242 TROPIC DAYS 



tail of the snake was rapidly disappearing, making a 

 spurt to keep up with the main body. The snake 

 darted for the lizard, missed it, and then seized its 

 own retreating tail about two inches from the tip. 

 With characteristic pertinacity it held on, and apparently 

 the classic episode of a snake swallowing itself was to 

 be attempted. It was not until the snake was taken 

 out of the case and forcibly handled that it let go, there 

 being apparently no distinction to the ophidian palate 

 between its own flesh and that of its favourite lizard." 

 The only comment that an unversed student of Nature 

 may presume to make on this incident is that, possibly, 

 the snake retained its tail because it could not do 

 otherwise. Are not the jaws and teeth of some snakes 

 so constructed, that the privilege of rejection is denied ? 

 The interests alike of science and the speculative world 

 demanded that in the circumstances Nature should 

 not have been balked. Why deprive the serpent of 

 having its own blundering way with its own tail ? 



There is no doubt that man does directly benefit by 

 the conflicts which rage continuously between living 

 things lower in the scale of life than himself; but the 

 common slaughter is at times so cruel and so inexplic- 

 able that it is not given the average intellect to discover 

 good and sufficient cause, though he may observe the 

 more obvious habits and appetites of frogs and snakes. 

 The former oft implore aid against the attacks of green 

 tree snakes and of a big light brown lizard, fond of 

 sleeping in hollow logs, and since one does not under- 

 stand from the beseeching tones of the frog whether 

 it is being molested by the universal enemy or not, 

 he often hastens to the rescue, laboriously cuts down 

 to the scene, to find, instead of a snake, a lizard, perhaps 

 more useful in the harmony of Nature than a frog, and 

 certainly more endearing, since it possesses the habit 



