494 SNAKES. 



them crushed its head with his boot. A young viper 

 ' scrabbled' about his boot after its mother. They then cut 

 off the viper's head, and seven young vipers crawled out at 

 the neck. The other had been too late, but was evidently 

 trying to follow the rest. There was no possibility of 

 mistaking seven little vipers for one hair-like tongue in this 

 case ; but a man * convinced against his will,' etc., and 

 therefore the editor again abruptly closed the subject. 



Of the hundred or more instances occurring in America, 

 and now presented to the assembly, those considered of 

 especial interest were published in the Reports of the 

 Association ; and after some further discussion Professor 

 Gill said that he considered the evidence sufficient to 

 finally decide the matter. * Since many important facts 

 in biology are accepted on the statements of one single 

 observer, these testimonies are claimed to be sufficient to 

 set the matter for ever at rest.' 



This was the conclusion arrived at by the members of the 

 American 'Science Convention on Snakes,' in 1873. 



Of the witnesses introduced on that occasion, Professor 

 Goode dismissed those who had only found the young 

 snakes within the parent, but had not see7i them enter. 

 ' Let us not trust to untrained observations,' he said ; those 

 w^hose testimony was accepted being, in addition to the well- 

 known men already mentioned — ' an intelligent class of 

 farmers, planters, and business men, intelligent readers of an 

 agricultural magazine.' . . . 'The well-attested cases included 

 many non-venomous species, the habit probably extending 

 to all those which are known as oviparous^ as well as the 

 Crotalidce. The examples embraced the garter snake, 



