THE VIPER. 31 



mere action of opening the mouth causes a viper's fangs to 

 descend, and that the closing of the mouth sends them back 

 again. But the voluntary action or control of the fangs is now 

 fully understood, as also their independent action. In watching 

 a viper feed you may see sometimes one fang, or the other, or 

 both in use, as it moves its jaws over the prey, well extending 

 them so as to free the long fang from the flesh it has penetrated. 

 Also when a viper yawns (this yawning affords many a useful 

 lesson) you may often see first one fang and then another brought 

 down and folded back again, proving their independent action. 



The fangs being long, delicate, and loosely hinged, are easily 

 broken off. They also come out if worn or strained, when a 

 new pair is ready to replace them. A cluster of reserve fangs of 

 all sizes lies in the sheath which protects the pair in use when at 

 rest, and are developed as fast as they are required, each in turn 

 becoming fixed and functional. It is customary to speak of the 

 viper's fangs being " brought down or depressed," but in reality it 

 is the very short jaw which rotates, the fang being firmly fixed in 

 it, and owing to the easily separable right and left jaw, united 

 only by a ligament, as already described, it is the two jaws, the 

 right and left, which act independently, bearing the fang with 

 them as they move or rotate. Imagine a pen-knife half opened 

 and held with the blade downwards ; that would, represent the 

 fang " erected ; " then hold the handle perpendicularly, and the 

 blade would assume a horizontal position, as shown in fig 12, 

 which would represent the fang at rest ; only that the knife handle 

 is much too long to convey an idea of the mere wedge of bone 

 which forms the viper's upper jaw. 



The venom of Pelias denes is far less virulent than that of the 

 larger vipers, or even one of its own size in the hotter countries. 

 But in an unusually warm season deaths have been known to 

 occur through its bite ; or when the bitten person has been of 

 feeble health, or if the wound has not been treated in time, and 

 the venom has worked into the system. There must be no delay : 

 a handkerchief, or a leathern strap or cord, should be bound very 

 tightly round the limb above the wound, that is, nearer to the body, 

 to check the circulation. Oil or ammonia should be rubbed into 

 the wound, or any soft fat that can be obtained at the nearest 

 cottage ; the oil or fat clogging the blood, and arresting the rapid 

 mingling of the venom with it. The old-fashioned remedy was to 

 cut the viper open and bind that upon the wound, as there is 

 usually a good deal of fat in its body ; but there were fewer 

 habitations at hand in those days. To suck the wound hard and 

 thoroughly and at once is also an excellent plan if the lips and 



