34 GLEANINGS FROM NATURE. 



snakes beneath some line driftwood, near the margin 

 of the overflowed bottoms, north of Terre Haiiti-. 

 They had been driven forth from their winter retreat 

 by the high waters and had taken temporary refuge 

 beneath the drift. 



On the first warm days of spring the sluggish blood 

 in the veins of the hibernating snakes begins to flow 

 more rapidly. Their bodily temperature gradually 

 rises. Demand for food and an irresistible desire to 

 mingle with others of their kind soon cause them to 

 move out and stretch their bodies in the warm sun- 

 shine and in a few weeks their summer haunts know 

 them as of yore. 



The food of snakes is often the subject of much 

 conjecture among those persons who know the reptiles 

 only from an occasional chance meeting 

 g k with them. For example, some peo- 



ple accept literally the biblical state- 

 ment that they live upon dust, as the following inquiry 

 received by the writer will attest: "Is it necessary 

 that snakes have plenty of earth (or dust) to eat to 

 keep them alive? A friend of mine thinks that 

 snakes live largely on dust (or earth) but I do not 

 think so. Which is right? The dispute came up in 

 our young men's bible class on the reading of the fol- 

 lowing verse : 'And the Lord God said unto the ser- 

 pent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above 

 all cattle, and above every beast of the field. Upon 

 thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the 

 days of thy life :' Genesis, iii. 14." 



Like other cold blooded animals snakes can fast for 

 a long time. In fact, in captivity, they have 



