436 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1893. 



to eat ill oouflueuient, Avliile others again claim that it ta;kes food with- 

 out trouble. Equally defective is our knowledge in regard to its 

 breeding habits. 



The Diamond Rattler is our largest species', and in fact one of the 

 largest of the whole family. The largest specimen in the National 

 Museum collection (No. 10947) is only feet H^ inches long, but much 

 larger specimens are on record. Dr. C. S. Allen has recorded 1 speci- 

 men 8 feet 5 inches, with a circumference of 15 inches, which was shot 

 near Oak Lodge, Fla., by Clias. F. Latham, in November, 1890, while 

 Mr. Frank M. Chapman mentions one 8 feet 9 inches long, and killed 

 by J. H. Norton, of Jacksonville.* 



We often enough hear of Florida Rattlers 9 feet or more long, but in 

 all cases I have investigated it was found that the measurements were 

 taken from skins, or mounted ppecimens, which of course may be 

 stretched almost to any desired length. 



With a supply of venom proportionate to its size the dangerous 

 nature of a stroke of one of these large brutes, if well delivered, may 

 well be imagin'ed. Nevertheless, fatalities are comparatively rare, and 

 even cases of bites are not heard of nearly as often as one miglit bo 

 led to suppose from the number of specimens which are still found in 

 many places. 



The Tkxas Rattlesnakk. 



Crotaliis utro.r,i Baiid aiiil (Jirard. 



Plate 11. 



lS^3.—Croi(dus airox, Baird and Girard, N. Am. Serp., pp. 5, 156. — Dumeril et 

 BiBRON, Erp(?t, Gener., All, ii, p. 1482 (1854).— Hallowell, Proc. Phila. 

 Acad., 1856, p. 307.— Baird, Pac. R. R. Rep., x, Whipple's Route, p. 39 

 (1859).— Baird, Mex. Bound. Surv. ii, Rept. p. 14 (1859).— Cope, Proc. 

 Phila. Acad., 1859, p. 3.37.— Cope, in Wheeler's Surv. W. 100 Mer., v, 

 p. 534 (1875).— Cooper, Proc. Calif. Acad. Nat. Sc, iv, p. 66(1870).— 

 Caudisona airox, Cope, in Mitchell's Res. Yen. Rattlesu. (p. 121) (1861). — 

 Cope, Proc. Phila. Acad. 1866, p. 309. 



1859. — Crotalus adamanteus, var. airox, Jan, Rev. Mag. Zool., 1859, Extr. p. 28. — 

 Jan, Eienc. Sist. Otid., p. 123 (1863).— Cope, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. No. 

 1, p. 33 (1875).— Cope, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. No. 17, p. 24 (1880).— Cope, 

 Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xi, 1888, p. 398.— Cope, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 

 XIV, 1891, p. 690 (1892).— Cope, Proc. Phila. Acad., 1892, p. 336.— Yar- 

 row, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. No. 24, pp. 12, 76 (1883).— Garmax, Rept. 

 Batr. N. Am., i, Ophid., pp. 113, 172 (1883). — Caudisona adamanfea airox, 

 CouES, in Wheeler's Surv. W. 100 Mer., v, p. 607 (1875). 



1861.— CaHf?isaHrtrt/»-oj-, var, sonoraensis, Kenxicott, Proc. Phila. Acad., xiii, 1861, 

 p. 206.— Cope, Proc. Phila. Acad., xiii, 1861, p. 292. 



li<Ql.— Caudisona scutulata, Kexxicott, Proc. Phila. Acad., xiii, 1861, p. 207.— 

 Cope, Proc. Phila. Acad., 1866, p. 309.— Crotalus scutulatus Cope, in 

 Wheeler's Surv. W. 100 Mer., V, p..533 (1875;. 



1863. — Crotalus adamanteus, var. sonoriensis, Jan, Elenc. Sist. Otid., p. 124. 



*Ahstr. Proc. Linn. Soc. New York, year end. Mch. 2, 1892, p. 4. 

 t From the Latin atrox, terrible, cruel. 



