8 Bulletin Wisconsin Natural History Society. [Vol. 9, Nos. 1-2. 



North America, Mr. Colles stated that snakes may be divided into 

 three classees, according - to food habits: (a) those eating- cold- 

 blooded animals alive (garter, water snake, etc.) ; (b) those killing 

 their prey by constriction (boa constrictor) and (c) those killing by 

 their poison (Crotalids, etc.). The speaker illustrated the methods 

 by which the poison enters the fangs from the glands. A consideration 

 of the virulence of the poisons followed together with the statement 

 that it is greatly overestimated. Snake-charming and charmers and 

 some other popular fallacies were ridiculed. The speaker took issue 

 with Dr. Graenicher's statement as to the method of distinguishing 

 poisonous from harmless snakes in the open and cited a number of 

 characteristics, such as the frontal pits, the scutallar arrangement, 

 the carinated dorsal and the single row of ventral scales and greater 

 sluggishness as reliable and ready means for distinction and recogni- 

 tion of poisonous snakes. 



In the following discussion Dr. Graenicher suggested that the 

 characteritics cited by Mr. Colles could be seen only upon close 

 examination, which Mr. Colles parried by saying that at least one or 

 two of them were evident even at a distance. 



Drs. Sherman and Graenicher and Messrs. Burrill and Colles dis- 

 cussed alcohol as an antidote for snake poisons : alcohol, if applied 

 directly, coagulatess the toxin. 



Mr. Mann suggested a correlation of the single row of ventral 

 scales to the sluggishness of poisonous snakes. Messrs. Burrill, Colles 

 and Dr. Graenicher discussed the sense of hearing in snakes. 



Upon motion the meeting then adjourned. 



Milwaukee, January 26, 1911. 



Reg-ular meeting of the Society. 



President Barth in the chair. 21 people present. 



Minutes of the last regular meeting read and approved. 



A communication from W. T. Hornaday, thanking the Society for 

 the indorsement of "Sportsman's Platform," was read by the Secre- 

 tary. 



The evening's talk was on "Parallelism Among Insects," by Mr. 

 P. A. Muttkowski. In the enormous number of living forms of insects 

 it is not surprising that we should find repitition in features of 

 development. Similar stimuli produce similar results, as instanced 

 in the development of jumping- legs' of Acridiidw and Pullcidtf, and 



