cxl 



of the Squirrel, namely, two incisors and two premolars above 

 and below, with four molars on each side above and below. It 

 resembles the European Marmot, and like that animal can be 

 tamed. With regard to the concurrent statement from numerous 

 sources that the Prairie Dog lives amicably with the Burrowing 

 Owl and the Rattlesnake which invade its quarters, Dr. Briggs 

 did not consider it so improbable that it should be rejected upon 

 that ground ; holding, that, as it is known that the antipathy to 

 serpents is not equal in the different genera of other animals, it 

 is quite possible that there are some genera that have a tolerance 

 for them. 



Mr. Riley gave some account of the colorational adaptation of 

 the animals of the Western plains with the general tint of their 

 surroundings, and thought there was nothing strange in finding 

 rattlesnakes and owls in the burrows of the prairie dogs on these 

 treeless plains where no other hiding-places can be found. The 

 stories of their amicable association, however, should (he thought) 

 be taken cum grano sails. 



Dr. Johnson, from all he could learn about the subject, had 

 concluded that the three animals mentioned did live amicably 

 together. 



Dr. Briggs mentioned that in places where rattlesnakes abound, 

 hogs were used to drive them off, and the popular impression was 

 that the fang of the snake does not reach the circulation, but loses 

 its force in the fat. 



Mr. McLellan had known the flesh of a hog to swell from the 

 bite of a Water Mocassin. Deer kill snakes by jumping, with all 

 four feet closed together, upon them. 



Dr. Galney stated that the tame hog will not attack a rattle- 

 snake, but that the wild hog will. 



Mr. Riley presented, on behalf of Prof. Luce, the fragments ot 

 a large fossil tusk of a Mastodon, found in the Indian Territory. 



Dr. Wislizehus told of a strange electrical phenomenon that 

 had recently come under his observation. A tree situated on a 

 ridge of ground was struck by lightning, and the trunk from the 

 branches to the ground, a distance of thirty feet, was cut in a spi- 

 ral column, about six inches wide and three inches deep. The 

 winding of the column was very regular. He did not think it 

 killed the tree. 



