SHORT STUDIES OF SNAKES. 305 



that snakes overcome their prey by rendering them 

 powerless through fear, then any sound that is peculiar 

 to snakes would, when heard, frighten the animal, but 

 only to such a degree as to put it on guard ; and such a 

 sound would prove detrimental to the snake's welfare. 

 Even in the case of the rattlesnake, it does not add to the 

 horror that its appearance produces. "We are quite in 

 the dark as to the reason why these sounds are made ; but 

 that reason, be it what it may, is quite probably the same, 

 whether made by the rattlesnakes with their peculiar ap- 

 paratus, or by the simpler method adopted by the spotted 

 adder. Certainly, so far as man is concerned, this sound 

 is an almost certain means of causing the snake's death. 

 Had it kept quiet it might have escaped observation ; but 

 in thus giving notice of its whereabouts it signed its own 

 death-warrant. This has so long been the case, that if 

 the harmless spotted adder had possessed sufficient intel- 

 ligence to see the advantage of the rattle to the rattle- 

 snake, and had been determined to imitate it, as well as 

 it could, it should also have learned that this same sound, 

 when made within the hearing of some of its enemies, 

 would endanger its safety, if not work its destruction. 



One other thought arises in this connection. In the 

 case of the rattlesnake, admitting that the rattles have 

 been evolved when the environment was wholly different, 

 may it not be that the peculiarity is now retained, albeit 

 no longer useful; while with such harmless species as 

 the hog-nose snake and spotted adder, it is quite probable 

 that the element of fear on the part of the snake plays an 

 important part, and that this " rattling " is a result of 

 fright on their part, rather than a desire to excite a simi- 

 lar feeling in their enemies ? 



There is yet another snake, occasionally met with in 



