396 



LOWER VERTEBRATES. 



moccasin strikes at every object that displeases it, and will even raise its head and 

 spitefully strike at objects some distance away. In confinement, harmless snakes have 

 shown the greatest apprehensions on being placed in company with a moccasin, 

 which, nevertheless, they greatly exceeded in size. The moccasin, like the cobra of 

 India, seems well aware of the power which it possesses, for while the harmless 

 snakes above spoken of were soon attacked and poisoned, on the introduction of 

 moccasins, an understanding was obtained, and mutual respect resulted in perfect 

 harmony. In out-door life, the moccasin, which has for its habitat the southern states 

 from the Carolinas to Texas, is always found in the water or its immediate neighbor- 

 hood. The reptile is often seen resting upon the low branches of some overhanging 



Fig. 229, — Trigotiocephalus tanceolatus, f er-de-lance. 



tree, where it can at once bask in the sun and watch for its prey of fish, tadpoles, 

 frogs and the like, which it has no difficulty in catching, as it is a most active swimmer. 

 The coloring of this species is of an olive shade above, with about a dozen transverse 

 black bars ; below, brownish yellow, mottled with dark blotches. It can most easily 

 be distinguished from the preceding species by comparing the cervical plates, and 

 counting the longitudinal rows of scales. The variety pugnax is based upon a narrow 

 and crowded second labial ; it inhabits Texas. Specimens of the moccasin seldom reach 

 four feet in length. 



The genus Trigonocephalits includes the most venomous animal of the western 

 hemisphere, the celebrated fer-de-lance, T. lanceolatus, of Brazil. This animal being 



