ANIMALS WHICH SHAM DEATH 23 



the World, tells a very amusing tale in reference to 

 one of these snakes. When engaged in a collecting 

 expedition, he came across a specimen, and, finding 

 the natives were terrified at the sight of the creature, 

 he thought it would be a good opportunity to make 

 an impression upon them by causing it to die 

 without touching it. Commanding his followers to 

 form up in a circle around him, he proceeded to 

 pass his hands backwards and forwards over the 

 snake, thereby frightening the reptile and inducing 

 it to roll over upon its back, in which position it 

 remained motionless. He then handed round the 

 snake for inspection, and, having satisfied his 

 followers that it was quite dead, said he would 

 bring it back to life again provided they remained 

 perfectly quiet for a few minutes. The snake, 

 mistaking the quietude for the disappearance of its 

 tormentor, then promptly righted itself and com- 

 menced to crawl away ; but the result of the ex- 

 periment did not prove so satisfactory as might 

 have been expected, for, to give it in Mr. Ditmars' 

 own words, ' . . . the effect was too pronounced. 

 His assistants at once decided his powers of black 

 art suspiciously dangerous. They dropped away 

 one by one.' 



A keeper at the London Zoological Gardens once 

 told the writer a curious story regarding a rattle- 

 snake. Thinking the creature to be dead, he re- 

 moved it from its cage and put it on one side, but, 

 later on, when a visit of inspection was made, the 

 reptile was nowhere to be seen. It had come to 

 life again and crawled off to a hiding-place, where, 



