The venom apparatus of the Viper consists of a gland which secretes the poison, a receptacle which stores it, and a long, sharp fang, which can be extruded and through a groove in which the poison is conveyed. The animal darts open-mouthed at its enemy rather than bites. Its fang being in its upper jaw it becomes well exposed when the mouth is agape. As there is a fang on each side there will usually be two punctures in the skin about a third of an inch apart. No doubt there occur every year in England a good many instances of viper-bites in men and boys. There are, however, exceedingly few deaths, and many persons of considerable experience have doubted whether the bite is ever actually fatal. A very urgent and severe illness is almost invariably the result; but the patient just pulls through. In a case in which the writer was, in boyhood, a particeps, two fine vipers were captured in mistake. They were put into a botanical box and were repeatedly inspected, and their tongues freely touched. It was only when on arrival at home that one of them, during an attempt to transfer it to a cage, made a dart and struck the finger of a boy of fourteen. The accident was concealed until, about a quarter of an hour later in attempting to cross the floor, the victim fell down in a deadly faint. He became very sick and having been got to bed remained in collapse, apparently near death for several hours. Brandy was of course freely given. The medical adviser who had been summoned, arrived in hot haste with a big volume under his arm, in order to make reference to “snake-bite” and its treatment. It was, however, too late to do anything more than give stimulants, and happily these were successful. A fortnight’s illness ensued, during the early part of which the whole arm was enormously swollen, and later partly covered with boils. This case affords, we believe, a very fair example of what usually follows the incautious capture of the English adder. The reptile does not attack willingly, but only after much provocation, and he cannot, as a rule, destroy the life of his human enemy. His poison fangs are designed for other purposes, and for much smaller animals. Within the last few weeks a case at Folkestone has attracted much attention, in which two school-boys in pursuit of what is called “Nature Study,” were bitten by a viper, with the result that one of them died. Several other well-authenticated instances of death have been recorded. We repeat, however, that they are very rare.