POISONOUS SNAKES OF NORTH AMERICA. 355 



lu view- of these facts before us it will no longer answer to apply siicb 

 adjectives as '' harmless"* or " imiocuous to man '' t to a suake of which 

 it is positively known that its bite is dimgerous. It is granted that 

 Elaps is comparatively rare; that it is retiring in its habits, mostly 

 living under ground, and that it has a very gentle and amiable tem- 

 perament. When it does bite, however, its bite is as venomous as that 

 of a rattlesnake or moccasin of the same size, and even more so, it is 

 probably quite true that the snake, in all the cases referred to above, 

 was handled rougldy and ])r()voked beyond endurance; but it is also 

 true that it would not, in most cases, have had an opportunity to do the 

 mischief, if it had not enjoyed such an ex(;ellent reputation. 



It has been repeatedly asserted that the' mouth of the Elaps is so 

 small that it can not bite as well as the other poisonous snakes. This, 

 however, is somewhat of a mistake. Externally and superficially the 

 head of the Maps- api)ears very short and narrow, and the opening of 

 the gape of but slight capacity. An examination of the skeleton, how- 

 ever, shows the skull to be comparatively large and rather elongate, 

 especially the cranial part, which occupies fuUy two-thirds of the total 

 length of tlie head. The articulation of the lower jaAv, which is cor- 

 respondingly lengthened, is consequently far enough back to permit, by 

 means of the elasticity of the ligaments, the opening of the mouth (piite 

 out of proportion to the external aspect of the snake. 



That this capacity is not a theoretical one is shown by the fact that 

 an IJIapa fulvius has been found whicli contained a well preserved 

 whip snake, of the same length as the Elaps, besides the half digested 

 remains of a garter snake. The body of the Elaps was so distended 

 that the scales, instead of overlapping, were separated from each other 

 by considerable spaces of skin. | 



The good reputation of the Elaps in combination, on the one hand, 

 with the ai)parent insignificance of the wound and the lack of alarming 

 local symptoms, on the other with the great similarity it bears to really 

 harmless snakes, makes its bite more fatal in proportion to the number 

 of reported cases than any other snake in the country. The wounded 

 person usually does not know his danger, and does not take the proper 

 measures against a puncture which on the surface looks so innocent; 

 and as the action of the specific venom of the Elaps is both quick and 

 violent when admitted int«> the circulation of the blood, the remedies 

 when finally applied can do but little good. 



Morphologically the Elaps is not distantly related to the cobra of 

 India, § that is, they agree closer in external and internal structure than 

 either of them does with the typical harmless snakes on the one hand, 

 or with the vipers on the other. 



* Jordan, Manual Vertebr. Anim., r)tli ed., 1888. p. 198. 



t Cope, Proc. IJ. S. Nat. Mus., xiv, p. 680 (1892). , 



I Mattbes, Denkscbr. Naturw. (ies. IsLs, 1860, p. 58. 



^S For an illiiatration of tliis, the most terrible of all tbe deatb-s,Mi)eut,s. see pi. 18. 



