to the point, but most of them contained tho 



statements of those who had personally ob- 



. served this very curious habit. Many were, 



I very naturally, indignant that a fact so well 



known should be called in question. 



These statements, together with many others 

 collected by diligent personal inquiry, were 

 embodied by the writer in a paper read at the 

 late meeting of the American Association for 

 the Advancement of Science. The paper eli- 

 cited some discussion but no opposition. Prof. 

 Gill, of Washington, one of the most skeptical 

 as well as one of the ablest of American scien- 

 tists, expressed himself as convinced by the 

 testimonies of so many witnesses, and so did 

 many others. 



Many of the letters received deserve to be 

 printed in full ; but since want of space for- 

 bids, only figures can be given. Our witnesses 

 are 104 in number. 58 saw the young enter 

 their mother's mouth ; 19 heard the mother 

 warn them by a sharp whistle or hiss or click ; 

 three were considerate enough to wait and see 

 the young reappear when danger seemed to be 

 passed ; eighteen saw the young shaken out by 

 dogs or running from the mouth of the dead 

 mother ; 32 who saw the young enter killed 

 the mother and found them, living, within her; 

 while only 14 of the 58 allowed the poor, affec- 

 tionate parent to escape ; 29 found the young 

 in the body of the parent, but as they did not 

 see them enter the mouth this testimony is 

 rather dubious. 



Among the witnesses are four naturalists of 

 reputation, whose word is as good as gold in 

 other departments of natural history. Eminent 

 physiologists admit that there is nothing im- 

 possible in the habit, for living tissues are not 

 easily affected by the gastric juice, and reptiles 

 could not easily be smothered, even in the 

 mother's stomach. The habit is known to be 

 shared by the English Scaly Lizard. The males 

 of certain species of South American fishes re- 

 lated to the " Cat-fish" and "Bull-head" carry 

 their eggs in their mouths and gill openings, 



