82 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



It is a remarkable fact that the poison is secreted after death. 

 Dr. Bell, in his " History of British Reptiles," adduces the following 

 as evidence of the facts : — He was dissecting very carefully and 

 minutely the poison glands of a large rattlesnake, which had been 

 dead some hours ; the head had been taken off immediately after 

 death ; yet, as Dr. Bell continued his dissection, the poison con- 

 tinued to be secreted so fast as to require to be dried up occasionally 

 with a sponge or rag : and his belief is, that there could not be less 

 than six or eight drops of the poison. It is obvious that such 

 experiments require the utmost caution, seeing that preserved speci- 

 mens are not without danger. 



[The family of the Vifieridce, or true Vipers, are peculiar to the 

 Old World, inclusive of Australia, with the sole known exception of 

 one species in Peru. They have generally a robust body, with non- 

 prehensile tail ; the head broad or thick, generally scaly above or 

 incompletely shielded ; the eye of moderate size, with vertical pupil, 

 and they are at once distinguished from the Crotalidce by the absence 

 of the pit below the eye. The scales are keeled except in one genus 

 {Acanthopis). For the most part, these reptiles inhabit exposed and 

 arid situations, though perhaps all of them will take to the water on 

 occasions, as does the common British Adder. 



They are divided, firstly, into those which have a depressed head, 

 rounded on the sides, and covered with acutely-keeled scales. Some 

 of these have large nostrils in the centre of a ring-like shield, edged 

 with a large scale above. Such are the genera Daboia in the warmer 

 parts of Asia, and Clotho, which is peculiar to Africa — both genera 

 are extremely venomous. 



The famous Tic-polonga of Ceylon {Daboia elegans) is also widely 

 diffused over India and Burmah. It is beautifully marked with three 

 rows of white-edged, oblong, brown spots. Occasionally the spots 

 forming the middle row are connected like the beads of a necklace, 

 whence the name Cobra moiiil (literally Coluber mom/iger), applied to 

 the young of this Viper by the Indo-Portuguese, and now corrupted 

 into "cobra de manilla/' which bears the reputation of being a highly 

 poisonous Snake of diminutive size ; it attains, however, to a length 

 of nearly five feet, the tail then measuring about eight inches, with 

 considerable thickness of body. It is nocturnal, and preys chiefly 

 on mice. In Burmah this formidable Viper is dreaded almost as 

 much as the Bamadryas. It has been obtained in the Himalayas at 

 an elevation of 5,500 feet, at Almorah, and elsewhere. Mr. Theobald 

 has known one to kill a bull-terrier in twenty minutes. The D. 

 xanthina is a second species of this form inhabiting Asia Minor. 



