126 ON THE PHYSIOGNOMY OP SERPENTS. 



SYNOPTICAL VIEW OF OPHIDIANS. 



I come now to my proper subject. I have already men- 

 tioned in the Preface, the motives which induced me to give 

 my work the title under which it has appeared. The ge- 

 neral part of my book has no need of conunentary ; conse- 

 quently I have only now m the following pages to give a 

 synopsis of the descriptive or special part.* 



I have retained the old division of serpents into Inno- 

 cuous and Venomous. The constant character of these 

 last is, Ix'ing provided vdih a gland of a cellular structure, 

 secreting a fluid which, introduced into the animal frame, 

 there produces deleterious effects. The maxillary teeth, much 

 longer than the rest, are hollow internally, and provided 

 with two orifices, one for the entrance, and the other for the 

 exit of the venom ; they are called Fangs, and are the wea- 

 pons by means of which those serpents inflict wounds, and 

 at the same time introduce into the wound the destructive 

 fluid. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to assign to 

 venomous serpents distinctive external characters. Several 

 of them, as sea-snakes, are distinguished by their flattened 

 tails ; the venomous snakes properly so called, have some- 

 thing so peculiar in their general form and their physiog- 

 nomy, that it requires but a small experience to recognise 

 them at the first glance : but it is not so with that family 

 of venomous serpents to which I have given the name 

 of Colubriform : the greatest number of these reptiles so 

 much resemble innocuous snakes, that naturalists even 

 have confounded the two races. A muzzle generally thick 

 and rounded, a short, thick, and conical tail : these are 

 the principal external characters, little prominent it is true, 

 which can be assigned to the colubriform venomous ser- 

 pents. The habits of venomous serpents offer several other 

 marks to distinguish them from the harmless species ; and 



* [This special or descriptive part is not now translated. It forms a 

 volume about double the size of that now submitted to the English 

 reader, and constitutes the clearest and best digested general description 

 of serpents which has fallen under the notice of the Translator.] 



