the habits of
creatures. The following year I carried out my long-intended plan,
having induced one of my cousins to join me in it. We made several
cages and boxes; and among our captives we numbered a couple of rabbits,
a weasel, hedgehog, ferret, and stoat, with a number of pigeons and
other birds, and, I may add, three or four snakes. We caught a viper--
or, as it is frequently called, an adder--the only venomous creature
which exist in England; but my uncle objected to our keeping it alive,
though he consented to its being turned into a bottle of spirits. We
killed another, and cut off its head to observe its poisonous fangs. On
dissecting the head, we found that the fangs exist on either side of the
upper jaw, in which they lie down flat towards the throat. They are on
hinges, the roots connected with little bags of poison. When the
creature is irritated and about to bite, these fangs rise up. They are
hollow, with small orifices at their points. When biting, the roots of
the fangs are pressed against the bags of poison, which thus exudes
through the orifices and enters the wound they make. All venomous
serpents are provided with fangs, but in the jaws of some species the
fangs, instead of lying down, are always erect, ready for action. The
nature of the poison varies in different species. The poison of some
produces paralysis; that of others causes the body when bitten to swell
and become putrid. The venom of some is so powerful that it rapidly
courses through the veins and destroys life in a few minutes; that of
others makes much slower progress. The English viper, or adder, has but
a small quantity of poison in its bag, and its bite rarely produces
death. Some of the smallest snakes, in tropical climes, are the most
venomous. However, I shall by-and-by have a good deal to say on the
subject.

From what I have mentioned, it will be understood that I had already got
a taste for and some insight into natural history, and when I returned
to school I was able to discourse very learnedly on the subject. This
made Tony more anxious to carry out our long-projected undertaking.
Still, as we were very well treated at school, we had no excuse for
running away, and put it off from day to day. At length, in truth, we
began to grow wiser, and look at it in a different light. Tony, indeed,
one day confided his plan to Houlston.

"Well, when you make up your mind to go, just tell me," said Houlston.

"What