ON  THE  VENOM  OF  SERPENTS. 
241 
consists  only  of  quinine,  which  always  retains  a  larger  or  smaller 
quantity  of  the  carbonate  employed,  in  spite  of  repeated  washing. 
It  is  to  the  presence  of  this  that  the  precipitate  owes  its  property 
of  effervescing  with  acids  ;  but  when  fused  in  a  glass  tube,  it 
does  not  furnish  the  least  trace  of  carbonic  acid.  The  same  ap- 
plies also  to  cinchonine,  and  perhaps  even  to  all  the  vegetable 
bases. — Ibid,  from  Comptes  Hendus,  Nov.  7,  1853,  p.  727. 
ON  THE  VENOM  OF  SERPENTS. 
By  J.  Gilman,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  LL.  D. 
There  is  much  in  the  history  and  habits  of  the  reptile  tribes, 
however  repulsive  they  may  be  in  appearance,  that  is  very  inter- 
esting. During  a  sojourn  of  two  or  three  months  in  the  interior 
of  Arkansas,  which  appears  to  me  to  be  the  paradise  of  reptiles, 
I  paid  some  attention  to  that  branch  of  natural  history  called 
ophiology.  I  found  four  distinct  varieties  of  rattlesnakes  (Gro- 
talus,)  of  which  the  Crotalus  Horridus  and  Crotalus  Kirtlandii 
are  by  far  the  most  numerous.  The  former  is  the  largest  ser- 
pent in  North  America.  The  family  of  moccasin  snakes  (Collu- 
ber)  is  also  quite  numerous,  there  being  not  less  than  ten  varieties, 
most  of  which  are  quite  as  venomous  as  the  rattlesnake.  By 
dissecting  great  numbers  of  different  species  I  learned  that  the 
anatomical  structure  of  the  poisoning  apparatus  is  similar  in  all 
the  different  varieties  of  venomous  serpents.  It  consists  of  a 
strong  frame-work  of  bone,  with  its  appropriate  muscles  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  head,  resembling  and  being  in  fact  a  pair  of 
jaws,  but  externally  to  the  jaws  proper,  and  much  stronger.  To 
these  is  attached  by  a  ginglymoid  articulation,  one  or  more 
moveable  fangs  on  each  side,  just  at  the  verge  of  the  mouth, 
capable  of  being  erected  at  pleasure.  These  fangs  are  very  hard 
and  sharp  and  crooked,  like  the  claws  of  a  cat,  and  hooked  back- 
wards, with  a  hollow  from  the  base  to  near  the  point.  I  have 
occasionally  seen  a  thin  slit  of  bone  divide  this  hollow,  making 
two.  At  their  base  is  found  a  small  sac,  containing  two  or  three 
drops  of  venom  which  resembles  thin  honey.  The  sac  is  so  con- 
nected with  the  cavity  of  the  fang  during  its  erection,  that 
a  slight  upward  pressure  forces  the  venom  into  the  fang  at  its 
base,  and  it  makes  its  exit  at  a  small  slit  or  opening  near  the 
point,  with  considerable  force ;  thus  it  is  carried  to  the  bottom 
16 
