72 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Fig. 3. Skull of Poisonous Snake. 



when the alarm goes off in this position the garters always move 

 a little, for the vibration is communicated to the wood and can be 

 plainly felt with the finger-tips; but when the clock is on the 

 cloth-covered table close by and not in contact with the wood on 



which they lie, they 

 never give a sign of 

 having heard it. 



When I lived on 

 the island of Trinidad, 

 I had a large collection 

 of West Indian and 

 South American ser- 

 pents which it was ne- 

 cessary to feed on ani- 

 mals of many different 

 species. It was always 

 noticeable that neither 

 boa, viper elaps, nor 

 coluber ever gave the 

 slightest heed to the 

 voices of these, while at siQht of the 'moving prey they manifested 

 very evident signs of recognition. Snakes as a rule are very 

 timid, and as I often had visitors at feeding time, it used to be 

 necessary to warn them that any stirring about of arms or legs 

 would be sure to delay the dinner ; but no restriction was ever 

 needed to be placed on conversation, except that the turning of 

 the head was forbidden each had to talk straight to his front, no 

 matter whom he addressed. 



During the past four or five years I have hunted extensively 

 over the woods of northern South America, from the Bay of Pan- 

 ama to the Delta of the Orinoco, often alone, sometimes with others. 

 Now, when I had company it would be frequently necessary to 

 call on their assistance in capturing some of the long, swift-run- 

 ning snakes. If one of these were discovered some distance off, 

 resting close by a fallen tree, it was my method to go round to 

 the other side of the old trunk and come up unseen, often within 

 a yard of him. There I would shout directions to my friends, 

 sometimes at the top of my voice, where to post themselves and 

 where to head him off. This shouting never caused the snake to 

 stir ; but should I show the rim of my hat moving up even a 

 hand's breadth over the intervening trunk, he would be off like a 

 racehorse ; for the eyes of a serpent, though dull to note form and 

 color, are exceedingly quick to detect motion. 



Now, it may be mentioned that snakes have no external ears, 

 their heads being entirely covered, like the rest of the body, with 

 a tough and scaly skin. Yet in how far they may be able to 



