22 THROUGH THE BRAZILIAN WILDERNESS 



but in some cases at least — I have mentioned one in the 

 "African Game Trails" — it permits itself to be bitten by- 

 poisonous snakes, treating the bite with utter indifference. 

 There should be extensive experiments made to determine 

 if there are species of mongoose immune to both cobra 

 and viper poison. Hedgehogs, as determined by actual 

 experiments, pay no heed at all to viper poison even when 

 bitten on such tender places as the tongue and lips and 

 eat the snake as if it were a radish. Even among animals 

 which are not immune to the poison different species are 

 very differently affected by the different kinds of snake 

 poisons. Not only are some species more resistant than 

 others to all poisons, but there is a wide variation in the 

 amount of immunity each displays to any given venom. 

 One species will be quickly killed by the poison from one 

 species of snake, and be fairly resistant to the poison of 

 another; whereas in another species the conditions may be 

 directly reversed. 



The mussurama which Doctor Brazil handed me was a 

 fine specimen, perhaps four and a half feet long. I lifted 

 the smooth, lithe bulk in my hands, and then let it twist 

 its coils so that it rested at ease in my arms; it glided to 

 and fro, on its own length, with the sinuous grace of its 

 kind, and showed not the slightest trace of either nervous- 

 ness or bad temper. Meanwhile the doctor bade his at- 

 tendant put on the table a big jararaca, or fer-de-lance, 

 which was accordingly done. The jararaca was about 

 three feet and a half or perhaps nearly four feet long — 

 that is, it was about nine inches shorter than the mussu- 

 rama. The latter, which I continued to hold in my arms, 

 behaved with friendly and impassive indifference, moving 



