THE BATRACHIANS. 149 



carmine bands become paler and more of a vermilion hue, and for the last four inches there 

 are no red bands, the black and yellow alternating equally. The extreme tip of the tail is 

 yellow. The Bead Snake never attains any great size, seldom exceeding two feet in length. 



It is very remarkable that the terrible Labakri Snake of South America (Maps 

 lemniscdtus) should be closely allied to and belong to the same genus as the bead Snake of 

 the Northern States. Mr. ^Vaterton states that this Serpent is fond of lying coiled on a 

 stump of a tree or some bare spot of ground, where it can hardly be distinguished from the 

 object on which it is reposing. The same writer remarks in a letter to me, that "the Labarri 

 Snake has fangs, and is mortally poisonous when adult. It exhibits the colors of the rainbow 

 when alive, but these colors fade in death. I have killed Labarri Snakes eight feet long." 



We now arrive at a most curious family, known by the possession of very long poison- 

 fangs, perforated, and permanently erect. They only include one genus, of which the best 

 known species is the Naeiiow-headeb Dendraspis [Bendraspis angusticeps). 



This Serpent is very long, slender*, and unusually active and a good climber, exceeding 

 the haje in this accomplishment. It is found in Southern Africa, and is tolerably common at 

 Natal. Its color is olive-brown washed with green above, and a paler green below. It is 

 rather a large though very slender Snake, sometimes reaching the length of six feet. 



The last example of the Serpent tribe is the Atractaspis of Southern Africa ( Atractaspis 

 irregularis). The fangs of this Snake are longer in proportion than those of any other known 

 Serpent, reaching nearly to the angle of the mouth. They are so long, indeed, that Dr. Smith 

 is of opinion that the creature cannot open its mouth sufficiently wide to erect the fangs fully, 

 so that the poison-teeth are always directed backwards. They still, however, serve an impor- 

 tant purpose ; for when the Atractaspis seizes its prey, the poison-fangs necessarily pierce the 

 skin, so as to inject the venom into the body of the victim, and from their shape act as 

 grapnels, by which all attempts at escape are foiled. Very little is known of the habits of this 

 Snake, but it is thought to burrow in loose ground. 



The color of the Atractaspis is blackish-green above, shaded with orange-brown, and 

 orange-buff below. It is a small Serpent, rarely measuring more than two feet in length. 



THE BATRACHIANS 

 FROGS AND TOADS. 



The Batrachians are separated from the true reptiles on account of their peculiar 

 development, which gives them a strong likeness to the fishes, and affords a good ground for 

 considering these animals to form a distinct order. On their extrusion from the egg, they 

 bear no resemblance to their parents, but are in a kind of intermediate existence, closely anal- 

 ogous to the caterpillar or larval state of insects, and called by the same name. Like the fish, 

 they exist wholly in the water, and breathe through gills instead of lungs, obtaining the need- 

 ful oxygen from th i water which washes the delicate gill-membranes. At this early period 

 they have no external limbs, moving by the rapid vibration of the flat and fan-like tail with 

 which they are supplied. While in this state, they are popularly called tadpoles, those of the 

 frog sometimes bearing the provincial name of pollywogs. The skin of the Batrachians is 

 not scaly, and in most instances is smooth and soft. Further peculiarities will be mentioned 

 in connection with the different species. 



These creatures fall naturally into two sub-orders — the leaping or tail-less Batrachians, 

 and the crawling Batrachians. The leaping Batrachians, comprising the frogs and toads, are 

 familiar in almost all lands. 



