172 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.^ [VoL vii".. 



It may be objected that these are the testimonies of laymen,,, 

 untrained and unaccustomed to observation. The letters are,, 

 however, from a very intelligent class of farmers, planters, and;-, 

 business men — intelligent readers of an agricultural magazine. 

 In addition, we have the testimony of several gentlemen whose 

 word would not be doubted on other questions in- zoology. 

 There were given the statements of Prof. S. I. Smith of Yale 

 College, Dr. Edward Palmer of the Smithsonian Institute, the 

 Rev. C. L. Loomis, M.D., of Middletown, Conn., and others;, 

 and the statement of the editor of The Zoologist regarding the 

 Scaly Lizard of Europe (^Zobtoca vivipara), which has a similar 

 habit. 



In the opinion of Profs. Wyman and Gill and other physiolo- 

 gists, there is no physical reason why the young snakes may not 

 remain a considerable time in the dilatable throat and stomach, 

 of the mother. The gastric juice acts very feebly upon living 

 tissues, and it is almost impossible to smother reptiles. Toads 

 and frogs often escape unharmed from the stomach of snakes. If 

 the habit is not protective, if the young cannot escape from their 

 hiding place, this habit is without parallel ; if it is protective, a 

 similar habit is seen in South American fishes of the genera 

 Arius, Bagrus, and Geophagus, where the male carry the eggs 

 for safety in their mouths and gill-openings. 



Since many important facts in biology are ac-cepted on the' 

 statements of a single observer, it is claimed that these testi- 

 monies are sufficient to set this matter forever at rest. The welt 

 attested cases relate to the garter snake and ribbon snake (^Euta- 

 iiia sirtalis and saiirita), the water snake (^Tropldonotus sipedon) ^ 

 the rattlesnake (Caudisona horrida), the copperhead and moc- 

 cassin (Agkistrodon contortrix and piscivorus), the massasauga 

 (Crotcdus tcrgemimis), the English viper (^Pelias herns), and the 

 mountain black snake (^Coluber Alleglianiensis) . It is probable 

 that the habit extends through all the species of the genera re- 

 presented, as well as throughout the family of Cwtalldm. It is 

 noteworthy that all these snakes are known to be ovoviviparous, 

 while no well attested case occurs among the truly oviparous, 

 milk snakes (^Ophibolus), grass snakes (Liopeltis and Ci/dophis\ 

 ground snakes (^S to re r let), or the smooth black snakes (^Bascan-^ 

 ion constrictor') . It yet remains to be shown that the habit is^ 

 shared by egg-laying snakes. Further observations are much 

 needed, as the breeding habits of more than 25 North Americaik 

 genera are entirely unknown 



