Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-28

fectly smooth, whereas under the same
magnifier the point Of a needle appears
rough. 1t often happens that an ignorant
person will remove the poison fangs Of a
venomous serpent imagining that the opera
ton renders the animal permanently harm
less. This mistake is apt to give rise to
fatal accidents. Within few days the
next two teeth behind the extracted faugs
move forward and establish connection
with the poison glands. Then the snake
is as dangerous as ever. Fakirs in India
understand more effective process. They
cut out the poison glands and apply hot
irons, destroying the parts entirely. Even
the deadly cobra may be rendered in that
way as innocuous as kitten.
My scientific ardor has never induced
me to try the effects of snake bites on my
own person. But several of the people at
tached to the staff of the National Museum
have been bitten. Mr.. SCHNEIDER permit
ted coral snake to bite him in order that
he might study the results. Our taxiderm-
list, Joseph Palmer, narrowly escaped a nip
from rattlesnake which was torpid and
came to life while he was handling it. DR..
Shufeldt was bitten by ella monster and
suffered considerably in consequence. A
man ought always to be willing to sacrifice
himself for the sake Of getting knowledge.
A certain person in the employ of the
Smithsonian Institution, whose name L
will discreetly withhold, found a peanut In
the stomach of a Peruvian mummy ana
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 rep
tiles from swarming on board. Great num-
bers Of them may often be seen floating on
the surface Of the water as IL asleep. They
are exceedingly fierce ard will commonly
attack human beings without provocation
From a shelf near by DR.. Stejneger lifted
down a bottle containing an enormous toad
He said that it was the biggest toad in the
world-that is to say, representative of
the largest known species. When fresh
specimen. 1t tipped the scales at nearly
four pounds.
There 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 large and old he-toad
and place him on a table upon red cloth.
Watch him all night carefully, and before
me rning he will vomit up his stone. That
Is the accepted recipe. at all events. Plenty
of toad-stones exist: they are of particu-
larry good ivory and are shaped somewhat
ike an acorn cup. Science however, has
discovered that these stones are actually
the teeth of an extinct species of shark.
Life History of the Frog.
THE toad is higher animal than the frog.
because it gives birth TO little air-breathing
toads, whereas the frog lays eggs that pro-
duce fish-like tadpoles. But the frog Is in
certain respects the most wonderful crea-
ture in the world. Think of a vegetable
eating fish with gills that turns into an air
breathing land animal, developing teeth and
becoming carnivorous quadruped That is
history nf ha frno ha frnrr hn.,
ribs and fewer vertebrate than any other
animal. 1t is Obliged to swallow by guips
the air ii breathes instead of projecting
its chest as We do and creating a vacuum
Tor the atmosphere to pour into. The big
gest frog is the gigantic believer of the
Louisiana swamps, which attains weight
of four pounds.
Here is a specimen of the flying lizard
with wing-like appendices. the framework
OF which is formed by extensions of the
rlDS one OF the queerest of lizards is the
Chameleon. which has lung so big that
when II is inflated, the body of the creature
appears transparent. 1t is like two animals
in one each half having movements and
feelings of its own. While one side is
asleep the other may be awake the ewes
act in concert apparently. The Department
OF Agriculture recently contributed to the
collection good many lizards of odd sorts
that were obtained from Death Valley and
nelghboring deserts. Some of them can run
npch faster than horse or greyhound
while others feed exclusively on flowers
ana you have only to cut one open in order
to get gorgeous bouquet More than one
Oh THESE desert species IS very good to eat"