THE OREGON NATURALIST. 



71 



a wide spread belief that some plant exer- 

 cised a fatal effect upon venomous serpents. 

 That Rattlesnakes held it in such fear that 

 when one of them was surrounded by a 

 circle half of fire and half of the leaves of 

 this plant the terrified serpent would dart 

 into the flames to escape from the green 

 leaves. Birds, it seems, possessed a 

 knowledge of the virtue of this tree and 

 sought safety from nest robbing snakes by 

 building amog its branches. Birds nest- 

 ing elsewhere so the story goes, on seeing 

 their nests invaded by some scaly monster, 

 have had the rare presence of mind to 

 gather leaves of the fatal tree and drop 

 them down upon the intruder's head, 

 whereupon the terrified Ophidian would 

 straightway yield up the ghost, or would 

 seek safety in flight. 



Most narrators related this story as a 

 curious tradition, while others seemed to 

 accept it in perfect good faith, but unfort- 

 unately could not agree as to the indentity 

 of the tree possessing this marvellous 

 power. Some of those who related the 

 story with the greatest apparent sincerity 

 insisted that the same tree would also 

 keep away witches. 



Of course Dr. Holmes had nothing to 

 do with the origin of these singular beliefs 

 but had simply woven into his narrative 

 the material already at hand. 



There should be no dispute about a 

 question which can be settled positive- 

 ly by experiment, and although I felt in- 

 clined to question the authenticity of 

 these stories. I knew that it might be 

 possible for some plant to be poisonous to 

 serpents but harmless to man so 1 offered 

 to try the effects of any leaves or twigs 

 sent me on some of my pet snal<es. 



Quite a number of people responded and 

 the variety of leaves sent me was surpris- 

 ing. I tested them alT impartially and the 

 result of my experiments was negative. 



Some of my correspondents stated that 

 the singular [tradition had been handed 



down to them by their fathers who had 

 said that such beliefs were prevalent in 

 various parts of Europe, while others de- 

 clared that it was a legend borrowed from 

 various tribes of the North American In- 

 dians. Probably both were right. 



Taken altogether this matter was not 

 very edifying to the student of Herpetology 

 but it was interesting to the student of 

 Folk Lore. 



One of the stories brought to my notice 

 during this correspondence would seem to 

 point to a very singular combination of 

 inaccuracies. It is the story of a man 

 who found a Rattlesnake in the woods 

 and in the presence of witnesses proceed- 

 ed to test the virtues of Mountain Ash up- 

 on it. The reptile indulged in very threat- 

 ening demonstrations, but when touched 

 with the twigs of the potent tree it sub- 

 sided, turned upon its back and lay still, 

 apparently dead. The twigs were removed 

 in a short time, the reptile recovered and 

 became as pugnacious as ever, but was 

 again subdued by the Ash twigs. 



This story was told in evident sincerity 

 and the explanation is plain to any one 

 familiar with snakes and with the general 

 ignorance regarding them. The common 

 "spreading adder, "//eferorfo/? platyihinus, 

 is frequently mistaken for the Copperhead 

 and even for the Rattlesnake. When 

 this snake is tormented it will make 

 threatening demonstrations and will 

 frequently go into hysterics and turn upon 

 its back as if dead, just as the snake in 

 the story did. A man who mistook this 

 serpent for the Rattler and experimented 

 upon him with twigs, those of the Mount- 

 ain Ash would do as well as any other, 

 might, if his faith were sufficiently robust, 

 prove the I'^gend true. 



It is reported from Ivelso, Wash, that work- 

 men while excavating preparatory to placing 

 a new boiler m position in a mill, unearthed 

 a portion of a stone image or idol. 



