POISON-GLANDS OF REPTILES. 563 



The Crocodiles have glandular follicles, which open at the 

 anus. Hunter preserved ' a section of the skin of a Turtle 

 (Chelone), to show a gland situated near its anus.' 1 There is a 

 glandular fossa which opens into the dorsal part of the cloaca, 

 close to the termination of the rectum in most Emydians. 



The anal bags in Serpents are two in number, of an elongate 

 form, fig. 357, m : they are lodged in the base of the tail, and 

 open into the back part of the cloaca : their excretion has a 

 strong, disagreeable, nauseating odour. 



§ 102. Poison-glands of Reptiles. — The gland which secretes 

 the poison in ordinary venomous Serpents is situated on each side 

 the head, anterior to the tympanic pedicle, inclosed in a strong 

 capsule, fig. 145, a (p. 227), and partly 

 covered by the muscle analogous to 

 the masseter, ib. e, some of the fibres 

 of which, fig. 374, a, are attached to 

 the capsule, ib. b. On reflecting these, 

 as in fig. 374, the gland, ib. c, is seen 

 composed of a series of elongated 

 narrow lobes, extending from the main 

 duct at the lower border of the gland 



Upward and backward. Each lobe Poison apparatus of tlie Viper (Jipera 



rv, . c i i l i'i Bents), cxvi. 



gives on a series ot lobules, which are 



again subdivided into smaller creca. Their secretion is collected 

 into the dilated beginning of the duct which conveys it to the base 

 of the poison-fang, f; the bristle e passes from the duct into the 

 poison-canal of the fang, the structure of which is described, pp. 

 396-398 : the gum-capsule, d, of the reserve-fangs, g, is laid open. 

 In Hydrophis the poison-gland is of smaller size, narrow, elongate, 

 broadest behind, and extended upon the maxillary and ecto- 

 pterygoid bones, in advance of the masseter : its capsule is 

 attached to the tendinous tract (p. 228) detached from the 

 digastricus and ectopterygoid : its duct enters the foremost of the 

 series of four to six small fangs attached to the maxillary. The 

 bite of these inferiorly endowed venomous Sea-Snakes has proved 

 fatal : they are said to occasionally climb along the hawser into 

 ships at anchor ; and as they may be drawn in, adhering to it by 

 their prehensile tail, or be caught in the fishing-net and hauled 

 on board, it is well that their dangerous property should be 

 known. 



The secretion of the poison-gland is a tasteless fluid, drying 

 under exposure to air into small scales : it is soluble in water, 



1 xx. vol. iii. p. 270, prep. no. 2130. 

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