﻿290 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  The 
  fer-de-lance 
  or 
  barba 
  amarilla. 
  

  

  The 
  fer-de-lance 
  (Bothrops 
  atrox, 
  pi. 
  5, 
  fig. 
  1) 
  is 
  another 
  tropical 
  

   snake 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  well 
  to 
  avoid, 
  as 
  the 
  effects 
  of 
  the 
  poison 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  

  

  dramatically 
  sinister 
  and 
  rapid, 
  the 
  action 
  being 
  largely 
  haemolytic, 
  destroying 
  the 
  

   red 
  blood 
  cells, 
  breaking 
  down 
  the 
  walls 
  of 
  the 
  carrying 
  vessels, 
  and 
  producing 
  

   great 
  extravasation. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  The 
  tissue 
  about 
  the 
  wound 
  is 
  practically 
  dis- 
  

   solved 
  by 
  rapid 
  necrosis. 
  These 
  effects 
  are, 
  however, 
  effectively 
  neutralized 
  

   by 
  serum 
  produced 
  by 
  the 
  several 
  research 
  laboratories 
  in 
  the 
  tropics.* 
  

  

  Its 
  length 
  may 
  be 
  over 
  8 
  feet. 
  The 
  ground 
  color 
  is 
  variable, 
  from 
  

   gray 
  to 
  brown 
  or 
  reddish, 
  with 
  a 
  row 
  of 
  dark, 
  light-edged 
  triangles 
  

   down 
  each 
  side, 
  the 
  tips 
  of 
  the 
  triangles 
  reaching 
  the 
  center 
  of 
  the 
  back. 
  

   Its 
  body 
  is 
  relatively 
  slender, 
  setting 
  off 
  the 
  lance-shaped 
  head. 
  Since 
  

   it 
  is 
  not 
  uncommon 
  for 
  a 
  female 
  fer-de-lance 
  to 
  produce 
  60 
  to 
  70 
  young 
  

   ones 
  in 
  a 
  litter, 
  the 
  abundance 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  is 
  readily 
  understood. 
  

   The 
  range 
  extends 
  from 
  southern 
  Mexico 
  through 
  Central 
  America 
  

   and 
  northern 
  South 
  America, 
  including 
  the 
  islands 
  of 
  Martinique 
  

   and 
  St. 
  Lucia 
  in 
  the 
  West 
  Indies. 
  Some 
  of 
  its 
  other 
  native 
  names 
  are 
  

   jararaca, 
  terciopelo 
  (= 
  velvet 
  snake, 
  Costa 
  Rica), 
  and 
  tomigoff 
  (Pana- 
  

   ma). 
  It 
  is 
  especially 
  dangerous 
  to 
  laborers 
  on 
  sugar 
  plantations, 
  as 
  

   it 
  is 
  attracted 
  there 
  in 
  numbers 
  by 
  the 
  rats 
  which 
  make 
  their 
  homes 
  

   in 
  such 
  places. 
  

  

  The 
  palm 
  vipers. 
  

  

  These 
  small 
  snakes 
  (genus 
  Bothrops 
  9 
  ) 
  are 
  arboreal 
  in 
  habit, 
  being 
  

   found 
  in 
  the 
  low 
  trees 
  or 
  bushes 
  (pi. 
  5, 
  fig. 
  2), 
  sometimes 
  coiled 
  up 
  

   where 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  a 
  palm 
  stem 
  joins 
  the 
  trunk. 
  Their 
  prehensile 
  tail 
  

   helps 
  them 
  to 
  cross 
  from 
  tree 
  to 
  tree 
  when 
  the 
  branches 
  nearly 
  touch. 
  

   Men 
  pushing 
  their 
  way 
  through 
  thick 
  underbrush 
  should 
  be 
  careful 
  to 
  

   avoid 
  being 
  bitten 
  in 
  the 
  face 
  by 
  these 
  vipers. 
  The 
  green 
  palm 
  

   viper 
  (B. 
  bicolor) 
  is 
  leaf 
  green 
  above 
  and 
  below, 
  and 
  hence 
  is 
  nearly 
  

   invisible 
  among 
  green 
  foliage. 
  Other 
  species 
  have 
  green, 
  brown, 
  and 
  

   yellow 
  in 
  the 
  coloring, 
  suited 
  to 
  concealment 
  among 
  branches 
  and 
  

   leaves. 
  A 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  have 
  "eyelashes" 
  — 
  hornlike 
  projections 
  

   of 
  the 
  scales 
  above 
  the 
  eye, 
  of 
  no 
  known 
  use 
  to 
  the 
  snake. 
  They 
  are 
  

   found 
  in 
  Mexico 
  and 
  Central 
  and 
  South 
  America. 
  Because 
  of 
  their 
  

   often 
  greenish 
  or 
  yellowish 
  coloration 
  and 
  their 
  habit 
  of 
  living 
  in 
  

   banana 
  trees, 
  these 
  snakes, 
  especially 
  Schlegel's 
  palm 
  viper 
  {B. 
  

   schlegelii) 
  , 
  are 
  extremely 
  dangerous 
  to 
  laborers 
  on 
  banana 
  plantations. 
  

   Although 
  these 
  snakes 
  are 
  only 
  2 
  feet 
  in 
  length, 
  their 
  proportionately 
  

   large 
  head 
  and 
  long 
  fangs 
  enable 
  them 
  to 
  do 
  more 
  harm 
  than 
  their 
  size 
  

   would 
  indicate, 
  and 
  fatalities 
  have 
  resulted 
  from 
  their 
  bites. 
  

  

  8 
  Ditmars, 
  R. 
  L., 
  Snakes 
  of 
  the 
  world, 
  p. 
  134, 
  1934. 
  

  

  8 
  Some 
  scientists 
  now 
  use 
  the 
  generic 
  name 
  Trimeresurus 
  instead 
  of 
  Bothrops 
  for 
  the 
  bulk 
  

   of 
  the 
  Latin 
  American 
  pit 
  vipers. 
  

  

  