AUDUBON'S iENEID 317 



think at the time how much discord this venomous rep- 

 tile, when coiled in the branches of a tree, could later 

 breed. 14 The entry was: 



Finished drawing a very fine specimen of a rattlesnake, 

 which measured five feet and seven inches, weighed six and a 

 quarter pounds, and had ten rattles. Anxious to give it a 

 position most interesting to a naturalist, I put it in that which 

 the reptile commonly takes when on the point of striking madly 

 with its fangs. I had examined many before, and especially 

 the position of the fangs along the superior jaw-bones, but 

 had never seen one showing the whole [of the fangs] exposed at 

 the same time. 



He then described the generous provision which nature 

 has made to keep the rattlesnake in fighting trim, by 

 giving it a dental arsenal on which it can draw in case 

 of loss ; he added that the heat of the day was such that 

 he could devote only sixteen hours to the drawing. 



At this time Audubon was a handsome and attrac- 

 tive man; his pupil, who did not enjoy the best of health, 

 was attended by a young physician who was also her 

 lover. It is not surprising therefore to learn that jeal- 

 ousy on the part of the doctor led to a misunderstanding, 

 and that the naturalist suddenly made his departure and 

 returned to New Orleans. In recording this incident 

 Audubon could not repress his amusement at the pre- 

 scription of the physician, who ordered the young lady 

 to abstain from all writing and drawing for a period of 

 four months, but meanwhile permitted her to eat any- 

 thing which pleased her fancy, in spite of the relapses 

 of fever that occasionally occurred. Audubon was al- 

 lowed to see her only at appointed hours, as if, he said, 

 he were an extraordinary ambassador to some distant 



14 See Chapter XXVIII, p. 73. 



