THE SNAKES 267 



many uneasy motions, nervous laughter and shouting, 

 the snake was handed around by the tail. Then the 

 circle was told to remain perfectly quiet for a minute 

 more, to witness a restoration to life. This provoked a 

 heated argument that the serpent be permitted to remain 

 dead, but the "hypnotist" was adamantine; he wanted 

 a living specimen for his collection. Placing the snake 

 upon the ground, he made a few eccentric motions, then, 

 removing his hands, kept perfectly quiet. Thinking 

 danger past, the reptile rolled over, starting away. It 

 was caught and put in a bag. The writer's idea had 

 been to promote respect for himself in a wild, almost 

 lawless region. But the effect was too pronounced. His 

 assistants at once decided his powers of black art as sus- 

 piciously dangerous. Thej^ dropped away, one by one, 

 until the ludicrous situation was presented of necessarily 

 changing the location of collecting in order to leave a 

 bad reputation behind and secure men to carry the snake 

 bags. 



The three species of Heterodon feed exclusively upon 

 toads and frogs, principally the former. To aid them 

 in holding the struggling prey is a pair of fang-like 

 teeth in the rear of the upper jaw; these teeth are en- 

 tirely solid and not connected with glands for the secre- 

 tion of poison. 



Our examination of the Coluhrince brings us again to 

 several constricting species, thoroughly terrestrial, ag- 

 gressive, tremendously strong in proportion to their size, 

 smooth-scaled, cjdindrical of body, in fact, experts in 

 forcing their way into the burrows of small animals as 

 well as in hunting down other snakes in their hiding 

 places. Veritable terrors among all sjoecies of serpents, 

 they do not hesitate in attacking the deadly species, 

 exhibiting a perfect immvmity against the venom of the 



