74 



REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



pose of wounding and discharging his venom. Of the poison fangs 

 of the Fer-de-Lance, Professor Owen remarks, "that they (in common 

 with the Rattlesnake and Viper) are coated with a thin layer of a 

 sub-transparent and minutely cellular cement. This disposition of 

 the dentinal tubes is obedient to the general law of verticality, and 



Lance. 



the external surface of the tooth can be exposed to no other pressure 

 than that of the turgescent duct with which it is in contact.'' It 

 feeds on lizards and the smaller mammals, especially rats, but it 

 is capable of killing large animals, such as oxen. The negroes 

 working among the sugar-cane, and soldiers in the Martinique service, 

 often become victims to the Fer-de-Lance. This snake is, unfor- 

 tunately, very prolific ; and its venom is so subtle, that animals bitten 



