372 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



peatedly his well-charged fangs deeply into his flesh. Notwithstanding 

 this, he was put in a small basket and carried forward. In one hour 

 after he was found dead, and no amount of irritation could excite the 

 least indication of life. Four hours after, while removing the skin for 

 preservation, the blood oozed slowly from the vessels in a dissolved state. 

 No violence was done to his snakeship except what he did himself. 



Another moccason, shot by a pistol about two inches back of the head, 

 and skinned immediately, gave decided evidence of vitality, four hours 

 after being flayed, by writhing the body whenever it was irritated by a 

 scalpel. 



A large rattlesnake, beheaded instantly with a hoe, would, an hour and 

 a half after, strike at any thing that pinched its tail. Of several persons 

 who were testing their firmness of nerve by trying to hold the hand 

 steady while the serpent struck at it, not one could be found whose hand 

 would not recoil in spite of his resolution ; and one man, a great bully, 

 by the by, was struck on thenaked throat with considerable force by the 

 headless trunk of the serpent, and staggered back, fainted and fell, from 

 terror. Mr. Stewart, of Mississippi, tells me he once witnessed a similar 

 scene. An old hunter shot a rattlesnake's head off, and, after reloading 

 his gun and standing some time, he stooped to pull off the rattles, and the 

 bloody but headless trunk of the snake struck him in the temple, and lie 

 fainted and fell down with terror. 



Seven venomous serpents, belonging to five different species, were made 

 to fraternize and dwell amicably in one den. A beautiful pair of long- 

 bodied, speckled snakes, known as king-snakes, found to be fangless, and 

 consequently without venom, were duly installed as members of the family. 

 Some uneasiness was perceivable among the older members ; but no 

 attempt was made to destroy the intruders, though they might have been 

 killed instanter. The next morning four of the venomous serpents were 

 found to have been destroyed by the king-snakes, and one was still within 

 their coil, and the two remaining ones would make no effort at self- 

 defence. A large rattlesnake seemed stupid and indifferent to his fate. 

 He could not be made to threaten or give warning even with his rattles. 

 The smallest king-snake was afterwards inoculated with the poison of one 

 of the serpents he had destroyed, and died immediately after thus 

 evincing that they must have exercised some power besides physical force 

 to overcome their fellow-creatures. 



In short, the results of a great number of experiments performed with 

 the venom of a great variety of serpents seem to lead to the following 

 conclusions : 



1. That the venom of all serpents acts as a poison in a similar manner. 



2. That the venom of some varieties is far more active than that of others. 



3. That a variety of the colluber, known as the cotton-mouth, is the 

 most venomous serpent in Arkansas. 



4. That the venom of serpents destroys all forms of organized life, 

 vegetable as well as animal. 



