National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-08-09
ABOUT REPTILEs.


Well This scnson.
Globe. Democrat.
The poison of serpents Is secroted by |
glands, which arc evidently modification
Of those which, In other animals, secrete
tho saliva for tho purpose Of softening
and partially digostlng the food. Under
certain conditions tho saliva Of man and
most of the lower animals becomes pois-
onous. After several hours Of fasting.it has
been found that tho human saliva, whom
injected into the blood of rabbits, will pro-
duce death. Even that obtained from the
mouth Of q healthy infant will produce
this effect. IL Is we'll known that violent
emotions, particularly that Of anger,
deranges tho secretions which arc usually
harmless. This Is truo TO tho mothers
milk, and that such an effect should DO
observed In connection with tho saliva is
In no way surprising, in Wow Of its natur-
ally poisonous qualities when tho person
Is fasting. Serious results from wounds
produced by the bite Of an angry man are
sufficiently we'll known.
The poison gland of tho serpent ia pro-
vided with an excretory duct which opens
through deep groove on the outer sur
face Of tho poison fang. In the rattlo-
snake, and probably In other vonomous
serpents, the fang lios concealed in n
groove In tho lining membrane Of tho
mouth when not required for offensive
or defensive purposes. When the reptile
proposes to strike-for the act is not of
tho nature Of an ordinary bito--the fsngs,
two In number, in the upper jaw, arc
raised from their concealmont and pro-
jected forward; tho reptile throws his
whole body forward, and the poison fangs
penetrate tho object against which they
arc thrown. The poisonous material is
injected into tho prick or scratch mado
by the tooth by means Of tho muscles
which ordinarily close the jaws and by
some special muscles developed, appar-
emily, for the direct purpose Of compress
ing the gland. No instrument maker has
ever devised moro perfect apparatus for
hypodormic injection than that naturally
possessed by the venomous reptiles and
insects. The poison fangs arc made of
very hard and brittle material and arc of
slender form; thus there is great probss
bility Of tboir being broken. There 10,
consequently, ample provision against
accidents Of this nature in tho shape Of
reserve fsngs"--two or three Of those
rudimentary weapons being IN process of
development at oil times. As soon as
those in use are drawn out or broken off
one of the reserve fsngs worry soon grows
into the vacant place.
Brooklyn Eagle.
Samuel Moore, Of Jersey City, is visit
ing with his family at his wife's mothers,
In Montague Township, in tho mountains,
near the Delaware river. Last Sunday his
little daughter, A years old, went into the
yard to play. Presently she was heard
calling her grandmother, who went to
the door. The child clapped her hands
with delight and shouted to her to SEQ
what a pretty thing she had found. Tho
old lady went to the spot, and was Mortified
to discover that tho cause Of the child's
delight was a largo rattlesnake, coiled
ready to spring, and only three or four
feet away. The child was hurriedly
removed from danger and the grand
mother seized hoo and attacked the
reptile with the handle. The snake struck
the handle viciously several times with
its fangs before 1t was dispatched. While
she was engaged in killing tho snake she
discovered another one lying short
distance away in the path. She approached
it, when it coiled itself and awaited the
attack. 1t was killed by one blow of tho
| hoe handle.
The lively movements of tho old lady
in her yard attracted the attention Of a
neighbor, and he started across his garden
to SEQ what was going on. He had pro-
ceeded but . few steps when ho came face
to face with rattlesnake lying coiled in
his lettuce bed. He killed it, and hurried
on to the next yard, where his neighbol
seemed still to BIO busy. She had found
two more rattlesnakes and killed them
both. The ground in the vicinity wat
searched for others that might be linger
/ n ahnnt hnf N m fnn nd The
five snakes were very large ones, and foul
Of them had eleven rattles each tho fifth
had but seven. The singular part of the
story Is that rattlesnake was never seer
in that immediate vicinity before.
1t is not generally believed, even among
people who live In the neighborhoot
where snakes are common, that these
reptiles swallow their young in time
of danger or when they move from one
locality to another. While 1t ID wei
authenticated fact that many species o.
snakes do this. instances are rare wher
they have been seen In this act Such q
sight was witnessed few days since
Charles Wilson, VIM. Gould, and Harry
Lawrence, four boys who were black
berrying near this village, discovered {
garter snake in the bushes, which o.
once began to glide to and fro, uttering
peculiar Kissing sound. Suddenly tn,
snake stopped and lay fiat upon the ground
with its head raised q little and thu
mouth wide open. Instantly diminutiv,
snakes began to appear from all direc
tions. and one after another darted in al
the open month of the old snake and dis
appeared. A steady stream of younl
reptiles passed into their mothers throa
for more than a minute. When the las
one had entered tho mother snake wa
more than twice her natural size, and sh'
Immediately started to leave tho spot
One of the boys killed her. There wert
105 of the young snakes, and oil wer,
killed. The mother was but two feet ant
half long, and the young ones were o
an average length Of three inches, aggre
eating length of twenty-six feet slowed
away in the narrow compass Of the old
snakes body.