RATTLESNAKE HISTORY, 285 



the Hogs, Dogs, and Poultry united in their Hatred to him, 

 showing the greatest Consternation by erecting their Bristles 

 and Feathers, and showing their Wrath and Indignation 

 surrounded him ; but carefully kept their Distance, while he, 

 regardless of their Threats, glided slowly along.' 



It was not at all an uncommon occurrence for rattlesnakes 

 to come into houses at that time, nor indeed has it been long 

 since then in secluded parts. 



Catesby himself had a narrow escape once, when he 

 occupied a room on the ground floor, and a rattlesnake was 

 found snugly coiled in his bed. 



Notwithstanding a growing acquaintance with the rattle- 

 snake among the F.R.S.'s, to the general public it was still 

 almost unknown. 



Even in the middle of the eighteenth century an Itinerant 

 exhibitor could say what he pleased about It to a too credulous 

 public. An extract from an old newspaper suggests an 

 ancestral Barnum joining hands with a journalist to make a 

 fortune out of one thus exhibited. Not so much was expected 

 of journalists in those days ; but even now, so far as snakes are 

 concerned, a vast number of errors creep into newspapers. 



'A BEAUTIFUL RATTLESNAKE ALIVE. 



' This exotic Animal is extremely well worthy the Observation of the Curious : 

 Its Eyes are of great Lustre, even equal to that of a Diamond, and its Skin so 

 exquisitely mottled and of such surpassing Beauty as baffles the Art of the most 

 celebrated Painter : It is about five Feet long, and so sagacious, that it will 

 rattle whenever the Keeper commands it : There is not the least cause for Fear, 

 though it were at Liberty in the Room : but that the Ladies may be under no 

 Apprehension on that Account, it is kept in a Glass-Case. It is very Active, 

 and is the first ever shown alive in England.' — From The General Advertiser^ 

 London, Sat., Jan. 4th, 1752. 



