SOME RESOURCES FOR PROTECTION AMONG REPTILES. 75 



diately that the second apparition was a ribbon snake. 

 With body elevated for half its length or more, quickly 

 turning head and sparkling eye, it was beating the grass 

 for a "leopard frog" which, with croaks of distress and 

 immense leaps, had made for this " cover." My investiga- 

 tion was a benefit to the hatrachian who made good his 

 escape. If ever I saw anger with myself, it was in the eye 

 and mouth and actions of that serpent, which at first stood 

 his ground and seemed ready to " give it to me." The 

 whole incident awakened a new impression of the intelli- 

 gence of reptiles, which doubtless is more of a protection 

 to them than we are aware. 



Tenacity of life is to be counted as another resource. 

 The diffusion of the vital principle among ganglia and 

 nerves scattered through the body, is the reason why they 

 are so diflBcult to kill, and recover from such severe inju- 

 ries and perhaps may explain why they sometimes return 

 to life after having been frozen. 



When a student, the writer once undertook to dissect 

 a land tortoise, Glyjytemys insculpta, Ag. He attempted 

 to put the creature to death with strychine and arsenic, 

 which were apparently of no effect. Cyanide of potassium 

 brought some blood from the reptile's mouth and seemed 

 to cause pain. To end suffering decapitation became nec- 

 essary, and finally I was obliged to open the body while 

 s:ang:lionic movements continued. Under these circum- 

 stances I removed the heart and placed it in a dish of 

 water. There it continued to pulsate for a number of min- 

 utes, both its movements and the small discolored cuiTent 

 of water being plainly visible. Certainly I ought to have 

 timed the continuance of this action. 



My little boy has had a specimen of Blanding's tortoise, 

 Emys meleagris Ag., for over a year. It was about half 

 grown, being four and one half inches in length. Late in 



