A small rattle-snake.
1842. This animal is commonly known under the name Massasaugua, a word of Inidan origin.—Holbrook, ‘North American Herpetology,’ iii. 32. (N.E.D.)
1850. Bless your lawful sakes, you do n’t call this woods, do you? There ain’t no bears, nor many wolves nor mas-san-gers [sic] round here.—Knick. Mag., xxxvi. 75 (July). (Italics in the original.)
