THE SNAKE TRIBE. 



91 



i( with his arms and legs round the slimy and yet 

 " living monster." This labour, however, was not 

 without its use; since he not only dexterously 

 finished the operation, but saved from the animal 

 above four gallons of fine clarified fat, or rather 

 oil, which proved of much use to the surgeons at 

 the hospital. As much again as this was also 

 supposed to have been wasted. The negroes cut 

 the animal in pieces, and would have eaten it, had 

 they not been refused the use of the kettle to boil 

 it in. — The bite of this snake is not venomous; nor 

 is it believed to bite at all from any other impulse 

 than that of hunger*. 



THE SNAKE TRIBE. 



THIS tribe contains a great number of species, 

 (near two hundred} which differ from each other 

 very greatly, both in size and habit About one- 

 fifth of the whole have been discovered to be poi- 

 sonous : these are, in genera], to be distinguished 

 from the rest by their large, flattish, and somewhat 

 heart-shaped heads, and rather short than long bo- 

 dies and tails. The harmless species have, for the 

 most part, small heads, with more extended bo- 

 dies. 



* Stedman's Account of Surinam. 



