The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-13

and, like. the blue racer was always on
the lookout for boys. The hoop snake
differed uniquely from all other ophidia.
When in motion it was the habit of this
snake to insert the end Of its tail in its
mouth, and. bending its body into a per
feet circle, it would roll silently and with
Incredible swiftness through the woods.
The tail terminated in a horny spike,
harder than steal, in which was concealed
a sting Of the most Venomous dcscrtp ton,
and woebetide the object that came with
in striking distance OF this fearful wea-
pom. The virus In the tail was far more
toxic than the venom Of the rattlesnaks
or the tooth of copperhead, and was syn
onymous with instant death.
Fortunately, no boy was ever stung by
one of these snakes. His caution, his
prudence, and proverbial good luck al
ways enabled him to circumvent the ma
chinations of the enemy but 1t required
ceaseless vigilance on his part. Indeed,
but few boys ever saw one of these rep
tiles, although he was well aware Of their
existence. But at rare intervals some
youth favored with exceptional eyesight
and a vivid imagination would get a
glimpse of a hoop snake rolling It's way
along a distant path. Many a youngster
however, has seen a mighty oak dying
in the midst of the forest, and a close
inspection showed to his practiced eye
WAtIb the nOOp Sudhc Ill llH rage Hdu
thrust its poisoned horn into the mighty
bole. curdling the sap and bliEhting the
tree forever.
Another curious snake that used to in
terest youthful students of herpetology
was the glass snake" This remarkable
reptile was as unique In its way as the
hoop snake and was. moreover harm
less. AS far as its habits were known the
glass snake seemed 10 exist for the sole
purpose OF affording fun for the boys
who, when they encountered one of
them, hit Il across the back with a stick,
whereupon his snakeship broke into a
thousand pieces, more or less, according
to the mathematical proficiency OF the
boy, and his brittle anatomy flew In all
directions. Yet this singular proceeding.
while II interested the youthful expert
mentors greatly never disconnected the
snake, or only temporarily, for as soon as
left to Itself the parts all united and the
snake was whole as before. This inVa-
rlably happened. but although the boys
have watched for hours to see the mys-
terious process the reptile never got to-
gether' until they had departed. Glass
snakes are not nearly so common now,
nor are they so brittle as they used to be.
Scientific men say II is not a snake at
all, but a kind OF a lizard, but il Is diff
flcult TO get over the combined testimony
OF a million boys who have as sharp eyes
as the scientific men.
one fact In serpent history, however
remains the same IN spite Of the dicta OF
scientists as any boy to-day can tell The
tail OF a snake will wiggie after Il 10 killed
until the sun goes down. There isn't
boy In the whole country but knows this
TO be a rock-ribbed fact in natural his
tory. Learned men tell us that This notion
as they please TO call II, is a relic Of
far-dlstant time when our ancestors wor-
shipped the sun, which at one time was de-
picted with serpent attributes. Hence
they believed that when the sun, or the
serpent, sank below the horizon II was
dead, and thus came the superstition
about the snakes tail But every boy
knows that the tail wigeles from some
popularity OF the snake that he cannot
explain, and does not pretend to. He
knows OF the fact because he has seen
II with his own eyes more than once, and
no Ia not inclined 10 burden his mind with
Mr-fotehed explanations OF curious pro-
cess that Ii Just as natural 10 him as Il
Is that the cat should have nine lives.