P H I B I A. 



Crotalus horridus ; or banded Rattlesnake. Linnaeus. 

 Vipera, caudisona, Americana. Catesby. 



Ti 



HE Reptile, "which is so well known by the dread- 

 fully destructive pcver of it's poisonous Bite, is a native 

 of the Western Hemisphere, and is found in most of the 

 Islands, as well as on the Continent of America. It seems 

 however to exist chiefly in the hottest parts only, and to 

 be incapable of resisting the frigid state of all the colder 

 regions. Three or four different Species are already known 

 and described, of which the present Snake is the most 

 important, as it frequently reaches the size of ten feet in 

 length ; and the stripes in the other kinds are much paler, 

 and not transverse, but placed in a lozenge form along 

 the back. 



The distinction of the Serpents into the poisonous 

 and harmless tribes, can only be known by an accurate 

 examination of their teeth ; the fangs or poisoning teeth 

 being always of a tubular or channelTd structure, and 

 calculated for the conveyance or injection of the poison- 

 ous fluid, from a peculiar reservoir, communicating on 

 each side of the mouth. 



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