198 ANIMAL SKETCHES. CHAP. 



Once a year or oftener does he cast aside his o'ld dull 

 garment, and step forth radiant in his new finery. I shall 

 not readily forget the beauty of a coral snake I saw in 

 Brazil under these conditions. The old skin, which is 

 moist and pliant, folds back as the snake slips out of it, so 

 that, when we find the cast-off garment, it is turned inside 

 out. In the rattlesnake the hinder bones of the tail are 

 peculiarly shaped, and when the creature slips out of its 

 coat the skin which covers these bones is not shed, but 

 remains adherent at the end of the tail. Each successive 

 moult leaves an additional adherent tail-cap of dried skin 

 and these constitute the rattle. The purpose of the rattle 

 is not well understood. " Providence," Mr. Bingley says, 

 " has given to mankind a security against the rattlesnake's 

 bite ; for it generally warns the passenger of its vicinity 

 by the rattling of its tail." But we cannot to-day accept 

 this solution of the difficulty. Probably it is to warn 

 enemies that he is a dangerous customer. Possibly the 

 sound strikes terror into its victims, which are thus par- 

 tially paralyzed by fear. We do not know much about 

 the so-called fascination of snakes. 



It is a curious fact that monkeys, who have an intense 

 instinctive dread of snakes, would seem from experiments 

 in Zoological gardens to be strangely attracted to them. 

 An American observer, Mr. A. E. Brown, coiled a dead 

 snake in a newspaper, so as to be easily capable of coming 

 loose, arid set it on the floor of a cage containing a great 

 variety of monkeys. It was instantly carried off by a 

 leading spirit ; but in a few seconds the paper became 

 unfolded and the snake was exposed. The monkey 

 instantly dropped it and went away, but with a constant 

 look behind. The other monkeys, perceiving the snake, 

 approached, step by step, and formed a circle round it six 

 or eight feet in diameter. None approached it except one 



