THE PUFF ADDER. 433° 
the absence of the pit between the eyes and the nostrils. There are no teeth 
-in the upper jaw, except the two poison-fangs. 
The terrible PurF ADDER belongs to this family. 
This reptile is a native of Southern Africa, and is one of the commonest, 
as well as one of the most deadly, of poisonous snakes. It is slow and 
apparently torpid in all its movements, except when it is going to strike, and 
the colonists say that it is able to leap backwards so as to bite a person who 
is standing by its tail. 
- There is in nature no more fearful object than a full-grown Puff Adder. 
It grovels on the sand, winding its body so as to bury itself almost wholly in 
the tawny soil, and just leaving its flat, cruel-looking head, lying on the ground 
and free from sand. The steady, malignant, stony glare of those eyes is 
absolutely freezing as the creature lies motionless, confident in its deadly 
PUFF ADDER.—(Clotho arietans.) 
powers, and when roused by the approach of a passenger, merely exhibiting 
its annoyance by raising its head an inch or two, and uttering a sharp angry 
hiss. .Even horses have been bitten by this reptile, and died within a few 
hours after the injury was inflicted. The peculiar attitude which is exhibited 
-in the illustration is taken from life, one of the Puff Adders in the collection 
of the Zoological Society having been purposely irritated, so as to force 
it to raise itself from the sand, and assume the attitude of offence. 
The Bushmen are in the habit of procuring from the teeth of this serpent 
the poison with which they arm their tiny but most fearful arrows. In the 
capture of the Puff Adder they display very great courage and address. 
Taking advantage of the reptile’s sluggish habits, they plant their bare feet 
upon its neck before it has quite made-up its reptilian mind to action, and, 
holding it firmly down, cut off its head and extract the poision at their 
FF 
