SNAKES 199 
splinters of wood into its head, so that it resembled the rarer horned variety. The PUFF- 
ADDER, the largest member of its tribe, may attain to a length of 6 feet or more, and is 
distributed throughout the African Continent. Its thick body is almost triangular in section, 
the head very large, flat, and bluntly rounded anteriorly, while the eyes have a particularly 
fierce, stony, and repulsive aspect. In colour individuals vary considerably, but there is generally 
a chequered pattern of reds, browns, and greys, disposed in the form of darker and lighter 
alternating crescent-shaped bands along the back. The poison of this snake is nearly as 
virulent as that of the horned viper, and is commonly used by the African bushmen for 
poisoning their arrows. 
The Viperine group is abundantly represented in the New World, where its members 
differ from the typical Old World species in sundry anatomical points, one of the most con~ 
spicuous features being the presence of a distinct depression or pit in the surface of the head 
between the nostril and the eye on either side. On this account they are distinguished 
by the title of Prr-vrpers. Among the more familiar representatives of this group are the 
RATTLE-SNAKES, the FER-DE-LANCE, the BUSH-MASTER, and the COPPER-HEAD or MOCASSIN- 
SNAKES. All these are notoriously venomous, fatal effects from bites received by human subjects 
being of frequent recurrence. The RATTLE-SNAKES are especially distinguished by the peculiar, 
loosely jointed, horny appendage to their tails, by the rapid vibration of which, when disturbed, 
they fortunately give timely notice of their presence. In the young individuals this rattle 
is only represented by a single button-like knob, additional loose, hollow, horny rings being 
added between it and the scaly termination of the tail as age increases. In full-grown 
examples the horny rings composing the rattle may number as many as twenty or more, 
though, owing to the war of extermination incessantly levied against these reptiles in all 
civilised areas, it is rarely that such elaborate rattle-bearers are now met with. The rattle- 
snake, in the more northern districts of its distribution, hibernates in the winter, often 
congregating together in great numbers for the sake of the mutual warmth. In the earlier 
days certain caves were famous as the retreats into which not only hundreds but thousands 
of the reptiles would congregate from the country round for their winter's slumber. At such 
times hunting-parties were specially organised for their wholesale destruction, and accomplished 
much towards reducing their ranks to their present numbers. 
In addition to the common North American rattle-snake there are some four or five 
other species distributed throughout the Southern States, Mexico, and Panama. None appear 
FER-DE-LANCE SNAKE 
One of the fiercest and most venomous of American viperine snakes 
