Page:A Topographical Description of the State of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana.djvu/59

51 less active and destitute of rattles. Their bite is not considered so dangerous as that of the rattle snake. They have five or six very small poisonous teeth, placed in the same sack, on each side of the upper jaw; the rattle snake has only one on each side, but are very large. The moccason snake, which is very common in the Carolinas, has been seen in some parts of the State, but very rarely. In the prairies, a very small rattle snake, about the size of a man's finger, and ten or twelve inches in length, is frequently found among the grass. They are called the prairie rattle snake, and are said to be venomous. These are all the poisonous snakes found in this country. There are two kinds of water snake; the backs are black, and the belly of the one is a bright red, and of the other of an ash colour. The other snakes are the common black snakes; some with a ring round the neck, but the most of them have none; the striped and green snake, and the speckled snake, usually called the house adder. Lizards, of various colours, and some of them very beautiful and active, are plenty. At the falls of Point Creek, a remarkably large water lizard has been taken with the hook, while fishing for the cat and other fish. The form is that of a lizard; the skin, in colour and smoothness, resembles the New England pout; the legs short, and the tail flattened like an eel. When a pressure is made on the body, thick, milky matter, in large drops, and perfectly white, exudes from the pores