It is found in the sandy deserts of Egypt and the neighbouring countries, and is believed to be the Asp with which Cleopatra eluded the disgrace of becoming a prisoner to her Roman conqueror.
THE RATTLE-SNAKE, (Crotalus horridus,)
Is a native of the New World, and grows to five or six, and sometimes to eight feet in length, and is nearly as thick as a man’s leg. It is not unlike the viper, having a large head and small neck, and inflicting a very dangerous wound. Over each eye is a large pendulous scale, the use of which has not yet been ascertained; the body is scaly and hard, variegated with several different colours. The principal characteristic of this justly dreaded serpent is the rattle, a kind of instrument resembling the curb-chain of a bridle, at the extremity of the tail; it is formed of thin, hard, hollow bones, linked together, and rattling on the least motion. When disturbed, the creature shakes this rattle with considerable noise and rapidity, striking terror into all the smaller animals, which are afraid of the destructive venom that this serpent communicates to the wounded limb with his bite. The wound the Rattle-snake inflicts, through the uncommon sharpness and rapid fluency of the poison, generally terminates the torment and life of the unhappy victim in the course of six or seven hours.
A snake of this kind exhibited in London at a menagerie of foreign animals, in the year 1810, wounded a carpenter’s hand, who was repairing its cage, and seeking for his rule. The man suffered the most excruciating pain, and his life could not be saved, although medical assistance was immediately applied, and every effort made to prevent the dire effect of the poison. The proprietor was condemned to pay a deodand for the injury done by the serpent.