366 CLASS REPTILIA. 



with the exception of their greater intensity, pretty much 

 the same as those caused by the common viper. But the 

 bitten part becomes the seat of a more considerable swelling, 

 the wound acquires a tint of a more lively red, and its envi- 

 rons are covered with spots and bladders. A horrible an- 

 guish suddenly seizes on the wounded person : vomitings of 

 greenish matter take place : the tongue swells and stiffens : 

 the body becomes full of pains : a death-like coldness spread- 

 ing more and more from the extremities, seizes at length 

 upon the region of the heart. A peasant, according to the 

 report of the Swedish physician Lars Montin, was bitten by 

 an oesping in the little toe of the left foot. At the end of 

 about six hours, the foot, the leg, and the thigh were very 

 red, and considerably swelled. The pulse was small and in- 

 termittent. The patient complained of head-ache, of violent 

 pains in the abdomen, of lassitude, and oppression. Tears 

 flowed abundantly from his eyes, and his appetite was abso- 

 lutely gone. 



It is generally known that the poison of the viper does not 

 preserve all its force during winter, and in northern coun- 

 tries, and that its energy, on the contrary, is augmented 

 during summer, and in hot countries. The violence of the 

 accidents observed in Sweden, towards the north of Europe, 

 would seem to prove that the cesping is a species altogether 

 different, even though that point was not proved by its zoolo- 

 gical characters.* 



* Such is the observation of M. Cloquet, but we are not informed res- 

 pecting the time of year in which these accidents have occurred. It is 

 presumable that they happened in summer, and the summer we know to 

 be very hot in the north of Europe. Quere, also, whether after their long 

 winter slumber, revivified by an almost tropical temperature, these reptiles 

 may not possess more energy than in climates not subject to such extremes ? 



E. P. 



