296 



SNAKES. 



that I might examine and hear the as yet unfamiliar 

 appendage. 



Alas ! the creature had no rattle. ' It is too young : there 

 is only the button' as my friend called the rudimentary 

 promise of one. I profited by the occasion, however, to 

 have a good though disappointed look, not unmixed with 

 contempt, at the juvenile Crotalus, being so very small and 

 unworthy the ceremony. A foot or so in length, it began 

 to make its escape into the long grass, when by one quick 

 stamp of his heel our champion disabled it. 



Then, throwing it into a pool of water, he remounted, and 

 the horses fearlessly proceeded. 



A few days after this, to 



A fully developed rattle of a rather small 

 snake (life size). 



compensate my disappoint- 

 ment, I was presented with 

 a ' full - grown rattle ' from a 

 Kentucky snake, and here it is. 



Asking how he knew it was * full grown,' my friend 

 explained that the links being all of a nearly uniform size, 

 proved that the snake had also attained a certain growth 

 during the development of that rattle. This will be more 

 readily comprehended on seeing the next specimen, which 

 is the rattle of a Mexican snake during early and rapid 

 growth, and a very perfect 

 one, presenting no flaw or 

 friction ; proving that it has 

 not been subject to very long 



or very rough usage. a very perfect rattle (natural size). 



In texture this is scarcely so stout as the shaft of a quill, 

 nor so pale, but almost as transparent. As regards size, the 



