33 
mous or deadly, and non-venomous or harm- 
less snakes. 
The number of known species of the snake 
family is about sixteen hundred. Of this large 
variety comparatively few species are to be 
found in our temperate climate. In a territory 
extending from Canada to Virginia, and from 
the Atlantic ocean to the Ohio river, not more 
than twenty-five species of the snake family 
will reward the diligent search of the student of 
snake-life. Snakes seek warmth and shrink 
from cold, thus the greatest number of species 
are found in tropical climates, where, naturally 
enough, the venomous or deadly snakes abound, 
and there thousands of human lives are yearly 
sacrificed as victims to the deadly powers of 
the venomous species. 
The form of the snake is easily distinguished 
from nearly every other vertebrate animal. It 
is an elongated, cylindrical or semi-cylindrical 
body, terminating in most cases in a tapering 
tail, and destitute of limbs. In size, snakes 
vary from the pretty little brown snake of 
about a foot in length and as large around as an 
ordinary lead pencil, to the great Boa which at 
times attains a length of twenty feet, with pro- 
portionate size of body. So much for gener- 
alities, my Fritz, now let me claim your inter- 
ested attention to my “notes,” which I feel 
‘assured, will prove both entertaining and in- 
structive. 
As the snake is destitute of limbs, its progress 
