POISONOUS SNAKES. 



499 



_ The Salenoglyph poisonous snakes may always be recog- 

 nized by their broad, flattened heads, and usually short thick 

 bodies. The poison gland of the rattlesnake (Fig. 443, a) is 

 a modified salivary gland. The two fangs are modifications 

 of maxillary teeth, each of which has been, so to speak, 

 pressed flat, with the edges bent towards each other, and 

 soldered together, so as to form a hollow cylinder open at 

 both ends, the poison duct leading into the basal opening. 

 When the fangs strike into the flesh, the muscles closing 

 the Jaws press upon the poison gland, forcing the poison 

 into the wound. The poison-fangs are lai'gest iu the most 

 deadly species, as 

 the Tiper ( Vijpera), 

 the puil adder 

 (Clotlio), the rat- 

 tlesnake, and fer- 

 de-lance {Trigono- 

 cephalus), but are 

 small in the asps 

 or hooded snakes 

 {Naja). The bite 

 of the rattlesnake 

 is intensely painful; 

 it is best cured by 

 sucking, freely lan- 

 cing, and by cauter- 

 izing the wound, 

 and drinking large 

 quantities (at least a pint) of whiskey or brandy, sufficient 

 ordinarily to produce insensibility. Deaths from the bite of 

 rattlesnakes are not common, while in India it is estimated 

 that several thousand peojAe annually die from the bite of 

 the cobra — 10,000 dying each year from the bite of snakes 

 and the attacks of wild beasts. The "rattle" of the rattle- 

 snake is a horny appendage formed of buttonlike compart- 

 ments ; the sound made by the rattle, which has been com- 

 pared by some to the stridulation of a Carolina locust, or of 

 the Cicada, is an alarm note, warning the intruder ; the rat- 

 tle is sprung before the snake strikes. Allied to this snake 



Pig. 443.— Head of the rattlesnake : a. a, poison gland 

 and its excretory duct : e, anterior temporal muscle ; /, 

 posterior temporal muscle ; g, digastricus ; h, external 

 pterygoid muscle ; i, middle temporal muscle ; q, artl- 

 culo-maxillary ligament which joins the aponeurotic 

 capsule of the poison gland ; r, the cervical angular 

 muscle ; t, vertebro-mandibular muscle ; u, costo- man- 

 dibular muscle. — After Duvernoy. 



