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ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES 437who know nothing about other rattlers than thelittle prairie rattlesnake are not competent to expressan opinion on the subject.A bite from any venomous snake is dangerous, inproportion to the size of the snake, and to the amountof venom that enters the circulation. A bite thatdoes not pierce an important blood vessel is seldomfatal, even if no treatment is given, unless the snakebe quite large.The rattlesnake, copperhead, and cottonmouth areeasily distinguished from all other snakes, as allnostrilFig. 192.—Head of rattlesnake (after Stejneger)three of them bear a peculiar mark, or rather a pairof marks, that no other animal possesses.The markis the pit, which is a deep cavity on each side of theface between the nostril and the eye, sinking intothe upper jawbone. Its position is shown in theaccompanying cut (Fig. 192). All of them have anupright elliptical,instead of round, pupil in the eye.All venomous snakes have fangs, and no harmlessones have them. The fangs are in the upper jawonly. In the coral snakes they are permanentlyerect, but in the other venomous snakes here namedthey lie flat against the roof of the mouth, when notin use, pointing backward, and are erected by thereptile in striking. They are long, slender, sharplypointed, perforated like a hypodermic needle, andconnected by a duct with the venom glands which liebehind the e^-es. Auxiliary fangs lie in a sac underneaththe regular fang on each side, and, in case