PREVALENT FALLACIES 209 



which, if possible, would tend to demonstrate great 

 affection on the part of the parent for her offspring, 

 are generally persons who have paid little attention 

 to the scientific side of natural history, in all his 

 experience, both aiield and with captive speciiiiens, 

 the writer has failed to notice even an intimation of 

 such an occurrence, which is practically a physical 

 impossibility. " Observers " allege that the young 

 run cpiickly down the mother's throat ; just before 

 this happens she makes a whistling sound to call 

 them together. As snakes are deaf, this latter state- 

 ment is quite absurd ; furthermore, it would nec- 

 essarily take some little time for a colony of young 

 snakes to make their way down the smooth throat 

 of the parent ; and again, it can be stated that if 

 the young snakes ever reached the interior of the 

 parent, where gastric juices strong enough to dis- 

 solve bones and teeth are stored, they would soon be 

 killed by these chemicals. It is reasonable to say 

 that the observations of the alleged protecting of 

 young snakes by the mother in this manner are the 

 results of observers mistaking a cannibalistic reptile 

 devouring its prey, for a fond parent " swallowing " 

 her offspring. 



Before closing these remarks al)out his reptilian 

 friends, the writer desires to briefly describe a collec- 

 tion of creatures which can not fail to enlist the inter- 

 est of all. From a far-off group of desolate islands, 

 abounding in innumeral)le craters, their rocks and sand 

 bleaching under a tropical sun, came five representa- 



