318 AMERICAN SNAKES. 



poison into the wound, like the arrows of the Bosjes- 

 men. So strong is the poison, that even vegetables feel 

 its effects when inoculated with it ; healthy young plants 

 soon become seared and blighted, as though a flash of 

 lightning had scorched them. 



A gentleman, fond of trying experiments, had a dog 

 exposed to the bite of a rattlesnake ; the animal died 

 in fifteen minutes. A second dog was then bitten, 

 which expired within two hours ; while a third, which 

 the snake was provoked to bite, lived rather over three 

 hours after receiving the wound. Another experiment 

 is on record, in which a dog was killed in thirty seconds, 

 and another in four minutes, and some time afterwards 

 the same snake died from the effects of his own poison, 

 within twelve minutes, after inflicting a wound with 

 his own fangs. 



In the earlier days of the American Eevolution, many 

 people looked upon this snake as a fit emblem for the 

 national flag ; and until the eagle took its place, it held 

 quite a conspicuous position in the imagination of the 

 public, assuming for a short time an historical interest. 

 Benjamin Franklin, printer, philosopher, and states- 

 man, wrote a very pleasant essay in support of the 

 proposition ; and the celebrated Paul Jones, in his 

 journal, says something about such a flag being used on 

 board the ships of the young republic. 



In the Northern States the rattlesnake becomes torpid 

 as cold weather approaches, retiring to holes in rocks. 



