94 CLASS-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY. 



§ 385. If we wish to determine the existence or non- 

 existence of the fangs, it can be done with a pin or other 

 hard instrument, which is to be drawn from the hind 

 part of the upper jaw to the angle of the mouth ; 

 which operation may be tried on each side. In this way 

 the fangs or venomous teeth may be raised up and dis- 

 covered. 



§ 386. Either of the following remedies for the bite of 

 venomous snakes, may be used, in case a physician is 

 not immediately at hand; viz: 1. Sucking the wound : 

 2. Plunging the bitten part into water, with a large 

 quantity of salt : 3. Plunging it into well-heated spirits 

 of turpentine during some time : 4. Drinking freely 

 of a decoction made of vein-leaf, hawk-weed, or blood- 

 w T art, (hieracium venosum :) 5. A teaspoonful of spirits 

 of hartshorn mixed with water and poured down the 

 throat. 



§ 387. Snakes are eaten by the Indians, and also by a 

 large number of Egyptians. Many persons eat them, 

 when salted and smoked, as a delicacy. The ancient 

 physicians recommended the eating of snakes as a pre- 

 ventive against leprous diseases, and elephantiasis. 



§ 388. The Northern Rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus) is 

 distinguished by having a tail which terminates with a 

 horny appendix, with which it produces a sound as with a 

 rattle. It is sometimes six feet long, brown above, yel- 

 lowish below, and with black dots ; and is a native of the 

 United States. 



\ 389. The Boa Constrictor is, when adult, from forty 

 to fifty feet long, has six-sided blackish spots upon the 

 back, is a native of America, Asia, and Africa, and is, per- 

 haps, the same species with the Amaru of South America. 



§ 390. These gigantic snakes have become less com- 

 mon now than they were some centuries back ; for in pro- 

 portion as cultivation and population increase, noxious ani- 

 mals are driven into more distant and uncultivated tracts. 



§ 391. The Boa Constrictor is probably the same spe- 

 cies which is mentioned by Livy, who says that near the 

 river Bagrada, in Africa, a snake was seen of such an 

 enormous size as to prevent the use of the river by the 



