Apparatiu of Snakes. 
iyy 
stimulus—rouse the powerful compressor into action and 
cause it to ejaculate the fatal contents of the gland at the 
very moment of “ utmost need V* 
The remaining elevator muscles (masseter and pterygoid) 
which envelope the posterior angle of the lower jaw and 
chain of bones formerly alluded to, present no points of 
particular interest, and do not therefore require any special 
notice. 
In closing these remarks, which I find have extended much 
further than I anticipated, I may observe that the subjects of 
the dissections have been principally confined to the black 
and diamond snakes. Of these the black is much the more 
common, and averages from about four to a few inches above 
five feet in length. I understand, however, it grows to a 
much larger size in other parts of the colony. 
The diamond variety is not very commonly met with, but 
from the specimens I have seen, I should think it would 
average about the same size as the black. 
The small green or whip snake is not so common as the 
black, but perhaps more so than the diamond, and those 
which 1 have seen averaged about twenty inches in length. 
Of this snake I have not examined minutely the general 
dental arrangement, but I find the poison gland and fang to 
be as perfectly developed as in the two former. 
These are the only snakes I have ever seen on Tasman’s 
Peninsula—they are all decidedly venomous. With the 
poison expressed from the gland 1 have succeeded in killing 
several small animals. On this subject, however, a complete 
series of experiments is very much wanted, and many, not 
only interesting but important observations would certainly 
be the result. A wide and untrodden field of observation 
indeed still exists as to the entire natural history of these 
animals—the size of the different varieties—their appearance 
at different ages—the localities which they most affect—the 
presence or absence of the poison apparatus—the comparative 
