RATTLE-SNAKE. 73 
tail which warns the incautious traveller of their 
approach. We were unacquainted with this snake 
till the discovery of America introduced it to our 
notice, in whose extensive woods, and chalky un- 
cultivated grounds, abundance of them are to be 
met with. Their general length is from three to 
five feet, though they sometimes exceed that mea- 
sure, and Catesby mentions one which was eight 
feet long, and weighed between eight and nine 
pounds ; but this was of an extraordinary size, and 
confessedly the largest he ever saw. The effect of 
their bite is almost instantaneous ; and the poison 
runs so rapidly through the body, that a dog, 
which was bitten by one of these serpents in full 
vigour, immediately became convulsed, and died in 
less than a quarter of a minute, with his lips drawn 
up so as to leave his teeth and gums bare. The 
effect of the poison, however, is not so instantaneous 
when the bite is soon repeated ; as a second dog was 
bitten by this snake half an hour after the first, and 
although he was violently sick and was attacked 
with convulsions, he was nearly two hours in dying. 
This cruel experiment was repeated upon a third 
dog, after an interval of an hour ; but the venom 
had lost so much of its activity, that the poor ani- 
mal languished till the next day before he died. 
All poisonous serpents are provided with similar wea- 
pons, and inject their venom in the same manner: 
therefore the description we have given of the fangs 
of the viper, will apply to this and every other veno- 
mous species. 
