181 



its head quite flat when angered and hissing in a threatening man- 

 ner. Tliere is no more striking example of pure bluff than that 

 which is exhibited by this entirely harmless snake. Not one man 

 in a thousand has the courage to pick up this snake while it is 

 spreading, blowing and striking, but we have seen this done by 

 inexperienced and uninformed persons. We photographed a boy 

 in the act of handling one of these serpents while it was enlarging 



V/id-jJ-V/alfoa-^Del 



ri2 67or 



Fig. 18.— Structural Oharacters of Spreading' Adder {Hetemdon jdatirhinos). 

 All Natural Size excepting lower right hand figure which is % Natural Size. 

 Drawn under supervision of the Economic Zoologist. 



and flattening its head. This is shown in Plate XXXIII. The fact 

 that the fear of serpents is not natural but acquired from older per- 

 sons is shown by the attitude of this little colored boy, James Dean, 

 of Harrisburg, Pa., who at the age of five years came into our office 

 and was ver^^ much interested in playing with the living snakes. 

 One day he asked if he could have one, and upon being questioned 

 as to what he would do with it, replied, '^I want to take it home." 

 When asked ''For what purpose?" he replied, ''To get Mam to 

 cook it!" 



A very valued and intelligent correspondent in the southeastern 

 part of Pennsylvania wrote to us, endeavoring to call our attention 

 in a kindly manner to a mistake which he thought we had made in 



