THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. I05 



near during the darkness of the night, and on feeling the painful 

 heat, instead of retreating had dashed right onward into the burning 

 embers, and its crisp and contorted form in the morning bore evi- 

 dence of its painful death. 



There is a curious belief among some Canadians concerning a 

 snake that they name the hoop-snake, which it is asserted has a 

 habit of bending itself in the form of a hoop by placing its tail in its 

 mouth and trundling along with greater speed than a man can walk, 

 and it is earnestly asserted that the best way to get out of the way 

 of these hateful pursuers is to walk around a tree, as these snakes can 

 only make good headway in direct lines. 



Another native ophidian, that seems to have given rise to a 

 number of vague, and perhaps, somewhat mythical traditions or be- 

 liefs, is the Puff-Adder, sometimes called the Blowing Adder. This 

 species is said to have been numerous thirty or forty years ago, but 

 I believe is now rarely met with. It is, however, credited with hav- 

 ing the power or habit of inflating the forepart of its body and emit, 

 ing a blowing, defiant sound, when disturbed, something like the 

 Cobra or Hooded snake of the East Indies. I have only seen this 

 reptile once, although I have walked quite a distance on several 

 occasions, on purpose to see one or gain information, but was gen- 

 erally too late to gain much satisfaction. 



The one I saw was noticed on a hot day near the end of May, 

 a number of years ago ; it was lying in a roadway that led through a 

 swampy thicket, and had evidently been killed an hour or two before 

 we found it, as putridity was commencing in the hot sun, so that 

 the body probably was more or less bloated. The snake had a 

 rather small and tapering head, the body was of a sombre color, 

 very thick in proportion to its length, being about as thick as a 

 man's wrist, and much less tapering towards the extremities 

 than ordinary, though this may be accounted for by the bloating 

 referred to. 



These snakes are said to be generally found, as this was, near 

 small streams, and to live on the small amphibia as well as on 

 insects, this one was probably crossing the highway from one part 

 of the swamp to another, when killed. 



A neighbor of mine killed a Puff-Adder near the town of Nor- 

 wich, Ont., a year ago last August. It was crawling across the road, 

 and appeared to have come from under the sidewalk. It had, he 



