ITEMS OF SNAKE KNOWLEDGE. 513 
and its embalmed remains have been found. Thus did the 
Egyptians show their gratitude for services rendered. 
In ancient times when Greece was a great power, the priests 
pretended to cure diseases by allowing serpents to crawl over the 
patient, by waving them to and fro, and by holding them against 
the diseased part, meanwhile muttering some formula. Hippo- 
crates, who was born about 460 B.c., and who is commonly styled 
“the father of medicine,’ denounced these priests and their 
methods. 
The venom of snakes kept in captivity, and which refuse to 
eat, is smaller in quantity, but much more poisonous than those 
recently captured. 
Never attempt to feed artificially a snake when it is showing 
signs of wanting to moult (cast its skin). 
In certain districts of South Africa the cattle plague, known 
as East Coast Fever, has swept off nearly all the cattle. The 
result of this is, the grass has grown thick and rank, and the 
herbage has developed unchecked. Snakes, in consequence of 
the increased protection of luxuriant vegetation, have increased 
considerably in numbers. 
