THE PEINCIPAL SPECIES OF POISONOUS SNAKES 



109 



slenderness of the fangs, the narrowness of their canals, and the 

 considerable distance between the fangs and the anterior opening 

 of the mouth, must necessarily render the bites of these snakes less 

 serious and of rarer occurrence. 



II.— VIPEBID.E.— CKOTALIN.E. 



The Solenoglypha 

 are infinitely more for- 

 midable in the two 

 divisions of the New 

 World. They are re- 

 presented by a large 

 number of species, some 

 of which are feared in 

 consequence of their size 

 and ferocity, even more 

 than on account of the 

 deadliness of their 

 venom (fig. 67). 



The American Ceo- 

 TALiNiE are divided into 

 two groups : — 



The first of these 

 comprises snakes not 

 provided with the cau- 

 dal appendage, which is 

 characteristic of the 

 Rattle-Snakes. It con- 

 sists of two genera : — 



(a) Ancistrodon. 



(b) Lacliesis. 



The second group includes only those snakes the tails of which 

 are terminated by the scaly appendage known as the " rattle." 



Fig. 67. — Head and Skull of CrotithiK liorridus. 



