BANDED RATTLESNAKE. 223 



which are membranaceous and hollow ; and which, con- 

 sequently, make a husky, or rattling noise, when the 

 animals move. All the species are poisonous. 



Banded Rattlesnake. No serpent which has hitherto 

 been discovered is so noxious and fatal as the Rattle- 

 snake. Such is the rapid effects of its poison, that a 

 dog bitten by it has been known to die in two minutes. 

 In the hotter parts of America, where they are very nu- 

 merous, these animals sometimes come into the houses ; 

 and they have even been known to coil themselves up be- 

 tween the sheets in the beds. At the extremity of their 

 tail, however, they have a husky kind of rattle, which is, 

 no doubt, intended by Providence as an indication of 

 their approach, and as a warning to all creatures to shun 

 the danger of their presence. This rattle is composed of 

 several thin, hard, and hollow bones linked together, and 

 which sound on the least motion of the animal. Its mo- 

 tions, likewise, are so slow, that it is easily avoided ; and, 

 we are informed, that it has not the power, like some 

 other serpents, of springing at those by whom it is at- 

 tacked. Rattlesnakes prey upon birds and several of the 

 smaller kinds of quadrupeds, and are themselves de- 

 voured by swine without injury. 



They sometimes grow to the length of six feet, and the 

 thickness of a man's arm. Their colour is yellowish- 

 brown on the upper parts of the body, marked with 

 broad cross-bars of black. On each side of the upper jaw 

 there are two large, sharp fangs, which bend backward, 

 and are capable of being erected and depressed at plea- 

 sure. It is through these that the poison is conveyed 

 into the wound by the act of biting. 



