Evening star., 1932-02-15
SMITHSONIAN GETS
REPTILE EXHIBIT.
Transparent TadpoIe and
; Tai|-Biting Snake Among
Weird Curiosities.

Specimens of strange creatures that
enight have stepped out of a hair-raising
nightmare have just been received by
ehe Smithsonian Institution.
These reptiles were collected by DR..
Hugh NJ Smith, former chief of the
United States Bureau of Fisheries, who
now is employed by the Kingdom Of
Siam to develop the nations fishery re-
sources. 1t is a land of weird animals.
One of the strangest creatures in the
collection is the giant water lizard, the
hia. OF all living animals, it perhaps
comes closest i'll appearance to the great
dinosaurs. The specimen received here
Is about 7 feet long. Some have been
reported measuring about IA feet, al
though the average specimen Is less
than half that length.
Seen going through the jungle, DR..
Smith reports, this creature has a real
dinosaurlike appearance, with its long
neck, small head, and long, heavy tail.
This weird creature occasionally in
vades the city limits of Bangkok, the
Siamese capital, where it makes its ap-
pearance in the canals running through
large gardens and in the thick shrub
berry. 1t is very destructive Of ducks
ard chickens.
Despite its appearance. it is no more
closely related to the dinosaurs than
any other living lizards. Its eggs are
highly esteemed by the Siamese and
are deemed fit for presentation to the
royal household.
Tail Biting Snake"
The collection contains specimen OF
che ngu kon kob, or "tail-biting snake y
s'The belief is quite general among the
SiameSe." DR.. Smith writes, that II
bites with its tail. One version of the
popular belief is that it bites with its
head when the moon shines and with
its tail on dark nights. One of my as
sistants assures me that friend was
killed by being bitten with the tail OF
this snake. 1t is not infrequently seen
on Bangkok roads on rainy nights,
coiled tightly with its head concealed
In its folds and its tail standing erect.
Another striking animal is the ngu
seng atit or 'sun-ray snake" 1t is one
OF the most beautiful creatures in the
reptile kingdom-a sort OF living dia-
mond Even in the preservative it
shows the beautiful glowing iridescence
which suggests the name given 1t by
the natives. 1t is reputed to be very
poisonous.
The collection contains several speci-
mems of the ngu saiman pra-lndra,
sometimes known as the "Brahmln cur
tain-Cord snake" 1t has remarkable
leaping ability. "One morning as got
out of bed" DR.. Smith writes, "a full
sized snake of this species was summing
ing on a verandah. AS I approached it
the top, whence it sprang to the rail
of the verandah. The distance was
about seven feet"
Other Queer Snakes.
Some of the other queer snakes in the
collection are:
The white-mouthed chinchuk-an
almost pure white snake with some
sharp black markings. 1t is reputed by
the Siamese country people to be very
poisonous and DR.. Smith astounded
one on his bed to catch mosquitoes.
This very striking creature, he says,
may be an Albino form OF quite COM
mon variety
The rat snake-nearly two yards long
which climbs bamboo clusters to
catch birds
The peacock snake-a combination
of brown, golden yellow, black, pink
and bright red. The tail is intensely
red. The tip of the tongue sometimes
Is black
Inc nSn SlldKe-Wn1cn can De CdugQC
by batting a line with a whole small
fish Ordinarily it is not poisonous,
but the Siamese claim that 1t becomes
extremely poisonous when it is sbout
to have young.
Transparent TadpoIes."
Among the curiosities in the collec-
ton were some transparent tadpoles." 4"
While light passes through their bodies
they are not perfectly transparent, but
of dusky gray color with traces of
purple iridescence underneath.
Another queer specimen is the Chin
knock" a species of jungle toad which
was recovered from the stomach of
snake A popular belief is that this
toad may hit a persons bare foot with
its lower jaw and make a poisonous
wound, like a ring worm, with its milky
mucous. The popular remedy is to
treat the wound with scraped human
fingernails applied with water.
The collection contains specimens OF
some of the most deadly reptiles on
earth, including the terrifying kraft"
of the Siamese jungle and some beau
tifully colored water snakes whose bite
fortunately almost never received by
q human being-means practically Ger
tain death.
Cotton spinners Of Belgium are IA
voriy,o A,porirop cotton in Dreference