SNAKES. 23 



These Snakes are highly poisonous ; their dentition resembling 

 that of the preceding family. Their food consists entirely of fish. 



Fig. 18. 



Sea-Snake (Hydrop/ris), from the Indian Ocean. 



The greatest size to which some species attain is about 12 feet. 

 Pelamys bicolor and Hydrophis are examples of this family. 



The Vipers (Viperidce) and Rattlesnakes (Crotalida) are Snakes 

 with the most perfect poison-apparatus ; the latter family being 

 distinguished from the former by the presence of a deep pit on 

 the side of the snout, between the eye and the nostril. These 

 Snakes have generally a short thick body and a broad head, are 



[Case 27.1 



