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 favor. 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 extreme, and if they happen to affect the written testimony of one person, they are 

 contradicted 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 her body, and attested in such a manner that no objector may invalidate the 

 proof by saying that the old one had been captured and the young pushed down her 

 throat by 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 muscuW 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 characteristic. The color of the poison is a very pale yellow, and its consist- 

 ence 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 large 

 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 with- 

 out being pierced by their points. The ends of the teeth reach about half way 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 mag- 

 nifier and examine its structure, when it will be seen to be hollow, and, as it were, per- 

 forated 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 four 

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

 fangs. 



