101 
This much-dreaded serpent, which attains a length of from five to 
six, and sometimes even seven feet, and a circumference of from four 
to five inches, bears a strong resemblance, as to its shape and nature, 
to the common Rattle-snake of America, and is the more dangerous 
from its being unprovided with the means of warning its victims. 
The Rat-tail appears to be ovoviviparous ; and it is said that after 
producing her young she leaves them for a short time, and that she 
devours those among them which she finds in the same spot on her 
return. This seems to be a most improbable construction to place 
upon the fact of their being sometimes found in the belly of the 
mother, which to my idea rather tends to corroborate statements 
which have been already made of the female’s opening her mouth in 
cases of danger, and the young rushing down her throat for protec- 
tion. The scales of the Rat-tail are large in proportion, and cari- 
nated ; the number of abdominal scuta is 213, and there are 69 pairs 
of subcaudal squame. The head is heart-shaped, very large at the 
back, and flat, and is covered with small scales; the eye resembles 
in some measure that of the cat, though, as in all the serpent-tribe, 
it is without outer lids, and therefore apparently always on the watch, 
which appearance is kept up even after death. The shape of this 
serpent differs from that of the others hereafter mentioned, in being 
more broad, or lying more flatly on the ground ; and the tail, instead 
of tapering gently from the body, becomes suddenly small, and, as 
the name implies, is much like that of a rat. When not in motion, 
the Rat-tail is almost invariably coiled up in a circle, with its head 
on the top. Its movements are fortunately not so rapid as those of 
the other serpents of the island, and to this circumstance may be at- 
tributed the advantage always gained over it by its deadly enemy the 
Clibro, which will be presently referred to. The Rat-tail is armed with 
two fangs, or hollow teeth, placed one at each side of the extremity of 
the upper jaw, frequently seven-eighths of an inch in length, with a 
small slit at the pomt and towards the front, through which the poi- 
sonous liquid, a yellow viscid matter, is ejected ; and it has two rows 
of teeth down the centre of the mouth for purposes of deglutition. 
An important point in the ‘history of this serpent is the method of 
treating its venomous bites. If the wounds caused by these be not 
at once attended to, the most fatal consequences ensue, and within a 
short space of time. Should the fang penetrate any large blood-vessel, 
and inject therein any of the poisonous matter, I suppose that no 
remedy would be of avail: but under ordinary circumstances, if the 
wound can be at once laid open, a ligature tied between it and the 
heart, and sucked, then rubbed with a mixture of lime-juice, rum and 
salt, and intoxication and sleep produced by administermg rum-punch 
with plenty of lime-juice in it to the patient, there is little danger of 
loss of life; as is proved by the fact, that out of thirty soldiers treated 
in this way some time since in this island, only one died. 
The person sucking the wound has nothing to fear if he has no 
sore in his mouth. 
There are native ‘“panseurs’’ who pretend to the knowledge of 
certain herbs, which they mix with rum, gunpowder, salt and lime- 
