BUSHMASTER (*master of the bush'). The largest known venomous snake (Lachesis mut us) , a pit-viper of the rattlesnake family, closely re lated to the fer-de-lance, and inhabiting the Amazonian region. "In length it equals the hamadryad, and in thickness the large African viper." Specimens 9 feet in length were meas ured by Catherine Hopley. who thinks the snake may sometimes exceed this length; but Water ton's often-quoted description of size and 'rain bow colors' is certainly greatly exaggerated. In color it is pale yellow, darker on the back and lighter below, with a chain of rich chocolate brown jagged rhomboid spots, edged with a darker color, along the back. The tail tapers suddenly, and terminates in several "rows of spi ral scales, which are slightly recurved or hooked at their summit," forming the rudiments of a rattle, and ending in a horny tip or spine. Its teeth and poison apparatus resemble those of a rattlesnake and the fangs are immense, making it a most deadly serpent, and one very greatly dreaded. It is said to prey largely upon other snakes. and its venom has been utilized in medi cine. It is terrestrial in habits, not climbing trees, but living in dens and holes in the ground, and frequenting river-banks. Darwin made the following interesting remarks upon it in his A Naturalist's Voyage (London, 1860) : "envier . . . makes this a sub-genus of the rattlesnake, and intermediate between it and the viper. In confirmation of this opinion, I ob served a fact, which appears to me very curious and instructive, as showing how every character, even though it may he in some degree indepen dent of structure, has a tendency to vary by slow degrees. The extremity of the tail of this snake
is terminated by a point, which is very slightly enlarged; and as the animal glides along, it con stantly vibrates the last inch; and this part striking against the dry grass and brushwood produces a rattling noise, which can be distinctly heard at the distance of 6 feet. As often as the animal was irritated or surprised its tail was shaken, and its vibrations were extremely rapid. . . . This Trigonocephalus has, therefore, in some respects the structure of a viper with the habits of a rattlesnake; the noise, however, being produced by a simpler device." This habit of vibrating the tail when excited is, however, common to many serpents, as, for example, the North American copperhead (q.v.). The French name for this snake is is muet and 'bushmaster' is sometimes applied in Guiana to any large and dreaded serpent. The native name most widely accepted is surucueti. Consult: Hopley, Snakes (London, 1882) ; Bates, A Nat uralist on the Ricer Amazon (New York, 1884) ; _Moles and Urieh, "Serpents of Trinidad," in Pro ceedings, Zoological Society of London (London, 1894). See colored Plate of FOREIGN VENOMOUS SERPENTS, with the article SNAKE.