80 OUE REPTILES. 



Some years since I was shooting in a wood, and came 

 suddenly on a viper lying on a sunny bank. As soon as the 

 viper caught sight of me, it began to hiss, and I distinctly 

 saw several young ones, about three or four inches long, run 

 up to the parent and vanish down its throat ; and from the 

 way in which the parent kept its mouth open, and the young 

 ones glided into it, I should say they were accustomed to 

 that sort of thing.* 



We must not forget that some time since the 

 following occurrences were narrated in the 

 Zoologist, by the editor himself, and whilst they 

 strengthen the evidence of the Viper swallowing 

 its young, further serve to establish the fact of 

 viviparous reptiles being addicted to that habit. 

 Both these illustrations refer to the " Scaly 

 Lizard/' which, like the Viper, brings forth its 

 young alive. " My late lamented friend William 

 Christy, jun., found a fine specimen of the 

 common Scaly Lizard with two young ones; 

 taking an interest in everything relating to 

 Natural History, he put them into a small pocket 

 vasculum to bring home, but when he next 

 opened the vasculum the young ones had dis- 

 appeared, and the belly of the parent was greatly 

 distended ; he concluded she had devoured her 

 own offspring. At night the vasculum was laid 

 on a table, and the lizard was therefore at rest ; 



* Science Gossip, p. 160. 



