REPTILIA. 267 



water, much like the harmless water-snakes of the Middle States, and like 

 them may frequently be observed lying over bushes which overhang the 

 water, into which they plunge at the slightest alarm. Another species, T. 

 lanceolatus, or the fer de lance {pi. 86, fig. 3), is abundantly distributed 

 through several of the West India Islands, where it inhabits all kinds of 

 situations. Their favorite resort is the sugar plantations, where they prove 

 fatal in many instances to the unlucky laborers. 



All the poisonous serpents of North America have been referred to in 

 the preceding re«iarks, and none except the rattlesnakes, copperheads, and 

 water-moccasins, are to be feared in the slightest degree. The last men- 

 tioned species does not occur north of Virginia, nor does the Crotolus 

 adamanteus, so that in the whole Middle and Northern States there are 

 but two venomous species, the banded rattlesnake and the copperhead, 

 both of which are readily recognisable. Nothing can be more ridiculous 

 than a fear of the common watersnakes, greensnakes, blacksnakes, garter- 

 snakes, housesnakes, and other species. It is true that many of these show 

 jfight when attacked, and many even inflict a wound with their teeth, though 

 this can never be more than a scratch which may draw blood freely, but 

 will not produce any more unpleasant consequences than the scratch of a 

 pin or of the point of a knife. The same may be said of the blowing or 

 hissing snakes of the genus Heterodon, usually termed viper or adder in the 

 United States, and which present a formidable appearance from flattening 

 the head and whole body when irritated. 



The family ViperidcB, with the poisonous apparatus, as the Crotalidcs, is 

 distinguished by the absence of the pit or depression on each side of the 

 face. Of the 20 species and 9 genera of this family, none are found in 

 America. The most conspicuous and typical species is the viper of 

 Europe, Vipera berus {pi. 87, fig. 2), which is pretty generally distributed 

 and greatly feared, although far from being so formidable as the copper- 

 heads and rattlesnakes of the United States. Great pains are taken to 

 destroy the species, although ineffectually, owing to their rapid repro- 

 duction ; in Gotha, Coburg, and Meiningen, a stated price per head is paid 

 for them by the civil authorities. The famed Aspic or asp of antiquity is 

 another species of viper (F. aspis) found along the Mediterranean. The 

 horned-viper {Cerastes cornutus, pi. 87, fig. 3) is a common inhabitant of 

 the sandy desert of Africa, and is remarkable for having a group of 

 elevated horn-like scales over each eye. 



The celebrated Cobra di capello, or hooded-snake {Naia tripudians, pi. 

 86, fig. 4), is a species which has been variously allotted by herpetologists, 

 and even placed among the Colubrine snakes. It is an inhabitant of the 

 East Indies, where it is often tamed by jugglers and taught to dance to their 

 rude music. This class of persons appear capable of exercising some 

 peculiar influence over the cobras, by means of which they are enabled to 

 handle them with impunity. Another genus, of which one East India 

 species, Platurus laticaudatus, is figured in pi. 90, fig. 8, has been 

 referred to the Colubridce. It lives in the water, and is very dangerous to 

 bathers. 



471 



