114 
POISON-FANGS OF TIIE VTPEP. 
undistinguishable until lifted with a needle. They are singularly fine and delicate, hardly 
larger than a lady’s needle, and are covered almost to their tips with a muscular envelope 
through which the points just peer. The poison-secreting glands and the reservoir in which 
the venom is stored are found at the back and sides of the head, and give to the venomous 
Serpents that peculiar width of head which is so unfailing a characteristic. The color of the 
poison is a very pale yellow, and its consistence is very like that of salad oil, which, indeed, it 
much resembles both in look and taste. There is but little in each individual ; and it is pos- 
sible that the superior power of the larger venomous Snakes of other lands, especially those 
under the tropics, may be due as much to its quantity as its absolute intensity. In a full- 
grown rattlesnake, for example, there are six or eight drops of this poison, whereas the Viper 
has hardly a twentieth part of that amount. 
On examining carefully the poison-fangs of a Viper, the structure by which the venom is 
injected into the wound will be easily understood. On removing the lower jaw, the two fangs 
are seen in the upper jaw, folded down in a kind of groove between the teeth of the palate and 
the skin of the head, so as to allow any food to slide over them without being pierced by their 
points. The ends of the teeth reach about half-way from the nose to the angle of the jaw, just 
behind the corner of the eye. 
Only the tips of the fangs are seen, and they glisten bright, smooth and translucent, as if 
they were curved needles made from isinglass, and almost as fine as a bee’ s sting. On raising 
them with a needle or the point of the forceps, a large mass of muscular tissue comes into 
view, enveloping the tooth for the greater part of its length, and being, in fact, the means by 
which the fang is elevated or depressed. When the creature draws back its head and opens 
its mouth to strike, the depressing muscles are relaxed, the opposite series are contracted, and 
the two deadly fangs spring up with their points ready for action. It is needful, while dis- 
secting the head, to be exceedingly careful, as the fangs are so sharp that they penetrate the 
skin with a very slight touch, and their poisonous distilment does not lose its potency, even 
after the lapse of time. 
The next process is to remove one of the teeth, place it under a tolerably good magnifier 
and examine its structure, when it will be seen to be hollow, and, as it were, perforated by a 
channel. This channel is, however, seen, on closer examination, to be formed by a groove 
along the tooth, which is closed, except at the one end whence the poison exudes and the 
other at which it enters the tooth. If the tooth be carefully removed, and the fleshy sub- 
stance pushed away from its root, the entrance can be seen quite plainly by the aid of a pocket 
lens. The external aperture is in the form of a very narrow slit upon the concave side of the 
fang, so very narrow, indeed, that it seems too small for the passage of any liquid. 
There are generally several of the fangs in each jaw, lying one below the other in regular 
succession. From the specimen which has just been described I removed four teeth on each 
side, varying in length from half to one-eighth the dimensions of the poison-fangs. 
The Viper seems to be well aware of the power of its fangs, and to discriminate between 
animate and inanimate antagonists. I have tried in vain to make a Viper bite a stick with 
which I was irritating it ; but no sooner did a kitten approach, than the reptile drew back its 
head and made its lightning-like dart at the little creature with such rapidity, that it would 
have gained its point, had not its back been so much injured as to deprive it of its natural 
powers. 
The ordinary food of the Viper is much the same as that of the common Snake, and con- 
sists of mice, birds, frogs, and similar creatures. It is, however, less partial to frogs than the 
common Snake, and seems to prefer the smaller mammalia to any other prey. The young of 
the Viper enter the world in a living state, having been hatched just before they are born. 
The fat of the Viper was once in high estimation as a drug, and the older apothecaries were 
accustomed to purchase these reptiles in considerable numbers. Even now this substance is 
in some repute in many agricultural districts, being employed as a remedy for cuts, sprains, 
or bruises, and especially as a means of alleviating the painful symptoms of a Viper’s bite. 
The color of the Viper is rather variable ; but the series of very dark marks down the 
back is an unfailing sign of the species, and is permanent in all the varieties. Generally, the 
