136 DIVISION I. VERTEBRAL ANIMALS.—CLASS III. REPTILIA. 
is about three fect in length. There are two large horns situated on the top 
of the head — three spikes to each horn. 
Allied to the foregoing are the Trigonocephali, which are distinguished 
by the absence of the rattle, but accord in other characteristics. The Copper- 
head, or Moccasin Snake, belongs to the same family. It inhabits the vast 
prairies of the West, and we have seen it in Connecticut, at the foot of a 
mountain, in the town of Southington. Its venom is similar to that of the 
Rattlesnake. Various remedies have been named as effectual for the bite 
of these serpents, — such as whiskey taken to intoxication; applying to the 
wound bruised plantain leaves, or a decoction of tobacco; washing it with 
strong ley water; a treatment producing a heavy perspiration, as the steam- 
bath; and, lastly, extracting the virus by suction. 
Genus Vipera. — The Vipers. These reptiles are distinguished from 
the Rattlesnakes by the absence of the rattle, and also of the cavities beneath 
the nostrils, in which last particular they differ from the Trigonocephali. 
The American Viper, or Adder, is distinguished by its thick body as 
compared with its length, which is from one to two feet, although we have 
seen specimens a yard long. Its color is generally brown, with yellow spots ; 
we have met with Adders of a yellowish-white ground color, with black, 
irregular patches. They are all poisonous, disgusting creatures, and fortu- 
nately, in New Eneland at least, nearly exterminated. The celebrated and 
well known (by the full and frequent descriptions of travellers) Cobra di 
Capello, or dancing serpent of India, and the //7/?, or Asp of Egypt, be-, 
long to this group. There are several others, all extremely venomous. 
There are two other species peculiar to India —the Longars and the Lfy- 
dras. The former attain a length of eight or ten feet, and are called Roch- 
Snakes; the latter are aquatic animals, and infest the Indian seas. They: 
are swift swimmers, feed on fishes, and are extremely poisonous. 
The Order of Ophidians terminates with a curious genus of animals, the 
anatomical and physiological structure of which approximates them to the 
Batrachians. Their eyes are excessively small, nearly hidden by the skin, 
and sometimes wholly absent, whence their generic name, Cacinta. They 
inhabit the warm regions of both continents, and live, for the most part, be- 
neath the surface, sometimes in marshy places several feet under ground. 
One species, the C. dwmbricoides, is totally blind, two feet in length, of a 
blackish color, and about the thickness of a goose quill. : 
An inyestigation of the cerebral structure of the Ophidians shows that, in 
point of mental power, they occupy nearly the lowest place in the scale of 
being. Stupid and dull to the last degree, it is difficult to conceive how 
such a brute could have been adopted by all the old mythologies as a symbol 
of wisdom. The traditional serpent of the poets and mythologists is no- 
