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THE TIC-POLONGA, OB KATTJKA. 
specimens attaining the length of eight feet. The common name is suggested by the elegant 
diamond or lattice-work markings of its body. Several smaller species are enumerated as 
North American : The C. air ox , , of Texas ; O. lucifer , Oregon ; Q. confluentus , Texas ; and 
O. molossus, New Mexico. 
The Sotttheen Geound Rattlesnake ( Oaudisona miliaria ), called also the Small 
Rattlesnake, is about thirteen inches in length, with a small button, or what appears to 
be an aborted rattle, on the tail. It ranges from the Carolinas to the Gulf States, and is 
particularly abundant on the prairies of the Western Territories and States. It is venom- 
ous, but its small size is thought to render its poison less potent. This serpent is thought 
to be even more dangerous than either of the preceding reptiles, because its dimensions are 
so small that a passenger is liable to disturb it before he sees the deadly creature in his 
path, and the sound of the rattle is so feeble that it is inaudible at the distance of two 
or three paces, and can only be heard when special attention is paid to it. It is a prolific 
species, and still maintains its numbers, in spite of the constant persecution to which it is 
subjected. 
The food of the Miliary Rattlesnake consists of mice, frogs, insects, and similar creatures, 
which it mostly obtains by darting suddenly upon them as they pass near the spot where the 
reptile is lying. This serpent is fond of coiling itself on the fallen trunks of trees, decaying 
stumps, or similar situations. Fortunately, it is very easily killed, a smart blow dealing 
instant death even from a very small stick. The color of this reptile is brownish olive, darker 
upon the cheeks, which are diversified by a narrow white streak from the back of the eye. 
A series of brown spots runs along the centre of the back, and the sides are ornamented with 
two rows of brown spots, each spot corresponding with a space in the other row. The abdo- 
men is sooty black, marbled with a darker and rather more polished hue. An irregular, dark 
brown band runs along each side of the nape and the crown of the head. 
THE VIPERS. 
We now come to the second great family of poisonous Serpents, namely the Vipees, or 
ViPEEiDiE. All the members of this family may be distinguished by the absence of the pit 
between the eyes and the nostrils. There are no teeth in the upper jaw except the two poison- 
fangs. 
A rather celebrated species of these Snakes is the Tic-polonga, or Katuka (. Daboia 
elegans ), a native of Asia, and perhaps of Brazil. This Serpent is much dreaded, its poison 
being of a very deadly character. A chicken tha.t was bitten by a Tic-polonga died in thirty- 
six seconds, and a dog bitten by the same creature was dead in twenty-six minutes after 
receiving the injury. It is tolerably common in India and Ceylon, but is not so familiarly 
known as the cobra and other species, because it is not employed for public exhibition as 
is the case with those Serpents. 
Sir Emerson Tennent, in his well-known “Natural History of Ceylon,” writes thus of 
the Tic-polonga : ‘ ‘ These formidable Serpents so infested the official residence of the Dis- 
trict Judge of Trincomalie, as to compel his family to abandon it. In another instance, 
a friend of mine, going hastily to take a supply of wafers from an open tin case which 
stood in his office, drew back his hand on finding the box occupied by a Tic-polonga coiled 
within it.” 
The word Tic-polonga signifies Spotted-polonga, the latter word being a kind of generic 
title given by the natives to many Serpents, no less than eight species being classed under this 
common title. It is said that the Tic-polonga and the cobra bear a mortal hatred towards each 
other, and to say that two people hate each other like the Tic-polonga and cobra is equivalent 
to our proverb respecting the cat and dog. The Tic-polonga is said always to be the aggressor, 
to find the cobra in its hiding-place, and to provoke it to fight. There are many native legends 
in Ceylon respecting the ferocity of this Snake. 
