San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-03-17
REPTILES AS THEY ARE.

TIN VIC NtWS.J
The persistency with which man
kind has clung to erroneous notions
concerning snakes Is, TO say the least
curious. Some stories are so fal
fetched that like bad ore they can OF
contain enough of the genuine metal
to repay the trouble of smelling. But
others are of such tempting mixture
| that they deserve an examination so
that the gold of truth may be extract
ed tefore they be thrown aside as
rubbish.
We know better nowadays than to
believe in the 'lingue sufiusa veneno,"
but it Is nevertheless true that most
persons will exclaim, Look at his
stingw when they see the sharp fork
ed tongue of q snake. The reason of
this error is self evident.
In South America We hear the story
of the snake with the sting in his
tail. He is said to be moro deadly
than any other on account of his
double armament. OF course this is
not true, but still there is in 1t little
truth Just enough to flavor the
oNoE thO h'by oho
rolling forest lands of South Ameri-
ca from Panama to Brazil there is
found that largest of all deadly
snakes. the bushmaster. He is unique
in the serpent world on account VI
the popularity on his scales. Every
scale Is raised into little knob ex-
actly like the protuberances on the
rough surface OF pineapple. Hence
he is called in Venezuela "Coaima de
PIMA" or pineapple viper.
Among the Creoles OF Trinidad, the
only West Indian island where he
exists, he has the title of "Mapepi
ZsDana," which has the same mean
ing. Toward the end OF his tail each
scale is prolonged into q little spine.
increasing In length to the last or
terminal one, which is many times
longer than the others, and in full
grown specimens varies from a half
to three quarters OF an inch in length.
This spine is entirely innocent of
poison and never brought into use
either for offensive or de
fensive purposes. The propen-
sity of the ignorant to associate
the ideas of venom and malignity
confusedly with every thing belonging
to snakes has transformed this harm
less caudal ornament into Oh instru-
ment of Vengeance and death. This.
without doubt, gives rise to the story
of the snake with the sting In his
tall, a needless exaggeration of the
powers of this largest OF all deadly
snakes. A few years ago one was
killed at TOGO, in Trinidad, which
measured Is IL feet.
That q snake can spit in the human
sense of the word is utterly impos-
sible, as any one can see who who
will examine the mechanism OF the
mouth. There is muscular action
implied in the word spit which for
bids our using It when speaking of
any effort that snake can make; for
in reptiles the lips have no muscular
power, Independent OF the bony
framework to which they are at
tached. Nevertheless it Is true that
there are snakes which can eject VEN
ON into the eyes of an assaiiant.
There il force by which the poison
ordinarily: .ipjected into the wounds
made by. the fangs may be in
stead squirted into the eyes Of a
human being or animal approaching
too closely or prying too curiously
into the face OF an alarmed serpent,
and that force Is the pressure exerted
on the poison glands in the act OF
striking. But this must have rarely
if ever happened in America, as the
curvature of the faDgs in American
deadly snakes almost precludes such
8 possibility. But with the Indian
and African cobra and their relatives
such thing is not only possible but
easy.
In the rattlesnake, the copperhead,
the moccasIn, and, in fact, in all vi
pers both of the Old aud New World,
the fangs are only erect when the
mouth Is open, and even then they
are SO curved downward and the aper
ture by which the venom makes its
exit comes out at such an acute
angle with the point of the fang that
even il the deadly fluid were elected
through it's course would be rather
horizon tai, or even downward, so that
it would not reach the eyes OF a man
b standing upright. With the genus
Maize, however, it is tar otherwise. 1t
must be understood that to this and
some aliied general belong all the
famous and terrible snakes of Africa
aud India, known generally under
the name of cobra. In these the Sc
erection of venom is perhaps more
abundant, but there are pecuIaritles
connected with their fang arrange.
mept and methods of striking.
As an example of American poison
snakes take the rattle snake, and of
the cobra class the black cape cobra
(sepedon bamachates). Now the
rattlesnake's faDgs are only erect In
in the act of striking, while those OF
the sepedon are always partially
erect. When the sepedon ordinarily