SERPENTS. 
Of all the animals in the world none inspire mankind 
with so much loathsome horror and dread as the serpent. 
Both ancient and modern writers speak of them with 
feelings of hatred and disgust. 
“The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his 
crown.” Shakespeare. 
For many years it has been part of my duty to study, 
and thereby to become acquainted with, animals of this 
class, and it has been most interesting to me to learn the 
amount of power some of them possess to destroy the life 
of the creature they attack. 
Some of the following narratives will explain the danger 
to which many persons unacquainted with the subject 
may be exposed, by incautiously handling or approaching 
too near to these much-dreaded reptiles. 
The poisonous serpents are more to be feared, notwith- 
standing their smaller size, than the monstrous constricting 
serpents, as the latter are more easily avoided, and, 
moreover, they are less numerous than the smaller harm- 
less or non-poisonous kinds. 
Many of the small poisonous species, as well as some of 
the large and powerful kinds, are abundant in moist and 
gloomy tropical forests, where they hide on the branches 
of trees concealed by the thick foliage, from which they 
dart upon the unwary ; nor are they absent from the plains 
260 
