THE RATTLESNAKE 131 



patient's circulation. If amputation cannot be thus per- 

 formed, a very tight ligature, with sucking and cauterising 

 the wound and the administration of stimulants inter- 

 nally, are recommended as the best treatment. 



The whole order of serpents may, for our present 

 purpose, be divided conveniently into four great groups : 

 A, viperine snakes ; B, colubrine snakes, so called from 

 the name coluber, applied to a large genus of these 

 snakes in both hemispheres, and originally instituted by 

 Linnaeus ; C, boa-like snakes, and, D, worm-like snakes. 

 Having selected the rattlesnake as our type, we will begin 

 with the first section, A. 



This consists of two groups, the true vipers, such as the 

 common English viper, and the pit vipers. The latter 

 we have already considered. The true vipers are as 

 exclusively confined to the Old World as are the rattle- 

 snakes to America. Among the latter we have noted 

 one as being termed the horned rattler. The same 

 epithet is most justly applied to various true vipers, 

 some of which have horns over the eyes, while others 

 have two such structures on the nose. Among the 

 former is the famed Cerastes of Africa, which imagination 

 has connected with Cleopatra. A far more magnificent 

 creature is the rhinoceros viper (Fig. 34). It is a very 

 deadly animal, which may be more than six feet long and 

 beautifully coloured, with a pair of long horns upstand- 

 ing from between its nostrils. There are at least twenty 

 kinds of true vipers, and such are the only poisonous 

 reptiles of Europe. Russell's viper, known as the " tic- 

 polonga," or Daboia, is one of the most deadly snakes of 

 India, while it is so sluggish that very often it will not 

 move out of a man's way. Another most dangerous 

 viper, though a small one, is the Echis, which is found in 

 desert regions from Morocco to the middle of Hindostan. 



