XVI 



THE WISDOM OF THE SERPENT 



OF all the vertebrates, the serpents live under the greatest 

 handicaps. They are hated and destroyed by all men, 

 they can neither run nor fly far away, and they subsist 

 under maximum difficulties. Those of the temperate zone are 

 ill fitted to withstand the rigors of winter. 



And yet the serpents survive; and we have not heard of 

 any species having become extinct during our own times. 



It is indeed worth while to "consider the wisdom of the 

 serpent." Without the exercise of keen intelligence all the 

 snakes of the cultivated lands of the world long ago would 

 have been exterminated. The success of serpents of all species 

 in meeting new conditions and maintaining their existence in 

 the face of enormous difficulties compels us, as reasoning 

 beings, to accord to them keen intelligence and ratiocination. 



The poisonous serpents afford a striking illustration of 

 reason and folly en masse. The total number of venomous 

 species is really great, and their distribution embraces practi- 

 cally the whole of the torrid and temperate zones. They are 

 too numerous for mention here; and their capacity for mischief 

 to man is very great. Our own country has at least eighteen 

 species of poisonous snakes, including the rattlesnakes, the 

 copperhead, moccasin, and coral snakes. All these, however, 

 are remarkably pacific. Without exception they are non- 

 aggressive, and they attack only when they think they are 

 exposed to danger, and must defend themselves or die. Hun- 

 dreds of thousands, or even millions, of our people have tramped 

 through the woods and slept in the sage-brush and creosote 

 bushes of the rattlesnake, and waded through swamps full of 



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