Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1901-04-12
STARVATION PROLONGED.
In the Case of Snakes 1t Is a Proc
eas That Requires Much Time.


ess That Requires Much Time.
Few persons have a partiaity for
snakes, but it does seem a cruel thing to
deliberately starve two inOffensive rep
tiles to death before putting them in a
jar Of alcohol for preservation as speci-
mems. This was and probably is being
done at a room in the Smithsonian insti-
tuition by scientist who calmly conduct
ed his classification unheeding the fright
ful suffering close beside him. The Wis
itOr to the professors room was engaged
in watching an assistant drawing a Gu
ban boa constructor. which he did from
the life, or rather the death, the defunet
reptile being hoisted out Of its jar every
now and then by means Of a huge pair
Of pinchers and accurately scaled with a
pair of cOmpasses. All around, upon
shelves, tables and floor, were jars, large
and small containing a vast variety Of
snakes, frogs, lizards, etc, all rendered
long since harmless.
A faint rustling sound, however, be-
came at length so distinctly audible that
the fear Of a specimen having. by some
means or other, broken loose became al
most inevitable. The assistant, being
questioned, merely pointed to a wooden
box with Il screen top which had hitherto
escaped the visitors notice and which.
being more cluscly examined, was found
to contain two adders. They had been
caught not far from the District and had
occupied their present quarters ever since
last summer without food and water
The immense vitality of snakes, which
enables them to 30 without food for sew
erai months, is accountable for their hold
ing out so long, but it must also be re-
membered that the sufferings of starva-
ton are increased in proportion with this
same amount of vital force in the victim
One of the adders was shedding its
skin, the dry. fiaky. colorless substance.
as it peeled off, revealing a beautifully
( marked undersurface. Somewhat to the
establishment of the spectator the assist
ant quietly opened the lid of the box and
assisted the snake in its shedding proc
ess by taking hold of the portion already
of and pulling it with as much unconcern
as though it were a glove on his hand.
/ The adder did not attempt to bite. nor
did it seem at all disposed to resist the
attentions of the professors assistant.
Left TO itself, it continued to unburden
! itself of its old clothing, as it were. and
to reveal the gorgeous raiment with
which nature had provided it. The snake
]
/ posed to crawl through narrow opening
or rub itself against some rough surface
as the bark of u tree. That il can, how
ever, dispense with any such assistance
! with little or no Inconvenience was suffi-
/ GENTLY demonstrated by the adder in
| question accomplishing the end very eff
ciently by muscular action alone. The
movement Of the ribs. by which the snake
progresses, peels the old skin of. the en-
/ tire process lasting. in the case Of a snake
three feet long. about three-Quarters Of
an hour.
A few pebbles in the box and tin
water can which was well nigh eaten by
rust from disuse were eagerly examined
every now and then by the starving
creature in search of food. while its com
panion. small gray adder. had evidently
long since given it up as a bad job and
had coiled itself up in a corner, apparent
~ lifeless.
1t may be remarked. generally, that the
serpent, ever since the garden of Eden
episode has been much maligned ami
NAL. So far from wishing to intrude in
human affairs. it has ever sedulously
sought to avoid mankind. and it seldom
strikes unless first attacked. except for
food. II is a fact that among the pres
ent large number of snakes in the ZOO
logical park only one. a king snake. has
been taught to dispense with live food.
Yet it is a well known fact that snakes
can be educated to feed exclusively upon
the meat of animals that have already
been killed. The fact that they prefer
and apparently require live animals
arises from the habit acquired by them
in state of nature where they. OF
course. could procure no other kind OF
Washington Times.