CLASS III. REPTILIA: ORDER 4. OPHIDIA. 301- 
THE BLACK VIPER. 
This species is subject to great diversities of color: the Red Viper and Black Viper are 
recognized as common varieties. In the autnmn, these reptiles seek a secret and secure place, 
where they remain torpid during the winter, several of them being usually entwined together. 
They are found in Europe fi'om Sweden to the Mediterranean Sea, and are the only venomous 
reptiles of Great Britain. The disposition of mankind to attribute almost supernatural powers 
to serpents is manifested in the history of this species. Viper broth was anciently considered to 
possess invigorating qualities : both Pliny and Galen speak of the efficiency of viper flesh in cur- 
ing ulcers, elephantiasis, and the diseases arising from a corrupt state of the system. It was 
generally served to the patient boiled like fish, though sometimes it Avas dried and given in 
the form of a powder. Sir Kenelm Digby's beautiful wife was fed on capons fattened with the 
tlesh of vipei's. 
Genus CLOTHO : Clotho. — This includes the Puff Adder, C, arietans; it is short and 
thick, with a malignant aspect and most deadly venom ; found in Southern Africa. A. man has 
been known to die of the bite of this serpent in an hour and a horse in two hours. 
Genus ACANTHOPHIS : Acanthophis. — This includes the Death Adder, A. tortor — a species 
very much diffused in Australia, and greatly dreaded by the inhabitants on account of the mor- 
tal wounds it inflicts. Death is sometimes said to ensue from its bite in less than a quarter of 
an hour. 
Genus CERASTES : Cerastes. — The Cerastes or Horned Yiper^ C. Hasselquistii, among 
the numerous species of viper, is one of the most noted. It is eighteen to thirty inches long, 
and has a small, horn-like process over each eye, which is directed forward when the animal 
is excited. It is very active, and springs two or three feet upon its victim, inflicting a deadly 
Avound. It is found in the dry and sandy deserts of Egypt, Syria, and Arabia. Some natu- 
ralists regard this as the Asp wdiich Cleopatra employed to cause her death, in order to avoid 
being taken to Rome by her conqueror, Octavius, and forming part of the retinue in his triumph. 
There are several other species in Africa resembling the Cerastes. 
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