70 Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



Indiana of two female prairie rattlers {Sistrurus catenatus) in 

 which the young passed freely in and out of the mother's mouth 

 until they were a month old. 



The late Dr. G. B. Goode, of Washington, D. C., has pub- 

 lished a paper in Forest and Stream, October, 1873, page 118, 

 entitled, "Do Snakes Swallow Their Young?" and a year later 

 he published a very interesting note in the Proceedings of 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science, Vol. 

 XXII, pages 176-185, 1874. As both of these papers are out 

 of print, it might be of interest to refer briefly to some of the 

 facts relating to this habit. As early as the 16th century 

 Spencer alludes to it in the ''Faerie Queene." Dr. Brown, 

 in his vulgar errors (1646), says, 'The young ones will, upon 

 any fright, for protection, run into the belly of the dam. For 

 then the old one receives them at the mouth, which way, the 

 fright being past, they will return again." 



In 1802, M. Palisot de Beauvois, an eminent French natur- 

 alist, gives some very important observations on the rattlesnake. 

 He says, "When making my first excursion into the Cherokee 

 country, I happened, while botanizing, to see a rattlesnake in 

 my path. I approached it as softly as possible. But just as. 

 I was about to strike, imagine my surprise to see it, after sound- 

 ing its rattle, open a very large mouth and receive into it five 

 little serpents, each about as large as a goose quill. Astonished 

 at this spectacle, I retired some distance and hid behind a tree. 

 After some minutes the animal, believing itself out of danger, 

 again opened her mouth and allowed the little ones to escape. 

 I again advanced and the little ones retreated to their strong- 

 hold, and the mother, carrying her precious treasures, disap- 

 peared among the underbrush, where I was not able to find her." 



As Dr. Goode justly remarks, the character and reliability 

 of Beauvois ought to have settled the question long ago. Dr. 

 Goode published a short note in American Agriculturist, Feb- 

 ruary, 1873, asking for information on the subject from those 

 whose occupation brought them in contact with these reptiles. 

 He received many replies from this and other sources. The 



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