DO SNAKES SWALLOW THEIR YOUNG? 139 
doctor found the reptile perfectly sound, and saw it kill a 
large fowl instantaneously with its sting” [fangs]. 
On page 76, Mr. Cooke comes boldly to the question in 
point, and under the heading of Does the Viper swallow its 
young? gives several pages which we quote in full. 
The belief has a firm hold in the minds of many, that, on the approach 
of danger, the young of the viper glide to their parent for protection, and 
that she opens her mouth, and, one by one, they pass down her throat, 
where they rest in security till the danger is past. To prove a negative 
is always a difficult task, but the effort to remove a prejudice must be 
even greater to be successful. a ok naturalists, men of science 
and repute, in common with those who make no profession of learning, . 
have combined in this belief, and to ‘iin’ we are indebted for many such 
accounts as the following: ‘‘ Walking in an orchard near Tyneham House, 
in Dorsetshire, I came upon an old adder basking in the sun, with her 
io. around her; she was lying on some grass that had been long cut, 
and had become smooth and bleached by exposure to the weather. 
Alarmed by my approach, I distinctly saw the young ones run down their 
mother’s throat. At that time I had never heard of the controversy 
respecting the fact, otherwise I should have been more anxious to have 
Killed the adder r, to farther prove the case.”* Nothing can well be more 
Positive, clear, definite, and many would think decisive, than the Pe ac 
yet, so sceptical are some men on this subject, that they still dare 
doubt whether there may not be some error in the observation. Let us 
advert to other witnesses, and evidence still more complete, and we do so 
With as earnest a desire for paer as ony witnesses themselves, and to 
know that the debate is closed for 
- H. Gurney, Esq., of Catton tian, near Norwich, well known as 
en, and especially for the splendid collection of Raptorial Birds 
n the Norwich Museum, which has been obtained chiefly through his 
instrumentality, in the year 1863 communicated to the Zoölogist the fol- 
lowing ema told to him by a person in whose accuracy he had the 
fullest re lance. “John Galley saw a viper at Swannington, in Norfolk, 
tioeaed by several young ones; the parent reptile perceiving itself 
observed, opened its mouth, and one of the young ones immedia’ ely crept 
down its throat; a second followed, but after entering for about half its 
eue » Wiggled out again, as though unable to accomplish an entrance. 
Pon this Galley killed and opened the viper, and found in the gullet, 
* Rev. H. Bond, South Petherton, Somerset, in Zodlogist, p- 7278. 
