TION. 



36 VIPER SERPENT. Class IIX. 



bring forth their young alive."* Providence is 

 extremely kind in making this species far from 

 being prolific, we having never heard of more 

 than eleven eggs being found in one viper, and 

 those are as if chained together, and each about 

 the size of a blackbird's egg. 



The viper seldom grows to a greater length 

 than two feet ; though once we saw a female 

 (which is nearly a third larger than the male) 

 Descrip- which was almost three feet long. The ground- 

 color of this serpent is a dirty yellow ; that of 

 the female deeper ; its back is marked the 

 whole length Avith a series of rhomboid black 

 spots, touching each other at the points; the 

 sides with triangular ones ; the belly entirely 

 black. 



There is a variety wholly black; but the 

 rhomboid marks are very conspicuous even in 

 this, being of a deeper and more glossy hue 

 than the rest. Petiver calls it the Vipera Ang- 

 llca Nigricans. Pet. Mus. No. 204. f 



The head of the viper is inflated, which 



* These are distinguished in modem systems by the character 

 of Oviviviparous. Ed. 



f Coluber Prester. Lin. Syst. 377- Bose. Faun. Suec. No. 

 287. La Vipere noire. De la Cepede. Hist, des Serpents, ii. 56. 



Laurenti, in his Synopsis Reptilium, p. Q8. coincides with 

 Linnceus in considering this as a distinct species. Ed. 



