AUDUBON’S ANEID 317 
think at the time how much discord this venomous rep- 
tile, when coiled in the branches of a tree, could later 
breed.** The entry was: 
Finished drawing a very fine specimen of a rattlesnake, 
which measured five feet and seven inches, weighed six and a 
quarter pounds, and had ten rattles. Anxious to give it a 
position most interesting to a naturalist, I put it in that which 
the reptile commonly takes when on the point of striking madly 
with its fangs. I had examined many before, and especially 
the position of the fangs along the superior jaw-bones, but 
had never seen one showing the whole [of the fangs] exposed at 
the same time. 
He then described the generous provision which nature 
has made to keep the rattlesnake in fighting trim, by 
giving it a dental arsenal on which it can draw in case 
of loss; he added that the heat of the day was such that 
he could devote only sixteen hours to the drawing. 
At this time Audubon was a handsome and attrac- 
tive man; his pupil, who did not enjoy the best of health, 
was attended by a young physician who was also her 
lover. It is not surprising therefore to learn that jeal- 
ousy on the part of the doctor led to a misunderstanding, 
and that the naturalist suddenly made his departure and 
returned to New Orleans. In recording this incident 
Audubon could not repress his amusement at the pre- 
scription of the physician, who ordered the young lady 
to abstain from all writing and drawing for a period of 
four months, but meanwhile permitted her to eat any- 
thing which pleased her fancy, in spite of the relapses 
of fever that occasionally occurred. Audubon was al- 
lowed to see her only at appointed hours, as if, he said, 
he were an extraordinary ambassador to some distant 
4 See Chapter XXVIII, p. 72. 
