374 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The King Snake leaped forward, wound his body in a "love- 

 knot " around Old Kattler's neck, took a " half-hitch " with his 

 tail about the stomach, while the rest of his body lay in a curve 

 like the letter S between the two knots. Then all he had to do 

 was to stiffen up his muscles, and Old Rattler's backbone was 

 snapped off at the neck. 



All that remained to Glittershield was to swallow his enemy. 

 First he rubbed his lips all over the body, from the head to the 

 tail, till it was slippery with slime. Then he opened his mouth 

 very wide, with a huge snaky yawn, and face to face he began 

 on Old Eattlcr. The ugly head was hard to manage, but, after 

 much straining, he clasped his jaws around it, and the venom 

 trickled down his throat like some fiery sauce. Slowly head and 

 neck and body disappeared, and the tail wriggled despairingly, 

 for the tail of the snake folk can not die till sundown, and when 

 it went at last the fifteen rattles and the button were keeping up 

 an angry buzz. And all night long the King of Snakes, twice as 

 big as he ought to be, lay gorged and motionless upon Old Rat- 

 tler's rock. 



And in the morning the little chipmunk ran out on a limb above 

 him, pursed up his lips, and made all kinds of faces, as much as 

 to say, " I did all this, and the whole world was watching while 

 I did it." 



REMARKABLE VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS LN" THE 

 PHILIPPINES. 



Bt E. L. PACKARD. 



EVERY one knows that the Philippine archipelago, like other 

 regions in its neigliborhood, abounds in volcanoes, some of 

 which are still active, while the majority are extinct. Some geolo- 

 gists have tried to distribute the Philippine volcanoes into two 

 parallel belts or lines running in a general northwest and south- 

 east direction, following the trend of the island group, and extend- 

 ing from the southern end of Mindanao to the northern part of 

 Luzon — some sLxteen degrees of latitude. Early, possibly pre- 

 historic, volcanic activity in the group has left its imprint upon 

 the native mythology, as was the case in the Mediterranean, and 

 an explanation of some of the mythical stories is to be found in 

 earth movements. Tlie Spaniards have given accounts of many 

 eruptions in the last three hundred years, which were remarkable 

 either from the destruction they caused or the terror they inspired. 

 Some of these accounts were written by the terrified eyewitnesses 



