POISON FANGS OF THE VIPER 113 



entering the true stomach at all, the oesophagus or gullet forming a highly expansile 

 antechamber between the throat and the actual stomach ; and the other, that if they 

 should happen to do so, the gastric juice would not hurt them. Incredible, therefore, 

 as the possibility of such an act may seem, it can but be acknowledged that the weight 

 of practical testimony is wholly in its favour. Moreover, the various suggestions offered 

 to account for the deception practised by the Viper upon the eyes of observers, just as if 

 it had been a professed conjurer performing before an audience, are really puerile in the 

 faxtreme, and if they happen to affect the written testimony of one person, they are con- 

 tradicted by the written testimony of another. It is to be hoped that if the Viper really 

 does act in the manner stated, a specimen may be obtained with the young still within 

 ner body, and attested in such a manner that no objector may invalidate the proof 

 oy saying that the old one had been captured and the young pushed down her throat 

 oy force. 



The head of the Viper affords a very good example of the venomous apparatus of the 

 poisonous Serpents, and is well worthy of dissection, which is better accomplished under 

 water than in air. The poison-fangs lie on the sides of the upper jaw, folded back and 

 almost undistinguishable until lifted with a needle. They are singularly fine and delicate, 

 hardly larger than a lady's needle, and are covered almost to their tips with a muscular 

 envelope through which the points just peer. The poison-secreting glands and the 

 reservoir in which the venom is stored, are found at the back and sides of the head, and 

 give to the venomous Serpents that peculiar width of head which is so unfailing a charac- 

 teristic. The colour of the poison is a very pale yellow, and its consistence is very like 

 that of salad oil, which, indeed, it much resembles both in look and taste. There is but 

 little in each individual, and it is possible that the superior power of the larger venomous 

 Snakes of other lands, especially those under the tropics, may be due as much to its 

 quantity as its absolute intensity. In a full-grown rattlesnake, for example, there are six or 

 eight drops of this poison, whereas the Viper has hardly a twentieth part of that amount. 



On examining carefully the poison-fangs of a Viper, the structure by which the venom 

 is injected into the wound will be easily understood. On removing the lower jaw, the two 

 fangs are seen in the upper jaw, folded down in a kind of groove between the teeth of the 

 palate and the skin of the head, so as to allow any food to slide over them without being 

 pierced by their points. The ends of the teeth reach about halfway from the nose to the 

 angle of the jaw, just behind the corner of the eye. 



Only the tips of the fangs are seen, and they glisten bright, smooth and translucent, as 

 if they were curved needles made from isinglass, and almost as fine as a bee's sting. On 

 raising them with a needle or the point of the forceps, a large mass of muscular tissue 

 comes into view, enveloping the tooth for the greater part of its length, and being, in fact, 

 the means by which the fang is elevated or depressed. When the creature draws back its 

 head and opens its mouth to strike, the depressing muscles are relaxed, the opposite series 

 are contracted, and the two deadly fangs spring up with their points ready for action. It 

 is needful while dissecting the head to be exceedingly careful, as the fangs are so sharp 

 that they penetrate the skin with a very slight touch, and their poisonous distilment does 

 not lose its potency even after the lapse of time. 



The next process is to remove one of the teeth, place it under a tolerably good magnifier 

 and examine its structure, when it will be seen to be hollow, and, as it were, perforated by 

 a channel. This channel is however seen, on closer examination, to be formed by a groove 

 along the tooth, which is closed except at the one end whence the poison exudes, and the 

 other at which it enters the tooth. If the tooth be carefully removed, and the fleshy 

 substance pushed away from its root, the entrance can be seen quite plainly by the aid of 

 a pocket lens. The external aperture is in the form of a very narrow slit upon the concave 

 side of the fang, so very narrow, indeed, that it seems too small for the passage of any liquid. 



There are generally several of the fangs in each jaw, lying one below the other in 

 regular succession. From the specimen which has just been described, I removed foui 

 teeth on each side, varying in length from half to one-eighth the dimensions of the poison- 

 fangs. 





