198 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
such an incident, receiving the poison-discharge in his eyes from one of these snakes, which, 
in his eagerness to dispatch it, he had imprudently cornered, armed only with a sword. It 
was some days before the pain entirely abated and the sight regained its normal clearness. 
Australia, with its BLACK and TIGER-SNAKES and the DEATH-ADDER, possesses snakes as 
venomous as the cobra, which the first-named species approach in their capacity to inflate 
their necks, though to a less degree. The TASMANIAN BLACK SNAKE, as it glides swiftly, as 
though sailing, across open grass-land, with the midday sun scintillating on its 7-foot stretch 
of jet-black, highly polished scales, its head and expanded neck threateningly elevated some 
18 inches above the ground, is certainly a most impressive sight. 
One very distinct group of the front-fanged section which demands brief notice is that 
of the SEA-SNAKES. These are readily distinguished by their especial adaptation to a marine 
existence, their much-compressed, oar-like tails constituting powerful propelling organs. In 
contradistinction to the terrestrial snakes of the same group, the inferior scales, not being 
required for terrestrial locomotion, are little if any larger than the upper ones. All the species 
are highly venomous; they feed chiefly upon fish, and are distributed throughout the tropical 
seas. The larger species rarely exceed § or 6 feet in length, and the majority are much 
smaller. Many species are noted for their conspicuous colouring, which most frequently takes 
the form of distinctly contrasting bands. All 
| the members of this group are viviparous. 
| The last and most highly specialised 
section of the Snake Tribe is that of the 
VIPER and its allies, collectively known as 
the Viperine Family. In all the representa- 
| tives of this group the hinder upper jaw-bone 
, is so loosely articulated that it is capable of 
erection at a right angle to the horizontal 
«plane of the skull, the gape of the mouth 
yl being in consequence abnormally wide. The 
on | teeth in the upper jaw are reduced to a single 
} anteriorly situated pair of tubular poison-fangs, 
with which, when striking its prey, the snake 
deals a direct stab. The head in the majority 
of the Viperine Snakes is flattened and tri- 
angular, nearly resembling in contour the 
symbolic ace of spades. The body is usually 
relatively thick, and the tail short and stumpy. The vertical pupil of the eye denotes nocturnal 
habits. All the members of the section are venomous. 
The Viperine Snakes are usually divided into two groups. The first contains the Typical 
or Old World Vipers, and includes, in addition to the COMMON VIPER, the CERASTES or HORNED 
VIPER of Egypt, and the large and most repulsive and deadly African PUFF-ADDER. The 
COMMON VIPER or ADDER, the only poisonous British snake, has a very extensive geographical 
distribution, extending throughout Europe and Asia as far east as the island of Saghalien, and 
northwards to the Arctic Circle. The HORNED VIPER of the Sahara and North Africa is one of 
the most venomous of living serpents. Lying buried beneath the sand, with only its head 
above, it will spring aggressively at any animal which passes by, and the action of its venom 
is so rapid that a horse or man bitten by it usually dies within half an hour. In colour the 
horned viper closely resembles the sand or stony wastes among which it lies. The most 
remarkable feature in this snake is the presence of two elevated horn-like processes immediately 
above the eyes, which are most prominent in the male. The species has frequently been on 
view at the Zoological Society’s Gardens. Onone occasion an ostensible example was purchased 
and deposited in the Reptile-house, which proved on nearer investigation to be a base imposition. 
A common desert-viper had been cleverly manipulated by the deft insertion of suitably shaped 
fone SN . ‘ - - oe) 
Photo by F. WH’. McLellan 
RATTLE-SNAKE 
The rattle-snake ts pre-eminently noted for tts power of fascinating birds 
and the smaller mammals 
