ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETLN 



321 



tween the blotches is olive, thickly powdered 

 with black, suggesting the richest of dark- 

 green velvet. 



When this specimen arrived at the Park, it 

 was of a dingy gray color, with but the faint- 

 est suggestion of a pattern. This was due to 

 its being covered with a very old, begrimed 

 skin. As its eyes were quite lusterless, the 

 writer decided to relieve the snake of its epi- 

 dermis. Starting the skin backward from the 

 upper and lower jaw with a pair of forceps, the 

 snake did the rest, slowly emerging from its 

 opaque coat. The display of startling colors 

 and striking pattern caused those standing by 

 to fairly gasp in astonishment. The impression 

 upon the writer recalled the transformation of 

 certain insects from a dull-colored grub to a 



beautiful imago, and not to him alone occurred 

 this resemblance, for the keepers have since 

 called the creature the "Butterfly Viper." 



In the Gaboon \'iper we may also note a re- 

 markable pattern suggesting oriental tapestry, 

 but attention is concentrated upon the sinister 

 configuration, showing an incongruously thick, 

 bloated body and the most cruel of heads — • 

 heart-shaped, with silvery-white, cat-like eyes 

 that stare in a glassy, unwinking fashion that 

 is ever alert. This snake is barely a yard long, 

 though nearly three inches in thickness. Its 

 head is as large as that of a big rattlesnake. 

 The poison-conducting fangs are enormously 

 developed, and if the fangs were fully im- 

 bedded, its bite would be almost inevitably 

 fatal. R. L. D. 



MOVING THE .\LLIGATUKS TO WINTER yUARTERS. 



THE ALLIGATOR PROBLEM. 



A SHORT time after the opening of the 

 Reptile House, seven years ago, inter- 

 *■ ested visitors began to bring us small 

 alligators as gifts, — the proverbial ten or 

 twelve inch "barkers'' brought from Florida as 

 souvenirs. Kept in an ordinary living-room 

 temperature, in a pan of cold water, young 



alligators feed sparingly or not at all, and re- 

 main about the same size. In the warm tanks 

 of the Reptile Hovise, this collection of minia- 

 ture crocodilians began to grow. From a small 

 section of the turtle crawl they were removed 

 to a lobby cage. After a season a panel was 

 drawn and they were allowed the run of two 

 lobby cages. Then they began exhibiting such 

 viaror it was feared thev would break the glass, 



