390 



L ] VEli VEP, TEBRA TES. 



given, that the weak action of the heart may be kept up, and iinally, but as soon as 

 possible, there should be injected directly into the wouml a one per cent solution, in 

 water, of jjotassa permanganas, a chemical antidote discovered by Dr. Lacerda, of Rio de 

 Janeiro, and found to be very effective. 



The first representative of the sub-order of which we treat is the Actractaspis 

 irregularis, of southern Africa, a form the habits of which are little known. Though 

 a small serpent, seldom exceeding two feet in length, it has the fangs developed in a 

 most extraordinary degree, being so long as to reach back to the angle of the jaw. 

 That this snake can strike as do other members of the sub-order is much doubted by 



.^l^-^c^^^y^:^- 



Fig. 225. — Vipcra cerastes, honied-viper. 



some, as the fangs seem to fill the mouth in such a way as to prevent their apices from 

 being protruded. 



The vipers have the body robust, the tail short and not prehensOc ; the head 

 triangular and generally covered with scales, or at least incompletely shielded ; the 

 eye is of moderate size, and is provided with a vertical pupil, and in front of it there 

 is no depression or pit so imiversally characteristic of the Bothro]>hera. The vipers, 

 some of which grow to a considerable size, are inhabitants of Africa, and from their 

 virulent nature have been known since time immemorial ; the most common is the 

 Vipera cerastes, or horned-viper. This animal, though not so poisonous as the cobra, 

 is extremely dangerous. In its appearance it is a most repugnant animal, of a pale 

 brownish-white color above, with spots and blotches of a darker shade. Over each 



