ON THE "GILA MONSTER." 65 



"roughly striped black and white on a yellowish back- 

 " ground. Its length varies from ten to thirty inches, and a 

 "large-sized fellow is as thick as a strong man's arm. 

 " When prodded with a stick it hisses and thrusts out its 

 "heavy forked tongue, raising its head menacingly, but 

 "scarcely moving otherwise. Its bite is often fatal, the 

 " effect depending more or less upon the state of the sau- 

 "rian's temper and the depth of the wound. Its breath in 

 "hissing is offensive, and issues from a wide-open mouth 

 " in puffs of black vapor or smoke. The Mexicans I have 

 "questioned all told me that it was exceedingly poisonous, 

 " as much so as the bite, if not more, while many of the 

 " Americans thought it harmless. Having myself seen a 

 "chicken and a small puppy killed by the hissing of one 

 " in their faces, I am inclined to think that it is best to 

 " keep from coming in contact with it." Comment on this 

 is unnecessary. Still more conclusive in its way is the fol- 

 lowing, originally from the Cochise Record, reprinted 

 without comment in the Proceedings of the Zoological So- 

 ciety of London, 1888 : " Sunday evening Dr. Mathews 

 "was summoned, by telegram, to Fairbanks (a railway- 

 " station near Tombstone, Arizona Territory, U. S. A.), 

 "to attend Colonel Yearger, who was reported seriously ill. 

 " Owing to delay in the telegram, the doctor did not reach 

 "the patient until several hours after his death, which had 

 " been very sudden." 



" It appears that Yearger had been fooling with a Gila 

 "monster and in attempting to open the creature's mouth, 

 " was bitten on the right thumb. Instantly the poison took 

 "effect, and although every convenient remedy was ap- 

 " plied, he lived but a few hours. An inquest was subse- 

 "quently held, and a verdict returned in accordance with 

 " the above facts." 



"As this is the third or fourth death which has occurred 



ESSEX INST. BULLETIN, VOL. XXII 5 



