BREATHING AND HISSING OF SNAKES. 155 



Dr. Otto Wuchcrer saw this in a South American snake, 

 Xenodon colttbrimis. ' It has the habit of striking the ground 

 rapidly with the tail wlien irritated' {Zoo. Sac. Proc. 1861). 



So do Spilotes variabilis, and some others. So also does 

 the Pine snake, whose tail ends in a horny tip, ' like a four- 

 sided spike,' and which vibrates like a crotalus in rudiment, 

 or strikes the ground. 



Several American naturalists have contributed interesting 

 accounts of this last species, known as the ' Bull ' or * Pine 

 snake,' or ' Pilot snake,' the largest of the N. American Colu- 

 bers. It was this species {Pituophis vielanoleiiaLs) whose 

 actions Mr. Sam. Lockwood described as mystic circles, and 

 its activity as almost equal to that of the ' Racer' {American 

 Naturalist, vol. ix. 1875). But it is called the Bull snake 

 because it 'roars like a bull.' Bartram went so far as to 

 say like thunder ! * Said to hiss like thunder,' or ' resembling 

 distant thunder,' is the cautious testimony of Holbrooke, 

 who adds, 'but I never heard it, though well acquainted 

 with it' 



Mr. Lockwood minutely described one in his possession. In 

 reading his account we can but notice the similarity of action 

 between this ' Bull snake ' and the African vipers in * puffing,' 

 though regarding the nature of the sound, the writer posi- 

 tively affirms that ' there is nothing sibilant in this blowing, 

 not the slightest hiss about it' Mr. Lockwood records his 

 experience of several that he had seen and heard, and of 

 a fight between one and a rat. ' Now began that fearful 

 blowing. The snake slowly fills its lungs with air, and 

 then expels it with a bellowing sound that is really 

 formidable.' And again, in the same volume, in reference 



