338 BRITISH SERPENTS. 
On single occasions he has seen specimens at New- 
lands, near Carleton, and Black Moss Pool, near 
Cotehill. 
Viper.—**The mosses in the neighbourhood of 
Morecambe Bay share with those which fringe the 
Solway Firth the unenviable distinction of affording 
tolerably safe asylum to large numbers of vipers. 
I have rarely visited any of our flows on a hot 
summer's day without coming across one or two 
individuals of the present species basking in the 
sunshine upon some heather-covered prominence. 
The late Mr Kirkby captured ereat numbers. of 
vipers in the neighbourhood of Ulverstone, and 
showed me some pretty sections of their teeth under 
the microscope. His skill in capturing these animals 
was very great. The occupation appeared to have 
become his ruling passion. —Rev. H. A. Macpher- 
son, extract from ‘Fauna of Lakeland.’ 
“The only local reptile which seems to show a 
tendency in the direction of variation is the 
common viper. Most of the Lakeland vipers are 
grey or brown in ground colour, regardless of their 
sex. The only instance at present known to me of 
the capture of a red individual within our limits 
relates to a viper which Joseph Boadle presented to 
the Whitehaven Museum. Instead of being grey 
and black, it is a dull ferruginous red, and the 219- 
zag markings are a dark mahogany colour. This 
animal has been caught near Rig House, Dean, West 
