SNAKE INDIANS 



5420 



SNIPE 



which the dancers, who are members of the 

 Antelope and the Snake priesthoods, carry live 

 snakes in their mouths. Rattlesnakes are prin- 

 cipally used, but the reptiles are handled so 

 carefully the dancers are rarely bitten. After 

 the ceremonial the entire village indulges in a 

 feast. The snake dance is held every two years, 

 in August, and is a plea to the powers of na- 

 ture to send rain. 



SNAKE INDIANS. See SHOSHONEAN IN- 

 DIANS. 



SNAKE RIVER, a river of the Western 

 United States which furnishes an abundance of 

 water power and is beginning to be used for 

 irrigation purposes. It is the largest tributary 

 of the Columbia River, which it joins near 

 Pasco, Wash. Rising high in the Rocky Moun- 

 tains of Yellowstone Park, the Snake flows in 

 a southwesterly direction to the southern part 

 of Idaho, turns westward and flows across the 

 state nearly to the Oregon line, and then swings 

 abruptly northward. For 170 miles it forms 

 the boundary between Idaho and Oregon, and 

 for about thirty miles flows between Washing- 

 ton and Idaho. At Lewiston it turns westward 

 into Washington. Though the stream is over 

 900 miles long, its many falls and rapids ren- 

 der it useless for navigation except between the 

 mouth and Lewiston, a distance of 100 miles. 

 The Indians called the river Shoshone, and this 

 name is given to a magnificent cataract near 

 the Idaho- Wyoming boundary. 



SNAKEROOT, the name applied to a large 

 number of plants, because their roots resemble 

 snakes, or for the reason that they were at one 

 time believed to cure snake bites. They are 

 found quite generally throughout the United 

 States and in many parts of Canada, and their 

 roots in many instances have medicinal value. 

 Black snakeroot, or cohosh, yields a drug used 

 in treating Saint Vitus's dance; the roots of 

 Virginia snakeroot, or birthwort, have tonic 

 properties and have been used to cure rattle- 

 snake bites. As a remedy for the latter, how- 

 ever, they have no real value. Another species, 

 Canada snakeroot, or wild ginger, has stimu- 

 lating properties arid is also used as a spice. 

 From Senega snakeroot an emetic is prepared. 

 SNAPDRAGON, snap ' drag un, a genus of 

 herbs bearing blossoms which, when pressed 

 open and then released, fly shut with a gentle 

 snap. Each flower consists of a tube, at the 

 end of which are two closed lips. When the 

 flower is pressed open it is these lips that snap 

 together. The flowering stalks of the most 

 com'monly cultivated species, a native of Eu- 



rope, grace all old-fashioned gardens and make 

 ornamental borders for large flower beds. The 

 velvety texture and the beautiful and varied 

 colors give the 

 blossoms great 

 charm. The 

 stalks, growing 

 three feet high 

 or more, are cov- 

 ered with fine, 

 short hairs, and 

 the small, smooth 

 leaves are some- 

 what thickened. 

 The c omm on 

 snapdragon lives 

 from year to 

 year, but some 

 species must be 

 grown from seeds 

 each spring. 

 Seeds are planted 

 indoors early, and 

 the plants are set 

 out in May. 



SNIPE, a bird 



found in fresh- SNAPDRAGON 



water marshes, 



related to the sandpiper, but differing from it 

 by keeping closely to its cover of grasses and 

 rarely venturing out except at night. The 

 plumage is chiefly a mixture of brown, black 



THE SNIPE 



and white. The one species found in North 

 America is the Wilson's snipe, a bird dear to 

 hunters both on account of its fine flavor and 

 because its erratic flight taxes their skill. The 

 bird is acrobatic in the air, and has a strange 

 habit of "bleating" or "drumming," a sound 

 that it produces by mounting to a great height 



