80 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 



Messrs. Ord and Waterton — good souls! — will be per- 

 fectly delighted at the sight of this strange reptile." 13 

 Unfortunately a large part of Audubon's collections 

 made upon this expedition were lost. I have seen no 

 other reference to this extraordinary peculiarity, and 

 there the matter seems to have rested until the present 

 time. 



Audubon's judgment or memory might play him 

 false, but his pencil, in such a matter, could be relied 

 upon to tell the truth. It is therefore a pleasure to be 

 able to confirm his accuracy in reference to the serpent's 

 tooth, for the true representation of which he was round- 

 ly abused during his lifetime. The reader will perceive 

 the point by examining the accompanying photograph, 

 which represents the skull of a large diamond-backed 

 specimen from Florida. 14 In the prairie rattlesnake, 

 and probably in some others, the fangs are sickle-shaped, 

 as Waterton maintained, but upwards of eleven species 

 of rattlesnakes have been found on the continent of 

 North America, and, true to Audubon's disputed draw- 

 ing and account, in this Florida specimen the fangs are 

 slightly, but very distinctly, bent upwards at their tips! 

 Let nature writers, inclined to the easy path of analogy, 

 remember the rattlesnake's fang, for it teaches a salu- 

 tary lesson. 



As I have not hesitated to speak of Audubon's real 

 or supposed mistakes, I will give another and more strik- 

 ing instance of his tardy vindication. In his plate of the 

 American Swan (No. ccccxi), which was published in 



is See Thomas M. Brewer, (Bibl. No. 79), Harper's New Monthly 

 Magazine, vol. lxi, p. 666 (1880). 



14 This specimen, which was presented to me by the late Dr. X. C. 

 Scott of Cleveland, measured 6 feet, and showed eight rattles and a button; 

 the skin and skeleton are preserved in the Biological Laboratory of Western 

 Reserve University. Position of fangs incorrectly shown in the photograph. 

 By opening the mouth they are directed outward. 



