ORDER UI. OPHIDIA.—SERPENTS. 135 
of the quantity of venom, or by some deterioration of its strength; so that 
if a venomous serpent be made repeatedly to inflict wounds, without allow- 
ing sufficiently long intervals for it to recover its powers, each successive bite 
becomes less and less dangerous. “A gentleman of my acquaintance,” says 
the author of British Reptiles, “had, some years ago, received a living 
Rattlesnake from America. Intending to try the effects of its bite upon 
some rats, he introduced one of these animals into the cage with the serpent ; 
it immediately struck the rat, which died in two minutes. Another rat was 
then placed in the cage; it ran up to the part farthest from the serpent, 
uttering cries of distress. The snake did not immediately attack it; but, 
after half an hour, and on being irritated, it struck the rat, which did not 
exhibit any symptoms of being poisoned for several minutes, and died twenty 
minutes after the bite. A third and remarkably large rat was then intro- 
duced. It exhibited no sign of terror at its dangerous companion, which, 
on its part, appeared to take no notice of the rat. After watching for the 
rest of the evening, my friend retired, leaving the serpent and the rat to- 
gether. On rising early the next morning te ascertain the fate of his two 
heterogeneous prisoners, he found the snake dead, and the muscular part of 
its back eaten by the rat. Ido not remember at what time of the year this 
circumstance took place, but I believe it was not during very hot weather.” 
When the winter is rigorous, the Rattlesnakes pass some time in a lethargic 
state, near the sources of rivers, in covert places, where the frost cannot 
reach them. They bury themselves thus, before the autumnal equinox, 
after they have changed their skin, and do not emerge until after the vernal 
equinox. Many of them are often found together in the same hole. Till 
the month of July their bite is comparatively harmless. At Cayenne, and 
in the hot latitudes, they are in constant activity all the year. They are 
viviparous, and can live a long time. Some have been mentioned as having 
forty or fifty pieces in their rattles, and being from eight to ten fect in 
leneth. They have great tenacity of life. They feed on birds, squirrels, 
frogs, &e., and it was for a time believed that they had the power to charm 
these animals, and thus draw them within their reach. Other serpents, also, 
have been supposed to possess the same wonderful faculty, to which, it was 
believed, even human beings sometimes succumbed. These small animals, 
and even timid persons, may have been temporarily paralyzed by fear at the 
sudden appearance of one of these frightful reptiles, but we are obliged to 
believe all the cases of charméng, which are recorded, to be purely imagi- 
native and apocryphal. 
A species of horned Rattlesnake has been discovered in the Rocky Moun- 
tains. A specimen is now (1869) in the possession of Mr. James Estes, 
of Jonesboro’, Tennessee. It has twelve rattles, a large, flat, red head, and 
