Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/388

 368 VIPER viRonow caudal 40 to 43 pairs ; the eyes are small and very brilliant. It is distributed over Europe, from Sweden and N. Russia to the Mediterra- nean ; it is the only venomous reptile found in Common European Viper (Vlpera berua). Great Britain, where it is common in some parts, especially on the heaths and in the hedg- es of dry stony districts. Unlike the common snake, it faces any suspected enemy, with body closely coiled, head and neck raised and ready to strike as soon as it comes within reach; dogs when hunting are frequently bitten, but not often killed. Its poison is powerful enough to produce very painful and occasionally dan- gerous effects, particularly in warm regions and in debilitated constitutions ; after a viper bite there is acute pain in the wound, with livid swelling, faintness, quick and irregular pulse, nausea and vomiting, and cold sweats. The remedies relied upon by viper catchers are draughts of olive oil and embrocations to the limb in front of a fire ; the application of cup- ping glasses to the wound, and the internal administration of ammonia or of alcoholic stimulants, are generally sufficient. The viper remains torpid in winter in holes, many being twined together; the young are born alive, 12 to 20 at a birth, the membrane of the eggs, according to Bell, being burst at the moment of exclusion; the food consists of insects, worms, mice, shrews, young birds, &c. The horned viper (cerastes Ilasselquistii, Laur.) is about 14 in. long, in color above ranging from ashy gray to yellowish red and even much' darker, with indistinct spots, and pale rose be- low with a pearly lustre ; the scales are lancet- shaped and strongly ridged ; the head is trian- gular, and made very distinct from the neck by the prominence of the angles of the jaws ; near the middle of each arched eyebrow in the male is a slender, pointed spine or horn, slightly bent forward, which, though not a weapon, gives the head a malignant look ; the body is thick, and the tail short and suddenly pointed. It is found in northern Africa, Ara- bia, and western Asia, and was well known to the ancients ; it is the serpent represented >on the Egyptian monuments, and has been sup- posed to have been the asp by which Cleopatra destroyed herself. (See ASP.) It is indolent in habit, remaining buried in the hot sand till aroused by hunger or attacked, when it is very active, springing 2 or 3 ft.; when it bites it retains a firm hold, and makes no haste to es- cape like most serpents. A species named nasicomis, perhaps a variety of the last, is found in W. Africa ; it is about 3 ft. long and 9 in. in circumference, its horns giving it a very repulsive look; it feeds principally on rats, small reptiles, and fish of marshy places; its bite is much dreaded by the natives, and is oft- en speedily fatal ; they suck the wound, make a free incision, and apply the juices of particu- lar plants ; it makes its presence known by a sound like a suppressed groan, followed by a hissing or blowing sound; it darts forward from its powerful tail as a fulcrum. The com- mon cerastes is still a favorite species with Arabian snake charmers in their public exhibi- tions. The short-tailed viper or puff adder ( V. [elotho] arietans, Schl.), from the Cape of Good Hope, is the most deadly serpent of S. Africa ; it is about 3 ft. long and 2 in. in diam- eter, brown, with an angular cross band, a pale line behind it and a red band across the eyes. The viper is one of the reptiles which have a distribution very far north, and the furthest of the snakes. It is popularly believed to take its young when in danger into its throat ; though some have declared this impossible, there is reason to believe it true, according to Dr. Crisp (" Proceedings of the Zoological So- ciety of London," 1855, p. 191). VIRCHOW, Rudolf, a German physiologist, born at Schivelbein, Pomerania, Oct. 13, 1821. He studied at the Pepiniere in Berlin, received his medical degree in 1848, and became as- sistant physician and subsequently prosector at the Charite hospital, lecturing at the same time on anatomy in the university. In 1848 the Prussian government sent him to Silesia to investigate the nature of a typhoid epidemic raging there, and in 1849 he accepted a chair of pathological anatomy at the university of Wurzburg, having been deposed in Berlin on account of his liberal politics. The Berlin uni- versity recalled him in 1856 to the same chair, and the government made him director of the pathological institute of the Charite. The Bavarian government had invited him in 1852 to investigate the causes of a famine in the Spessart, and in 1859 the king of Sweden re- quested him to explore the western provinces of Norway in regard to the leprous diseases prevalent there. On his return to Berlin he was elected to the city council, and in 1862 he became a member for the district of Saar- briick of the house of representatives, in which he took an active and prominent part on the opposition side. Since 1867 he has represent- ed the city of Berlin in the same assembly. During the wars of 1866 and 1870-'7l he was a director of hospital service. His fame rests mainly on his labors in cellular pathology, of