A NATURALIST IN BRAZIL 



the coffee-plantations in the hills, or in the forests of recent growth 

 (capoeira), they may happen to tread on a snake, since these 

 reptiles are often found hidden under the leaves on the quiet and 

 sunny hillsides. Dr. E. Bethke, during one year's practice in Espirito 

 Santo, saw or heard of ten or twelve fatal cases of snake-bite. He 

 himself — having arrived in good time — treated thirty to forty cases 

 with serum prepared at Butantan, and always with complete success. 



Accidents happen, then, if snakes and human beings are not on 

 their guard. We must get rid of the idea that snakes bite for the 

 pleasure of biting, and that they will even seek for human victims, 

 or run after them. All living creatures prefer to be left alone, and 

 when approached by man their first impulse is to escape. As a rule, 

 however, one comes upon a snake when it is rolled up in a flat coil, 

 with its head in the centre: a position which does not facilitate 

 rapid flight. If one walks round a rattlesnake when it is thus coiled 

 up, the head constantly follows the enemy; a curious and rather 

 uncanny sight. At the same time the snake sounds its shrill rattle 

 in warning. Even this rattle shows that the snake prefers to give 

 warning rather than bite. The rattle consists of a varying number 

 of telescoped rings on the tip of the tail, which, when the rattle is 

 sounded, is lifted and quickly shaken to and fro, when the rings 

 grate on one another and produce the characteristic sound. The 

 Jararaca too shakes its tail to and fro when excited, and if it is sur- 

 rounded with dry leaves, as is commonly the case, a warning sound 

 is produced which is very like the rattle of the rattlesnake. 



Every snake has its individual temperament; and it is important 

 that one should understand this, as the degree of danger depends 

 upon it. In Ceylon the extremely venomous Spectacled Cobra was 

 not so greatly dreaded as the Tik Palonga, a viper six feet in length. 

 The latter is extremely nervous, is easily startled, and will then bite 

 at once, while the Spectacled Cobra has a quieter temperament. It 

 is fond of entering houses — indeed, a Cobra once visited me in my 

 bedroom — and will even creep into bed, being a lover of warmth. 

 But its human bedfellow is not therefore doomed to death ; one may 

 even kick the snake without being bitten. I kept some Spectacled 

 Cobras for a long while in Ceylon, and convinced myself of their 

 placidity. It is precisely this quality which has made them the favour- 

 ites of the fakirs. If one quietly takes hold of the snake one can place 

 it in a basket. For that matter, the explorer De Grijs was able to 

 do the same thing with the venomous Coral Snake of Brazil. Only 

 sudden and irregular movements alarm the reptiles. I once learned 

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