New Britain herald., 1925-01-03
THE OBSER YER : Makes Random Observations
 On the City and Its People

slit in.the poisonous snakes. but is perfectly round In the harmless ones, The arrangement of the plates on the under side sof the snakes bodies Is also different as in the poisonous varieties they run straight around from the head to the tip of the tail, while in tho non poisonous ones they are, broken up into a sort of herringbone pattern. By these two things its is easy 10 determine whether or not snake Is of the dangerous sort MT. Woolley says that he did uot start out to study snakes, but found that In his study of entomology he needed some knowledge of botany, add that while studying plants he became interest cd in. snakes, , | The snake, he says, is between the fish and the bird in the animal kingdom, there arc fishes that res semble snakes, like the cells, and there are snakes with wings, as those who have studied extinct ani- mals know; indeed. some varieties have been found in the isles of the sea. Contrary to some popular be- Tliefs snakes cannot jump; they curve their necks well back and straighten them out, darting the head forward with almost incredible swiftness. w The idea that the fangs of poison- ous snakes, handled by snakecharm- CTS in shows, have been extracted is also erronerous: as snake, with out these fangs, cannot swallow and so cannot live. The reptiles arc afraid of mankind, as a rule, and get away as quickly as possible after sighting human beings.
 The bite of a rattlesnake, owing to the length of the fangs, is more serious than that of the copperhead. whose fans are much shorter, but both are good snakes to let alone. Many of the snakes are valuable because they destroy vermin, such as rats. mice. moles, grasshoppers, | etc. The milk snake has an un- deserycdly bad reputation, as no one ever saw 1t sucking milk from COW, and if it did two teaspoonfuls or so would be all it would be able to take and that would last it about | two months.s
 Did you ever think what a hor- | ril,In 4Jinor r,nt,IA hn ff 1,r,, cl, ,pt,1l by some leftover necromancy from the dark ages, be changed into figure of stone? Think of the dis comfort and torture, physical and mental alike, Of being forced to re- main irnmutably in one position throughout the ages, subjected 10 all kinds of weather. Just take one look at the figure on the top of the soldiers monument in Central park, and imagine how that outstretchcd arm must ache after these years, of the difficulty of remaining balanced on one foot. and of the terrifying thought that at any instant strong gust of wind may blow you from your lofty perch into oblivion, s
 Or take Mercury poised for flight" he's even worse, being al-
 lowed 10 stand on his toes alone. l And now comes heartless sculp- tor who carvcs Pavlowa at the apex of leap, supported only by her trailing gown what flimsy thing to trust as a prop. Or take | the 'I.aocoon," those three unfor- tunate mortals squirming in the grip | Of the snakes; how unbearable it must be to hold that agonized eX- l pression even longer than the most | feelingless movie director would
 demand, and to have those slimy> beasts (perhaps they are asps loose
 from a crossword puzzle) forever around your neck!
 Then there's the "Thinkcr;" we'd
 like to bet ? 10 1 that he's think
 ing what a beastly life he leads. And
 how about the Dying GauI:" there
 he lies in mortal agony, bleeding
 from his wounds and waiting for the release of death which never
 comes? But worst of all is the
 Venus de Milo; how Irritating (to say the least) it must be to be forced to stand, throughout the centuries,
 with so much of your person ex-
 posed to the bites of insects, and
 not have any arms with which to
 scratch!