380 



REDl's VIPER. 



Structure and use of the fangs and receptacle of 

 poison, yet contended, in opposition to the cele- 

 brated Redi, that when a Viper bit, the symptoms 

 of poison succeeding the bite, were caused by 

 what he termed the " ejiraged spirits'' of the crea- 

 ture, and not by the supposed poisonous fluid. 

 This species has the general appearance of the 

 Berus, or common viper, but is distinguished by 

 the want of the dorsal band, so conspicuous in 

 that animal, and by the upright, subacuminat^sd 

 tip of the snout : the colour of the upper parts is 

 ferruginous, marked with several short, scattered, 

 and subconfluent letter-like streaks here and there 

 dispersed on the skin : the under parts are of a 

 dusky colour, with a steely lustre, and are speckled 

 with yellow. This species is a native of France, 

 and in its general manners, as well as in size, ap- 

 pears to resemble the common Viper, of which it 

 has sometimes been suspected a variety, 



REDl's VIPER, 



Coluber Redi. C. fusco-ferrugineus, serie dorsali quadrupHci 

 transversa striarum hrevium subconjluentium fuscarum. 



Ferruginous-brown Viper, with a quadruple transverse dorsal 

 series of short subconfluent brown streaks, 



Coluber Redi. Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmel. p, 109I, 



Abdominal scuta 152, subc^udal squamae 33. 



This is greatly allied to the common Viper, 

 but differs in being marked throughout the whole 

 length of the upper parts, with a quadruple series 



