REPTILIA 



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poison gland, the latter lying in the side of the head behind the eye, 

 Fig. 102. 



The fangs are shed at intervals of about three months, and it is 

 not very unusual to see two fangs on one side of the jaw; the skull of 

 one of these vipers will show a series of fangs, one behind the other, 

 Fig. 103, ready to replace the functional ones when lost. It is evident, 



PIG. 103. Skull of a pit viper, showing functional and developing fangs. 

 Also disarticulated symphysis of lower jaw. Enlarged. (From Dilmars, The 

 Reptile Book. 



then, that removal of the fangs of these serpents renders them only 

 temporarily innocuous, perhaps not even temporarily so, as poison 

 would probably enter the wounds caused by the ordinary small teeth 

 of the snake. 



The effect upon the human system of the bite of our pit vipers 

 depends upon several conditions: the size of the snake, the location of 

 the wound, and the promptness and character of the treatment. 



