A RATTLESNAKE EPISODE 275 



could n't cure his bite. He's er he snake, as strong as Samsin, I 

 reckon, an' es lively es er kitten : but I say, stranger [lowering 

 his voice], es long es it's er woman who's er dickeren I'll take 

 two dollars cash. What do yer say to that?" At length the 

 price of one dollar for the snake and the killing of it was 

 agreed upon. Without further delay the slats were torn off the 

 box and the bewildered mass of venom dumped upon the 

 ground, and in the twinkling of an eye the hiss of a hickory 

 stick announced that the end had come. Stretched out at full 

 length upon the ground to show how big a bargain had been 

 got, the creature measured nearly six feet. He was un- 

 doubtedly a superb specimen ; all the same he was hung up as 

 a warning and no more snakes of his particular breed were 

 brought into camp. 



These trifles emerge from the dim corners of memory; the 

 really significant events and the important investigations are 

 recorded in the exhaustive reports of the Survey. Under Mr. 

 Shaler's directorship its scope could not be otherwise than wide. 

 One of the aims most successfully carried out was to show the 

 state in his own actions the determination and devotion that 

 should be given to all undertakings which affect the welfare 

 of the commonwealth. In addition to the usual scientific work, 

 or rather in connection with it, a general description of the 

 state its geography, geology, and zoology, and its material 

 resources of all kinds was prepared in conformity with an 

 emigration bill which he drew up for the Legislature. In the 

 directing of the survey he kept his eyes pretty steadily fixed 

 upon the development of possible business enterprises, and with 

 this end in view furnished special information to capitalists. A 

 very successful exhibit of the products of Kentucky was made 

 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, which attracted wide 

 attention. 



It is needless to say that the work was laborious, involving at 

 all seasons of the year journeys within the state and to and 

 from Cambridge, for Mr. Shaler still discharged his college 



