The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-06-01
ANCIENT MYTHS
ABOUT SNAKES
Some Old Traditions About
Reptiles
HAVE BEEN EXPLODED
Horned Toads Are Not Toads mt Ell
But Are Lizards. Declare Modern
Scientists-JuIius Hurtcr
Talks About Reptiles
From the Chicago Inter Ocean.

From the Chicago Inter Ocean.
Horned toads are not toads. They
are lizards. The whipsnake does not
use its tail as a whip when it attacks
its enemies. The glass snake does not
grow together again when it has been
broken. Our chameleons are not real
chameleons, and they do not really
change color, except when they swallow
too many flies and the dark bodies of
their victims show through their semi
transparent flash. Turtles do not hold
on It'll 1t thunders" when they bite an
object and then let go. They never let
go unless their jaws are pried apart.
There is no such thing as a ihoopsnake.
The snake exists, but the hoop making
characteristic does not. A rattlesnake' S
age cannot be computed by the number
of rattles he possesses. Usually the
older the snake the fewer the rattles.
These are the things that a herpetol-
ogist will tell you If you ask him, And
IL you are interested he will go fur
Their and explode many other popular
beliefs about snakes and their rela-
tons, telling you that these beliefs
are based upon superstition pure and
simple, and have been handed down,
most of them, in some form from the
time of the gods of Greece and Rome.
But all the time he is making you dis
believe the things that you have be-
lieved all your life he will tell you
others equally, remarkable and far more
interesting, because they are true.
The herpetologist will tell you about
the little frog no larger than your
thumb that lays her eggs and then,
after stringlng them together in nice
little bundle, hands them over to her
spouse to carry around with him until
the little tadpoles poke their heads
through the shells. He will tell you
that certain queer creature that looks
like mummified ella monster is the
oldest reptile known, and is closely
related to the prehistoric animals we
know only by a study of their fossil re-
mains.
Then, too he will show you a frog
that reverses the usual order of nature
and is the only member of the animal
kingdom that does. The male of this
species lays the eggs, depositing them
upon the back of the female, and there
they remain buried in the yielding
flesh till Matching time. This frog is
also different from all other frogs in
that the young do not go through the
usual metamorphoss from tadpole to
frog, but are frogs from the moment
of Matching.
He will tell you that there is only one
poisonous lizard in the world the ella
monster and that the venom of snake
reached the victim from the teeth and not
49, 1raf
are all turned backward to prevent the
escape of an animal they are swallowing.
and that very few of the tropical snakes
are poisonous.
The herpetologist will show you an eel
like creature with tiny fve-toed feet near
the head which lives in the weeds and
under the rocks at the waters edge and
lures its prey by its voice. This creature
is called siren and is said to be the
original of the sirens of mythology.
He will show you the dos cabesas 1.-TWO
heads, the lizard that has lost both legs
and eyes from disuse because only an ex-
pert can distinguish between the head
and the tail of 1t.
Then, as a final privilege he will show
you the real chameleon the lizard that
looks no more like a lizard than you do
like a gorilla, and will tell you more in
teresting stories about it than you ever
dreamed of In all your transformation
about the reptile world.
There Is no branch of natural history
that is. so little known as herpetology,
the science of reptiles, and none about
which there are more misconceptions.
Comparatively few scientists have gone
into the subject with a view to making
an exhaustive study of 1t, and far the
greater number have contented them
selves with the knowledge gained in a
general study of biology. Other forms of
animal life, even the lower forms, have
attracted the investigator far more
strongly than the reptiles and their cous-
ms, the amphibians and for that reason
the legends and folk tales about these
creatures have held sway SO long that few
people dare to contradict them even to-
day.
Julius Hurter of South St. Louis is rec
'ognized as a leading authority on the her
petology of western North America, and
one Of the few whose word regarding rep
tiles in any part of the world will not be
disputed. He owns the largest private
collection OF Psychological specimens in
the world, and his collection embra ces
several specimens that no museum In the
world possesses. Most of his specimens
he obtained himself. travelling far and
wide In his search for them. and having
the most interesting experiences in OBJ.
tanning them.
Mr.. Hurter is scientist for pure love
OF the work. In private life he is a
teacher of mechanical drawing, but few
except his neighbors in st. Louis know
him In that capacity. Natural history
is his paStime and herpetology is his
greatest pleasure.
His collection is full of interest even
to the typo. II you can at once rid your
self OF that feeling of dislike for the live
things, and as Mr. Hurter takes you,
step by step, along the development of
the species from the lowest to the high
est orders, and tells you incidents con-
nected with many of the specimens, YOU
find yourself .loath to leave those long
shelves and their hundreds of glass lars.
THE most interesting specimens to
me- said a recent visitor to Mr. Aur-
ter's collection. were the chamelons
possibly because they were most sur
prising Ny idea of a chameleon was
the little green lizard with a tiny gold
collar and chain that you find for sale
at every turn In Florida and on the
gulf coast I had owned dozens Of these
little beasts, and had watched them for
days, yainly hoping to see them change
color, and I believed that the color
changing propensity attributed to them
was as much a myth as the hoop-rolling
propensity of the hoop snake"
Mr.. Hurter's chamelons range from the
size of a small mole to that Of a. large
rat, and in the alcohol they range in
color from dingy black to a very light
t-ee-bark gray. They are covered with
thick, coarse skin, and they have queer
hoods on their heads. But their feet
are their most remarkable features. They
are like double hands on the ends OF
their legs, and fold together like a
pocket.
These creatures have no means Of de-