The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-08-19
A RATTLEsNAKE MATCHING.

While the life and movements of the deadly rattlesnake have become com
 paratively well known to those per- sons who have studied the reptile, the fact that the serpent is So vindictiv~, so closely associated with thrilling and creepy tales of desperate encounters in
 6arksome caverns, makes it of interest to most people, and its very replusiye- ness causes, it to attract.
 The snake is not very often seen in this city nowadays, and when a card bearing the words "Rattlesnake Eggs Watch Them Hatch,'' was placed in a King street window few days ago, a crowd immediately collected. The eggs were in a wide-mOuthed bottle, which was half filled with punk or decayed wood, and attracted considerable at- tention.
 They remained in the window of the store in the bend of King Street. and the two cocoon-liBe eggs, oval shaped and of a dirty cream color. like a last years cream sweater, displayed few signs of life.
 The Watch them hatch part of the poster was beginning to be openly ridculed by the sceptical passersby, and the messenger boys, always hard to convince of anything, wefe ready to pronounce them fakes, when yesterday morning about noon one of the eggs be- gan rolling about, which caused com motion among the bOot-blacks from Broad to Line Street.
 Soon very bald and very black head protruded from one end of the egg and the excitement became wilder and one might have thought it was baby show instead of merely rattlesnake.
 Watch i'm reach round and unbut- ton is tail" Screamed 8 very dirty shoeshiner, whose attire consisted mainly of smile and pair of trousers that came up. over the shoulders, do- ing away with the necessity of wearing a shirt. ;: K
 But the snake was too young to save buttons on his tail and he erawled out bidding defiance to a strange world by running in an out with incredible rapidity a small black forked tongue.
 He kept crawling and crawling un- til about four inches were out, and one lnarvelled where the long, slim body had been stored. At last the snake was out. He was able to walk on his first appearance and never said word, either of protest or appreciation, where- in he had human youngsters skinned a block. He at. once began making plans for escape and struck the thin glass until exhausted, when he ran his head under the decayed wood and, to all ap- pearances, dropped into doze. -, The other egg has not hatched, though it is possible that the warm sun will bring it out in a few days.
 MT. Von Oven, in whose window the eggs can be seen. opposite the Calhoun Hotel, received the eggs from Max Rothkingel, and they came from Hell Hole Swamp. MT. Rothkingel is with the United States Department of Agriculture bureau of forestry.
 The rattlesnake representing the highest type of serpent development and specialization. has been studied carefully by Scientists and others. The venom apparatus of the rattier is the most complete and effective con- trivance imaginable for injecting the poisonous fluid into the circulation of a victim, and one dose usually brings about the desired result-the desired result of the snake. The venom is pale yellow in color. The immediate effect of the bite" is severe burning pain, followed in 10 or 15 minutes by prostra- tion with dizziness, vomiting and cold sweats; the heart action becomes very feeble and the pupil dilates. Several hours sometimes before the victim ex- News and Courier. |