65 



. A POPULAR TREATISE ON THE COMMON INDIAN 



SNAKES. 



Illustrated by Coloured Plates and Diagrams. 



by 



Major F. Wall, I.M.S., C.M.Z.S. 



Part XIII with Plate XIII and Diagram. 



( Continued from page 792 of Volume XIX). 



The vipers constitute a family (Viperidce) characterised by the 

 shape of the maxilla or upper jawbone which as shown in a previous 

 paper (Vol. xvi., p. 535) consists of a vertical column bearing a 

 pair of tubular fangs. In all other snakes the long axis of the 

 maxilla is placed horizontally. 



The fangs of vipers are relatively much longer than in poisonous 

 colubrines. They are also more curved, and slender, and the seam 

 on their anterior faces — which marks the junction of the circum- 

 flexed walls that form the poison canal — is far less obvious than in 

 poisonous colubrines. 



The family Viperidce is divided into two subfamilies on the pre- 

 sence or absence of a cavity placed between the eye and the nostril, 

 and known as the loreal pit. The pit bearers are called pit vipers, 

 and are classed together under the name Crotalince, the pitless vipers 

 under the name Viperince. 



ANCISTRODON III MALA TAX IS. 



This viper belongs to one of the four genera into which the sub- 

 family Crotalinee is divided. The genus is characterised bv the 

 possession of large shields of the colubrine type on the top of the head, 

 and the absence of a rattle at the end of the tail. It contains eleven 

 species, seven of which are American, three Asian, and one 

 European. 



History, — It was first described by Dr. Gunther in 18 64. 



Nomenclature. — (a) Scientific — The generic name from the Greek 

 " agkistron " a hook, and " odous " a tooth was introduced bv de 

 Beauvois in 1799. 



From the derivation, and the iact that the godfather of the genus 

 spelt the name agkistrodon, it seems a pity that the word has I 



