Hurter — Herpetology of Missouri. 215 



days after birth the young Eattlesnake sheds its skin and 

 commences feeding, taking small mice, or other young- 

 rodents. It grows rapidly and in about two months sheds 

 the second skin when the first ring or segment of the 

 rattle is uncovered. This has been steadily developing 

 under the old epidermis and at such times its presence 

 was apparent in the swollen appearance at the base of 

 the original button. Immediately after the shedding of 

 the skin, this ring is black and soft. It loosely encases the 

 base of the button, and, after a few days, when the seg- 

 ment has become thoroughly dry and the tail is shaken, 

 a faint, buzzing sound is produced — this is caused by the 

 loosely attached button rasping against the dry segment 

 to which it is fastened. Now that the button has become 

 detached from the base of the tail, it becomes a dull straw 

 color — the general hue of the rattle. At this time the 

 snake has a rattle in miniature. Every succeeding seg- 

 ment is produced in exactly this fashion. 



' ' It can thus be appreciated that if the rattle of a snake 

 possesses the original button of birth, we may estimate 

 the age of the reptile by allowing the button and first 

 ring for about the first nine months — this including the 

 period of the first hibernation, and counting each three 

 additional rings as a year. The reptile usually sheds its 

 skin three times during the warm season, in the spring, 

 during mid-summer and in the fall. If the button has 

 been lost through wear or accident and the rattle has a 

 distinctly tapering outline toward its tip, the number of 

 lost segments may be estimated, but if all the segments 

 are of uniform size, it will be understood that the rings 

 of youth have been lost and possibly many others. With 

 such a specimen there is no way of ascertaining the age." 

 (Ditmars.) 



The Poisoning Appakatus. 



Dr. S. Weir Mitchell gives an account of the Rattle- 

 snake, its bite and poison in the third chapter of "Re- 

 search upon the Venom of the Rattlesnake," published 



