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NATURAL HISTORY. 



the rattlesnake has no voice, and he also lacks the strong odor found in 

 some other species. 



The other interesting feature connected with the rattlesnake — the 

 poison-fangs — is to he sought at the opposite end of the body from the 

 rattle. We have already alluded to their structure, — the long, tubular 

 fang erected when the animal strikes, the poison-sac, and the apparatus 

 for forcing out the venom, — and hence need not repeat it here. 



Our cut represents two of the most common rattlesnakes east of the 

 Mississippi: in the foreground is the more common northeastern form; 



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Fk;. .'543. — Rattlesnakes (Crotalus adamanteus and C. horridus). 



while the other, the diamond-rattler, lives farther to the south. The first 

 rarely exceeds five feet in length; the latter reaches eight feet. Our other 

 species need Qot be mentioned by name, as the differences between them 

 are of such a character as to interest the naturalist alone. All are more 

 or less gregarious, and sometimes immense numbers are found together. 

 Tims at one time, according to Dr. Dekay, two men killed eleven hundred 

 in three days, in Warren County, N.Y., and in other places dens nearly 

 as large have been found in times past. Now. thanks to the Avar 

 of extermination that has been waged against these reptiles, they are 

 becoming comparatively rare in the more thickly settled regions east of 



