REPTILES. 385 



poisoning powers. This is a peculiarity of many flesh-poisons, and it is 

 said that the South American Indians, in preparing the curare with which 

 they poison their arrows and darts, test its qualities by the taste. The 

 basis of the curare is of vegetable origin, and is derived from plants of the 

 strychnine family ; but it is said that frequently snake-venom is mingled in 

 the mass. To return to our subject : the poison of snakes needs to be taken 

 into the circulation by means of the lymphatic system. It affects the 

 blood, and through it the whole system, and after death, the blood loses 

 its coagulability, and the body decomposes far more rapidly than under 

 ordinary circumstances. This latter fact is doubtless of value to the 

 snake, as it aids materially in the digestion of the prey. 



Various antidotes to snake-poison have been advocated. Possibly the 

 most common is whiskey, or some other alcoholic drink. It cannot be 

 denied that this really has some virtue, but it is not always efficacious. 

 Ammonia, too, taken internally, and also injected into the circulation, is 

 also highly esteemed, and more lately permanganate of potash in a one 

 per cent solution has been injected into the wound, and it is said to be of 

 great value. Besides remedial agents, immediate cauterization, or a cutting 

 out of the flesh around the wound, are of great value. Then, too, the 

 wounded portion should, if possible, be separated from the circulation of 

 the rest of the body by tying it very tightly with a cord, between the 

 wound and the body, thus greatly retarding the spread of the poison, and 

 in this way giving a chance for the remedial agents to work. 



Some of the poisonous snakes with erectile fangs inhabit the Old World, 

 and some the New. Of the Old-World forms the various species of vipers 

 are best known. All have a flat, disgusting-looking head ; some live in 

 the tropics, while others venture as far north as the Scandinavian penin- 

 sula and the British Isles. Some are very deadly, while others produce an 

 inflammation scarcely more troublesome than the sting of a wasp, while 

 between these two extremes almost every variation can be found. 



Of the few forms we can mention, the first is the horned viper of Egypt 

 and northern Africa generally. As will be seen from our illustration, it is 

 a most disagreeable-looking creature, with a sharp horn or spine above 

 each eye. It lives in the deserts, its brownish white color agreeing with 

 the surrounding sands beneath which it frequently burrows, leaving but 

 the head above the surface. Here it awaits its prey ; but as game is not 

 especially abundant, it often has long fasts. It is said to be very poisonous, 

 and by some it is regarded as the species which terminated Cleopatra's life. 



In England the viper, or adder, is the only poisonous serpent, and even 

 there it is not very abundant. Its bite is but rarely, if ever, fatal, but it 

 is very painful and sometimes produces constitutional troubles. 



