The morning news., 1894-08-06
nearly all water-snalzes. Pythons iucu-
Oate their eggs after laying them.
THE POISON GLANDS.

nearly all water-snakes. Pythons iucu-
oate their eggs after laying them.
THE POISON GLANDS.
The tooth of rattlesnake or cobra is
so sharp an instrument that beneath n
powerful microscope the point looks per
4ecIIl snooth, whereas under the same
magnlher the point of a needle appears.
rougn- IL often happens that an ignorant
person VIII remove the poison fangs of a
Venomous serpent imagining that the on
Grafton renders the animal permanently
harmless This mistake is apt to give
rise TO fatal accidents. Within a few
days the next two teeth behind the ex-
tracted fangs move forward and estab-
nSh' connection with the poison glands
1hen the snake is as dangerous as ever.
taklrs in India understand a more effect
i've process. They cut out the poison
glands and apply hot irons, destroying
Jhe parts entirely. Even the deadly
cobra may be rendered in that way as in
nOCuOuS as kitten
MY scientific ardor has never induced
me 10 try the effects of snake bites on nv
own person. But several of the people at
tached to the staff of the National Nu
scum have been bitten. MIR. Schindler
permitted coral snake TO bite him in or
der that he might study the results. Our
taXldermlst, Joseph Palmer, narrowly es-
capped nip from rattlesnake which
was torpid and came to life while ne was
handling it. DIR. Shufeldt was bitten bv
a Glla monster and suffered considerably
IN consequence. A mau ought always to
be willing to sacrifice himself for the sake
or getting knowledge. A certain person
In the employ of the Smithsonian institu-
tlon, whose name l will discreetly with
hold, found peanutin the stomach of
Peruvian mummy and ate it, He wanted
to see if anything would happen.
BIGGEST TOAD IN THE WORLD.
Among the most venomous serpents in
the world are the marine snakes of the
Indian ocean. They are the dread of the
fishermen, and it sometimes happens that
vessels are obliged to thread their cables
through barrels in order to prevent the
reptiles from swarming on board Great
numbers of them nay often be seen float
ing on the surface of the wafer as if
asleep. They are exceeding fierce and
VIII commonly attack human beings with
out prOvocation -
From a shelf near by DR.. Stejrieger
lifted down bottle containing an enor-
nous toad. He SAID that it was the big
gest toad in the world-that is to say, a
representative of the largest known
species. When fresh specimen il tipped
the scales at nearly four pounds.
'Ihere are ever SO many superstitiOns
about toads,' remarked the doctor, but
the most interesting of them relates to
the stone in the tOad's head Every
toad is supposed to carry such a stone,
which is a charm against poisons and the
evil eye. To get one, take a large and old
he-toad and place him on a table upon a
red cloth Watch him all night carefully,
and before morning he will vomit up his
stone That is the accepted recipe, at all
events. Plenty of -toad-stOGes exist; they
are of particularly good ivory and are
shaped somewhat like an acorn cup. Sci
ence, however, has discovered that these
stones are actually the teeth OF an extinct
species Of shark.
LIFE HISTORY OF THE FROG.
"TLe toad is a higher animal than the
frog, because it gives birth to little air
breathing toads, whereas the frog lays
eggs that produce fish-like tadpoles. But
the frog IS In certain respects the most
wonderful creature in the world. Think
of vegetable-eating fish with gills that
turns into an air-breathing land animal,
developing teeth and becoming carniv-
orOus quadruped. That is the history of
the frog. The frog has no ribs and fewer
vertebrae than any other animal. It is
obliged to swallow by gulps the air it
breathes, instead of projecting its chest
as we do, and Creating'a vacuum for the
Atmosphere to. poarainto. The biggest
frog is the gigantic believer of the
Louisiana swamps, which attaius a
weight of four pounds.
Here is a specimen af the flying liz
ard, with wing-like appendages, the
framework of which is formed by exten-
sions of the ribs, One Of the queerest of
lizards is the chameleon, which has a
Lung so big that, 5wEen ii in inflated, the
body OF the creature appears transparent.
1t Is like two animals in one, each half
having feelings and movements of its
own. While one side is asleep the other
may be awake the eyes have separate
motions and the limbs do not act in con
cert, apparently. The department of ag-
riculbure recently contributed to the col
lection good many lizards of odd sorts
that We're obtained from Death Valley
and neighboring deserts. Some of them
con run much faster than horse or grey
hound, while others feed exclusively on
flowers, and you have only to cut open
one In order to get a GORGEOUS bounuet