94 THE COMMON VIPER. 



have no particular acrimony of taste, but that, In 

 this respect, it rather resembles oil or gum. Con- 

 tradictions nearly equal have taken place relative 

 to the effect of viperine poison taken into the sto- 

 mach. Boerhaave affirms it to produce no ill effect 

 whatever; and the abbe Fontana, that it is not to 

 be swallowed with impunity — although he is one of 

 those who assert its being devoid of any thing un- 

 pleasant to the taste. We are told, however, that 

 in the presence of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, 

 while the philosophers were making elaborate dis- 

 sertations on the danger of the poison taken in- 

 wardly, a viper-catcher, who happened to be pre- 

 sent, requested that a quantity ot it might be put 

 into a vessel, and then, with the utmost confidence, 

 and to the astonishment ot the whole company, he 

 drank it off in their presence. Every one expected 

 the man instantly to drop down dead ; but they 

 soon perceived their mistake, says the relater of the- 

 -story, and found that, taken inwardly, the poison 

 was as harmless as w r ater. 



In ancient times, the poison of the Viper was 

 collected by many of the European nations as a 

 poison for their arrows, as that of other serpents is 

 used, by the inhabitants of savage nations, at the 

 present day. 



The Viper is the only one, either of the Reptile or 

 Serpent tribes, in Great Britain, from whose bite 

 we have any thing to fear. All the others are either 

 entirely destitute of poison ; or, if they possess any, 

 it is not injurious to man. 



These animals are viviparous, and produce their 



