B. NATURAL HISTORY. 7 



old snake opened her mouth veiy wide, the little snakes ran down 

 her throat and then she disappeared in the shelving rock. I re- 

 peated the experiment a number of days to the same effect." 



The total number of testimonies in my possession is one hundred 

 and twenty. Sixty-seven witnesses saw the young snakes enter 

 the parent's mouth ; twenty-two of these heard the young warned 

 by a whistle or hiss or click or sound of the rattles ; five were 

 considerate enough to wait and see them reappear when danger 

 seemed over ; one seeing the act repeated on several days. 



Three saw young snakes coming out of a large one's mouth, and 

 not having seen them enter were naturally much astonished. Five 

 struck the parent and saw the young rush from its mouth ; eighteen 

 saw the young shaken out by dogs or running from the mouth of 

 the dead parent. Thirty-six of those who saw the young enter 

 the parent's mouth, found them living within its body. Only 

 twenty of the sixty-seven allowed the poor, affectionate parent to 

 escape. Thirty-three who did not see the young enter, found 

 them living within the parent's body. Testimony of this charac- 

 ter concerning the ovo-viviparous species is, however, to say the 

 least, dubious. 



It may be objected that these are the testimonies of laymen, of 

 untrained observers, of those who might be influenced in their ob- 

 servations by their prejudices. I reply that the letters are from a 

 class of well-informed farmers, mechanics and business men, intel- 

 ligent readers of a practical agricultural magazine. The act of 

 swallowing the young is of such a character as to admit little room 

 for error in the observations, and I find that, as a general rule, 

 opinions on the subject are current only among those who have 

 had it brought to their notice by their own experience or that of 

 their friends. Due weight should be given to the wide distribu- 

 tion of the witnesses, and the remarkable concurrence in their 

 statements. 



Let us not, however, trust entirely to the statements of the un- 

 trained observer. Says Mr. Cooke; — "Clergymen, naturalists, 

 men of science and repute, in common with those who make no 

 profession of learning, have combined in this belief."* "We add 

 the statements of gentlemen, the accuracy of whose observations in 

 other departments of natural history would surely not be doubted. 

 Prof. Sydney I. Smith, of the Sheffield Scientific School, saw a 



*" Our Reptiles," p. 76. 



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