. Birds of other lands, reptiles, fishes, jointed animals and lower forms;. Zoology; Birds; Reptiles; Fishes. SNAKES 199 splinters of wood into its head, so that it resembled the rarer horned variety. The PuFF- ADDER, the lary;est member of its tribe, ma)' attain to a length of 6 feet or more, and is distributed throughout the African Continent. Its thicl!'I'ER-iieai > or MrxrAssix- All these are notoriously venomous, fatal effects from bites received by human subjects being of frequent recurrence. The are especiall)' distinguished b_\- the peculiar, loosely jointed,
. Birds of other lands, reptiles, fishes, jointed animals and lower forms;. Zoology; Birds; Reptiles; Fishes. SNAKES 199 splinters of wood into its head, so that it resembled the rarer horned variety. The PuFF- ADDER, the lary;est member of its tribe, ma)' attain to a length of 6 feet or more, and is distributed throughout the African Continent. Its thicl!'I'ER-iieai > or MrxrAssix- All these are notoriously venomous, fatal effects from bites received by human subjects being of frequent recurrence. The are especiall)' distinguished b_\- the peculiar, loosely jointed, horny appendage to their tails, b}' the rapid \-ibration of which, when disturbed, they fortunatel)' give timely notice of their presence. In the young individuals this rattle is only represented b}' a single button-like knob, additional loose, hollow, horny rings being added between it and the scaly termination of the tail as age increases. In full-grown examples the horny rings composing the rattle ma_\' number as many as twent}' or more, though, owing to the war of extermination incessantly le\ied against these reptiles in all civilised areas, it is rarely that such elaborate rattle-bearers are now met with. The rattle- snake, in the more northern districts of its distribution, hibernates in the winter, often congregating together in great numbers for the sake of the mutual warmth. In the earlier days certain ca\'es were famous as the retreats into which not onh' hundreds but thousands of the reptiles would congregate from the country round for their winter's slumber. At such times hunting-parties were specially organised for their wholesale destruction, and accomplished much towards reducing their ranks to their present numbers. In addition to the common North American rattle-snake there are some four or fi\'e other species distributed throughout the Southern States, Mexico, and Panama. None appear to exceed a length of 6 feet. In South America their place is to a large ex
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecad, booksubjectfishes, booksubjectzoology
