Reptiles 



with which snakes hear, and one in no way connected 

 with their venom, as is popularly supposed then he rolls 

 over into his normal position and makes away as rapidly 

 as possible. The hog-nosed snake will not bite even if 

 one's finger be placed in his mouth, and he seeks to 

 frighten his enemies by a show of ingenious yet perfectly 

 harmless bluff. 



Mr Dittmar relates an amusing experience he had with 

 one of these snakes. "While collecting in the south," 

 he writes, " the writer had an amusing experience with 

 the negroes, this involving the hog-nosed snake. The 

 negroes regarded the species as exceptionally poisonous. 

 They had never lingered by a performing specimen long 

 enough to discover the habit of playing possum. On the 

 way to the Savannas, across a cotton-field, a big blow 

 adder was found crawling along a sun-baked furrow. 

 The writer's coloured guides and assistants shouted in 

 terror, urging that this kind of snake be excluded from 

 the collecting bags and instantly killed. They were 

 asked to pause, to form a large circle and witness the 

 writer's powers in snake hypnotism. 



" The writer explained he could slay the snake by a few 

 waves of his hand, without touching it. Walking up to 

 the snake, with a few motions of the hands he convinced 

 the creature its hostile airs were of no use, so it soon 

 rolled on its back, becoming apparently lifeless. A 

 murmur of surprise came from the staring circle. The 

 writer insisted that the ' dead ' snake be passed from one 

 to another to convince his assistants of his powers. With 

 many uneasy motions, nervous laughter and shouting, 

 the snake was handed around by the tail. Then the 

 circle was told to remain perfectly quiet for a minute 

 more, to witness a restoration to life. This provoked a 

 heated argument that the serpent be permitted to remain 

 dead, but the hypnotist was adamantine ; he wanted a 

 living specimen for his collection. 



"Placing the snake upon the ground, he made a few 



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