20 HELEN ABBOTT MICHAEL 



one day to witness the performance. When it came to 

 the point, our excursion ended merely in a visit to the gar- 

 dens, as Mr. Thompson was not willing longer to undergo 

 the risk. 



"This Thompson was an unusual character; he had had 

 few opportunities for education, but he was a keen, natural 

 observer of the habits of animals, and he had made a close 

 study of the habits of snakes in the wild state. His interest in 

 the snakes that he had under his care had resulted in his ob- 

 serving closely their habits in confinement, and Professor Cope, 

 who often visited the gardens, enjoyed discussing with him the 

 ways of his pets. Thompson was an artist. He had taught him- 

 self to work in oil colors, and some of his canvases were quite 

 creditable." 



Another brief extract from Dr. Michael's "Scientific Notes" 

 gives fuller details of her experiment in trying to overcome 

 the natural feminine antipathy to snakes, and shows how zeal- 

 ous she was to help along the cause of science. Dr. S. Weir 

 Mitchell, the distinguished neurologist and poet, was at this 

 time engaged in analyzing the venom of poisonous reptiles, and 

 his discoveries of the deadly alkaloids were exciting much 

 interest in the learned world. She says : 



"Thompson's arrangements for snake- feeding were some- 

 what more primitive possibly than those used in the Mitchell 

 laboratory, but they were quite as effective. A stout piece of 

 leather nailed on to the end of a wooden stick and, with a loop 

 for the strap to pass through, made a solid noose to hold the 

 snake's throat securely. Two persons were required to carry 

 out the feeding. The snakes in the cage were disturbed by 

 touching them with a stick, and as the head was raised the 

 noose was quickly slipped over and drawn sufficiently tight to 

 allow the snake to be pulled out of the cage to the opening. A 

 small porcelain dish, like the evaporating dishes used in the 

 chemical laboratories, was forced between the snake's jaws. 

 The enraged reptile bit the edge of the dish savagely, and the 

 poison from a sack above the fangs would then flow through 

 a hole in the fang into the dish. This not only proved a safe- 

 guard for those engaged in the feeding, but also served to use 



