BRANCH CHORDATA: CLASS REPTIL1A 3 2 3 



seldom exceeds three feet in length. It occurs in the 

 eastern and middle United States from Pennsylvania and 

 Nebraska southward. It is a vicious and dangerous 

 snake, striking without warning. The water-moccasin 

 (Agkistrodon piscivorous] is dark chestnut-brown with 

 darker markings. The head is purplish black above. 

 It is found along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from North 

 Carolina to Mexico, extending also some distance up the 

 Mississippi valley. It is distinctively a water-snake, being 

 found in damp swampy places or actually in water. It 

 reaches a length of over four feet and is a very venomous 

 snake, striking on the slightest provocation. The com- 

 mon harmless water-snake is often called water-moccasin 

 in the southern States, being popularly confounded with 

 this most dangerous of our serpents. The poison of all of 

 these snakes is a rather yellowish, transparent, sticky fluid 

 secreted by glands in the head, from which it flows through 



FIG. 130. The rattles of the rattlesnake; the lower figure shows a longi 

 tudinal section of the rattle. 



the hollow maxillary fangs. The character and position 

 of the fangs are shown in figure 131. Remedial measures 

 for the bite of poisonous snakes are, first, to stop, if possi- 

 ble, the flow of blood from the wound to the heart, by 



