-.Q^ ON THE VASCINATING FACULTV 



Fafts and ob- Other ferpents. Hence, too,, upon opening the ftomachs of 

 fcrvarions re- fome of our ferpents, if we often find that they contain birds, 

 ^ower"o/ fafci- ^^ is almofl entirely thofe birds which build in the manner I 

 nation afcribed have juft mentioned. 



to fnakcs. ^j^j^ ^'^Q_ J ^^^.j j^j^g remarked. It had made fome im- 



prellion upon my mind before I had turned ray attention to 

 the fubjedl of this memoir. Lately, when I came to take a 

 tiew of the fubje6l, the fad appeared to me to be of fome 

 confequence. I fhall now avail myfelf of it. 



The rattle-fnake feldom, if ever, climbs up trees*. He 



is 



* Some refpeftable writers afTert, that the rattle-fnake does climb 



trees, and that it does it with eafe. Mr. de la Cepede is of this 



opinion. After telling us that this reptile lives upon worms, frogs, 



and hares, this naturalift proceeds : " il fait aulTi fa proie d'oifeaux 



& d'ecureuilsj car il monte avec facilitc fur les arbres, Scs'y elance 



avec vivacite de branche en branche, ainfi que fur les pointes des 



rochers qu'il habite, & ce n'eft que dans la plalne qu'il court avec 



difficulte, & qu'il eft plus aise d'eviier fa pouvfuite." Hifloire 



Naturelle des Serpens, p. 409. At the conclufion of his account of 



the boiquira, or crotalus horridus, the eloquent author has run into 



the fame error, in the following beautiful, though rather poetical, 



apoftrophe. " Tranquilles habitans de nos contrees temperees, 



que nous fommes plus heureux, loin de ces plages ou la chaleur 



& rhumidile regnent avec tant de force! Nous ne voyons point un 



Serpent funefte mfeder I'eau au milieu de laquelle il nage avec fa- 



cilite; les arbres dont il parcourt les rameaux avec vitefie ; la terre 



dort il peuple les cavernes 5 les bois folitaires, oij il exerce le meme 



empire que le tigie dans fes deferts brulans, dont Tobfcurite 



livre plus furenient fa proie a fa morfure. Ne regrettons pas les 



beautes naturelles de ces cliniats plus chauds que le notre, leurs 



arbres plus toufFns, leurs feuillages plus agreables, leurs fleurs 



plus fiiaves, plus belies : ces fleurs, ces feuillages, ces arbres cachent 



la demeure du Serpent a Ibnnette." Hifloire Naturelle des Serpens. 



p. 419 & 4'20. I have been at fome pains to difcover whether the 



rattle-fnake does climb up trees. The jefult of my inquiries is 



that it docs not. Although I have had opportunities of feeing 



great numbers of rattle-fnakes intheweftern parts of Pennfylvania, 



&c, particularly in the vicinity of the river Ohio, I never faw one 



of them except on the ground. The black-fnake I have often feen 



upon trees. I ought not, however, to conceal that in the fummer 



of the laft year, a Choktah-Indian told me, that the rattle-fnake 



does climb trees and bullies, to a fmall height. He faid, that he 



had once feen one of thefe fnakes upon a reed. I am not very 



willing 



