OF SELBOllNE. 8? 



Providence has been so indulgent to us 

 as to allow of but one venomous reptile of 

 the serpent kind in these kingdoms, and 

 that is the viper. As you propose the good 

 of mankind to be an object of your publi- 

 cations, you will not omit to mention com- 

 mon salad-oil as a sovereign remedy against 

 the bite of the viper. As to the blind worm 

 ( anguis fragilisy so called because it snaps in 

 sunder with a small blow), I have found, 

 on examination, that it is perfectly inno- 

 cuous. A neighbouring yeoman (to whom 

 I am indebted for some good hints) killed 

 and opened a female viper about the twenty- 

 seventh of May : he found her filled with 

 a chain of eleven eggs, about the size of 

 those of a blackbird ; but none of them 

 were advanced so far towards a state of ma- 

 turity as to contain anyrudiments of young. 

 Though they are oviparous, yet they are 

 viviparous also, hatching their young with- 

 in their bellies, and then bringing them 

 forth. Whereas snakes lay chains of eggs 

 every Summer in my melon beds, in spite 

 of all that my people can do to prevent 



