THK BATH .ir///.|.v.s-. 149 



carmine bands U^come paler and more of a vermilion hue, and fc-r tin- last four inches there 

 an- mi red bands, the black and yellow alternating equal I \ I in.- tip of the tail is 



\-llow. Tin- Head Snake never attains any great ate, seldom exceeding two feet in l.-ii k -th. 



IT is very remarkable that the terrible LABARRI Snake of South America (Rlapt 

 lemnitedt'i^ should be closely allied to and belong to the name genus as the bead Snake of 

 tin- Nor itea. Mr. Waterton states that thin Serj>ent is fond of h -ing coiled on a 



.stump of a tree or some ban* sjxit of ground, when- it can hanlly ! distini:uishe<l from ih 



object on which it is rejx>sin. Tin- same writer remarks in a letter t tliat "the Labarri 



Snake has fangs, and is mortally poisonous when adult. It exhibit* the colors of the rainbow 

 u li.'ii alh e. but these, colors fade in death. I have killed Laiburri Snakes eight feet long." 



WK now arrive at a most curious family, known by the possession of very long poiaon- 

 fangs, perforated, and permanently erect. The\ only include one genus, of which tin- U-M 

 known species is the NARROW-HEADED DKNDRASIMS (Dendraspi* angfaticrps). 



This Serpent is very long, slender, and unusually active and a good climber, exceeding 

 the haje in this accomplishment. It is found in Southern Africa, and is tolerably common at 

 Natal. Its color is olive-brown washed with green above, and a paler green below. It is 

 rather a large though very slender Snake, sometimes reaching the length of six feet 



THE last example of the Serpent tribe is tin- An: v r \-PIS of Southern Africa (Mractiupi* 

 irrrguldrix\. The fangs of this Snake are longer in proportion than those of any other known 

 Serpent, reaching nearly to the angle of the mouth. They are so long, indeed, that I>r. Smith 

 is of opinion that the creature cannot open its mouth sufficiently wide to erect the fangs fully, 

 so that the poison-teeth an- always directed backwards. They still, however, serve an impor- 

 tant purpose ; for when the Atractaspis seizes its prey, the |K>ison- fangs neopHsarily pierce the 

 skin, so as to inject the venom into the body of the victim, and from their shape act as 

 grapnels, by which all attempts at escape are foiled. Very little is known of the habits of this 

 Snake, but it is thought to burrow in loose ground. 



The color of the Atractaspis is blackish -green above, shaded with orange-brown, and 

 orange-buff below. It is a small Ser]>ent, rarely measuring more than two feet in length. 



THE BATRACHIANS. 

 FROGS AND TOADS. 



THE BATRACHIATJS are separated from the true reptiles on account of their peculiar 

 development, which gives them a strong likeness to the fishes, and affords a good ground for 

 considering these animals to form a distinct order. On their extrusion from the egg, they 

 bear no resemblance to their parents, but are in a kind of intermediate existence, closely anal- 

 ogous to the caterpillar or larval state of and called by the same name. Like the ti*h. 

 they exist wholly in the water, and breathe through gills instead of lungs, obtaining the need- 

 ful oxygen from the water which washes the delicate trill -membranes. At this early period 

 they have no external limbs, moving by the rapid vibration of the flat and fan like tail with 

 which they are suppli'-d. While in this state, they are popularly called tadpoles, those of the 

 frog sometimes bearing the provincial name of pollywogs. The skin <-f tin- liutrachians is 

 not scaly, and in most instances is smooth and soft. Further |.eciiliarities will be mentioned 

 in connection with the different species. 



These creatures fall naturally into two sub-orders the leaping or tail-less Batrachians, 

 and the crawling Batrachians. The leaping Batrachians, comprising the frogs and toads, are 

 familiar in almost all hinds. 



