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PEARS

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 109 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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PEARS am it produces a rustling See also:

sound. It ranges from See also:

India, where it' is known as the " Krait," called " Kuppur " in See also:

SIND

Sind, through See also:

North See also:

Africa. This See also:

DESERT

desert type is replaced farther See also:

south in Africa, where vegetation flourishes, by the closely allied genus, Atheris, which, however, possesses a prehensile tail and vivid coloration and has assumed truly arboreal habits. Cerastes is another desert See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form, but is restricted to Africa; the arrangement of the scales of the sides of the See also:

BODY

body is similar to that of Echis, but it has two rows of subcaudals. C. cornulus, the " horned See also:

VIPER

viper " of North Africa, from See also:

Algeria to See also:

PALESTINE

Palestine, has a large horny spike above each See also:

eye. This, the " Efa " of the See also:

ARABS

Arabs, buries itself in the See also:

sand, with only the eyes, nostrils and the horns appearing above the See also:

SURFACE

surface. It attains a length of 2y ft. C. See also:

OPERA (Italian for " work ")

opera is hornless. Bitis s. See also:

ECHIDNA, or PORCUPINE

Echidna s. Clotho has two rows of See also:

SHIELDS, JAMES (181b-1879)

shields on the underside of the very See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short tail; the thick See also:

head is much depressed, like the body. The nasal shields are separated from the rostral by small scales, otherwise much resembling the genus Vipera.

B. arietans, the " puff-See also:

ADDER

adder " of nearly the whole of Africa, an ugly, very dangerous See also:

BRUTE, SIMON WILLIAM GABRIEL (1779–1839)

brute growing to a length of 4 or 5 ft. B. na;icornis, the See also:

West See also:

AFRICAN

African See also:

NOSE (O.Eng. nosu, cf. Dutch neus, Swed. nos, snout; the Aix in Provence. Both at Aix and at Lyons he acquired great connexion with O.Eng. nasu is obscure, cf. Ger. Nase, Lat. pares, distinction by his labours during outbreaks of the plague. In nostrils,

nose-horned viper, has a pair of erectile scales on the nose. Scarcely smaller and less bulky than the puff-adder and just as poisonous, it is yet very handsomely marked with a See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of large See also:

PALE (through Fr. pal, from Lat. palms, a stake, for paglus, from the stem pag- of pangere, to fix; " pole " is from the same original source)

pale, dark-edged spots and oblique crosses on a purplish or reddish See also:

brown ground. Especially handsome are the See also:

young, which at See also:

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

birth are as much as I ft. in length. On one occasion one of these See also:

SNAKES

snakes, after giving birth to twenty-one young (which See also:

hit and killed mice within five minutes of being See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born), became very See also:

ill-tempered, and when two adult See also:

MALES

males were placed in her cage she See also:

BIT (from the verb " to bite," either in the sense of a piece bitten off, or an act of biting, or a thing that bites or is bitten)

bit one with such violence as to break off one of her fangs, which she See also:

LEFT

left, about three-quarters of an See also:

INCH (O. Eng. ynce from Lat. uncia, a twelfthpart; cf. " ounce," and see As)

inch in length, sticking in his back. He, however, appeared not to suffer the slightest inconvenience, and was never the worse for it (see Proc. Zool. See also:

Soc. 1871, p. 638). Vipera.—The head is covered with small scales and a few larger shields. The eye is separated from the labials by small scales; the nasals are in contact with the rostral See also:

shield or separated by one naso-rostral.

The scales of the body are strongly keeled; two rows of subcaudals on the short tail. This genus of about ten See also:

SPECIES

species with numerous See also:

LOCAL

local varieties ranges over See also:

EUROPE

Europe, See also:

ASIA

Asia and the greater See also:

PART

part of Africa. V. berus, the See also:

COMMON

common See also:

EUROPEAN

European viper, ranging from See also:

WALES (Cymru, Gwalia, Cambria)

Wales to Saghalien See also:

ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

Island and from See also:

CAITHNESS

Caithness to the north of See also:

Spain, from the See also:

NORTHERN

northern boundary of See also:

PERSIA

Persia to beyond the See also:

ARCTIC (Gr. "ApKroc, the Bear, the northern constellation of Ursa Major)

Arctic circle in Scandinavia. It inhabits all sorts of situations, but prefers heaths, See also:

moors and mixed See also:

woods with sunny slopes. It ascends the See also:

ALPS

Alps up to 6000 or 7000 ft. The coloration is very variable, See also:

grey, brown, reddish or entirely See also:

black specimens occurring in the same See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country. The much-spoken-of black zigzag See also:

LINE

line along the back is so often indistinct, that it cannot be relied upon as a safe See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character. The full-grown males are smaller than the See also:

FEMALES

females, and have usually darker markings and a lighter ground See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour. A specimen which is 2 ft. See also:

long is rare, and is invariably a See also:

FEMALE

female. The See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief See also:

food is mice,which are hunted after sunset. They cannot climb and they avoid going into See also:

WATER

water. The pairing takes See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place from See also:

March to May and the young are born about four months later.

During the pairing, and for See also:

HIBERNATION (winter sleep)

hibernation, they often collect in considerable See also:

numbers. Whilst most snakes readily take proper food in captivity, these vipers prefer starving themselves to See also:

DEATH

death, a feat which they accomplish within six to nine months according to conditions. As a See also:

RULE

rule their bite is not fatal to See also:

man, but the consequences are often serious and protracted. For treatment see SNAKES. V. aspis is the more See also:

SOUTHERN

southern and western See also:

CONTINENTAL

continental European viper; it is slightly snub-nosed, and this feature is still more pronounced in V. latastei of Spain and See also:

PORTUGAL

Portugal. In V. ammodytes of south-eastern Europe the raised portion is produced into a soft, scaly appendage. V. russelli, the " Daboia," is one of the most poisonous snakes of India, See also:

CEYLON

Ceylon, See also:

JAVA

Java, See also:

BURMA

Burma and See also:

SIAM (known to its inhabitants as Muang Thai)

Siam. It is pale brown with three See also:

LONGITUDINAL

longitudinal series of black, See also:

LIGHT

light-edged rings which sometimes encircle reddish spots. It grows to a length of about 5 ft. (H. F.

End of Article: PEARS

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