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beautiful little things. They will not eat anything; meal, worms, bits of meat, gentles, and flies, I have tried; but they are very fond of water. Two or three have shed their skins, and their colours about the head especially are most beautiful. Folks may say what they please, but I am convinced they have some affection for their mother; they are never found far away from her, but always close to her somewhere about in the moss. I have more than once discovered mother and three babies coiled up snug together; and a very pretty family picture they make, basking in the bright morning sun.' The third upon the list is the Blind or 'Slow' Worm (Anguis fragilis), the smallest of our British snakes, and quite as harmless as the ringed snake. Why this gentle and useful little reptile should be branded as a murderer, and, whenever met with, subjected to the most cruel torture, and ultimately death, is difficult to understand. In Wales it is called

Neidr Ddefaid,' or sheep-snake, and is deemed extremely poisonous. There is also a stupid belief prevalent amongst the peasantry, that the

'deaf- adder'

cannot die until the sun sets. It feeds principally

upon

earth-worms, slugs, and insects of any kind it can catch.

The movements of

S

Blind-worm (Anguis fragilis).

this reptile are so slow that it cannot get out of the way of danger, and thus it has been rashly and ignorantly assumed that it is either deaf or blind, or both. Hence the popular names of 'blind-worm' and 'deaf-adder.' It has eyes, nevertheless, and sharp ones too, although they are somewhat small; and its organs of hearing are as good as those of the lizards. It is, in fact, the most gentle and harmless of all created reptiles.

Although the Viper, or Adder, comes properly into our second section, under the head of poisonous snakes, yet we think it expedient to describe it here, inasmuch as it will the better enable our readers to understand the external differences or markings which distinguish the viper (the only indigenous reptile in England armed with poison-fangs) from the non-poisonous ring-snake and coronella. The viper seldom exceeds two and a half feet in length, is slender in make, with a bluntish tail. The illustration on page 2 shews how the fangs are erected when the viper is about to strike its victim. It is rather tardy in its movements, and man,

unless taken unawares, has little to fear from it, as he can readily make his escape. The female brings forth her young alive; in other words, the eggs, which generally number from ten to eighteen, are hatched internally. Vipers are easily taken or destroyed; we ourselves have been instrumental in the capture of a dozen or two, with no other instrument than a forked stick, by which the head of the reptile was pinioned to the ground, till it was secured beyond means of doing harm. With respect to its dangerous properties, Mr Bell remarks: In this country, I have never seen a case which terminated in death, nor have I been able to trace to an authentic source any of the numerous reports of such a termination. At the same time, the symptoms are frequently so threatening, that I cannot but conclude that in very hot weather, and when not only the reptile is in full activity and power, but the constitution of the victim in a state of great irritability and diminished power, a bite from the common viper would very probably prove fatal. The poisonous fluid is perfectly innocuous when swallowed. Dr Mead and others have made this experiment, and never experienced the slightest ill effects from it. It is, however, clear that there would be danger in swallowing it were any part of the mouth, the throat, or the oesophagus in a state of ulceration, or having an abraded surface.' The viper feeds principally upon field-mice, frogs, and young birds. It is most to be dreaded when partially blind, a condition it is in just prior to changing its skin; it then strikes savagely at anything or anybody that comes near it.

That our readers may be readily able to make out the differences

between the three species of indigenous snakes we have just described, and thus perhaps be saved from the danger that might accrue from handling or incautiously approaching a viper, mistaking it for the harmless ring-snake or coronella, we give an illustration and brief description of the heads of the three species.

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1. The common ringed snake has a somewhat almond-shaped head, covered with broad plates or shields. It has invariably a yellow collar at the back of the head, the yellow colour being made more apparent by a jet-black collar behind it. This black collar does not in every case extend right across the neck,

1. The Common Ringed Snake (Coluber natrix); 2. The Small-crowned Smooth Snake (Coronella lavis); 3. The Common Viper or Adder (Pelias berus).

but varies in different specimens. The eye is rather prominent, of a hazel colour. The prevailing colour of the back and sides is dusky brown. The centre line of the back is marked with a double row of small black spots, which extend from the head to the tail, and from these rows, lines made up of similar dots stripe the sides.

2. The head of Coronella levis, it will be at once evident, is exceedingly small, compared with the other two; moreover, it is rounder, and more like the head of a lizard, and carried in a more erect position than the head of the ring-snake. The plating on the top of the head is very like that of the ring-snake, but the lateral plates differ from those of the viper. One marked peculiarity in the head of Coronella lævis is that it is beautifully iridescent, and of bronze green colour. There is but a very imperfect V-mark-not at all distinct, like the brand on the viper, being broken or imperfect at the sharp terminal angles, while that on the viper is complete. The general colour of the skin is brown; and it is remarkable for its almost polished smoothness, which gives the reptile its name, lavis. Two rows of dark spots run along the sides of the back, which at once distinguish it from the viper, with its zigzag marking. The belly is a brightish orange colour.

3. The head of the viper, it will be observed, is not shaped like the head of the snake: it is perfectly flat. The viper has no collar encircling the neck, but instead, the letter V distinctly marked on the back part of the head, as will be more plainly seen by reversing the illustration. It really would almost appear that nature had branded this, the only poisonous reptile inhabiting our land, so that people might the more easily recognise and avoid it, with V, the first letter in the name viper. Continuing from this V-marking, a diamond-shaped pattern of a dark colour extends along the whole line of the back. The general colour of the body is extremely variable, being influenced by local conditions.

