44 
NATURAL HISTOllY OF SELBOENE. 
none of them were advanced so far towards a state of maturity as ft) 
contain any rudiments of young. Though they are oviparous, yet the^ 
are viviparous also, hatch- 
ing their young within their 
bellies, and then bringing., 
them forth. Whereas snakes 
lay chains of eggs every, 
summer in my melon beds, ■ 
in spite of all that my 
people can do to prevent 
them ; which eggs do not 
hatch till the spring fol^ 
lowing, as I have often ex- 
perienced. Several intelli- 
gent folks assure me that 
they have seen the viper 
open her mouth and admit her helpless young down her throat on 
sudden surprises, just as the female opossum does her brood into 
the pouch under her belly, upon the like emergencies; and yet the 
London viper-catchers insist on it, to Mr. Barrington,%that no suc|i 
thing ever happens."^ The serpent kind eat, I believe, but^ once 
in a year; or rather, but only jusc at one season of the year. 
Country people talk much of a water-snake, but, I am pretty sure, 
without any reason; for the common snake {Coluber natrix) delights 
much to sport in the water, perhaps with a view to procure frogs and 
other food. 
I cannot well guess how you are to make out your twelve species of 
reptiles, unless it be by the various species, or rather varieties, of our 
lacerti, of which Eay enumerates five. I have not had opportunity of 
* This question remains, we believe, nearly as it did in White's time. There 
have been statements upon both sides, and some time since it gave rise to a Very 
long discussion in the " Gardener's Chronicle," but which, with the others, ended 
in nothing that could be taken as undoubted proof of the fact. We have always 
looked upon this as a popular delusion, and the supposed habit is so much at 
variance with what we know of the general manners and instincts of animals 
that, without undoubted proof of its, occurrence, we incline still to consider it as such. 
Something always occurs to prevent the adder that has swallowed her young being 
captured, and the evidence rests on such an one having seen the young enter the 
mouth of the parent. Now, we do not mean to call in question the veracity of the 
observers reporting what they at the time believed to be the case, but we know how 
easy it is to be deceived, and how difficult it is to observe correctly. Mr. Bennet 
leaves the question open ; but in the latest edition of " Selborne," in Bohn's Illus- 
trated Library, the following note by the editor occurs Having taken much 
pains to ascertain the fact of young vipers entering the mouth of their mother, I can 
now have little doubt but that such is the case, after the evidence of persons who 
assured me that they had seen it. I also found young vipers in the stomach of 
the mother of a much larger size than they would be when first ready to be 
excluded." We presume that the young vipers in the stomach of the mother were 
found alive ; it is not so stated. Could the Zoological Society not do something to 
solve this problem? A comparatively trifling expense would procure a good 
collection of adders were it known they were wanted, and among them a female 
might be found and watched. See also Mr. White's remarks. Letter XXXI., to 
Mr. Barrington, where he cut up an adder, and found young in the "abdomen," 
by which term he evidently means the uterus or ovarium, for he adds, "there was 
little room to suppose they were taken in for refuge." Letter XXXI. should be 
turned to and read with this one to Pennant. 
BLIND WORM. 
