THE EAT AND THE RATTLESNAKE. 333 



events, unwilling to take any food without undergoing 

 the preliminar}^ excitement of charming it ; and he gives 

 an instance of a gentleman who kept a rattlesnake in 

 a cage for some time without food, and then gave it 

 a rat. The reptile took not the slightest notice of its 

 new companion; and in a short time the couple were on 

 peaceable, if not friendly, terms with each other ; and so 

 thino^s continued for two or three weeks. One morninof, 

 however, sounds were heard in the apartment where 

 the cage was kept. The gentleman proceeded thither, 

 and saw the snake coiled up, its head raised above the 

 body, its mouth open with the tongue shooting about, 

 while the tail kept up a continual humming rattle. 

 The poor rat seemed to be in the greatest terror, yet 

 kept approaching its deadly foe. When the quadruped 

 was close to it, the reptile darted with lightning velo- 

 city, and struck the fatal blow. A few convulsive kicks 

 terminated the rat's existence, and the reptile soon 

 worked it down its capacious throat. 



At any time, during the weeks they had lived 

 together, the reptile could have swallowed its com- 

 panion as it ran about, or slept, upon the floor ; but the 

 excitement attendant upon charming seemed necessary 

 before it could do so with pleasure or satisfaction. 



Eattlesnakes, as a rule, love woody ground in a dry 

 situation, although one species haunts swampy districts, 

 and is termed the marsh-rattlesnake. It is quite as 

 deadly in its nature as any other member of the family. 



