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CHAPTER XV. 
THE SMALL RED VIPER. 
PLEA FOR ITS RECOGNITION AS A SPECIES —DISTRIBUTION— 
DESCRIPTION—SIZE—VENOMOUS—SUGGESTED NAME. 
THE small red viper is a reptile far better known to 
those whose occupations take them to the haunts of 
snakes than to scientific naturalists. Indeed by the 
latter its existence is generally ignored. Many works 
on natural history make no allusion to it, and where 
it is mentioned it is referred to as a variety of the 
common adder, or as merely the young of that species. 
Any departure from those views, if noticed at all, is 
sure to be severely criticised, if not resented as pre- 
sumptuous. If, however, an observer is to be true to 
himself, he must record his observations, and is 
entitled to deduce conclusions therefrom irrespective 
of results. Careful study of British adders has driven 
me to regard the small red viper as a valid species, 
quite as distinct from the ordinary adder as a swallow 
is from a martin or a stoat from a weasel. It is a 
