78 OPHIDIAN EEPTILES. 



Cantor, who had opportunities of observing them, states that 

 they are generally seen lying motionless, with the body thrown 

 into many irregular folds, but not coiled. Although they are 

 diurnal, their sight, from the minuteness of the pupil, appears 

 to be as defective as their sense of hearing, and they may be 

 closely approached without apparently being aware of danger. He 

 never observed them to strike voluntarily, even when provoked, 

 and he had difficulty in making an adult C. gracilis bite a Fowl ; 

 although, of course, the venom of these Snakes is as virulent as 

 that of a Viper, the animals used for the experiments having died 

 in the course of from one to three hours after they had been 

 wounded. Therefore the greatest caution should be observed in 

 catching or handling these Snakes. The shortness of their fangs 

 and the small quantity of their poisonous fluid, however, will 

 always give a very fair chance of recovery if the proper remedies 

 be applied, should an accident occur. Two or three species 

 of this genus inhabit India, and the rest are found in the Indo- 

 Chinese and Malayan countries, one of the most common of them 

 ( C. intestinalis) having likewise been received from the Philippines. 

 The C. nigrescens of the mountains of southern India attain to four 

 feet in length, but they are mostly about half of that size, or even 

 smaller. 



Lastly, we arrive at 



THE VIPERINE SNAKES, 



Which have a long, perforated, erectile fang on the maxillary 

 bone, which is extremely short and bears no other teeth. This is 

 described in greater detail subsequently (pp. 93, 94). They 

 are arranged under the two families Croialidce and Viperidce. 



The Crotalidft, or Pit Vipers, have the body robust, the tail of 

 moderate length, or rather short, sometimes prehensile; head 

 broad, sub- triangular, frequently scaly above or imperfectly 

 shielded ; a deep pit on the side of the snout, between the eye and 

 nostril ; the eye of moderate size, with vertical pupil. They are 

 viviparous. The Pit Vipers are found only in Asia and America ; 

 those of the New "World surpassing the Asiatic species in size, and 

 therefore they are much more dangerous. Some live in bushes, others 



