p'l'/'-i 



BEAD SNAKE. Eiapt fuiv 



Towards the tail the carmine bands become paler and more of a vermilion hue, and for 

 the last four inches there are no red bands, the black and yellow alternating equally. The 

 extreme tip of the tail is yellow. The Bead Snake never attains any great size, seldom 

 exceeding two feet in length. 



IT is very remarkable that tne terrible LABAERI Snake of South America (Elaps 

 lemniscdtus] should be closely allied to and belong to the same genus as the bead Snake 

 of the Northern States. Mr. Waterton states that this Serpent is fond of lying coiled on a 

 stump of a tree or some bare spot of ground, where it can hardly be distinguished from 

 the object on which it is reposing. The same writer remarks in a letter to me, that "the 

 Labarri Snake has fangs, and is mortally poisonous when adult. It exhibits the colours of 

 the rainbow when alive, but these colours fade in death. I have killed Labarri Snakes 

 eight feet long." 



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

 fangs, perforated, and permanently erect. They only include one genus, of which the best 

 known species is the NAREOW-HEADED DENDEASPIS (Dendraspis angtisticeps). 



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. colour 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 the ATEACTASPIS of Southern Africa 

 (Atractaspis irreguldris). 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 Dr. Smith is of opinion that the creature cannot open its mouth sufficiently 

 wide to erect the fangs fully, so that the poison-teeth are always directed backwards. 

 They still, however, serve an important purpose ; for when the Atractaspis seizes its prey, 

 the poison-fangs necessarily 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. 



