64 
R0QM x * female, has caused the latter to be erroneously 
described as a distinct species ; the Puff Adder, 
or Short Tailed Viper ( Vipera inflata ), the most 
deadly snake of the Cape; and Russel’s Viper 
(Col, Russeli\ 
The Adders (Rems') have the head covered 
with granular scales and the nostrils moderate; 
as the Black Adder (Col. berus ), and the Am- 
modyte Adder (Col. ammodytes) from the shores 
of the Mediterranean, very peculiar for the end 
of the nose being lengthened into a flexible 
horn. 
The Common Adder (Col. cherica) differs from 
these, by the crown of the head having three 
larger scales inserted amongst the smaller ones ; 
this is the only poisonous reptile found in Great 
Britain. 
The Elaps or Cylindrical Snakes differ from 
the other venomous reptiles, by the head being 
much smaller, scarcely so broad as the body, 
and by its being covered with large regular 
plates, and without any pit on the cheek. 
Some of these, as the Spectacle Snake or 
Naja, have the faculty of dilating the skin of 
the neck, by the extension of their ribs, so as 
to form a kind of hood over the head; they are 
also peculiar from the body being covered with 
very narrow scales. 
The Indian species have usually a yellow spot 
on 
