THE BANDED RATTLE-SNAKE. bl 



ture recovers many whose cure is attributed only 

 to these. 



Mr. St. John once saw a tamed Rattle-snake as 

 gentle as it is possible to conceive a reptile to be- 

 lt went to the water and swam whenever it pleased ; 

 and when the boys, to whom it belonged, called 

 it back, their summons was readily obeyed. It had 

 been deprived of its fangs. They often stroked 

 it with a soft brush : and this friction seemed to 

 cause the most pleasing sensations; for it would turn 

 on its back to enjoy it, as a cat does before the fire *. 



Rattle-snakes are viviparous, producing their 

 young, generally about twelve in number, in the 

 month of June ; and by September these acquire 

 the length of twelve inches. It has been well 

 attested that they adopt the same mode of pre- 

 serving their young from danger as that attributed 

 to the European Viper, receiving them into their 

 mouth and swallowing them. — M. de Bea-uvois de- 

 clares that he was an eye-witness to the process. 

 He saw a large Rattle-snake, which he had dis- 

 turbed in his walks : it immediately coiled itself 

 up, opened its jaws, and in an instant five small ones 

 that were lying by it rushed into its mouth. He 

 retired in order to watch the snake, and in a quar- 

 ter of an hour saw her again discharge them. He 

 then approached a second time, when the young 

 rushed into its mouth more quickly than before, and 

 the animal immediately moved off and escaped f. 



* Hector St. John, 239. t Phil. Tran. vol. fv. 



VOL. Ill, G 



