Occasional Notes. 347 
took place in the large case containing the living speci- 
mens of snakes in the Museum. The parent form had 
been sent down from the upper Demerara river, but 
unfortunately the poison-fangs had been removed! and in 
this operation the mouth of the snake had been con- 
siderably lacerated. The shock to the system, caused 
by this and other rough treatment, had a very marked 
effe£l on the snake, for it died the morning after the 
young ones were brought forth ; while four of its young 
ones were brought forth dead, and of the other four, only 
one survived its. parent for about three days. Unlike 
the parent, the little snakes were exceedingly lively, 
moving about from place to place, and, on a stick being 
placed close to them, getting into striking position and 
darting forward after scarcely any provocation. As a 
general rule, little vipers just after being brought. forth 
are markedly aftive ; and on this account are much more 
difficult to deal with than their sluggish parents. Each 
little viper was brought forth enclosed in a soft delicate 
membrane and with a considerable portion of the egg- 
mass unabsorbed ; and, after resting where first deposited, 
for about from two to five minutes, the living forms 
quickly separated themselves from the mass and moved 
restlessly about the case. A period of nearly two hours 
elapsed between the birth ot the first and last of the 
eight. An extremely interesting fa6t is brought to light 
by this knowledge of these infant vipers— namely that 
they differ markedly from the adult forms in their color- 
ation. Thus instead of having the dull-brown and 
yellowish-white tint of the parent form, these little 
creatures were marked with very rich and variable tints 
of ruddy-brown and chocolate-red, arranged in more or 
