Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 15, NIC-PAR

Jfi4 - O P H I O
'Miscella- most brilliant animal colours. Thus, in the ordinary
•neous Ob- cabinet liquors, the fine red of the hsemachate snake
nervations degenerates into a dark brown, scales of a bright green
v _ or blue become somewhat pale, yellow always whitens,
and orange changes to red or pale. White, brown,
black, purple, mother of pearl, and metal-coloured
scales are not liable to change. The following is an
approved recipe for preserving the various colours of
serpents entire.
Take very pure spring water, saturate it with alum,
then mix with it about one-fifth of its bulk ol very lim¬
pid spirit of wine, pass the mixture through a paper
strainer, and keep the liquor well corked up in bottles,
in some cool and shady situation. Immerse the animal
which you wish to preserve in a vessel filled with this
liquor, and allow it to remain in it 24 hours. The ves¬
sel and its included liquor should be reserved for this
preliminary process. Then remove the reptile into a.
cylindical vessel of fine glass, filled to three-fourths ol
its height with the liquor above described, and closed
EXPLANATION of PLATES CCCLXXI,
Fig. I. Carinated Scale.
— 2. Plain Scale.
3. Tail of Coluber Snake.
— 4. Tail of Boa.
j. Fang or Tooth through which the poison is
conveyed. . .
Fig. 6. The head of poisonous snake furnished with
fangs, a a a a. _ <
Fig. 7. The head of innoxious snake without langs.
8. Crotalus Horn'dus, Banded Battle-Snake.
— 9. Boa Constrictor.
LOGY.
with a glass cover. Lute the latter with mastic and MisceUa-
hogs grease ; put the vessel on a shelf that is sheltered neons Ob-
from heat and the solar rays; and at the end of two ^'rvatioim
months, if the mastic be dry, and you wish the jar to
remain closed, paint the luting with an oil colour} but
if you intend to open it frequently, use only the hogs
grease.
Beptiles may also be conveniently preserved accord¬
ing to the method indicated by Chaussier, in the Bul¬
letin des Sciences, (for Prairial, year 10, N° 63.),
without the previous trouble of preparing the skin.
All that is required, is to stuft the cavities with cot¬
ton, and to immerse the body in distilled water, satu¬
rated with super-oxygenated muriate ol mercury j and
when it has sufficiently imbibed the saline solution in
all its parts, to allow it to dry slowly in a well aired
situation, screened from the sun and dust. All the
parts of the animal harden, and are thus defended
from the voracity of insects, and corruption of every
kind.
CCCLXXII, CCCLXXIII, and CCCLXXIV.
Fig. 10. Coluber Berus, Common Viper.
ix. —— Cerastes.
12. Laticaudatus, Colubrine Hydrus.
— 13. Langaya Nasuta, Snouted Langaya.
— 14. Acrodiordus Javanicus, Javan Acrochor-
dus.
44g. 15. Anguis Corallinus, Coral Slow-worm.
__ 16. Amphisbcena Alba, White Amphisbtena.
Fuliginosa, Fuliginous Am-
phisbaena.
Fig. 18. Ceecilia Tentaculata, Eel-shaped Csecxha.
INDEX.
A.
Acrochobdus, characters and
species of, N°Ii6
Anato?ny o( serpents, *2—41
Anguis, characters and species of, 119—126
imphisbeena, characters, &c. 127—*130
Asp, 79
B.
Banded rattle-snake, history of, 55
Boa, characters, species, and history
of, 60—71
Black snake, 93
Black-tailed rattle-snake, 59
Blue and green snake, 95
G.
Canine boa, ^5
Cerastes, t 81
Crotalus, characters and species of, 53 59
natural history of, ih*
Cobra de Capello ^4
Coluber, character, species, and history
of, 72—101
Constrictor boa, ^1
Coach-whip snake, N° 96
Ccecilia, characters, &c. 132 135
D.
Domestic snake, 100
E.
Embroidered boa, 66
Fasciated boa,
G.
Garden boa,
H.
68
67
Horn-nose snake, 82
Hydrus, characters and species of, 106— 112
Iridescent snake, I05
Langaya, characters and species, 114, 115
Lineated snake. 102
M.
Miliary rattle-snake, 5^
Ophiology, introduction to, 1
N° 2—n
ib.
Ophiology, history of,
writers on,
P.
Physiology of serpents, 42 5^ i
Poison of serpents, I3®
experiments on by Bedi, ib.
by Fontana, ib.
cure of,
B.
Rattlesnake, characters, species, and
history of, 53"”39
Ringed boa, 4
snake, 92
Russellian snake,
S-
Serpents, anatomy of, 12 41
physiology of, 42 5/
worship of, *30|
enchantment of, I37'
poison of, 12
preservation of, *39
Striped rattle-snake, 3