RATTLE SNAKES. 479 



I have already meiuloned the failure of an ex- 

 periment relative to the efficacy of white ash 

 ag-ahist the approaches of the rattle snnke. I 

 have been told of a rattle snake that had beeiv 

 kept in a cage eight months without food, and 

 without any apparent diminution of bulk. Al- 

 though furious when enraged, it is alleged, that 

 he would not bite at a white ash stick. And it is 

 asserted, that if you enclose this serpent by a cir- 

 cumvailation of white ash leaves and fire, that he 

 M'ill elect to make his retreat through the flames.* 

 It is said that the juice of the leaves of the ash has 

 been found efficacious against t!ie bite of the colu- 

 ber chersea, tlie asping of the Swedes, which like 

 the prester of Lucan, kills by a horrible swelling 

 of the whole human frame, and w hich inhabits 

 only a particular district of Sweden among the 

 willows. It is certain tliat there are districts of 

 country in which rattle snakes are never seen, 

 while at no great distance they abound. For in- 

 stance, they have never been known to inhabit the 

 town of New-Berlin, in Chenango county, and 

 3'et they have been found about ten miles off, 

 towards the mouth of tlie Unadilla. It is said 

 that they avoid land timbered with beech and ma- 

 ple. Wiiether the cause arises from the timber 



* This superstitious idea was refuted in a note to the last 

 numbej, 



