328 AMERICAN SNAKES. 



handle snakes with impunity, as the following anecdote 

 w411 show. 



An eccentric physician was desirous of studying the 

 habits of the rattlesnake, and in order that he might 

 do so at his leisure, had a number of the reptiles 

 caught and confined in a large cage, which, for fear 

 of accidents, he always kept in his own bedroom, 

 examining the reptiles every night before he retired 

 to rest, for the purpose of ascertaining that they and 

 the cage were quite secure, and that they had been 

 properly attended to during the day. 



One night he returned very late from a party, rather 

 fatigued, and perhaps a little the worse for wine ; 

 however, he quite forgot his usual precautions, and 

 jumped into bed without so much as glancing at the 

 cage containing his treasures. But the hot, sultry 

 weather prevented him from sleeping for some time ; 

 and as he lay tossing on his couch, a slight noise 

 attracted his attention, which sounded very much like 

 somethinof slidincf along: the floor. On looking: to see the 

 cause — for it was a bright nio-ht, and the moon shone 

 right into his room — he saw at a glance that the door 

 of the snakes' cage was open, and that one of the largest 

 of the reptiles was advancing leisurely towards him. 



The doctor hardly knew how^ to act. It is true a 

 loaded gun stood in the corner of the room, but then, 

 for aught he knew, some of the other snakes might be 

 at liberty ; and thus he might tread on one of them and 



