148 



THE ATRACTASPIS. 



and jetty black. 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 the terrible LABARRI 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 dis- 

 tinguished 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 colors of the rainbow when alive, but these colors fade in death. I have 

 killed Labarri Snakes eight feet long." 



*^*^v^ v ^^s^/^/**/ ^ 



BEAD-SNAKE.-E/aps fulvlus. 



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

 son-fangs, perforated, and permanently erect. They only include one genus, of which 

 the best known species is the NARROW-HEADED DENDRASPIS (Dendraspis ang&siiccps). 



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 com- 

 mon at Natal. Its color is olive-brown washed with green above, and a paler green be- 

 low. 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 ATRACTASPIS of Southern Africa 

 (Atradaspis 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 suffi- 

 ciently 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 



