DEATH ADDER. 24 DEATHS-HEAD MOTH. cially the spiiietailcd Acontliophis mitdiclicus, which is widely distributed from South Aus- tralia to the .Moluwas. and resembles in form and color an American rattlesnake. The end of the tail "is laterally compressed, beset with a few rows of lar^ie imbricating scales, and ter- minates in a thin, liorny spine." Dr. Gadow thinks the use of tliis peculiar tail "very prob- ably consists in attracting or fixing the attention of small animals; the snake, lying coiled up on a dry and sandy spot, slightly raising and vi- brating the tip of the tail." It feeds mainly on frogs and young binis. . other species greatly feared is the larger and more cylindrical purplish adder {Pseudechis porpliyriaceiis) , or 'black- snake,' which may reach seven feet in length, and is purplish-black, varying in different speci- mens to dark olive-brown, with carmine sides and red belly, specked jvitli black. A third species, especially dangerous, although smaller, because of its resemblance to the harmless serpents, is the short death adder {Holocephaliis ciirtiis), also known as the broad-headed, tiger, or brown- banded snake. It is very variable, but the head, which has a peculiarly square outline, is "gen- erally uniform black, the body olive color, with broad lirown or black cross-bands, the hinder part of the body . . . blackish, and tlie whole of the under parts light-yellow." Its venom is immediately fatal to animals generally, but seems not to be so to itself or other poisonous snakes. Thirty or more young are brought forth annually by a single pair, and the species is common every- where on the Continent. It buries itself in the ground during the cold season. The genus Holo- ce|)ha]us has several other species in .Vustialasia and the south seas. One of these, the large-scaled ( Holocephulus xtipcrbiis) , is the dreaded dia- mond snake of Tasmania : another is the smaller, broad-headed snake {Holoccphalus roiiV;/oh(,<) of the neighborhood of Sydney ; a third ( Holo- cephulus iiigrcscens) . of the southeastern coast of Australia, is remarkable for its white tongue. Consult Kreft. S>mkesofA iistralia (Sydney, 1809) . DEATHBED, Law of. A peculiar doctrine of the Scott isli law, derived from the later Roman law, whereby if any man. wliile suffering from the disease of which he ultimately died, burdened or conveyed away his heritable estate to the prejudice of his lawful heir, lie was presiimcd to have so acted in consequence of his inability to resist importunity in the state of feebleness to which he was reduced, and his heir was en- titled to avoid the deed. Two tests were fixed upon by the law as establishing the existence of a requisite degree of capacity — viz. survival of the donor for sixty days, and his going unsup- ported to kirk or market. It was of no conse- quence that the object of the visit was neither to worship nor to buy and sell, but simply to evade the law of deathbed. Tf the individmil was in a condition to take part in the service of the church, or in the trade of the market, that was sufileient. Extreme old age. accompanied bv manifest indications of the approach of death. were held equivalent to disease. But the deed of the oldest or most infirm man. or of the man who was laboring under the most mortal sick- ness. Avas not voidable if another disease had supervened of which he died, or if he were killed by accident. See Dirkss: I'n'due iNFI.rENCE. DEATH-CUP. See FfNGi, Edible and Poi- 60N01 S. DEATH DUTIES. The comprehensive Eng- lisli term for a variety of specific dutiqs levied under acts of Parliament on the estates of de- ceased persons. Included inder the term are (1) probate duties, (-2) account duties, (3) legacy duties, (4) succession duties, and (5) estate duties. ■ The probate duty dates back to the year 1694, and was a stamp duty levied as the price of ob- taining i)robate or letters of administration. It has now, since 1894, lieen superseded by the estate duty. The account duty was of later origin, and was payable by the beneficiary of a deeeilent. It has also been superseded by the estate duty. The legacy duty was created by statute 20 "Geo. III., c. 28 ( 1780), and is a stamp tax on receipts given by legatees to executors for their legacies. It varies in amount from 1 to 10 per cent, of the legacy, according to the nearness of the relationship of the legatee to the decedent. When the legatee is a lineal de- scendant or ancestor of the deceased, the duty (1 per cent.) need not be paid if an estate or other death duty has been paid. Succession duty was created by act of Parliament in 1853 ( 16 and 17 Vict., e. 51), and consists of a tax vary- ing from 1% to IPo per cent, (according to the degree of consanguinity) levied on the bene- ficiary of real property passing by descent or otherwise on the death of another. The estate duty is a recent addition to the list of death duties, haAing been created in 1894 (57 and 58 Vict., c. 30). It is of a more general character than the earlier duties, being levied on all prop- erty, real or personal, "which, on the death of any person after August 1, 1894, or at a period ascertainable only by reference to such death, jiasses either immediately or after an interval, either certainly or contingently," to another. This tax is in some cases additional to other death duties, and in other cases in lieu thereof. Taken together, these several duties constitute a most comprehensive system, which is being imi- tated in many of its features in the Vnited States. (See Iniieritaxoe Tax: Svccessiox.I Consult: Hanson, Death Duties; Encyclopcedia iif the Laus of Knqland (London, 1807), vol. i., 71 : vol. iv., 120. DEATH OF Cffi'SAR, The. A painting by Ccruiue (1867). now in the possession of the .stor family. It rc])rcsents Ca?sar lying at the foot of Pompey's statue, surrounded by the con- spirators, in the Senate House. DEATH OF GENERAL WOLFE, The. A well-known jiainling by Sir Benjamin West I 1771). now hanging in Grosvenor House, Lon- don. It represents the famous English com- mander dying in the arms of his soldiers, as the I'reneh colors are being brought to him. DEATH OF MAR'LOWE, The. A tragedy by 1!. II. Ibinic ils:;7i. ;iiid founded on the ilranialic l';itc- of the IClizabethan playwright. DEATH-RATE. See Vital Statistics. DEATH'S-HEAD MOTH ^ .cherontia Atro- pos. ~|Kcii'< of liawk-moth (q.v.). widely distributed over the Old World. It measures almost five inches from tip to tip of the extended wings: is dark in inUn-, the body yellow with black markings, the thorax with pale markings hich have some resemblance to a skull, and from which it derives its name: the upper wings mottled with brown, black, and yellow. The
