OPHIDIA OR SERPENTS. 233 



are concealed in a fold of the gum, or raised, at the will 

 of the animal. They connect with a gland situated near 

 the eye, which furnishes the fluid poison. When the 

 snake bites, the fangs are raised, and the pressure of the 

 temporal muscles upon the gland forces the poison along 

 the fang into the wound. These animals have a deep pit 

 between the eye and the nostril, and the rattlesnakes 

 proper have the tail furnished with a rattle, with which 

 they make a peculiar noise when they apprehend danger, 

 or perhaps when they would call their mate. 



The Crotalidse include not only the Rattlesnakes 

 proper, but also the Copperhead, Moccasin, etc., snakes 

 even more dangerous than the first named, as they strike 

 without warning. 



Some kinds of poisonous snakes, like the Harlequins 

 or Elapidse of the warm parts of the United States, have 

 the fangs permanently erect. 



In India and Africa there are poisonous snakes known 

 as Vipers, which can raise up and draw forward the 

 anterior ribs so as to dilate the forward part of the body 

 into a more or less broad disk. The Spectacled Yiper 

 or Cobra of India is one of these vipers which has 

 a black line resembling in outline a pair of spectacles 

 traced on the widened portion of its disk. This is the 

 snake whose fangs the jugglers of India extract, and then 

 train it to dance ! The Asp of Egypt is a viper not less 

 noted. The ancient Egyptians made it the emblem of the 

 protecting divinity of the world, and sculptured it on the 

 sides of a globe upon the gates of their temples. By press- 

 ing this snake on the nape, the jugglers of Egypt threw 

 it into a stiffened immovable condition, which they called 

 turning it into a rod. It is probably the Asp of Egypt, 

 and Asp of Cleopatra. 



