16 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LI. No. 1305 



ratter strongly provoked. Its fangs are in- 

 tact. 



With the aid of two assistants, Mr. Ledieu, 

 who kept the head out of mischief, and Mr. 

 Bunch, who manipulated the apparatus, it was 

 possible to secure a fairly accurate short time 

 record. A Deprez marker, together with a 

 suitable time indicator, was adjusted to trace 

 upon a smoked drum. With one method of 

 recording a small mesh cap of copper wire was 

 fitted over the rattles and connected with a 

 flexible wire through a battery, the marker, 

 and a curved brass plate. Touching the wire 

 cap to the brass plate completed the circuit. 

 With slight provocation vigorous movement 

 resulted and the writer would hold as far back 

 from the tip of the tail as possible and still 

 be able to direct the tip so that it would strike 

 the plate with each complete vibration. Fear- 

 ing that the cap might be heavy enough to re- 

 tard the motion, we tried again using a double 

 strand of very fine copper wire wrapped twice 

 around the rattles bringing this wire in con- 

 tact with the plate as before. The average 

 time of fifty-three consecutive vibrations, 

 with the first method, was 30a (lo-.OOl sec.) 

 with a mean variation of lOcr. The corre- 

 sponding result for twenty-five vibrations by 

 the second method, was 28(r, with a mean va- 

 riation of 3.5(T. 



To the writer two surprises are contained in 

 this record, the first being the relatively great 

 variability in rate of movement, the extremes 

 ranging from about lOcr to 50cr. After at- 

 tention was directed to the variations in speed, 

 they become marked even to the unaided ear, 

 although no distinct rhythm can be detected. 



The second unexpected result is that the 

 pitch of the tone produced does not depend 

 upon the speed nor upon the constancy of the 

 tail vibration but upon the natural resonance 

 of the rattles themselves. The pitch of this 

 tone, as determined by two musicians with a 

 very keen sense of pitch, and checked with 

 accurately tuned forks, is between C and Ct; 

 the tone is expressed, therefore, by about 128 

 to 135 vibrations per second. Very marked 

 changes in rate of tail, from the fastest that 

 could be produced by marked provocation, to 

 the almost quiescent state, did not cause a 



fluctuation of the pitch beyond this approxi- 

 mate half-tone. The tone itself is exceedingly 

 complex however, and it might conceivably 

 vary with thfe number and size of the rattles. 

 It was possible to detect, but not to identify, 

 certain overtones. 



The popular impression that the rattler uses 

 his rattles as a warning that he is about to 

 strike is regarded by Mr. Dill as quite erro- 

 neous. This snake, when striking normally 

 does so first and rattles afterward, if at all. 

 It will, for instance, strike at a bird placed in 

 the cage, rattle, then strike again. It appears 

 that the rattle is rather to terrify than to 

 warn. It is also used as a defensive mech- 

 anism. The instinct to vibrate the tail is not 

 peculiar to the rattlesnake, but is common to 

 many other species, as, for instance, to the 

 non-venomous king snake and the blue racer. 



Mabel C. Williams 

 State TJnivebsity of Iowa 



a ticket to st. louis 

 I AM a schoolmaster. I am not earning a 

 living for myself and family, though my 

 position is coimted a good one. I shall be a 

 schoolmaster till I die: I have chosen teach- 

 ing as my service, and am too old to change. 

 My three sons will not be schoolmasters. 



Before the war I was able to make ends 

 meet. I could then devote all my time and 

 energies to the duties of my position. Then 

 came increase of passenger rates, and a war 

 tax added, and I and my family have since 

 stayed home. I even bought several liberty 

 bonds and my children bought war savings 

 stamps at the beginning. 



Then came also increased freight rates and 

 of cost of food, and I and my boys began 

 gardening. Then came also increase of wages 

 and decrease of competence in artisans, and I 

 and my boys began doing our own repair work 

 — carpentry, plastering, roofing, ditch-digging, 

 etc. But, staying always home, and raising 

 beans, and fixing spouts is not what I am paid 

 for doing, nor does it get the best results from 

 the long training I have had. And ever since 

 the close of the war I have been vainly hoping 

 to be allowed to devote my time again to my 



