The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-07-26
MISTAKEN BELIEF
 ABOUT TROPICAL FAUNA & FLORA
Veteran Scientist Discloses Myths That Are in Chil-
 dren's Minds

Curator British Guiana Museum,
 etc. for the Springfield Republi-
 can.) ~ 4ss
 The tropical forests are generally considered full of dangers. Large beasts. poisonous snakes and insects are supposed to be always ready to attack people who trespass on their domains. As a matter of fact, how ever. wild animals are generally so Ftimid that we never see them. Again, most of them are nocturnal and are never seen except by the huntsman Aor naturalist. In my own wanderings T have come across the footprints of jaguars or the remains of their prey, but never saw one alive. The num- Der of snakes seen alike could be counted on my fingers; scorpions and centipedes are present, but so well concealed that they can only be found by careful searching. We may safely state that man runs fewer risks in the forest than in towns and that every, case of injury Is the result of accident or interference. Where peo- pie live on the banks of rivers with the jungle within Q few yards of their homes, children wander in search of wild berries and incur one danger, that of getting lost. Even this, how ever. rarely happens for they soon learn how to find their way where people from towns are bewildered as soon as they get out of path.
 Thousands of rubber and balata collectors as well as gold prospectors are continually ranging the forest, and rarely indeed do we hear of an accident To step on a poisonous snake is no doubt a possibility, but in my own experience Of two cases I bumped over a labaria summing itself lon my path or allowed 1t to cross without interference. A friend got shock when, in long grass he stepped on an unseen snake, which made. off very quickly He jumped higher than he himself would have considered possible. but came to no harm, for probably the snake was one of the large. harmless species. In about mine ceses out of ten it is the non- poisonous snakes which are seen, and yet the general horror of these rep titles and imperfect knowledge drive men to attack and kill them at sight. h have been shown specimens as highly venomous that are perfectly lharmlese and again one of the poison ous coral snakes was sent to me for fdentificatfon which was taken from athe hands ofSa child. It was pret- ny plaything. and like some fierce dog did not resent the child's car-. resses.
 F1ct1on Abuot Boas and Pythons
 The boas or pythons are reputed to coil around people when sleeping in the forest. but this sort of thing is unknown. As a rule these big ser pents are quiet or inoffensive : they only attack what they can swallow. If Ve interfere with them they can give a severe flashing blow. or even take hold of . hand, but this is mere resentment I doubt. whether any man was ever attacked in the same
 was as its usual prey even when it has been irritated. It is probable that snakes as we'll as other carniv- erous animals have enough Judgment to choose only what they can con. quer and utilize. They "don't cut off more than they can chew" Of course the boas swallow their prey without tearing. and even the largest could hardly swallow 8 child, much less a grown man.
 The naturalist is amused at the settlements made in some of the old books. and even in what are now supposed to be- authorities. Snakes are generally said to be stinking and Hlimy, but as a matter of fact they are very clean. Other animals help wv RAOAAG9 ApC O1AGASlV0 OQ0r once common in menageries, but not the snakes. As they do not tear flesh there are no odd pieces to purify, and as their excretions are almost pure phosphate of, lime there is noth- ing offensfve. One of the most not able things about them is that they will eat nothing that they have not killed. They digest the prey so per- fectly that even the hairs of a rat are broken down. In captivity we feed them about once fortnight, but they can live fully a year without eating Even when supposed to- be hungry they are quite deliberate; a lrat may even bite the boa before a final movement takes place. Then. quicker than the eye can follow, the rat Is caught by the teeth and simul- taneously one or two coils of the snake squeeze 1t until its struggles icease. Then a very deliberate pro- cess of perfect digestion goes on for a Ifortnight or longer.
 Insect Pests Not Serious
 There is a great difference between cats and dogs. Cats, including lions and tigers. in the wild state, only eat what they kill themselves They may mot be able to eat the whole of their prey at one meal and then perhaps come back to finish it. but they will not take bait, Dogs, on the contrary eat carrion, and their cousins, the Jackals. are well-known plunderers of eastern graves. Similar distinc- tions can be found in birds; hawks and eagles generally eat only what they kill, while vultures never touch anything alive. Coming back to the supposed dangers of the pests, we have centipedes and scorpions hiding dn the litter of dead leaves and twigs Barefoot people sometimes get bit tten or stung accidentally treading up- ion them, but this is so rare that the Irtsk alone does not lead to wearing boots Ants are troublesome, but people brush them off as a matter lof course and rarely think any more 5of them than some do of fleas. The lother, risks of mosquitoes and sand. kz1iesS are local. and nothing in com. kparison, with the clouds of the for liner reported in northern chimes.
 The native Indian hangs his ham. mock under the open shed, and the Ftraveier under a tarpaulin. The for. Ioet Is close and the wild animals are Iheard. especially at night, but no one has any fear. Children bathe where there are al1fgators, but rarely indeed