The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-31

no affinity, and to the darby a man who
hunts snakes is In league with the pow
ers OF darkness. Mr.. Bitmars lately cap
tured a hog nosed snake in cottonield.
The negroes call these serpents spread
in addcrs" and consider them terribly
dangerous, although the bite is about as
bad as the pinch of Jersey skeeteT. n
hognosed snake, like the possum, is an
actor and his fsNorite role is playing
dead As soon as the naturalist Ialu hoiu
of tho tail Of this terrible "spreadlh au,
der II gave one despairine flicker and
apparently YIELDED up the ghost.
ITS trafficking with Old Nick but I've
got to bring that snake back TO me- !
need him in my laboratory, remarked
the hunter.
20 Gawd sake. doan yo' do it, boss,
pleaded the negroes who had gathered
around. The naturalist made a few
passes over the snake and warned the
negroes To move back, - the birthstone
wouldn't strike them. The snake seeing
the coast clear turned tail and ran. The
darkies screamed and in the confusion
there was the scratch of n sulphur match
on the hunters trousers and an uncanny
piece of phosphorus burned on the
ground. The 'spreadn' adder was aft
erward captured alive. The field darlSies
laid off early that afternoon and went to
consult yoodoo doctor.
y rattlesnake is fairly easy to capture
because he is consummately brave,
never runs from an enemy, and his warn
ing rattle il unmistakable Skirt the Dor
watch the waVering shadows of the Toll
age on the ground. Presently these shad-
ows if You watch sharply seem to dart
ahead in a straight line. with brassy
whirr coming from somewhere around
The darling line is a Acknowledgement rat
tier whose curiously marked skin is IN
exact imitation OF the palmetto shade
The diamond-hack Is the most deadly OF
his tribe. In the West the varieties OF
rattlers there found inhahit barren rocky
places and the tall grass OF pralrles.
tod
Cilessly, for he is valuahLS to the medical
man for his toxins and to the naturalist
because out Of the eleven varieties in the
United States the habits and looks OF not
more than five are well known.
In spite Of their deadly poison. the hunt
ing of venomous snakes is not any more
dangerous, if as dangerous. as the hunt
ing of boars OF tigers or lions in India.
Tine reason is that no snake. except the
coral snake, is likely to attack without
PROPAGATION. The danger to students of
snakes is ali in the familiarity bred by
close acquaintance.
For example less than a year ago Prof
Percy Selouse, of Michigan, well-known
naturalist, and a cousin of the African
explorer and scientist of the same name,
was Killed by the bite OF a pet moccasin-
Prof. Selouse was in the habit of taking
the snake to bed with him on cold nights
to keep ii warm. One night he got up in
the dark to nut the snake back in its
box and accidentally pinched the moe
casins tail in the door. lt turned on him
and sunk its fangs into his flesh and he
died four days afterward from the bite.
Mr.. Ditmars relates that he one time
knocked glass jar out of his office win
dow and broke 1.-THE same jar in which
a rattlesnake had been kept. II gather
ing up the broken pieces he cut his hand
slightly. For weeks afterward his life
was despaired of. His hand and arm
from finger tip to shoulder is today a
mass of terrible scars.
A New York naturalist. bitten by
coral snake in Florida last year, died
within forty-fve minutes.
An attendant at the Smithsonian In
stitution. Washington. ten years ago, In
trs nsfertng a rattlesnake from one jar to
u.ther, was bitten on the forefnger. Al
tn Ugh every known remedy was applied
h barely escaped death. For eight years
aft rward on the return of the season the
finger sloughed off 10 the bone. Two years
ago mysterious East Indian remedy
was brought to him from Rangoon, In
dia. by friend. At the first soreness in
the finger he applied the Indian herbs.
ara has twice escaped the annual
plague.-The Brooklyn Eagle.