VIPERA LACHESIS. 97 
known; dorsum covered with 18 to 20 rows of semiovate, lanceolate 
seales ; mouth and head disproportionately large and broad ; it is provided 
with two very large, stout fangs ; disposition of buccal parts same as those 
of Crotalus fasciatus. Color (in the male) dark brown on the back ; top 
of head of a darker shade; belly of a creamy white tinted with a roseate 
hue on the sides, and of_a darker hue on the subcaudal part. The female 
is a little larger, longer and thicker than the male, and has its dorsum 
_marked with nine longitudinal stripes (one dark and the adjacent ones of 
a lighter shade), running from the neck to the anal region. 
It winds its tail around any small object close to the ground, 
and will spring to a distance of two and a half or three yards 
with ease. A peculiarity of its bite is that the wounds made 
by the fangs are almost always diagonal to the axis of the 
bitten limb. This fact makes its bite easily recognized by the 
Curers. The popular belief in Northern South America is 
that its poison kills before twenty-four hours have expired 
after its injection, hence one of its Spanish names, Veinticuatro 
(twenty-four), or Patoquilla. 
A second variety is Vipera Calam. Venen. Rubrum, called 
Candelilla or Flame snake, from its color, It is found in the 
States of Antioquia, Boyaca, Bolivar, and Magdalena (United 
States of Colombia). 
Length from 25 to 40 centimetres; diameter 1} to 2 centimetres; body 
of nearly a uniform thickness, covered with very minute lanceolate 
scales ; color of head and body a fire-yellow, of a darker shade on the 
head and dorsum, and of a reddish-white on the belly ; bwecal parts iden- 
tical with those of the #. Cuprocephalus. 
Nos. 14, 15, 16, and 17, are Australian species, of which no 
description is given. 
No. 18 is the Puff Adder of Africa, which when provoked 
swells or puffs itself out like a frog. The Hottentots are said 
to kill this snake by spitting tobacco-juice in its mouth. 
9 
