SNAKES. 29 



No black snake over six feet and a few inches long 

 has as yet been recorded in any scientific work. 

 Twice within the past five years black snakes, kept in 

 captivity by the writer, have escaped, and were killed 

 shortly afterwards near the center of the city. On 

 both occasions the daily papers noted the killing but 

 in each instance, if we take the newspaper measure- 

 ment as correct, the snake had increased in length 

 nearly a foot and a half during the twenty-four hours 

 intervening between its escape and death. 



As for the spreading viper, although it is true that 

 it flattens its body and hisses when approached, yet 

 its bite is perfectly harmless as it is destitute of poison 

 fangs ; and its colors are as unchangeable and its breath 

 as unproductive of disease as are those of the leading 

 gander of the barnyard flock which hisses when we 

 approach his domain. 



The best way to show the falsity of many of the 

 beliefs concerning the harmfulness of snakes is to re- 

 i-ord a few facts concerning the life history and habits 

 of some of the more common species inhabiting In- 

 diana. To begin, we will say that the usual belief 

 that all" snakes are hatched from eggs is an erroneous 

 one. Many species, examples of which are the cop- 

 perhead, rattle-snake and three or four kinds of gar- 

 ter-snakes, bring forth their young alive. The young 

 of snakes, except in size and sometimes in color, re- 

 semble their parents and do not undergo a change or 

 metamorphosis, as do the tadpoles, or young of frogs 

 and salamanders. Those snakes which lay eggs de- 

 posit them in the earth, sand, or the humus of rot- 

 ten logs, where they are left to be hatched by the 



