THE ADDER'S SIESTA. 



the venomous adder, known also under his 

 frequent alias as the viper, and often sup- 

 posed to be two distinct creatures. In 

 reality, one reptile doubles the parts, as 

 an actor would say, being but a single snake 

 under two disguises. The adder is remark- 

 able for bringing forth its young alive, 

 instead of hatching them out of eggs, like 

 most typical serpents ; and the very name 

 viper is short for vivipara. As for the blind- 

 worm, or slow-worm, who is also one animal 

 masquerading under two aliases, he must 

 not be considered a snake at all, being a 

 legless lizard, who tries deceptively to pass 

 himself off in serpent's clothing. Nay, he 

 is not even, strictly speaking, legless, for he 

 has rudimentary limbs, with bones to match, 

 though they never quite succeed in pushing 

 themselves through the scaly integument. 

 He is a lizard, in short, arrested on his road 

 to complete serpenthood. Neither the ring- 

 snake nor the blind-worm is in the slightest 

 degree dangerous ; but when in doubt as 



47 



