200 PIONEER LITE ', CK, 



saw a rattle-snake lying upon a rock beside the 

 water, and finding a water-snake at a short distance, 

 I laid it upon the rock, near the other. It instantly 

 fled from the rattle-snake, and continued to, as often 

 as I placed them near each other. At another time 

 I placed a black-snake near a rattle-snake, and at 

 first the latter took no notice of the other, which 

 exhibited the greatest terror, but upon placing them 

 together again, the rattle-snake flew at it and would 

 have bitten it, had it not been too nimble, and eluded 

 the stroke. The rage of the one and terror of the 

 other increased, as I continued to place them near 

 each other. When a rattle snake and a blowing- 

 vipea were brought together, both ran, each seem- 

 ing to have an instinctive dread of the other. Find- 

 ing a copperhead and a blowing-viper at the same 

 time, I brought them together, when the viper beat 

 a retreat, but the copperhead made no attempt to 

 bite it. The last experiment I made was to place 

 together a water-snake and an eel. Contrary to what 

 might have been expected, the snake ran from the 

 eel. These experiments convinced me that there is 

 no affinity between snakes of different kinds, but 

 that those which are less venomous are kept in terror 

 by those which are more so. 1 have generally found 

 snakes very numerous south of the New York State 

 line, between the Tioga river and Lake Erie. They 

 ^ere always very numerous east of the Allegany 

 mountains, but the state of New York was never as 

 badly infested with them as Pennsylvania. I have 

 endeavored, in a former chapter, to give some idea 