VENOMOUS, BUT NOT NECESSARILY DEADLY, SERPENTS. TREATMENT OF WOUNDS.

We come now to the second part of our subject-the consideration of serpents whose bites, although a few of them are frightfully dangerous, do not necessarily in every instance cause death. In this category may be classed the Rattlesnake of America, the British Viper (already described), the Australian Tiger'-snake, and the Black Vipers of Asia Minor and Southern Europe.

In case of a person being bitten by a serpent, it is all-important, in the first place, to be able to say at once whether the bite is that of a snake with poison-fangs or not. As a general rule, if the bite is that of a poisonous snake, two solitary spots, made by the poisonfangs, mark the place of injury. If, on the other hand, two rows of pricks or punctures are discernible, then you may make pretty

certain the wound is caused by a harmless snake. Having had a good deal of rough and ready practice, both in the Old and New World, in the treatment of snake-bites, particularly of rattlesnake bites, and as the same plan and principle of treatment more or less applies to all snake-bites, we shall perhaps best help to prepare our readers for treating a snake-bite in case of any sudden emergency, if we give our experiences of rattlesnake bites.

The rattlesnake of America is one of the most dangerous of its family, its bite, when properly inflicted, generally causing the death of the largest animal. It is totally unknown in the Old World, and

Rattlesnake.

is readily distinguished by its rattle, an instrument situated at the tail extremity, and consisting of several horny membranous cells, which rattle upon each other when agitated by the animal. The rattlesnake is of a tawny and black colour above, and ash-coloured beneath; has a short and rather rounded head; a large protecting scale over each eye, and long sharppointed fangs. It is slow in its motions, inactive in its habits, and not readily disturbedfeatures which luckily tend to lessen the mischief which otherwise it would be capable of inflicting. The effects of the poison of course depend much upon the season of the year, the age and strength of the reptile, and the part struck; hence, numerous cases are on record of individuals recovering in a few weeks from the bite of a rattlesnake. It is also found by experiment, that if a venomous serpent be made repeatedly to inflict wounds, without allowing sufficiently long intervals for it to recover its powers, each successive bite becomes less and less dangerous. 'A gentleman of my acquaintance,' says the author of British Reptiles, 'had some years ago received a living rattlesnake from America. Intending to try the effects of its bite upon some rats, he introduced one of these animals into the cage with the serpent; it immediately struck the rat, which died in two minutes. Another rat was then placed in the cage; it ran to the part farthest from the serpent, uttering cries of distress. The snake did not immediately attack it; but after half an hour, and on being irritated, it struck the rat, which did not exhibit any symptoms of being poisoned for several minutes, and died twenty minutes after the bite. A third and remarkably large rat was then introduced. It exhibited no signs of terror at its dangerous companion, which, on its part, appeared to take no

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notice of the rat. After watching for the rest of the evening, my friend retired, leaving the serpent and the rat together. On rising early the next morning to ascertain the fate of his two heterogeneous prisoners, he found the snake dead, and the muscular part of its back eaten by the rat. I do not remember at what time of the year this circumstance took place, but I believe it was not during very hot weather.'

We know of no place where rattlesnakes are found in greater numbers than on the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Coiled up upon the warm granite boulders, or stretched at full length upon the sand, under shadow of a wild sage bush, or basking upon the flower-decked bank of a pool or rivulet, rattlesnakes might be seen by the score on any bright and sunny day. We have often tried, but in vain, to so provoke a rattlesnake by poking it with a stick as to make it attack. All they ever did was to bite at the stick, try to escape from their tormentor, and hiss and rattle violently. The danger of being bitten nearly always arises from treading upon them, or touching them unawares with the hand. The 'rattle' is a most useful warning to the prairie hunter at night, when it would be utterly impossible to make out the whereabouts of a rattlesnake except by the noise of the rattle as the reptile winds its way amidst the rank herbage.

The first thing a trapper does, if alone, when he finds he has been bitten by a rattlesnake, is to tie a leather thong or piece of cord tightly round the wounded limb, a little distance above the punctures, thrust a piece of stick underneath the ligature, and heave it up like a capstan with all his might. If a comrade be near, of course he does it; the cord must be tightened until it nearly cuts into the flesh. The upper ligature securely fastened, a second is adjusted below the wound, and twisted up similarly to the one above. If the man's lips are free from chaps or abrasions, he or his companion sucks at the puncture with all his might for a few seconds, and then with his knife scoops out a little ring of flesh from each puncture. The next proceeding is to shake some gunpowder upon the wounds, and to rub it in with considerable force, and, lastly, to pile up a good-sized heap of gunpowder upon the part hurt between the two thongs, and to touch it off with a light. Of course, this severely burns all the tissues, and completely blisters a large surface of skin. So far, the external treatment is accomplished, except that of opening the bladders produced by the gunpowder.

The bitten man has now to swallow copious doses of raw whisky, and keep moving; on no condition must he remain still, even though he should have to be rolled down a steep incline, as a last alternative. If once torpor and sleep come on, the end is nearly sure to be fatal. It is perfectly astounding the quantity of whisky or other powerful stimulant a person under the influence of snakepoison can drink, and yet feel no symptom of intoxication. As a

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