This point established, it is not very hard to com- 

 prehend how it is "that some snakes bring forth 

 their young alive, while others lay eggs." I know 

 ol a case where one of our common striped snakes 

 (Eutaenia sirtalis) was kept in confinement, and 

 having no satisfactory place in which to lay its eggs, 

 retained them until after they were hatched, thus 

 giving birth to its young alive. The same thing 

 has been known to occur in the common English 

 lizard, (Lacerta agilis), which is also usually ovipar- 

 ous. We find the same thing in other groups of 

 animals ; thus many of the sharks and skates of 

 our sea coast, are oviparous, while others bring 

 forth their young alive. The minnows {Cyprino- 

 dentidce) of our brooks, show the same differences 

 of habits, and parallel cases occur among frogs, 

 snails, insects, and worms. 



I can not state which of our species of snakes 

 are oviparoxcs or ovo-viviparom, for the very good 

 reason that nobody knows. It is possible for the 

 readers of the Agriculturist to make some very inter- 

 esting contributions to science, by telling what they 

 have seen. The breeding habits of most of the 

 reptiles of North America are totally unknown. We 

 know that the Rattlesnakes, the Copperheads, the 

 Massaugas, the Mocassons, and some of the water 

 snakes are usually ovo-viviparous, and that the 

 Smooth Blacksnake, (Bascanian constrictor), the Milk 

 or House-snakes, (different species of Ophibolus), 

 some of the Bull-snakes, (species of Pityophis), the 

 Grass-snake, (Liopeltis vernalis), and one or two 

 other kinds, are usually oviparous, but of three- 

 fourths of our snakes we know absolutely nothing. 

 It is probable that the young water snakes which 

 Mr. Christian found inside of the larger ones, had 

 been swallowed for temporary protection, and 

 would soon have crawled out of their parent's 

 mouth, had they not been prevented. The new-born 

 water snake* is not so long as six or seven inches. 



[A year or two ago, the readers of the Agricultur- 

 ist contributed a great mass of evidence, which 

 went far to settle the question, " Do snakes swallow 

 their young? " Every farmer, and every farmer's 

 boy, and frequently the girls, can do something to 

 add to the general stock of knowledge, and would 

 be glad to do so if they only knew how. In this 

 article Prof. Goode tells us one thing that they can 

 do — to observe the manner in which snakes repro- 

 duce, and other methods will be pointed out in due 

 time. To be veiy useful to science, one needs only 

 a good pair of eyes, and a determination to use 

 them. Record only what is seen, but do not see a 

 part, and infer how the rest may he. The books 

 are full of inaccurate observations, made by per- 

 sons who tell more than they see. While we expect 

 aid from those who can make observations in the 

 field, we, on the other hand, would like to aid them, 

 and if they come across things in regard to animals 

 of all kinds, or plants, that they would like to have 

 explained, they must send us their questions. Ed.] 





