87 
tion relative to black snakes actually chasing 
and attacking human beings when fleeing in 
terror from them. 
About the first week in July the female black 
snake lays from eighteen to twenty-two yellow- 
ish white eggs, covered with a tough leathery 
skin. These eggs vary in size and form. One 
of my pets laid twenty-two eggs; some of 
these were laid singly and were elliptical in 
form, pointed, and one and one-half inch long 
and three-quarter inch in diameter. Others 
were cvlindrical in form, with flat ends, and 
about #x# in size; several of these were con- 
nected by a thin thread-like skin about a half 
inch in length between each egg. In its nat- 
ural haunts the black snake lays its eggs in a 
shallow hole in the soft earth, generally along 
the edge of wood land, or beneath old stumps 
of trees in open plowed fields. About three or 
four weeks elapses after the eggs are deposited 
when the moist heat of their resting place 
hatches the young snakes. 
The baby black snake is a pretty creature, 
very active, of a dark olive color with a row of 
irregular brown spots, bordered with darker 
margins along the back. The sides of the body 
and the under side are also generally spotted.” 
“It seems to be a prevalent belief that the 
bite of the black snake is a serious «affair. Is 
there any foundation for such opinion ?” 
“Nene whatever, my Fritz. The bite of a 
black snake is comparatively insignificant, a 
