An old Indian I once talked with told me of another
who was bitten on the hand, and said it swelled up the arm badly,
but he recovered. From some reason we never find specimens less
than 12 or 14 inches long, I never saw a young one. There is a
nice stuffed specimen, 18 inches long, in our museum here."
Sir John Lubbock's specimen, shown in the engraving herewith, for
which we are indebted to the London _Field_, is about 19 inches in
length. Its general color is a creamy buff, with dark brown markings.
The forepart of the head and muzzle is entirely dark, the upper eyelid
being indicated by a light stripe. The entire body is covered with
circular warts. It is fed upon eggs, which it eats greedily.
It would be interesting to know whether the northern specimens, if
venomous at all, are as fully equipped with poison bags and fangs as
Dr. Gunther finds the Mexican specimen to be. Some of our Western or
Mexican readers may be able to make comparative tests. Meantime it
would be prudent to limit the use of the "monster" as a children's
pet.
The foregoing appeared in the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN of Oct. 7, 1882.
We are now indebted to a correspondent, Mr. Wm. Y. Beach, of the Grand
View Mine, Grant County, Southern Arizona, for a fine specimen of this
singular reptile, just received alive. The example sent to us is about
twenty inches long, and answers very well to the description of the
monster and the engraving above given.
In the course of an hour after opening the box in which the reptile
had been confined during its eight days' journey by rail, it became
very much at home, stretching and crawling about our office floor with
much apparent satisfaction.
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