126 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Snake-Affection. Most people will prefer 

 knowledge at second hand of the playfulness 

 and affection of snakes, to personal tests 

 of the existence of such qualities. Not so 

 a correspondent of Land and Water, who, 

 having got possession of a harmless snake 

 of the species Natrix torquata about twenty- 

 eight inches in length, adopted it as a pet. 

 This snake took great pleasure in passing 

 in and out again and again between the fin- 

 gers of its master. It was only necessary 

 to hold the hand in the open box, when he 

 would at once commence to glide between 

 the fingers, always turning round sharply 

 the instant its tail was free, and resuming 

 its journey in the contrary direction. The 

 process of shedding the skin is worthy of 

 observation. The snake lies in a sluggish 

 state for several days. The bright eyes be- 

 come dull and fishy, and the skin loses its 

 glossy smoothness. In time a slight break 

 appears to run in the line of demarkation 

 between the mucous membrane of the mouth 

 and the outer skin, along the edge of the 

 lips. In a few hours the crack appears to 

 widen, and the skin to dry and curl over at 

 the edges. Soon after this, in the present in- 

 stance, the snake passed through a wisp of 

 straw provided for this purpose in his box, 

 and the skin was stripped off in one piece. 

 The animal was now as active as a kitten, 

 and as hungry. He quickly swallowed a fog, 

 whose cries were heard after it had passed 

 into the snake's stomach. 



A Magnetized Spider. In a communica- 

 tion to the Academy of Natural Sciences of 

 Philadelphia, Dr. John Vansant treats of the 

 influence of magnetism on living organisms, 

 and describes at length one experiment with 

 a spider, which was killed by the magnetic 

 emanation. The magnet employed was a 

 small steel one, of the U-shape, the legs of 

 which were about two and one-half inches 

 long by one-half inch wide and one-sixth 

 inch thick, the distance between the poles 

 being about one-quarter inch. Having no- 

 ticed a small spider actively running along 

 the arm of his chair, he brushed it off upon 

 the carpet, where it began to run, but was 

 somewhat impeded by the roughness of the 

 fabric. He now slid the magnet along the 

 carpet, following after the spider, till it was 

 between the poles. The animal almost in- 

 stantly stopped, and in a few seconds was 



motionless ; but, at the end of two or three 

 minutes, it began Blowly to move its legs 

 and elevate and depress its head. At the 

 end of five minutes the spider was quite 

 still. After the lapse of ten minutes Dr. 

 Vansant covered both spider and magnet 

 with a tumbler. On the expiration of two 

 hours, he removed the glass and observed 

 the spider with a magnify ing-lens. It was 

 apparently dead. The author states that he 

 has killed spiders and other small animals, 

 as worms and insects, as well as some plants, 

 by magnetism, at varioms times during the 

 past eight years, but never before succeeded 

 in destroying the life of a spider so quickly, 

 and without touching it frequently, though 

 lightly, with the magnet. In the present 

 instance he did not touch the animal at all. 



Waste of the Locomotive-Whistle. Per- 

 sons residing in the country near any of the 

 great railway lines will heartily approve any 

 effort made toward suppressing the nuisance 

 of locomotive-whistles. A writer in the 

 Railroad Gazette remarks as follows on the 

 wastefidness of this practice: "A simple 

 toot or two," he writes, " in cases of emer- 

 gency, to warn some one from the track, or 

 as a signal for brakes, would seem to be the 

 only legitimate use of steam in the way of 

 whistles. And yet, of the twenty or more 

 trains which daily pass my residence, I no- 

 tice that nearly one-half make a regular 

 practice of blowing their whistles some 

 twenty rods at a time, and some half a 

 dozen times within as many miles ; and 

 their safety-valves also seem to be at work 

 most of the time. It would be interesting 

 to know exactly what percentage of the fuel 

 is wasted in this way. If the coal-bunks 

 upon their tenders were made so as to let a 

 bushel of coal drop on the track every ten 

 miles of their progress, the waste would 

 then become so manifest, no doubt, that it 

 would be attended to at once. If one train 

 can be run without the use of the safety- 

 valve or whistle, another can be so run, 

 with the exercise of an equal care and vigi- 

 lance on the part of the engineer and fire- 

 man. This matter of waste at the safety- 

 valve and whistle seems to rest entirely 

 with the men upon the foot-board of the 

 engine ; and, as they prize their good stand- 

 ing as engineers and firemen, they should 

 attend to it." 



