great number of persons, he 

 suffered himself to be bit by an old black vi- 

 per, (brought by one of the company,) upon 

 the wrist and joint of the thumb of the right 



hand, so that drops of blood came out of Ibe 

 wounds: he immediately felt a violent pain, 

 both at the top of his thumb and up his arm, 

 even before the viper was loosened from his 

 hand; soon after he felt a pain, resembling 

 that of burning, trickle up his arm ; in a few 

 minutes his eyes began to look red and fiery, 

 and to water much ; in less than an hour he 

 perceived the venom seize his heart, with a 

 pricking pain, which was attended with faint- 

 ness, shortness of breath, and cold sweats; in 

 a few minutes after this, his belly began to 

 swell, with great gripings, and pains in his 

 back, which were attended with vomitings and 

 purgings: during the violence of these symp- 

 toms, his sight was gone for several minutes, 

 but he could hear all the while. He said, that 

 in his former experiments he had never deferred 

 making use of his remedy longer than he per- 

 ceived the effects of the venom reaching his 

 heart ; but this time, being willing to satisfy 

 the company thoroughly, and trusting to the 

 speedy effects of his remedy, which was noth- 

 ing more than olive-oil, he forbore to apply any 

 thing till he found himself exceeding ill arid 

 quite giddy. About an hour and a quarter 

 after the first of his being bit, a chafing dish 

 of glowing charcoal was brought in, and his 

 naked arm was held over it, as near as he could 

 bear, while his wife rubbed in the oil with her 

 hand, turning his arm continually round, as if 

 she would have roasted it over the coals: he 

 said the poison soon abated, but the swelling 

 did not diminish much. Most violent purgings 

 and vomitings soon ensued ; and his pulse be- 

 came so low, and so often interrupted, that it 

 was thought proper to order him a repetition 

 of cordial potions : he said he was not sensible 

 of any great relief from these ; but that a glass 

 or two of olive-oil drank down, seemed to give 

 him ease. Continuing in this dangerous con- 

 dition, he was put to bed, where his arm was 

 again bathed over a pan of charcoal , and rub- 

 bed with salad oil, heated in a ladle over the 

 charcoal, by Dr Mortimer's direction, who was 

 the physician that drew up the account. From 

 this last operation he declared that he found 

 immediate ease, as though by some charm : he 

 soon after fell into a profound sleep, and, after 

 about nine hours' sound rest, awaked about six 

 the next morning, and found himself very well ; 

 but in the afternoon, on drinking some rum 

 and strong beer, so as to be almost intoxicated, 

 the swelling returned, with much pain and cold 

 sweats, which abated soon, on bathing the arm, 

 as before, and wrapping it up in brown paper 

 soaked in the oil.' 



1 The treatment for the bite of the viper has been very 

 well indicated by Celsus in his treatise of medicine, and 

 it merits some attention, especially as naturalists are fre- 

 quently expnced to accidents from this reptile. The fir^t 

 precaution to be observed in a case of this kind, is, when 



