THE RATTLESNAKE. 



99 



THE well-known and terrible RATTLESNAKE now comes before us. 



This dreaded reptile is a native of North America, and is remarkable for the singular 

 termination to the tail, from which it derives its popular name. It has already been 

 mentioned that the f er-de-lance has a long, horny scale at the tip of its tail, and in the 

 Rattlesnake this appendage is developed into a rather complicated apparatus of sound. 



At the extremity of the tail are a number of curious loose horny structures, formed of the 

 same substance as the scales, and varying greatly in number according to the size of the 

 individual. It is now generally considered that the number of joints on the "rattle" is an 

 indication of the reptile's age, a fresh joint being gained each year immediately after it 

 changes its skin and before ?t goes into winter quarters. There is, however, another opinion 

 prevalent among the less educated, which gives to the Rattlesnake the vindictive spirit of the 

 North American Indian, and asserts that it adds a new joint to its rattle whenever it has slain 

 a human being, thus bearing on its tail the fearful trophies of its prowess, just as the Indians 

 wear the scalps of their slain foes. 



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COPPER-HEAD SNAKE. Ancistrodon contortrix. 



The joints of this remarkable apparatus are arranged in a very curious manner, each being 

 of a somewhat pyramidal shape, but rounded at the edges, and being slipped within its prede- 

 cessor as far as a protuberant ring which runs round the edge. In fact, a very good idea of 

 the structure of the rattle may be formed by slipping a number of thimbles loosely into each 

 other. The last joint is smaller than the rest, and rounded. As was lately mentioned, the 

 number of these joints is variable, but the average number is from five or six to fourteen or 

 fifteen. There are occasional specimens found that possess more than twenty joints in the 

 rattle, but such examples are very rare. 



When in repose the Rattlesnake usually lies coiled in some suitable spot, with its head 

 lying flat, and the tip of its tail elevated in the middle of the coil. Should it be irritated by 

 a passenger, or feel annoyed or alarmed, it instantly communicates a quivering movement to 

 the tail, which causes the joints of the rattle to shake against each other, with a peculiar 

 skirring ruffle, not easily described, but never to be forgotten when once heard. All animals, 

 even those which have never seen a Rattlesnake, tremble at this sound, and try to get out of the 

 way. Even a horse newly brought from Europe is just as frightened as the animal that has 



