the rest of the evening, my friend retired, leaving the Serpent and the rat together; and 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.”[1]
Though there are no external characters by which the venomous Serpents may invariably be distinguished from those which are harmless, yet
HEADS OF VIPERADÆ.
there is in most an aspect of malignity, which well indicates their deadly character. Their flattened head, more or less widened behind, so as to approach a triangular figure, their wide gape, and extensile tongue, and the sinister expression of their glaring eye, cause an observer to retreat with shuddering precipitancy. They are
- ↑ “British Reptiles,” 60.
