142 The Natural History 



In the Month of J iine, 1730, as I was travelliug in the 

 Woods together with other Company, we found an Insect 

 sunning itself at the Hoot of a large Pine Tree, about the 

 thickness of a Man's Finger, and three Inches long, it was 

 beautifully striped with Circles of Black and White. The 

 Mouth was partly like the Mouth of a Frog, but not so large, 

 it had four short Feet, but no Tail ; it was very soft, but the 

 Skin exceeding tough, and it moved very slowly. Xot one 

 of the Company could give me an Account what it was, nei- 

 ther could I ever learn from any I conversed with, or shewed 

 it to, having preserved it a considerable time in Sj)irits ; but 

 I take it to be a Species of the Lizards^ and have therefore 

 ranked it amongst them, not knowing by what other JSTame 

 to distinguish it. 



Having thus given an Account of the Frogs and Lizards, 

 I shall in the next place proceed to give an Account of the 

 SNAKES that this Country produces, beginning with the 

 most poysonous, and concluding with those that have none. 

 And first, 



The Rattle-Snake, so called from the Rattles at the End 

 of their Tails, which is a connexion of Joints (and seem as 

 if decayed) with a thin covering of an excrementitious Mat- 

 ter, between the substance of a l^ail and a Horn; Xature 

 undoubtedly designing these on purpose to give Warning 

 of such an approaching Danger, as the venemous Bite of these 

 Snakes are. Some of them grow very large, as six or seven 

 foot in length, and about the thickness of the small of a Man's 

 Legg. They give Notice to such as approach their Danger, 

 by rattling their Tails, which may be heard at a great Dis- 

 tance; they are sharp sighted, and quickly discover any thing 



a])proaching 



