28 CROTALOPHORUS MILIARIUS. 



Geographical Distribution. This animal has a wide range, though in the 

 Atlantic States it is not found north of lat. 35°; it abounds in Carolina, whence it 

 passes through Georgia, round the southern extremities of the Alleghanies to 

 Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. 



General Remarks. This serpent was first made known to naturalists by 

 Catesby, whose figure of it is but tolerable. He seems to have considered it as a 

 young animal, yet his name (Vipera caudisona) cannot be retained, either for this 

 or the larger species, as I find it previously applied to a South American reptile; 

 and further, it is now a generic name of several excellent herpetologists. Lin- 

 naeus received a specimen from Dr. Garden, and gave it a place in his twelfth and 

 last edition of the Systema Naturae, under the name Crotalus miliarius, Avhich it 

 bears to this day. 



The Crotalophorus miliarius is greatly dreaded, as it gives but a very slight 

 warning with its rattle, and, unlike the Crotalus durissus, will frequently be the 

 aggressor. By the common people its bite is thought to be more destructive, and 

 its venom more active, than that of the larger species; various experiments have, 

 however, satisfied me of the fallacy of this opinion. It is probable that each of 

 these serpents has the requisite quantity of venom to destroy the animals on 

 which it preys, for it is certain that the Crotalophorus miliarius can easily kill a 

 small bird, such as the towhee bunting, a pigeon, or a field-mouse; but a cat that 

 was bitten several times, at different intervals, appeared to suffer much, and to 

 droop for thirty-six hours, at the end of which time the effects of the poison 

 entirely disappeared; the same animal was long afterwards destroyed by a single 

 bite of the Crotalus durissus. Catesby's observation of this animal is very 

 correct: "the bite of this snake is poisonous, but it being small, is not always 

 mortal." 



