THE SNAKES 327 



Even more grotesque than the preceding snake is the 

 Rhinoceros Viper, B. nasicornis, provided with two 

 long — and often several smaller — horns on the snout, 

 these being formed of single compressed shields. The 

 effect is striking. The scales are coarsely keeled; on 

 many old specimens the keels are developed into spiny 

 points standing directly outward. So bristling is this 

 scalation that a specimen handled by the writer lacerated 

 his forearm until it bled profusely from a multitude of 

 scratches. 



The body of the Rhinoceros Viper is very stout, but 

 ,the head is proportionately much smaller than that of 

 the preceding species. It is quite a different type of 

 snake, having smaller fangs, crawling in a different 

 fashion and living along the river banks. Further in- 

 vestigation of its anatomical characters may result in 

 its being placed in another genus than the large-headed, 

 long-fanged species of Bitis. Owing to its semi- 

 aquatic habits it is sometimes called the River Jack. 



The Rhinoceros Viper is, to the author's mind, the 

 most beautifully-colored of all poisonous snakes. Its 

 gorgeous hues, when freshly disclosed by the shedding 

 of an old epidermis, remind one of the colors to be seen 

 in a frame of tropical butterflies. Following is a faith- 

 ful description of a freshly-shed specimen: — 



Entire upper surface presenting the effect of varie- 

 gated velvet. A row of pale blue, nicked, oblong 

 blotches on the back, each longitudinally traversed by 

 an orange-yellow band and narrowly bordered with the 

 same hue. The blue oblongs are set in jet-black rhombs 

 and these in turn are bordered with dark carmine. 

 Sides, with large, upright, ruddy-brown triangles, bor- 

 dered with dull carmine, thence with black and externally 

 with pale blue. Between all of the blotches and pro- 



