188 A COLLECTOR'S EXPERIENCES 



the malady when in a wild state. From tlie many 

 cases observed, tlie writer is led to believe that the 

 sores in the mouth are frequently brought about by 

 the fact of the reptile's striking frequently, as wild 

 reptiles do, and the subsequent infection of these 

 lesions by the many forms of microbic life which 

 abound in the quarters of captive animals, especially 

 if these are not vigorously disinfected at frequent in- 

 tervals. Snakes being naturally delicate in captivity, 

 suffer from such infections, and, in the case of weak 

 specimens, the blood does not possess enough of its 

 sterilizing qualities to fight the invading germs, which 

 start their colonies and poison the surrounding tissue. 

 The care of reptiles is anything but a mechanical 

 process. Unlike the mammals and birds, their feed- 

 ing is eccentric and indefinite. The keepers must be 

 thoroughly versed in the peculiar characteristics of 

 their charges, and sympathetic in the extreme in the 

 filling of their many needs. 



