Class III. VIPER SERPENT. 39 



confinement, for if mice, their favourite diet, 

 should at that time be thrown into their box, 

 though they will kill, yet they never will eat 

 them. The poison decreases in violence in 

 proportion to the length of their confinement: 

 it must be also added, the virtues of its flesh 

 (whatsoever they be) are at the same time con- 

 siderably lessened. These animals, when at 

 liberty, remain torpid throughout the winter; 

 yet, when confined, have never been observed 

 to take their annual repose. 



The method of catching vipers is by putting a 

 cleft stick on or near their head ; after which 

 they are seized by the tail, and put instantly 

 into a bag. The viper-catchers are frequently 

 bit by them in the pursuit of their business, yet 

 we very rarely hear of the bite being fatal. The 

 remedy, if applied in time, is very certain, and 

 is nothing else but sallad oil, which the viper- 

 catchers seldom go without. The axungia vipe- 

 rina, or the fat of vipers, is also another remedy. 

 Doctor Mead suspects the efficacy of this last, 

 and substitutes one of his own in its place ;* 

 but we had rather trust to vulgar receipts which 

 perpetual trials have shewn to be infallible. 



The symptoms of the venom, if the wound is 



* Essay on Poisons, 47. 



