Page:Hardwicke's Science-Gossip - Volume 1.pdf/148

The substance is soft and yellow, with a spongy appearance. The duct or canal through which the poison is conveyed to the fang is a narrow cylindrical tube swelling in the centre of its course into a kind of reservoir, and terminating in the base of the fang (b). This latter is a tooth in the form of a tube, much longer than the other teeth, and curved (d). It is placed in the upper jaw, one on each side of the mouth. On the outer surface of the fang, near the apex, is an elongated opening or slit (e), from which a canal passes through the hollow in the interior of the tooth, and is united to the duct which communicates with the poison-gland. These fangs fall backwards, and lie concealed in a groove in the gum when not in use.

The following elaborate description of the mode by which the viper wounds and envenoms its prey scarcely leaves anything to be desired:—"When a viper is struck, it first coils itself up, leaving its head in the centre, or at the summit of the coil, and drawn a little back, as if for the purpose of reconnoitering. Speedily the animal uncoils itself like a spring. Its body is then launched out with such rapidity, that for a moment the eye cannot follow it. In this movement the viper clears a space nearly equal to its own length; but it never leaves the ground, where it remains supported on its tail or posterior portion of the body, ready to coil itself up again and aim afresh a second blow, if the first should fail. To do this the viper distends its mouth, draws back its fangs, arranges them in the right direction, and then plunges them into its enemy by a blow of the head or upper jaw: this done, the fangs are withdrawn. The lower jaw, which is closed at the same moment, serves as a point of resistance, and favours the entrance of the poison-fangs; but this assistance is very slight, and the reptile acts by striking rather than biting. There are times, however, when the viper bites without coiling itself up and then darting forth. This occurs, for instance, when it meets with some small animal, which it destroys at leisure and without anger, or when it is seized by the tail or middle of the body, in which case it turns round and plunges in its fangs. As the teeth are buried in the tissues of the body struck, the poison is driven down the canals, which pass through them by the action of the muscles which close the mouth, and the injection takes place with a force proportionate to the vigour and rage of the reptile, and the supply of poison with which it is furnished."^[1] In the bite there are two punctures corresponding to the poison-fangs.

It has been taken for granted that the bite of the viper proves fatal in this country, without, perhaps, a knowledge of any instance in which it so terminated. Professor Bell declares that he had never seen a case which terminated in death, nor had he been able to trace to an authentic source any of the numerous reports of such a termination, which have at various times been confidently promulgated.^[2] Nevertheless, in France and other continental countries many instances are recorded. Bedard, in his lectures, relates a case of a young man in the neighbourhood of Angers, who, falling down in a meadow, was bitten by a viper in several places, and died in consequence in a few hours. Matthiole records an instance in which a countryman falling down in a meadow happened to divide one of these reptiles in the middle; he seized the portion of the trunk to which the head was attached, in an awkward manner, and was in consequence bitten in the finger and died from the effects of the wound. It should be remembered in connection with these instances, that the reptile which is regarded as the common viper in France is the asp, and not the same species as that which occurs in Britain, whilst our viper, not uncommon also, is called "the little viper." The former of these is doubtless more venomous than the latter.

Reproduction of Kolpods.—The French Academy has awarded a prize to M. Gerbe for his discovery of the reproduction of kolpods. In his researches on the embryology of marine crustacea, he observed that kolpods, after the manner of the conjecated confervæ, connected themselves by pairs. Following this conjunction, unique in the animal kingdom, as far as is known at present, he has shown that in the common gangue, or matrix, formed by the fusion of the two individuals of each couple, the reproductive ovules are thus formed in the matrix, which then dies. These oviform germs are soon disengaged, showing living and moving kolpods in precisely the same manner as does the newly-born conferva. It will be seen that M. Gerbe's observations supply us with an analogy between the generation of animals and that of plants.—The Reader.

Petrified Human Remains.—In a volume recently published, which, although a descriptive poem, contains many allusions to natural phenomena ("Beauties of Tropical Scenery, &c." London: Hardwicke), the petrified human skeletons found in the island of Guadaloupe are mentioned at page 47. Are these fossil remains of man to be considered of great antiquity, or of comparatively recent formation? One of these petrified skeletons is preserved in the British Mueum.—Inquirer.