DO SNAKES REFUGE THEIR YOUNGS 487 



Again, in Sir Thomas Browne's Psendoxia, or ' Vulgar 

 Errours, published in 1672, we find : ' For the young ones 

 will upon any fright, for protection run into the belly of the 

 Dam. For then the old one receives them into her mouth, 

 which way, the fright being passed, they will returne againe ; 

 which is a peculiar way of refuge.' 



He quotes from the Humorous Lieutenant of Beaumont 

 and Fletcher the words, ' This is the old viper, and all the 

 young ones creep every night into her belly.' 



The Professor also mentioned the American traveller, ]\Ir. 

 Jonathan Carver, who, towards the end of the last century, 

 recorded that he had seen a large brood of young rattle- 

 snakes retire for safety into the throat of the parent, 

 which he killed, when no less than seventy young ones 

 made their escape. Practical experience demands. How 

 had he time to reckon up these active, wriggling, tangled 

 fugitives } Nevertheless his story found favour and has been 

 subsequently recited as probable. Chateaubriand believed 

 the fact, and glowingly expatiates on the ' Superb Reptile 

 which preseats to man a pattern of tenderness.' ... * When 

 her offspring are pursued, she receives them into her mouth : 

 dissatisfied with every other place of concealment, she hides 

 them within herself, concluding that no asylum can be 

 safer for her progeny than the bosom of a mother. A 

 perfect example of sublime love, she refuses to survive the 

 loss of her young, for it is impossible to deprive her of them 

 without tearing out her entrails.' Elsewhere, with less of 

 admiration for the exemplary crotalus, Chateaubriand says, 

 ' By a singular faculty the female can introduce into her 

 body the little monsters to which she has given birth.' 



