i8 Through the BraziHan Wilderness 



After this the doctor took out of a box and presented 

 to me a fine, handsome, nearly black snake, an individual 

 of the species called the mussurama. This is in my eyes 

 perhaps the most interesting serpent in the world. It is 

 a big snake, four or five feet long, sometimes even longer, 

 nearly black, lighter below, with a friendly, placid tem- 

 per. It lives exclusively on other snakes, and is com- 

 pletely immune to the poison of the lachecis and rattle- 

 snake groups, which contain all the really dangerous 

 snakes of America. Doctor Brazil told me that he had 

 conducted many experiments with this interesting snake. 

 It is not very common, and prefers wet places in which 

 to live. It lays eggs, and the female remains coiled above 

 the eggs, the object being apparently not to warm them, 

 but to prevent too great evaporation. It will not eat when 

 moulting, nor in cold weather. Otherwise it will eat a 

 small snake every five or six days, or a big one every 

 fortnight. 



There is the widest difference, both among poisonous 

 and non-poisonous snakes, not alone in nervousness and 

 irascibility but also in ability to accustom themselves to 

 out-of-the-way surroundings. Many species of non-poi- 

 sonous snakes which are entirely harmless, to- man or to 

 any other animal except their small prey, are neverthe- 

 less very vicious and truculent, striking right and left 

 and biting freely on the smallest provocation — this is the 

 case with the species of which the doctor had previously 

 placed a specimen on the table. Moreover, many snakes, 

 some entirely harmless and some vicious ones, are so 

 nervous and uneasy that it is with the greatest difficulty 

 they can be induced to eat in captivity, and the slightest 



