CROCODILIANS, LIZARDS, AND SNAKES. 765 



Baird and Giraid give tbe following statistics of scuta and dimen- 

 sions, tlie latter in inches : 



Locality. Gastroateges. TTrosteges. Scales. Lcugth. TaiL 



Carlisle, Pennsylvauia 129+1. 53. 25. 28. 6 



123+1. 49. 25. 2ii. 5 



Clarke County, Virginia 143+1. 46. 25. 19. 2i 



127+1. — 25. 11. 2 



Scioto Valley, Ohio _ 148+1. 45. 25. 26. 4 



Mississippi 135+1. 51. 25. 10. 1^ 



Indianola, Texas 130+1. 58. 23. 26. 6 



129+1. 51. 25. 11. 2 



New Braufels, Texas 124+1. 56. 25. 27. 6 



Georgia 131+1. 56. 23. 25. SJ 



Charleston, South Carolina 137+1. M. 25. 12^. If 



141+1. 49. 25. 17. 2| 



137+1. 53. 23. 26. 4 J 



Carlisle, Pennsylvania 140+1. 49. 25. '36. 6 



Abbeville, South Carolina 145+1. — 25. '26. — 



Kemper County, Mississippi 126+1. 53. 25. '28. 5| 



I find the caudal scutelljB to vary in number from thirty-nine to fifty- 

 two in nine normally colored specimens, and from forty-two to fifty six 

 in five black specimens. 



The Heterodon platyrhmus^ when disturbed by man, throws itself into 

 vigorous contortions, spreads the anterior ribs, and opens the mouth 

 widely, after the manner of a venomous snake. If turned on its l^ack 

 and its abdomen be gently stroked, it will sometimes lie quietly in that 

 position for a long time. I once observed the singular conduct of an 

 individual which was kept in a cage with a water snake {Natrix sipe- 

 don) and a copperliead {Ancistrodon contortrix). Both of the harmless 

 species were evidently greatly frightened on the introduction of the 

 copi)erhead into the cage. The water snake sought the lowest si)ot in 

 the sand on the bottom of the cage, and coiling up, kept close to the 

 ground, not even raising his head. The Heterodon, on the contrary, 

 inflated his long lung, swelling the greater part of his body into the 

 form of a cylindrical bladder. He at the same time extended the ante- 

 rior ribs, so that this part of his body resembled the thin blade of a 

 paper cutter. He then plunged its nose into the sand and covered the 

 top of his head with as large a pile of that substance as it would carry. 

 In this disfigured condition he paraded slowl}' about the cage in front 

 of the copperhead. The latter moved but little, and showed no dispo- 

 sition to provoke a quarrel with its singular companion. 



Prof. O. P. Hay^ has collected the following facts in regard to the 

 breeding habits of Heterodon phityrhinns, the hog- nosed snake, viper, or 

 spreading adder, as it is popularly known : 



Dr. J. Schneck, of Mount Carniel, Illinois, reports ' that eighty-seven young spotted 

 spreading adders were taken from the body of a wounded female. The author of the 



* Heterodon niger. 



2Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci., 1891, p. 114; Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., XV, 1892, p. 393. 



^Amer. Nat., XVI, 1882, p. 1008. 



