94 
VIPER. 
awoke perfectly well ; but in the afternoon, on drink- 
ing too freely of rum and strong beer, the swelling 
returned, with much pain and cold sweats : these 
symptoms, however, were soon removed on repeat- 
ing the remedy, and wrapping the limb up in brown 
paper soaked in oil. 
The same William Oliver presented the Royal 
Society with a female viper big with young, which 
was kept alive in common green moss, in a box 
with a glass cover. She brought forth several young 
ones, who slipped off their skins, and the outward 
membrane of their eyes along with them, about six 
weeks after their birth. They were observed, first 
to loosen the skin about the mouth, and then slip 
it off backwards by wriggling themselves through 
the entanglement of the moss. 
The motion of these reptiles is very slow when 
compared with other snakes, nor can they twist 
themselves about so readily, being only able to turn 
the head with any agility. They never attack man- 
kind, or any large animal, unless he first becomes 
the aggressor, by trampling upon them ; then indeed 
they are justly irritated, and frequently bite severely. 
The viper-catchers are not at all afraid of them, as 
they very well know how to seize the creatures so 
as to prevent their biting. Some for this purpose 
use a forked stick, by which they fix the viper by 
the neck, and then throw it into a bag. Others* 
holding down its head with the end of a stick, pinch 
its neck with the left hand, and, while the animal 
