J 662 The Zoologist— May, 1869. 



ruptured and disappears before the act of parturition ; and the young, 

 even before that event, have acquired all the powers essential to self- 

 preservation. The viper seems to be at enmity with all the world, 

 and all the world at enmity with it ; and it is so with the young : they 

 are quite ready to do battle with all comers on their very first appear- 

 ance on the stage of life. It is no uncommon event for the gravid 

 female to be slain, for it is her pleasure when iu this condition to lie 

 coiled up on some soft mossy bank exposed to the direct rays of the 

 sun, and perfectly motionless, so that she becomes an easy victim: 

 her death is always a violent one ; repeated blows with the stoutest 

 slake that can be found effect this object ; and the violence used 

 very commonly causes the expulsion of the young, — sometimes 

 through the natural aditus, but more generally through the ruptured 

 cuticle of the belly. Immediately on liberation, the little ones erect 

 their heads, hiss, vibrate their tongues, and exhibit every possible 

 evidence of hostility, proving that their energetic ideas of self- 

 preservation are instinctive rather than educational. Philosophers 

 have suggested that the apparent lethargy of the pregnant viper, and 

 disposition to avail herself of the solar heat, is also a natural instiuct, 

 and intended for maturing the young prior to extrusion. Be that as it 

 may, the fact, when observed for the first lime by those who can read 

 and write, always insures a faithful record : we are a wonder-loving 

 people : the event is handed to the reading public in this stereotyped 

 fashion. " Viper swallowing her young. — On Saturday last I killed a 

 remarkably large female viper — newspaper vipers, or other specimens 

 of nature, are invariably remarkably large or remarkably Jine — by 

 repeated blows with a hedge-stake which was fortunately at hand ; 

 but the strange part of the affair is this, that while 1 was belabouring 

 the reptile with all my might, I distinctly saw two young ones which 

 had taken refuge in her mouth, come out and wriggle away among the 

 short grass : that there could have been no mistake about the matter 

 is proved by the fact, that I afterwards opened the dead parent and 

 took eight more living young ones out of her stomach, and have them 

 now in spirit for the satisfaction of the incredulous. — One who 

 KNOWS." A great deal of correspondence took place in the 'Field' 

 and ' Gardener's Chronicle'' newspapers on this subject; " Protestant 

 Governesses," " Country Clergymen," " Constant Readers," " Justices 

 of the Peace," Old Subscribers," &c., confidently recording similar 

 experiences ; Naturalists possessing more distinctive names, as con- 

 fidently arguing that there was some mistake or imperfection in the 



